— Ivan O'Gilvi (@o_gilvi) October 18, 2021
In the USA, the developments of companies participating in the new US Army competition for a promising infantry fighting vehicle under the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) program were demonstrated. The tender ended on April 21, 2021. Seven companies submitted proposals and five were selected.
According to the unofficial blog of the AST Center, these materials were shown at the annual exhibition-conference of the US Army Association AUSA-2021, held in Washington from October 11 to 13, 2021. The selected participants will be awarded contracts for $26.6 million each for the development of machine projects.
The main requirements for a new car: survivability - in the first place, mobility - in the second. This was the signal for a significant increase in mass for the new BMP. In addition, the vehicle must be equipped with an optional habitable combat module with a 50 mm automatic gun XM913. In the habitable version, the vehicle must have a crew of two people placed in the hull and a landing party of six people. The BMP must have a complex of active protection.
The companies presented the projects. They are different. In the second quarter of 2023, the US Army will select three competitors out of five who will receive government funding to finalize their designs and build real working prototypes by July 2025.
Then they will conduct comparative tests of these prototypes at the landfill, they will last until July 2026. After that, one winner will be chosen in January 2027. The new BMP will be put into pre-production in the fourth quarter of the same year, and by September 2028, the first battalion set of OMFV should be delivered. Full-scale serial production is planned to begin in the second quarter of 2030.
Svetlana Tsygankova
