	Background

FBCB2 will be the principal digital command and control system for the Army at the brigade level and below and will constitute the third major component of the Army’s Battle Command System. FBCB2 is currently classified as a category II acquisition program. Program Significance, Estimated Cost, and Schedule Risk Indicate Need for Higher Level Systematic Oversight

FBCB2 is currently designated a category II acquisition on the basis of the Army’s estimate of research, development, test, and evaluation costs. However, despite this critical role, the Army has not designated FBCB2 as a category I acquisition—a designation it has given to the other major systems in the Army’s Battle Command System. However, despite this acknowledged schedule risk, the Army is moving ahead with its highly compressed schedule without specifically addressing the implications of not fielding an adequately developed system by the end of fiscal year 2000. FBCB2 Experimental Results Revealed Problems and Potential for Improvement

Since the FBCB2 program has only recently entered engineering and manufacturing development and is scheduled to undergo about 18 months of testing, no operational evaluations are yet available for analysis. The report candidly discussed poor message completion rates, difficulty with message formats, and the limitations of the experimental hardware and software. Specific systems observed were the Applique and the Tactical Internet. Army program officials currently assess the program’s technical risk as medium. Conclusions and Recommendations

Even though FBCB2 is one of the Army’s top priorities and a key component of the systems needed to field the first digitized division, the Army has not designated the program as a category I acquisition. Therefore, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology to consider our analysis of the FBCB2 program and make a determination of whether it should be appropriately characterized as an acquisition category I-D on the basis of its significance to the Army’s battlefield digitization goal, the costs we discuss in this report, schedule risk, the new Army cost estimate expected to be available by the end of this fiscal year, and the benefits of prudent oversight and analyze, regardless of eventual category designation, the risks and likely immediate benefits associated with equipping a division with an FBCB2 capability by the end of fiscal year 2000 and provide guidance to Army acquisition executives on managing those risks. Scope and Methodology

To evaluate the significance of the FBCB2 program, we reviewed the objectives of the Army XXI and Army After Next initiatives, the priority of FBCB2 within the Army’s digitization programs, system comparability with other Army command and control programs, and an assessment of FBCB2’s significance prepared by the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Operational Test and Evaluation Office. In reviewing experimental performance results of the FBCB2 prototype at the Task Force XXI Advanced Warfighting Experiment, we considered the Army’s Operational Test and Evaluation Command’s Live Experiment Assessment Report and the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, briefing on early operational insights. GAO Comments

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Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army's acquisition plans for the Force XXI Battle Command, Brigade and Below (FBCB2) program, focusing on the: (1) program's significance to the Army's battlefield digitization goal; (2) Army's derivation of cost estimates; and (3) feasibility of the Army's fielding schedule.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) on the basis of the Army's estimate of FBCB2 research, development, test and evaluation costs, the program has been classified as a category II acquisition--one that does not require systematic oversight by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology; (2) GAO believes that because of the FBCB2's significance, cost, and schedule risk, the FBCB2 should be classified as a category I acquisition and receive a higher level of oversight; (3) although FBCB2 is critical to the Army's digitization plan--the system ties the upper level command and control systems to the digital battlefield--FBCB2 is the only major system in the Army's Battle Command System that has not been designated category I; (4) the system's potential to provide thousands of soldiers with the ability to send and receive clear and consistent battlefield information in almost real time demonstrates the system's significance as a linchpin of the digital battlefield; (5) this significance is confirmed by the Army's own designation of FBCB2 as one of the highest priority command and control systems and the Army's plan to equip a division with a FBCB2 capability by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2000; (6) GAO's analysis indicates that there are additional research, development, test, and evaluation costs that, when included, increase the dollar significance of this program to a category I acquisition level; (7) the FBCB2 program faces a significant schedule risk in meeting the FY 2000 mandate for fielding the first digitized division; (8) however, despite this acknowledged schedule risk, the Army is moving ahead with its highly compressed schedule with no apparent risk management strategy specifically addressing alternatives and the implications of not fielding an adequately developed system by the end of FY 2000; (9) because the FBCB2 program has only recently entered engineering and manufacturing development, no operational evaluations are yet available for analysis; (10) however, the 1997 Task Force XXI Advanced Warfighting Experiment employed a prototype FBCB2; (11) two independent organizations, the Army's Operational Test and Evaluation Command and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Operational Test and Evaluation Office, assessed FBCB2 results and found a number of problems; (12) these included poor message completion, limitations related to the experimental hardware and software, a lack of adequate digital connectivity, immaturity of the Applique--the Army's name for FBCB2 computer--and the Tactical Internet, and inadequate training; and (13) Army officials currently assess the program's technical risk as medium.