01 February 2022
US Army preparing for AMPV operational testing, Pentagon details needed improvements
by Ashley Roque
BAE Systems delivered the first AMPV to the US Army in 2020. The vehicle line is undergoing IOT&E in 2022 and a Pentagon report has identified several changes it wants addressed. (BAE Systems )
The Pentagon's chief weapons tester has identified five “reoccurring” problems with the US Army's new Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) that need addressing during operational testing this year.
In the “controlled unclassified information” edition of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) 2021 annual report, the office said the AMPV line's rear ramp frequently malfunctions, “poor hatch and ramp seals” enable dust and water to enter the vehicle, and fixes are needed to make mortar ammunition more accessible. Additionally, computer display malfunctions cause the screens to blank out for the commander and driver, and “erroneous fault codes” cause the crew to doubt the portrayed failures.
This version of the DOT&E report also discusses vehicle ‘survivability' and notes that the AMPV demonstrated that it can protect soldiers inside from both small arms and machine-gun fire, mines, indirect fire, and, if outfitted with reactive armour, shape charge jets. However, the report notes that emerging cyber survivability testing identified vulnerabilities and the test team will attempt to exploit these during initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) in 2022.
“The army should continue to validate through FUSL [full-up system level] testing design changes intended to mitigate vehicle and crew vulnerabilities found in live fire testing [and] continue to apply corrective actions and identify the root cause for the observed failure modes,” the report said in its recommendation section.
The army did not respond to questions about this report, but Janes
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The Pentagon's chief weapons tester has identified five “reoccurring” problems with the US Army's ne...
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