American Rheinmetall and General Dynamics vie for a potential $45bn contract to design and manufacture the XM30 to replace the Bradley

The US Army has decided to replace the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, which has been in service for more than four decades. Two companies, American Rheinmetall and General Dynamics, are vying for the right to build a successor.

Here's What We Know

The US Army this week officially announced the transition to a new phase of the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) programme. Five companies were initially involved in the project. In addition to American Rheinmetall and General Dynamics, BAE Systems, Oshkosh Defense and Point Blank Enterprises were awarded contracts five years ago.

The potential value of the programme is $45bn. The next stage of the competition involves $1.6bn being awarded to American Rheinmetall and General Dynamics. At this stage, they must propose a prototype of an advanced infantry fighting vehicle for testing, which has been named the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle.

American Rheinmetall wants to use the Lynx KF-41 infantry fighting vehicle (pictured above). The company has joined forces with Raytheon and L3Harris to build it. It is equipped with a 50mm cannon, thermal imaging sights and can launch drones.

General Dynamics offers the Griffin III (pictured above). It is based on an Ajax reconnaissance vehicle chassis with a 50mm cannon. The combat vehicle can launch Switchblade drones. General Dynamics is partnering with AeroVironment for this.

Source: US Army