Army ponders alternatives to Crusader gun system.

Despite lingering resistance in Congress, the Bush administration is charging ahead with its plans to cancel the Army's controversial, $1 1 billion Crusader artillery system and accelerate development of other ways of providing fire support for future U.S. ground forces.

For fiscal 2003, for example, the administration has proposed reallocating $476.6 million from the Crusader program to alternative technologies. According to the president's plan, the funds would be redistributed as follows:

* $310 million for the Arm/s next-generation Future Combat System, including $115 million for the Net Fires precision-attack missile.

* $48.3 million for the Excalibur family of precision-guided munitions, which is compatible with three existing artillery systems--the Paladin M-109A6 155 mm self-propelled howitzer and two towed guns, the British-made XM-777 lightweight 155 mm howitzer and the older, heavier M-198 155 howitzer.

* $45 million for a new variant of the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System.

* $28.6 million to complete development of a new engine for the existing Abrams Ml tank, formerly a joint program with the Crusader.

* $11.4 million to speed up work on targeting capabilities for the Army's Tactical Unmanned Vehicle.

* $10.8 million for the new XM-395 120 mm Precision Guided Mortar Munition.

* $10 million for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.

* $7.5 million to upgrade the Pladin's electronic systems.

* $4 million to complete development of the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System, which is intended to improve command and control of indirect fire-support systems.

No one weapon, however, will fill the Crusader's tracks entirely, warned Col. Michael V. Cuff, head of the Futures Development Integration Center, at the Army's Field Artillery Center in Fort Sill, Okla.

"Nothing is going to replace Crusader, as Crusader was," he told the Seventh International Artillery and Indirect Fire Symposium, held in Parsipany, N.J., and sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association.

A Combination of Systems

Instead, he said, it will probably rake a combination of systems to provide the full spectrum of fire support that U.S. combat soldiers will continue to need in future wars, as they have in the past. By mixing and matching existing and planned weapons systems, however, the Army will be able to provide that support, he said.

The Army will need a combination of guns and missiles, Donald C. Baker, deputy program executive officer fur tactical missiles, told the symposium. "Missiles can't do everything. Guns can't do everything. A mix is necessary to make sure that all of our lethality needs are met."

Since Napoleonic times, soldiers have relied upon massive artillery fire to blunt enemy ground attacks and to destroy their defenses. The Crusader is the latest version being developed fur the U.S. Army. It is an automatic-loading, self-propelled, 155 mm howitzer, designed by United Defense LP, of Arlington, Va., to replace the 40-year-old, manual-loading M-109 series of cannons, made by the same company. The latest of these is the Paladin, which was introduced in 1993.

A howitzer is a relatively short, mobile, large-caliber cannon, capable of firing directly into the face of attacking enemy forces or indirectly--high into the air--to reach far behind obstacles, such as trees, mountains and fortifications.

Although self-propelled howitzers resemble ranks, they are not designed to fight like tanks. Rather than engage in fist-moving, dose combat, they typically employ a tactic called "shoot and scoot." They move into position, lob shells at distant targets, then head on to another site, before the enemy can return fire.

The administration, however, decided that the Crusader was too heavy and lacked precision fire. Although the Army already has expended $2 billion on the project, the administration decided to stop it in its tracks. Instead, the administration opted to speed up work on a variety of new technologies that will "enable us to fight and win wars in the 21st century," according to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

For example, the administration proposes to extend the range and accuracy of the M-109 Paladin--the Arm/s current SPH--by adapting it to fire the Excalibur. This new set of munitions would extend the Paladin's range by 30 percent, Michael Wynne, principal deputy undersecretary fur acquisition, technology and logistics, told a Pentagon briefing.

It would improve accuracy by reducing dispersion of shell fragments from 370 meters for traditional artillery projectiles to 10 meters fur Excalibur, Wynne said.

The Excalibur is a new, long-range, 155-mm, fin-stabilized projectile, which uses global-positioning system (GPS) technology to find its targets on the first round, according to its developer, Raytheon Company, of Lexington, Mass. Wynne said he hopes the Army can field the munition in 2006.

The Excalibur also can be used both by the M-198 155 mm howitzer currently employed by the Army and Marines and by the XM-777 lightweight 155 mm gun that the services are considering as a replacement.

Like the M-198, the XM-777 is a towed howitzer, but--at 9,200 pounds--it is much lighter than the 16,000-pound M-198, noted Army Col. Carlos Rodriguez, commander of the 18th Field Artillery Brigade (Airborne), at Ford Bragg, N.C.

Deployability

That makes it very deployable, Rodriguez told the artillery symposium. The XM-777 can be towed by a vehicle as small as a 2.5-ton truck, airlifted by helicopter and transported from ship to shore by an LCAC (air-cushioned landing craft), he said.

The two services are scheduled to decide in October whether to go into full-rate production, with the Marines to receive the first deliveries at the end of 2004. The XM-777's developer--BAE Systems, of the United Kingdom--has leased a 54,000 square foot facility in Hattiesburg, Miss., to serve as the program's final-assembly point. More than 700 howitzers are to be built in Hattiesburg between 2004 and 2010, according to BAE spokesman John Measell.

The Army's new Brigade Combat Teams taking shape at Fort Lewis, Wash., will use lightweight howitzers, said E. Carroll Gagnon, deputy program officer for ground combat and support systems. "The question is what size will they be--155s, 120s or 105s? My guess is that it will be somewhere among the three."

The teams also will have Mobile Gun Systems--variations of the BCT's Stryker light armored vehicles--equipped with105 mm cannon. The MGS is not a personnel carrier or a tank, said Lt. Col. Jack Reiff project manager for the system. "It's an infantry support platform." With its 105 mm gun, "it definitely can make an infantry-size hole in a concrete wall," big enough for soldiers to pass through, he said.

GM GDLS Defense Group, a joint venture between General Motors and General Dynamics Land Systems, was scheduled to deliver the first 10 MGS vehicles by January 2003.

Whatever weapon is used, recent experience in Afghanistan has proven the importance of accuracy, Cuff said. "This enemy will get as dose to us as possible to make it difficult to call in covering fire," he said.

To increase the accuracy of its Multiple Launch Rocket System, the Army is installing a GPS-aided inertial guidance package in the weapon. At White Sands Missile Range, N.M., this June, the service and the developer--Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, based in Dallas--conducted the first of five production-qualification rests on the Guided MLRS, as new system is known. "This first flight was outstanding," said Ron Abbott, the company's vice president for fire support.

The guidance package transforms the MLRS freeflight rocket into a precision-guided weapon, Abbott explained. The Guided MLRS will have a range of more than 70 kilometers. It can be launched from the M-270A1 weapons platform, a variant of the tracked Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

The M-270A1 carries 12 rockets, which can be fired in rapid ripples. The system weighs about 55,000 pounds, meaning it can be airlifted only on large transports, such as the C5 and C-141.

The Guided MLRS also can be launched from Lockheed Martin's High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, which is being rested by both the Army and the Marines. The XM-142 HIMARS launcher, a version of the Army's new Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, weighs 24,000 pounds. Thus, unlike the M-270A1, the HIMARS is transportable on smaller C-130 aircraft, which can land on short, austere airstrips.

The HIMARS carries a six pack of GMLRS rockets or one Army Tactical Missile System, which has a range of more than 165 kilometers. Lockheed Martin successfully fired an ATACMS Block 1A missile in March at White Sands.

The company was scheduled to deliver the first two HIMARS launchers to the Marines in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002. In June, it received a $1.4 million, five-year contract to provide spares, supply and maintenance services for the vehicles.

Earlier Fielding

The Army plans to move up the date for fielding the XM-395 Precision Guided Mortar Munition by two years-from 2008 to 2006-said Lt. Col. Larry Hollingsworth, the Arm/s project manager for mortars. The PGMM presents "a tremendous growth opportunity," he told the symposium. "If you're looking for business, I think precision-guided mortars is the place to start.

Last October, Lockheed Martin and Germany's Diehl concluded an advanced technology demonstration for the PGMM. In the spring of 2003, the Army plans to conduct a competition to select a contractor to continue the munition's development.

The PGMM is designed to hit within three feet of targets at 12 to 15 kilometers--double the range of conventional 120 mm mortar rounds--Hollingsworth explained. Iris compatible with the M-120 towed 120 mm mortar and the M-121 mortar, which is mounted on United Defense's M1064A3 mortar carrier.

Mortars are much lighter than other forms of artillery, Hollingsworth noted. With precision-guided munitions, the mortar will be the ground commander's "hip-pocket" indirect-fire weapon. "People are beginning to realize that mortars are the best way to deliver fire support to light infantry," Hollingsworth said.

Net Fires is a containerized, vertically-launched, indirect-fire rocket system being tested by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Sometimes called "rockets in a box," Net Fires is designed to be platform independent, said Program Manager Brad Tousley.

The Net Fires container can be mounted on the ground, a Humvee utility vehicle or the Future Combat System, now being designed as part of the Army's planned objective force. Each system has 16 sections, with 15 of them holding rockets and the last containing command and control equipment.

Net Fires has two kinds of rockets. One is a precision-attack missile being developed by Raytheon. The other is a loitering attack missile, being designed jointly by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. It is intended to hover in the air for up to half an hour, identify its target and attack when ready.

Testing of Net Fires will continue until 2004, when the Army will decide whether to continue the program, Tousley said. If the system is successful, it could be ready for deployment in 2008.

The FCS, scheduled to be fielded in 2010, is envisioned as a networked system of manned and unmanned platforms that will be capable of conducting a wide range of missions, including assault, indirect fires, air defense, reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition, and battle command and communications.

Exactly what it will look like, however, is far from clear at this point, said Cuff "One of the things that we have to do before we start building is come up with a design," he said. "What goes into the FCS duffle bag?"

This spring, DARPA and the Army selected a team consisting of the Boeing Company, of Anaheim, Calif., and Science Applications International Corporation, of San Diego--to answer that question. The team will service as lead systems integrator for the concept and technology-development phase of the $5 billion project.

During this phase, which is scheduled to end in the third quarter of fiscal year 2003, the LSI team will develop the overall design for the FCS.

Meanwhile, two additional industry teams, one led by Raytheon and the other by Lockheed Martin, received $6 million contracts to develop and begin resting the FCS' Multi-Role Armament and Ammunition System. MRAAS is designed to fire three kinds of rounds-anti-armor, guided medium-range and guided extended-range.

A few days earlier, General Dynamics Land Systems, of Sterling Heights, Mich., won a $30 million, three-year assignment to build an MRAAS Turret Mission Module Weapon Control System. This system is intended to provide weapon-pointing control, accuracy and fires efficiency, while operating in direct and indirect-fire modes with the new munitions and gun systems, according to company officials.

Congress, meanwhile, is not finished entirely with the Crusader. The two houses have passed 2003 defense spending bills that differ on the Crusader's fate. A House version, written by Rep. J.C. Warts, R-Okla., fully funds the Crusader and bars termination of the program until 2003.

The Senate bill transfers funding from the Crusader to other methods of providing indirect fires. Before that can happen, however, the Senate bill requires the Defense Department to conduct an analysis of all alternatives, including the Crusader.

The two houses will appoint a conference committee to work our the differences. President Bush, however, has served notice that he will veto any bill that continues funding for the Crusader.

Whatever happens, artillery will to continue play an important role in combat, Gagnon said. "Artillery has been the king of battle for centuries," he said. "It will continue to do so in the future. I don't see a change in that."