American Rheinmetall reveals new future fighting vehicle details

American Rheinmetall has released new details about the Lynx XM30, its next-generation infantry fighting vehicle developed for the U.S. Army’s XM30 program, as the Pentagon moves to formally transition the program from research and development into full procurement with a $547 million budget request for fiscal year 2027.

The Lynx XM30 is being developed by Team Lynx, a consortium of leading defense companies assembled specifically for the Army’s XM30 Combat Vehicle program. The team brings together American Rheinmetall Vehicles, Textron Systems, RTX, L3Harris Technologies, Allison Transmission, and Anduril Industries — a combination of established armor and systems integrators alongside newer technology firms. That breadth of industrial partnership reflects the complexity of what the Army is asking for: a vehicle that must fight, survive, and operate autonomously in the most demanding combat environments the U.S. military expects to face against near-peer adversaries.

In a statement accompanying the new details, American Rheinmetall emphasized that the vehicle’s design is being shaped by people with direct combat experience.

“The Lynx XM30 isn’t being designed in a vacuum,” the company said. “At American Rheinmetall, many of the people shaping this vehicle have served in armored formations and understand what it means to operate in contested environments. That experience directly informs how the Lynx XM30 is built, from survivability to mission effectiveness. It’s a philosophy rooted in the realities of how Soldiers fight, not just what’s written in requirements.”

The vehicle’s core architecture centers on a U.S.-designed unmanned turret armed with the 50mm XM913 Bushmaster autocannon — a weapon that delivers significantly greater range and lethality than the 25mm cannon currently mounted on the Bradley. Operating the vehicle requires only a two-person crew, a reduction made possible by the unmanned turret design, which removes the gunner from a traditional crewed turret and allows both crew members to operate from a more protected position within the hull. The platform also features a highly mobile chassis, integrated protection systems, and a modular open architecture — the latter meaning the vehicle’s electronic and software systems are designed to accept upgrades and new capabilities over time without requiring a complete redesign.

A defining characteristic of the XM30 is its optionally manned concept. The vehicle is designed to maneuver soldiers to a position of advantage for close combat and deliver decisive lethality during combined arms operations — but it is also built to operate without a crew or soldiers under armor when the mission or the commander’s judgment calls for it. That capability extends further: the XM30 is designed to control maneuver robotics and semi-autonomous systems operating alongside it, making it a node in a broader networked force rather than a standalone platform. The Army envisions the XM30 operating as part of Armored Brigade Combat Teams, where it will replace the Bradley in formations built around combined arms maneuver against future near-peer competitors.

The fiscal year 2027 budget request of $547 million for 19 vehicles represents a significant milestone for the program. The Pentagon’s request formally shifts the XM30 from a program funded exclusively through research and development accounts into the procurement phase — a transition that signals institutional confidence that the design has matured sufficiently to begin buying production-representative vehicles. Nineteen units at that price point reflects the high per-unit cost typical of low-rate initial procurement for a technologically complex ground combat system, where early production runs fund the final engineering validation and manufacturing process refinement needed before higher-volume buys begin.

The XM30 program traces its origins to the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle initiative, which the Army launched to find a successor to the Bradley after an earlier effort — the Ground Combat Vehicle program — was cancelled. On June 26, 2023, upon completion of the initial digital design phase, the Army formally redesignated the OMFV as the XM-30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle, marking the program’s transition from concept exploration into serious engineering development.

The Bradley it is designed to replace has served as the backbone of Army mechanized infantry since the 1980s, proving its worth across Desert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan. But the threat environment has changed dramatically. Longer-range anti-armor weapons, drone-delivered munitions, and the dense electronic warfare environments documented in recent conflicts have exposed the limits of a platform designed for a different era. The XM30’s combination of a more powerful cannon, reduced crew exposure, autonomous operating capability, and open architecture for continuous upgrades is the Army’s answer to those evolving demands.