QUANTICO, Va -- Program Manager Advanced Amphibious Assault (PM AAA) hosted its first Industry Day at Program Executive Office Land Systems, unveiling its Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) Modernization Strategy to defense industry partners on March 12, 2025.
The PM AAA office hosted the event to strengthen collaboration and accelerate innovation. According to Col. Tim Hough, PM AAA’s program manager, the event served as a platform to communicate the government’s priorities and engage industry early in the acquisition process.
“It was born out of a need to identify where we want to guide the ACV modernization focus for the future and increase velocity of programs,” Hough said. “The industry day sought to connect our respective engineers and project officers responsible for varying efforts in the modernization strategy with industry to discuss opportunities and develop an understanding of what is in the market.”
PM AAA Industry Day was designed to accomplish three key goals: first, to offer industry partners a clear roadmap of where and when they can engage, tied to fiscal year planning; second, to support decision-making within the Program Objective Memorandum (POM) process for resourcing; and third, to help leadership evaluate and manage risks associated with delaying or shifting capabilities.
Mike Melkonian, deputy program manager for PM AAA, said the idea for Industry Day came from a desire to have “more focused targeted discussions with industry” about sustaining and enhancing the ACV platform as threats evolve.
“I’ve told folks the ACV that Marines use today is not the ACV that they’re going to use in the future,” Melkonian said. “We’re leading the charge on developing and assessing capability that’s going to be able to add enhanced capability for the ACV, so Marines have the best and latest technology to be able to operate and execute their mission.”
Melkonian also emphasized that the event was a two-way conversation.
“It was an opportunity for us to share with industry where we’re headed in terms of capabilities we’re going after, and an opportunity for them to be able to pitch their ideas,” he said. “Targeted solutions that maybe we were assessing but weren’t mature at the time, or capabilities frankly we hadn’t thought about.”
By aligning PM AAA’s technical leads with business development teams, the event created space for candid discussions and early exploration of emerging technologies.
“One industry business development partner had said if more Program Offices did the same thing, he’d be out of a job,” Hough said. “I think it was a great opportunity to connect the
program office with industry. Anytime we can do that we accelerate our understanding of what is possible and cut down on time needed to research that effort.”
According to Melkonian, one of the most effective aspects of the event was giving industry a chance to showcase their capabilities face-to-face.
“It was a great opportunity for us to talk to some of the leadership members in those companies to get a better sense of what they are working on. Where are they making investments in their company?” he said.
Melkonian added that this helped PM AAA better understand what technologies might align with long-term planning.
“It’s really trying to inform the modernization strategy that we’ve been building to look at capability over the next five to ten to even 15 years for the ACV platform and be able to inform those Marine Corps investments.”
Melkonian also said the timing of the event was crucial, given the transitional phase the program currently faces.
“We’re still fielding, we’re still developing capability,” he said. “The ACV 30 is in final developmental and operational testing. The ACV-R is closely behind it… and conversely, we’re also fielding quite a number of personnel and command variant vehicles.”
As the fleet grows, military officials believe there’s a dual focus: keeping the vehicles mission capable while integrating new technology.
“These engagements with industry are key for us to understand what is the realm of the possible and then align that to our budget so we can make more informed trade studies and inform leadership on what is possible, given the capability that the Marines need and our ability to deliver that capability when needed,” Melkonian said.
The overwhelmingly positive response from attendees has already set the stage for a follow-up event next year. Hough shared that the next iteration would offer a closer look at the ACV itself to help companies visualize how their technology might integrate into the platform.
“We want to make sure that we constantly have that communication with industry, so they have an opportunity to showcase what they’re doing and what’s on their respective time horizons,” Melkonian said. “We asked companies to give us feedback and they said it was a great opportunity to have, again, focused targeted discussions.”
As PM AAA continues to refine it’s modernization strategy, events like Industry Day highlight the command’s commitment to transparency, innovation and collaboration – ensuring Marines are equipped with the most advanced and reliable capabilities to meet future challenge
By aligning PM AAA’s technical leads with business development teams, the event created space for candid discussions and early exploration of emerging technologies.
“One industry business development partner had said if more Program Offices did the same thing, he’d be out of a job,” Hough said. “I think it was a great opportunity to connect the