Jane Edwards
The U.S. Army concluded a demonstration of various vehicles for the potential Electric Light Reconnaissance Vehicle program at Fort Benning in Georgia, Defense News reported Friday.
Ten companies took part in the eLRV industry demo to allow the service to assess the vehicles’ off-road capability, inform potential platforms using feedback from warfighters and define goals. General Motors’ defense arm and Polaris announced their participation in the event.
Leaders from the maneuver capabilities development and integration directorate told the publication in a statement that the proposed eLRV platform would provide on-demand silent operation, enhanced mobility, lethality, automotive performance, onboard power, mission load capacity and protection for a squad of six soldiers to carry out mounted and dismounted surveillance and reconnaissance operations in support of infantry brigade combat teams for “extended durations without the need for resupply.”
The service expects a draft request for prototype proposals to be released by the summer of 2021. The Army’s product lead for ground mobility vehicles would kick off a prototyping effort and launch the initial phase by fiscal year 2022 if the proposed eLRV program gets funding.
The Army would select up to four vendors to come up with two vehicle prototypes each. Once the companies pass a critical design review-type demo of their vehicles, they will transition to the second phase that is set to begin in FY 2023.
After the second phase, the Army would establish the final requirements and decide on the procurement strategy for the eLRV program.
