Hanwha Defense and US manufacturer Oshkosh have announced plans to team for the US Army’s Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) program to replace its M2 Bradley.
With Oshkosh acting as prime contractor and systems integrator, Hanwha will be responsible for the vehicle’s design and manufacture. It is likely the OMFV offering will be based on Hanwha’s K21 IFV which has been developed into the AS21 Redback for the Australian Army’s LAND 400 Phase 3 IFV requirement to replace the M113AS4.
“Bringing together the heritage of two innovative, reliable, and successful land systems companies, gives me great confidence that Hanwha and Oshkosh, with our other consortium partners, will deliver the next generation Infantry Fighting Vehicle the American Soldier clearly deserves,” former head of the US Army’s 8th Army and Hanwha’s head of US operations, Bernard S Champoux said in a statement.
“Like Australia and numerous other partner countries focused on local production, Hanwha’s contribution to the OMFV solution will be built in America with American labour.”
A request for proposals for the OMFV program was released in 2020, and up to five contenders – including a teaming of Rheinmetall, Raytheon, and Textron with a derivative of the KF41 Lynx – are expected to be awarded contracts by the end of 2021 to supply a number of vehicles for evaluation.