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On June 23rd, the U.S. Army announced the official cancellation of its FCS (Future Combat Systems). This was a program of next generation weapons, vehicles and other equipment that was going to cost over $160 billion. The cancellation was no surprise. A year ago, the army dropped any pretence of trying to roll out its new FCS stuff as a complete package. That's mainly because the Department of Defense had ordered that FCS items be readied for combat use as soon as possible. The future will arrive piecemeal, as had been actually happening ever since September 11, 2001, and especially...

    Today the Quadrennial Defense Review hits the Beltway. While I don't agree with some of the provisions in the document, I was impressed with the commitment of the Defense Department to preserve substantively intact modernization of the ground services. This is a historical departure from the past when the Army and Marine Corps always arrived at the dispensing of materiel largess with hands out and expectations low.     The second most expensive program within the DoD is the Army's Future Combat System. FCS is in fact a collection of many smaller systems, ranging from light armored vehicles to aerial drones and...

It's only taken $50 billion in extra cash, a heap of missed deadlines and redrawn requirements, and a war that's lasted about two years too long. But the Pentagon may finally be ready to start putting the axe to the Army's leviathan modernization program, Future Combat Systems. Inside Defense reports that FCS is on a "short list of...weapon system programs that could be terminated or significantly pared back." “They are looking to slip it to the right or kill it,” said a source familiar with FCS options advanced by the Pentagon's office of program analysis and evaluation. Army officials are...

The U.S. Army has big plans to modernize its fleet, but faces some heavy fighting ahead.In March 2002, 1,700 U.S. troops brought the full power of American military technology to bear on 100 square kilometers of rough mountainside in Afghanistan. Unmanned aerial drones, sensor-laden ground robots, and satellites scoured the Shar-I-Kot valley for an estimated 1,000 al Qaeda and Taliban fighters hiding in crags and caves. But the electronic eyes did not see all. While the United States claimed victory in the battle 18 days after it started, nine U.S. soldiers were killed and scores—possibly hundreds—of enemy fighters escaped. The...

ST LOUIS, March 22, 2005 – Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), as the Lead Systems Integrator team for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, recently released separate Requests for Proposals for development of FCS Class II and III Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems. Industry participants will have 30 days in which to respond with contract awards anticipated in early August. A phased acquisition approach will be implemented for Class II and III development efforts, working collaboratively with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Multiple contracts will be awarded in early August 2005 for...

The U.S. Army will drastically redesign its combat forces, starting next year with the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) and 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), to create more brigade-size units to rotate into combat zones. These new "brigade units of action" will be smaller than today’s divisions, but might include division-level assets, such as artillery and aviation. In theory, they will gain back what they give up in size by connecting through digital networks to other Army, joint and allied units. The Army wants the first of the brigades ready to deploy within a year, possibly to Iraq. The division reorganization...