>> EQUIPMENT / STRYKER
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For the fiscal year 2011, the U.S. Army wishes to spend $934 million of the $2.5 billion allocated for BCT Modernization to develop the GCV
(above) Heavily loaded Double V-hulled Stryker vehicles on patrol in Afghanistan. (right) Fresh out of the factory in standard US Army colours, this Stryker stays Stateside for training
will be built around a common chassis. The GCV will be operable with the current Battle Command Control And Communications Suite, but would gradually use a more state-of-the-art networked integration system known as the BCT Network. It will provide exportable electrical power, and a battery charging capability for external hardware including vehicles and electronics from the BCT Soldier subsystems. The system would be capable of integration with unmanned systems and dismounted soldiers. The GCV has to be transportable by cargo aircraft, rail and ship. The Army requires it to meet the availability rates of the current Stryker, and is not limiting the vehicle by the dimensions of the C–130, which, in the past, has constrained many designs. Air mobility will be provided by the more spacious C–17. The GCV will have good cross–country mobility, with a baseline requirement of 30mph off-road speed. The GCV should deliver higher sustainability levels and consume less fuel than the Bradley or other vehicles of similar weight and power. The military is accepting both tracked and wheeled designs.
Prototypes and bidding
In June 2009, a blue–ribbon panel met in Washington D.C. to discuss requirements for the GCV. In October and November 2009, more than 100 defence contractors turned up for two U.S. Army events in Michigan to express interest in bidding on the vehicle. A request for proposals (RFP) was issued in February 2010. For the fiscal year 2011, the U.S. Army wishes to spend $934 million of the $2.5 billion allocated for BCT Modernization to develop the GCV. Up to three competitive contracts were to be awarded by early October. A prototype development contract decision would follow by 2013. The Technology Development Phase (or Milestone A) would begin in the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2010 with the award of up to three vehicle contracts. This will be followed by an Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase and Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) phase before full production could start.
Nine vehicles were evaluated in the Analysis of Alternatives (AOA). The four primary vehicles included in the AOA were the M2A3 Bradley II, a modernized
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Stryker, an M2A3 Bradley variant used in Iraq and a XM1230 Caiman Plus MRAP. The five secondary vehicles included two unnamed foreign-made platforms, the M1126 Stryker Infantry Fighting Vehicle, the M1A2 SEP TUSK Abrams, and a modernized M1 Abrams. In August 2010, the U.S. Army cancelled the current RFP to revise the requirements. A new RFP was issued 60 days later. When Peter Chiarelli was asked if the Army was developing an alternative to the GCV, he replied “We’re totally committed to GCV.” The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform suggests deferring development of the GCV until after 2015.
In August 2011, technology development contracts were awarded to BAE Systems Land and Armaments for $449.9 million and General Dynamics Land Systems for $439.7M. The Army is using an incremental approach to combat vehicle modernization, centred on the GCV. The deployment will be synchronized with upgrades, resets and divestiture of existing vehicles. Vehicles displaced by the IFV may then replace selected M113 vehicles such as command and control, medical evacuation and mortar carrier, allowing the Army to begin divestiture of the M113 family of vehicles.
Upgrades to existing Bradley and Stryker vehicles may
be considered as risk mitigation based on the rate at which the GCV is introduced. Although upgraded, the Bradley and Stryker would also be replaced in the midterm. The Infantry Fighting Vehicle supersedes the previous infantry carrier replacement, the XM1206 Infantry Carrier Vehicle of the FCS MGV programme. It is the U.S. Army’s intention that the IFV replace the M113 APC by 2018, the M2 Bradley later and the Stryker ICV in the midterm. The IFV will hold a crew of three and a squad of nine.■
globaldefencemedia.com | winter 2012_13
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