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By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven
Tanks, helicopters, infantry carriers and command and control technologies all need to be built with the most cutting edge and effective technologies available, yet Army weapons developers do not want to stop there….. but instead hope to position their future platforms for decades of continued modernization.
Mobile Protected Firepower, Future Long Range Assault Aircraft and Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle
The idea is to not deploy paradigm-changing new platforms such as the emerging Mobile Protected Firepower, Future Long Range Assault Aircraft, Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle and a host of robotic systems, but also architect those systems such that they can operate at the cutting edge in 2050 and beyond.
There is a particular technical strategy through which this can be accomplished, senior Army weapons developers say, and it pertains to the often used term “open architecture.” What this means is that systems are built with common IP protocol standards, interfaces and “1s” and “0s” which allow for continued modernization in the years or even decades following the emergence of a new platform.
“Having an open systems architecture allows for more innovation. 10 years from now there might be a whole new company with a whole new technology, for example, that would have a kind of radar or kind of sight for a tank, say, or some kind of new communications gear, that wasn’t even thought of when we designed the system and, and procured it. Really what you want is a way to bring in new things like that, without having to kind of start from scratch on the design. So I think it’s mostly across the board,” Assistant Secretary of the Army – Acquisition, Logistics & Technology, told Warrior in an interview.
Video Above: Top Army Weapons Buyer discusses Project Convergence, Hypersonic Weapons, Abrams Tank and more
Additional advantages associated with this technique also include an ability to decrease the hardware footprint, consolidate size, weight and power and allow for rapid upgrades to a weapons system without having to rebuild. Bush also explained that the open approach enables a wide array of vendors to offer solutions and compete for upgrade contracts.
“That’s the standard we’re trying to apply to all of our new weapons systems, so that elements of the systems can be completed and upgraded in the future at a faster pace. And without being locked into one vendor, which can be done,” he explained.
Computing, sensor range and resolution, weapons guidance, fire control and key lethality parameters can all be adjusted and greatly expanded through software upgrades or other electronic and digital enhancements which do not require large structural changes.
The Army’s open architecture strategy is now being applied to some of the services’ largest and most significant weapons systems platforms such as its Future Vertical Lift aircraft, Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle and Mobile Protected Firepower platform.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization and the Defense Editor for the National Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
Warrior Maven and the Center for Military Modernization support the US Military and the need for continued US Modernization. However, Warrior Maven and the Center for Military Modernization do not speak for the US military or any US government entity. The Center is an independent entity intended to be a useful and value added publication for thought leadership and important discussion about modernization. Warrior Maven discusses and explores technologies, strategies and concepts of operation related to modernization and the need for deterrence and continued US military readiness, training and preparation for future conflict in a fast-changing threat environment. Warrior Maven does receive some support from private industry but all thoughts are those of the authors.
