Bowhead Wins $25 Million Marine Corps Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch Support Contract

Bowhead Base Operations LLC of Springfield, Virginia, won a Marine Corps contract worth up to $24.5 million to support the Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch at Camp Pendleton, California. The single-award contract covers data collection, electronics support, emergency medical treatment, media support, technical editing, and watercraft operations and maintenance for developmental and integrated test events. Awarded Sept. 15, 2026, the work is expected to run through August 2031.

Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch Support Details

Bowhead will support the Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity’s work to plan, execute, analyze, and report on tests of amphibious vehicles and related equipment. Its data collection and electronics services will support the technical side of those events, while watercraft operations and maintenance and emergency medical treatment will support testing in and around the water at Camp Pendleton.

The contract also covers media support and technical editing for the records and reports produced from test events. Together, the six service areas span field operations through the documentation of results—work that supports the branch’s role in evaluating vehicle performance rather than simply maintaining equipment. The Marine Corps’ description of the branch identifies it as the Defense Department’s test center specializing in Marine amphibious combat platforms.

Amphibious Vehicle Testing Background

The branch’s testing includes vehicles tied to two major Marine Corps efforts. The Amphibious Combat Vehicle is replacing the Amphibious Assault Vehicle; an October 2025 Marine Corps force-design update projected that 257 personnel-carrier and mission-command variants would be fielded across the three Marine Expeditionary Forces by the end of 2025. That was a projected milestone, not a reported completion figure.

The branch has also supported Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle development. In March 2026, General Dynamics Land Systems and Textron conducted open-water testing of their ARV-30 prototypes at Camp Pendleton. The Marine Corps later brought reconnaissance Marines into both companies’ vehicles to assess features including hull ergonomics and turret controls, according to its account of the June 2026 evaluations. Bowhead’s award supplies branch-wide test support; the award notice does not assign it to a particular vehicle program.

Award and Contractor Background

The Marine Corps awarded the firm-fixed-price contract without competition. Work will be ordered through individual task orders, and the award notice listed an $878,812 minimum guarantee. Bowhead previously held a place on a related, multiple-award vehicle for Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch operations, maintenance, and technical services. Announced in September 2021 with a combined value of $31.2 million across four awardees, that arrangement covered test-and-evaluation support for amphibious and ground combat vehicles, systems, and equipment, according to a Defense Department contract announcement. The new award instead places the stated six-area support requirement with a single contractor. More information on the company is available in Bowhead Base Operations’ HigherGov profile.

This award was disclosed by the DoW in its daily press release. Additional contract details will be available on HigherGov in approximately 90 days under M6890926D7904 after the contract is formally disclosed by the government.