Carter Gets Tough on Ground Combat Vehicle SpecsNATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter drew a line in the sand over the U.S. Army's new combat vehicle, saying the service must include only technologies that can be ready within seven years.
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Army officials tell Pentagon acquisition brass that the Ground Combat Vehicle will be fitted with numerous advanced subsystems, Carter said here Sept. 15 during an air power conference.
And how does Carter respond?
"No, it's not," he said he tells Army officials. "It will have the capability it will have in seven years. It's not going to have what you want."
"Why can't you think this way? People have a difficult time understanding that," the longtime Harvard professor said.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants the Army to develop a plan that will field a new combat vehicle in that span.
Seven years is ample time to develop and field the GCV, Carter said, because it's more ambitious than past Army vehicle programs, "but it's not a moonshot."
Carter cited the GCV as an example of how new weapon programs end up costing much more when schedules are stretched to accommodate additional development of one or more advanced subsystems.
"You have to control the variable of time," Carter said.
Too often, what happens is program managers find out "the technology is not going to do it for you, so you slip [the schedule] to the right," he said.
In Pentagon acquisitions, time too often is viewed as a "freebie," he bemoaned. "Well, it's not a freebie. What happens is you slip ... and end up increasing costs by 10 percent."
He called the practice "lazy management," saying the Obama administration will be taking steps to control the time variable.