Amphibious Combat Vehicle. The USMC basically told us it ain't happening.

via DoD Buzz (read it all there)....

Marine officials explained that the Corps using all the lessons learned from the EFV program – which focused on achieving increased high-water speed – to ensure the same mistakes don’t occur again.
“Capabilities such as high-water speed will be weighed carefully for affordability and for trade space so we understand what we are giving up if in fact we want to achieve the high-water speed,” said Lt. Gen. Richard Mills deputy commandant for Combat Development and Integration.

and...

Marine officials said they would know more in October when the Corps is scheduled to receive a report from industry that will look trade space areas that will help program officials set requirement priorities.
“The number of Marines inside it would be one of those areas where we would look at possible trade space,” Mills said.
The ACV is capable of traveling at more than 15 knots in high water, compared to the current AAV which has a top speed of seven knots, Mills said.

So a decision on the ACV is now delayed till October.  A new fiscal year.  Additionally they're willing to trade high water speed for crew carriage.  Last we're not going to hear about this vehicle until October!

My prediction?

The Amphibious Combat Vehicle is dead.  They're going to use industry to put forth the reasons why and hide behind their coattails.

We're all being setup to see an upgraded AAV.  You can bet body parts that you highly value on that.  The real question is...do we get new builds or are we going to get refurbished vehicles?  Will we see a different design?  Think F-18 Legacy and F-18 Super Hornet...they look the same but are different.

The next question.  What does this mean for the Marine Personnel Carrier Program?

If I'm wrong and they somehow come up with some type of ACV then the Marine Corps needs to take heed to a warning from the past.  Remember the LVTP-5.  Biased toward water performance, a dog on land (where it spent the majority of its time) and got its men killed in Vietnam.  It had the shortest tenure of service of any LVT/LVTP/AAV in Marine Corps history.  It was such a dog that Marines preferred to take their chances on getting shot riding outside than be caught inside and burned alive by a buried mine the vehicle struck.  If we go after a water optimized ACV then we're going to relive that experience.