ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The Army has named its new Mobile Protected Firepower vehicle the M10 Booker Combat Vehicle in honor of two soldiers who died in combat decades apart.

Announced June 10 at the National Museum of the United States Army during a celebration of the Army’s 248th birthday, the M10 Booker is named for Pvt. Robert Booker, an infantryman who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during World War II, and Staff Sgt. Stevon Booker, an armor soldier who was killed in Iraq in 2003 and posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Several of the Army’s cross-functional teams provided updates on their modernization efforts during Warriors Corner presentations at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2021 Annual Meeting and Exposition.

Topics covered Oct. 12 included the critical ties between aviation modernization and the new modular open systems approach; the role of the Unified Network in enabling decision dominance; the  asymmetric advantage provided by synthetic training; and advancements in next-generation combat vehicle development.

A government watchdog agency says the Army has the right established practices to mitigate and prevent tactical vehicle accidents and improve driver training, but there are still problems, particularly with getting drivers to wear seat belts and obey speed limits. 

A July Government Accountability Office report on Army and Marine Corps accidents and deaths says the services do many things right when preparing military drivers, but accidents still happen, caused by human, environmental and mechanical factors.  

The Army must work toward battery-powered vehicles as it prepares for a future battlefield where soldiers are expected to operate in small teams spread over large areas and resupply options are limited, the commander of Army Futures Command said.

“Eventually, we have to get to a hybrid-electric solution,” Gen. Mike Murray said June 10 during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Thought Leaders livestream event. This was the first event in AUSA’s new Thought Leaders series, which will feature talks by key Army leaders.

The Army has been shifting more research and technology funding to autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles because future battles could be won by the side with the best robotics, Army Secretary Mark T. Esper said.

Artificial intelligence and robotics have “the potential to fundamentally change the character of warfare,” Esper said earlier this month at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. “We want to get there first, and I tell you we will get there first.”

Army Secretary Mark T. Esper showed the carrot-and-stick approach to national security diplomacy during a trip to Germany.

The carrot was a suggestion from Esper that NATO-made combat vehicles should be purchased by the U.S. As the Army looks for a next-generation vehicle, the designs and capabilities of NATO vehicles and combat systems will get a look, he said. “We should look to our partners and allies for good ideas,” he said.

The Army is preparing for the upcoming Initial Operational Test & Evaluation for the M109A7 self-propelled howitzer and associated M992A3 resupply vehicle.

The Dragoon vehicle design integrates an XM813 30 mm turreted cannon on more than 80 vehicles destined for the Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment

As the Army’s timetable for selecting the next generation Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) approaches, the two prime competitors showcased what each believes would provide the service with a product that offers an optimal package. Both had vehicles on display at the 2017 Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Exposition that began today in Washington, D.C.