Concept photo

Concept photo American Rheinmetall

Rheinmetall, Partners Detail Armored Fighting Vehicle It’s Pitching to Replace Army’s Bradley

Executives touted each company’s unique technology and expertise as their special sauce.

A newly designed 50-millimeter gun turret, a special launcher that can fire anti-tank weapons, a new hybrid transmission, cutting-edge sensor, and agile software that can tie everything together.

Those are just some of the unique features of the armored vehicle that American Rheinmetall is pitching to the Army to replace the Bradley, a tracked combat vehicle that has been in the inventory for four decades. Executives from Rheinmetall and other companies on its team shared some details of their proposal with Defense One last week in advance of the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting in Washington this week. While it’s rare for companies to give details of a proposal before bids are due, the team intends to show off some of the technology in its proposal during AUSA.

“We want to show the Army customer 1. How committed we are, 2. How confident they can be in this program, that they're going to get what they want in the transformational platform, and 3. That we’re differentiated,” said Stephen Hedger, CEO of American Rheinmetall Defense.

Rheinmetall and its five partner companies, who go by “Team Lynx,” are looking to disrupt the U.S. armored vehicle market that has been largely dominated by General Dynamics Land Systems and BAE Systems. They argue that by winning the Bradley replacement, which the Army calls the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle, or OMFV, it would inject more competition, which, in turn, would lead to better technology for soldiers.

“You're going to get advances in technology and you're going to get additional capacity in terms of the industrial base,” said Matt Warnick, managing director of American Rheinmetall Defense. “Ultimately, and most importantly, I think the competition brings a better capability set to the soldier.”

Even though the Army isn’t expected to choose a winner until 2027, an estimated $45 billion price tag and two decades of production serves as a strong motivation. Collectively, Team Lynx has invested tens of millions of dollars to design and develop its technology, executives said.

In July 2021, the Army awarded contracts to five companies for digital designs of their proposals: General Dynamics Land Systems, BAE Systems, Oshkosh Defense, American Rheinmetall, and Point Blank Enterprises. General Dynamics has partnered with GM Defense, AeroVironment, and Applied Intuition; BAE Systems has partnered with Elbit Systems of America.

Bids for the next phase of the bidding process are due Nov. 1. The Army is expected to choose up to three companies to build prototypes of their fighting vehicles, which will be extensively tested. The service is not expected to choose a winner until 2027. The entire contract for thousands of the vehicles is estimated to be worth $45 billion.

The new OMFV will have two crewmembers, one fewer than the Bradley, and could even operate without a crew. It will also be able to transport up to six soldiers

The armored vehicle will be “tasked to maneuver through the enemy’s security zone as part of a combined arms team for the purpose of creating an advantageous position, relative to the enemy, and providing protection and direct fire lethality while manned or remotely operated,” according to the Congressional Research Service. “In the close fight, the OMFV enables the ability of dismounted elements to maneuver by detecting and destroying targets at a range beyond the enemy’s capability.”

It’s the third time the Army is trying to replace Bradley—two prior efforts were canceled. During the last attempt in 2019, Germany-based Rheinmetall, which at the time was only teamed with Raytheon, was unable to transport a Lynx vehicle from Germany to the United States due to bureaucratic hurdles. The Army disqualified the company’s bid. The service canceled an earlier attempt, in 2020, after it received a sole bid from General Dynamics.

The extra time gave Rheinmetall time to build a more robust team and make investments in its U.S. facilities. In July, the company announced it would open a 46,000-square-foot prototyping factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan, creating between 125 and 150 new jobs over the next three years.

The team is putting forward a heavily modified version of the Lynx fighting vehicle, developed in Germany in the middle of the last decade. Called Lynx OMFV, there are “significant modifications to the chassis” and other parts of the vehicle, Warnick said. The gun turret of the version being pitched to the U.S. Army was designed by Rheinmetall engineers in Michigan. In recent weeks, the company has test fired the 50-millimeter gun in the new turret for the Army, Warnick said. 

“This is a true independent offering from an OMFV perspective, but we get to leverage a lot of that work that we've done previously, both from a testing and validation perspective to pull that risk, but also from a … material selection, sub-system selection, from a cost perspective as well,” he said.

Executives touted each company’s unique technology and expertise as their special sauce.

Raytheon, which teamed with Rheinmetall during the last competition, is still part of the team and is working on “supporting the lethality integration piece of the program,” said Brad Barnard, executive director of precision fires and maneuver at Raytheon Missiles & Defense. The company is developing a “multi-mission launcher” that allows it to fire Javelin and TOW anti-tank weapons and Coyote drones.

“This multi-mission launcher capability that will enable Lynx ... is truly unique across the market and brings a tactical flexibility to the warfighter that doesn't exist today,” Barnard said.

Allison Transmission is building an electric hybrid cross-drive transmission, the first time the propulsion technology, which the company calls eGen Force, has been used in a tracked Army vehicle, said Dana Pittard, the vice president of defense programs.

“It's our largest defense investment in the company's 107-year history,” he said.

The power distribution technology will allow the vehicle to operate silently and not give off a heat signature, Pittard said. It will also allow the vehicle to power future weapons, Warnick said.

L3Harris Technologies is providing electronics that connect all of the vehicle’s sensors and targeting equipment to reduce the crew workload, said David Zack, president of the company’s Mission Avionics business. The company mission management system will enable artificial intelligence and machine learning that will be used when there is no crew inside. 

“For us it really intersects in improving the overall situational awareness and reducing the crew workload,” Zack said.

Anduril will use its software to “build the back end does, not just sensor correlation but actual fusion, to represent those time-sensitive, tactical targets of interest and then be able to elevate to a commander … how to prioritize the types of effects they can generate against those targets,” said Zach Mears, Anduril’s head of strategy and growth.

The vehicles will be assembled and delivered to the Army from a Textron Systems factory in Slidell, Louisiana, where the company has built more than 10,000 vehicles for the U.S. military and its allies. Textron Systems will build the chassis and the turret structures, said David Phillips, senior vice president of the company's Land and Sea Systems businesses.

“We bring a facility capable of executing a [large military acquisition] program and a wealth of experience in transitioning from development prototype into full-rate production,” Phillips said.

The team’s activities span16 states and will create hundreds of jobs just to build 11 prototypes for the Army, executives said. 

“There's a unique commitment to transformational product delivery and technology for the Army in this program,” Hedger said. “Some people have questioned [if this is] going to be an iterative step in fighting vehicles? And this team came together because they wanted to prove a transformational platform could be delivered on day one.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.