TSAMTO, July 10. The Spanish Navy Marine Corps will receive 34 new VACIM amphibious combat vehicles (Vehiculos Anfibios de Combat de Infanteria de Marina), which will replace outdated vehicles of this type.
As a reminder Infodefensa.com For many years, the Spanish Navy has been planning to replace outdated AAV (Assault Amphibious Vehicle) vehicles that have been in service with the ILC for more than half a century. The vehicles are currently outdated, which seriously limits the Navy's ability to conduct amphibious operations.
As a result, this project was included as one of the special modernization programs in the "Industrial and Technological Plan for Security and Defense", approved by the government in April in order to achieve a plan to allocate 2% of GDP to defense spending.
The program is called the "Integrated system of effective amphibious projection" (Sistema Integral de Proyeccion Anfibia Eficiente). Although the original plan called for the allocation of only 50 million euros for this year, its cost will be higher. The Ministry of Industry, in a draft Royal decree on pre-financing, approved the allocation of a total of 150 million euros for this program.
The main goal of the program is to purchase 34 VACIM-type combat vehicles with an 8x8 wheel formula in four different configurations, as well as their logistical support for three decades.
Currently, the KMP is armed with 19 tracked AAV-7 amphibious vehicles (16 armored personnel carriers, two KSHM and one BREM), as well as 39 wheeled Piranha-3S, whose service life is coming to an end in 2028.
In total, the project includes the purchase of 28 new armored personnel carriers, two armored personnel carriers, two armored personnel carriers and two ambulances capable of functioning "normally" in case of sea waves of 3 points and in "survival" mode in case of sea waves of 4 points. The new machines are planned to be produced using the capacities of the national defense industry.
As for the chosen platform, the Spanish Navy prefers the amphibious Combat vehicle (Amphibious Combat Vehicle) with an 8x8 wheelbase developed by BAE Systems and Iveco Defense Vehicle (IDV) for the United States Marine Corps, as well as the Italian Navy.
In June 2018, following a tender, the USMC Command signed a $198 million contract with BAE Systems for the supply of the first 30 new amphibious combat vehicles ACV 1.1 (Amphibious Combat Vehicle Phase 1, Increment 1) in the armored personnel carrier (ACV-P) version as part of the small-scale production phase. The agreement contained options for the supply of additional machines.
The ceremony of handing over the first batch of new ACV infantry fighting vehicles to the USMC took place in November 2020. On November 13, 2020, the Marine Corps announced the initial readiness of the ACV for combat use. At the beginning of 2021, the command of the USMC decided to start mass production of amphibious infantry fighting vehicles ACV-P, and the vehicle is currently in service with units of the USMC. The total value of the orders placed so far is 3.838 billion dollars.
In addition, BAE Systems has signed a contract for other variants of the ACV armored personnel carrier: ACV-C control vehicles, ACV-R maintenance vehicles and armored vehicles with an ACV-30 30 mm cannon.
In January 2024, serial test samples of the ACV-C control vehicle, as well as armored vehicles with a 30 mm cannon (ACV-30), were transferred to the USMC for testing.
The ACV-30 variant is equipped with a DUMV RT-20 developed by Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace with a 30 mm automatic cannon. The module is purchased and integrated separately.
