Weapons Upgrade Faces Big Hurdles

Modified Humvees are equipped with early versions of Future Combat Systems software that provides soldiers with a single common operating picture of the battlefield, including the locations of friendly forces and enemy threats as well as radios to distribute the data across the networked battlefield. (Photo Courtesy Of Boeing)

Cristina Chaplain, who oversees the GAO's review of space systems, also said that "TSAT was being designed to support communications on the move, whereas other programs don't do that to the extent that's needed by" Future Combat Systems.

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sorenson, the Army's chief information officer, acknowledges that the development of TSAT and the other complementary programs represent a "high risk," but he said the military is attempting to manage that risk by developing the programs incrementally.

Rickey E. Smith, a retired Army colonel who is part of the military team designing how Future Combat Systems will be used, said that if the complementary programs fail, the Army project would certainly be impacted, but so would other military services that depend on these technologies. And he said that while the GAO does good work, "They've never seen a program they liked."

For the GAO's Francis, the question for his team of investigators is not whether they like these military programs but whether they will work in concert with Future Combat Systems.

That remains a multibillion-dollar question. "The Army believes this will all work," he said, "but they won't be able to demonstrate that for some time."