{"id":33082,"date":"2022-10-09T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-09T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/10\/09\/deadline-looms-in-competition-to-build-armys-bradley-replacement\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:44:08","slug":"deadline-looms-in-competition-to-build-armys-bradley-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/govcon\/2022\/10\/09\/deadline-looms-in-competition-to-build-armys-bradley-replacement\/","title":{"rendered":"Deadline looms in competition to build Army\u2019s Bradley replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The deadline is approaching to submit bids to build the U.S. Army\u2019s Bradley infantry fighting vehicle replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer, the service released a request for proposals to industry to design and build prototypes<\/a> for the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle program. Bids are due at the beginning of November, Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, the Army\u2019s program executive officer for ground combat systems, told Defense News in a recent interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army last year awarded contracts to develop preliminary designs over a 12-month period. It tapped five companies: Oshkosh Defense, BAE Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems, American Rheinmetall Vehicles and Point Blank Enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are vehicle providers who didn\u2019t participate in the first phase that theoretically could compete,\u201d Dean said. \u201cWe think all five [current] competitors will bid. We won\u2019t know until the bids come in. Every one of them has to make their own business decision about their probability of success in the next phase.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army has tweaked its request for proposals several times based on industry feedback, Dean said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September, the Army issued an amendment to request that each bidding team complete \u201ca task\u201d on modular, open-systems architecture, he said. \u201cIt\u2019s basically an engineering test.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the Army really wants to understand is \u201cthe depth of expertise and understanding,\u201d Dean added. \u201cWe\u2019re going to give [them] an architecture … that has flaws in it,\u201d and contractors are required to identify the problems and indicate how they would reengineer or change the design to address the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service is also trying to determine how to more quickly progress the program. Dean said one change from the draft RFP to the final version included reducing the number of required prototypes.<\/p>\n\n\n\t