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FCS spinouts will go first to infantry units

New Future Combat Systems technologies will go first to Army Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCTs) instead of Heavy Brigade Combat Teams (HBCTs) as planned, said an Army source familiar with the program.

In the past week, Army leaders also approved the acceleration of these so-called spinout technologies, aiming to deploy them with soldiers by October 2010, about two years earlier than once planned. The Army is now working with Congress to reprogram at least tens of millions of dollars, the official said.

Army leaders briefed Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the new plan on June 25.

The spinouts, now being tested and prepared at Fort Bliss, Texas, are the Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System, Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle, Tactical and Urban Unattended Ground Sensors, Increment 1 of the FCS network and the Class I UAV — an improved, networked Micro Air Vehicle with a gimbal-mounted sensor.

The switch is intended to send the new gear to the deployed units that are requesting it, several Army officials said.

“The requests from in theater are coming from infantry guys,” a second Army official said. “The operational needs statements are all coming from IBCTs. Also, we are disproportionately using the IBCTs rather than HBCTs in the current war. The IBCTs are the most heavily deployed, so if you are trying to address current force requirements, you are going to address the IBCTs.”