Raytheon [RTN] and Germany’s Rheinmetall said Tuesday the companies have added automotive engineering firm

Pratt & Miller to its team competing for the Army’s Bradley fighting vehicle replacement program. 

Pratt & Miller is tasked with bringing engineering analysis for Raytheon and Rheinmetall’s Lynx vehicle offering to ensure it meets the Army’s survivability requirements for the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV).

Raytheon and Rheinmetall’s Lynx fighting vehicle. Photo: Matthew Beinart.

“Our troops deserve the safest and most advanced combat vehicle possible, and that’s exactly what we will deliver. Pratt & Miller brings extraordinary engineering experience and expertise to the team to make sure Lynx can withstand the battlefield’s harsh conditions,” Brad Barnard, Raytheon’s OMFV director, said in a statement. 

Raytheon and Rheinmetall first announced their partnership for OMFV at last October’s AUSA annual conference, where the companies discussed teaming up to leverage the former’s weapon systems and advanced sensors with the latter’s tracked vehicle expertise (Defense Daily, Oct. 9 2018). 

While leveraging the German manufacturer Rheinmetall’s international vehicle experience, the two companies have said they plan to build out partnerships with U.S. subcontractors like the Detroit-based Pratt & Miller.

“Raytheon and Rheinmetall are assembling a U.S. supply chain for Lynx. Partnering with Pratt & Miller brings us one step closer to building Lynx in the USA,” Matt Warnick, managing director for American Rheinmetall Vehicles, said in a statement. 

The Army is set to accept proposals and bid samples for OMFV this October.