Future Combat System Tested at White Sands

The non-line-of-sight launch system recently completed the Future Combat System technical field test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The test proved the system's ability to integrate and operate with other FCS as well as current force equipment. The launch system will be tested further this summer. (Photo by NLOS-LS Project Office.)

Focus on Defense:

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, April 25, 2008 -- The non-line-of-sight launch system has completed the first of multiple summer tests, meeting all mission requirements.

The Future Combat System technical field test, conducted in February and March, marked the beginning of a summer of demanding developmental and operational tests for the FCS command and control network, as well as a host of FCS related programs, to include Redstone Arsenal's NLOS-LS. The NLOS-LS reaped praise from users and evaluators alike during the test.

Army Experimental Task Force Soldiers conducted the two-week test using NLOS-LS production representative prototypes. Also involved in the test were FCS unmanned ground systems and network components, as well as current force equipment.

Participating in two separate operational vignettes, NLOS-LS successfully received fire missions and engaged targets from FCS and current force platforms. All exercises were conducted with actual platforms in the field using live communication networks.

For the NLOS-LS project office, the TFT proved the ability of NLOS-LS to work with the current force and integrate into the current force's network architecture. Specifically, NLOS-LS showed compatibility with the Army's Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System.

The success of the NLOS-LS in the TFT provides the entrance criteria for more complicated and demanding force development and limited user tests this summer, including the upcoming Training and Doctrine Command's force developmental test and evaluation event.

NLOS-LS consists of a highly deployable, platform-independent weapon system that provides networked, extended range, precision strike capability for combat commanders. The NLOS-LS is capable of unattended/unmanned operations under all weather conditions. Armed with 15 Precision Attack Missiles, the NLOS-LS is capable of engaging a host of varied targets on the modern and future battlefield.

The NLOS-LS is one of the Future Combat System program's 16 core systems. FCS is the Army's leading modernization program to develop manned and unmanned systems linked by a common network and equipped with leading-edge technology.

(Story by Maj. Frederick Hughes, Army News Service.)

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