Quote Originally Posted by Cavguy View Post
We ought to get Kreker on here - he works with FCS.
Believe it or not I was just attending an AUSA sponsored Shaping the Force symposium in El Paso, where Army modernization was the main thrust, shapped around FCS. I would invite those council members that have commented to check out the FCS thread, where there is some good discussion.

The comments on this tread are good ones and valid from the perspectives given. But here are some questions to mull over: Without a major modernization effort (FCS) can the Army continue to afford upgrading the Abrams and Bradleys for the next 30-40 years, not to mention over systems, Paladin, SINCGARS, BCOTM, etc. There comes a point in a systems life-cycle where continued upgrades are not cost effective based on technology maturation (there is only so much you can 'hang' on an M1 before weight becomes an issue). Look at the weight increases that have come to the M1 thus far in it's life. FCS has a family of system (FoS) within a systems of sytems (SoS) tied to a common network. What would be the costs to the Army to develop the 14 systems separately?

UAVs are somewhat expensive, but have proven that they can save lives. So the question is would you rather spend the $s on a UAV that can detect an insurgent implacing an IED or have a Soldier find an IED by giving his life? Remember FCS BCTs are not totally replacing HBCTs. Current plans have only15 FBCTs out of a total of 76 MBCTs.

I look forward to additional dialogue on this subject, becaause we all need to be aware of how our Army is going to deal with Persistent Conflict in the coming years.

Best--
Kreker