http://www.rheinmetall-defence.com/index.php?fid=5345&lang=3

Düsseldorf/Munich (Germany). Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) have concluded a cooperation agreement with the American companies Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and Boeing in order to tender a joint bid for the development contract for the Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) programme of the United States Army.

This cooperation will see Rheinmetall and KMW acting as subcontractors to Boeing, with SAIC acting as the general contractor with regard to the procuring agencies.

As the manufacturers of the Puma infantry fighting vehicle of the German Armed Forces, the most modern system of its kind in the world, Rheinmetall and KMW will be contributing their highly advanced expertise to this transatlantic team.

The objective of the cooperation is to provide the American Army with absolute state-of-the-art technology, which characterizes the Puma.

The team will be bidding for the contract for the first of four phases to the GCV programme. In this development phase, the U.S. Army intends to award up to three contracts to different tendering companies, before drawing up a short list in subsequent steps for the actual solution to be realised.

The Puma, which Rheinmetall and KMW have jointly developed for the German Armed Forces and will be delivering from late-2010, offers the series maturity expected by the U.S. Army. In virtually every category the Puma already satisfies the technical requirements of the GCV programme, even exceeding these significantly in key areas.

In addition the system will be further developed for the United States Army to accommodate a total crew size of three, plus nine soldiers, a 40mm gun and weigh a total of around 50 tons. With its high level of protection, its mobility and outstanding mission capability, this GCV response will – in the same way as the performance features of the Puma – also set new standards. Furthermore, the vehicles will be built in the United States.

General Dynamics Team Submits Army Ground Combat Vehicle Proposal

A team led by General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) that includes Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) and MTU Detroit Diesel today submitted its proposal for the Technology Development (TD) phase of the U.S. Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program.

“The General Dynamics team’s design is grounded in a focus on Soldier survivability and operational effectiveness. Our design draws on mature technologies to provide survivability, Soldier capacity, network interoperability, mobility and lethality that is unmatched by any existing ground combat vehicle,” said Donald Kotchman, senior program director for General Dynamics Land Systems.

“Our design approach capitalizes on the proven ability and competence of each team member to meet the requirements for a completely integrated next-generation fighting system,” Kotchman said. “We explored more than one million potential design options using a trade-optimizing process to determine our Ground Combat Vehicle Infantry Fighting Vehicle point of departure.”

General Dynamics assembled a best-in-class team with unmatched Heavy Brigade Combat Team experience that is involved in the development, integration or sustainment of over 70 percent of today’s fleet of combat vehicles and weapons systems. Each team member brings unrivaled program management experience, systems engineering and technical expertise to the team. Together, the team provides an unmatched legacy of performance on contemporary ground combat vehicles.

“Our design concept was selected to provide Soldiers the comfort, connectivity, survivability, lethality and growth potential necessary to adapt to the fluid conditions of a contemporary battlefield and address the spectrum of operations from hybrid/irregular warfare to conventional warfare,” Kotchman said.

The purpose of the 27-month GCV TD phase is to complete the preliminary design, mature technologies through subsystem demonstrators, and inform the requirements process for an Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) that meets the Army’s requirements for operations in a contemporary threat environment.

With more than 70 years of ground combat vehicle design, development, integration and sustainment experience, General Dynamics Land Systems leads the team as the prime contractor and has overall responsibility for program management, vehicle design and integration. General Dynamics also is responsible for Soldier interfaces, vehicle structure and chassis, squad and crew environments, integrated survivability and safety, and distributed systems.

Lockheed Martin has responsibility for the turret, lethal and non-lethal effects, Soldier health management and embedded training. The company offers over 50 years of experience in systems integration and is the world leader in design and development of missiles and fire control systems.

Raytheon was selected as the hit-avoidance system, indirect-vision and sensor integrator. The company brings more than 40 years of combat sensor and systems integration experience in providing advanced situational awareness, target engagement and force protection capabilities for a variety of ground combat vehicles.

MTU Detroit Diesel has responsibility for the propulsion system. It is the premier provider of high-capacity diesel propulsion systems, with proven integration experience in modern combat systems worldwide.

With responsibility for network integration, communications, data management, common computing and information assurance, General Dynamics C4 Systems leads the network integration integrated product team. General Dynamics C4 Systems bring over 50 years of experience in the development of the some of the world’s most advanced command, control, communications and computing systems.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 91,200 people worldwide. The company is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies. More information about General Dynamics is available online at www.generaldynamics.com.

http://www.baesystems.com/Newsroom/NewsRel...0421164428.html

The BAE Systems-Northrop Grumman team pursuing the U.S. Army's Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) submitted its proposal to the Army today.

"As a top supplier to the U.S. military we must continue to evolve and provide enhanced protective capabilities to our soldiers as they operate in increasingly dangerous environments," said Mark Signorelli, vice president and general manager of Ground Combat Vehicle at BAE Systems. "We have provided our customers with a proposal that meets their requirements, mitigates risk, will deliver on schedule and is affordable."

The BAE Systems-Northrop Grumman GCV offering will be the first combat vehicle designed from the ground-up to meet the current IED-threat environment. The team offering brings more survivability, mobility and versatility to the Army and is scalable to the level of protection required for a variety of operations. The team's GCV survivability will exceed that of a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle and the enhanced mobility capabilities will allow it to effectively operate in urban and cross country environments.

"As proven by our proposal, both Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems will exploit decades of hard won, hands-on experience to provide the warfighter with the most potent, fully integrated combat platform capable of prevailing on any battlefield, anywhere in the world," said Joe G. Taylor, Jr., Northrop Grumman Information Systems' vice president for Ground Combat Systems.

The teams' vehicle will also have an integrated electronic network capability and embedded intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to connect warfighters. The design concept is based on mature technology and provides a low risk approach to a highly compliant solution. The advanced electronic network will also be adaptable to future network upgrades.

BAE Systems is the top producer of combat vehicles in the world and earlier in the year announced a teaming agreement with Northrop Grumman Corporation. Northrop Grumman will serve as the C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) lead for GCV.

The GCV program is a development effort headed by the U.S. Army to develop the first combat vehicle designed from the ground-up to operate in an IED-threat environment.