17 Years And $22billion Later, The U.S. Army Still Does Not Have A Prototype To Replace The Bradley Fighting Vehicle

The Army's Next-Generation Combat Vehicle program looks to replace the Bradley and other vehicles with a suite of vehicles, both manned and unmanned. (Cpl. Alisha Grezlik/U.S. Army)

NBC: The Army decided to replace Bradley Fighting Vehicles 17 years and $22b ago. They still don't have a prototype.

This convoluted road to nowhere stems from the Pentagon shifting the goal posts, having unrealistic expectations and refusing to accept what industry offers.

Last Friday, the U.S. Army kicked off a competition to design a successor for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, a 33-ton tank-like workhorse used to carry troops into battle and provide fire support with its rapid-fire cannon and anti-tank missiles.

While it’s sadly typical for the military to feature cost overruns and flawed requirements, what makes the procurement process for the Bradley so outstanding is that it’s been riddled with financial waste and poor stewardship before the project has even started.

The Army has been promising a replacement for its thousands of Bradleys since 2003. Already upwards of $22.9 billion is calculated to have been blown on calls for and rejections of previous submissions. The competition announced last week is the fourth, and there are few signs that whatever doomed earlier rounds has been overcome now; the third one was axed mere weeks ago.

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WNU Editor: Another Pentagon program that illustrates what happens when everything goes wrong.