Naomi Cooper
General Dynamics‘ land systems division, McQ, Oshkosh Defense and Textron Systems have secured contracts worth $25 million combined to design and build light robotic combat vehicle prototypes for the U.S. Army.
Under the first phase of the competition, the contractors will each work to deliver two platform prototypes to the service branch by August 2024 to begin mobility testing and evaluation with soldiers, the Army said Wednesday.
The military service envisions the RCV-Light as a modular vehicle that will provide soldiers with situational awareness, increased lethality and tactical options in support of multi-domain operations.
According to the Army’s budget justification document for fiscal year 2023, the RCV development program costs $698.2 million over five years.
A single awardee will be selected in the second phase of the competition in FY 2025 to finalize system designs and deliver up to nine full-system prototypes in the following year.
The service branch anticipates finalizing the follow-on production decision in FY 2027 and fielding the vehicle in FY 2028.
