New sustainment
technologies will help
the Army retain
overmatch with a
more capable, leaner
expeditionary force.
I
magine the Army having unmanned air and ground distribution platforms, the capability
to manufacture replacement parts
on the battlefield, and the ability to
produce water from air. Think of how
current technologies can potentially
advance tomorrow’s Army capabilities in order for the Army to remain
the best equipped and most efficient
military force in the world.
To maintain an operational advantage over potential adversaries, the
Army must prioritize science and
technology investments and fully
leverage game-changing capabilities.
The Army of the future requires technologies that increase expeditionary capabilities, reduce sustainment
requirements, and optimize Soldier
performance.
Tomorrow’s technologies are available today and will be instrumental
as the Army transforms to be globally responsive and regionally engaged.
This article describes the Combined
Arms Support Command (CASCOM) Sustainment Battle Lab’s top
five game-changing technologies to
sustain the Army of 2025.
What the Army Needs
The Army of the future requires
the implementation of various technologies to facilitate Chief of Staff
of the Army (CSA) Gen. Raymond
T. Odierno’s vision and strategic
priorities.
The CSA’s vision is for the Army
to remain the world’s most highly
trained and professional land force,
uniquely organized with the capability and capacity to provide expeditionary, decisive landpower to the
joint force. The Army of the future
must remain ready to perform missions across the full range of military
operations to prevent, shape, and win
and to defend the nation from both
current and emerging threats.
The CSA’s strategic priorities for
a globally responsive and regionally
engaged modern Army are driving
capabilities developers to assess technologies against the following core
characteristics:
14 Army Sustainment
Overmatch: Have capabilities that
counter those of a potential adversary.
Leaner: Reduce force structure and
enable a scalable, modular force.
Expeditionary: Be able to rapidly
deploy and operate in austere theaters.
CASCOM is taking vigorous steps
to explore how technologies can support expeditionary warfare. It identified reducing demand as one of the
Army’s toughest challenges and the
key to realizing success.
Demand determines sustainment
requirements, and by reducing demand, U.S. forces will be more capable
of increasing expeditionary capabilities. CASCOM capability developers
identified five technologies that will
yield significant game-changing benefits by the year 2025.
Autonomous Ground Resupply
The near-term technology driving autonomous ground resupply is
the Autonomous Mobility Appliqué
System (AMAS). AMAS is an addon kit that converts existing manned
vehicles to be optionally manned.
AMAS does not change the vehicle’s
cabin configuration, so the vehicle
can be converted from being manned
to unmanned at the convoy commander’s discretion.
AMAS is a technology that is currently being evaluated in a joint capability technology demonstration.
AMAS is a bridging technology to
the initial autonomous ground resupply series of vehicles, branded as
automated convoy operations (ACO)
vehicles. ACO vehicles incorporate
automated capabilities into existing
tactical wheeled-vehicle platform