Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) was an attempt to do something truly remarkable and failed horribly. But always a cracker to revisit and look at what was almost achieved when someone left the USMC unattended and they dared to dream #miltwitter #tanktwitter #usmc #EFV
EFV has a long and confused history under several earlier guises including the Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV) but in essence from the 1970s had been seeking to find a modern high speed replacement for the venerable AAV-7A1 family of amphibious assault vehicles
The original requirements were, in honesty, just mad. 3 crew & 17(!) dismounts, 30mm stabilised turret, water speed of >25kts and a range of 400km (though notional mission was 46km swim over the horizon). On land, peer mobility to an M1A1 and 550 km range with high survivability
Two variants would be procured – EVP-P1 (APC), EVP-C1 (Command) with potential to open into a family of variants in time, including mortar carriers, MLRS launchers, self-propelled artillery and possible larger calibre direct fire systems
General Dynamics won design lead for the programme and set up General Dynamics Amphibious Systems (GDAS) to do the work in Woodbridge, Virginia and by 1998 was building the first prototype under the latest contract award, worth USD712m alone
At this point, the USMC planned for LRIP from 2005, FRP in 2008 and final delivery of the 1,025th EFV in 2018 for a total programme cost of around USD8.5bn. Price wise, they were looking to be around USD6m each, similar to an M1 tank of the time
Most amphibious AFV are very slow when in the water. Propulsion little more than the tracks or wheels spinning forlornly, maybe an impeller or prop to help the least hydrodynamic shape possible bludgeon its way through the water
Not so for EFV. Transformation to water mode was remarkable. A gigantic bow plane extends, hydrodynamic roadwheels retract followed by the composite rubber tracks. Chine flaps meet with skirts to seal off the entire track area. A rear transom flap lowers bit.ly/3t5aBfW
Once configured for water running, which as the video showed was fairly swift, twin waterjets fired up at the rear and pushed it into a semi-planing profile allowing up to 25 kts. Its quite a monster when up and running, as you can see in this video: shorturl.at/ciGN1
Doing that isn’t simple though. The MT883 engine uprates via twin turbos for water movement, rising from 865hp on land to 2,750 hp afloat. Twin Honeywell water jets each pushed 3,100 litres of water a second to keep it moving forward
So why did it fail, given you’ve seen videos of some of the 19 prototypes in action seemingly doing exactly what they needed to? Broadly - cost, technical complexity/reliability and changing priorities
You cant understate how monstrously demanding an engineering challenge this was. To get survivability at light weight, balanced for semi-planing afloat meant every technical change cascaded into design spirals to adjust other materials & systems to rebalance the veh, constantly
By the 2000s, it was in a bad way. It worked, but there were big issues. Quoting 2002 DOT&E trials report in this pic, it was dangerously loud, hot, filled with gas from the cannon which was also proving inaccurate and unreliable. Mobility was poor and reliability awful off road
That internal layout continued to be a big issue – the required 17 dismounts would realistically be 14 at best, getting in and out was very slow and any crew served weapons made the inside prohibitively cramped with the overall capacity would be at least 25% less than the AAV7
Four years later and DOT&E 2006 report isn’t much better. The vehicle rarely performed end to end test missions without major breakdowns, reliability and availability were well below requirements and the maintenance burden was onerous
Importantly, it couldn’t reliably plane on water. Despite removal of 2,000lbs of armour before the test, EFV could not get on plane when combat-loaded unless drivers accelerated without steering which caused large unpredictable turns in the water, “an unsafe condition for combat”
Another 4 yrs and DOT&E 2010 still not impressed. Riverine test showed normal levels of debris blocked radiator, overheating engine, and damaged water jets. They were hopeful they might manage 22 hours between major failures but were still struggling to get on plane
With Afghan & Iraq well established and the IED threat showing the huge danger to legacy AAV7 and billions of dollars pouring into MRAPs, EFV was mandated applique underbody armour kits for ashore operations, which were to have knock on impacts to many performance aspects
Price was also becoming a big problem. Early aspiration for c. USD6m each was now USD24m each and still climbing. At the time that was around 7x the cost a Bradley, and 4x the cost of an M1. This was driven by a lot of advanced materials and the ceaseless engineering challenges
Consequently the original 1,025 EFVs was now down to 573, and there were concerns that the high cost of the EFV could consume as much as 90% of the USMCs ground equipment budget for the coming years, and it was already overfilled with kit for OEF/OIF
It took some time to truly die, but eventually in January 2011 the programme was killed off formally, and the technological marvel (even if flawed) came to an end, another saga in the billions of dollars spent on kit that never sees US service.
EFV ultimately was exemplary of the era where the US was dreaming big. FCS and EFV were monster programmes pushing boundaries of technical possibility and even almost 20 years later we have no sign of much of what they were physically demonstrating back then being viable soon
The USMC has not given up though, while the conventional 8x8 ACV, based on the IVECO SUPERAV is entering service under the same named programme, ACV Phase 2 will seek to try EFV again with a notional target of 2035
Meanwhile the research has not been ignored. Japan is developing its own monstrous amphibious vehicle, which is heavily informed on a formal basis by data from the US under the research of the Next Generation Amphibious Technology (NGAT) programme
Directly following on from EFV research, NGAT is a very similar requirement for a high water speed, high capacity amphibious AFV. They’ve pushed the engine up to 3,000hp as they believe this the minimum for getting onto reefs from deep water, a very difficult mobility challenge
A lot of the work so far has been sorting that engine with scale model testing of a notional vehicle in the next few years with full scale prototypes around the end of the decade.
Thereafter who knows, we may see an all-new super EFV in 2030s or 2040s again. Fingers crossed. /end

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More from @JonHawkes275

26 Jan
Spent a bit more time getting our @JanesINTEL piece on the Dutch CV9035NL MLU pulled together last week (bit.ly/2M7qQs1), and I think its worth a thread to highlight just how bloomin' fantastic both the specific vehicle and the programme are. #tanktwitter #miltwitter
As widely reported, 122 CV9035NL (+ 6 driver training vehs) being upgraded for c. USD582m. Upgrade is a comprehensive MLU installing digital backbone (essentially upgrading to CV90 Mk IV standard) and a full turret swap. (Sound familiar? More on the WCSP comparison at the end)
Headline features. Gun unchanged, still the Bushmaster III 35 mm, which is sensible as that remain a very capable gun and could be upgraded to 50 mm supershot downstream. It has been repositioned in the turret for better balance and ergonomics, and ammo feeds and storage improved
Read 25 tweets
16 Dec 20
The #OMFV industry day last week provided some clarity and a few new angles on the requirement. A few highlights and thoughts below

(Image an old NGCV concept art, not from recent industry day)
Unsurprising desire to prioritise survivability, stated as #1 priority. At this stage specifics are unclear, but for contemporary ATGM/KE you need APS, ERA & some rather fancy composites. Even then overmatch will be tough in conjunction with mobility/transportability aspirations
Firepower requirements to engage infantry up to tanks, and helicopters. So an ATGM essential, and high elevation cannon. Given need for unmanend turret (see further down), could mean high profile turret, or loss of swept volume inside vehicle to allow that big 50 mm to elevate
Read 10 tweets
16 Dec 20
A few thoughts on belly loading. No, not our collective plans for the xmas period, a primer on the science behind allowing the belly of a vehicle to contact the terrain, and the implications therein to mobility (spoiler: its always bad) #AFVaDay #miltwitter #tanktwitter
Usual disclaimer - this is Twitter, I don’t have much space and so some things are simplified or omitted for simplicity. This is a hugely complex science; I’m just giving a flavour of the considerations inherent in AFV design. With that out the way…
Another outwardly unexciting concept, but actually quite critical to off road performance. Belly loading is the condition where the tracks have sunk in terrain to the extent that the belly of the vehicle is now partially or fully resting on the terrain
Read 24 tweets
15 Dec 20
One of the more interesting angles on RCV for me is the classification of each type in terms of expected life, usage and risk of loss to enemy action

RCV-L is "attritable / disposable / expendable"
RCV-M "durable / attritable"
RCV-H "non-expendable / human survivability levels"
For reference, RCV-L programme being informed and requirements developed via the contract to QinetiQ and Pratt Miller for their bid vehicle, developed from the Pratt Miller Expeditionary Modular Autonomous Vehicle (EMAV).
RCV-M is using Textron Systems, Howe & Howe, and FLIR Systems Ripsaw M5 for their requriement. Again, not a small bit of kit to be in the semi-expendable / durable bracket. Broadly seems to mean
Read 4 tweets
7 Sep 20
Having done mobility concepts to death of late, I thought it interesting to do a short thread on vehicle armour, specifically statistical armour (bar and mesh mainly) and tackling a few tropes around it. #miltwitter #tanktwitter #AFVaDay
Usual disclaimer - this is Twitter, I don’t have much space and so some things are simplified or omitted for brevity. This is a hugely complex science, I’m just giving a flavour of some of the considerations inherent in AFV design. With that out the way…
What is bar armour? Also called slat/cage/mesh/net armour, its one of a range of methods collectively called statistical armour, so called as it presents a statistical likelihood of defeating a specific projectile type
Read 39 tweets
11 Aug 20
A couple of years old, but a useful summary of some of the US Army's long range fires efforts, all oriented around radically extended reach for precision engagement of targets Image
Land Based Anti-Ship Missile (LBASM) repurposes the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to allow HIMARS and MLRS to engage ships. Not to be confused with the Navy's Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). PrSM also being worked on as an option for the anti-ship role. ImageImage
Single Multi-mission Attack Missile (SMAM) is a 35km range precision loitering munition. SMAM includes a self-contained launch tube and portable mast-mounted antenna. Total weight including the missile of 50-70lbs and controlled from a tablet relaying video feed Image
Read 9 tweets

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