An Uncertain Trend in a Highly Competitive Market

Mary Dub, Staff Writer

‘After more than a decade of increasing defense budgets, the Department of Defense

now must plan for $487 billion in cuts over the next decade, with still more substantial

cuts possible. In this environment, the competition for programmatic dollars will

be fi erce. What one observer has called “the biggest military food fi ght in at least a

generation” may already be underway. 15 ’ Andrew Krepinevich and Eric Lindsey:

‘The Road Ahead’ for The Center for Strategic Budget Assessment (2012)

Even the ubiquitous Humvee, which was due for a replacement in the spring of 2012, was put on hold as the United States strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacifi c region was announced.

AVEHICLE Intercom Systems is a vital link to between the soldier in an armoured vehicle and his patrol and command and control. However, despite the US Army’s commitment to Network Centric Warfare (NCW) and the British Network Enabled Capability (NEC) there is now a signifi cant period of high uncertainty about the Department of Defense’s intentions to purchase and upgrade equipment given that President Obama’s budgets have been cut dramatically by both Houses of Congress in the current administration.

What does this mean for the acquisition of upgrades and new technologies, hitherto always seen as the key to dominance in the battlefi eld? The Congressional Research Service published a summary of the political events impacting on the defense budget over the last three years and it makes salutary reading. 16 “In April 2009, then Secretary of Defense Gates announced he intended to signifi cantly restructure the Army’s Future Combat System (FCS) program. The FCS was a multiyear, multi-billion dollar program that had been underway since 2000 and was at the heart of the Army’s transformation efforts. In lieu of the cancelled FCS manned ground vehicle (MGV), the Army was directed to develop a ground combat vehicle (GCV) that would be relevant across the entire spectrum of Army operations and would incorporate combat lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan.” The tale gets worse: “On August 23, 2011, the third team vying for the GCV technology development (TD) contract, SAIC-Boeing, fi led a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) contending that there were errors in the evaluation process.” And worse: “The Administration’s January 26, 2012, Major Budget Decision Briefi ng not only introduced a new Asia-Pacifi c

strategic focus, but also delayed the GCV program for a year due to the SAIC-Boeing protest.” This is bad news for contractors.

Why the Cancellations at Such a Late Stage and at Such a High Cost to Industry and the Department of Defense? The Congressional Research Service had an easy answer and a more diffi cult one: “This review found that the GCV had too many performance requirements and too many capabilities to make it affordable and relied on too many immature technologies.” Fair enough, but the real problem is a much wider one. “Under FY2013 strategic and budget plans, the Active Army will downsize by 80,000 soldiers, but most defense analysts expect even deeper cuts in end strength, particularly if sequestration of the defense budget under the provisions of the Budget Control Act of 2011, P.L.112-25, is enacted. If sequestration does occur, Secretary of Defense Panetta has told Congress, “all ground combat vehicle modernization programs would be terminated,” meaning that the GCV program would be cancelled.”

JTRS Joined the List of Cancelled Programs The Pentagon’s JTRS (Joint Tactical Radio System) aimed to replace existing radios in the American military with a single set of softwaredefi ned radios that could have new frequencies and modes (“waveforms”) added via upload. This system, instead of requiring multiple radio types in ground vehicles, used circuit board swaps in order to upgrade – this also fell victim to the cuts. JTRS joined the Land Warrior Program on the list of closed programs.

Even the ubiquitous Humvee, which was due for a replacement in the spring of 2012, was put

COBHAM HAS A BATTLE PROVEN SYSTEM AND AN INSTALLED BASE OF 125,000 SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE.

on hold as the United States strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific region was announced. The central issue the Obama administration and Congress and the Department of Defense have yet to resolve is what equipment will the US Army need if it is not going to fi ght counter-insurgencies, as it has done in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade and a half? As Todd Harrison, fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments put it when discussing the upgrade to the Humvee: “If you’re not going to be doing counterinsurgencies, why do you need a vehicle that heavily armored? It’s not clear how the Army plays in the pivot to Asia. It’s not clear what their role would be.’’

What Does This Mean for the Future of Communication Systems for the US Army? The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment summarises what the general policy for the Army should be: “that given prospective resource constraints, the ground forces should seek to “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without whenever possible.” This is not exactly good news for industry. However, contracts have been signed for strong contenders. The Northrop Grumman Cobham Team announced in May 2010 the successful integration of the Vehicle Intercom System, expanded (VIS-X) into the U.S. Army’s Stryker systems integration lab (SIL) environment at the U.S. Army TankAutomotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command in Warren, Michigan. Critically important was the VIS-X hardware that seamlessly integrated into the Stryker SIL, replacing the AN/VIC-3 intercom system. The integration demonstrated the form, fi t and function compatibility of VIS-X with AN/VIC-3 and the ability to add new communications features without increasing the system footprint or rewiring the Stryker vehicle. “During our Stryker SIL integration, we demonstrated that VIS-X reduces the total electronic box count by 30 percent and increases the number of available users, radios and alarms,” said John Jadik, vice president of Communications, Intelligence and Networking Solutions for Northrop Grumman’s Land and Self Protection Systems Division.

“Existing VIC-3 highway cables, headsets and brackets were re-used, allowing for an easy upgrade to vehicles already utilizing the AN/VIC-3 and reducing the risk associated with new vehicle implementations.” VIS-X can be used in both new production and legacy vehicle platforms, allowing the warfi ghter to utilize the same new equipment regardless of vehicle type or age. And the system delivers a dramatically enhanced capability: 10/100/1Gbit Ethernet, VoIP, SIP calls, point-to-point calling, multiple intercom groups, remote radio control, radio re-transmission, and alphanumeric displays and menus become available to the systems integrator and the warfi ghter. 17

There is now a signifi cant period of high uncertainty about the Department of Defense’s intentions to purchase and upgrade equipment given that President Obama’s budgets have been cut dramatically by both Houses of Congress in the current administration