NEXT GENERATION ON TRACK
becomes smaller, you still only have so much room in a vehicle. And so you have to have a certain percentage of space available, so you’re not having to over-engineer something to make it fit into a very, very tight space.”
Tis degree of planning would not be possible without what Coff- man sees as “an unprecedented level of communication with industry.”
“We are sending out draft products, letters to industry; we’re meet- ing with them for up to three hours at a time,” he said. “It’s really an attempt to overcome the pitfalls that the Army experienced in the previous [combat vehicle] programs”—Future Combat Systems, canceled in 2009, including the Manned Ground Vehi- cle; and the Ground Combat Vehicle, canceled in 2014—“where a requirement was not informed by the realm of the possible.”
Army senior leaders, including Gen. John M. Murray, command- ing general of Army Futures Command, and the command’s cross-functional teams charged with the individual moderniza- tion priorities “have gone to school on the past, and we’re applying those lessons … to make sure that we don’t fall into the same mistakes that have occurred.”
CONCLUSION Te five vehicles in the Next Generation Combat Vehicle initiative are moving forward at varying paces. Te Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle initiative to replace the Bradley began about a year ago, with 2026 the anticipated date for the first unit to be equipped.
Army Futures Command published the draft request for proposal in January to get industry feedback, followed by the final request for proposal in March. Next March, the command expects to award contracts to two vendors for the engineering and manu- facturing development phase. FY23 is the target for a milestone C decision.
FORTY YEARS AT WORK
The Bradley Fighting Vehicle has been on front lines since 1983, at top; played an integral role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, center; and has been upgraded repeatedly to stay in the fight, supporting training exercises in 2018, for example. (Photos by Spc. 5 Bobby Mathis; Shane A. Cuomo, U.S. Air Force; and Spc. Hubert D. Delany III, 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
Its combat vehicle family is something that the Army has attempted to modernize for years. Now Army Futures Command and the cross-functional teams “have dedicated themselves and ourselves to doing things differently,” Coffman said. “We are, through conversations with industry and academia, able to iden- tify what is possible on a schedule that we have set for ourselves to get this in the hands of Soldiers.”
—MARGARET C. ROTH and JACQUELINE M. HAMES
124
Army AL&T Magazine
Spring 2019
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