Jette says original competitors intend to recompete for OMFV

Army acquisition executive Bruce Jette said today the original competitors for the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle intend to recompete for the newly restructured effort.

"So far my estimate is that, at least what I would consider, the standard competitors are still intending to participate," Jette said at a House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee hearing. "And there are a number of others who have talked to the [program executive officer] already. I think . . . 11 [competitors] so far."

General Dynamics Land Systems, Raytheon-Rheinmetall and BAE Systems originally set out to compete for the OMFV competition, with BAE dropping out last June.

The competition for the Bradley replacement was scrapped in January after an aggressive schedule and list of requirements made it unrealistic for industry to deliver prototypes. The competition was reopened last month.

Jette and Gen. Mike Murray, head of Army Futures Command, told reporters last month the new acquisition strategy for the OMFV competition asks contractors to submit a digital prototype first and will involve more user evaluations known as soldier touchpoints. The restructured strategy is also no longer tied to a 2026 targeted fielding date, but there has been no mention of a detailed timeline for the effort.

During the hearing, Jette said the service will continue to "revise the operational and technical characteristics" of the effort based on assessments with vendors.

Jette added that he's been in talks with Will Roper, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, on how to implement a digital engineering approach to the restructured OMFV effort.