PPT Slide
SECTION 3 - The FA of the Future
TECHNOLOGY BASE. To support the future requirements we will proceed along a logical path that includes the coordination of Technology Base programs that include Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations (ACTDs). Advanced Technology Demonstrations (ATDs), and Technology Demonstrations (TDs). Other programs that support our efforts are the Science and Technology Objectives (STOs), Advanced Concept Technology II (ACT II) programs and Army Warfighting Experiments (AWEs).
The funded Technology Base programs that will provide assistance in obtaining our objective endstate include:
Horizontal Technologies Integration (HTI). Fire Support will increasingly utilize HTI to move toward Army XXI. Already, MSTAR has been approved as a candidate for the Smart Weapons/Precision Guided Munitions HTI Task Force. Other HTI including: battlefield digitization, combat ID, battlefield sensors, missile power supplies and others, offer significant potential to fire support systems currently under development. We must continue to support the HTI process as a means for providing significant cost savings.
Science and Technology Initiatives. S&T for Fire Support is focused principally on system upgrade opportunities and enhancements to artillery rockets, missiles, projectiles, and submunitions. Technology demonstration programs are aimed at increasing such attributes as range, accuracy, lethality, rate of fire, and reduction of timelines.
RAPID FORCE PROJECTION INITIATIVE (RFPI). RFPI is a system of systems demonstration which uses a “hunter/stand-off killer” concept to enable air-deployable, early entry forces to defeat a heavy threat. It relies on forward deployed sensors of various types to provide rapid targeting for lightweight, stand-off weapons. Precision guided weapons are emphasized to increase lethality and survivability, and to reduce logistics burdens. Acoustic sensors play a key role in improving situational awareness, cueing other sensors, and performing targeting. FA initiatives include:
- HIMARS - Four prototypes for RFPI ACTD and two year extended user test at XVIII Airborne Corps before EMD.
- Guided MLRS Advanced Technology Demonstration. This demonstrates strap-on, low cost guidance technology for the Extended Range (ER) MLRS rocket, thereby substantially improving its delivery accuracy, reducing the number of rockets required to defeat the target, and expanding the MLRS target set to include precision targets. This program also supports integration into the RFPI