Army leaders defend new ground vehicle development

Army leaders on Tuesday defended their efforts to develop another ground combat vehicle, arguing that none of the vehicles in the service's inventory can take the place of the aging Bradley Fighting Vehicle that the service hopes to eventually retire.

Testifying before the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Army Chief of Staff George Casey said the service explored whether it could avoid a long-term development program by buying a vehicle that already exists.

But the service ultimately decided that nothing met their requirements for the vehicle to be as lethal as the Bradley, while also being as survivable as the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles fielded in Iraq and Afghanistan and as mobile as the Army's family of wheeled Stryker vehicles.

Army officials also want to integrate an advanced communications network into the vehicle.

Casey's comments came as a result of concerns raised at the hearing by House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks, D-Wash., who signaled that he was skeptical the service could shepherd the program through development and into the hands of soldiers.

The ground combat vehicles will replace the manned ground vehicles that had been developed as part of the $160 billion Future Combat Systems, which was canceled last year. Aside from FCS, the service in recent years has canceled the Crusader self-propelled howitzer program and the Comanche reconnaissance and attack helicopter.

"The Army's record in procurement isn't exactly stellar," Dicks said.

Dicks said he had been on the panel in the 1980s and watched as the Army bought the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, M1A1 Abrams tank and AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

"That was a historic moment for Army acquisition," he said. "Everything else has been downhill since."

Casey and Army Secretary John McHugh acknowledged the Army's recent acquisition struggles but stressed that the vehicle is essential to future operations.

"There is risk," said McHugh, a former Republican lawmaker from upstate New York who last year stepped down as the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee to take the Army post. "We are mindful of that."

Service officials released a formal request for proposals for the ground combat vehicle on Feb. 25, with responses due back by the end of April.

The Army plans to have the first vehicles rolling off production lines in seven years, although Casey on Tuesday expressed frustration with the Pentagon's slow acquisition process, which he said is keeping the vehicles from being ready for combat sooner.