US Army speeds up evaluations of two FCS programs
WASHINGTON, May 19 Reuters - The U.S. Army said on Monday it accelerated tests on two pieces of a mammoth weapons program
-- a small unmanned aircraft and a ground-based robot -- with -- a small unmanned aircraft and a ground-based robot -- with an eye to fielding them ahead of schedule.
The $160 billion Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, managed by prime contractors Boeing Co (BA.N) and SAIC Inc (SAI.N), is a system of 14 major weapons systems linked by computer networks. The program is under pressure to prove its relevance in fighting insurgencies in urban settings.
One Army official, who asked not to be named, confirmed Monday the Army was taking "a heavy look right now" at the cost and potential uses of the FCS program and other weapons systems. No final decisions had been made, he said.
Four initial technologies, including a portable missile system and unattended ground sensors, are being tested now and are due to be sent into combat with troops in 2011. The bulk of the FCS weapons systems are to be deployed in 2015.
Army spokesman Paul Mehney said feedback about similar systems already being used in Iraq and Afghanistan, without the central network, prompted accelerated testing an unmanned aircraft built by Honeywell International Inc (HON.N) and a ground-based iRobot Corp (IRBT.O) vehicle.
The Army is due to report the test results of both weapons this autumn, which could result in deployment with troops before the target date of 2015, Mehney said.
Craig Brown, the Boeing official in charge of FCS experiments, said a test of the FCS network as part of the Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment, a military exercise conducted every two years, was successful.
Maj. Troy Crosby, assistant project manager of FCS network systems integration for the U.S. Army, said the experiment proved that the FCS network's ability to communicate and operate with existing equipment was "very viable."
As part of the experiment, video images taken on a test range at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas were transmitted on the FCS network via satellite and received across the country at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia within seconds.
That was "as close to real time as you can get with today's technology," Crosby said.
Army officials continue to defend progress on the FCS program at a time when military spending is under pressure.
Mehney said soldiers evaluating the FCS network and its various weapons were initially skeptical, but their tests showed the program's relevance to fighting insurgencies in an urban setting, and for fighting a potential enemy nation at more of a distance.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has repeatedly mentioned FCS as one of the big-ticket weapons programs that have to prove their value in battling insurgencies. Continued...
