Inside the XM30 program: The Army’s Bradley replacement

For more than four decades, the U.S. Army has been trying, and failing, to replace the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. From the Armored Systems Modernization program in the 1980s to Future Combat Systems in the 2000s to the Ground Combat Vehicle in the years after, every major effort has collapsed under cost, complexity, or shifting priorities. Yet the Bradley, first fielded in 1981, continues to roll on battlefields across the world, including Ukraine, where it has finally faced down the Soviet-designed armor it was built to fight.

Now, with the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle program entering full prototype construction, the Army says it is closer than ever to finally retiring the Bradley. Two industry teams, General Dynamics Land Systems and American Rheinmetall Vehicles, are bend