The Army has released a draft Request for Proposals for the next two phases of its Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) competition, which would cover detailed design and building and testing of prototypes.
The draft document notes the Army still intends to award up to three contracts covering both Phase 3 and 4 of the Bradley replacement program, which will culminate in each vendor building 12 prototype platforms.
“The [final] RFP for OMFV Phases 3 and 4 will require 12 prototype vehicles, as well as an early risk reduction prototype, several ballistic hulls and turrets, armor coupons, ballast kits, and data,” the Army writes in the draft document.
Last July, the Army awarded nearly $300 million in contracts to General Dynamics Land Systems [GD], Oshkosh Defense [OSK], BAE Systems, Rheinmetall and armor supplier Point Blank Enterprises for OMFV Phase 2 to work on refining their platform concepts over a period of 15 months (Defense Daily, July 23 2021).
A three- to five-month break will occur between the end of the Phase 2 contracts and the award of the Phase 3 and 4 deals, according to the draft RFP.
The final RFP for OMFV Phases 3 and 4 is expected to be released in June, the Army notes.
The Army reiterated that the competition for the next two phases of OMFV will not be limited to the participants in the current concept refinement effort.
Those who submit bids for the next step in the OMFV process will be evaluated on their design’s survivability, weight and mobility, lethality, ability to enable and optimize a two-man crew, ability to leverage modular open systems architecture and digital engineering, according to the Army.
OMFV Phase 3 will look to mature OMFV designs leading into a critical design review, which will then move immediately into the Phase 4 building and testing of prototypes.
The Army has said it plans to downselect to a single vendor for OMFV production in late FY ‘27.
Industry feedback on the draft RFP for OMFV Phases 3 and 4 is due back to the Army by March 14.