US Army speeding development of Next Generation Combat Vehicle...did the Armata scare them that badly?

via Next Big Future.

The US army effort appears focused and appears inspired by the Russian Armata combat vehicle platform. The Armata is a common platform for tanks, armored vehicles and manned and unmanned systems. The US system will have more lasers and advanced electronics and power generation. The US systems will have proper funding. Russia does not have the funding to buy the Armata in volume.

Army officials have laid out the groundwork for developing the Next Generation Combat Vehicle, or NGCV. The NGCV will replace the M-1 Abrams main battle tank and M-2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFV). Both the Abrams and Bradley, while highly successful, were introduced in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Army regularly updates both with the latest technologies, including new ammunition, anti-shaped charge reactive armor, remote-controlled weapons systems, advanced networking and communications, and ballistic shields for the crew.

The three vehicles will then be assigned to an operational combat unit around 2021. By 2023, seven manned and 14 unmanned vehicles will repeat the schedule, hopefully winnowing the process down to both manned and unmanned systems ready for mass production.

Story here. 

Wow.

Did you check out that schedule?  For the Pentagon and US industry that's breakneck speed.  I mean think about past procurement schedules and that is a blistering pace!

Did the Armata scare them that badly?

Isn't this the same Pentagon and Army that stated that the M1 Abrams could hold it's own against that Russian tank?

I guess they kinda telegraphed this with how quickly they got those APS systems out in the wild but the statements we heard indicated a normal procurement rate.

One thing you have to admit though.

Admit that I was right.  Admit that I was spot on when I stated that we had fallen behind in the armor race and that the focus from all services on aviation to the detriment of our ground forces had put us in a bad position.

I repeat.

All the enemy has to do is to deny us air superiority...once they achieve that then the current way of war for the US (and many of our allies) breaks down.

We saw a glimmer of this in Syria.  Special Ops troops had to rely heavily on artillery to provide air strikes because calling in close air got to a point of being damn near impossible because the Russians had air up.  Helicopters were no better as we saw numerous Turk Attack Helos get shot out the sky.

In a peer vs peer battle it'll be even worse.

If the enemy can deny us air superiority then the script is flipped...and certain potential foes outrange, outgun us when it comes to ground based fire support.

THIS IS THE CANARY IN THE COAL MINE!

The F-35 will not guarantee air superiority.  The Army and Marines are woefully lacking when it comes to anti-air systems.  The Army and Marines are in a hurt locker when it comes to keeping up with advances in armor tech.  The ground forces are facing a pain train when it comes to ground based fire support.

We have to move fast to correct things (good on you Army..don't screw it up with an emphasis on mega city fights).  The Army delivered the message with this procurement decision.  I hope everyone is paying attention.