Oshkosh, Army to work on OMFV turret tech

By Ethan Sterenfeld / April 11, 2022 at 12:54 PM

Oshkosh Defense has signed an agreement with the Armaments Center to further develop the turret it produces for the Stryker infantry fighting vehicle, which would adapt the turret for the company's Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle design, according to an announcement today.

The cooperative research and development agreement allows Oshkosh to collaborate with the Armaments Center, a research and development organization within the Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command, on company-funded work.

“Under the CRADA, Oshkosh Defense and DEVCOM will cooperate in the development, integration, and testing of innovative armament technologies to provide a transformative, next-generation lethality capability,” an Oshkosh press release stated. “Additionally, the CRADA will enable both organizations to mature their technologies for eventual transition to direct-fire, medium-caliber platforms such as the U.S. Army’s Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle.”

Development will start with the turret that Oshkosh builds for the Army’s Medium Caliber Weapon System, the program to integrate a 30 mm cannon on the Stryker infantry carrier, according to the press release. Oshkosh won the MCWS competition in June, with a design based on Rafael’s Samson family of turrets.

“We are already starting with a robust weapon system platform with our Stryker MCWS turret,” Pat Williams, vice president and general manager of Army and Marine Corps programs at Oshkosh, said in the press release.

Oshkosh is one of five companies participating in the current concept design phase of the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle competition, the program to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

Rheinmetall, another company in the concept design phase of the competition, announced in August that it would enter its own CRADA with the Armaments Center to integrate the XM913, a 50 mm cannon, into its OMFV design.

Oshkosh, which produces most of the Army’s tactical wheeled vehicles but has not built a combat vehicle before, has partnered with Hanwha Defense, Rafael, QinetiQ and others for its OMFV design.

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