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handle is hein.crs/govegae0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service
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Updated May 18, 2022

The Army's Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) System

Wh at Is the Mobi         Protected Firepower
(M PF) System?
The Army's MPF system is intended to address an
operational shortfall:
Currently the Army's Infantry Brigade Combat
Teams (IBCT) do not have a combat vehicle
assigned that is capable of providing mobile,
protected, direct, offensive fire capability.... The
MPF solution is an integration of existing mature
technologies  and   components    that  avoids
development which would lengthen the program
schedule.
Operationally, the Army wants the MPF to be able to
Neutralize enemy prepared positions and bunkers
and defeat heavy machine guns and armored
vehicle threats during offensive operations or when
conducting defensive operations against attacking
enemies.
In terms of the Army's overall procurement plans for MPF,
The Army Acquisition Objective (AAO) for MPF
is 504 vehicles, with 14 MPFs per IBCT. The
targeted fielding for the First Unit Equipped (FUE)
is Fiscal Year (FY) 2025.
MPF Acquisition Strategy
In November 2017, the Army issued a Request for Proposal
(RFP) for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development
(EMD) phase and, in order to maximize competition,
planned to award up to two Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA)
contracts for the EMD phase in early FY2019.
Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA) according to the Defense
Acquisition University, is a rapid acquisition approach that
focuses on delivering capability in a period of 2 to 5 years. The
authority to use MTA was granted by Congress in Section 804
of the FY2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
(P.L. 114-92). Programs using MTA are not subject to the joint
Capabilities Integration Development System (CIDS) and
provisions of DOD Directive 5000.01 Defense Acquisition
System. MTA consists of utilizing two acquisition pathways:
(I) Rapid Prototyping, which is to streamline the testing and
development of prototypes, and (2) Rapid Fielding, which is to
upgrade existing systems with already proven technologies.
On December 17, 2018, the Army awarded two Section 804
Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA) Rapid Prototyping
contracts for MPF. The two companies awarded contracts
were General Dynamic Land Systems (GDLS), Inc.
(Sterling Heights, MI) and BAE Systems Land and
Armaments, LP (Sterling Heights, MI). Each MTA Rapid
Prototyping contract was not to exceed $376 million. The

MTA Rapid Prototyping contracts required delivery of 12
pre-production vehicles (from each vendor) for
developmental and operational testing, and a Soldier
Vehicle Assessment (SVA).
Reportedly, BAE delivered its prototypes (Figure 1) to the
Army in March 2021 after production difficulties and
supplier issues related to COVID-19. Reportedly, GDLS
was able to deliver all of its prototypes (Figure 2) in
December 2020. The SVA reportedly began in January
2021 at Fort Bragg, NC-without the BAE prototypes-
with testing running through June 2021. While BAE was
unable to provide prototypes at the beginning of testing,
prototypes were eventually provided to the Army for
testing. During the assessment, soldiers evaluated GDLS
and BAE MPF prototypes in a variety of operational
scenarios.
According to May 10, 2022, Army testimony to the Senate
Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland, the MPF is to
begin low-rate production in 2022, with the first fielding of
MPF vehicles planned for FY2025.

Figure I. BAE MPF Prototype

Source: https://www.baesystems.com/en-us/article/bae-systems-
awarded-development-contract-for-mobile-protected-firepower,
accessed June 14, 2021.

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