Comments on: Army Breaks Up FCS

By: x-MAN

x-MAN — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:31:55 +0000

The first field test had an urban component; Ft. Bliss. This test had the sensors along a road detecting vehicle movement. Also lining the road was the C4ISR vehicles used to relay information back to the Mobile Node. Sensors used high power zigbee mesh to communication among themselves (1watt ERP or more). The C4ISR vehicles also had wireless mesh net used to simulate the FCS C4ISR NETWORK. The wireless net covered channels 1 and 6 in the wireless band; the ERP used was 2+watts. Boeing did not do any frequency management; that is the sensors were within the Mobile Node’s frequency band.

By: x-MAN

x-MAN — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:43:09 +0000

I worked FCS for two years; the program in my optinion was mismanaged by both Boeing and SAIC. My role was to setup the communications equipment at WSMR for the first test, EXP1,1. The test was a real mess with so much interference among sensors and the Mobile Node wireless network. The 802.11g network connected the FCS C4ISR vehicles (seven total) providing a data simulation capability as an input to the FCS systems. We told Boeing, who managed the test about the frequency conflicts but Boeing ignored the warnings. The sensors T-UGS, IMS, U-UGS used Zigbee to communicate among themselves (2,4ghz mesh net)

By: Timhogs

Timhogs — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:46:38 +0000

Monroe

I’ve had more than 20 years working development programs, including the last five on FCS, and I can say from the bottom of my heart that FCS MGV was the biggest Charlie Foxtrot of a program I’ve ever had the misfortune to be associated with. The entire program was hideously mismanaged from the get-go.

By: Realist

Realist — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:19:33 +0000

Max — Nothing about FCS was ever simple.

By: max headroom

max headroom — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:52:19 +0000

BINGO!!!

Chuck…It seems so typical of a $100B bureacracy these days to take something so simple, creative, and insightful and bastardize it in the name of branding and profit.

Boeing missed the boat.

By: Monroe

Monroe — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:16:59 +0000

x-man: What aspect of FCS testing do you think was mismanaged?

By: x-man

x-man — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:01:32 +0000

It is a great day for the Army. Boeing and SAIC, who managed the program did not care any thing about the Warfighter; just the money. They mismanaged the testing and would not listen to any corrective criticism.

By: Decisions

Decisions — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:19:24 +0000

Has the DoD notified the Army and/or Boeing to stop work on FCS or any portion of it yet?

By: Chuck

Chuck — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:30:42 +0000

“Abercrombie said he was troubled by a $415 million charge in the current budget for software development.”

There’s a whole lot more of that on the way, due to Boeing’s insistence that building and integrating their own middleware and operating system software, out of open source piece parts, is better than relying on industry-funded and proven commercial off the shelf solutions.