By: Jen Judson
In his keynote address to the AUSA Global Force Symposium, Army Secretary Mark Esper explains why the service considers modernization to hold upwards then important. It’s the commencement of a new era inwards Army acquisition inwards which soldiers mightiness non cause got to hold off 10 years or longer to come across a novel weapon or capability inwards the field, but instead could acquire modern, novel systems inwards their hands inside only a few brusk years. That’s at to the lowest degree what service leaders tasked to come upwards up with novel route maps for the Army’s top modernization priorities are thinking is possible. The newly vigorous stride is fueled yesteryear the frustration created yesteryear years of painful acquisition blunders, sluggish bureaucratic processes together with wasted dollars, all on transcend of the fact that near-peer adversaries similar Russian Federation haven’t waited to railroad train weapons systems that would exercise serious dilemmas for the U.S. Army together with its Middle East-tuned equipment if it had to confront off inwards a conflict.
The Army’s novel Futures Command — designed to proceed the service laser-focused on 6 major modernization priorities — hasn’t been officially established yet, but the leadership inwards accuse of those priorities come across for many cases creative ways to acquire capability into the hands of soldiers inwards the patch inwards only a twain of years.
The Army established what it is calling cross-functional teams — or CFT — to address the next priorities: Long-Range Precision Fires, Next-Generation Combat Vehicle, Future Vertical Lift, the network, air together with missile defense, together with soldier lethality.
There are 8 CFTs — 6 to address each priority, 1 that is addressing the Army’s Synthetic Training Environment, together with 1 for positioning, navigation together with timing.
Gone are the days of waiting for a perfect solution to acquire through years of testing earlier anything is genuinely set into an operational environment.
Instead, through the CFTs, all the players inwards the acquisition procedure from the requirements community to the sustainment community are at the table, at the same time, to decide what is viable together with when.
And actual organisation operators, fifty-fifty at the earliest prototyping together with blueprint stages, volition hold upwards able to experiment with capabilities inwards realistic environments, allowing for feedback along the way.
Long-Range Precision Fires
The U.S. Army volition demonstrate LRPF technology scientific discipline from a precision-strike missile to hypersonics together with ramjet capabilities inside the adjacent twain of years, the service’s LRPF CFT lead, Brig. Gen. Stephen Maranian, told Defense News inwards a March xix interview.
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The Army's novel Long-Range Precision Fires modernization endeavour is looking at how to increase the attain of cannon artillery alongside a multifariousness of other efforts. (Spc. Gabrielle Weaver/U.S. Army) The service is looking at how it volition evolve its electrical flow M109A7 self-propelled howitzer — or Paladin Integrated Management — into extended-range cannon artillery yesteryear getting a improve projectile together with a longer barrel. According to Maranian, the projectile — the XM1113 — could hold upwards fielded to soldiers inwards some two-and-a-half years. More capability volition hold upwards spiraled inwards later, he added.
The Army volition likewise demonstrate inwards financial 2019 ii possible Army Tactical Missile System replacements from Lockheed Martin together with Raytheon, which volition deliver a longer range. The computer programme formerly known equally LRPF is similar a shot beingness called the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM. Maranian said the Army is looking for ways to acquire PrSM to the initial operational capability stage equally early on equally belatedly 2022.
And technology scientific discipline such equally hypersonics together with the ramjet could hold upwards demonstrated equally early on equally FY19, Maranian said.
Next-Generation Combat Vehicle
The initiative of all stab at edifice prototypes for what the U.S. Army intends to hold upwards an innovative, leap-ahead NGCV together with its robotic wingman volition hold upwards cook for soldier evaluations inwards FY20, according to Brig. Gen. David Lesperance, the NGCV CFT lead.
Subsequently, the Army volition rapidly make follow-on prototypes inwards FY22 together with 1 time again inwards FY24, each taking lessons learned from the previous prototypes together with refining capabilities. Soldiers volition cause got the gamble to heavily evaluate the prototypes at every stage, Lesperance said.
As constituent of the effort, the Army has kicked off a major prototyping endeavour to railroad train the NGCV yesteryear awarding an SAIC-led manufacture squad a contract to construct ii demonstrators yesteryear FY22.
Fiscal 2019 documents demonstrate the timeline has been accelerated together with that prototypes could hold upwards finished equally early on equally 2020.
The caput of the Army's Next-Gen Combat Vehicle cross-functional squad says to aspect an NGCV together with robotic combat vehicle epitome yesteryear FY20.
Future Vertical Lift
The FVL computer programme has already entered a prototype demonstration phase that volition inform the service’s requirements for a computer programme of record. One aircraft — Bell Helicopter’s V-280 Valor disceptation rotor — is already flying spell the Sikorsky-Boeing developed aircraft — the SB-1 Defiant coaxial helicopter — is expected some fourth dimension after the summertime together with earlier the halt of calendar twelvemonth 2018.
But the service isn’t waiting for the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration to roll upwards inwards a few years to submit initial requirements documents that pave the agency for FVL, its mission systems together with futurity unmanned aircraft systems, according to Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen, the service’s FVL CFT lead.
Those documents are with the Army vice main together with the undersecretary, together with are awaiting approval, Rugen said.
▶ Play Bell Helicopter's V-280 Valor tilt-rotor aircraft was flown yesteryear a U.S. Army airplane pilot for the initiative of all fourth dimension on Feb. 7, 2018.
The CFT is likewise analyzing when together with what unmanned aircraft systems it volition convey into the force. The service volition either rapidly procure sure as shooting systems or procure via technology scientific discipline demonstrations, Rugen said.
The Army volition select companies to construct Next-Generation Tactical UAS Technology Demonstrators, or NGTUAS-T, inwards 2019, with plans to wing the arts and crafts inwards the eighteen to 24 months following. The endeavour volition inform the Army’s Future Tactical UAS program.
The Army’s network
Soldiers are currently trying novel capabilities for the Army’s futurity network after the service made a dramatic determination at the halt of terminal twelvemonth to essentially curb its tactical network — the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical — together with restructure its entire network strategy.
“We are genuinely working difficult to airplane pilot together with experiment together with demonstrate some capabilities that are going to assist our state of war fighters’ powerfulness equally speedily equally possible,” Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher told Defense News inwards a March xix interview. Through experimentation inwards the field, the CFT is “trying to define a futurity capability laid together with recommended footing of consequence for diverse types of formations,” equally good equally how upgrades tin hold upwards incorporated over time, he said.
A battalion out of the 82nd Airborne, for instance, is experimenting together with demonstrating with capabilities already used yesteryear the particular operations community. Army senior leaders are interested inwards those capabilities together with would similar to come across how they mightiness scale to larger formations like an infantry, Stryker or armored brigade combat team. Those capabilities include next-generation hand-held radios, novel radio gateways together with advanced networking waveforms, according to Gallagher.
New technologies are great, but they demand to come upwards with an operational concept that is "plausible," a transcend Pentagon official warned.
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