The Army has awarded $1.6 billion in contracts to General Dynamics Land Systems [GD] and American Rheinmetall Vehicles
(ARV) to continue on its Bradley vehicle replacement competition, with plans to choose one of the two companies for a production contract in 2027.
GD Land Systems and ARV beat out bids from three other vendors to work on the next two phases of the program now called the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle, which will include each delivering up to 11 prototype vehicles.
“The XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle will deliver next-generation lethality, protection and mobility. The XM30 is a tracked combat vehicle with the capacity for eight, two crew and six dismounts. The crew will employ the XM30’s powerful lethality suite, including a 50mm cannon and a remote turret, anti-tank guided missiles and machine guns, all of which are employed through advanced third-generation FLIR [sights] and intelligent fire control,” Brig. Gen. Geoff Norman, director of the Army’s Next-Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team, told reporters on Monday.
In July 2021, the Army awarded nearly $300 million in contracts to five teams led by GD Land Systems and ARV as well as Oshkosh Defense [OSK], BAE Systems and armor supplier Point Blank Enterprises to work on refining concepts for the program that was, until this point, called Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) (Defense Daily, July 23 2021).
“Competition remains a vital aspect of the XM30. The program opened the doors for industry partners who were not traditional U.S. combat vehicle prime contractors, which allowed for increased competition and innovation. This reduced the Army risk and increased the likelihood of success, while balancing investments across the entire Army modernization enterprise,” Doug Bush, the Army’s top acquisition official, told reporters.
This is the Army’s second attempt at OMFV after it canceled the original acquisition effort in early 2020, which faced scrutiny after a single bid sample from GD Land Systems was accepted for the program’s prototype phase.
“I believe that going through this process has gotten us to fully achievable requirements,” Bush said on Monday. “I think we are on much firmer ground this time from an achievable, realistic requirements standpoint. And I think we got there through just a lot of great work across the Army and with a lot of folks in industry. This program it’s our, at least, third, maybe fourth, attempt to replace the Bradley. This one’s going to succeed.”
Bush was also asked on Monday about the decision to only select two vendors for the next phases of the program, with the Army having 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 responded.
The contracts to GD Land Systems and ARV covers work on both Phase 3 and 4 for XM30, the detailed design and prototype build phases.
Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, program executive officer for ground combat systems, described Phase 3 as taking the vehicles from a digital designs and concept to a “‘ready to build in the physical world’ digital model that is modeled, simulated and tested in a digital environment.”
At the end of Phase 3, the Army will make a Milestone B decision to move into Phase 4 where each vendor will build seven prototype vehicles, with options for four more, to support live fire, developmental and limited user testing, according to Dean.
The Army will then hold a limited competition between GD Land Systems and ARV for the XM30 production contract, with plans to select a winner in 2027.
GD Land Systems’ team for OMFV includes GM Defense, AeroVironment [AVAV], artificial intelligence and autonomy developer Applied Intuition, with the company’s offering featuring its new Katalyst vehicle architecture (Defense Daily, Feb. 16 2022).
“Our OMFV solution builds upon our unparalleled track record of delivering best-in-class ground combat vehicles to the Army and its allies. We have designed from the inside out to integrate capabilities that deliver battlefield dominance through the convergence of superior information, decisions and actions. We look forward to continuing to partner with the Army to deliver this innovative capability to Soldiers for persistent dominance on the near-future battlefield,” Gordon Stein, GD Land Systems’ vice president of U.S. operations, has previously told Defense Daily.
American Rheinmetall Vehicles, whose parent company is based in Germany, is offering a version of its Lynx infantry fighting vehicle platform for XM30 and has a team that includes Textron Systems [TXT], RTX [RTX], Anduril Industries, L3Harris Technologies [LHX] and Allison Transmission [ALSN] (Defense Daily, Sept. 6).
A first unit equipped milestone for XM30 is expected in FY ‘29, Dean said.
Both GD Land Systems and ARV proposed hybrid-electric offerings for XM30, with Norman telling reporters that such designs will help “reduce the energy burden” on Army formations (Defense Daily, Nov. 1 2022).
“[XM30’s] hybrid-electric powertrain will reduce fuel consumption, extending the operational reach of the formation through less frequent refueling stops and enabling silent watch like we’ve never had before,” Norman said.