Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle: Acquisition the Right Way (From RealClearDefense)

The past several decades are littered with examples of major military acquisition programs that went bad, costing tens of billions of dollars. Rarely have the military services been able to learn from their mistakes and restructure a failed program so it can succeed. One exception to this tendency is the Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) program. Following the decision to terminate the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, the Marine Corps regrouped, rethought its requirements, developed a carefully modulated acquisition strategy and moved forward with the ACV. It appears that this time the Marine Corps got it right. I have written about the success of the ACV program here.