Battlefield Automation

The Army plans to increase the exchange of information on the battlefield through the Force XXI Battle Command, Brigade and Below Program. The goal is to "digitalize" the forces--create an automated information network at the brigade level and below by installing computers on individual battlefield platforms and linking those computers by radio. The Army plans to equip a division with this capability by the end of fiscal year 2000. This report reviews the Army's acquisition plans for the program. Specifically, GAO evaluates the program's significance to the Army's battlefield digitalization goal, the Army's derivation of cost estimates, and the feasibility of the Army's fielding schedule. GAO also collected information on experimental performance results so far.

GAO noted that: (1) on the basis of the Army's estimate of FBCB2 research, development, test and evaluation costs, the program has been classified as a category II acquisition--one that does not require systematic oversight by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology; (2) GAO believes that because of the FBCB2's significance, cost, and schedule risk, the FBCB2 should be classified as a category I acquisition and receive a higher level of oversight; (3) although FBCB2 is critical to the Army's digitization plan--the system ties the upper level command and control systems to the digital battlefield--FBCB2 is the only major system in the Army's Battle Command System that has not been designated category I; (4) the system's potential to provide thousands of soldiers with the ability to send and receive clear and consistent battlefield information in almost real time demonstrates the system's significance as a linchpin of the digital battlefield; (5) this significance is confirmed by the Army's own designation of FBCB2 as one of the highest priority command and control systems and the Army's plan to equip a division with a FBCB2 capability by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2000; (6) GAO's analysis indicates that there are additional research, development, test, and evaluation costs that, when included, increase the dollar significance of this program to a category I acquisition level; (7) the FBCB2 program faces a significant schedule risk in meeting the FY 2000 mandate for fielding the first digitized division; (8) however, despite this acknowledged schedule risk, the Army is moving ahead with its highly compressed schedule with no apparent risk management strategy specifically addressing alternatives and the implications of not fielding an adequately developed system by the end of FY 2000; (9) because the FBCB2 program has only recently entered engineering and manufacturing development, no operational evaluations are yet available for analysis; (10) however, the 1997 Task Force XXI Advanced Warfighting Experiment employed a prototype FBCB2; (11) two independent organizations, the Army's Operational Test and Evaluation Command and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Operational Test and Evaluation Office, assessed FBCB2 results and found a number of problems; (12) these included poor message completion, limitations related to the experimental hardware and software, a lack of adequate digital connectivity, immaturity of the Applique--the Army's name for FBCB2 computer--and the Tactical Internet, and inadequate training; and (13) Army officials currently assess the program's technical risk as medium.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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