Army struggles with weight of future combat systems.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Up Front

Only weeks before a crucial Pentagon review, officials overseeing the Army's Future Combat Systems continue to search for ways to lower the weight of new vehicle designs.

FCS is envisioned as a family of high-tech combat vehicles intended to replace current Army weapon systems. The FCS vehicles would be connected to each other in a tactical network.

The complexity of the FCS and budget concerns prompted a restructuring of the program last year, but Army and industry officials insist that bumps along the way are to be expected in a project of this magnitude. FCS is estimated to cost between $100 billion and $200 billion.

As the program approaches a Defense Acquisition Board review that is scheduled for May, officials have raised concerns about the weight of the vehicles. A key requirement in FCS is that all vehicles be transportable by C-130 cargo aircraft, which limits the weight to 18 tons.

The prime contractors in the FCS program--Boeing and Science Applications International Corporation--recently submitted to the Army two concepts for the main combat vehicle, but neither of the two concepts met the weight goals, said a senior Army official.

"The issue is still weight," said Gen. Kevin Byrnes, chief of the Army Training and Doctrine Command.

Byrnes said he was pleased by the two proposed designs, despite the weight problem. "The concepts they provided to us make sense. We still have to work through this."

The Army does not plan to relax the weight requirements, Byrnes said. But it is possible that, to make the weight goal, the Army would allow for certain components of the vehicle to be stripped before it gets loaded on the airplane.

If a 24-ton vehicle, for example, needs to be 18.5 tons to get on a C-130, Byrnes said, "you take 5.5 tons, and you package that into another aircraft." Once in the combat zone, the vehicle rolls off the aircraft, but it has to be put back together before it can fight. Among the components that could be removed to lower the weight are armor plates, ammunition and communications gear.

The FCS concept now being evaluated would require specialized cargo-handling equipment and significant logistics support. "One C-130 can't move one FCS," Byrnes said. "It can move one stripped-down FCS, but you need another C-130 to bring additional stuff. You need a lot of additional transport capability, more time on site and more support personnel."

Eight FCS variants are being designed: an infantry carrier, a...