Contractors share $900M prize to develop the Army's smart combat vehicle
Program calls for designing a vehicle that provides exceptional growth, survivability and an affordable price
- By David Hubler
- Aug 19, 2011
Two large contractor teams are facing off through a pair of technology development contracts worth a total of nearly $900 million for the Army's new smart combat vehicle.
BAE Systems Inc. and Northrop Grumman Corp. lead one team with a $449.9 million award for in the technology development phase of the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) Infantry Fighting Vehicle program.
A second team led by General Dynamics Corp. that includes Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co. and Tognum America Inc., won a $439.7 million contract for a parrellel effort.
The program calls for designing a vehicle that provides exceptional growth and survivability at an affordable price, according to a BAE-Northrop Aug. 19 announcement.
The technology development phase is a 24-month program to deliver a mature GCV proposal that will pass the preliminary design review prior to the manufacture of prototypes during the engineering and manufacturing phase of the program.
The BAE Systems-Northrop Grumman vehicle features an adaptive platform that will remain relevant for decades to come, bringing more survivability, mobility and versatility to the Army and with levels of protection scalable to the demands of a variety of missions, the announcement said.
The team's offering includes a hybrid electric drive propulsion system that enables exceptional force protection and mobility in a lower-weight vehicle while allowing for growth in power requirements as new technologies mature and are integrated into the platform.
The BAE Systems-Northrop Grumman Ground Combat Vehicle team includes QinetiQ, iRobot Corp., MTU and Saft.
As prime contractor, BAE Systems leads the overall program management, systems integration, vehicle design, structure and logistical support as well as readiness and sustainment of the platform.
Northrop Grumman serves as the C4ISR lead.
QinetiQ provides the key component of the hybrid electric drive propulsion system, the E-X-Drive.
iRobot serves as the unmanned ground vehicle integrator and will enhance future autonomous operations. MTU provides the engine and power generation for the GCV and Saft provides the battery and energy storage system.
The work will be done at BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman sites in Sterling Heights and Troy, Mich.; Santa Clara and Carson, Calif.; York, Pa.; Minneapolis, and Huntsville, Ala.
Under the General Dynamics contract, Lockheed Martin has responsibility for the turret, lethal and non-lethal effects and embedded training.
Raytheon is responsible for the RPG protection system, indirect-vision and sensor integration.
Tognum America has responsibility for the power pack, which comprises the engine, transmission and generator.
General Dynamics C4 Systems leads the network and communications integrated product team and has responsibility for network integration, communications, computing and information assurance.
The work is being done at General Dynamics Land Systems sites in Sterling Heights, Mich., and Lima, Ohio; Lockheed Martin in Grand Prairie, Texas; Raytheon in McKinney and Plano, Texas; General Dynamics C4 Systems in Scottsdale, Ariz., Taunton, Mass., and Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Tognum America in Detroit, Aiken, S.C., and Friedrichshafen, Germany.