U.S. Marine Corps Orders More ACV-30 Amphibious Combat Vehicles in $195M Contract.

BAE Systems on 3 February 2026 secured a $195 million U.S. Marine Corps contract to produce additional turreted Amphibious Combat Vehicles, expanding the ACV-30 fleet and pushing total orders beyond 150 vehicles. The award signals that the Marine Corps views the ACV-30 not as a niche variant, but as a central platform for future amphibious and inland maneuver in contested environments.

BAE Systems has been awarded a $195 million contract to build additional Amphibious Combat Vehicles for the U.S. Marine Corps, the company announced on 3 February. The latest order expands the service’s fleet of ACV-30 variants equipped with a medium caliber cannon, reinforcing the Marine Corps’ intent to field a vehicle that can transition directly from ship to shore under threat and continue fighting inland with protected mobility, according to industry and service statements.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

The ACV-30, the gun-armed variant reshaping the ACV family’s tactical employment, combines an 8×8 amphibious chassis with Kongsberg’s remotely operated Medium Caliber Turret (MCT-30), integrating a 30 mm Mk 44 Stretch Bushmaster dual-feed cannon and a coaxial machine gun (Picture source: Kongsberg)

BAE Systems presents the latest award as an extension of a long-running partnership with the Marine Corps, framed around readiness and operational alignment. The language is familiar, yet the numbers are not trivial. Ordering additional vehicles while production is active helps preserve the supply chain and avoids the stop-start pattern that has historically penalized complex ground programs. In this case, it also suggests the Marine Corps is satisfied with the platform’s balance between sea performance, protection, and land mobility, and is willing to keep scaling procurement rather than slowing for redesign cycles.

The ACV program is structured as a family of variants designed to support amphibious assault units across multiple mission sets. BAE Systems is already under contract for the ACV-Personnel variant, known as ACV-P, and the ACV-Command variant, known as ACV-C. The ACV-P is designed to carry 13 combat-loaded Marines plus three crew, providing protected transport without forcing infantry squads to split across too many vehicles. The ACV-C, in contrast, is configured with multiple workstations intended to help Marines maintain and manage situational awareness and command functions in the battlespace, a requirement that becomes more acute as Marine formations disperse and attempt to complicate enemy targeting.

The program also includes a recovery component that often receives less public attention but can determine real operational endurance. BAE Systems states it has built and delivered three ACV-Recovery (ACV-R) Production Representative Test vehicles, with the Government responsible for the design and integration of a crane at Anniston Army Depot. In practice, a dedicated recovery variant is what turns a fleet into a sustainable combat system, enabling field-level maintenance, repair, and vehicle extraction in the surf zone or restrictive coastal terrain where immobilization is common. For Marine assault amphibious companies, this is not a secondary detail: it is a prerequisite for maintaining tempo once the first vehicles take damage or become stuck during the transition from sea to land.

The ACV-30 is the gun-armed variant that changes how the ACV family can be employed tactically. It pairs an 8×8 amphibious chassis with Kongsberg’s Medium Caliber Turret (MCT-30), a remotely operated system integrating a 30 mm Mk 44 Stretch Bushmaster dual-feed cannon and a coaxial machine gun. The turret is operated from under armor, reducing exposure while keeping internal volume available and maintaining amphibious trim. That configuration matters because amphibious platforms cannot afford uncontrolled weight growth: they must remain stable in the water while still carrying the protection and firepower needed on land. In this design, the weapon station adds lethality without forcing the vehicle into the compromises that often accompany manned turrets on amphibious hulls.

The ACV-30’s firepower is intended to give Marine infantry a direct-fire tool capable of engaging threats beyond the reach of heavy machine guns, particularly against light armored vehicles, hardened firing points, and anti-armor teams positioned to contest beach exits. The 30 mm system, supported by modern optics, is described as enabling detection and engagement at distances beyond five kilometers, extending the vehicle’s role from transport to overwatch and suppression. In a littoral environment where enemy teams may attempt to strike from concealed positions along dunes, vegetation lines, or built-up coastal areas, the ability to deliver accurate medium-caliber fire quickly can decide whether an assault force maintains momentum or becomes pinned at the most vulnerable phase of the operation.

The ACV is derived from the SuperAV 8×8 hull co-developed with Iveco, and it is designed to operate in rough surf conditions before transitioning into mechanized maneuver inland. Compared to the legacy tracked Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) it replaces, the ACV family is presented as sustaining higher speeds and range on land while incorporating a hull and seating architecture intended to withstand stronger under-body blasts. That survivability focus is not abstract. Amphibious vehicles are forced to operate in predictable corridors near beaches, road junctions, and causeways, making them natural targets for mines, improvised explosive devices, and indirect fire. A design optimized for blast mitigation directly supports the Marine Corps’ need to push armored vehicles through narrow coastal chokepoints without suffering immediate attrition.

BAE Systems states work for the ACV-30 program will take place in Johnstown and York, Pennsylvania, while Charleston, South Carolina supports the Government’s integration of the Kongsberg turret. This distribution reflects a broader U.S. defense industrial model in which hull production, systems integration, and sustainment-related work are spread across multiple hubs, supporting resilience and political durability. It also implies that the ACV line is treated as a stable production effort rather than an experimental run, with the workforce and subcontractor network positioned for sustained output.

The ACV-30 supports a shift in amphibious doctrine driven by the expectation of contested entry. The vehicle is designed to land from the sea and then immediately contribute to the fight, not merely deliver infantry and withdraw. Its medium-caliber cannon gives Marine units an organic capability to suppress enemy firing points, engage light armor, and provide overwatch during the critical transition from surf zone to inland objectives. This reduces dependence on immediate close air support or naval gunfire, both of which can be constrained by weather, air defenses, or deconfliction requirements in crowded littoral battlespaces. Once ashore, ACV-30s can escort dismounted infantry, reinforce reconnaissance elements, and help secure key terrain such as ports, causeways, and coastal infrastructure, while ACV-C vehicles maintain coordination and the ACV-R supports recovery and repair under forward conditions.

Beyond the programmatic details, the contract carries broader implications for how Washington views expeditionary warfare. By continuing to expand turreted ACV-30 procurement, the United States signals that armored amphibious maneuver remains relevant even as long-range precision strike and unmanned systems dominate modern conflict narratives. For allies and partners, especially those operating in maritime theaters, the ACV program offers a reference point for interoperability and combined littoral operations, while demonstrating that the Marine Corps is investing in platforms that can fight under persistent surveillance and precision fire threats.