What if GCV fails? Tight budget outlook sparks brainstorming over technical options - just in case

摘要

The U.S. Army's Ground Combat Vehicle program is dogged by sticker shock and stalled by a bid protest. The situation has prompted industry experts to brainstorm ways to reduce the price of a program whose demonstration phase alone is projected to cost dollar7.6 billion. The experts are beginning to weigh changes that might be requested to the vehicle's proposed electronics and computing systems. They also are examining how existing vehicles might be updated as an alternative to a new vehicle, something Army experts are on orders to do. For backers of the GCV, major changes would be disappointing, and they have not given up on the program. For more than a decade, Army leaders have cited shortcomings in existing combat vehicles, including the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle the GCV would replace. The Army has gotten through by installing new electronics and communications systems in a piecemeal fashion during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the Bradleys lack the lightning-quick sensing capabilities, integrated computing environment and reliable power systems that the Army wants, and they guzzle fuel that can cost up to dollar400 a gallon once the expense of transporting it halfway around the world is factored in.