Defense Technology International - June 2008 - (Page 39)

FCS developments include NLOS artillery prototypes, which the Army will begin testing at Yuma Proving Ground. clearly into the current force.” Importantly, the tests show that all components of FCS can work together, he adds. Williams says that all the pressure the program has received from the press and Congress ignores to some extent the complexity of the program, the work it entails and the speed with which parts of it have worked their way though development. “We’re pressing—there are a lot of things we’re doing simultaneously,” he notes. “We’re readdressing the way development work is done. It’s not a traditional approach.” Work continues on the Phase 1 spinout—scheduled for 2011—which includes installing network integration hardware kits, or “B-kits” on Abrams, Bradley and Humvee platforms. The B-kits, developed by BAE Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems and AM General, include the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), Ground Mobile Radio and Integrated Computer System, all running the System of Systems Common Operation Environment software. Phase 1 also includes the Non-Lineof-Sight (NLOS) Launch System and tactical and urban UGS. UGS and NLOS are going though accelerated testing this summer. UGS will be used for surveillance or perimeter security, and can detect, classify and track multiple vehicles, personnel and aircraft while relaying data to the B-kit-enabled systems (see story, p. 56). There are eight Manned Ground Vehicle (MGV) prototypes, each with a common chassis, of which quarter, plans call for the NLOS to be ﬁelded with the Army Experimental Task Force (AETF) at Ft. Bliss, Tex., for soldier training and evaluation. By 2010 there should be 18 cannons ready for ﬁelding to the test artillery battalion there. “We will have these gun systems ready for the prototype stage in 2011,” Mehney says. “We’re on track to prototype the remaining seven Manned Ground Vehicles in 2011.” The gun technology—120-mm. XM 360 cannons and NLOS mortars— has so far performed to speciﬁcations. “There have been no signiﬁcant issues with the guns, so they’ll be ready by 2011.” The chassis prototypes for the MGV and NLOS systems have ﬂat hulls, but in a nod to the devastation that roadside bombs cause in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is evaluating a V-shaped hull. The MGVs are also being designed so armor can be added or removed as necessary. The infantry carrier, which will transport a crew of two plus a nine-man squad, has a target weight of 30 tons and will feature a 30- NLOS mortar ﬁres a projectile during trials. U.S. ARMY PHOTOS The Mule unmanned guided vehicle will be used for transport. the NLOS is the ﬁrst to be tested. Of these, ﬁve are being produced this year, with three more to be delivered at the beginning of Fiscal 2009. The delivery of the prototypes will allow the Army to begin testing out the functionality of the NLOS cannon and common chassis. “That’s important because the seven Manned Ground Vehicles go to prototype in 2011,” Mehney says. If the testing goes as program managers expect, the Army will have soldiers driving NLOS launch systems at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., in the fourth quarter, and crewing NLOS for ﬁring evaluations during the ﬁrst quarter of 2009. By the third AviationWeek.com/dti mm. Mark 44 gun, with a 120-200-round/min. rate of ﬁre. Bowing to pressure from Army brass and politicians, FCS managers are adding programs to their accelerated testing schedule this year. While they’re not part of Spinout 1, they are being fast-tracked for development. Small UGVs from iRobot Corp. and Class 1 Block 0 UAVs from Honeywell Defense and Space Electronic Systems are being evaluated by the AETF at Ft. Bliss as part of this e ort. Twenty-ﬁve small UGV prototypes had been delivered by the end of May. Mehney says that based on feedback from the ﬁeld, there is a need for some of the capabilities that the Class 1 Block 0 UAV will provide, such as “hover and stare.” This uses adjustable gimbaled sensors that let soldiers keep the vehicle in stationary hover, and incorporates early versions of JTRS. The small UGV, meanwhile, has better sensors and is lighter and more durable than the Packbots used in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Army leadership asked AETF to look at those to see if they will be useful in the ﬁeld,” Mehney says, “and to evaluate that technology for potential procurement within the next couple of years. We owe Army leadership an answer in September on that.” So yet again, there’s another milestone for FCS watchers to circle on their calendars—unless Rep. Murtha gets his way and the program is sped up and then assigned to the dustbin of history. I JUNE 2008 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 39 http://AviationWeek.com/dti

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - June 2008

Defense Technology International - June 2008 Contents Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch Basic Black Self-Defense Fire-Resistant Perfezione Hyperspeed Trial Big Sky Cashing In Digital Links Hang Ten Sea Change Programs Update Two Steps Back Direct Hit Staying Power Potent Stinger Do No Harm Guard Duty The Net Cutting Edge First Person In Review Insight

Defense Technology International - June 2008

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