Posted on 11/23/2003 5:19:13 AM PST by Cannoneer No. 4
The Army is redirecting priorities in the Future Combat Systems program, in an attempt to meet short-term needs for new technologies. This shift in emphasis means the program will be less about developing futuristic concepts and more about upgrading the current tanks, armored infantry vehicles and trucks.
Program officials assert that the chief of staff of the Army, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, supports the FCS and intends to keep the $15 billion project on track to field a new family of vehicles by 2010. But the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan clearly have forced the Army to reassess the program goals. While the FCS previously was viewed as a long-term modernization effort, now the chief wants FCS to begin delivering technologies as soon as possible.
The plan is to spin off capabilities out of FCS into the Abrams tank and Bradley infantry vehicle fleets, said Lt. Gen. John S. Caldwell Jr., military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition. But he cautioned that the FCS program is not being significantly restructured or downscaled. Rather, other programs will be adjusted to take advantage of the new technologies developed in FCS, Caldwell told National Defense.
Since the FCS got under way more than three years ago, the predominant message heard from senior officials has been the notion of FCS as a network or a system of systems that would usher the Army into the information age.
Each FCS brigade, called a unit of action, will run 30 million lines of software. More than half of the money in the program will be allocated to ground combat vehicles and C4ISR (command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) systems.
A seamless network of light ground vehicles and aircraft remains the essence of the FCS, but program officials now are stressing that FCS is first and foremost about putting technology in the hands of soldiers. During an industry conference last month sponsored by the Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, in Dearborn, Mich., the program manager for FCS, Brig. Gen. Donald F. Schenk, told contactors that they need to work fast.
Despite widespread skepticism that the program may not be able to deliver a new generation of vehicles to begin replacing tanks and Bradleys in less than a decade, Schenk said that the goals are achievable. But in his opening comments to the conference, he acknowledged that, with the Army at war, the focus has changed. The technologies of the FCS could transition to other programs more quickly than most people think, Schenk said.
Among the technologies that could spiral from FCS into the current force are wireless communications systems, active protection for vehicles, diagnostics devices to predict engine failures, hybrid-electric power units and advanced truck suspensions, said Albert Puzzuoli, deputy program executive officer for Army ground combat systems.
But for FCS to be successful, he stressed, the Army and its contractors must fix a vexing problem that affects todays weapons systems: electronics obsolescence. The term refers to the difficulties in upgrading older weapon systems because the electronic components often are out of production and not available in the commercial market. This could pose serious hurdles as the Army figures out how to upgrade the Abrams and the Bradley, so they can remain in the fleet for at least 20 more years.
The Armys ability to spiral technologies out of FCS into Abrams and Bradley depends on how we attack our electronic obsolescence problems, Puzzuoli told the TACOM conference. One solution would be to develop a new, less complex electronic architecture in the Abrams and Bradley that is somewhat compatible with FCS, he said.
Unless this matter is resolved, he added, FCS, one day, will suffer electronic obsolescence issues.
Puzzuoli suggested that one of the more pressing technology needs in the near future will be to equip the Abrams tanks with new or remanufactured engines. The Army had awarded a contract to Honeywell Corp. in 1999 to develop a new turbine engine, the LV100. The plan was to build 1,600 engines to be installed on all Abrams tanks and Crusader artillery vehicles. But the cancellation of Crusader and cutbacks in the Abrams upgrade program drove down the number of engines to fewer than 600. An expected higher price for the LV100 (as a result of a smaller order) and technical problems experienced in the program have prompted the Army to reassess whether it should cancel the project and start over.
We are currently evaluating the status of that program and where the future lies, Puzzuoli said.
The current engine, the AGT1500 turbine, is fuel guzzling, has poor reliability and high maintenance costs, he said.
In fiscal year 2004, the Army will need to overhaul more than 1,200 tank engines, a threefold increase over 12 months. The Anniston Army Depot, in Alabama, currently overhauls about 400 engines a year.
The commander of TACOM, Army Maj. Gen. N. Ross Thompson III, said he fears that shortages of key components could severely undermine the depots ability to deliver enough engines to meet the Armys needs in Iraq.
The potential cancellation of the LV100 is not related to the increased need for AGT1500 engines, Thompson said in an interview. If they dont continue the program, well have a competition to reengineer and increase the reliability and the durability of the AGT1500.
Also of immediate need in the field is additional protection for Humvees and other trucks that are not armored. As U.S. forces in Iraq endure continuing attacks by rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and various explosive devices, TACOM officials are rushing to come up with countermeasures, such as armor kits.
Ideally, TACOM would like to build more of the up-armored Humvees, but the production line only can assemble 220 per month. The Army has asked for at least 3,500.
Until enough up-armored Humvees can be delivered, TACOM is providing interim alternatives, such as armor kits and a newly designed armor door that can be applied on existing Humvees. The Armys depots will make 1,000 armor doors for immediate delivery to Iraq, Thompson said.
Armor kits also will be needed for medium and heavy trucks, he said. Future Army rotations in Iraq will see fewer Abrams and Bradleys, and more wheeled vehicles, including the new Stryker.
Upgrading Vehicles
Contractors, meanwhile, await specific direction from the Army on how it will go about transitioning from the current force to the so-called Future Force, equipped with FCS technology.
Much of the technology the Army wants in FCS already exists, experts contend. Vehicle manufacturers are coming forward with unsolicited concepts that aim to prove that.
United Defense LP, for example, recently unveiled a 20-ton armored vehicle equipped with a 120 mm gun that was fired at a shooting range in California, according the UDLP officials. The demonstratorpowered by a hybrid-electric engineis a modified armored gun that originally was developed in the early 1990s for Army light forces and subsequently was cancelled to fund other programs.
UDLP resurrected one of the six 105 mm prototypes and installed a 120 mm gun designed at the Armys Watervliet Arsenal.
The company claims that the vehicle is not intended to meet FCS requirements, given that the Army selected General Dynamics as the provider of direct-fire vehicles for FCS. UDLP was designated the supplier for the artillery systems.
In what appears to be a tit-for-tat move, General Dynamics unveiled its own concept for a 20-ton 105 mm howitzer, which would be compatible with the Stryker family. Company officials said the Army has not yet settled on whether the FCS howitzer will be 105 mm or 155 mm, even though UDLP is developing a 155 mm non-line-of-sight cannon for FCS.
As far as FCS requirements are concerned, the Army has been really vague, said Dean Lockwood, combat vehicles analyst at Forecast International, a market research firm. For that reason, contractors are showing what is possible and what is not.
Lockwood believes that the Army is moving toward a hybrid force of light quick-reaction and heavy armored units. With FCS, they want something in the middle. Stryker, he said, is the first incarnation of FCS. Its the test-bed and interim program for it.
Marine Lt. Gen. James Cartwright, of the Joint Staff, called FCS the most transformational thing that is going on in the Department of Defense.
Given the uncertainty about future conflicts and geopolitics, the Army knows its goals are probably ambitious, Cartwright said in a speech to the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement. The schedule may slip, but theyve got the right mindset, said Cartwright. Theyve got a heck of a challenge.
Where is that old reprobate, anyway? Yo, archy, give the Russian hottie a break for a minute and come to the computer.
I'm pretty sure that muzzle flash is produced by ammunition and not barrell length. So if it means that powder type or amounts have to be modified, so be it. If there are a lot of folks shooting, even with the 5.56mm then there is still going to be muzzle signature. In fact, on my M1 Abrams tank, it didn't matter if there was no shooting being done, because my thermal sight detected body heat, recently warm engines, you name it. I think in future war, muzzle flash is going to be a non-issue. Forget my tank for a moment, and the infantry weapons like the TOW anti-tank missiles that have thermals, but in straight on infantry fighting, it won't matter if there's a lot of muzzle flash because, to put it in terms of my old southern platoon sergeant: "Them that gets hot heavy lead in the air the quickest and most accurate is goin' to be whut is the winner." Do you see my point, here? Volume of accurate fire keeps heads down. It doesn't matter if that fire is bright or dim. If your head is in the dirt to keep it from gettin' blown off, the other elements can then manuever and finish the job. The four "F" principle in action: "Find 'em, Fix 'em FIGHT 'em and Finish 'em!"
The idea that the 9mm is somehow easier to shoot is laughable. First of all the Beretta M9 has a really l-o-o-o-o-n-g trigger pull, and lots of smaller fisted ladies and gents have a hard time making the first shot double action. Then the round itself is undersized and underpowered, especially when an FMJ rd rather than a JHP or frangible rd is used. I know all that BS about it being the one with the longest record of killing folks. But the fact remains it was designed for the first submachineguns and yes, when your target takes a fifteen rd burst, he's history. But for the proverbial "one shot stop" nothing beats the cross sectional density of the venerable 45ACP.
Where is that old reprobate, anyway? Yo, archy, give the Russian hottie a break for a minute and come to the computer.
She got her deer, and she's back to work. And I'm back around, and catching up on old posts and pings- like this one.
FYI, of late, I've been paying attention tothe recent *light truck* purchase the Army's getting ready to make, which i hope is a little more than just a replay of the old CUCV and Dodge M880 pickup commercial truck buy.
I guess the armorable Humvees were thougfht to be too much of a threat to the Strykers....
-archy-/-
That's part of the story. The other half is that a Land Rover will fit the drive-in ramp of a CH47 Chinook helicopter, a HUMVEE is too wide to be carried aboard. For the same reason, the Army's Ranger battallions are going to the Landy as well.
Should American forces come to a bridgeless river, they come to a screeching halt. The Rangers, at least, may be able to get across with their vehicles; if regular Infantry units cross via Helo inserts, they do so as leg infantry without their vehicles.
And as for being accompanied by Strykers, forget it. They won't even fit in a C130, and only mount a .50 Browning MG.
It was just the way he told it, with a bunch of SOF guys all loaded up fer bear hauling A$$ across the sands in this luxury vehicle, AC and stereo blasting.....well it made a funny mental image.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
First off: Never mind what he might take with him. Send him a reoccuring package every week, to include a couple of prestamped envelopes so that he can write who he chooses- but include at least one preaddressed to you so that HE can tell you what to continue sending, what to discontinue, and any useful additions and/or changes.
The US Postal Priority cardboard mailers, about a foot wide and a bit longer by about an inch and a half thick offer a good starting place, and the mailer and stamp will cost $3.80 no matter how much the contents you include weigh. I'd include hard candy such as lemon drops and grape, lemon, orange or lemon-lime kool aid, which helps kill the taste of field purified water, and if you can find whatever magazines he favors, that can be a worthwhile addition after about the first half of his training cycle, when things have settled down a bit. One strong suggestion: if you can be there for his unit's OSUT graduation do so. It's an experience he'll not forget.
-archy-/-
Like the muzzle flash at night from a shotgun loaded with a magnum buckshot load, that nighttime flash, blast and boom is the universal symbol in all languages for *Throw Grenade Here.*
Most of the Range Rover and Discovery vehicles used by the Brits are painted not camo, but UN IFOR white for pretty much the same reason; at night, at least, they can slip by and pass for civvie vehicles, unlikely for a HUMVEE or a Land Rover Wolf with the MGs fitted.
But the troopies of the 14th Intel Coy, inheritors of the traditions and honours of the British Eighth Army's jeep-mounted *Popski's Private Army* as well as a few of the techniques get along in their *civvy-street* vehicles quite nicely, including motorbikes. It's also rumored that they also have a couple of Rolls-Royces at their disposal.
Right after graduation, he reports to Fort Gordon for his MOS training. That post seems to be the HQ for the Army Signal Corps. He is a 'computer nerd' who scored 94 on his ASVAB and they really want him to sit at a desk.
Ft Gordon info *here*. That's a whale of an opportunity for him to look at the possibilities of advanced Signal Corps branch training, with either OCS or a Army-paid college ROTC program leading to the butterbars of a 2nd lieutenant and the crossed flags of the signal corps branch.
Keep in touch with me about this possibility, and if he does happen to have in interest in such a career direction, let me know.
-archy-/-
Rhodesian Pookie
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