Army To Detail Changes To 'Future Combat' Initiative

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Wall Street Journal
June 26, 2008
Pg. 3
By August Cole and Yochi J. Dreazen
WASHINGTON -- The Army is set to announce a significant reshaping of its biggest and perhaps most contentious acquisitions program in an effort to speed the delivery of high-tech equipment to forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to senior military officials.
The Army will detail the planned changes to its $160 billion Future Combat Systems initiative Thursday, the officials said. Army officials say the revisions could push the program's total price tag even higher, lifting the fortunes of the effort's two main contractors, Boeing Co. and SAIC Inc.
The moves will shift the focus of the overall FCS effort to infantry brigades instead of armored units. The Army will also work to get large numbers of robots and miniature aerial drones -- both of which are designed for use in crowded urban areas -- out to forces in Iraq and Afghanistan by late 2010, instead of in 2015 or 2016 as initially planned.
"The idea here is to accelerate as much of the effort as possible," one senior Army official said.
The revisions underscore the Army's fears about the FCS effort, which has been dogged by questions about its high cost, uncertain technology and questionable relevance to the manpower-intensive ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Army is counting on the FCS effort to increase its networking and communications abilities, as well as to provide soldiers with more-sophisticated vehicles and heavier firepower. The program has 14 components, including remotely controlled aerial and ground vehicles as well as sensors capable of detecting when intruders enter a building.
But skepticism about the program has been building within the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill. The House Armed Services Committee wants to slice about $200 million from the program, and some leading Democrats want the Army to focus more on the immediate needs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who clashed publicly with the Air Force leadership over the expensive and costly F-22 jet, has also raised doubts about the FCS program. In a speech in May, Mr. Gates said that FCS "must continue to demonstrate its value for the types of irregular challenges we will face, as well as for full-spectrum warfare."
The comments alarmed many Army officials, who fear that Mr. Gates may eventually decide to sharply curtail the FCS initiative, just as he did with the F-22 program.
During the F-22 fight, Mr. Gates and his top aides began to criticize the Air Force's attraction to expensive, state-of-the-art fighters as "nextwaritis." Two Army officials said Wednesday they were hoping that their changes to the FCS program would ensure that Mr. Gates didn't use the same term to describe the Army.
It is clear that senior Defense Department officials are growing concerned about FCS. The Pentagon's top weapons buyer, John Young, recently held a sweeping Saturday review of the program. Mr. Young said that he was taking a close look at the individual components of FCS to ensure that each can "stand on its own."
"We've got to work more closely with the Army to make sure it does succeed," said Mr. Young following an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee this month.
The growing questions about the program's future have led Boeing and SAIC to work closely with the Army on a lobbying effort designed to shore up congressional support for the initiative. Boeing and SAIC have a powerful role overseeing the contract. Congress is trying to eliminate that position amid concerns that it leaves big defense contractors with too much authority over what the military buys.
The Army brought early FCS prototypes to the Washington Mall this month to show lawmakers and their aides. Army Chief of Staff George Casey used the event to try to address doubts about the program's relevance.
 
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