The U.S. Army will make open-systems architecture a key criterion in selecting the XM30 infantry fighting vehicle, Brig. Gen. Troy Denomy, the service’s portfolio acquisition executive for ground maneuver, told Breaking Defense.
Denomy said the architecture will be evaluated alongside other selection factors because it could allow the Army and industry partners to integrate new software and hardware as battlefield requirements change, including in counter-unmanned aerial systems operations. He said it was too early to determine whether American Rheinmetall or General Dynamics Land Systems had implemented the more open design.
Both competitors have delivered one XM30 prototype to the Army for testing at Aberdeen Proving Ground, according to the report. Testing has identified software capabilities requiring adjustment, particularly communication between vehicle subsystems. Denomy described the changes as typical for a prototype and said both companies had responded to the required modifications.
The XM30 is intended to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Army acquisition officials have used a modular open-systems approach as part of the program’s digital-engineering framework. In a U.S. Army acquisition article, the program office described the XM30 as using the Ground Combat Systems common infrastructure architecture, a modular open-systems approach for ground combat programs.
The selection is proceeding while the government operates under a continuing resolution and Congress has not passed the fiscal 2027 budget, according to Breaking Defense. The Army requested $547 million to procure 19 XM30 vehicles in fiscal 2027, while a House Appropriations defense subcommittee draft reduced that line to $33.1 million.
Denomy also distinguished the XM30 from BAE Systems’ self-funded AMPV-30, which the Army is experimentally exercising in an infantry fighting vehicle role. He said the two platforms have significant differences in capability and should not be conflated.