Kongsberg Secures $44.3M to Sustain RT20 Turrets for U.S. Marine Corps ACV-30 Amphibious Combat Vehicles.

The U.S. Marine Corps is expanding long-term support for the ACV-30’s 30 mm firepower through a $44.27 million Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace contract modification announced by the U.S. Department of War on August 24, 2026. The award adds spares, repairs, engineering changes and sustainment for the PROTECTOR RT20 turret, helping keep the ACV-30 combat-ready as it becomes a more heavily armed element of Marine amphibious forces.

The PROTECTOR RT20 gives the ACV-30 stabilized, remotely operated medium-caliber firepower while allowing its crew to remain protected inside the armored hull. Its compact digital architecture also preserves space for embarked Marines and provides growth potential for future sensors and effectors, strengthening the vehicle’s value for direct-fire support and distributed operations.

Related Topic: Kongsberg’s RT20 Turret Deal Advances U.S. Marine Corps’ ACV-30 Amphibious Combat Vehicle Program

The U.S. Marine Corps awarded Kongsberg a $44.3 million contract modification to expand spares, repairs, engineering support and long-term sustainment for the ACV-30's PROTECTOR RT20 turret (Picture Source: Kongsberg / Edited By Army Recognition Group)

On August 24, 2026, the U.S. Department of War announced a $44.27 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace supporting the Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle Medium Caliber Cannon and its PROTECTOR Remote Turret 20. The award brings the contract's potential value to $335.90 million if all options are exercised and, significantly, expands the effort beyond turret procurement into spares, engineering changes, repair and sustainment. For the U.S. Marine Corps, the decision signals that supporting ACV-30 firepower over the long term is becoming as important as acquiring the weapon system itself.

PROTECTOR RT20 Gives ACV-30 Protected Medium-Caliber Firepower

At the center of the ACV-30 is Kongsberg's PROTECTOR Remote Turret 20, or RT20, a stabilized, remotely operated medium-caliber turret designed to give Marines substantially greater direct-fire capability while keeping its operators protected inside the armored hull. Kongsberg explains that the remote architecture eliminates much of the internal space required by legacy manned turret systems, preserving capacity for troops and mission equipment while reducing weight. Its modular and digital design also provides growth potential for future technologies and effectors. Army Recognition's earlier technical analysis of the RT20 highlighted the wider turret architecture's ability to integrate Bushmaster-family 30/40 mm cannons, modern day/night sensors and additional effectors, although such optional capabilities should be distinguished from equipment specifically fielded on the U.S. Marine Corps configuration.

For the Marine Corps ACV-30, the confirmed armament centerpiece is Northrop Grumman's Mk44S Stretch Bushmaster Chain Gun, which entered full-rate production for the program in December 2025. The weapon fires NATO-standard 30×173 mm ammunition and incorporates a future conversion path to 40 mm through replacement of the barrel and several components, giving the underlying weapon architecture room for future growth without implying that the Marine Corps currently operates the vehicle in a 40 mm configuration. Marine Corps acquisition documentation describes the ACV-30 itself as an infantry-support platform able to embark eight infantry Marines, with medium-caliber lethality extending to the ability to defeat adversary armored vehicles. In practical terms, the Kongsberg turret gives amphibious formations a protected, stabilized and increasingly mature direct-fire capability without turning the ACV-30 into a substitute for a main battle tank.

Latest Award Moves the ACV-30 From Production Toward Fleet Sustainment

The August 2026 modification becomes more significant when viewed against the program's rapid industrial expansion. Kongsberg received a full-rate-production agreement in August 2025 valued at up to approximately $330 million, following a $51 million long-lead-items award in 2024. A subsequent December 2025 modification funded 52 additional full-rate-production RT20 turrets, while BAE Systems announced on February 3, 2026, that another ACV production award had raised the number of ACV-30 vehicles ordered under that contract to more than 150. Northrop Grumman, meanwhile, moved the Mk44S cannon into full-rate production. Taken together, these developments show the Marine Corps synchronizing vehicle, turret and cannon production at increasingly meaningful scale rather than purchasing the three elements as isolated capabilities.

That industrial momentum explains why the new $44,267,020 modification deserves attention beyond its headline value. The contract specifically finances additional Initial Issue Provisioning turret spares, engineering change proposal activities, repair and sustainment processes, and funding for future engineering changes and support. Those provisions are the logistical foundation required when a new combat system moves from production into a growing operational fleet: spare parts must be available, repair pathways established and engineering changes managed as operational experience accumulates. Work will continue through August 27, 2030, with 62 percent performed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and 38 percent in Kongsberg, Norway. That U.S. workshare is particularly important because Kongsberg inaugurated a $10 million expansion of its Johnstown facility in February 2026, adding more than 36,000 square feet of manufacturing space for ACV-30 production. The Pennsylvania site is Kongsberg's largest manufacturing facility outside Norway and represents a substantial American industrial footprint supporting Marine Corps modernization.

The latest Kongsberg award represents more than a procurement action for replacement parts. It indicates that the United States is putting in place the engineering, repair and supply infrastructure needed to sustain the PROTECTOR RT20-equipped ACV-30 through the next stage of its service life, while maintaining a majority of the contract work in Pennsylvania. The program also illustrates a particularly valuable model of allied defense cooperation: Kongsberg brings decades of Norwegian expertise in remotely operated weapon systems, while its expanding Johnstown operation, extensive U.S. supply base, Northrop Grumman's American-produced Mk44S cannon and BAE Systems' ACV production combine that technology with domestic industrial capacity. For the Marine Corps, the result is not simply a more heavily armed amphibious vehicle, but a supported and adaptable medium-caliber firepower capability built around long-term readiness; for Kongsberg, the modification further reflects the confidence placed in the PROTECTOR family as a key contributor to U.S. ground-combat modernization.

Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group

Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.

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