The Army’s top acquisition official confirmed Monday that no protests were filed on the award decision for the next phases of the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle program, the service’s Bradley replacement effort.
“By different counts, this is the fifth or sixth time the Army has tried to do this. But, I think we’ve got the right requirements this time. We’ve got two excellent industry partners. And we avoided a protest, thankfully, so we are off and running on that,” Doug Bush, the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, told reporters.
The Army announced in late June it had selected General Dynamics Land Systems [GD] and American Rheinmetall Vehicles (ARV) to move onto the detailed design and prototype build phases for XM30, and awarded the two firms $1.6 billion in contracts (Defense Daily, June 26).
GD Land Systems and American Rheinmetall Vehicles beat out bids from BAE Systems, Oshkosh Defense [OSK] and armor supplier Point Blank Enterprises.
All five firms had previously been working since June 2021 on the concept refinement phase for the Bradley replacement competition, formerly called Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV).
“Oshkosh is extremely proud of our team’s work on the OMFV program, the world-class team that we assembled, and the capabilities we’ve demonstrated in the combat vehicle market. As we move forward, we remain committed to supporting the U.S. Armed Forces in the design and delivery of the world’s most capable military vehicles and technology solutions that enable our Warfighters to perform their missions and return home safely,” Oshkosh Defense said in a statement to Defense Daily on Monday.
BAE Systems previously confirmed in July it had decided not to protest the XM30 award decision following its debriefing with the Army (Defense Daily, July 19).
“After careful evaluation and debrief conversations with the U.S. Army, we have decided not to pursue a protest following the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle Phase III and IV award. While we are disappointed with the result, we remain focused on producing quality vehicles and expanded capabilities for soldiers. We look forward to continuing to be a reliable partner for the U.S. Army and finding new ways to innovate alongside them in the future,” a BAE Systems spokesperson said in a statement at the time.
GD Land Systems and ARV work on the next phases of XM30 will include both firms delivering up to 11 prototype vehicles.
“As we enter phases 3 and 4 of this competition, General Dynamics Land Systems is committed to maturing a design and delivering prototype vehicles that fulfill the Army’s vision to modernize its ICV capability to provide persistent dominance,” Gordon Stein, the company’s vice president and general manager of U.S. operations, said in a statement following the June award announcement.
The Army will hold a limited competition between GD Land Systems and ARV for the eventual XM30 production contract, with plans to select a winner in 2027.
“We are privileged and honored to be selected by the Army for the next phases of the XM30 Combat Vehicle program. Together with our teammates, ARV will deliver a vehicle with the most modern protection, firepower, mobility, and power generation capabilities available, thus ensuring our Soldiers dominance on future battlefields. We are excited to get started, and look forward to working with the Army on this critical capability,” Mike Milner, ARV’s vice president of business development and strategy, has said in a statement.
Bush previously discussed the decision to only select two vendors for the next phases of the XM30 program, after the service had previously noted it could award up to three deals.
“Focusing our resources on two ensures those will be properly funded. So it was a resource-informed decision but one that also lets us retain competition. So it kind of became a sweet spot between the two demands we had there,” Bush said during a press briefing ahead of the June contract announcement.