The Army will no longer consider submitting its own design bid for the restarted Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) prototype competition, the service said Thursday.
The decision was based on feedback from industry and dialogue among Army senior leaders, according to an update to the draft Request For Proposals notice.
“As we continue to progress through the first-phase of our five-phased approach for the OMFV program, communication, inclusive feedback and innovative thinking from industry remains key,” Ashley John, spokeswoman for PEO Ground Combat Systems, said in a statement to Defense Daily.
The draft RFP for OMFV, the Army’s Bradley replacement program, was released in July and originally included a note that the service may consider submitting its own design for OMFV phase one that could compete against industry’s proposals (Defense Daily, July 17).
John noted the comment period for the draft RFP closed on Aug. 28, and that the revised version removed the paragraph on the Army potentially submitting its own design.
“The Army is carefully reviewing and analyzing industry comments (over 500 in total). The team will spend the next few weeks doing a detailed analysis of the feedback and preparing responses to industry concerns,” John said.
A final RFP is expected to be released in December, according to John.
The Army announced this year it would cancel its original acquisition effort for OMFV, which faced scrutiny after a single bid sample from General Dynamics [GD] was accepted for the program’s prototype phase.
The rebooted competition’s initial phase focuses on digital designs rather than physical prototypes, with plans to award up to five contracts in June 2021.