Video Above: Army Considers German-Built Future Infantry Fighting Vehicle – The New “Lynx”
By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven
(Washington, D.C.) The Army intends for its Bradley replacement Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle to be robotic, successful in transporting infantry into hostile enemy fire, survivable against armored attacks and, perhaps most of all … extremely lethal.
Sensor to Shooter Time
Part of this sought after lethality pertains to a rapid push to decrease sensor to shooter time by integrating advanced sensors, fire control, precision weapons and AI-enabled computing.
Industry competitors are now pushing to offer options to the Army for the vehicle, in the hope of being chosen to enter the next phase of production contracts wherein prototypes are built and the new vehicle takes several key steps toward ultimate deployment.
The Lynx
One industry team, now building an American variant of the “Lynx” armored infantry vehicle, is led by German combat vehicle manufacturer Rheinmetall defense and supported by Raytheon, Textron Systems, L3 Harris and Allison Transmission.
The intent is to build a U.S. variant of the Lynx specifically tailored to meet U.S. Army requirements and be built in the U.S. For example, American Rheinmetall Vehicles is exploring further expansion in the U.S., and plans to build its new Lynx OMFV at a Textron Systems armored vehicle facility in the U.S., should it be chosen.
For example, Raytheon has been involved with the Lynx project for many years now and operates numerous U.S. sites, including, technology development and manufacturing facilities.
Raytheon Partnership
Specific to its involvement with the Lynx, Raytheon is drawing upon its targeting, sensing, AI and advanced weapons technologies.
“We’re able to leverage our extensive experience with integrating complex mission systems onto platforms, the full sensor to shooter capability, that can help to inform requirements, influence the design, and ultimately shape what will be a next-generation, leap-ahead system for the warfighter,” Brad Barnard, Senior Director, Area Defense Systems, Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle, told The National Interest.
Raytheon, also does a lot of digital engineering with its emerging weapons systems, an approach that will support the ongoing maturation and adaptation of combat requirements. “We can help provide the critical tools and analysis that will support the Army’s desire for requirements refinement and rapid, iterative concept development,” Barnard said.
All members of the team talk about a major ongoing developmental focus for the vehicle, which includes the use of computer simulations and digital engineering, a fast-emerging method of assessing different design models, testing weapons and sensor performance and, perhaps most of all, ensuring continued upgradeability through the use of open technical standards.
The idea is to allow for software and hardware upgrades to mission systems such as sensors, processors or fire control systems as new threats arrive. L3 Harris is, not surprisingly, a major contributor to this process.
“As the vehicle evolves, digital engineering will focus upon the impacts that the potential upgrades can have upon mission effectiveness and warfighter safety. A full digital thread allows for that,” Hugh McFadden, Director, Strategy Product Development, L3Harris, said.
L3Harris has long been a leader in command and control, an area of technological focus likely to incorporate L3Harris’ historic participation in numerous software programmable radio developmental programs. Given the crucial role communications will likely play in a vehicle such as OMFV – especially with sensing and manned-unmanned teaming – hardened, secure and technologically advanced RF technologies will certainly figure prominently. This is particularly true in the case of software-defined radio, as it can transmit IP packets of voice, video and data across a meshed network of forces without necessarily needing to rely upon a fixed infrastructure.
Digital engineering has already yielded amazing results with other major weapons development programs, such as the highly secretive Air Force 6th-Generation stealth fighter, hypersonic weapons and the Pentagon’s new ICBM, Ground Based Strategic Deterrent. The process has a fast-increasing ability to replicate technological performance specifics and particular warfare operational scenarios to assist in ongoing development.
“The ability to leverage all of that data during the development lifecycle can let us come back in and optimize its utilization and improve performance in the field. That performance could be in the form of availability, or actual attributes of the system and what it does. And ultimately can also allow us to work through what I would call adaptability, which is defined quick and Innovative ways to extend the capability of the platform once its deployed,” Paul Embry, Senior Scientist, Project Engineering, L3Harris told The National Interest.
– Kris Osborn is the President and Editor-in-Chief of Warrior Maven and The Defense Editor of The National Interest ––
Kris Osborn is the President and Editor-in-Chief of Warrior Maven and the Defense Editor of the National Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army – Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature fro
m Columbia University.
