SUBJECT Future Combat Systems (FCS) Brigade Combat Team (BCT

							                                 THE UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
                                           3010 DEFENSE PENTAGON
                                         WASHINGTON, DC 20301-3010


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 TECHNOLOGY
AND LOGISTICS
                                                                                JUN 232009
     MEMORANDUM FOR SECRETARY OF THE ARMY

      SUBJECT: Future Combat Systems (FCS) Brigade Combat Team (BCT) Acquisition
               Decision Memorandum

             As a result of strategic decisions in formulating the Defense portion of the Fiscal
     Year (FY) 2010 President's Budget, I hereby cancel the FCS BCT acquisition program.
     This determination does not include the Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) Special
     Interest Program. The Army shall take the necessary actions to implement this decision.
     In its place, the Army will transition to an Army modernization plan consisting of a
     number of integrated acquisition programs: one to produce and field the first seven Spin­
     Out Early Infantry Brigade Combat Team (SO E-IBCT) unit sets; one or more Major
     Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs) to include, but not limited to, MDAPs for
     follow-on BCT modernization to develop, produce, and field required unmanned
     systems, sensors, and networking for the remaining combat brigades; one MDAP to
     continue development and fielding of incremental ground tactical network capability; and
     one MDAP to develop ground combat vehicles. The Army shall brief me on its planning
     for these programs within 30 days. In addition, the Army shall brief key stakeholders no
     later than July 2009 on the results of the FCS System of Systems Preliminary Design
     Review (PDR) to facilitate understanding of the FCS program designs and investment to
     date in sensors, the network, and vehicles.

            I remain cognizant of the requirement in Section 8085 of the Consolidated
     Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act 2009, for the Army to
     develop the NLOS-C independent of the FCS, to deliver five pre-production NLOS-C
     systems by the end of calendar year 2008, three pre-production NLOS-C systems by the
     end of calendar year 2009, and to field the system in fiscal year 2010. I have formally
     notified Congress that the termination of the Manned Ground Vehicle portion of the FCS
     program will impact negatively on the Army's ability to deliver and field the NLOS-C
     system independently of the FCS. Pending a determination of the appropriate path
     forward for NLOS-C, I direct that work be stopped on the NLOS-C portion of the
     program, and that the Army take the necessary contractual actions to implement this
     decision. Finally, and as a consequence of stopping work on the NLOS-C portion of the
     FCS program, the Army should not take any further action to produce the NLOS-C
     through the special interest production program.

                 Additional direction follows:


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        SO E-IBCT: The SO E-IBCT acquisition is designated a pre-MDAP. It will
acquire FCS-developed products for 7 Infantry BCTs and will start as scheduled with a
Milestone C decision in first quarter FY 2010. Input for this decision will be in
accordance with DoD Instruction 5000.02. It will be informed by an approved
Acquisition Strategy, a Capability Production Document, a Test and Evaluation Master
Plan, a Technology Readiness Assessment by the Director, Defense Research and
Engineering (DDR&E), an Independent Cost Estimate by the Director of Cost
Assessment and Program Evaluation, developmental and operational test results, and
other documents as appropriate. The contracting approach to acquiring the SO E-IBCT
systems shall identify the timeframe for establishing fixed price contracts and the plan to
transition away from industry-led integration efforts no later than the acquisition of SO
E-IBCT systems to support the first three IBCTs. Development needed for the
SO E-IBCT effort will continue under a modified FCS System Development and
Demonstration (SDD) contract until the follow-on modernization acquisition is
established.

        Follow-on BCT Modernization/Equipment for BCT Modernization: Additional
MDAP(s) will be initiated to expand delivery of the required SO E-IBCT capabilities and
for the further development of technologies and products (unmanned systems, sensors, an
integrated network) for fielding to the remaining Army combat brigades by 2025. The
Army shall develop an acquisition strategy to support acquiring these capabilities and
present that strategy for my review by September 2009 with a target for an acquisition
decision in FY 2010. The strategy shall address the requirements documentation
approach, acquisition decision points, and contracting plans.

        Ground Combat Vehicle: Recognizing that the FCS System of Systems PDR has
been completed, the Army shall identify the most efficient means to implement the
direction to cease the Manned Ground Vehicle (MGV) development effort with the least
cost to the taxpayer. The Army shall capture the design efforts to date in MGV
development (allocated baseline, PDR report, requirements documentation, etc.) for
potential leverage in any follow-on ground combat vehicle developmental programs.

         The Army, in conjunction with the Marine Corps, will initiate actions to assess
joint capability gaps for manned ground combat vehicles. The ground combat vehicle
missions across the spectrum of operations, the capabilities of the current combat vehicle
fleet, the FCS MGV preliminary design capability and the requirements gaps of the MGV
design, and any lessons learned from ongoing operations and known threats shall be used
to inform the joint ground combat vehicle capability review. The Army shall include a
capability gap assessment strategy for Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC)

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 review consistent with timelines in JROC Memorandum 075-09 dated 4 May 2009. The
 ground combat vehicle capability gap assessment shall support the development of
 requirements for a new Ground Combat Vehicle program, targeting a Materiel
 Development Decision in 2010.

          Network: An MDAP will be initiated to continue the tactical ground network
  development begun under the FCS program to continue to support the spin-out of
  networking capability to the combat brigades in the Army modernization program. The
  Army shall leverage the FCS network investment to inform the requirements
. development and acquisition approach needed to frame future increments of improved
  battle command and networking capability for the future tactical ground network. The
  Army shall target 2010 for a ground network acquisition plan and decision.
  Modifications to the current FCS SDD contract shall support continued development of
  the network until the new network acquisition is established.

         Contracting: The Army shall report back to me in July 2009 on the contract
 actions necessary to execute the direction specified above to include actions necessary to
 advance the acquisition of capability to the current force. Specifically, the Army shall
 identify all contract actions needed or anticipated, the most cost effective timeframe for
 the action, and estimates for the associated costs. Included should be all FCS SDD
 contract stop work orders or modification considerations (i.e., MGV prototype builds,
 logistics software development, etc.) and any termination liability associated with
 stopping those efforts.

        Additional Impacts: The Army shall identify the impacts of the FCS BCT
 acquisition program cancellation to Army complementary systems (such as JTRS and
 WIN-T) and any FCS second-tier development efforts (such as Medium Range
 Munitions, Active Protection System, armor development, radios, sensors, etc.). The
 Army shall establish a development priority and acquisition approach for these systems
 and review it with the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Technology),
 the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration, and the
 DDR&E by the end of FY 2009.

        The Army shall inform the Defense Acquisition Board of the status of the
 following in the fourth quarter FY 2009:
        •      The FY 2010 FCS budget execution plans;
        •      The plans, to include key activities and needs, for follow-on (post SO E­
               IBCT) brigade modernization efforts;


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      •      The FCS SDD contract status, contract modification actions and plans, and
             contracting path forward;
      •      The plans for follow-on ground combat vehicle acquisition; and
      •      The plans for the network development acquisition.

       My points of contact are Mr. Ric Sylvester, Deputy Director, Acquisition
Management, 703-697-0476, e-mail: richard.sylvester@osd.mil. and Mr. Anthony
Melita, Deputy Director, Land Warfare and Munitions, 703-695-1382, e-mail:
anthony.melita@osd.mil.




                                           Ashton B. Carter

cc:
DAB Principals and Advisors




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