Exploring Advanced Technologies for the Future Combat Systems Program

This report summarizes the research findings of a short-time-frame studyconducted by RAND Arroyo Center to support the Army Science Board (ASB) Summer Study 2000, "Technical and Tactical Opportunities for Revolutionary Advances in Rapidly Deployable Joint Ground Forces in the 2015-2020 Era."The purpose of the RAND research was to explore a range of advancedtechnologies for potential contribution to the Future Combat Systemsprogram. In the context of the ASB1s fundamental purpose--to evaluateadvanced technologies within new operational concepts for the future vision of the Army--this research focused on a small-scale contingency and the associated spectrum of challenges this type of scenario might entail. Inconducting the study, the research team interacted with various members ofthe ASB and, in particular, with key members of the Operations panel,drawing extensively on their forward-looking ideas and ultimatelyintegrating many of these ideas into the research. High-resolution combatmodeling and simulation was used to assess the many key aspects of forceperformance, environmental effects, and system-of-system effects.