Return-Path: <sentto-279987-3927-1006751674-fc=all.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 [204.181.12.215] by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.7.4) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Sun, 25 Nov 2001 21:17:11 -0800 (PST) Received: (qmail 19539 invoked by uid 510); 26 Nov 2001 05:15:00 -0000 Received: from n22.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.72) by all.net with SMTP; 26 Nov 2001 05:15:00 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-3927-1006751674-fc=all.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com Received: from [10.1.1.224] by n22.groups.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 26 Nov 2001 05:14:34 -0000 X-Sender: fc@red.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_0_0_1); 26 Nov 2001 05:14:34 -0000 Received: (qmail 3546 invoked from network); 26 Nov 2001 05:14:34 -0000 Received: from unknown (216.115.97.171) by m6.grp.snv.yahoo.com with QMQP; 26 Nov 2001 05:14:34 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO red.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta3.grp.snv.yahoo.com with SMTP; 26 Nov 2001 05:14:34 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by red.all.net (8.11.2/8.11.2) id fAQ5GB032620 for iwar@onelist.com; Sun, 25 Nov 2001 21:16:11 -0800 Message-Id: <200111260516.fAQ5GB032620@red.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL3] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> X-Yahoo-Profile: fcallnet Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2001 21:16:10 -0800 (PST) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:Army's.First.Digital.Division.Waits.For.The.Call] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Defense Week November 19, 2001 Army's First Digital Division Waits For The Call By Ann Roosevelt The Army's first "digital division" is now on deck if the United States needs to call on a heavy force. In early October, after passing a readiness test called a Division Capstone Exercise, the 4th Infantry Division Mechanized of Fort Hood, Texas, was designated the Army's first digital division, said Lt. Col. Archie Davis III, a division spokesman. On Nov. 1, the division became the first in line among the seven U.S. heavy divisions to send troops to battle if required. The division remains on call until August 2002. Since 1996, the 4ID has been the Army's experimental force for incorporating information technology and advanced technologies-an effort culminating in two major exercises that completed in October. As a Cold War legacy force, the division has upgraded and modernized its weapons to remain a front line system for the next 15 to 20 years until the Army's future general-purpose force is fielded. Among the systems the division fields are the latest AH-64D Apache Longbow, the Abrams M1A2 System Enhancement Program main battle tank, M2A3 and M3A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Hunter and Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles. Information technologies pull the platforms and soldiers together. One piece of digital equipment is TRW's Force XXI Battle Command, Brigade and Below, or FBCB2, intended to provide- in near real time-an improved common picture of the battlespace from the commander to the soldier. Units equipped with FBCB2 are all linked by the Tactical Internet. Although FBCB2 has had a troubled testing history, some troops say they like it. "It's great," said 4th ID Specialist Phillip Fields, who maintains the FBCB2 system. At the Pentagon Wednesday as part of a demonstration of an airborne command system, Fields said that, in the four months he's worked with the system, most of its problems have been no more serious than an antenna not set up or something not plugged in. "The FBCB2 is about as familiar in the division as a coffee pot at home," Davis said. FBCB2 is completing its engineering, manufacturing and development phase, said B.K. Richard, TRW director of battlefield digitization. At the same time, the program is starting a Systems Engineering and Integration follow-on phase, using a more advanced software version. Future soft-ware versions target the Interim Brigade Combat Teams. A second low-rate initial production contract option is slated to be awarded this month. Initial operational test and evaluation is scheduled for December, which could lead to a full rate production decision in March or April. The division also has the Army's only Airborne Command and Control Systems, an airborne version of what commanders see in a ground-based tactical command post. At the Pentagon last week, the airborne system was housed in a 1988 UH-60A Blackhawk helicopter as the Army and the contractors showed the system's potential for Homeland Defense-the ability to quickly link together first responders who have disparate communications systems. All the 4ID's digital connections allow its soldiers to fight over a wider area in a more dispersed fashion than they ever could before. While an analog division covers a battle space 100 kilometers by 100 kilometers, the digital division covers a battlespace 120 kilometers by 200 kilometers, said Davis, the division spokesman. The links allow a unit to bring air and artillery fire to bear more quickly than analog units could. The 4th ID is a major unit of III Corps. The next division to go all digital will be the 1st Cavalry Division, also a major unit of III Corps. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Need new boots for winter? 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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-12-31 20:59:59 PST