By Ann Roosevelt
The Defense Department’s chief acquisition officer today is expected to hold a defense acquisition board (DAB) review of the Army’s advanced equipment to improve Infantry Brigade Combat Team capabilities.
The DAB is to help “determine the path ahead and for continued low-rate initial production for Early Infantry Brigade Combat Team systems,” Paul Mehney, director for public communications for Program Executive Office Integration, told Defense Daily.
The review, delayed from Dec. 22, will be similar to the one held in 2009 (Defense Daily, Dec. 15). However, the improved performance of the Early Infantry Brigade Combat Team (E-IBCT) equipment program in 2010 testing allows the DAB to consider operational utility and affordability as well.
After the DAB, decisions by Ashton Carter, under secretary of defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, will be released in an Acquisition Decision Memorandum.
The E-IBCT capabilities, developed by Boeing [BA] and SAIC [SAI] under the Future Combat Systems program, are now a key element in Army modernization.
Capabilities to be reviewed include include: iRobot‘s [IRBT] Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle; Honeywell‘s [HON] Class I Unmanned Air Vehicle ; and Textron‘s [TXT] Unattended Ground Sensors. The Increment I also includes the Network Integration Kit: an integrated computer system that hosts the latest communications and radio systems and battle command software, providing the initial network connectivity needed to transfer sensor and communication data.
The Increment 1 capabilities also had included the NetFires LLC Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System, an unmanned missile system capable of extended range targeting and precision attack. This system was recommended for termination by Defense Secretary Robert Gates in early January as part of his search for efficiencies across DoD. NetFires is a joint venture of Raytheon [RTN] and Lockheed Martin [LMT].
The E-IBCT is a key element of the Army’s tactical network development work, so any DAB decisions would look holistically at the tactical network and how it all works with the Army Force Generation process.