Army Disputes GAO Report on FCS

Army leaders have raised issues with findings outlined in a March 12 Government Accountability Office report on the service’s Future Combat Systems plan. The key disagreement surrounds the $21 billion price tag the GAO places for cost increases relating to FCS, the Army’s plans to provide the force with equipment and training needed to wage modern warfare. The Army pegs the increases closer to $10.3 billion, roughly 6 percent of the program’s total cost of $159 billion. "I don’t know how they came up with the $21 billion," said Lt. Gen. Ross Thompson, a senior Army acquisition, logistics and technology official. Thompson also attributed existing cost increases to start-ups of infantry brigade combat teams, program restructuring, adjustments due to lessons learned, inflation, and increases in quantities. He also said that contrary to the GAO report, technology development is moving at an acceptable pace. "I think they are mischaracterizing what we have done so far," Thompson said.