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American Rheinmetall Delivers Its First Prototype to Replace Bradley Fighting Vehicle
The first of eight prototypes enters government testing under a $764 million contract as the Army weighs replacements for the Bradley.
On Tuesday, American Rheinmetall delivered the first Lynx XM30 prototype to the Army, advancing the service's decades-long effort to replace the aging Bradley Fighting Vehicle fleet.
In 2023, the Army awarded Rheinmetall and General Dynamics Land Systems a combined $1.6 billion to develop prototypes, initiating competition to supersede the Bradley, which entered service in 1981.
Built on the Lynx KF41, the prototype features a hybrid-electric powertrain, 50 mm cannon, and modular architecture designed to accommodate a two-person crew plus six additional soldiers.
General Dynamics delivered its competing XM30 Wolf prototype last Friday, enabling the Army to execute parallel technical testing and unit training simultaneously under its Transformation in Contact 2.0 initiative.
Seven remaining prototypes will arrive later this year for operational training, with the Army expecting to select a final winning design and begin production by the end of 2027.
The US Army is looking for a successor to the M2 Bradley rifle tank. The German armaments company Rheinmetall also wants to join in – and has now delivered a prototype.