Under the terms of a contract with SAIC, ArmorWorks has been working to develop and manufacture seats for the Amphibious Assault Vehicle Survivability Upgrade (AAV SU) program for the U.S. Marine Corps.

The contract with SAIC includes Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) for the P7 personnel variant as well as non-recurring engineering to develop and test a new swivel seat for the AAV C7 command and control variant.

The proposed seat design is an improvement over the SPAWAR (Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command) staff seat, according to Chief Engineer David Bosen. Bosen explained that the new design eliminates complex components that are cost drivers in the legacy product, while reducing weight and headroom and increasing seat performance. “The form, fit and function of several serviceable items will remain the same, but will allow us to qualify new materials for future use,” he said.

This is one of several seating development contracts with SAIC, solidifying ArmorWorks’ partnership with this strategic customer.