ARLINGTON, Virginia -- BAE Systems has been awarded a $449.9 million contract to participate in the technology development (TD) phase of the U.S. Army's Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program. BAE Systems is teamed with Northrop Grumman Corporation to offer a vehicle that provides exceptional growth and survivability at an affordable price.

The TD phase of the GCV program is a 24-month program directed at maturing the GCV proposal through the preliminary design review in anticipation of prototype builds during the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the program. The BAE Systems-Northrop Grumman team was one of two industry teams awarded TD contracts.

"Advancing to this next phase in the competition brings us one step closer to fielding a vehicle for our soldiers that is affordable, provides for maximum force protection and is built to accommodate future technological enhancements," said Mark Signorelli, vice president and general manager of Weapon Systems at BAE Systems.

"We appreciate being selected by the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense to mature our GCV solution, a critical capability required to modernize our Army and provide soldiers with a decisive edge against any adversary. At BAE Systems, we take pride in protecting those who protect us and with our partners and teammates, are fully committed to the success of this program."

The BAE Systems-Northrop Grumman vehicle features an adaptive platform that will remain relevant for decades to come, bringing more survivability, mobility and versatility to the Army and with levels of protection scalable to the demands of a variety of missions.

"The BAE Systems-Northrop Grumman team has applied its expertise and lessons learned from a decade of warfare to design a network-ready, fully integrated vehicle with significantly increased capability, so U.S. forces can engage and prevail in full-spectrum operations today and in the future," said Joe G. Taylor, Jr., Northrop Grumman Information Systems' vice president for Ground Combat Systems.

The team's offering includes a hybrid electric drive propulsion system that enables exceptional force protection and mobility in a lower weight vehicle while provisioning for growth in power requirements as new technologies are matured and integrated into the platform. This technology allows for GCV to meet the demands of near term operations while providing a robust platform for future technology integration and growth at low risk and cost.

The BAE Systems-Northrop Grumman Ground Combat Vehicle team includes: QinetiQ, iRobot Corporation, MTU and Saft. As prime contractor, BAE Systems leads the overall program management, systems integration, vehicle design, structure and logistical support as well as readiness and sustainment of the platform. Northrop Grumman serves as the C4ISR lead. QinetiQ provides the key component of the hybrid electric drive propulsion system, the E-X-Drive®. iRobot serves as the unmanned ground vehicle integrator and will enhance future autonomous operations. MTU provides the engine and power generation for GCV and Saft provides the battery and energy storage system.

Work under the technology development phase will be performed at BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman sites in Sterling Heights and Troy, Michigan; Santa Clara and Carson, California; York, Pennsylvania; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Huntsville, Alabama.

BAE Systems
20.08.2011