In this development phase, the US Army intends to award up to three contracts to different tendering companies, before drawing up a short list in subsequent steps for the actual solution to be realised.
The three competitors comprise of the BAE Systems/Northrop Grumman team, the General Dynamics team, joined by Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and MTU Detroit Diesel, as well as the SAIC-led team which includes Boeing and the two German companies Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall Defence.
According to the US Army, "the first Ground Combat Vehicle will be an Infantry Fighting Vehicle offering a highly survivable platform for delivering a nine-man infantry squad to the battlefield.
The GCV is the first vehicle that will be designed from the ground up to operate in an improvised explosive device (IED) environment.
It is envisioned to have greater lethality and ballistic protection than a Bradley, greater IED and mine protection than an MRAP, and the cross country mobility of an Abrams tank."
The SAIC-led team (called ‘Team Full Spectrum') will be developing an IFV solution for the US Army based upon the tracked Puma platform.
Despite being of German origin, the team emphasises that all work on the vehicles of the GCV program, including production, will be carried out in the US - a significant factor in any US defence procurement program.
The BAE Systems-Northrop Grumman GCV offering will be based upon the Bradley A3 Infantry Combat Vehicle, resulting in an entirely new configuration that is intended to meet the demanding scope of potential mission profiles.
General Dynamics equally announced this week that it submitted a proposal for the GCV program, however did not disclose the technical approach it will adopt for the development phase.
According to General Dynamics, the industrial team comprises partners that, as a whole, are already involved in the development, integration or sustainment of over 70 per cent of the Army's current fleet of combat vehicles and weapons systems.