The first Lynx XM30 prototype is now in U.S. Army hands. American Rheinmetall says it has delivered the first of eight Lynx XM30 combat vehicle prototypes, which goes straight into government-led developmental and performance testing in the competition to replace the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
The company says the remaining seven prototypes will follow later in 2026. The Lynx is one of two designs still in the XM30 competition, and General Dynamics Land Systems announced delivery of its rival design 11 days before Rheinmetall’s release.
In its Sept. 1, 2026 release, American Rheinmetall, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, describes the delivery as “a pivotal step in the competitive program to replace the legacy M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle.” The company says the testing is part of a Phase 3/4 Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract “valued at approximately $764 million, which encompasses digital design, physical prototyping, and full-system validation.”
What American Rheinmetall says the Lynx XM30 brings
The claims so far are the company’s, not the Army’s test results. American Rheinmetall says the Lynx XM30 uses a hybrid-electric powertrain, a modular design with an adaptive open architecture, and digital integration with secure, real-time connectivity. The release presents them as design features, not test results; the prototype has only now entered government testing.
The company says turret fabrication takes place in Plymouth, Michigan, with final hull and chassis integration in Slidell, Louisiana. It lists Textron Systems, Raytheon, L3Harris Technologies, Allison Transmission and Anduril Industries as partners on Team Lynx, and ties the program to the Army’s Transformation in Contact 2.0 modernization effort.
American Rheinmetall chief executive Matt Warnick said in the release that “delivering our first prototype to the Army is an important step” for the program.
The Wolf got there first
General Dynamics Land Systems delivered its entry earlier. In an Aug. 21, 2026 release, the company said it had delivered its first Wolf XM30 prototype to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Geoff Norman, GDLS director of strategy, said the delivery “will allow Soldiers to start putting the Wolf through its paces, with the ultimate goal of getting it fielded into armored brigades as quickly as possible.”
Both companies have been in the program since the Army narrowed the field in 2023. The Army’s June 26, 2023 announcement awarded contracts worth about $1.6 billion combined to General Dynamics Land Systems and American Rheinmetall Vehicles. In that announcement, Douglas R. Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said the XM30 “will replace the Bradley fighting vehicle, bringing new transformational capabilities to the fight.”
How the XM30 competition is structured
The Army’s contract-award announcement described Phases 3 and 4 as the detailed design and prototype build and testing phases, with up to 11 prototype vehicles plus ballistic hulls, turrets and armor coupons. It said the service would downselect to one vendor at Milestone C near the end of fiscal year 2027 and anticipated first unit equipped in fiscal 2029.
American Rheinmetall’s own figures have moved as the contract matured. Its Aug. 7, 2023 release valued its Phase 3 and 4 award at “in excess of $700 million” for “at least seven and as many as 11 prototypes.” The September 2026 release puts the contract at approximately $764 million and the prototype count at eight.
That 2023 release also said the Army planned to “down select to one vendor for Low-Rate Initial Production in Phase 5 of the program near the end of 2027.” With one Lynx and one Wolf now delivered, the next verified step on the company’s timeline is the arrival of the remaining seven Lynx prototypes later in 2026.
Top image: A Rheinmetall Lynx KF41 infantry fighting vehicle, the Lynx family’s version offered to Australia. It is not the XM30 prototype. Image Credit: Rheinmetall Defence — CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Combat Rated editors prior to publication.