White House proposes cuts to FCS

The Obama administration released a budget proposal today that would cut funding for the Army’s Future Combat Systems from its fiscal 2009 level of $3.6 billion to $2.98 billion.

The proposal would terminate some ground vehicle programs and a non-line-of-sight cannon program.

FCS is the Army’s primary modernization program and is designed to improve soldiers’ ability to move, shoot and communicate on the battlefield. The program stresses joint interoperability, shared situational awareness and the ability to execute highly synchronized missions.

The program involves developing and integrating a family of unmanned ground and air vehicles, unattended ground sensors, and a network for the brigade combat team structure.

The budget request for fiscal 2010 would restructure FCS to incrementally deliver new technologies to Infantry Brigade Combat Teams, according to the Defense Department. Previously, FCS was run as a core program that spun out mature technologies to warfighters.

In the budget request, FCS would continue the development of three unmanned ground vehicles, two unmanned aerial vehicles, a non-line-of-sight launch system, unattended ground sensors and an information network.

Boeing and Science Applications International Corp. are the prime contractors for FCS.