Army Ground Combat Vehicle Delayed

The inception of the projected replacement for the Bradley combat vehicles, the so called Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV), has been delayed by a period of at least six months because the Army... was asking too much from the vehicle.

According to several sources close to Senator Carl Levin cited by crainsdetroit.com, the delay has been caused by a May report which found that the requirements for the vehicle's capabilities, operational needs, and technology were simply too much.

The requirements will be revised and a new set will be drafted and forwarded within 30 to 60 days, according to Under Secretary of the Army Joseph Westphal.

“We decided to reexamine the request for proposal,” Westphal said according to crainsdetroit.com. “We did that and we will put a new (request for proposals) on the street probably in the next 30 to 60 days; we will work as fast as possible.”

The GCV project, worth an estimated $7 billion, has attracted both the attention and the bids of two rival contractors, BAE Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems. The winner would have been the recipient of a $934 million contract. Now that the project has been delayed, some of that money, caught in the 2011 budget request, might be lost.

The GCV is expected to to be ready for service in 2017 and is expected to be the missing link between current combat vehicles and the networked machines of the future. The Army decided to create a new vehicle altogether because modifying existing ones would have been too costly and difficult.