- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The
Pentagon has approved the $14.92 billion development and demonstration
phase of the Future Combat Systems program, a project led by Boeing Co.
to modernize the U.S. Army, the Army said on Monday.
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- The FCS is expected to become a lethal family of manned
and unmanned air and ground weapons interlinked and tied to forces from
other U.S. military services over a sophisticated command network. It aims
for an initial operating capability by 2010.
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- Defense Undersecretary Edward "Pete" Aldridge,
the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer, signed an acquisition defense memorandum
on Sunday approving the second phase, Army officials told reporters at
a Pentagon news conference.
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- This paves the way for Chicago-based Boeing and privately
held Science Applications International Corp. to help the Army select and
integrate at least 18 manned and unmanned weapons systems that will make
up the FCS.
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- Army officials said the two companies could get as much
as 30 percent of the $14.92 billion, with the rest going to subcontractors,
although that breakdown was not certain.
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- General Dynamics Corp. and United Defense Industries
Inc. are major subcontractors, and Boeing itself is competing in the weapons
area.
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- The Army said FCS over time will replace its current
fleet of heavy war machines such as the M-1A Abrams tank and Bradley Fighting
Vehicle with a new generation of attack vehicles supported by unmanned
air and ground weaponry. The idea is to replace heavy tanks with a lighter,
more mobile force able to fight on arrival in a battle, not wait for equipment.
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- The new manned ground package of smaller and lighter
vehicles -- including platforms for heavy cannons, mortars and troops --
would have a common structure and chassis. They are expected to fit into
an air transport like the C-130, enabling them to be flown to hot spots
anywhere in the world in 96 hours.
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- "FCS will give our soldiers an overwhelming advantage
in future operations because they will be able to see first, understand
first, act first and finish decisively," Army Lt. Gen. John Caldwell
told reporters.
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- The signing of the memorandum followed a May 14 meeting
of the Pentagon's Defense Acquisition Board and a May 10 status report
on the project by retired Air Force Gen. Larry Welch, president of the
federally funded Institute for Defense Analyzes.
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- The service has requested $1.7 billion to continue work
on the project in fiscal 2004, which begins Oct. 1.
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- In addition to approving FCS for movement out of the
concept and technology phase, the acquisition board also recommended more
frequent reviews of the program and increased oversight by Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld, said senior defense analyst Joe Nadol of J.P. Morgan Securities.
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- Boeing shares fell $1.35 or 4.44 percent to close at
$29.07 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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