The U.S. Army M1283 Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) General Purpose (GP) variant is undergoing testing at the Tropic Regions Test Center in Panama, Ronkainen reports on his Twitter account..

The AMPV (Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle) replaces the M113 tracked armored personnel carrier in service with the U.S. Army since 1960. In December 2014, BAE Systems was awarded a 52-month contract covering the AMPV’s engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) and low-rate initial production (LRIP) phases. Under the EMD phase, a total of 29 AMPVs in all five variants are to be delivered. The contract’s LRIP phase will cover 289 vehicles, and under current plans it is expected that 2,907 AMPVs could be procured in five variants, each to replace versions of the M113A3 vehicle family.

The Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) is the replacement for the M113 Family of Vehicles (FoV) within the Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), comprising approximately 30% of its tracked vehicle fleet. The new tracked armored vehicle will be delivered to the U.S. Army in five configurations including the XM1283 which will replace the M113 in APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) version, the XM1284 Medical Evacuation Vehicle, XM1285 Medical Treatment Vehicle, the XM1287 Mortar Carrier Vehicle that will replace the M1064 A3, and the XM1286 Mission Command that will replace the M1068A3.

The AMPV has been designed to provide significant capability improvement over the M113 tracked armored vehicles in force protection, survivability, mobility, and power generation to incorporate the U.S. Army’s inbound network and other future technologies.

The AMPV Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle is based on the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle platform with a similar layout but without any combat turret. The hull of the AMPV is made of new all-welded aluminum armor with spaced laminate armor fitted to the hull. The front and each side of the hull are fitted with explosive reactive armor to increase protection against anti-tank guided missiles and modern RPGs (Rocket-Propelled Grenade).

The AMPV Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle is motorized with a Cummins diesel engine developing 600 hp., which is common to another new BAE Systems-built vehicle in the U.S. Army fleet, the M109A7 Paladin Self-Propelled Howitzer. The suspension system of the AMPV includes torsion bars, and on each side, there are six dual rubber-tired road wheels with the drive sprocket at the front and the idler at the rear. It can run at a maximum road speed of 61 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 362 km.