U.S. Army to buy more AMPVs to replace M113s sent to Ukraine

The United States Army plans to spend $250 million to procure 50 Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles (AMPVs) to replenish combat vehicles transferred to Ukraine, according to a Pentagon reconciliation spending plan recently submitted to Congress. The planned contract award is expected before April and is intended to restore armored vehicle inventories after large-scale security assistance deliveries.

The procurement addresses a capability gap created after the United States Army transferred hundreds of legacy armored personnel carriers to Ukraine under Presidential Drawdown Authority.

According to the reconciliation spending plan obtained by Inside Defense, the funding is designed to “replenish the M113 armored personnel carrier vehicles provided to Ukraine under Presidential Drawdown Authority.” The effort directly replaces vehicles removed from U.S. Army inventories following sustained military aid shipments since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, produced by BAE Systems, serves as the modern replacement for the Army’s long-serving M113 Family of Vehicles within Armored Brigade Combat Teams. The platform performs multiple battlefield roles, including troop transport, command and control, medical evacuation, and mission support functions.

Pentagon data cited in a January 2025 fact sheet states that at least 900 M113 armored vehicles have been transferred to Ukrainian forces since the beginning of the war. Those transfers reduced available legacy vehicle stocks, prompting replenishment planning through new procurement.

Congressional authorizers initially directed the Pentagon to use the $250 million allocation to purchase 38 AMPVs. However, one congressional source told Inside Defense that improved manufacturing efficiencies reduced unit costs, allowing the Army to expand the planned buy to 50 vehicles within the same funding level.

“BAE was able to find efficiencies and able to do it at a lower price,” the congressional source said, according to the report.

Congressional appropriators removed $126 million from the program in the Fiscal Year 2026 spending bill as part of the Army Transformation Initiative and cut an additional $13 million citing “support ahead of need,” reducing overall procurement funding despite the replenishment requirement.

The AMPV program represents a long-term modernization effort replacing the M113 platform, which first entered service in the 1960s and has remained widely used across multiple operational roles. While upgraded over decades, the M113 lacks modern protection levels and mobility required for contemporary armored warfare environments.

In operational terms, the AMPV is built on a tracked armored chassis designed to move alongside Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles in armored formations. The vehicle incorporates improved survivability features, enhanced power generation, digital network integration, and modular mission configurations compared with the older M113 design.