The Army planned on acquiring 1,874 GCV infantry fighting vehicles to replace Bradleys in 16 active and 8 National Guard Heavy Brigade Combat Teams.

By substituting active protection systems for armor, the Army sought to reduce the weight of a Manned Ground Vehicle to 20 tons, with transportability by C-130 being the limiting factor.

[23] For fiscal year 2011, the U.S. Army sought to spend $934 million of the $2.5 billion allocated for BCT Modernization to develop the GCV.

[52] The Army planned on acquiring 1,874 GCVs to replace Bradleys in 16 active and 8 National Guard Heavy Brigade Combat Teams.

[53] Testing of commercially available combat vehicles began in May 2012 at Fort Bliss and White Sands Missile Range to prepare the Army for Milestone B.

[55] In July 2013, Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno warned that the GCV program might be delayed or possibly even cancelled because of the sequestration budget cuts.

In August 2013, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel outlined two basic results if the effects of sequestration continued: modernization programs like the GCV would be cut to maintain troop levels, or high-end capability efforts like the GCV would be preserved to continue modernization and keep equipment technologically advanced with troop levels being cut.

[64] An October 2013 Congressional Budget Office report found that $16 billion could be saved over the next 13 years if the GCV were canceled in favor of Bradley upgrades.

The Army planned to spend 80 percent of its ground vehicle modernization budget on the GCV over the next five years, with costs ranging from $29–34 billion.

The Pentagon and Army tried to find ways to continue the program, without actually starting vehicle production, through new technologies like advanced fire control systems and hybrid engines.

[70] Science and technology investments were to be made to address the size and weight of armored ground vehicles to make it easier and cheaper to transport greater numbers of them across the world.

More armor would come from the vehicle being larger for more internal space for the soldiers, and to allow for features such as floating floors for blast deflection and extra headroom.

The Army also said heavy weight would not affect deployability because the Bradley it was planned to replace already requires strategic airlift transport aircraft.

The Army's consideration to slow down the GCV development program gave time to the companies to refine their designs and reduce weight.

Lighter and stronger armor materials had not made radical progressions in recent history, and domestic active protection intercept systems were not yet mature.

The last effort to replace the Bradley had been FCS from 2003 to 2009, which developed a vehicle that relied on sensors to avoid danger and an APS in place of heavy armor.

[76] The decision had to be made to either exclusively fund the GCV or ECPs, so upgrades were chosen for the Bradley, Abrams, Stryker, and M109 Paladin.

[83] In June 2023, the Army downselected American Rheinmetall and GDLS to go forward in the competition for the OMFV contract, now designated the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle.

[84] Following the cancelation of the Future Combat Systems family the Army assessed that a new infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) would be its first priority with the GCV program.

The Army determined that it would reset the M1 Abrams main battle tank, the M2 Bradley IFV and the M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzer in the meantime while the GCV was undergoing development.

[88] The Army provided details from the Future Combat Systems (FCS) Manned Ground Vehicles (MGV) effort to utilize on the GCV.

It would provide exportable electrical power, and a battery charging capability for external hardware including vehicles and electronics from the BCT Soldier subsystems.

[89] The Army also stated that the weapon suite would emphasize modularity, be able to defeat other IFVs, and provide non-lethal capability to enable use in civilian environments.

BAE tested the Artis LLC Iron Curtain[98] and General Dynamics demonstrated a version of the Israeli Trophy system.

The Bradley's lower carrying capacity was accepted for greater (than previous vehicles) mounted lethality and cost savings, leading to squads being broken apart for transport.

The BAE Systems GCV design had a steel-core hull and an integrated electronic network capability with embedded intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance equipment.

[53][116] BAE integrated the Artis Iron Curtain active protection system to defeat incoming rockets and missiles before they can hit the vehicle.

[120] In July 2014, BAE Systems was awarded a $7.9 million study contract for technical, cost, and risk assessments to utilize the GCV TD phase integrated hybrid-electric propulsion and mobility subsystems Automotive Test Rig (ATR) and the hybrid-electric integrated propulsion subsystem (Hotbuck) for the Future Fighting Vehicle (FFV) effort.

As part of GAO’s examination of the protest, it was noted that the Army identified 20 significant weaknesses and informed SAIC that it was "of utmost importance" for the firm to address them.

There were also additional Army concerns—such as insufficient head clearance for crew members, problems with vehicle occupant seating, a risk of toxic fumes in the crew compartment due to battery pack location, and various hazards affecting a soldier’s ability to exit the rear of the GCV—that played a role in GAO’s denial of SAIC’s protest.