Take four: The US Army again tries to replace its Bradley infantry fighting vehicle

摘要

US Army leaders are aligning and developing modernisation efforts with two vastly different geographic locations in mind: countering China in the Indo-Pacific region and Russia in Europe. While both theatres will have overlapping technology and weapons, the service believes the space created by the Indo-Pacific's waters means it will need long-range precision fires and air and missile defence systems to support the US Navy and help control sea lanes. In Europe, though, shorter distances would require a different mix of weapons, and the service will be dependent on next-generation combat vehicles (NGCVs) and soldier-borne gear, Futures and Concepts Center director Lieutenant General Eric Wesley said in April. These capabilities fall within the army's six modernisation priorities, and are in various stages of design, fielding, and congressional scrutiny. Earlier this year, though, the army suffered a blow to its latest effort to develop a replacement for the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) when it cancelled its Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) competition.