Army News Service (Oct. 26, 2006): FCS Opens Test Complex at White Sands Missile Range.WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), formerly known as the White Sands Proving Grounds, is a rocket range in New Mexico operated by the United States Army. The range covers an area of almost 3,200 mi² (8 287 km²), approximately three times the size of Rhode Island, making it , N.M. -- Soldiers, civilian employees, and media representatives got a look at the future of warfighting when a robot did the honors of cutting the ribbon at a grand opening for the Future Combat Systems Test Operations Complex at White Sands Missile Range Oct. 23. "The FCS FCS - Frame Check Sequence Test Operations Complex performs a vital role in our Army modernization modernization Transformation of a society from a rural and agrarian condition to a secular, urban, and industrial one. It is closely linked with industrialization. As societies modernize, the individual becomes increasingly important, gradually replacing the family, strategy," said Maj. Gen. Charles Cartwright, FCS program manager. "By this time next year, we will have new FCS equipment in Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles." Part of the Army's modernization program, FCS consists of a family of 18 manned and unmanned ground and aerial vehicles linked through an advanced information network in support of the soldier. FCS is more than a program. "It is a strategy for how to modernize the Army and bring new network-capable technology before our soldiers by providing them with the information they need on the battlefield--information that will keep them safe, information that will allow them to get their jobs done and allow them to get back home," said Dennis Muilenburg, who heads the FCS effort for Boeing in its role as the Lead Systems Integrator for the Army. An Evaluation Brigade Combat Team The brigade combat team (BCT) is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the US Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branched maneuver brigade, and its attached support and fire units. is being stood up at WSMR WSMR White Sands Missile Range and at Fort Bliss Fort Bliss, U.S. army post, 1,122,500 acres (454,300 hectares), W Tex., E of El Paso; est. 1849 and named for Col. William Bliss, Gen. Zachary Taylor's adjutant in the Mexican War. Originally strategically located near the only ice-free pass through the Rocky Mts. , Texas, to move FCS from development to testing. Major experimentation activities are already under way, he said. Experiment 1.1, the first major field event, will put sensors and unmanned air and ground systems into soldiers' hands. Soldiers will then give engineers personal input on what works well and what needs improvement. "Army modernization truly is about the soldier," said Cartwright. "We see that in both the design and execution of the FCS program. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion