By Ann Roosevelt
Boeing [BA] and SAIC [SAI] yesterday said the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program last week successfully completed its System of Systems Preliminary Design Review (SoS PDR).
FCS is the Army’s major modernization program, consisting of manned and unmanned vehicles, sensors, weapons and platforms, tied to soldiers and each other by a network. The program is expected to be restructured in line with Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ decision to end the manned ground vehicle portion and accelerate the early maturing program technologies for all Army brigade combat teams (Defense Daily, April 7, May 18). However, until a DoD-level acquisition decision memorandum is signed, the program continues as the service has directed on fiscal year 2009 funds.
The SoS PDR is the most comprehensive review and represents the cumulative knowledge learned to date by the FCS program team.
This cumulative body of knowledge has been acquired since 2003 and can in the future be applied to a follow-on effort for new manned combat vehicles that the Army is now reviewing. The PDR also allows the leverage of information to an acceleration and expansion of early-maturing technologies, including network development.
“This review marks a major milestone for the program,” Gregg Martin, Boeing vice president and FCS program manager, said in a statement. “It represents an end-to-end assessment that the program is meeting the Army’s mission needs. This accomplishment was made possible by the hard work and dedication of the thousands of people who are part of the FCS team. We look forward to building on the substantial investments and progress made to date on the program in support of the Army’s full spectrum modernization objectives.”
SAIC Senior Vice President and FCS Deputy Program Manager Dan Zanini, said: “Every system already has a functioning prototype undergoing test and evaluation, which greatly reduces risk for the balance of the program.”
Under current Army plans, the successful review means the program is ready to proceed to a critical design review and a Milestone C decision.
The SoS PDR validated that the designs for all FCS systems and subsystems, including the network, sensors, weapons and manned and unmanned vehicles, meet current requirements and will function as an integrated system of systems.
The review proved that a family of networked systems would provide greater combat capabilities, including enhanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, across the full spectrum of conflict.
The review involved representatives from the Army, Boeing, SAIC, industry partners and other government agencies. It was conducted from May 11-14 at the Boeing facility in St. Louis.
The SoS PDR brought together the preliminary designs and architecture of the FCS brigade to assess them at an integrated level. In addition, the performance of the brigade design was compared with Army requirements.
The SoS PDR is one of a number of major milestones scheduled for the program this year, which include a Defense Acquisition Board review and the Limited User Test of early FCS Spin Out capabilities later this summer.