The US subsidiary of German armored vehicle manufacturer Rheinmetall has signed a teaming agreement with L3Harris Technologies for work on the new optionally manned fighting vehicle (OMFV) for the US Army.
The army re-launched the OMFV procurement process in July last year with the aim of replacing its Bradley infantry fighting vehicle.
American Rheinmetall Vehicles, the prime contractor, selected L3Harris to provide vehicle mission systems, cybersecurity and its modular open systems approach (MOSA) for the Lynx. L3Harris’ MOSA can enable cross-platform and cross-domain commonality of parts and subsystems to allow for easy and affordable upgrades.
“We are excited to have L3Harris join our growing team to support the US Army’s OMFV program,” said Mathew Warnick, managing director for American Rheinmetall Vehicles. “Their experience in open architecture, communications, and cybersecurity bring tremendous capability to the American Rheinmetall Vehicles team as we prepare our digitally engineered OMFV to provide our soldiers overmatch now and for the future.”
Prior to entering into an agreement with L3Harris, Rheinmetall also signed cooperation deals with Textron Systems and Raytheon Technologies.
Rheinmetall is basing its offer on the Lynx IFV, which the company is also offering to Australia. The IFV is already being evaluated in Australia as part of the LAND 400 Phase 3 program. Lynx comes in two variants, the KF31 and KF41 (KF stands for ‘Kettenfahrzeug’, or tracked vehicle in German). Weighing up to 38 tons, Lynx KF31 can seat 3+6 soldiers, while the slightly larger Lynx KF41 can carry 3+8 soldiers. Both can be further configured for roles that include command & control, armored reconnaissance, repair & recovery or ambulance.
It is worth noting that the company has already secured the first export customer for the vehicle, with Hungary’s purchase of 218 units for its army.
US Army OMFV
The US Army envisions its next generation IFV as a vehicle capable of maneuvering through the enemy’s disruption zone to deliver a decisive strike while manned or remote operated. In the close fight, the OMFV enables the ability of squads to maneuver by detecting and destroying targets at a range beyond the enemy’s capability.
The vehicle will be expected to be capable of defeating future near peer soldiers, infantry fighting vehicles, helicopters, small unmanned aerial systems and tanks as part of the combined arms.
The army will not expect the OMFV to fight alone, but rather as part of a section, platoon, and company of mechanized infantry. These companies will execute cross-domain maneuver and defeat pacing threats in the close area while maneuvering Soldiers to tactical objectives. Once the unit has transitioned to the combined mounted/dismounted fight, the OMFV’s supports the dismounted element with advanced sensors, lethality, protection and integrated mission command.
