Amphibious Combat Vehicle: Marines Order the Final ACV Variant
A $230.1 million order for 32 recovery vehicles completes the Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle family. Variants, safety record and what comes next.
The U.S. Marine Corps has placed the last production order for its newest armored vehicle family. On 30 September, the final day of fiscal 2026, the Department of War announced a $230.1 million contract modification for BAE Systems to build 32 Amphibious Combat Vehicles in the recovery role, known as ACV-R. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) describes the award as the contract for the fourth and final ACV variant. Recovery vehicles are built to tow and repair broken-down vehicles, the least visible job in an armored unit, and with this order every planned ACV variant is now on contract.
What the Amphibious Combat Vehicle is
The ACV replaces the tracked Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) that has carried Marines from ship to shore for decades. CRS quotes the Marine Corps describing it as a “next-generation, eight-wheeled vehicle designed to move Marines from ship to shore” that will be “the primary means of tactical mobility for the Marine infantry battalion at sea and ashore.” A 2025 program office briefing by Program Manager Advanced Amphibious Assault lists a ship-to-shore capability from 12 nautical miles and says the ACV supports the seven standing Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs).
The program entered low-rate initial production with BAE in June 2018, according to CRS. The personnel version reached initial operational capability on 13 November 2020 and the full-rate production decision followed on 8 December 2020, the program office says. CRS notes that the original objective of 1,122 vehicles was cut under the Marine Corps’ Force Design modernization plan.
Key specs: the four ACV variants
| Variant | Role | People carried | Armament | Planned quantity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACV-P | Personnel carrier | 3 crew plus 13 Marines | Remote weapon station: Mk 19 or .50 caliber | 389 |
| ACV-C | Command and control | Up to 7 battle staff | Medium machine gun | 33 |
| ACV-30 | 30mm cannon | 3 crew plus 8 Marines | Kongsberg 30mm remote turret | 152 |
| ACV-R | Repair and recovery | Not stated in cited sources | Not stated in cited sources | 34 (32 now on contract) |
Sources: CRS IF11755 (October 2026) for roles and quantities; PM Advanced Amphibious Assault briefing (April 2025) and PAE Marine Corps for crew, troops and armament. CRS gives a planned total of 608 vehicles.
The final contract
The Pentagon notice says the firm-fixed-price modification exercises options for 32 full-rate production recovery vehicles plus production, fielding and support costs and spares. Work is split among York, Pennsylvania (60%); Aiken, South Carolina (15%); San Jose, California (15%); Sterling Heights, Michigan (5%); and Stafford, Virginia (5%). The full $230.1 million in fiscal 2026 Marine Corps procurement funds was obligated at award, and the notice puts the value of the underlying contract, with all options, at about $4.1 billion.
The two public descriptions differ on timing. The Pentagon lists an expected completion date of November 2028, while BAE said on 8 October that work will run in York through 2029 and include government design and final integration of a Palfinger crane at Anniston Army Depot, Alabama, before the vehicles reach the fleet. Rebecca McGrane, BAE’s vice president of amphibious vehicles, called the ACV-R “a critical addition to the fleet.” There is also a quantity gap: CRS lists a planned 34 recovery vehicles but describes the 32-vehicle award as covering the full objective. Neither source explains the difference.
From surf mishaps to deployments
The program has had setbacks. CRS reports that on 19 July 2022 two ACVs ran into trouble during training in high surf off California; one tipped onto its side and another was disabled. The Marines aboard both returned to shore safely, and the service suspended amphibious operations during an internal review. Open-ocean operations resumed on 23 September 2022 under interim surf limits that the Marines said include “a significant breaker height of four feet.”
CRS says the vehicle’s first overseas operational deployment came during Exercise Balikatan in the Philippines in May 2024 with the 15th MEU. In June 2026, PAE Marine Corps reported that the 11th MEU was using ACVs from USS Comstock (LSD 45) during its final pre-deployment certification, which the release called only the third time the ACV had deployed with a MEU. “With the older platform, we had to time our shots with the waves,” said Gunnery Sgt. Andreke Alvarez Roman, an ACV operator with Battalion Landing Team 3/5. He also cited the vehicle’s “V-shaped hull and blast-absorbing seats.”
The 30mm variant and the budget
After negotiations to lower costs, CRS reports, the Marines awarded BAE about $188 million in late April 2025 for the first full-rate lot of ACV-30s, with the hull and the Kongsberg turret bought separately and integrated at the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic in Charleston, South Carolina. PAE Marine Corps has since announced that it took receipt of the first production ACV-30. For fiscal 2027, the Navy requested $237 million for ACV platform upgrades; according to reports cited by CRS, that figure reflects “a pre-planned end to Amphibious Combat Vehicle procurement” after more than $1 billion in fiscal 2026 for final production contracts.
Why it matters
Analysis, based on the sources cited in this article:
With procurement ending, the ACV shifts from a buying program to a fleet the Marines must keep running. The program office’s own 2025 briefing named “lower than anticipated readiness and long lead times for spares” as a risk, which helps explain why a recovery vehicle matters: it is the tool for getting stuck or damaged ACVs back into action. The same briefing listed “counter UAS and overhead protection” among modernization goals, and CRS asks Congress whether the ACV needs more protection given what drones and anti-tank missiles have done to armored vehicles in Ukraine. The Army faces similar questions with its XM30 Bradley replacement.
The ACV also fits the Marine Corps’ Pacific plan, in which small units move between islands and coastlines. Ground-launched anti-ship missiles such as NMESIS, recently sent to Japan’s Yonaguni island during the Keen Sword exercise, are the long-range side of that plan; the ACV is the vehicle meant to put Marines ashore. Whether it can do that under drone and missile threat near the Taiwan Strait or the South China Sea has not been tested in combat.
What to watch: first ACV-R deliveries and the planned initial operational capability, which the 2025 briefing set for the first quarter of fiscal 2028; how the fiscal 2027 upgrade money is spent; and any decision on adding counter-drone systems to the fleet.
Sources
- U.S. Department of War, Contracts for Sept. 30, 2026.
- Congressional Research Service, The Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle, IF11755, updated 6 October 2026.
- BAE Systems, BAE Systems receives $230 million contract for new Amphibious Combat Vehicle variant, 8 October 2026.
- Portfolio Acquisition Executive Marine Corps, ACV Enables Decisive Ship-to-Shore Operations for 11th MEU, 22 June 2026.
Additional sources
- Program Manager Advanced Amphibious Assault, Amphibious Combat Vehicle briefing, Modern Day Marine, 29 April 2025 (PDF).
- Portfolio Acquisition Executive Marine Corps, Media: USMC takes receipt of first production ACV-30.
