BCT Ground Combat Vehicle Program

Ground Combat Vehicle
Ground Combat Vehicle logo
Type	Tracked or wheeled armored fighting vehicles
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	cancelled
Production history
Designer	Industry and US Army (Government Furnished E/I/M and synchronization)
Variants	Infantry fighting vehicle

The Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) was the United States Army's replacement program for armored fighting vehicles in Armored and Stryker brigade combat teams. The GCV was organized under the Follow On Incremental Capabilities Package of the BCT Modernization program. The first variant of the vehicle was to be prototyped in 2015 and fielded by 2017. It replaced the canceled Future Combat Systems, manned ground vehicles program. The Ground Combat Vehicle program was cancelled in February 2014.

Specific design elements of the GCV were contracted out, though the Army designed the architecture and retained overall responsibility for synchronization. This contrasted with the former FCS manned ground vehicles program where contractors had more control over the design. The GCV was to be networked and offer improved survivability, while using the state-of-the-art mobility and power management functions. The military released classified details of the FCS Manned Ground Vehicles program to interested contractors to be utilized in design proposals for the GCV. The GCV family was to be built around a common chassis.

The GCV was to be operable with the current battle command control and communications suite but would gradually use a more state-of-the-art networked integration system known as the BCT Network. It would provide exportable electrical power, and a battery charging capability for external hardware including vehicles and electronics from the BCT Soldier subsystems. The system would be capable of integration with unmanned systems and dismounted soldiers.

The GCV must have been transportable by cargo aircraft, rail, and ship. The Army required it to meet the availability rates of the current Stryker. The Army did not limit the vehicle by the dimensions of the C-130 Hercules, which, in the past, constrained many designs. Air mobility would be provided by the more spacious C-17 Globemaster III. The GCV was to have good cross-country mobility, with a baseline requirement of 30 mph off-road speed. The GCV should have delivered higher sustainability levels and consume less fuel than the Bradley or other vehicles of similar weight and power. The military was accepting both tracked and wheeled designs. The operational maintenance cost requirement of the GCV was up to $200 per mile, compared to $168 per mile for the M2 Bradley.