By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. Army officials on Monday said a $160 billion (92 billion pound) Future Combat Systems modernisation programme managed by Boeing Co and SAIC Inc was "on budget, on track," but could see changes over time.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said the Army was going through a detailed review of 14 separate weapon systems included in the programme to ensure that the technologies involved were on schedule.
"We're committed to Future Combat Systems. It's just a question of adjusting as the world changes, and as the need changes," Army Secretary Pete Geren told reporters at the annual Association of the U.S. Army meeting.
"We're 100 percent behind it, and we'll make it a priority in all of our budgeting going forward," he said, adding there were no major changes to the FCS programme planned right now.
"There's no talk about backing off from the commitment, but ... anything is going to evolve as the threat evolves," he said, adding this was true for most weapons systems.
The Army used the meeting to display five weapons including: a small robot able to transmit live video images of potentially dangerous areas; a tiny unmanned aerial drone; and a cannon artillery vehicle. All will be fielded in 2011.
Those technologies were being tested by soldiers, and early versions were already in use in Iraq and Afghanistan, Casey said in a joint briefing with Geren.
The Army's FCS programme is a family of 14 manned and unmanned aerial and ground systems, tied together by communications and information links.
Defence analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute said the FCS programme faced a "real test" next year, given that advisers to both the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates said they would closely reexamine the programme.
The Army's plan to shift money from older programmes and into FCS signalled its intention to defend the programme if the new administration tried to dismantle it, Thompson said. But those plans had resulted in wasteful decisions on programmes like the Abrams tanker and Stryker, he added.
Geren said Congress had strongly supported the Army over the past seven years, and he expected continued funding for the programmes.
Casey said he did not necessarily believe that U.S. Defence spending would soon level off.
One of the toughest questions the Army faced was when to slow funding for older, legacy weapons systems and shift funding into more modern system. "As the older systems start getting to the top of their size, weight and power capabilities, we have to look at other things," Casey said.
ABRAMS TANK FUNDING
As part of its proposed six-year budget beginning in 2010, the Army had proposed a $1.3 billion cut to the Stryker wheeled vehicle programme and cuts to a multiyear programme to upgrade the Abrams tank, both run by General Dynamics Corp, as well as the M-2 Bradley infantry vehicle built by Britain's BAE Systems Plc Systems, Defence News reported.
The proposed cuts drew rapid fire from lawmakers. Top Pentagon leaders have now urged the Army to reinstate those programmes, said one source familiar with the discussions.
Lt. Gen. Ross Thompson, military director of Army acquisition, said the Army and Pentagon should finish budget talks by mid-November.
The Army must continue to maintain and upgrade older weapons that would remain in use for years, Thompson said. "You don't just stop funding a programme and drop it off a cliff."
He rejected reports that a decision to cancel the Abrams upgrades would result in a $500 million termination fee to General Dynamics. "I don't think it would be that high," he said
The new administration would likely submit a 2010 budget in February, but make changes after new officials had more time to study the proposed funding levels, he said.
The Army planned to announce by the end of October which three companies would continue working on the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, the Humvee successor, he said.
(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)