Scott Nicholas
The U.S. Army will issue a request for proposals in November for the service branch’s Mobile Protected Firepower lightweight armored combat vehicle development program.
The MPF vehicle will feature a 105mm gun and offer a long-range direct-fire capacity for infantry brigade combat teams to support forcible entry and breaching missions, the service branch said Wednesday.
The service branch noted that it skipped the traditional two- to three-year technology development phase for the MPF vehicle as part of the Army’s rapid acquisition effort.
Maj. Gen. David Bassett, Army program executive officer for Ground Combat Systems, said the service branch issued a draft RFP in September to gather input from potential MPF contractors and the Army is slated to release the final RFP in mid-November with a contract to be awarded in 2019.
MPF will work to address a capability gap that sprouted upon the retirement from service of the M551 Sheridan armored reconnaissance/airborne assault vehicle in 1996.
Science Applications International Corp. entered an alliance with CMI Defence and ST Kinetics in October to create a combat vehicle prototype that will be submitted for the Army MPF program.
