Twenty-Ton Combat Vehicle Slated for 2012.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

Technologies to focus on lethality, survivability and hybrid power systems

On April 15, 2003, Army officials plan to brief the chief of staff on the outcome of a three-year effort to design a new combat vehicle. But in a departure from previous vehicle programs, the chief will not see "prototypes." He most likely will see a computer simulation with three-dimensional models.

The Army lieutenant colonel in charge of the new combat vehicle program, Marion H. Van Fosson, said he might be retired already from the Army by that time. But that should not matter, he said, because in this program, the "good ideas" mostly will come from the contractors. Van Fosson, ultimately, wants the chief to evaluate "concepts," rather than prototypes, because this new platform will not follow the predictable patterns of previous vehicle programs.

The Army plans to spend $3 billion on research work toward this vehicle during the next five years. But the contractors are nor being asked to design a stand-alone vehicle, but rather a "vision" of how entire units equipped with these vehicles would perform in combat. Van Fosson believes that is the only way the Army will get the capabilities it needs. "I hate to use the word prototype because prototypes tend to turn into reality," he said during a conference sponsored by the Association of the U.S. Army, in Tysons Corner, Va.

Experience has taught him, Van Fosson said, that any time soldiers see a live prototype of a system, they immediately want to know when it will be available. In his program, the goal is not to build a vehicle mock-up, full of bells and whistles, but to conceive a "system of systems"--a network of lightweight combat vehicles, which will not only execute firing missions, collect and distribute intelligence, but also will direct troupes of high-tech robots.

In 2003, the chief, the secretary of the Army and the director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will review the contractors' proposals and decide whether to select one or more concepts and build a prototype, or "technology demonstrator," said Van Fosson. DARPA is a partner and co-investor in the program, called the Future Combat System, or FCS. The goal is to have a new vehicle delivered to Army units by 2012.

The FCS will be the platform for what the Army calls the "objective force," explained Maj. Gen. Daniel R. Zanini, Army deputy chief of staff for combat developments. That force will be lighter than the current heavy armor units but will pack more firepower than today's light units. It will respond to contingencies on short notice and will require much less logistics support than the current force, said Zanini.

For that reason, the Army needs a multipurpose vehicle that is adaptable for various missions, is easy to maintain and support, provides multiple firepower options, and can move fast enough to avoid enemy fire, Zanini said. The FCS will be designed to:

* Improve command-and-control links between sensors and shooters.

* Enhance sensor capabilities to see the terrain, weather conditions, friendly and enemy force locations, presence of noncombatants, and detect potential threats.

* Direct unmanned air and ground vehicles, which would function as reconnaissance, surveillance or attack platforms.

The Army wants FCS to weigh 20 tons or less, so it can fir on a medium-lift C-130 cargo airplane. The current tank, the Abrams, requires a much larger C-17 or C-S transport aircraft because it weighs 70 tons.

Designing a vehicle that is 70 percent lighter and 50 percent smaller than a current tank is a "significant technology challenge," said A. Michael Andrews, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for research and technology.

"It's not just lightening the vehicle, but lightening the force," he told the conference. The FCS only will be successful if it...