Saturday, March 19, 2016

Army sets ‘Big Eight’ Modernization Priorities

US Army unveils its 'Big 8' initiatives
U.S. Army Unveils Its 'Big 8' Initiatives | RealClearDefense 
TRADOC Unveils ‘Big Eight’ Modernization Priorities - Blog
“Our intention is … to focus force modernization on the Army’s most critical gaps,” said Maj. Gen. Robert “Bo” Dyess, deputy director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center at TRADOC.

The “Big Eight” are: 

  1. future vertical lift; 
  2. advanced protection
  3. cross-domain fires
  4. combat vehicles
  5. robotics and autonomous systems
  6. expeditionary mission command
  7. cyber and electromagnetic warfare; and 
  8. soldier / team performance and overmatch.”
“Unlike the ‘Big Five’ of the ‘80s, which focused on specific systems, we believe that to cope with the complex challenges of the future … no single system or small numbers of systems will deliver the overmatch that we require,” he said. “Focusing on systems alone might doom the Army to always shooting behind the target.”

Investing in the Big Eight will enhance the Army’s ability to conduct joint combined arms maneuver warfare, wide area security, and air and ground reconnaissance operations against advanced adversaries, Dyess said.


The Future Of Conflict And The U.S. Army's Big 8 Initiative | RealClearDefense
One of the Army’s main planning challenges is uncertainty regarding where, when and against whom they will fight. Another is that it has too many identified capabilities gaps with some stakeholder clamoring for attention to each one. A third is a relative scarcity of modernization funds. It is hoped that by developing a Big 8 Initiative and associated management process, the Army leadership can more effectively focus its modernization efforts and resources on the most critical of those gaps.

The Army leadership could enhance the value, credibility and relevance of the Big 8 Initiative by pursuing in the near-term what I would call a “small 8” initiative. The reality is that the Army lacks the resources to push a new set of major platforms as it did in the 1970s. Moreover, it is not clear in a number of the areas what would be the next “big thing.” Finally, even where there are major programs currently underway such as in advanced protection and future vertical lift (FVL), it will be years before they bear any fruit. And the Army may not have that kind of time.

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