Modernization Key To Army's Future

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
February 27, 2008
Pg. 10

In "U.S. learns from Israel-Hezbollah war," Brookings Institution analyst Michael O'Hanlon suggests an alternative to the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program that would move modernization toward a dead end (News, Feb. 14).
FCS is a system of precisely synchronized communications, weapons, vehicles and sensors that improve critical battlefield capabilities for today's soldiers while offering new capabilities for the future. As USA TODAY reports, increasingly sophisticated, irregular ground threats challenge America's long-standing military-technological edge. Army modernization, with FCS at its core, directly addresses those threats. Commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan are asking for FCS capabilities. They want the sustainability achieved with a common "chassis" that lightens the logistic burden, networking between vehicles and troops, full-scale protection and the ability to maneuver with precision in congestion.
Yet, O'Hanlon prefers updating Army vehicles. The Army is upgrading its equipment, but there are limits. Most Army vehicles were designed in the '60s and '70s for war in Europe and already bear the weight of extensive modification. Some cannot be adequately modified due to size, weight and power. Upgrading others will cost a million dollars or more per vehicle and yield limited results.
Even the highly praised Stryker cannot accommodate the weight and bulk of the digital networking that our soldiers need in the field. New vehicles cost money, but so does maintaining and upgrading old gear without the benefits of this decade's technologies. Upgrades don't provide the leap needed to prevail against an enemy armed for high-tech warfare.
And what price do we place on the lives of soldiers using outmoded equipment? FCS makes the leap and answers the need. That's why FCS is central to the Army's modernization program and is clearly the way ahead.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey E. Phillips, U.S. Army; Pentagon, Washington
Editor's Note: The article by Tom Vanden Brook appeared in the Current News Early Bird, February 14, 2008.
 
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