Richard Shelby: “While the Objective Force and the Future Combat System are relatively new terms, many people may not be aware that Army…”

“While the Objective Force and the Future Combat System are relatively new terms, many people may not be aware that Army scientists and engineers have been working on transformation technology since before the end of the cold war. For example, the Fiber Optic Guided Missile, FOGM, has been demonstrated with soldiers and has performed most of the objectives required for the artillery component of the Future Combat System known as NetFires. FOGM is inherently immune to radio-frequency jamming, a serious concern for NetFires. It does not require a not-yet-developed automatic target recognition capability like NetFires. It is soldier-proven technology already in service or in development in several other countries. It offers the potential for significant savings in time and money in getting to low rate initial production, compared with NetFires. I fully support work on leap-ahead technology programs like NetFires, but I believe we should take prudent steps to mitigate against high risk programs by continuing work on alternative capabilities.”