The MGV vehicles were conceived to be exceptionally lightweight (initially capped at 18 tons base weight) to meet the Army's intra-theatre air mobility requirements.

FCS-Wheeled (FCS-W) was an early concept designed to demonstrate a hybrid-electric drive system and two-man cockpit workstations.

The arrangement of the turbine and drive motor provided for a two-man, side-by-side cockpit and a sizable payload compartment.

[3] In October 2002 United Defense (UD) and Boeing/SAIC signed a memorandum of understanding to bring the Objective Force Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon under the FCS umbrella.

[4] In January 2003, Boeing and SAIC reached an agreement with General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) and United Defense LP (UDLP) to develop the MGVs.

[6] In March 2005, the Army's acquisition chief Claude Bolton told the House Armed Services subcommittee that getting the MGV's weight to under 19-tons was proving difficult.

[9] The Department of Defense announced budget cuts in April 2009,[10] which resulted in the cancellation of the FCS Manned Ground Vehicles family.

In the news release the Army said cancelation would "negatively impact" NLOS-C development but said it was seeking a "viable path forward" for the NLOS-C.[13] The DoD determined that the proposed FCS vehicle designs would not provide sufficient protection against IEDs.

[17] The armor was a unique secret matrix that may be utilized by industry in the Ground Combat Vehicle program.

However, TRADOC's essential combat configuration MGV weight remained capped at 38,000 pounds (19 tons) until the program's cancelation.

[18] The XM1201 Reconnaissance and Surveillance Vehicle (RSV) featured a suite of advanced sensors to detect, locate, track, classify and automatically identify targets under all climatic conditions, day or night.

[16] The MCS was to provide both direct and beyond-line-of-sight ('indirect') firepower capability and allowed for in-depth destruction of point targets up to 8 km (5.0 mi) away.

[21] The MCS was intended to deliver precision fire at a rapid rate, in order to destroy multiple targets at standoff ranges quickly, and would complement the other systems in the unit of action.

It was also intended to be highly mobile, in order to maneuver out of contact and into positions of advantage; given the vehicle's light weight, this was especially important.

In May 2003 Army officials revealed a computer model of the MCS, allowing reporters to view the inside of the vehicle through a Cave automatic virtual environment.

[24] General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products was awarded a $14 million contract in 2007 to develop the ammunition handling system.

Improvements in the refueling arrangements and automation of ammunition reloading reduced the amount of time spent on resupply and during which the gun would be unavailable for combat support.

[31] Although Defense Secretary Robert Gates ended the MGV program in April 2009, Congress had directed that the Army continue working on the NLOS-C as a separate initiative.

[16] Each UA would have a small number of 2–3 soldier combat repair teams within the organic Forward Support Battalion to perform field maintenance requirements beyond the capabilities of the crew chief/crew, more in-depth battle damage assessment repair, and limited recovery operations.

The FRMV was armed with a close combat support weapon (CCSW) and a 40 mm Mk 19 grenade launcher.

The ICV can move, shoot, communicate, detect threats, and protect crew and critical components under all weather conditions, day or night.

FCS Networking with other components of the unit of action permits rapid identification of targets and improves situational awareness.

The XM1207 and XM1208 Medical Vehicle was an armoured ambulance designed to provide advanced trauma life support within one hour to critically injured soldiers.

In addition, the C2Vs were meant to make possible the establishment, maintenance and distribution of a common operating picture fused from the friendly, enemy, civilian, weather and terrain situations, while on the move.

The crew was to use its integrated C4ISR suite (communication, computers and sensor systems) to receive, analyze and transmit tactical information via voice, video and data inside and outside the unit of action.