when the mission is critical and the risk is high u.s military personnel
require vehicles they can count on to move them in and out of harm's way
over any terrain while protecting them from threats both known and unknown of course it
doesn't hurt if those vehicles whether for land sea or air are loaded with firepower
the u.s army is launching a phase for the concept design of its future optionally
manned fighting vehicle which is intended to replace the bradley infantry fighting vehicle
the army has tried to replace the bradley at least five times since the early 2000s
spending nearly twenty billion dollars without producing a single working vehicle
after multiple failed attempts the latest competition to replace the
cold war era bradley infantry fighting vehicle has drawn five contestants
the optionally manned fighting vehicle or omfv competition includes all of
the big names in u.s land power plus companies from germany and south korea
the n2 bradley was first used by the us army in the 1980s the vehicle not only could carry
infantry but also offered enough protection to allow them to remain mounted during an attack
this preserved the momentum of an armored assault ensuring that the attack did not slow down
and that dismounted infantrymen didn't need to be rounded up and board the
vehicle to continue an offensive german defense contractor rain metal which developed the n256
gun on the m1a2 abrams tank is tossing its hat into the omfv ring with the kf-41 lynx
the lynx has a crew of three and can carry eight soldiers in the back
that's one more than the n2 bradley in february rain metal and allison announced a partnership to
equip links with what the two companies call a next generation electrified transmission
raytheon will reportedly add its coyote airborne drone to the vehicle giving the kf 41 eyes over
the battlefield the lynx is armed with a lance 2.0 turret that includes a 35 millimeter cannon
and mission pods capable of carrying anti-tank guided missiles drones or loitering munitions
the vehicle is equipped with a modular armor system that weighs between 37 and
55 tons according to breaking defense the system would allow the army to deploy lynxes
with less armor to places where local bridges couldn't support the weight of a 55-ton vehicle
here's a short video of the kf-41 at the recent nato brave warrior exercises in hungary
literally driving circles around the end two bradleys it might soon replace
the kf-41 of which only one is currently in existence
was in hungary where it had won a competition for 218 new infantry fighting vehicles
the kf-41 is bigger but it's also more agile with a horsepower to weight ratio of 26 to 1.
the bradley's by contrast is about 21 to 1. the kf-41 in u.s army service would probably
look a little different than the vehicle seen in hungary as the u.s may want the turret to
be equipped with two long-range anti-tank missiles giving omfv the ability to take on tanks by itself
it may also want an active protection system capable of detecting and shooting down incoming
rockets and anti-tank guided missiles lastly kf-41 may need the ability to be operated remotely
you