When it comes to other programs that could see a reworking, the official pointed to a recent commercial solutions opening for the Common Tactical Truck program.
The service has sent hundreds of ground combat vehicles to Ukraine since February 2022, and Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean warned that “sustainment challenges” abound without additional dollars.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
Soldier feedback "is going to be absolutely essential and will give Congress and the taxpayers more confidence that what we are developing to deliver the warfighters is what they actually need,” Brig. Gen. Geoffrey Norman said of the XM30.
“While we are disappointed with the result, we remain focused on producing quality vehicles and expanded capabilities for soldiers,” said a spokesperson for BAE Systems, among the competitors not chosen to move forward.
The service announced that the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) program will now be called the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle, and revealed new details about its basic design.
Twenty-five more combat vehicles and an unspecified amount of munitions have been earmarked for Ukraine.
The Sixth Domain is not defined by geography. It’s a new kind of conflict in which autonomy and networked systems allow thousand-dollar consumer electronics to destroy multi-million-dollar conventional weapons systems.
“We're going to keep all options on the table,” Pentagon press secretary said when asked if M1 Abrams tanks could also be bound for Kyiv in the near future.
As the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle enters phases three and four, a senior Army official details some requirements but says the service is flexible.
With the release of the Pentagon's FY23 budget request likely only a month or so away, defense experts offered their best guesses about what programs might be on the chopping block.
“If this works, we would use this kind of technology and apply it as we look at our requirements for other vehicles in the future,” said Stan Darbro, deputy director of the Army RCCTO.
Do more with less: streamline workflows, reduce duplication, invest upfront to save long-term.
If there’s one thing that Army leadership agrees upon, it’s the need for improved survivability of soldiers and machines against modern anti-tank weapons like the Russian Kornet and Chinese HJ-8 guided missiles, as well as Russia’s tandem warhead RPG-29 rocket propelled grenade that can bore a hole into a tank with a molten jet of metal.
The Army’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) program has ambitious goals that will require development of new technological capability that ranges from autonomous operations to advanced materials.
If the Army wants to get its Big Six right, it must talk, and talk and talk with Congress and the press and industry. And be ready to drop failures.
Good news: That's more money than the Army thought it could get for its top priorities. Bad news: We won't see most of it this year.