Army to cancel planned Robotic Combat Vehicle award, pause howitzer competition: Sources
An Army two-star general has told staff that the service expects to halt work on its embattled Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program and pause a new howitzer competition, according to several service and industry sources.
“Here’s what we believe is true of today, RCV will stop development. The future of the robotic software program is unknown,” Program Executive Officer for Ground Combat Systems Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean wrote in an internal Army email Thursday, according to one of the industry sources. Four other sources told Breaking Defense they were aware of or saw the email.
An Army spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about this letter or new details about expected program cuts. However, three Army sources confirmed that RCV would not move forward, despite a previously expected contract award.
In early March, Breaking Defense first reported that industry sources had been notified that Textron Systems’s Ripsaw 3 had won the RCV competition and the service was preparing to ink a deal with the victors. But around that same time, Army leaders identified RCV as one program to cut as part of the 8 percent budget drill to realign funding toward higher priorities, one service official told Breaking Defense.
“We need robotic combat vehicles, but we want a consortium of vendors to bring their robotics and the best software folk,” that first Army sources explained today. “We don’t want to downselect just to one vendor and pay almost $3 million per copy.”
A second Army source confirmed that rationale, noting that the idea is to select the “absolute best next-generation robotic for the warfighter,” and the decision was made to open it up industry again.
https://breakingdefense.com/2025/05/arm ... n-sources/
Hegseth orders ‘comprehensive transformation’ of US Army, merging offices and cutting weapons
An Army official today confirmed that the service will stop producing Humvees and Joint Light Tactical Vehicles. And General Dynamics Land Systems will be told to stop producing its brand new light tank, the M10 Booker. (The Wall Street Journal first reported on those cuts.)
“The Booker is a classic example of sunk cost fallacy, and the Army doing something wrong,” Driscoll said. “We wanted to develop a small tank that was agile and could be dropped into places our regular tanks can’t. We got a heavy tank.”
Alex Miller, the Army Chief’s Chief Technology Officer, explained that the Army also plans to divest from its fleet of AH-64D aircraft, but it is not yet clear if the service will opt to replace them with the newer AH-64E models.
“Those are the older Apaches, they’re very expensive to maintain,” George told reporters today. “I think this will actually increase our operational readiness rate in doing this.”
Also on the chopping block, is the “obsolete” Gray Eagle drone, produced by General Atomics, according to George’s letter to the force.
C. Mark Brinkley, a spokesman for General Atomics, pushed back against the use of the word “obsolete” noting that the drone has been updated over the years.
“We have developed the modernized Gray Eagle 25M, Gray Eagle STOL [short takeoff and landing], and EagleEye radar to bring these platforms to the absolute cutting edge,” Brinkley wrote in an emailed repose to Breaking Defense. “We’ve done that despite low funding priority and an unclear vision from the US Army that has forced Congress and others to make bold moves on behalf of America’s soldiers.”
“The Army’s RSTA mission is not going away in the future, and nor should its ability to conduct those operations without getting soldiers killed,” Brinkley added.
While these are initial cuts to program, George warned in his memo that more is coming: “This is a first step. We have already directed a second round of transformation efforts to be delivered in the coming months.”
https://breakingdefense.com/2025/05/heg ... ing-roles/
Letter to the Force: Army Transformation Initiative
By Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy A. George
May 1, 2025
We will introduce long-range missiles and modernized UAS into formations, field the M1E3 tank, develop the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, and close the C-sUAS capability gap.
We are eliminating 1,000 staff positions at HQDA. To further optimize force structure, Army Futures Command and Training and Doctrine Command will merge into a single command that aligns force generation, force design, and force development under a single headquarters. Forces Command will transform into Western Hemisphere Command through the consolidation of Army North and Army South. Multi-Domain Task Forces will align with theater headquarters to operate under relevant authorities.
We will also restructure Army Aviation by reducing one Aerial Cavalry Squadron per Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) in the Active Component, and we will consolidate aviation sustainment requirements and increase operational readiness. We will convert all Infantry Brigade Combat Teams to Mobile Brigade Combat Teams to improve mobility and lethality in a leaner formation.
Eliminate Waste and Obsolete Programs. We will cancel procurement of outdated crewed attack aircraft such as the AH-64D, excess ground vehicles like the HMMWV and JLTV, and obsolete UAVs like the Gray Eagle. We will also continue to cancel programs that deliver dated, late-to-need, overpriced, or difficult-to-maintain capabilities.
https://www.army.mil/article/285100/let ... initiative
Letter to the Force: Army Transformation Initiative hat geschrieben:We will convert all Infantry Brigade Combat Teams to Mobile Brigade Combat Teams to improve mobility and lethality in a leaner formation.
Um zu präzisieren, was ein "Mobile Brigade Combat Team" ist:
Is a Mobile Defense a Viable Option for a BCT? (10. Februar 2025)
This fighting force is the 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team (MBCT), 101st Airborne (Air Assault), and it’s changing the paradigm of large-scale combat operations (LSCO). During Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) 24-10, 2/101 MBCT maximized the opportunity to experiment and validate concepts in the world’s premier training environment against a fierce opposing force (Geronimo), resulting in tactical, operational, and strategic implications for the U.S. Army. While this creative approach validated many concepts within the Army’s transformation in contact concept, it also revealed unexpected outcomes. One unexpected outcome is that, through the use of the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), the ability to conduct a mobile defense (a type of defensive operation typically limited to division or higher formations) is now a viable option for a mobile brigade combat team.
Overview
It is extremely rare for a brigade combat team (BCT) to conduct a
mobile defense. Due to the resources required and the size of the area of operations (AO), it is not typically feasible for an element smaller than a division. However, an MBCT, when properly task organized, contains all the necessary resources to execute this type of defensive operation, to include reconnaissance assets, sustainment, and an agile command and control structure.
A mobile defense is composed of three elements: the fixing force, the striking force (where the majority of the combat power resides), and the reserve. Chapter 10 of
Field Manual (FM) 3-90, Tactics, states that a “mobile defense focuses on defeating or destroying enemy forces by allowing them to advance to a point where the striking force can conduct a decisive counterattack.” See Figure 1 for an example sketch of a mobile defense.
https://www.army.mil/article/282906/is_ ... _for_a_bct
Even MBCT’s designator is new to the Army, which has operated under the brigade combat team construct since the early 2000s. However, those teams have been equipment-focused with Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, Armored Brigade Combat Teams and Infantry Brigade Combat Teams.
The “mobile” in MBCT is mostly about giving soldiers smaller off-road capabilities, such as the Infantry Squad Vehicle, to move soldiers faster with a smaller footprint.
And moving fast with a smaller footprint is the sole purpose of the MBCT’s newest creation: the Multifunctional Reconnaissance Company, or MFRC. The recon company combines existing soldier specialties with new equipment to detect and destroy enemy threats using small, mobile teams.
https://www.defensenews.com/land/2024/1 ... unit-soon/
FM 3-96
Brigade Combat Team
JANUARY 2021
https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs ... -WEB-1.pdf
