The Army is developing a replacement for the M2 Bradley while testing new ways to put loitering munitions under armor.
General Dynamics Land Systems is showcasing a 1/8 model of the Wolf XM30, the company’s candidate to replace the M2 Bradley, along with PERCH 2.0, M-SHORAD Increment 4 and the F600 Leonidas at the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting this week.
The Wolf is one of two vehicles competing in the Army’s XM30 program, with American Rheinmetall delivering its first Lynx XM30 prototype to the Army in September.
Retired Army officer Scott Taylor, General Dynamics Land Systems’ director of U.S. growth, told Military Times that the Bradley has reached the limits of its ability to accommodate additional capabilities and weight.
The Wolf is designed with greater capacity in mind, while improving fightability, lethality and survivability, Taylor said. General Dynamics Land Systems delivered its first Wolf prototype to the Army in August.
PERCH 2.0 allows M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks and Stryker vehicles to launch Switchblade 300 loitering munitions while keeping operators under armor.
One PERCH 2.0 prototype has been provided to the Army for experimentation, with three more on the way. Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, known as “Thunder Horse,” are currently testing the prototype at Fort Hood, Texas, Taylor noted.
The system grew out of General Dynamics Land Systems’ development of PERCH 1.0, which the company developed in less than four months after senior Army leaders discussed observations from the war in Ukraine during a 2025 event, Taylor said. Soldiers with the 1st Cavalry Division then tested the system at Fort Hood and provided feedback that led to changes in loading procedures, use of space and integration with the tank’s loader display.
The Army initially experimented with Switchblade 600 before asking the company to focus on the smaller Switchblade 300, according to Taylor. General Dynamics Land Systems continued developing PERCH 2.0 with its own independent research and development funding before the Army contracted for three additional prototypes under the Abrams program office.
The Army will evaluate the design after the experimentation and could compete the capability or purchase it, depending on the results, Taylor explained.
“In many ways, it’s become attrition-based warfare over there, and that’s not the way the U.S. Army or the U.S. Marine Corps or many of our allies fight,” Taylor said.
Also on the AUSA floor is the M-SHORAD Increment 4, a platform-agnostic air-defense system built around a Self-Loading Equipment Dock, or SLED, that can be mounted on different vehicles. Charles Woody, the company’s program manager for M-SHORAD Increment 4, told Military Times that the system is designed in part to reduce the cognitive burden on soldiers conducting air-defense and counter-UAS missions.
The configuration includes a 7.62mm machine gun, an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drone, a loitering munition and a counter-drone system.
The F600 Leonidas combines Epirus’ high-powered microwave technology for defeating drones with a commercially based Ford F-600 chassis modified for military use. The Army is expected to use a prototype to determine where the capability fits in its future air-defense plans.
Natalie Oliverio is an independent journalist and Navy veteran who covers military and veterans’ issues. Drawing on her experience as a talent executive and mentor, she writes about the policies, people and programs shaping the military community.
