On March 13, soldiers officially received the first 20 Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles
(AMPVs) from the US Army.
These vehicles are classified as armored personnel carriers.
AMPVs were delivered to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, located
at Fort Stewart, GA, which will be the first Army unit to field the new vehicle.
AMPV is set to replace the M113 armored personnel carriers, which have been in service for over
60 years and are currently utilized by second-level troops such as medical and support personnel.
Front-line infantry units will continue to use the M2 Bradley.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes how Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle is such an important
addition to the US military ? Let's get into
the details.
AMPV is a sub-project of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle program.
In 2014, the U.S. Army selected BAE Systems' proposal of a turretless variant of the Bradley
Fighting Vehicle to replace over 2,800 M113s in service.
Five variants of the AMPV are planned: M1283 General Purpose (522 planned), M1284 Medical
Evacuation Vehicle (790 planned), M1285 Medical Treatment Vehicle (216 planned), M1286 Mission
Command (993 planned), and M1287 Mortar Carrier Vehicle (386 planned).
The program is scheduled to deliver 2,897 vehicles at a total cost of $10.723 billion,
or $3.7 million per vehicle.
The first AMPV prototype was rolled out in December 2016, and the first production vehicles
began rolling out in September 2020.
The AMPV provides Soldiers with better protection, mobility, reliability, and interoperability
than the legacy M113 and has 73% more carrying capacity than the M113s it will replace.
The new vehicle built by BAE Systems has the same tracks and transmissions as the Army’s
M2 Bradley APCs.
The initial AMPV that was handed over to the US Army is the M1283 General Purpose Vehicle,
which comes equipped with a one-man open-top turret.
This turret has 360-degree armor plating, as well as bulletproof windows and a 12.7mm
heavy machine gun.
Some variants can also be fitted with a remotely operated weapon station.
The driver sits at the front of the vehicle on the left and has a single-piece hatch cover
that opens to the rear and four-day periscopes, three to the front and one to the left side.
The troop's compartment is at the rear of the hull.
the soldiers enter and leave the vehicle through a large hydraulically operated ramp located
at the rear of the hull.
The hull of the AMPV is made of new all-welded aluminum armor with spaced laminate armor
fitted to the hull.
The front and each side of the hull are fitted with explosive reactive armor to increase
protection against anti-tank guided missiles and modern RPGs (Rocket-Propelled Grenade).
The AMPV Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle is motorized with a Cummins diesel engine developing
600 hp., which is common to another new BAE Systems built the vehicle in the U.S. Army
fleet, the M109A7 Self-Propelled Howitzer.
According to the technical features , the AMPV could run at a maximum road speed of
38 mph or 61 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 225 miles or 362 km.
The fuel tanks are now fitted externally on each side at the rear of the hull.
Standard equipment of the AMPV Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle would include an NBC protection system,
air conditioning, night vision, and fire suppression system.
The AMPV software provides capabilities that include vehicle management, driver instrumentation,
position navigation, vehicle diagnostics and integration with various external interfaces.
Col. Peter Moon, commander of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division
stated, “These modernization efforts increase our
capacity to deter adversaries and, if necessary, fight and win in combat.
We look forward to the capabilities that AMPV will bring to the battlefield to ensure we
remain lethal and ready to win the fight”.
Jim Schirmer, the deputy Program Executive Officer for Ground Combat Systems, pointing
to COVID disruption, said, “We did have a lot of struggles in the beginning,
but we’re pretty confident now that the prime contractor, BAE, has worked through
that.
They’ve been delivering on time for the majority of the past year, and the quality
problems that we were seeing early on have largely been corrected.
So, at this point, we’re pretty satisfied with where we are.”
The company is expected to ramp up production.
BAE is expected to produce 16 vehicles per month and, with a goal of 197 vehicles per
year, could equip a brigade and a half during that period.
To keep up with the demand for AMPVs, the company is planning on expanding its York,
PA facilities with the possibility of building manufacturing plants at other locations.
Napoleon Bonaparte stated, "The amateurs discuss tactics: the professionals discuss logistics"
For example, in the case of the Russian Army in Ukraine, there were many logistics issues.
Russian soldiers in Ukraine had to resort to crowdsourcing their own equipment, including
medical supplies and GPS kits.
Postings on social media sites such as Telegram are filled with appeals for funds to buy first
aid kits with syringes, painkilling injections, and frontline medications.
The M113 has been critical in the Armored Brigade Combat Team, the US Army's premier
armored formation, for decades.
The general-purpose version is typically entrusted to first sergeants, the top noncommissioned
officers in a company-sized unit tasked -- in part -- with bringing food, ammunition, and
medical care to the battlefield.
So, AMPV is set to play a crucial role in the US military.