By Ann Roosevelt

Army officials are preparing for a Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) In Process Review (IPR) of its major modernization program Future Combat Systems (FCS) in Washington, D.C. this summer, while soldiers in El Paso, Texas are evaluating FCS Spin Out 1 equipment.

Defense Department acquisition chief John Young delved deep into the FCS program’s workings during a meeting at the end of last month as part of his effort to thoroughly understand the department’s major programs.

The separate DAB IPR, the yearly program update will be in late June.

Out at Ft. Bliss, Texas, the Army Evaluation Task Force, 5th Brigade 1st Armor Division (AETF) is preparing for a limited user test currently scheduled to begin June 25.

AETF has trained on FCS Spin Out 1 equipment, mature technologies that will be evaluated to field to the current force.

“It’s bringing the future to the current force, answering the question are there things we’re building for the future that are ready enough now to bring to the soldiers,” Rickey Smith, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center (Forward), part of the Training and Doctrine Command, told Defense Daily.

The future equipment is being integrated with all its needed products such as training, doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures, with the tools soldiers already have.

The goal is to raise the bar at the soldier and unit level–improving efficiency and effectiveness, which leads to improved force readiness.

For example, a company assault recently demonstrated to reporters visiting AETF the effectiveness of combining current and future tools.

Alpha Company, 2nd Combined Arms Battalion roared up in a Bradley fighting vehicle and raced for a tall chain link fence. Popping smoke to obscure their position, they cut through and stacked next to a burned out car.

As one of the older tools of combat, AETF Commander Col. Emmett Schaill said smoke is still vital. “It did save my life a couple of times in Iraq.”

The company sent an FCS Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV), produced by iRobot (IRBT) and the most updated version, up the steps into the darkened door of the building. Troops soon followed.

2 Combined Arms Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Ed House said, “The first guy in the door is the most vulnerable” in the unit.

The SUGV goes in harm’s way, while a soldier observes the camera view from the vehicle on a small controller.

Inside the darkened building, soldiers hugged the walls and moved forward, emplacing Urban-Unattended Ground Sensors (U-UGS), being developed by Textron (TXT) as they went. The company didn’t have to leave a soldier or more to guard their backs–the U-UGS took on that job.

Moving in the darkened building, the SUGV with its infrared and thermal cameras led the way, able to see into the darkest corners under a stairwell or at the end of a corridor. It soon discovered two role-playing ‘insurgents’ hiding at the end of the corridor.

In fighting squads forward there’s no way to know what’s in a building until you go in, House said. The SUGV reduces the uncertainty and the human risk. SUGV’s are replaceable.

As the company moved past, Staff Sgt. Brendan Hoffman said U-UGS motion detector or camera units can send data to a handheld gateway and through codes specify what was seen. This U-UGS gateway version does not show the sensor pictures but likely will in the next version.

Robotics NCO, Sgt. Matthew Senna aid SUGV sensors provide early warning, Toggling between the camera or thermal image, he can see what’s going on through a monocular mounted on a pair of glasses. Another bit of soldier feedback: the monocular was initially mounted on standard Army goggles, but they fogged too easily.

Senna said this 30-pound SUGV is rugged, can survive a drop out a window or from a one-story building, and even moves right along in several inches of water.

As soldiers work with the equipment, contractors are right there, to hear how to improve designs for the final versions.

The demonstration showed that FCS Spin Out 1 tools can relieve some uncertainty, improve survivability and understanding of the current situation.

This allows the unit commander to better understand his operational area and make better decisions, often with more options.