Oshkosh Defense, Partners Enter Concept Design Phase of U.S. Army’s OMFV Program

The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Detroit Arsenal (ACC-DTA) has chosen an Oshkosh led team as one of the five contenders for the Concept Design Phase of the service’s Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) program tasked to replace the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

The OMFV will replace the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), which has been in service since 1981.

The Oshkosh Defense consortium includes Pratt Miller Defense, Hanwha Defense USA, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, QinetiQ Inc., and Plasan.

Oshkosh’s OMFV concept leverages the proven capability of Hanwha’s Redback chassis and Rafael’s SAMSON family of turrets. The Redback is one of two contenders for Australia’s Land 400 Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), while the SAMSON family of turrets serves as the foundation for Oshkosh’s recently awarded Medium Caliber Weapon System (MCWS) contract with the U.S. Army.

As part of the Concept Design Phase, Oshkosh Defense will develop initial concepts supported by Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis (MS&A), which will inform OMFV requirements up to a System Functional Review (SFR).

The OMFV second phase award was announced on July 23 by the U.S. Army Contracting Command – Detroit Arsenal (ACC-DTA), paving the way for a 15-month-long program of work by selected contenders to make digital concept designs for the OMFV.

The other teams chosen by the Army are BAE Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems, Point Blank Enterprises and American Rheinmetall Vehicles.

The Oshkosh Defense consortium also includes Pratt Miller, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, QinetiQ Inc., and Plasan.

The OMFV program takes a five-phased approach to design, prototype, test and produce the vehicle with the aim of producing a transformational infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) that will dominate maneuver in multi-domain operations.

Following the second phase contracts, the selected consortiums are set to take part in another open competition in the second quarter of fiscal year 2022 for the next phases of detailed design and prototype, with a contract announcement for the winning bidder due in late 2027.

The Oshkosh-Hanwha team is to offer an up-to-date OMFV design based on the chassis of the Redback IFV developed by Hanwha Defense. The Redback is one of two contenders for the LAND 400 Phase 3 project designed to introduce next-generation tracked armored IFVs for the Australian Army.