Reinventing the Wheel: Planning for the Aftermath of FCS Manned Ground Vehicle (MGV) Cancellation
September 25 2009
In April 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that Department of Defense (DoD) would cancel the development and procurement of manned ground vehicles (MGV) under the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. Based on that decision, DoD will reevaluate its requirements and the available technologies in order to develop a concept design for a new ground combat vehicle (GCV). While a decision to break up the FCS program has been expected for several years, the cancellation of all vehicle variants and several technologies anticipated as spin-outs, came as a surprise to many. The elimination of the manned vehicles component of FCS – many variants of which were intended to replace aging Army combat platforms – fundamentally alters the discussion of current vehicle readiness and sustainment and reopens the debate over future combat vehicle design and procurement strategy.
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Author(s): Jim Tinsley