|
Boeing wins contract army modernization { May 16 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61455-2003May15.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61455-2003May15.html
Boeing Wins Contract for Army Modernization
By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 16, 2003; Page E01
Boeing Co. has won a $14.92 billion contract to design and test the tanks and weapons of a futuristic armed force as part of the Pentagon's modernization of the Army, sources said yesterday.
While some have expressed concern about the technical complexity of the project, the Defense Acquisition Board headed by Undersecretary of Defense Edward C. "Pete" Aldridge approved moving into the second phase of the Future Combat System late Wednesday, according to a source close to the program.
"Boeing and the Army must be breathing much easier today," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute. "This is by far the most complicated development program that the Army has ever" tackled.
The Pentagon declined to comment, saying an acquisition decision memorandum would be issued next week. Boeing is developing the system with Science Applications International Corp. A spokesman for the team also declined to comment. The Pentagon panel's decision ends the $154 million concept development phase.
Now Boeing begins the complicated task of turning its ideas, most of which have been confined to charts and issue papers, into reality. At the center of the Future Combat System will be the creation of a networked system in which every piece of equipment on the battlefield, from tank to drone, is connected by about 33 million lines of software code.
Even the tank, the most recognizable component of an Army unit, is getting a makeover. While the M1 Abrams tank weighs 80 tons, the new armored vehicle will weigh only 20 tons. Some traditional tanks will be replaced with "unmanned ground vehicles" that will do the grunt work now assigned to soldiers -- carrying supplies, venturing into caves and searching for minefields. The plan also calls for unmanned tanks capable of firing on the enemy, but there is still some debate about that, an industry source close to the program said. "How do we develop rules of engagement" for an unmanned vehicle? the source wondered.
Boeing must also avoid the pitfalls that have bedeviled other complicated weapons program. The Air Force has faced software problems with one of its key projects, the F/A-22, the next-generation fighter jet. Before the panel meeting, Secretary of the Air Force James G. Roche raised concerns about the software integration challenges of the Boeing program, according to an industry source. Already, the Army has delayed deployment of the first brigade of FCS to 2012 from 2010, citing cost concerns.
"The Army has had difficulties in major programs of far less complexity," the House Armed Services Committee noted in a report released this week related to the 2004 defense authorization bill.
The committee also questioned whether the program is too broad and difficult for Congress to monitor, the report said. "The committee has numerous concerns about the current structure of the FCS program," the report said. "The Army needs to provide additional detail and descriptive material to justify its $1.7 billion" fiscal 2004 budget request for the program.
The program could face additional challenges after the Pentagon completes an analysis of the performance of the Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom, said Robbin Laird, a defense industry analyst. Some have argued that the war illustrated the importance of "heavy" tanks, compared with the light-armored vehicles that will make up the Future Combat System, he said. "There will be an FCS, but the configuration could change dramatically," Laird said.
A source close to the program dismissed such concerns, saying new technology would make the light armored vehicles more likely than the current fleet to survive in combat.
The total value of the contract could eventually exceed $100 billion, though Boeing and SAIC will share that with hundreds of subcontractors, including Falls Church-based General Dynamics Corp., which will help design the armored vehicles, industry officials said.
The Future Combat System is part of the overall effort to modernize the Army under a plan called Objective Force. Another facet of the plan is a "Warrior" program that would overhaul a soldier's uniform, adding lightweight body armor and a helmet with a camera capable of sending streaming video of the battlefield back to command centers.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
|
|
