All Systems Go - Vol. 1 No. 6


		Volume 1	Number 6

This Issue

The U.S. Army and its Lead Systems Integrator (LSI) team of Boeing and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) recently completed a precedent-setting process designed to bring the “best of industry” to the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program.

On August 28, the team completed the selection of partners to provide major systems for FCS. Since the first round of announcements was made in early July, a total of 21 partners have been selected to form the core industry team for FCS, representing 13 different companies. They join General Dynamics and United Defense which were previously selected to form the manned ground vehicle integrated design team. These companies have identified more than 100 additional firms that will contribute to the success of FCS, the Army’s key transformational program.

FCS is a networked “system of systems,” combining advanced communications and technologies to link soldiers with both manned and unmanned ground and air platforms and sensors. Soldiers in the FCS will control 18 individual systems through an integrated network. As the LSI team, Boeing and SAIC are responsible for total systems integration, as well as acting in a role similar to a “general contractor.” In this latter role, the LSI team manages the identification, selection and procurement of major systems and subsystems.

The recently completed selection process, conducted by the LSI, included the Army and members of other government agencies. This process included specific protections to ensure the evaluation process was equitable and would produce a standard-setting FCS team. It began during the concept and development phase when the LSI solicited and evaluated some 4,000 proposals from industry in order to identify and determine the maturity of technologies available for FCS, as well as assist in developing specifications and related procurement documents. More than 1,600 copies of requests for proposals were subsequently issued to industry for major elements of the system. The responses were evaluated in detail in less than four months by an LSI/government team of more than 600 people working in a dedicated source selection facility.

“From the beginning of our involvement with FCS, we aimed at assembling an industry team composed of the best in the business,” said Dennis Muilenburg, vice president and FCS program manager for Boeing. “We used an innovative and very efficient approach to put our FCS One Team together, entirely in keeping with the goals we share with the Army.”

The FCS One Team is composed of the representatives of the government, the LSI and industry partners. The Boeing-SAIC LSI team kicked off the first in a series of One Team meetings with key industry partners on the program in mid-August. Top executives from partner companies selected to provide major systems for the program met with senior Army acquisition officials and the LSI team to begin setting the foundations for moving forward to deliver on this key transformational program.

“This is the first step in harnessing the skills and expertise of the ‘best of industry’ to meet the challenges the Army will face for decades to come,” Muilenburg said. “The Army is relying on us to do it right. We owe it to the Army and the soldiers ‘on point’ to deliver this capability.”

The new partners will join with the LSI in a One Team Council that will meet regularly to begin integrating the major elements of the FCS system-of-systems. The council will be a forum for standardizing processes and sharing best practices, as well as setting goals and schedules for moving ahead with the system development and demonstration phase of the program.

Army, Boeing-SAIC Form Core FCS Team

BY JOHN MORROCCO

Package	Description	Partner
Class IV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) System	UAV System controlled and operated at the Brigade level. Performs target acquisition and designation, reconnaissance, surveillance, and communications relay.	Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, San Diego, CA
Armed Robotic Vehicle (ARV)	Engineering study for an Armed Robotic Vehicle	United Defense, L.P., Ground Systems Division, Santa Clara, CA
Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment Vehicle (MULE)	Unmanned transport/support vehicle	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Grand Prairie, TX
Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV)	Small, unmanned multi-mission vehicle	iRobot Corporation, Burlington, MA
Autonomous Navigation System (ANS)	Autonomous and semi-autonomous navigation for manned and unmanned ground vehicles	General Dynamics Robotics Systems, Westminster, MD
Logistics Decision Support Systems (LDSS)	Software development and integration for logistics support	Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Tactical Systems Division, Carson, CA
Platform Soldier Mission Readiness System (PS-MRS)	Software development and integration. Utilizes platform sensor output to provide health and status to Logistics Decision Support System	Honeywell Defense & Electronic Systems, Albuquerque, NM
Ground Sensor Integrator	Sensor procurement and integration on manned and unmanned ground platforms	Raytheon Network Centric Systems, Plano, TX
Air Sensor Integrator	Sensor procurement and integration on unmanned air platforms	Northrop Grumman, Electronic Systems Division, Linthicum, MD
Unattended Ground Sensors (Tactical and Urban)	Design, develop, integrate, test and deliver tactical and urban unattended ground sensor systems	Textron Systems, Intelligent Battlefield Systems Division, Wilmington, MA
Sensor Data Management	Software development and integration for managing sensor information	General Dynamics Decision Systems, Scottsdale, AZ
ISR Sensor Fusion, Level 1	Software development and integration for collecting and managing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data	Lockheed Martin, Orincon Defense, San Diego, CA
Network Management	Software development and integration for system to manage all network communications	Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Tactical Systems Division, Carson, CA
Battle Command and Mission Execution	Software development and integration for battle command and control	Raytheon, Network Centric Systems, Ft. Wayne, IN
Planning and Preparation Services	Software development and integration for mission planning and preparation	General Dynamics Decision Systems, Scottsdale, AZ
Situational Understanding	Software development and integration for situational awareness	Austin Info Systems, Austin, TX
Warfighter Machine Interface	Provides customized soldier interface and warfighter collaboration tools for all platforms	The Boeing Company, Mesa, AZ
Ground Platform Communication	Development and integration of all ground communication systems	BAE Systems CNI, Wayne, NJ
Air Platform Communication	Development and integration of all air communication systems	BAE Systems IESI, Nashua, NH
Integrated Computers	Computer procurement and integration for all computers in the network	General Dynamics, Advanced Information Systems, Bloomington, MN
Training Support Package	Training software and documentation services	Computer Science Corp, Federal Sector Defense Group, Hampton, VA Dynamics Research Corp System Division, Andover, MA Northrop Grumman, Information Technology, Defense Enterprise Solutions Division, McLean, VA

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