A team of amphibious warfare experts is at Camp Pendleton redoing a training program for the instructors and Marines who are operating and maintaining a new troop carrier, following multiple accidents that occurred while crews practiced with the 36-ton vehicles.
The Amphibious Combat Vehicle is replacing the vehicle the Marines have used for decades to transport troops between ships and shore, and across land, the Amphibious Assault Vehicle. But since the ACV’s introduction in 2019, there have been four instances when the new vehicles have flipped over while training in surf – there have been no major injuries reported.
Now, the Marine Corps is taking a second look at training for the vehicle, with the recognition that the ACVs are more sophisticated than their predecessor and require a different level of training expertise. Additionally, officials say a new technology being developed will provide a more accurate read on the surf zone and wave conditions. But despite concerns raised and delays to the inclusion of the ACVs on overseas deployments, Marines say the vehicle will be the backbone of amphibious warfare.
The latest training accident was in October when Marines from Camp Pendleton’s Assault Amphibian School and instructors were trapped briefly in an ACV that fell sideways and then flipped in 2- to 3-foot high surf. No one was injured, but it took several days to tow the vehicle ashore.
At least three of the $5.9 million vehicles have been damaged beyond repair in training accidents.
It is in the surf zone – the area near shore where waves build and break – where the Marines seem to be having trouble with maneuvering the ACVs.
The vehicles were first put through their operational paces by a team of Camp Pendleton Marines at the Marine Corps Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms and the testing has continued on training ranges at Camp Pendleton and off its beaches. The vehicles got good reviews for their performance on land, and Marines who tested them reported finding the vehicles superior to their predecessor.
“What we’re focused on right now is building experience and expertise with the platform while our testing branch gets important data on how the ACV reacts in certain surf zone conditions,” said Capt. Ryan Bruce, a Marine spokesman. “Right now, the Amphibious Vehicle Testing Branch is experimenting to best understand the upper limits of the platform in the surf zone and develop standard operating procedures that take into account the impact of other variables on surf zone transit.”
Senate testimony
In recent testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger addressed some of the vehicles’ shortfalls and reported what the military and the manufacturer, BAE Systems, are doing to address the problems. Berger emphasized the ACVs’ importance to amphibious warfare by having the potential “to greatly enhance” the Marine’s ability to maneuver near shore and its “expeditionary reach.”
The ACVs, which ride on eight wheels and have a shape designed to better survive a bomb blast, are replacing the Marine’s fleet of 800 tracked AAVs, which given their age are now requiring hours of maintenance to keep operational. The vehicles have a different centers of gravity and hull shape. The ACVs have been designed to have a swim capability similar to their predecessors and have equal or greater mobility compared to the M1 Abrams tank – also on its way out.
“As with all new systems and technologies, there have been a few notable challenges,” Berger told the senators. “We are currently working with BAE Systems to address two major component issues — one with the struts/shock absorbers and the other with the central tire inflation system. Both issues have caused part failures, resulting in a decrease in reliability and a corresponding decrease in readiness.”
And, he noted that the vehicles have had “possible water incursion into the power train.”
The commandant also discussed the vehicle’s lack of agility in the surf, recounting the incidents when the vehicles rolled over.
Leaders first temporarily limited their water use and then, after the latest training accident, it was ordered that the vehicles not be used in the surf zone, but instead train in protected waters. ACVs have been allowed to continue training in the open ocean near ships.
Berger told senators that Marine safety investigators along with officials from BAE found that the ACV rollovers were caused when the vehicles got turned parallel to the surf line and were struck by large waves.
“These events were, in large part, the product of training shortfalls,” Berger said.
“We are actively working with BAE Systems to rectify all mechanical concerns and are enhancing the training regimen for our vehicle operators on this new and more sophisticated amphibious vehicle,” he added.
Lt. Col. Kent Ralston, a former executive officer for the Assault Amphibian School at Camp Pendleton who is now retired, argues there may not have been enough testing done on the vehicle before it went out to the fleet. When the testing was done, he said, the Marines realized that the training was “inadequate to help mitigate the issue of the vehicle flipping over in the surf zone.”
“I’m all for more training, but training is not going to fix the inherent design flaws that the ACV has,” Ralston said. A former AAV battalion commander, he was previously part of a team that reviewed future amphibious tactical vehicles including the ACV. “There will always be some kind of mechanical failure, and the vehicle will get caught sideways. They’re never going to be able to say, ‘That vehicle is not going to flip over in the surf zone.’ They’ll get it down to some acceptable level of loss and move on.”
Col. Walt Yates, a former program manager for training systems at Marine Corps Systems Command, who is also retired, said he believes many of the present issues could have been avoided if training simulators were used to prepare the Marines before they got onto the vehicles.
In contrast, the U.S. military has never fielded any manned aircraft without a pilot simulator, he said. “The ACV is the most expensive ground weapons system program in the history of the Marine Corps.”
Immersive simulators would also give the Marine Corps “a very cost-effective way to train ACV crews” for various weather and beach conditions that can’t be replicated at the bases in California or North Carolina, Yates said.
Doubling down
The special trainers now at Camp Pendleton are working on evaluation and certification programs to ensure drivers, vehicle commanders and maintenance crews have the technical knowledge to operate the ACVs safely. Then with new standard operating procedures in place, the new training will be rolled out across the fleet.
To also help get the vehicles through the surf, Berger said in a recent interview that an effort is also underway to “rapidly field a system to give a better read on the surf zone” and provide a more accurate report on ocean conditions.
The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab — which for at least five years has been researching and developing programs to help with amphibious operations — is looking at autonomous drones that would provide real-time information on currents, wave height, the number of waves and how they are breaking. The technology is expected to be ready sometime later in 2023.
The Corps has received between 139 and 200 ACVs to date – there is discrepancy between the number reported by the Marines and the manufacturer – and is expected to ultimately have 632 in its fleet. The initial $198 million deal was signed in 2018.
In addition, to the troop transport vehicles the Marines already delivered, BAE has another $256.8 million in contracts for more vehicles, including more of the transports, a model that will function as a command vehicle – with more sophisticated communications – and one that will act as a recovery vehicle for ACVs that have broken down.
While BAE officials would not comment on how they are working with the Marines to address some of the mechanical issues experienced or how long it will take, they emphasized that “readiness and safety of Marines are always top priority.”
“We will continue partnering closely with the Marine Corps to deliver the safest, most capable platform for our nation’s Marines,” a BAE spokesman said.
Marine Corps officials say they are convinced the ACV is the best vehicle for their future operations and that it is more lethal, is better designed for troops to survive attacks, and is reliable.
The ACV is considered “the future” of the Marines’ operations, especially now as Berger sees the service working even more closely with the Navy. He envisions the potential for island-hopping campaigns and other amphibious operations in the Indo-Pacific, an area military leaders expect will be particularly contested in the coming years.
“We are taking a deliberate approach as we field the ACV,” Bruce, the Marine spokesman, said, “instituting appropriate safety measures to ensure we can train safely and effectively and incorporate lessons learned into future training evolutions.”
