Army Wants 'Air Droppable' Light Tank & Ultra-Light Vehicles

[bobbymike]

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/15609/the-army-desperately-wants-a-pint-sized-tank-with-a-big-gun-heres-what-we-know

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2017/11/06/the-army-knows-what-weapons-it-wants-but-can-it-explain-why/#1f4893a1c4df

 

[bobbymike]

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-us-army-searching-new-light-tank-23151?page=show

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.army.mil/article/197555/next_generation_combat_vehicle_must_be_effective_in_megacities_forscom_commander_says

 

[bobbymike]

http://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/01/01/new-in-2018-army-looks-to-add-a-light-tank-to-its-formations/

 

[Airplane]

Re: Army Wants 'Air Droppable' Light Tank

An airdropped tank is about as stupid as the flying tank concepts from the early 20th century. Let me guess, they want 1200 or something.close to that number. For what? So every single of the roughly 200 flyable c17s can spend night and day dropping tanks on a couple of battlefields in a single region?? What good are thousands of air droppable tanks when thereare not enough transport planes to make a difference?

At best you will end up with a vehicle under armored and outgunned. But again, who has the 500 transport planes to drop enough of them to make a difference?

 

[marauder2048]

500 Army vehicles
100 USMC (possible)

I think air-droppable might be an objective requirement vs. a threshold of
readily air-deployable as in two can roll-off-the-ramp of a C-17 and directly into operations.

And I had thought they had decided on the XM35 105mm gun.

For these infantry brigades, I tend to think that the armor you have
is better than no armor at all.

 

[bring_it_on]

As per Daniel Wasserbly and Jane's IDR (from an article form 11/2017) "Air-Droppable is no longer a requirement" for the Mobile Protected Firepower program.

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.themaven.net/warriormaven/land/army-plans-prototype-new-light-tank-mobile-protected-firepower-2020-MoSUdALxX0KcjmC9B0r9EA

 

[Pioneer]

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/15609/the-army-desperately-wants-a-pint-sized-tank-with-a-big-gun-heres-what-we-know

After suffering spectacular setbacks in armored vehicle modernization with the cancellation first of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program and then of the subsequent Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV), the service has been keen to stress that this effort will be different.

'stressing that this effort will be different!'
Yeah right :

Regards
Pioneer

 

[Colonial-Marine]

I remain doubtful of a tank that's too heavy to be airdropped yet too light to provide the sort of composite and reactive armor protection capable of defeating modern anti-tank weapons. Something like a modernized M8 which could still be airdropped in its lightest configuration would offer more utility for sure. Surely there must be some airborne officers who still want that sort of capability.

 

[bobbymike]

https://breakingdefense.com/2018/01/csa-miiley-bets-on-radical-tech-promises-no-more-fcs/

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/01/us-army-plans-to-successfully-revamp-and-future-weapons-that-ten-times-better-than-today.html

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.army.mil/article/199432

Army secretary directs new team to speed up Next-Gen Combat Vehicle program

https://www.army.mil/article/199126/the_next_ground_combat_vehicle

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/01/29/us-army-secretary-open-to-foreign-designs-for-new-tank/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.realcleardefense.com/2018/02/04/the_armyrsquos_biggest_and_baddest_troop_carrier_300091.html

 

[Colonial-Marine]

https://www.realcleardefense.com/2018/02/04/the_armyrsquos_biggest_and_baddest_troop_carrier_300091.html

Seems like we'd be better off with a new design instead of this notional M2A5. Pass on spare M2/M3 hulls to be rebuilt into AMPVs.

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/02/15/next-gen-combat-vehicle-prototyping-to-be-accelerated/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

 

[jsport]

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/02/15/next-gen-combat-vehicle-prototyping-to-be-accelerated/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

Thank you Posting boobymike.

Wonder if "closed hatch IFV" means squad (tms ie "squad splitting) hardly ever leaves the vehicle. no robots shooting back at their masters please. guess that's another reason to stay closed hatch.

 

[bring_it_on]

Via Dan Parsons, @SharkParsons

First look at @BAESystemsInc internally developed light tank for the #Army's Mobile Protected Firepower program. BAE will submit the vehicle to the Army on April 2 to undergo government testing.

 

[Moose]

Someone with better eyes can probably make a reasonable guess as to whether that's 105mm or 120mm. Interested to hear how the drivetrain has been updated, if they went full Thunderbolt or just put a newer diesel in.

 

[bring_it_on]

That's a 105mm.

 

[Moose]

Here's BAE's press release. General and vague, as these tend to be.

 

[bobbymike]

That's a 105mm.

Why does the bore look bigger to me (I might be wishing it 120mm) That speculated thought I read somewhere MPF had to be able to kill MBTs?

 

[Moose]

Don't know if this made the rounds yet, but thought this concept image the Army has been attaching to articles about future combat vehicles interesting.

 

[marauder2048]

That's a 105mm.

Thought the the USG had mandated the use of the XM35 105mm?
There was R&D funding in FY2018 to produce 20 tubes for the MPF prototypes.

 

[Rickshaw]

US Army receives first bids for new Mobile Protected Firepower tank

 

[bobbymike]

http://www.janes.com/article/78440/team-saic-readies-us-army-mpf-bid-offer?utm_campaign=CL_Jane%27s%20360-Mar-9-2017_PC5308_e-production_E-7367_KP_0309_0445&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

An international team led by the Virginia-based Science Applications International Corp (SAIC) is readying its bid sample vehicle for the US Army’s Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) programme following integration and testing of a prototype vehicle that commenced in the fourth quarter of 2017, officials from the respective companies briefed Jane’s .

SAIC is partnering with Singapore Technologies (ST) Kinetics, the land systems and specialty vehicles arm of ST Engineering Group, as well as Belgium’s CMI Defence. ST Kinetics is providing a bespoke version of its Next Generation Armoured Fighting Vehicle (NGAFV) – which has been ordered by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and is expected to enter service from 2019 – while CMI Defence is supplying its modular Cockerill 3105 turret.

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.themaven.net/warriormaven/land/army-speeds-up-prototyping-of-next-generation-combat-vehicle-2030-m-Lfv5OzfUiEtoavhtf-8A

The Army is accelerating plans to build early prototype components for its futuristic Next-Generation Combat Vehicle for the 2030s and beyond – a lighter weight, deployable high-tech armored vehicle platform to control nearby robots, fire new weapons and outmatch future Russian and Chinese tanks.

While the particular configuration and technology woven into the new combat vehicle is in the early phases of conceptual exploration, there is widespread consensus that the future armored platforms will be able to sense and destroy enemy vehicles and drones at much further ranges, make use of active protection systems, leverage emerging artificial intelligence and command and control systems, use more automation and – perhaps of greatest significance – fire lasers and the most advanced precision weaponry available.

 

[bobbymike]

https://breakingdefense.com/2018/03/army-wants-combat-robot-prototype-by-2019-cft-chief/

The new combat vehicles must be "optimized for fighting in dense urban terrain." Fighting in narrow streets, in turn, requires smaller vehicles than the massive M1 -- and one way to reduce weight is to take the humans out.

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/03/16/first-next-gen-combat-vehicle-and-robotic-wingman-prototypes-to-emerge-in-2020/

WASHINGTON — The first stab at building prototypes for what the U.S. Army intends to be an innovative, leap-ahead Next-Generation Combat Vehicle and its robotic wingman will be ready for soldier evaluations in fiscal 2020, according to the service’s new cross-functional team lead for NGCV.

Subsequently, the Army will rapidly produce follow-on prototypes in FY22 and again in FY24, each taking lessons learned from the previous prototypes and refining capabilities. Soldiers will have the chance to heavily evaluate the prototypes at every stage.

 

[jsport]

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/03/16/first-next-gen-combat-vehicle-and-robotic-wingman-prototypes-to-emerge-in-2020/

WASHINGTON — The first stab at building prototypes for what the U.S. Army intends to be an innovative, leap-ahead Next-Generation Combat Vehicle and its robotic wingman will be ready for soldier evaluations in fiscal 2020, according to the service’s new cross-functional team lead for NGCV.

Subsequently, the Army will rapidly produce follow-on prototypes in FY22 and again in FY24, each taking lessons learned from the previous prototypes and refining capabilities. Soldiers will have the chance to heavily evaluate the prototypes at every stage.

This is great news as it will likely quickly become clear the robotic wingman is the keen focus and soldier's need to refine it. That is if the disfunction doesn't take over. As the old adage goes why put Marine(soldier) where you can put bullet can go, or in this case a robot.

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/03/22/congress-directs-army-to-conduct-light-vehicle-competition-in-fy18-spending-bill/

WASHINGTON — Congress is directing the U.S. Army to conduct a competition to procure its Ground Mobility Vehicle (GMV) as part of its fiscal 2018 omnibus spending bill released March 21.

While the Army has maintained it is planning to hold a competition for the GMV, there have been murmurings the service might just decide to continue to buy the interim vehicle — General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems’ Flyer 72 — it had purchased for five airborne infantry brigade combat teams.

The congressional language locks the Army into its publicly declared plan.

Industry members were left scratching their heads when the Army decided to delay a competition and field an interim solution using Flyer 72 after spending years demonstrating and evaluating a variety of commercial off-the-shelf offerings.

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/global-force-symposium/2018/03/26/bae-systems-demonstrates-40mm-cannon-to-army-as-option-for-us-combat-vehicles/

WASHINGTON — BAE Systems has successfully demonstrated its 40mm cannon for the U.S. Army at Fort Benning, Georgia, as the service considers future lethality upgrades — particularly to its Stryker combat vehicle.

“Everything went perfectly,” Rory Chamberlain, a business development manager at BAE Systems, told a small group of reporters following the March 21 live-fire event.

The Army is in the market to up-gun its Stryker vehicles and boost lethality across its fleet of tracked and wheeled vehicles. The service recently fielded a Stryker with a 30mm cannon — the Infantry Carrier Vehicle—Dragoon — to Europe to be tested by the 2nd Cavalry Regiment ahead of a decision on whether to add similar lethality across the Stryker fleet.

 

[bobbymike]

https://breakingdefense.com/2018/03/skeptics-ask-can-army-field-armed-robots-by-2024/

Can the Army develop a Robotic Combat Vehicle within six years? Some of the experts we spoke to were deeply skeptical, including veteran congressional staffers badly burned by past acquisition disasters. Some, however, said the Army’s goal was achievable — but the early models will require a lot of human oversight, especially when it’s time to pull the trigger.

The Army has radically accelerated its modernization plans overall, which several of our sources said was long overdue, even if they criticized specifics. But fielding a fighting robot is probably the most ambitious of the Army’s new objectives — which is saying something.

 

[fredymac]

Whether or not a remote turret is used, F-35 style 360 degree sensor inputs will probably become standard as a matter of necessity. A low cost version of the F-35 helmet to display the imagery wouldn't be surprising along with automatic gun pointing based on visual tracking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVTMoqwhw2M

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/04/12/this-is-what-the-armys-next-generation-combat-vehicles-are-going-to-be-able-to-do/

As the Army upgrades its vehicle fleet for a potential slugfest with Russia, it is also building in manned and unmanned options in all future vehicles and helicopters that are poised to hit the fleet in the next decade and beyond.

“Every ground and rotary wing vehicle that the Army produces from now on … every single one of them, the base requirement is it has to be manned and unmanned, either autonomous or semi-autonomous,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told the Senate Thursday.

That is to give the commanders on the ground the decision to pick manned or unmanned for any mission they tackle, he said.

 

[jsport]

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/04/12/this-is-what-the-armys-next-generation-combat-vehicles-are-going-to-be-able-to-do/

As the Army upgrades its vehicle fleet for a potential slugfest with Russia, it is also building in manned and unmanned options in all future vehicles and helicopters that are poised to hit the fleet in the next decade and beyond.

“Every ground and rotary wing vehicle that the Army produces from now on … every single one of them, the base requirement is it has to be manned and unmanned, either autonomous or semi-autonomous,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told the Senate Thursday.

That is to give the commanders on the ground the decision to pick manned or unmanned for any mission they tackle, he said.

n

is necessary and major milestone one hopes is adhered to. A new and necessary philosophy.

 

[bobbymike]

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/04/us-army-has-focused-effort-to-replace-abrams-and-bradley-with-tests-by-2019-and-deployments-by-2025.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

Army officials have laid out the groundwork for developing the Next Generation Combat Vehicle, or NGCV. The NGCV will replace the M-1 Abrams main battle tank and M-2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFV). Both the Abrams and Bradley, while highly successful, were introduced in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Army regularly updates both with the latest technologies, including new ammunition, anti-shaped charge reactive armor, remote-controlled weapons systems, advanced networking and communications, and ballistic shields for the crew.

The three vehicles will then be assigned to an operational combat unit around 2021. By 2023, seven manned and 14 unmanned vehicles will repeat the schedule, hopefully winnowing the process down to both manned and unmanned systems ready for mass production.

 

[jsport]

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/04/us-army-has-focused-effort-to-replace-abrams-and-bradley-with-tests-by-2019-and-deployments-by-2025.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

Army officials have laid out the groundwork for developing the Next Generation Combat Vehicle, or NGCV. The NGCV will replace the M-1 Abrams main battle tank and M-2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFV). Both the Abrams and Bradley, while highly successful, were introduced in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Army regularly updates both with the latest technologies, including new ammunition, anti-shaped charge reactive armor, remote-controlled weapons systems, advanced networking and communications, and ballistic shields for the crew.

The three vehicles will then be assigned to an operational combat unit around 2021. By 2023, seven manned and 14 unmanned vehicles will repeat the schedule, hopefully winnowing the process down to both manned and unmanned systems ready for mass production.

"NGCV will probably be a tracked, 50 to 60 ton common chassis available in both tank and infantry fighting vehicle flavors."

If weighing that much why not look at the extended Bradley and upgraded Abrams. Sounds like new material science is not being looked at at all. Feeeling worse than FCS slowly starting.