FCS MGV Update

You can get a good summary of the progress of the NLOS-C howitzer and NLOS-M mortar here, and things seem to be proceeding well, with the tube and the autoloader performing well.

Some pics of the NLOS-C:




FWIW, I don't think that the FCS MGV (Future Combat System -- Manned Ground Vehicle) is a particularly good idea. These platforms will be more expensive than their predecessors, but lighter weight, half the weight of a Bradley, 1/3 of the weight of an Abrams, so they will be more vulnerable to things like IEDs.

The systems they contain, communications and sensors, not the hybrid drive system, do have military value, and I expect them to see service, but it's cheaper, and to my mind more militarily advantageous to retrofit the boxes on existing systems.

As to whether the military will buy any of these, I think yes, but only the NLOS-C, because the artillery folks at the military are currently using a vehicle first fielded in 1963, the M109 Paladin, and with the Crusader cancellation in the late 1990s, it's still their turn.

I don't think that the rest will be manufactured, though the ICV (Infantry Combat Vehicle) is in one very significant way, it carries a full infantry fire team of 9, as opposed to the Bradley's 6, because of space freed up by making the turret remotly operated.

You could retrofit a Bradley with a new turret for the same effect though.