The Army is attempting to transform itself from a force designed primarily to fight large and protracted wars in a limited number of locations to one capable of reacting rapidly to crises anywhere in the world. In its endeavor to make its combat units more versatile and agile, the Army is planning to replace its heavy, aging armored combat vehicles with newer, lighter systems that it expects will be as lethal and survivable as the vehicles they are replacing. Several types of manned vehicles as well as unmanned aerial and ground vehicles, missile launchers, and communications links would be developed and procured within a single program known as the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. This study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which was prepared at the request of the Ranking Member of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee of the House Committee on Armed Services, considers the near- and long-term implications of the FCS program. It also examines several alternatives for modernizing the Army's armored forces and estimates the costs and savings associated with those options as well as their effects on the Army's fleet of armored vehicles and the ability of its armored units to deploy overseas. In keeping with CBO's mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, the report makes no recommendations.


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