The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Romania of a number of Assault Amphibious Vehicles (AAVs) and related equipment, the US Defense Security Co-operation Agency announced on 27 July 2023.
The proposed sale, which is estimated to be worth USD 120.5 M (EUR 109.5 M), has been forwarded to the US Congress for final approval.
The AAVs comprise 16 AAVP-7A1 Personnel Variants, three AAVC-7Al Command Variants and two AAVR-7Al Recovery Variants.
Also requested as part of the package are 16 .50 cal heavy machine guns and five 7.62 mm M240B machine guns, as well as MK-19 grenade launchers; M36E T1 thermal sighting systems; spares; special mission kits/enhanced applique kits; technical manuals; and various items of technical, programme and logistics support.
A principal contractor for the sale of the AAVs, which were originally manufactured by United Defense (which was subsequently subsumed within BAE Systems), has not been determined.
The AAV is being replaced in US Marine Corps (USMC) service by the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) made by Iveco and BAE Systems, which was selected in June 2018. The first batch of ACVs was delivered to the USMC by October 2020 and the start of full-rate production was announced in December of that year.
Peter Felstead
