Armoured Combat Support Vehicle (ACSV)
Project summary
The new and modern fleet of Armoured Combat Support Vehicles (ACSV) will provide ambulances, mobile repair and recovery vehicles, as well as engineer support vehicles and command posts, for both domestic and international operations.
The new fleet of 360 ACSVs will all be based on the LAV 6.0 and will replace the current Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) II Bison and M113 Tracked LAV fleets. The ACSV is classified as either Type 2 (the first five variants with a high roof) or Type 3 (the last three variants with a lower roof).
Project phases
Currently in Phase 4: Implementation
1. Identification
1. Identification
- June 2017
2. Options analysis
2. Options analysis
- January 23, 2019
3. Definition
3. Definition
- N/A
4. Implementation
4. Implementation
- Project approval: August 6, 2019
- Contract award: September 5, 2019
- First vehicle accepted: December 18, 2020
- First delivery (Ambulance variant): October 2023
- Second delivery (Troop/Cargo variant): February 2024
- Third delivery (Command Post variant): August 2024
- Initial Operational Capability: January 15, 2025
- Full Operational Capability: 2028
- Completion of Infrastructure: 2030
5. Close-out
5. Close-out
- 2031
Learn more about the Defence procurement process.
Additional information
Project updates
Project updates
February 2025
Critical Design Review of Engineer Variant completed.
January 2025
As of January 15, 2025, the ACSV project officially achieved Initial Operational Capability with the successful delivery of the first three ACSV variants: the Troop/Cargo Vehicle, the Ambulance, and the Command Post, along with their associated training, spare parts and support equipment.
June 2024
Critical Design Review of Type 3 Maintenance Recovery Vehicle variants completed.
February 2024
The second ACSV variant, the Troop/Cargo Variant, began testing at Garrison Petawawa.
As of February 2024, a total of 118 vehicles have been factory accepted by Canada. These vehicles are progressively being delivered to the CAF.
Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Durability testing that evaluated the Remote Weapon Station has also been successfully completed.
October 2023
Canada officially accepted delivery of the first ACSV variant, the Ambulance variant, at Garrison Petawawa. Delivery of the Ambulance variant is ongoing.
February 2023
Total of 86 Type 2 variants have been produced by GDLS-C to date.
November 2022 - February 2023
Preliminary Design Review of Type 3 Common and Fitter/Cargo Vehicle, Maintenance Recovery Vehicle, Mobile Repair Team variants are completed.
June 9, 2022
Critical System, Design, and Logistical Reviews of Electronic Warfare variant complete.
May 25, 2022
Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Durability (RAMD) testing – Phase 1 completed.
March 31, 2022
First Command Post variant – produced by GDLS-C.
July 29, 2021
The second variant of ACSV (Ambulance) was accepted at the factory by Canada.
December 18, 2020
The first Troop/Cargo Vehicle variant was accepted at the factory by Canada.
November 2019 – December 2020
Critical system, design, and logistical reviews are done on the troop/cargo, ambulance, and command post variants of the vehicles.
September 5, 2019
A contract was awarded to GDLS-Canada (GDLS-C)..
Industry
Benefiting Canadian Industry
The Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy was applied to the contract, thereby ensuring that General Dynamics will make investments into the Canadian economy equal to the value of the contract by providing opportunities for Canadian small and medium businesses and supporting innovation and skills development for Canadian workers. The total ITB obligation is $1.906 billion.
Technical Requirements
About the ACSV
360 vehicles will be purchased in eight variants. They include:
Type 2 Variants:
- Troop/Cargo Vehicle (TCV)
- Ambulance (AMB)
- Command Post (CP)
Type 2+:
- Electronic Warfare (EW)
- Engineer (ENGR)
Type 3 Variants:
- Fitter/Cargo Vehicle (FCV)
- Maintenance and Recovery Vehicle (MRV)
- Mobile Repair Team (MRT)
Project costs
Project costs
The cost of the ACSV project is $2.1 billion (taxes included). This includes acquisition, project management costs, infrastructure, and contingency.
Issues/Risks
Issues/Risks
The Government of Canada has announced two separate donations for a total of 89 ACSV’s to the Government of Ukraine. Any vehicle originally fabricated for Canada will be replaced by the contractor and therefore there will be no impact to scope of the project. As a result of the donations, in October 2023, the Ambulance variant was the first vehicle delivered to the CAF and the Full Operational Capability has changed to the end of 2028.