Free story: How the Army secretary drove the service to accelerate its new combat vehicle program

The Army is racing to meet its new deadline of 2026 to deliver the first Bradley replacement vehicles to soldiers.

Service Secretary Mark Esper this year directed a massive acceleration of the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle's time line from the original fielding date of 2032, which has been met with uncertainty from industry and policy makers.

"Since my early days, I've been saying that we need to move the fielding of next-generation equipment left, and if you read . . . the [Army] Vision of 2028, [it] says that these next-generation vehicles, for example, I want to begin fielding by 2028," he told reporters in August.

Our story, which details how Esper concluded 2026 was the ideal plan, is now free here.