Kongsberg has secured a deal worth $118 million, potentially climbing to $330m, to begin full-rate production of its 30mm remote turret system for the U.S. Marine Corps’ new Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV).
One of four variants of the BAE Systems’ ACV providing amphibious assault capabilities to the USMC, the ACV-30 is the infantry fighting version of the platform and comes fitted with Kongsberg’s vehicle-agnostic, stabilized, medium-calibre weapons system, the MCT-30. It uses the Mk44 Bushmaster II chain gun along with an M240 7.62mm machine gun.
The eight-wheeled amphibious vehicle typically carries eight fighting soldiers plus three crew, can swim to shore from landing craft unaided from up to 12 nautical miles off the coast, has a blast-resistant hull, and is capable of speeds of up to 65mph on paved roads.
The ACV also comes in personnel carrier (ACV-P), command (ACV-C) and recovery (ACV-R) variants. The turrets for the ACV-30s will be made at Kongsberg’s recently expanded factory in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, as per its recent press statement.
Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, commented: “Kongsberg is honoured to support the US Marine Corps by equipping them with increased firepower and capacity.”
He added: “The ACV-30 offers superior performance compared to current comparable systems, and we see the market potential for our medium-calibre turrets as positive, both in the U.S. and internationally.”
- You can read more details about the contract on the Kongsberg website and more about the ACV on the BAE Systems website