The event supported Program Manager Light Armored Vehicles under the Middle Tier of Acquisition pathway. It was designed to gather early operator feedback before major design reviews and possible design changes.
Textron and General Dynamics Land Systems prototype ARV-30 vehicles were used during the assessment. Marines from 1st LAR, 2d LAR, 3d LAR and LAR Training Company took part.
“This Marine touchpoint puts experienced LAR operators in the driver’s seat of prototypes, providing an early fleet feedback loop to refine designs and optimize combat capabilities before the baseline is locked,” said Col. Douglas Peterson, program manager, LAV. “It allows us to directly translate Marine prototype feedback into concrete design refinements—ensuring the final platform is built for operators.”
Marines conducted gunnery, vehicle familiarisation, driver training and practical work on a test track. The event also allowed them to assess vehicle layout and turret operations through direct use of the prototypes.
PM LAV used a concurrent execution model to collect feedback from both platforms. One group worked on driver familiarisation with one vendor’s vehicle while another assessed gunnery and vehicle familiarisation on the other, before the groups switched.
“From my perspective, this Marine Touch Point was a phenomenal success and a textbook example of our ‘Shift Left’ strategy in action,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. John Farrell, PM LAV operations chief. “By putting our most seasoned, highly experienced LAR Marines face-to-face with vendor engineers, we captured high-pedigree, actionable feedback on the physical hull ergonomics and turret controls of the ARV-30 prototypes early in the cycle.”
“This direct collaboration is incredibly beneficial for both the USMC and our industry partners; it allows us to identify necessary design refinements, mitigate program risks, and shape future tactics well before the Critical Design Review, ensuring we ultimately deliver the most lethal and operationally suitable platform to the fleet.” The Marine Corps said the approach helps maintain data integrity by ensuring Marines assess both vehicles independently.
Staff Sgt. Dominic Rosado, a Light Armored platoon sergeant and master gunner with 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, said operator input is central to the programme. “This [Marine Touch Point] is integral to the future of the Marine Corps,” he said.
“We have maintenance chiefs here, we have master gunners here, we have O311 scouts that ride in the back of the vehicles and not necessarily operate it. I think bringing the Marines here to tell the contractors, ‘hey, this is what we’re looking for – hey, this is something that you might run into if we are to get this vehicle today and you kept this piece of gear on here.’”
“We’re here to basically shape what we want and tell them. We’re integrated in the process and the building of these new weapon systems, these new vehicles, and everything that the Marine Corps is turning into for this new force design.”
The ARV is being developed with open architecture, modular payloads and upgrade paths. The Marine Corps says the vehicle is intended to support the future Mobile Reconnaissance Battalion with greater survivability, mobility and connectivity.
“The ARV is the critical enabler for the LAR-to-MRB transition,” Peterson said. “It fundamentally redefines the mission by sensing, fusing, and sharing actionable intelligence across the entire [Marine Air-Ground Task Force].”
“The capabilities the ARV delivers are highly suitable for the near-term fight, while its open-architecture design guarantees scalable capability growth for years to come.” The programme links vehicle development to the wider transition from Light Armored Reconnaissance formations to Mobile Reconnaissance Battalions.
Rosado said the vehicle could improve battlefield awareness from the crew level through higher headquarters. “It creates more of a situational awareness,” he said.
“Not only for just like the individual crewmen, but as a whole with the different variants that they’re coming out with. Situational awareness down from the crewmen level all the way to the company and battalion level is going to serve dividends going and reporting to the [Marine Expeditionary Unit], reporting to a division, or whoever is that higher echelon of command that we report to the situational awareness of the battlefield.”
“That’s what we do and shaping that is going to be greatly improved based off these vehicles.” PM LAV plans more Marine Touch Points during the ARV pre-production development phase.
The programme will continue to use those events to collect feedback on design updates. The Marine Corps said the effort remains on schedule, applies cost controls and is using early assessments to reduce risk.
