US Ground vehicle programmes for the US Army appear set to proceed deliberately in the Pentagon's fiscal year 2016 (FY 2016) budget request, with few surprises other than new medium support trucks. The USD23 billion requested by the army for 'modernisation' funds - encompassing research, development, and acquisition - is USD2.4 billion more than was enacted in FY 2015, but over the last few years has been about USD4 billion below its historic portion of the budget. In briefing materials presented in early February, army officials said their request prioritises ground vehicle efforts such as M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks (MBTs) and Bradley infantry fighting vehicle modifications, a fourth up-armoured brigade of Stryker wheeled combat vehicles, and procurement of Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) self-propelled howitzers and Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs).
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