The U.S. Army is implementing a significant change to its Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) program. A new expanded structure was unveiled during a breakout session at last week’s 2018 Maneuver Warfighter Conference, held at the Maneuver Center of Excellence, Ft. Benning, Georgia.

In a briefing hosted by Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, director of the Army’s NGCV Cross Functional Team, attendees learned that the NGCV program is taking a new direction, expanding beyond the manned and unmanned platform elements that had been incorporated previously in the NGCV portfolio to encompass a broader spectrum of both current and notional systems.

Under the new design, NGCV will now encompass five programs:

• Bradley Replacement;
• Robotic Combat Vehicle;
• Armored Multipurpose Vehicle;
• Mobile Protected Firepower; and
• Abrams Replacement

The briefing noted that final decisions on the Abrams Replacement effort will be based on an upcoming study analysis.

The NGCV program changes, which were reportedly approved by service leadership last Tuesday (Sept. 11), were briefed to the conference audience on Thursday Sept. 13.