Future Combat Systems

The Future Combat Systems (FCS) is the Army’s first full-spectrum modernization in nearly 40

years. This is stated as fact in the white paper approved for release on 14 March 2007.   This maybe the
case now, however, the Army may not have another five years to wait before it is fully tested and fielded.
The world we live in today is called the information age for a good reason. The amount of time it takes to
field the FCS will cause it to be obsolete before it can become the future of warfare.   Technology is
measured by the nano and pico second in the world we live in today.   By the time the FCS is fielded to
the units it was designed to aid in 2015, technology will have passed it by.   I believe that the Army is
taking too long to field this program.   The 2015 date should be revised and the system should be fielded
within the next two years, if not sooner. The white paper lays out a timeline that in black and white make
sense, however, the world we live in today is not black and white. The world we live in today is texting
and tweeting, and if you remain complacent, technology will pass you by.   It may be true that the
hardware spec’d out in the FCS is designed to be upgraded. But consider this: the military may have
planned for the upgrades but what about the technological lag time between each one of the spin outs?   I
don’t feel that enough consideration has been given to this lag time. No one wants to buy the first edition
of software or hardware these days because of the bugs that haven’t been worked out.   Many people
simply wait for the 2.0 version.   The problem I see is that over a long duration of time, soldiers and
civilians that program, update and patch this new system may not even be in uniform or working for the
military by 2015. Consider a laptop which may have cost over two thousand dollars one year ago.   At the
time it was state the art and the fastest hardware available.   Today, that same laptop manufacturer doesn’t...