October 10, 2018 | International, Land
By: Jen Judson
WASHINGTON — The Army is expected to make a decision by the end of the year on which companies will build prototype vehicles as part of its light tank competition.
The requirement for a Mobile Protected Firepower vehicle to provide infantry brigade combat teams a protected, long-range, cyber-resilient, precision, direct-fire capability for early or forcible entry operations was first laid out in the Army's combat vehicle modernization strategy released in October 2015.
The Army is looking to rapidly procure this capability by turning to commercial off-the-shelf technology rather than spend years developing it.
Several competitors submitted offerings to the competition in late February in the hopes that they are selected to build 12 prototypes that will be demonstrated and evaluated — and that will ultimately lead to the service selecting a winner to go into production.
The low-rate initial production plans are for roughly 54 vehicles — 26 to start, with an option to build 28 more, as well as retrofitting eight of the prototype vehicles. The first unit equipped is planned for 2025.
If selected, the contractors have 14 months to deliver MPF prototypes to the Army.
A final request for proposals will likely come out in late October or November, and the service will make a decision shortly thereafter.
SAIC partnered with Singapore's ST Kinetics and Belgium-based CMI Defense; BAE Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems all submitted written proposals, vehicles and armor coupons for testing.
The SAIC team integrated CMI's Cockeril 3105 turret on an ST Kinetics next-generation armored fighting vehicle chassis as its offering.
BAE Systems is offering an M8 Buford Armored Gun System with new capabilities and modernized components.
GD submitted an offering that combines a version of its latest Abrams turret with a chassis that leverages experience from the United Kingdom's AJAX program.
“We have additional new and proven technologies to meet MPF specific requirements,” a GD spokesperson said.
The Army has already moved through its testing and evaluation ahead of a decision later this year. Vehicle bid samples were tested to evaluate mobility and firepower performance, and the armor coupons were tested to evaluate protection performance.
According to Jim Scanlon, senior vice president and general manager of SAIC's defense systems group, the company did both pre-validation and follow-on testing of its vehicle offering before and after the Army's own evaluation period.
The company has brought the vehicle to the Association of the United States Army's annual conference.
If selected, SAIC plans to perform final integration work in its Charleston, South Carolina, facility, with the other companies in the team building their contributions in their own facilities.
However, Scanlon said, the company is working to come up with ways to do more and more of the production work in the United States, and both companies involved are on board and see moving some work into the country as a necessary investment as big combat vehicle programs gain traction. All options are being considered, Scanlon said.
BAE plans to build its EMD prototypes within its manufacturing network including York, Pennsylvania, Aiken, South Carolina, Anniston, Alabama and Sterling Heights, Michigan, according to the company's MPF capture lead Greg Mole.
GD said it would not release build locations for the vehicles at this time.
The MPF program now falls under the Army's Next-Generation Combat Vehicle cross-functional team's purview, which lies under the new Army Futures Command, charged with modernizing the force more rapidly to maintain overmatch against peer adversaries.
June 29, 2023 | International, Naval, C4ISR
The new rating and designator will predominantly be assigned to shore billets such as staff positions and leadership positions, and instructor billets.
September 1, 2021 | International, Other Defence
The Green Heat: Low Carbon Energy Generation for Heating Existing Buildings Test Drive call for proposals has been extended! We are pleased to announce that the deadline to apply to the Green Heat Test Drive Call for Proposals (CFP) has been extended by three weeks. The deadline for application is now Tuesday, September 28, 2021. See the full Call for Proposals that was issued July 27, 2021, and explore how you can support environmental progress and contribute to this key energy initiative. In extending the deadline, the Department of National Defence (DND) is maximizing its chances of getting the best technology to solve the challenge of finding ways to convert its buildings to low carbon heating without requiring a major building retrofit, and address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. About the challenge: The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) are looking to Test Drive creative energy generation solutions to pair up with existing heating systems to help lower our carbon footprint. Specifically, DND/CAF are seeking a large-scale, low carbon energy generation/transfer system for heating existing buildings by integrating with their current hydronic heat distribution systems. A test building has been selected in Kingston, Ontario, for a Design-Build team to design and install an innovative system, in order to assess the effectiveness and the costs of these integrated technologies, with the aim of reducing the energy demand and carbon footprint of DND/CAF's infrastructure portfolio. The potential funding for the Design-Build contract component of the project has been established in the range of $5,500,000. Interested in knowing more about this Test Drive? Please reach out to the Test Drive & Sandbox Team: IDEaSSandboxes-EnvironnementsprotegesIDEeS@forces.gc.ca The IDEaS Team Énergie Verte : Production d'énergie à faibles émissions de carbone pour le chauffage de b'timents existants – Appel de propositions prolongée! Nous sommes heureux d'annoncer que la date limite pour l'appel de propositions pour le Banc d'essai Énergie Verte a été prolongée de trois semaines. L'échéance pour présenter une demande est désormais fixée au mardi 28 septembre 2021. Consultez l'intégralité de l'appel de propositions publié le 27 juillet 2021 et découvrez comment vous pouvez soutenir le progrès environnemental et contribuer à cette initiative énergétique clé. En prolongeant la date limite, le ministère de la Défense nationale (MDN) maximise ses chances d'obtenir la meilleure technologie pour relever le défi de trouver des moyens de convertir ses b'timents au chauffage à faibles émissions de carbone sans nécessiter une rénovation majeure du b'timent, et de lutter à réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES). À propos du défi : Le ministère de la Défense nationale et les Forces armées canadiennes (MDN/FAC) cherchent à tester des solutions créatives de production d'énergie à jumeler avec les systèmes de chauffage existants pour aider à réduire notre empreinte carbone. Plus précisément, le MDN et les FAC recherchent un système de production/transfert d'énergie à grande échelle et à faible émission de carbone pour le chauffage des b'timents existants; ce système serait intégré aux systèmes actuels de distribution du chauffage hydronique. Un b'timent d'essai a été sélectionné à Kingston, en Ontario, afin qu'une équipe de conception-construction conçoive et installe un système novateur. L'objectif est d'évaluer l'efficacité et les coûts de ces technologies intégrées, dans le but de réduire la demande d'énergie et l'empreinte carbone du portefeuille d'infrastructures du MDN et des FAC. Le financement possible pour le volet conception-construction du projet a été établi à environ 5 500 000 $. Vous souhaitez en savoir plus sur ce banc d'essai ? Veuillez contacter l'équipe Banc d'essai & Environnement Protégé : IDEaSSandboxes-EnvironnementsprotegesIDEeS@forces.gc.ca L'équipe IDEeS
September 8, 2020 | International, Land
by Ashley Roque Northrop Grumman remains under contract with the US Army to mature a critical component of its ground combat fleet ‒ the XM913 50 mm cannon ‒ even as the service weighs its cannon calibre requirements for the its future Bradley replacement fleet. As of late August the company had delivered four XM913 cannons to the service, with plans to deliver seven more by the end of October, Northrop Grumman spokesman Jarrod Krull told Janes. In addition to these weapons, he noted that the company is anticipating an “imminent order” for 10 additional cannons that would be delivered to the service in 2021 for qualification, testing, and integration activities. “The 50 mm cannon combines Bushmaster chain gun reliability with [a] next-generation effective range that will provide the warfighter with increased stand-off against near peer adversaries,” Krull wrote. The army is working with the company to further develop the cannon, in part, to support its Next-Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) portfolio and allow soldiers to fire quicker and reach farther distances. The XM913 cannon can fire two munitions ‒ the XM1204 High Explosive Airburst with Trace (HEAB-T) and XM1203 Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot with Trace (APFSDS-T) ‒ and is central to the army's Advanced Lethality and Accuracy System for Medium Caliber (ALAS-MC) effort. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/northrop-grumman-charges-on-with-xm913-50-mm-cannon-deliveries-to-us-army