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Army evaluating FCS for acceleration potential

The U.S. Army is giving its Future Combat Systems (FCS) a preliminary design review to see whether some parts could be delivered ahead of schedule.

“The question will be: how fast will the technologies mature, and is there a way to accelerate and do it faster? If we can do it faster, we will,” U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes, deputy chief of staff for programs, said Jan. 9 at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Aviation Symposium in Arlington, Va.

But “I don’t know that necessarily we will see an earlier MGV,” the 27-ton, hybrid-electric Manned Ground Vehicles now planned for 2015, he said.

“The context of all of this is we want to show as much velocity in delivery as we can,” Speakes said. “What the Army is going to be constantly evaluating is: What is the status of the technology? What are the needs of soldiers in the war, and how can we accelerate either the delivery or the spread of the capability? How can we get it across more of the formation faster?”

Slated to deploy with infantry units in 2011 are the Micro Air Vehicle, Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle and Unattended Ground Sensors.