Inside The Army
March 15, 2004
Pg. 1
Army To Transfer Four Armored Gun Systems To 82nd Airborne
Division
The Army last week approved the transfer of four M8 Armored Gun
Systems from contractor storage facilities to the 82nd Airborne
Division at Ft. Bragg, NC, sources say, marking the first time the
vehicles will be used by the service since the program was
terminated in 1996.
Proposed in the 1980s as a lightweight combat vehicle that could
fit aboard a C-130, the AGS was canceled as the Army struggled to
pay for other priorities. Contractor United Defense LP, which
fought the cancellation decision, has five M8 AGS vehicles in stock
-- four in York, PA, and one in San Jose, CA.
The 18th Airborne Corps at Ft. Bragg recently passed along an
"operational needs statement" to Army Forces Command that spells
out the division's need for a rapidly deployable vehicle with
firepower that could be dropped from an aircraft (Inside the Army,
Feb. 16, p1). The Army's operations and plans office, or "G-3," has
been reviewing the requirement with Training and Doctrine
Command.
TRADOC completed its analysis on Feb. 19, and the G-3 approved the
needs statement on March 8, authorizing transfer of the existing
vehicles to the 82nd Airborne Division, sources say. By press time
(March 11), the Army had not released a copy of the approval
documents.
According to one source, officials made it clear in the documents
that the transfer in "no way should be construed as support for an
AGS program." Instead, it is an attempt to meet the immediate
requirement with an interim solution and allow the division to
begin developing and refining tactics, techniques and
procedures.
The unit expects to receive the vehicles by the end of March, the
source said.
Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC), a member of the House Armed Services
Committee whose district includes Ft. Bragg, said he is pleased
with the decision, but does not want the transfer to be
misconstrued as a move to revive the terminated program.
"To be clear, I am not endorsing one system over another," Hayes
told ITA in a March 12 statement. "I simply believe that, if these
existing AGS are combat-worthy, then they should be fully utilized
while we await the future technologies that are already in
production.
"My priority on this matter is simple -- what can we do to help our
soldiers in the field the fastest?" he added. "If our soldiers can
utilize these existing systems, then I want these systems in
Baghdad rather than in a manufacturing facility in
Pennsylvania."
Hayes asked the Army last December to provide him information on
the matter, including how much the transfer would cost and whether
spare parts are available to maintain the gun systems. Last week, a
spokesman for Hayes said the congressman was told government and
contractor costs are estimated at approximately $1 million for one
year of support for AGS.
The funding, however, is not as much of a concern to the Army as
the availability of parts for a system that was terminated eight
years ago. Sources say UDLP can sustain the systems for a limited
amount of time, but many of its components are now obsolete or
unavailable. Supporting the system beyond one year poses high risk,
sources said.
Herb Muktarian, a spokesman for UDLP's ground systems division in
York, said the systems are ready to go.
"We have not received any official requests from the Army regarding
AGS, but the four AGS vehicles stored in York remain in excellent
condition and we're ready to provide support if asked to do so,"
Muktarian said.
Maj. Rich Patterson, a spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps, said
officials at Ft. Bragg have been notified and are assembling the
necessary manning documents, additional equipment and training
plans, "with the intent to integrate the AGS into division
operations as soon as possible."
The vehicles will go to the 1st Battalion of the division's 17th
Cavalry Squadron, Patterson said. AGS will provide its assault
teams "mobility, firepower and shock effects" within the "drop
zone," he added.
"It gives us a capability we could deploy if we need it," Patterson
said.
AGS features a 105 mm cannon, an ammunition autoloader and options
for armor protection.
The division's requirement for an air-droppable platform has
existed at least since the 1990s, when the division disbanded one
of its battalions -- the 3rd Battalion of the 73rd Armored
Regiment, which was equipped with an aging armored reconnaissance
vehicle called the Sheridan. At the time, service officials thought
other capabilities would become available to the paratroopers once
the M551 Sheridan was retired.
When the division deactivated the armored battalion in 1997,
however, then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Dennis Reimer had already
terminated AGS, which had been regarded as the Sheridan's
replacement. Eliminating AGS freed more than $1 billion over the
service's outyear funding plan -- money that was badly needed for
other cash-strapped programs, officials said at the time.
Two years after the program was canceled, service officials said
they continued to review options for all light forces that wanted
more firepower. Vehicles reviewed included AGS, the Marine Corps'
Light Armored Vehicle, the Pandur lightweight vehicles used by the
Kuwait National Guard and a variant of the M113 armored personnel
carrier (ITA, Oct. 4, 1999, p1; Sept. 27, 1999, p1).
That effort, however, went nowhere, and the 82nd Airborne Division
resubmitted its request for such a vehicle, eventually attracting
Hayes' attention.
"Let's find out as soon as possible if AGS can serve effectively as
a short-term solution for an immediate operational need," Hayes
told ITA last week.
-- Anne Plummer
something interesting i got from defencetalk.com
