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Army Awards Contracts for Partially Autonomous Tactical Vehicle

The Army renames the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle.

Soldiers navigate a Bradley fighting vehicle through the battlefield during Karelian Lock 23 in Pahkajarvi Training Area, Finland, last month. The Bradley will be replaced by the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle, an optionally-manned armored vehicle. Army Sgt. Brayton Daniel

The U.S. Army announced yesterday the award of two firm-fixed-price contracts for the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle Phase III and IV detailed design and prototype build and testing phases, using full and open competitive procedures. The contracts were awarded to General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., and American Rheinmetall Vehicles LLC, both located in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The total award value for both contracts is approximately $1.6 billion.

With the initial digital design phase of the program now complete, the Army is redesignating the OMFV program as the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle.

Army officials told reporters in a media roundtable prior to the announcement that they do not intend the vehicle to be fully autonomous. Instead, it will allow “drive by wire” and “shoot by wire” capabilities with some ability to perform optionally manned tasks, such as moving autonomously from waypoint to waypoint.

Additionally, the officials reported that software for the system will be developed separately from the platform itself. If autonomous technologies are mature enough, the vehicle could become more fully autonomous, they indicated.

“The XM30 program has been highly successful,” Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, the Army’s program executive officer for Ground Combat Systems, said in an Army press release. “The Army’s iterative concepting and digital design approach, combined with increased emphasis on competition, continues to allow the program to quickly design a transformational capability for the Army of 2030 and beyond.”

The press release added that the XM30, which will replace Bradley Fighting Vehicles, will bring “new capabilities that will transform the way our formations fight in the future” and that it is being developed with “a modular open system architecture” that will allow “new, developing technology to be added to the vehicle as that technology matures, ensuring overmatch against any future adversary.”

“Competition remains a vital aspect of the XM30 program,” said Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. “Fully funding two companies for the next phases of the program will allow the Army to place the XM30 on a rock-solid foundation from a resourcing perspective, while also maintaining a competitive environment.”

Brig. Gen. Geoffrey Norman, director of the Next-Generation Combat Vehicles Cross Functional Team said in the Army press release: “The XM30 brings a transformational change to how our armored brigade combat teams will fight in the future, bringing more lethality to the battlefield and reducing risk for our soldiers.”

The XM30 is expected to deliver improved capabilities through the use of 21st-century technologies that will be developed using a digital acquisition environment.

During the next two phases of the program, the Army will conduct activities to mature XM30 designs and will verify prototype performance during test activities, including a limited user test. The awardees will be required to deliver up to 11 prototype vehicles, as well as two ballistic hulls and turrets, armor coupons and digital engineering data.

Following the detailed design and prototype build and testing phases, the Army intends to have a limited competition to downselect to one vendor at Milestone C near the end of fiscal year 2027, with the first unit equipped anticipated in fiscal year 2029.

The same vendors will then compete, based on demonstrated platform performance, in a limited competition for XM30 low-rate initial production.