What the Army learned from its first all-digital ground vehicle design
Prototypes of the XM-30 Combat Vehicle are expected in 2025, said the Army’s top vehicle buyer.
Lauren C. Williams | November 6, 2024
Army Technology
The Army is betting on digital engineering to save time and money as it develops its new infantry combat vehicle.
“XM-30 is being built through a modular open standard that allows us, in theory, to more rapidly replace components, which allows us to modernize more quickly,” Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, the program executive officer for ground combat systems, told Defense One during an interview.
The Army has traditionally deployed an updated combat vehicle “about every 10 years,” Dean said. “Some of that's driven by the industrial timelines of what it takes to stand up the supply chain in the factory and building the vehicle, but some of that's because the way we have architected software in the past is not as flexible.”
By leaning on digital engineering—a practice the Army has been embracing more broadly—the Army can spot deficiencies in vehicle designs sooner. The XM-30 is the service’s latest effort to replace the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. The Army in 2023 selected two contractors, Rheinmetall Vehicles and General Dynamics Land Systems, to produce prototypes for the XM-30. The contracts are worth about $1.6 billion.
https://www.defenseone.com/defense-systems/2024/11/what-army-learned-its-first-all-digital-ground-vehicle-design/400857/?oref=d1-category-lander-featured-river
