From this morning’s front page of Military.com:
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Army will deliver some key technologies to ground forces in war zones three years ahead of schedule as part of its $160 billion Future Combat Systems program led by Boeing Co. and SAIC Inc.
Senior Army officials on June 26 said changes to the FCS program will expedite the use of high-tech equipment, including unmanned sensors and robotics, to infantry brigades fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan by 2011.
Portions of FCS were expected to be used by armored units by 2014, but Army officials say the technology being developed is needed for the current war effort.
Lt. Gen. Michael A. Vane, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, said accelerating FCS and other complementary programs will help “filling the gaps” created by huge demands on the infantry brigades, while increasing the effectiveness and safety of U.S. soldiers.
Army officials maintain that while costs may rise in the short-term from the new schedule, they will balance out in future years and will not raise the program’s overall price tag, which has been criticized by lawmakers.
Lead contractors Boeing and SAIC said the Army’s decision to accelerate the FCS technologies shows confidence in the program’s progress. FCS includes 14 manned and unmanned systems that are linked through a secure communications network.
On Wednesday, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey briefed Defense Secretary Robert Gates on plans to restructure the program. Gates, who backed the shift, told reporters at a separate briefing Thursday that FCS “deserves support.”
Dan Goure, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, said it appears that the Army “didn’t want to repeat the same mistake” as the Air Force in battling Gates publicly over F-22 jets made by Lockheed Martin Corp. Gates also has previously raised doubts about the FCS program.
“Clearly this show that Gates is in command in a way few secretaries have been of the services,” said Goure.
A few lawmakers lauded the Army’s choice to deploy the latest technology to soldiers in the field. But House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and Hawaii Democrat Neil Abercrombie, chairman of the air and land subcommittee, expressed concern that the new plan “may not allow for adequate testing of the equipment due to its very tight schedule.”
The FCS program has long been criticized for remaining over budget and behind schedule. Earlier this year, the House Armed Services Committee voted to cut about $200 million from the Army’s request of $3.6 billion for the FCS program in the fiscal 2009 budget.
“The Army has struggled to justify FCS for years, this is the latest evolution in this saga,” said Nick Schwellenbach, an analyst for the Project on Government Oversight. “Yet at least now FCS may now end up helping troops currently deployed overseas.”
– Christian
Whats the dude in the photo doing, looks like he’s putting up some sort of tiny rocket thing?
They’re sensors
Tactical Unattended Ground Sensor (T-UGS):
https://www.fcs.army.mil/systems/ugs/index.html
Can be used for unit perimeter defense or surveillance of battlefield areas of interest. Leave the urban version behind in a building you already cleared, for instance, in a room that a sniper might use, or a high traffic hallway. Use the T-UGS to detect insurgents attempting to lay IEDs on roads surrounding your combat outpost in Iraq, or along a mountain trail in Afghanistan.
I’m glad to see the Army being more proactive in selling the program and accomodating Sec of Defense Gates and key lawmakers.
*Whistle* I dont’ know how common that sort of terrain is that he’s lying on, but when I looked at it, ACUPAT did its job! (In making it taking even a split-second longer to mark his outline, which in combat might be a lifesaver.) I’m impressed.
Better yet, it has nohting to do with the infamous “ACUPAT on a sofa” picture.
let’s see… the army is being pressured by the civilians to speed up deployment of FCS. the urgency is understandable, especially given FCS’s share of the defense budget.
let’s keep in mind what we’re talking about here: autonomous or quasi-autonomous systems. let’s hope the rush to deploy doesn’t put systems in the field that are unstable and potentially dangerous to our troops or friendlies…
terminator comes to mind.
Isn’t it dangerous to field these systems prematurely on a battlefield where there are known cases of insurgents selling captured military tech/vehicles to other countries. How easy is it for a sensor to end up in foreign countries hands, broken down and counter measures created for it.
There is a case of a Apache being couriered to Russia escorted by Russian officials through Syria then Russia by truck, how easy is it to transfer this tech when the sensor is so tiny?
I never understood how these sensors would work, inevitably one will end up in enemy hands and it would be like the enigma code for Germany. The enemy can learn how the sensor work and create counter measures, everything from livestock with metal strapped to their sadles to trigger the metalic sensors in the T-UGS or hacking the transmitting service to create false alarms etc.
Reason (voice of), there’s nothing dangerous or unstable about it. Terminator? The only “I’ll be back” associated with it are the U.S. Soldiers who may set it out after dark, monitor it, and returns to pick it up at dawn. The enemy will never know whether it is covered by direct fire, claymores, or artillery…or just is gathering information.
Lugs, false alarms are a possibility, but multi-mode sensors reduce and help identify those false alarms. Proper sensor placement also helps. There are tamper-proof aspects to it…and sensor capabilities themselves make it difficult to sneak up to steal it.
Yes, we had remote sensor systems back in Viet Nam. This will be far more localized and widely fielded to provide combat information for nearby using units rather than intelligence for higher echelons like systems of the past.
Early fielding in combat will allow Soldier ingenuity to figure out problems/successes and innovative means of employment…and hopefully save lives.