BAE wins ACV downselect! UPDATE! SAIC is also selected!

via Press Release.

The U.S. Marine Corps has awarded BAE Systems’ team a contract worth $103.7 million for the Engineering, Manufacturing, and Development (EMD) phase of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) 1.1 program. The company, along with teammate IVECO Defence Vehicles, will deliver a solution that will be built from the ground up to be an amphibious vehicle and will provide significant capability improvements to satisfy the Marine Corps’ current and future needs.
“We are proud to continue our long history of providing the Marine Corps with superior amphibious capabilities,” said Deepak Bazaz, director of new and amphibious vehicles at BAE Systems. “Our vehicle was designed to be fully amphibious with exceptional ground mobility and protection. Our ACV solution will provide the Marine Corps with a mature, cost-effective solution with significant growth capacity.”
The award is one of two EMD contracts issued. During this phase, BAE Systems will produce 16 prototypes that will be tested by the Marine Corps beginning in the third quarter of 2016. Work on the vehicles will take place at BAE Systems’ facilities in Quantico, Virginia; San Jose, California; and York, Pennsylvania.
BAE Systems’ ACV 1.1 solution is an advanced 8x8 open ocean-capable vehicle that is based on a platform developed by Iveco Defence Vehicles. It is equipped with a new 6-cylinder, 700HP power pack, which provides a significant power increase over the current Assault Amphibious Vehicle. The vehicle performs best in class mobility in all terrains and has a suspended interior seat structure for 13 embarked Marines, blast mitigating positions for a crew of three, and improved survivability and force protection over currently fielded systems. The team has conducted extensive risk mitigation testing and evaluation for swim, land mobility, and survivability capabilities that have proven the solution’s capabilities.

Wow.

Still trying to figure out who the other company is...stand by...much more to come.

Oh and to the guys and gals at BAE.  Well done! 

Note:  Thank God for readers like Ogden.  He informed me that SAIC is the other selectee.  That means that the USMC downselected toward the two best swimmers.  What does that mean?  In my opinion ACV 1.1 and 1.2 have combined.  Oh and to prevent a protest let me add that this is because of the performance of these vehicles, not because of faulty contracting.  So what's left to do?  Just get it done!