Army Leaders to Hill: New GCV Needed

The Army needs to deliver nine-man squads into military operations under armor, to handle a wide array of present and emerging threats – and they need a new ground combat vehicle (GCV) to do it, Army leaders told lawmakers during a March 9 hearing of the House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land subcommittee. The new vehicle also must be adaptable to new technologies, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli told the panel. “The ground combat vehicle takes into account all of the lessons we have learned over the last 10 years of warfare and ensures that we have a combat vehicle that will allow us to fight in a full-spectrum environment,” Chiarelli said. Lawmakers agreed that an upgrade is justified, but questioned why an entirely new vehicle was a better idea than simply upgrading the M2 and M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Army leaders replied that the Bradley lacked the capability to accommodate advances in armor protection and computing and networking technologies, the Army reported.