DATC Consortium group to develop NextGen Army combat vehicle prototype
NewsNovember 02, 2017
MCLEAN, Va. Officials at the U.S. Army TARDEC selected the Defense Automotive Technologies Consortium (DATC) group to assist in the development of a next generation combat vehicle - experimental prototype (NGCV-EP). The group is lead by Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) under an eight-year contract, valued at $237 million.
DATC was formed in September of 2016 when the U.S. Army TARDEC selected SAE ITC, an affiliate of SAE International, to create an “other transaction agreement (OTA)” to quickly and efficiently integrate innovative automotive technologies into military ground vehicles, ultimately resulting in speed of adoption of commercial technologies and improved defense capabilities.
According to TARDEC, it was important they were able to leverage the flexibility of the OTA under DATC. In addition, the mix of traditional and non-traditional defense contractors comprising the vendor collaboration team will allow TARDEC to leverage the best in defense and automotive expertise and innovation to increase the knowledge of available technologies, reduce risk to performance and cost, and set conditions for an accelerated development of highly lethal and survivable vehicle that will ensure battlefield overmatch against potential adversaries.
SAIC and teammates shall serve as collaborative partners with U.S. Army TARDEC in the research, design, development, refinement, build, integration and demonstration of two identical combat vehicle demonstrator NGCV-EP platforms.
Teammates with SAIC on the project include: GS Engineering, Inc.; Hodges Transportation, Inc. dba Nevada Automotive Test Center (NATC); Lockheed Martin Corp.; Moog, Inc.; Roush Industries, Inc.
In April of 2017, DATC launched the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Prototype (NGCV) program focused on the design and integration of component technologies into a prototype combat vehicle platform. The program was open to teams comprising innovative engineering organizations from industry, academia and defense communities. Lead members from each team collaborated and coordinated with the team's subject matter experts and the TARDEC NGCV leadership regarding the project.
DATC is an affiliate of SAE ITC (Industry Technologies Consortia). The SAE ITC team specializes in establishing and managing consortia by providing proven processes, tools and resources. SAE ITC is an affiliate of SAE International. SAE International is a global association committed to being the ultimate knowledge source for the engineering profession. By uniting over 127,000 engineers and technical experts, we drive knowledge and expertise across a broad spectrum of industries.
