The U.S. Army plans to release a final request for proposals for the service’s optionally manned fighting vehicle (OMFV) by the end of 2020 before selecting five awardees that will move forward in the program.
Brig. Gen. Richard Coffman, director of the Army Futures Command's (AFC) next-generation combat vehicle cross-functional team, told National Defense Magazine in an interview that he expects interested parties to prioritize AI-based sensor data collection concepts for the OMFV, the publication reported Wednesday.
Coffman noted that the Army is currently trying to avoid establishing concrete requirements for the vehicle, which is meant to replace the Army's Bradley platform.
“We believe that we will see from industry aided target recognition, that we will see open systems architecture,” he said. “Those items will inform the OMFV characteristics going forward in the second RFP."
The Army issued a draft RFP for OMFV design activities in July 2020 and plans to issue another solicitation for prototyping work in the third quarter of 2022. The service intends to downselect three companies before choosing the final contractor ahead of the vehicle's deployment in 2028.
