BAE Systems is showcasing its third Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) prototype at the 2024 AUSA Global Force Symposium, taking place from 26 to 28 March at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, configured with the External Mission Equipment Package (ExMEP).
Also described as the ‘universal top plate’, the ExMEP provides a common integration point across all AMPV hull structures to allow for seamless and modernised technology enhancements.
The AMPV’s ExMEP is capable of adapting to more than 30 turret systems and builds on the vehicle’s modular approach, enabling the rapid integration of new mission roles into the AMPV family of vehicles. The latest prototype features Elbit America’s UT30 30 mm unmanned turret. The company also fully integrated and successfully demonstrated a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) in November 2023 prior to delivering a 120 mm unmanned turreted mortar capability to the US Army in January 2024, with both of these integrations also using the ExMEP design.
“I was one of those soldiers in the battlefield, so I can tell you first hand how critical it is to field modern capabilities quickly,” Bill Sheehy, BAE Systems’ AMPV programme director, was quoted as saying in a 26 March company press release. “Keeping pace with the rapidly evolving threats on the battlefield is the objective of the AMPV with ExMEP,” Sheehy added.
The latest AMPV prototype thus demonstrates the capabilities of ExMEP and the options it provides for rapid integration of future capability configurations onto an already-proven hull, although none of the demonstrated AMPV configurations are currently planned or funded for the US Army.
