Sen. McCain Placed in the Unusual Role of Protecting the FCS Program

Sen. John McCain [R-AZ] Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee Chairman John McCain [R-AZ] has arguably been the bane of the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. He’s the most influential critic of its previous procurement relationship with Boeing and of the program’s escalating costs. Now he’s in the unusual position of vowing to fight language in the Senate’s $445.5 billion fiscal 2006 Defense appropriations bill, in order to protect the integrity and intent of the FCS program. GlobalSecurity.org notes that the U.S. Army currently ranks behind several other countries in cannon artillery capabilities, and points out that U.S. Army after-action studies from Operation Iraqi Freedom, Afghanistan, and Desert Storm have exposed that the U.S. Army has a critical need for an advanced cannon artillery solution. In response, the current Senate FY 2006 defense bill adds a provision which would separate the NLOS-C mobile cannon/howitzer from the FCS into its own funded program if the overall program falls behind schedule. BAE NLOS-C Demonstratorwith XM777 howitzer As the Senate and House versions of the Defense bill head to reconciliation, they currently differ on whether to cut $100 million (Senate) or $400 million (House) from the FCS program in 2006. These cuts are, […]