On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 14:06:30 -0400, Paul Austin wrote:

FCS

Ah, "Future Combat System".

if the ultimate MagicTech, consisting of ground and airborne recon
platforms, data networks, robotic fire and logistics vehicles and
incidentally, replacements for the current generation mechanized
vehicles for troop carriers, fire support, C&C and direct fire combat.

So what data rate will FCS run at? Consider a unit such as a Brigade
- will the data links be radio, or something else (laser beams?
fiber optic? ethernet?) or a mixture?

If the data links are radio, how will routing within the brigade
happen? Will every vehicle be presumed to be in radio contact with
every other, or will the system work as a smart swarm and
automatically reconfigure routing between nodes by itself, or will
routing be manually configured?

In the interim, "digital battlefield" electronics, wide distribution
of ubiquitous and persistent recon imagery and analysis and precision
fires from airborne and ground systems help a lot.

My understanding is 4th Infantry Division use the interim system -
is this correct?

How will FCS be better than the interim system - my understanding is
the interim system's bandwidth is quite low, about 4.5 kbit/s.

BTW, is there a good introductory document about VMF (Variable
Message Format) messages?

The USMC completed
a wargame about 6 months ago using all of this stuff and a light
Marine Blue Force did very well against a conventional mech OPFOR.
They also discovered that the Red Force could compensate for the
advantages these technologies give US forces by targeting
communications and fire support elements.

Comms equipment is giving out radio signals; if these can be
pinpointed and targeted, the unit is ****ed. Imagine a swarm of
cheap cruise missiles[1] homing in on radio signals from the nodes
on the tactical internet.

[1]: http://www.interestingprojects.com/cruisemissile/

If they can be degraded,
then light forces lose the means to stand up to enemy mechanized
forces and are often defeated.

If your comms are degraded badly enough, you'll lose whether you
have light forces or tanks; even the best MBTs don't have perfect
protection against ATGMs, etc.

As usual with military affairs, there's no panacea and the guy you're
trying to kill has powerful incentives to circumvent your advantages.

Indeed.

isn't ready yet, never mind
"electric armor"

And this?

Britain has done development on large capacitor banks that pass very
large currents through shaped charge jets hitting an armored vehicle,
melting the jet before it can hit the inner armo(u)r. They say that
scaled up versions might be able to do the same to long-rod
penetrators.

Does this work? It sounds nice, but I'm not sure if it's practical.
What if the capacitors short out? That would release large amounts
of enery, if it's enough to melt a solid piece of metal.


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