HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Army next year will test more than 50 new technologies, including new combat vehicles, during real-world exercises in Europe.
During the first Joint Warfighting Assessment (JWA) outside Fort Bliss, Texas, the Army plans to field dozens of prototype weapons and gear and gather data on whether they are suited for warfare in Europe, according to Maj. Gen. Terry McKenrick, chief of the Army’s Joint Modernization Command.
“We have a variety of systems, right now about 50 concepts and capabilities we are going to assess,” McKenrick told reporters at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Symposium in Huntsville, Ala.
“Holding JWA 18.1 in Europe “gives us some unique opportunities to assess concepts and capabilities specific to the European theater,” McKenrick said. “We will do the same for JWA 19.1 in U.S. Army Pacific.”
The list of technologies runs the gamut of military capabilities from autonomous and robotic systems like micro UAS systems to a variety of network capabilities that could improve communication and battlefield situational awareness for ground troops, he said.
Among those 50 technologies are three vehicle platforms: the ground mobility vehicle (GMV), the light reconnaissance vehicle (LRV) and the so-called mobile protected firepower (MPF). The three vehicles will be fielded to an infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) for the exercise in Europe, McKenrick said.
“We have assessed them in the last couple exercises but we used surrogate systems,” he said. “We hope to have some prototype systems particularly for the ground mobility vehicle that we can use.”
The ground mobility vehicles are designed to quickly move soldiers from an insertion point to an objective while the LRV and MPF cover them with their large-caliber weapons. The LRV is envisioned as a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) equipped with a large-caliber cannon. Requirements for MPF are still being formulated, but it likely will resemble a light tank for infantry units.
McKenrick said prototype LRV and GMV would be used in the exercises, which will provide better data than using surrogate vehicles that simulate different capabilities. Because MPF is a longer-term program, the Army will use surrogates to represent it. In previous exercises, the Army used M1 Abrams tanks as surrogates for MPF.
McKenrick is responsible for two large annual exercises where the Army tests out new technologies and equipment it thinks might enhance its capabilities. The Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) initially was launched to test and field the Army’s new battlefield communication network and has since grown to assess other technologies.
The first Joint Warfighting Assessment (JWA) was conducted last fall. In these high-end exercises, the Army fields a brigade that then puts its equipment and training through simulated combat. The systems that are introduced at JWA are developed through more experimental efforts like the Maneuver Fires Integration Exercise, McKenrick said.