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1 1 (December 6, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejpz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service
Informing th~ legislative debate rnnce 1914

Updated December 6, 2022
The Army's Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFY)

Bacgrund
TeArmy's Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV)
is intended to replace the Army's M-2 Bradley Infantry
Fighting Vehicle (JFV) (see Figure 1 for a notional
example). Optionally manned means the OMFV is to have
the ability to conduct remotely controlled operations while
a crew is not in the vehicle and to function autonomously
with the Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV).
The M-2 Bradley, which has been in service since 1981,
transports infantry on the battlefield and provides fire
support to dismounted troops and suppresses or destroys
enemy fighting vehicles. Updated numerous times since its
introduction, the M-2 Bradley is widely considered to have
reached the technological limits of its capacity to
accommodate new electronics, armor, and defense systems.
Two past efforts to replace the M-2 Bradley-the Future
Combat System (FCS) Program and the Ground Combat
Vehicle (GCV) Program-were cancelled for programmatic
and cost-associated reasons.
Figure I. Notional Example-OMFV

Source: U.S. Naval Institute (USNI), https://news.usni.org/2021/12/
30/report-to-congress-on-armys-optionally manned-fighting-vehicle,
accessed April 18, 2022.
Note: This is a notional example; the Army's OMFV selected for
production may differ from this example.
Roeo heOF
According to OMFV Program Information released by the
Army on February 28, 2022:
The Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV)
will serve as the Army's Infantry Fighting Vehicle
(IFV) tasked to maneuver through the enemy's
security zone as part of a combined arms team for
the purpose of creating an advantageous position,
relative to the enemy, and providing protection and
direct fire lethality while manned or remotely

operated. In the close fight, the OMFV enables the
ability of dismounted elements to maneuver by
detecting and destroying targets at a range beyond
the enemy's capability.
The Army notes four planned OMFV capabilities:
* The OMFV is to enable command and control at the
platoon level and higher by rapidly generating,
receiving, and passing information to dismounted
elements, other vehicles, and command nodes.
* The OMFV is to be able to detect, engage, and destroy
enemy infantry fighting vehicles beyond the range of the
enemy's primary weapon system, and rapidly defeat
dismounted enemy infantry treats. The OMFV would
also enhance unit-level lethality by providing target
acquisition data, shared situational understanding, and
the lethal effects required to protect and orient friendly
dismounted infantry.
* The OMFV aims to improve organizational
effectiveness by reducing the logistics burden on the
Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT). This is to be
achieved through enhanced reliability and on-board
diagnostics and prognostics; ease of maintenance with
the use of standard, common tools; and reduced burdens
on the supply chain in terms of spare parts, fuel, and
munitions.
* The OMFV is intended to allow rapid adaptation by the
means of growth margins that allow for the insertion and
integration of future technologies.
OMF AcustonApoc
OMFV is to be Army's first ground combat vehicle
designed using state-of-the-art digital engineering tools and
techniques. It is to be designed from the onset as a Modular
Open Systems Architected (MOSA) platform based on an
Army-defined and -owned open standard. As technology
and software evolve, MOSA could potentially facilitate
rapid OMFV to modernization at a reduced cost. The open
architecture of the OMFV could also offer more
opportunities for industry competition and innovations as
the OMFV is upgraded over time.
The Army is conducting a five-phase acquisition approach
to design, prototype, test, and produce the OMFV:
* Phase 1 consists of Market Research and
Requirement Development.
* Phase 2, the Concept Design Phase, includes modeling,
simulation, and analysis (MS &A) to inform
requirements and support initial design activities.

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