As expected, the Army has eliminated funding for its high tech soldier ensemble, Land Warrior, in its budget for 2008. The gear — a collection of radios, electronic maps, and next-gen rifle scopes — was finally supposed to connect the average infantryman into the growing network for combat. But the Army never could figure out the seemingly-endless weight and usability issues.
Robot Economist is almost delirious over the program’s demise:
DOD planners dream up expensive systems… while ignoring the obvious success of modern digital device formats, such as cellphones, PDAs and even iPods. You may not be able to tap out a text message on a cellphone during a firefight as easily as with the Land Warrior, but what are you doing text messaging anyways? That’s what the radio is for!
But Land Warrior isn’t quite dead, yet. The 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry will still be taking more than 200 Land Warrior uniforms to Iraq, later on this year. The systems were already bought and paid for, in earlier budgets. And the hope is that Land Warrior performs so well under fire that the Army’s chiefs have no choice but to turn the program’s cash spigot back on. “It’s kind of a Hail Mary pass,” one Pentagon insider tells me.
The Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II, a new rocket for Apache and Cobra copters, and the Army Tactical Missile System have been wiped out, too.
Also, as expected, the Army will trim its mongo modernization project, Future Combat Systems, by cutting “two classes of unmanned aerial systems, one unmanned ground system and remov[ing] the Intelligent Munition System [a sort of smart landmine] from the program,” Inside Defense reports. Army budget director Lt. Gen. Dave Melcher says the changes will save $3.3 billion over five years. FCS will still cost taxpayers $10.6 billion in fiscal year 2008 alone, if the Pentagon’s budget goes through. Plus, there will be another $222 million for the Warfighter Information Network — Tactical, which is designed to help troops on the battlefield plug into info networks through satellite, airborne and terrestrial links. That’s a nearly 100% increase over the previous year.
Defense News lists some of the other items that the Army is buying this year with its $27.8 billion procurement budget:
$473 million to buy Patriot PAC-3 missiles.
$596 million to buy 7,000 Humvees.
$828 million to buy 2,862 trucks in the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles.
$483 million to buy trucks in the Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles.
$172 million to buy mortars rounds.
$222 million to buy artillery rounds.
$167 million to buy rockets.
$132 million to buy combat service support equipment.
$712 million to modernize AH-64 Apache helicopters.
$705 million to buy UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
$191 million to buy Chinook CH-47 cargo helicopters.
$468 million to buy Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters to replace OH-58D Kiowa Warriors.
$230 million to buy Light Utility Helicopters.
$98 million to buy 5,900 M4 carbines.
We are trying to procure M4s for all soldiers in theater; the shorter weapon gives a lot more potential, the services budget director, Lt. Gen. Dave Melcher said.
UPDATE 7:44 PM: “The 4th Brigade was also scheduled to test Land Warrior at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., but now that has also been canceled,” Federal Computer Week notes. “NTC is a common final stop for realistic training before Iraq deployments.”
The unit will be fully supported throughout its Iraq deployment, Atherton said. The Army has funding for unit support and repair parts through 2007 and is confident they will find procurement or operating money to keep the unit alive in 2008.
Meanwhile, the program office for Land Warrior here at home will be shut down. The Army will buy replacement parts and materials to last during the duration of the deployment…
The Army is looking for alternatives to give dismounted soldiers a point of presence on the network, Melcher said. One possibility is something called the Single Infantry Transport System, which has similar capabilities, he said.
The research from Land Warrior will be folded into the Future Force Warrior program, a component of the Future Combat System, Melcher said.
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Complexity = Asking for trouble.
A simple device, built on existing technology, could go a long way. Like a rugged PDA/Phone/Radio/GPS device, with a fingerprint scanner built in (so that the device would not work in enemy hands), one for each soldier.
With a good display, soldiers could get real-time sat images, map overlays, etc.
Tie it in to a series of private networks, and then see how it works in the field. Build from there.
Why spend millions or billions on science fiction right now? Run with proven technology.
Is there a point to buying more Hummers if they aren’t armored? Thought in the 80′s when they adopted the Hummer the inventory was setup to accomodate more divisions than we have up and running now, which would mean we would have a great surplus of Hummers, unless the Iraq war just somehow chewed em all up.
Saw articles on how the Hummers had to be partly disassembled by the uparmoring companies: they should be manufactured partly disassembled to make the job of uparmoring much easier, or have the government seize the IP and give it to GM and them do the up-armoring.
For modernizing helicopters, I hope it isn’t more longbow radar. We are not hunting tanks at this time.
If we’re procuring new helicopters (LUH), perhaps it might be better for our next generation of helicopter procured to be procured in company with a gunship (sorta like how the Cobra and Huey had some parts commonality to reduce logistical burdens).
Whoops, forgot about LW…the meat of a “tech” site but all in all a micro issue.
Perhaps a way to integrate the ability to call in artillery strikes with the LW unit (patch in a laser designator?)
Communications is important too. Individual level radios would be nice, but maps and keyboard messages is a bit nuts. We should wait until we can do “neural taps” and execute commands by thought instead of a physical interface (keyboard). Of course, that’s a long long ways away…
Is my math wrong here….
98 mil for 5,900 M4s?!?
(That’s around 16,600 a piece!)
Even at buying 59 thousand that would still be around 1,600 bucks per. weapon.
I must be missing something.
So $98 million into 5,900 is ~$16,300 per M-4 rifle. Is something missing here? Even with optics, that’s inflated!
>The Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II, a new rocket for Apache and Cobra copters, and the >Army Tactical Missile System have been wiped out, too.
APKWS II wiped out!? What’s the background? I understand other expensive systems are vulnerable to be slashed, but I thought APKWS II was valuable in terms of cost performance. I never thought it would be wiped out.
Good Evening Folks,
I agree with the Robot Economist, all that I can add is it’s a start.
What happened to the XM-8 Rifle? M-4′s at $16,300.00 per copy seems rather on the bit costly side. If I recall the XM-8 was priced out at about $800.00 and was a superior weapon.
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
Hmmm, I wonder if the Europeans will continue with their future warrior systems now? The Germans were pretty far along – with the French and UK nipping at their heels. Now that we’ve “pulled out” I wonder if they’ll continue…
http://www.rheinmetall-detec.de/index.php?fid=3170&lang=3&pdb=1
Seriously, could someone double-check that M4 number? Or at least explain it?
>What happened to the XM-8 Rifle?
The XM-8 program is suspended since late 2005. There were also complaints about lack of competition in the OICW program.
On the cost of the M-4 versus the XM-8 I think Byron was a bit on the high side…The XM-8 (a H&K G-36 with new furniture applied) is a bit more than the $800 he stated and the M-4 comes in at that same price (minus the optics packages, lights etc…)
On another subject-I thought the rifle section of the OICW had been dropped but work was proceeding on the 25mm cannon portion of it? Is it all dead or is it pieced out?
Let’s buy everything across the entire spectrum of weapons and ship them off to Iraq. This bankrupt administration really wants to screw the taxpayers by spending like crazy fools with no regard as to how and when to pay down our national debt which stands at trillions of dollars that this generation can never ever hope to repay all the creditors with interests. Having said that that would mean our sons and daughters would suffer a degradation in living standard as compared to our present one. Of course their buddies and their offsprings would be well looked
after at the expense of the middle class which would be gone in our life time and becomes an extinct species.
M4′s with seven magazines and a sling cost around $800– how do 5900 of them add up to $98 million?
I know this is a bit late but in regards to the M4, a basic semi auto M4 for civilians is between $1000 and $2000. Mine cost around $1200 before the accessories and the cheapest I saw was $900 and that was without rails and a permanently attached carry handle.
A mil-spec full auto/burst M4-A4 in the civilian market is around 18k. Also from what I was told about my issued M4 was that to replace it was around 13k. So the prices seem about right. I
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A simple device, built on existing technology, could go a long way. Like a rugged PDA/Phone/Radio/GPS device, with a fingerprint scanner built in (so that the device would not work in enemy hands), one for each soldier.
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