Identifying Potential Supply Chain Bottlenecks Within the Ammunition Manufacturing Process for the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle

Abstract

The U.S. Army is developing the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV). The OMFV is slated to replace the BFV’s 25mm caliber gun with a 30mm or 50mm caliber gun. This analysis seeks to help inform the OMFV program's decision on round size by evaluating the supply chain aspects of each round. From stakeholder analysis, the primary supply chain concern is related to the casing material, with the 30 mm round using aluminum and the 50 mm round using steel. The manufacturing process for each round type was modeled in ProModel, including the supply chain issues related to steel and aluminum. The results indicated that both types of rounds are bottlenecked by steel limitations, since both rounds use steel projectiles. The study also indicated a larger variability in round cost for 50 mm rounds given the volatility of the steel market.