BAE Systems has submitted its proposal to the U.S. Army to build and test the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) vehicle for use by the Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT).
The MPF is a new combat vehicle required by the Army to provide the IBCT with a protected platform capable of delivering overwhelming precision firepower combined with the ability to move rapidly in a variety of terrain conditions.
“Our MPF vehicle is the result of more than 30 years of research and development to build a rapidly deployable, light combat vehicle designed specifically to support the light infantry,” said Jim Miller, director of Business Development at BAE Systems’ Combat Vehicles business. “Our offering integrates the most modern technologies into a non-developmental design based on development, testing, and lessons learned from our portfolio of combat vehicle programs.”
BAE Systems leveraged the Army’s earlier investment in, and made improvements on, the type-classified M8 Armored Gun System — as well as other previous programs — into a fully integrated MPF system. By adding modern technology, BAE Systems developed a low-risk solution that has both a mature design and the latest in innovation. It provides a highly survivable, lethal, mobile, and transportable vehicle system to the IBCT.
“Our solution is built around the IBCT’s needs and the evolving threats they face,” Miller said. “It is as deployable as the IBCT’s other equipment and is easily sustained and maintained with assets already organic to the IBCT. Our infantry fights in close terrain, urban areas, and remote locations, so a smaller, lightweight vehicle that still provides superior protection and lethality was essential to the design of our MPF offering.”
BAE Systems has developed and built a vehicle that is currently going through internal testing. The company will submit the vehicle to the Army on April 2 to undergo additional U.S. government testing as a part of the bid assessment process.