# FCS Programme Backpedalled



## Kirkhill (23 Sep 2005)

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/issues/2005/oct/defense_watch.htm

The FCS programme may never produce a single new vehicle - Instead suitable technologies wiith near term application are being "cherry-picked" for immediate application to existing systems.

Instead of a great leap forward to the future an infantry advance -   one foot always on the ground, but at double-time


Tankers can take comfort.


> Peter J. Schoomaker, warned that FCS would have to perform better than the Abrams tank



And then there is this:



> The war in Iraq, particularly, has cast a new light on high-tech weapons as a surefire means of beating the enemy. In non-traditional urban warfare, many observers contend, a system such as FCS could have limited value because it is based on the notion that light, speedy vehicles equipped with advanced sensors can replace heavy armor. With suicide bombs and buried roadside explosives killing U.S. troops in Iraq on a daily basis, Army leaders are questioning whether FCS can produce a "survivable" vehicle, Goure notes.
> 
> As a poster child for "network-centric" warfare, FCS epitomizes the military's over-reliance on technology. "Among the casualties of Iraq and Afghanistan is 'net-centric' warfare," says retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales. This thinking also is gaining acceptance in the Marine Corps. "Technology can assist as an enabler, but this kind of war is always more art than science," says Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis, head of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command.


----------



## Kirkhill (29 Sep 2005)

FCS Programme products on display.

The programme seems to have switched from "THE Future Combat System", indicating a goal of a vehicl-centric single end product to which the Army would transform in one fell swoop, to "Future Combat Systems" indicating a goal of creating systems that can transform the Army over time.  The vehicle is just one component of the programme.

Some really neat stuff here, much of it already available or near term.




> Army Demonstrates Future Combat Systems
> 
> 
> (Source: US Army; issued Sept. 28, 2005)
> ...



http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?session=dae.4308111.1089903978.QPadasOa9dUAAESlMZk&modele=jdc_34


----------



## Kirkhill (29 Sep 2005)

Perhaps the Moderators could shift this up from "Vehicles" to "Equipment" to reflect its broader scope.

Cheers


----------

