While production of the M2 Bradley IFV was completed as far back as 1995, its sound design has enabled it to be upgraded many times while retaining its 25mm M252 dual feed cannon. Its nominal replacement will be more heavily armed. (Photo: BAE Systems)
US priorities: three top land systems takeaways as a new administration looms
Walking the halls at October’s AUSA Annual event in Washington DC, clear recurring themes emerged – replenishment of ammunition and missile stocks, next-generation combat vehicles and the growing role of uncrewed systems on the battlefield. With a political wind of change about to blow through the US capital, will we still be talking about the same topics in a year’s time?
The AUSA’s exhibition and conference has a very different feel to Europe’s leading land systems events, London’s DSEI and Paris’s Eurosatory. AUSA has significant input from not only the US Army but defence contractors worldwide who can showcase their latest products to a wide audience at all levels.
This analysis article originally appeared in November's Decisive Edge Land Warfare Newsletter.
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It is also an opportunity for smaller companies to have discussions with key players to see what opportunities there are for future co-operation as new technologies emerge. So what was everyone talking about in 2024?
In this article:
1. Artillery ammunition ramp-up
The US has stepped up production of 155mm artillery projectiles, as shown here, as well as charges, fuzes and primers. (Photo: US Army)
Artillery ammunition ramp-up
One focus was clear. The US Army gave a presentation on what it and the domestic defence industrial base had accomplished in a short timescale on a hot topic of recent years and months: artillery rounds for Ukraine and the related replenishment of Western stockpiles.
Today, the US has 15 facilities engaged in ammunition production with many operating three shifts; by August this year 155mm artillery projectile output had increased from around 18,000 to 40,000 per month and that metric is scheduled to grow to 100,000 by FY2026.
This has been achieved with the assistance of many foreign partners with Australia, for example loading 155mm M795 projectiles, while others have supplied explosives.
As DoD surplus stocks of older M107 High Explosive (HE) and M795 HE Rocket Assisted Projectile (RAP) rounds are used up, new US ammunition is now coming on line, accompanied by all the necessary charges, fuzes (of which there are many types) and primers.
On a related topic, there is only one facility in the US that can make artillery and tank gun barrels and that is Watervliet Arsenal, which has stepped up production of replacement units as well as investing in new machinery.
Ukraine has been using its Western-supplied artillery systems, both towed and self-propelled, to fire huge quantities of 155mm projectiles, often with the maximum number of charges to enable longer ranges to be achieved.
Many of these howitzers had been used for many years before being donated and some have already worn out their barrels which needed to be replaced.
This ramp-up may be rendered somewhat moot once the 47th President moves back into the White House in January, but nothing is ever predictable in that individual’s case. While Ukraine’s future now hangs in the balance, whatever the outcome, the capacity now exists to produce 155mm ammunition in quantity again, which was not the case two years ago. And those Western munitions depots will still need to be restocked.
Replacing legacy US Army vehicles
One of the many UGVs shown at AUSA 2024 was the GDLS MUTT XM, seen here with a V60 four-legged robot. (Photo: GDLS)
On the armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) front, the US has supplied Ukraine with significant numbers of General Dynamics Land Systems M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks (MBTs), BAE Systems M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), GDLS Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicles (ICVs) and BAE Systems M109-series self-propelled howitzers (SPHs).
All have come from US Army stocks and were refurbished prior to shipment. but have yet to be replaced. In any case the production lines for new-build Abrams and Bradleys were closed many years ago.
But in terms of numbers available these latter two are still the key US AFVs. Both were first developed over 40 years ago, but their design is such that they have been constantly upgraded as new threats and technologies emerge.
They should have both been replaced by members of the ill-fated Future Combat System (FCS) family, but the Abrams will continue to be enhanced with a new turret with a 120mm gun and its three-person crew housed in a well-protected hull.
The Bradley should hopefully be replaced by the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle (MICV), currently being competed for by rival designs from GDLS and American Rheinmetall Vehicles (Team Lynx).
Neither of these two contenders released any detailed information on their proposals at AUSA although the main armament is confirmed as a stabilised Northrop Grumman 50mm Bushmaster dual-feed Chain Gun which will be supplied to both contenders as government-furnished equipment (GFE).
This will fire a new family of 50x228mm ammunition which will have enhanced capabilities compared to the current 25mm M242 Chain Gun installed in the M2 Bradley.
Another key effort is the M10 Booker ‘Combat Vehicle’. After a competition, in which GDLS knocked out BAE Systems, this is now in production for US Army Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCTs) to provide their direct fire capability.
In the past it was described as Mobile Protected Firepower, but is really a medium tank as it weighs some 42t. Some 504 are to be procured.
Also already in production is the BAE Systems Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) which is the replacement for the remaining significant number of M113-series variants still deployed by Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCTs).
How will these programmes fare going forward? MICV aside perhaps, they are well advanced and in theory should be safe (the vehicles will be needed for anything even vaguely resembling the current force structure) but we should always be ready to expect the unexpected.
The other big US Army competition is the Common Tactical Truck (CTT) for which American Rheinmetall Vehicles and Oshkosh Defense are in competition, but again details from the bidders are tight as the stakes are so high.
Rheinmetall is the new kid on the block while Oshkosh has been the main supplier of tactical wheeled vehicles to the army for many years but recently (and controversially) lost out to AM General on the re-buy for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV).
The US Army is also placing increased emphasis on UGVs and by the time of AUSA six contractors had delivered their entries in the competition for a Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) to Aberdeen Proving Ground for extensive trials.
At the event, GDLS also showed its Multi-Utility Tactical Transport XM (MUTT-XM) which is larger than earlier versions and was displayed transporting two four-legged robotic UGVs which then returned to the ‘mothership’ to have their batteries recharged.
At the smaller end of the scale there are now just two contenders for the army’s requirement for a Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport (S-MET), HDT Global and Rheinmetall, with the winner expected to get a contract for some 2,000 units.
While future ‘buy American’ pressures may conceivably affect Rheinmetall’s chances in this, the MICV and CTT contests (the ‘optics’ of foreign ownership may be unpalatable for some even if manufacturing and job creation will be decidedly domestic), the US could see sense and embrace the emergence of an additional proven source for key vehicle programmes, whether crewed or uncrewed, combat or logistics.
The Extended Range GMLRS will enable the HIMARS artillery rocket system to engage targets at much greater distances with a precision effect. (Image: Lockheed Martin)
Missile production focus
In addition to rapidly increasing the supply of artillery ammunition, production of antitank guided weapons (ATGW) such as the Lockheed Martin/Raytheon Javelin and Raytheon TOW has also been boosted.
Underlining this, at AUSA 2024 Lockheed Martin released details of its ramp-up as part of the company’s ‘21st Century Security’ vision.
By late 2026, some 3,960 Javelin ATGWs will be supplied each year for home and export markets, while for the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE), production can be ramped up to 650 air defence missiles per annum.
Turning to the M142 HIMARS artillery rocket system, this has been deployed in Ukraine with great success and many countries have now also adopted the launcher and its family of rockets to provide a long-range indirect fire capability.
Lockheed Martin has already increased production from 48 HIMARS a year and at AUSA stated it was on track to meet an annual production rate of 96 by the end of 2024.
Early this year the US Army awarded the company a contract worth up to $2.8 billion to cover FY2024 production for launchers and missiles as well as an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) framework to support HIMARS awards for FY2025 through to FY2028.
The original 227mm M28 rocket has a maximum range of only 31.6km but the latest Guided MLRS (G-MLRS), which enables targets to be hit with greater precision and at longer range, has been in production for domestic and selected export customers for some years. Lockheed Martin has now delivered the 75,000th G-MLRS to the US Army.
There are two models of G-MLRS, one with a unitary warhead for point targets and the other with the so-called Alternative Warhead which is for imprecisely located area targets.
The latest rocket to enter production is the Extended Range G-MLRS which boosts capability from 70km out to 150km. Production of these will increase to 14,000 in 2025 according to Lockheed Martin.
Manufacture of the earlier, heavier M270 launcher and Phase 1 rocket was undertaken both in the US and Europe by a consortium consisting of France, Germany, Italy and the UK, but this ended some years ago and all production is now Camden, Arkansas.
As with the HIMARS award, the US Army issued a contract in October worth some $4.1 billion for multi-year procurement of the baseline G-MLRS and its Extended Range stablemate.
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