The head of the US Army Futures Command, General Mike Murray, unabashedly defended the service’s decision to disqualify Raytheon Rheinmetall Land Systems from competing for its M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle replacement prototyping contract.
Speaking with reporters on 14 October during the Association of the US Army’s annual conference, the four-star general confirmed that Raytheon Rheinmetall Land Systems did not submit its Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) bid sample to the service on time, a move that potentially leaves one remaining bid, one from General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS).
GDLS displayed its Griffin III IFV technology demonstrator at AUSA 2018. The company may be the only contender left in the bid to secure a US Army OMFV prototyping contract. (IHS Markit/Patrick Allen)
“We have been exceptionally consistent and open with [the] industry, for better than a year and a half, [with] what it is that we need, when bid samples are due, and we had a competitor who did not make that,” Gen Murray said. “So, it really put the army in a hard place because we can either delay and then face the possibility of a protest or we can just stick with what we’ve been saying for a year and a half.”
Defense News first reported that Raytheon Rheinmetall Land Systems was unable to deliver its bid sample to the army in time, and a company spokesperson declined to comment.
Ashley John, the public affairs director for the army’s Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems, told Jane’s earlier this month that the source selection evaluation board is currently evaluating OMFV bids and will award up to two prototyping contracts around March 2020.
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