Defense Acquisitions: Significant Challenges Ahead in Developing and Demonstrating Future Combat System's Network and Software
Abstract
It is not yet clear if or when the Army and LSI can develop, build, and demonstrate the information network that is at the heart of the FCS concept. The Army is faced with significant management and technological challenges that place development of FCS's network and software at risk. Almost 5 years into the program, the Army and LSI have not yet fully defined how the FCS network is expected to function, how they plan to build it, and how they plan to demonstrate it. The Army and LSI have identified and need to address numerous areas of high risk such as network performance and scalability, immature network architecture, and synchronization of FCS with the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) and Warfighter Information Network Tactical (WIN-T) programs, which are having difficulty with technology maturation and are at risk of being delayed or delivering incomplete capabilities to FCS. Software being developed for the network and platforms by the LSI and software developers is now projected to total about 95.1 million lines of computer code, which almost triples the size since the program began in 2003. A June 2006 report issued by the Secretary of Defense s Cost Analysis Improvement Group found that the FCS program is at risk of higher costs due to, among other things, the size and complexity of the FCS software development program. This group also said the development schedule is highly likely to take several years beyond the Army s plan, and the network is at risk because it is tied to JTRS and WIN-T programs that could cause delays in FCS s development schedule. Similarly, a recent study by the Institute for Defense Analysis found that the FCS program would likely experience additional growth in unplanned software effort, unplanned rework before and after operational testing, and additional work to address system of systems integration, validation, and test after the critical design review point.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA477698
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office