By Emelie Rutherford
The Army plans to act “as rapidly as (it) can” to initiate a new vehicle modernization program in the wake of the defense secretary’s call to cancel the vehicle portion of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) network, a top service official said yesterday.
Army Vice Chief of Gen. Staff Peter Chiarelli told the Senate Armed Services readiness subcommittee his service is “totally committed to a modernization program.”
Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged during an April 16 speech at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., that Army leadership disagreed with his recommendation to the White House to cut FCS’ eight ground vehicles. The FCS change was one of several defense program shifts Gates told reporters on April 6 he wants to make in the fiscal year 2010 defense budget.
Chiarelli delivered yesterday the Army’s first public comments on Gates’ FCS proposal, which is being scrutinized by Congress. President Obama is expected to send Congress the official Pentagon budget proposal early next month.
“We are very pleased…the secretary of defense as he toured war colleges last week indicated that he too is committed to an Army modernization program,” Chiarelli told Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), an outspoken opponent of the FCS change.
“We’re going to move out as rapidly as we can to ensure that we put the pieces in place to use much of what has been developed over the last year into that modernization program, as we look at it and design it right now,” Chiarelli added.
Gates said on April 16 that he recommended the Army “reevaluate the requirements, technology and approach (for a new Army vehicle modernization program) in light of our combat and operational experience in two wars and then relaunch a new Army vehicle modernization program.”
“There will be substantial money in the FY ’10 budget to get started and to make sure this happens,” Gates said. “My hope is that we can be ready to move forward in FY ’11. And I have directed that all of the money for FCS in the out-years be protected to fund the new vehicle modernization program.”