Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) or MSV(L) is the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

’s replacement for the

Landing Craft Mechanized The landing craft mechanized (LCM) is a landing craft designed for carrying vehicles. They came to prominence during the Second World War when they were used to land troops or tanks during Allied amphibious assaults. Variants There was no ...

8 ( LCM-8 or “Mike Boat”) that had been in service since 1959.

Characteristics

* Length: * Top speed: * Range: Army awards billion-dollar contract for 100-foot landing ships
David B. Larter,

DefenseNews.com ''Defense News'' is a website and newspaper about the politics, business, and technology of national security published by Sightline Media Group. Founded in 1986, ''Defense News'' serves an audience of senior military, government, and industry de ...

, 2017-09-29 The MSL(V) will be able to carry either one M1A2 Abrams tank, two

Stryker The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. It ...

armored vehicle Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighti ...

s with

slat armor Slat armor (or slat armour in British English), also known as bar armor, cage armor, and standoff armor, is a type of vehicle armor designed to protect against high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) attacks, as used by anti-tank guided missiles (ATG ...

, or four

Joint Light Tactical Vehicle The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is a United States military (specifically U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps) and United States Special Operations Command program to partially replace the Humvee fleet with a family of more survivable vehicle ...

s with trailers.

Contract

In September 2017, the U.S.

Army Contracting Command The Army Contracting Command (ACC) is a contracting services command of the United States Army. "On October 1, 2008, the Army recognized the formal establishment of the Army Contracting Command as a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Mate ...

Warren, Michigan Warren is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2020 Census places the city's population at 139,387, making Warren the largest city in Macomb County, the third largest city in Michigan, and Metro Detroit's largest suburb. ...

entered into a contract with

Vigor Shipyards Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United St ...

for its

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 Unit ...

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance ...

to produce the MSV(L). It is a firm fix-price contract for US$979,794,011 with an estimated completion date in 2027. A prototype will be available in FY2019, then a further four in FY21 and FY22. Assuming full production is authorised, 32 will be built between FY23–27, for a total purchase of 36 MSV(L).Vigor wins $980 million Army contract
MarineLog.com, 2017-09-28

References

{{reflist Landing craft Ships of the United States Army