Slow your roll: Army plans reduced buys for some key combat vehicle fleets

This story was updated at 5:30 pm EST to clarify upgun Stryker numbers in the FY24 budget request.

WASHINGTON — The US Army has slashed plans to upgun Stryker vehicles with 30 mm cannons and is slowing its procurement of a new fleet of light tanks starting in fiscal 2024, as the service takes a scalpel to some of its high-profile vehicle programs, according to recently released budget documents.

The Army has been slowly unfurling its FY24 budget request over the past week and now unveiled more details about its plan to spend its total of $185.5 billion next year and, largely, maintain new weapon development. From that pot, though, budget justification documents detail plans to spend $3.8 billion next year on weapons and tracked combat vehicle procurement — representing a $700 million reduction over what lawmakers approved the year before. That plan shows an Army preparing to scale back spending next year on a handful of key vehicle fleets.

One industry source said the cuts or productions slowdowns are not surprising, especially since the service leaders are continuing to try and balance weapon development against procurement.

“The Army [is] concerned about a bow wave of procurement dollars, and so they have to shuffle around to make sure they can afford all of those things [they require],” the source told Breaking Defense.

For example, last year the Army said it wanted to spend $523.6 million on its first batch of 42 Mobile Protected Firepower vehicles from General Dynamics Land Systems in FY24 as part of an eventual 504-vehicle fleet. But the new budget trims that down to $394.6 million for 33 vehicles next year.

Future budget projections lay out a plan to ramp up MPF production at a slower rate than previously disclosed by buying between 37 and 41 vehicles per year between 2025 and 2027, instead of the 45 to 48 vehicles per year it detailed last year.

Budget documents do not disclose why the Army changed course on MPF procurement plans, but the service selected the heavier GDLS vehicle in mid-2022 after eliminating BAE Systems’ lighter prototype. That award decision came after the service had posted its plan for a higher rate of production. 

The service did not respond to Braking Defense’s questions about proposed cuts to the light tank production line or several other ground combat vehicle programs set to be pared down. Here are some notable changes:

Stryking Out (Of Some Upgrades)

Last year the Army said it foresaw spending $827.5 million in FY24 for 166 Stryker upgrades. However, it has requested $614 million to cover the cost of upgrading 85 vehicles next year, according to justification documents. Further, the outyears show additional cuts when compared to plans last year to include:

• In FY25, the number of Stryker upgrades drops from 183 vehicles down to 110
• In FY26, 196 down to 189
• In FY27, 207 down to 187

All in all, the Army previously projected upgrading 752 Strykers between FY24 and FY27 but is now aiming for 571. Stryker upgrade plans include a variety of different efforts and are designed, in part, to improve reliability, lethality, safety, operational, performance degradation, chemical detection and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) obsolescence issues.

Again, the FY24 justification documents do not clearly articulate why the Army wants to spend less money on fleet upgrades in the coming years, but they appear to show a deep cut or change of plans particularly procuring a fleet of upgunned Strykers, also referred to as the Double V Hull A1 (DVHA1) ICVVA1 30mm or the Medium Caliber Weapon System (MCWS). 

Oshkosh Defense won the competition to integrate the 30mm cannon onto the vehicle in mid-2021, but during the testing phase of the competition, the Army noticed problems with the winning bid sample’s ability to mark targets and hit them while on the move. To fix the problems, the service launched a “risk management testing” effort and said it completed this phase in early 2022 and was moving into production. It is not immediately clear if additional testing is underway.

What is clear, according to budget documents, is the Army is either delaying MCWS procurement or significantly cutting it. 

As of August 2022, the Army had inked deals with Oshkosh for the company to eventually produce 269 MCWS for three Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCTs).

The FY24 budget request does not reflect that eventual purchase. Instead, the Army appears to indicate that it has ordered 178 vehicles in previous years with plans to purchase five more next year, according to FY24 budget justification documents, or roughly enough vehicles for two brigade combat teams. By the end of 2026, the service should receive all of those vehicles, and that is where Army plans to buy MCWS stops, at least according to publicly available budget documents.

Howitzers, Haulers and Bridges

Also aligned for buy reductions next year and beyond are the Self-Propelled Howitzer Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) program and the Army’s line of M88 recovery vehicles, both made by BAE Systems.

For PIM, the service is proposing a slight reduction next year with plans to spend $469 million to produce 24 vehicles next year instead of 27. However, the Army is now planning to further reduce its procurement in the years ahead by dropping its FY25 predicted purchase of 25 PIMS down to 22, in FY26 46 down to 37 and in FY27 the buy is reduced from 45 to 40.

The service only said in the documents that the new plan will “support all aspects of the PIM full-rate production.”

For the M88 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift and Evacuation System (HERCULES) family of vehicles, the Army had envisioned funding production of 18 vehicles in FY24 but has now zeroed out all procurement funding, only adding in $41 million for technical support. In the outyears, it adds projected procurement dollars back in to build between 12 and 14 M88s per year between FY25 and FY28.

The Army does not address why it has decided not to seek funds for M88 buys next year but does note that a contract award has been delayed from the end of FY23 into FY24.

“After the submission of the FY23 budget, the program office requested a zero sum … realignment of efforts and funding in the amount of $69.3 million to support the procurement of M88A2 vehicles,” the Army wrote in the budget justification documents.  “Due to the timing of receipt of funding and the contracting administrative process, the planned FY23 contract award shifted from June 2023 to November 2023.”

Despite PIM and M88 reductions at BAE, the FY24 budget request is not all bad news for the company. 

At first glance the Army’s $554.8 million for 91 Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) next year is 40 fewer than it anticipated requesting this time last year.

However, Jim Schirmer, the deputy Program Executive Officer for Ground Combat Systems, told reporters last week the service is not reducing its AMPV buy, just working with different pots of money. Because the Army has been sending M113 vehicles from its stockpiles to Ukraine, it has received approximately $800 million in FY23 Ukraine Tranche Replacement funding to replace those vehicles with AMPVs.

In turn, lawmakers only provided the service with $380.7 million in the FY23 base budget to buy 43 AMPVs instead of the 72 vehicles the Army initially requested. The service was then able to reduce its FY24 AMPV request for next year, since money is still available to buy new vehicles.

Meanwhile, the service is also taking the scalpel to its Joint Assault Bridge buy, a vehicle meant to replace the service’s existing Wolverine and the M48A5/M60 series chassis Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge. The Army is only requesting $160 million next year for 24 JABs, nine fewer than it predicted buying this time last year. Budget documents show similar cuts in the future years where instead of purchasing between 29 and 30 JABs each year between 2025 and 2027, that number drops between 22 and 29 vehicles each year.

Abrams and Beyond

Meanwhile, Army leaders are preparing for what comes next after the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle and the M1A2 Abrams main battle tank.

When it comes to the Bradley line, the service is embarking on a the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) competition and is requesting $997 million in research and development for that effort next year. As expected, that means less procurement dollars are in the budget to support the legacy vehicles. However, the service includes $128 million in FY24 for the Bradley Firce Support Team (BFIST) vehicle “new start,” though additional dollars are not included in the future years. Some of those funds will be used to address “field problem reports” and improve safety, addresses obsolete components, develops and installs modification kits, maintains software and cyber, and more.

For the larger Bradley modernization pot, the service said it is seeking more money in FY24 than it planned, and has increased the request to $158 million over last year’s $56 million projection. The outyears show a similar investment increase with plans to spend between $101 million and $129 million between FY25 and FY28.

Army leaders are also considering plans for a future main battle tank, but the FY24 budget request includes a boost to Abrams’ upgrade procurement coffers. Last year the service projected spending $814 million on 30 vehicle upgrades in FY24. Instead, it has requested $1 billion for 45 tanks but then details a blueprint for reducing investments in the upgrade program in FY25 through FY27 over its previous plan.

What isn’t clear yet is if the budget includes research and development dollars to explore what comes next for the line since those justification documents have not been published.