Dennis Muilenburg, vice president and general manager, Future Combat Systems, recently spoke to All Systems Go about the U.S. Army’s additional funding of up to $6.4 billion for the System Development and Demonstration phase of the FCS program, which will accelerate the delivery of technologies and capabilities to current forces.

All Systems Go: What are the biggest challenges facing your FCS team as a result of the recently announced program acceleration?

Muilenburg: There are several. FCS is really central to the Army transformation initiative. Its acceleration can be traced to the Chief’s (of the Army) plan. A key new element is getting FCS capabilities to the current force as soon as possible while determining how best to build the bridge between today’s force and the FCS-equipped force of the future.

Another challenge is the sheer scope and complexity of the effort. This (acceleration) is a $6.4 billion addition to what was a $14.8 billion program. We’ve added four more systems to our overall network-centric solution. And now we’ve thrown in another degree of difficulty: not only will we do the system of systems integration effort but we will also “spiral out” portions of this capability at different points in time. So, it is another dimension of complexity to the overall planning in terms of schedule details, integration and execution of tasks, alignment of partners, and doing this efficiently for our Army customer.

All Systems Go: For a long time, the Department of Defense has wanted to carry out spiral development and insertion. Is FCS the first to do it?

Muilenburg: Yes. The Army is on the leading edge, and we’re really the first mega-scale network-centric program to answer big questions. How do you actually mechanize spiral insertion in a fast-moving program? How do you rapidly take capability from development to fielding to getting soldier feedback and then rolling those lessons learned back into the program? How do you support it once it gets there? There’s no model to follow. We’re writing the book while we execute.

All Systems Go: Will FCS spiral new capabilities to other branches of the U.S. military and international customers?

Muilenburg: Because FCS is being designed in a joint environment, spiraling to other services is really important. With our Army customer, we are establishing a joint program office with the Marine Corps.

The System of Systems Common Operating Environment is being developed to be shared and leveraged by all the services. As a result, those service-to-service connections are starting to be established as a natural part of our program. And there is also the potential to share FCS lessons learned and capabilities with the United Kingdom’s Future Rapid Effects System program in cooperation with the U.S. Army.

All Systems Go: What effect will the program modifications have on the schedule?

Muilenburg: If you look at the detailed schedule, there are parts of it that are moving to the right, moving out in time and there are parts that are moving to the left or sooner in time. Some of the network and robotic activities, in particular, are being accelerated. The idea is to begin spiraling to the current force in 2008 and then to have subsequent spirals roughly every two years. We’re also looking for opportunities to begin early demonstrations or experiments in 2006. The idea is to take some of the early capabilities we’re developing, get them into the field faster, gather soldier input and then use that to make subsequent spirals even better. So, we may actually start as soon as 2006.

We’ll get early assessments of the System of Systems Common Operating Environment and battle command and logistics software, initial production versions of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), unattended ground sensors, prototypes of integrated computer systems, and prototype ground and air robots.

All Systems Go: Do you foresee FCS acceleration changing the Lead Systems Integrator (LSI) model?

Muilenburg: This will strengthen the LSI role and our close partnership with our Army customer. As the program scope and complexity grows, the need for a lead system integrator to pull all these elements together grows. Not only are we talking about the future force, but we’re talking about the current force and the LSI role is being expanded to help bridge the two. I think that is a very significant step for the program, and is an area where we can add tremendous value for our Army customer.

To the soldier on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, the acceleration of specific Future Combat Systems (FCS) technologies, beginning with portions of the network and robotic activities, will provide an important lifeline – enabling greater mission effectiveness and survivability on the battlefield, according to U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Andy Hutchison.

Hutchinson, former FCS executive and reservist with the I Marine Expeditionary Force, was involved in the Iraq War since its inception, leading a team of 50 logisticians who were responsible for the day-to-day flow of ammunition, food and water during the original stages of the war and for four months thereafter. Based on his wartime experience and critical need for information flow, Hutchison fully supports the Army’s decision to bring the best of technology to the warfighter earlier.

“I was delighted when I heard the Army had decided to accelerate that portion of the FCS program,” said Hutchison. “The value of good information is so high in an urban environment. (The ability to) access good information sooner is of tremendous benefit and is what this FCS program expansion really is going to do for the Army and for soldiers. A big part of the acceleration of the FCS program will be the sensor suites – to get that capability out to the soldiers sooner than the original 2010 timeframe will provide a significant advantage.”