The US and UK governments are on the verge of agreeing a $5bn program to develop a vehicle that will be at the center of the digital battlefield of the future. The Future Scout and Cavalry System will use the latest imaging technology and its computer systems will build up a picture of what is happening on the battlefield from a wide variety of sources to enable army commanders to take decisions based on the most accurate information. Two consortia will each be asked to produce a demonstration vehicle and the one chosen for the final project will be asked to manufacture the vehicle in time for it to come into service by 2007. The consortia are Lancer, which includes US companies United Defense and Raytheon and GEC-Marconi and GKN from the UK; and Sika, led by Lockheed Martin and British Aerospace and including Vickers of the UK and General Dynamics of the US. Virtual models of the two prototypes are likely to be asked to fight it out in virtual battlefields as part of the assessment process. While the US Army has given the go-ahead for the plan the Ministry of Defense in the UK insists no agreement has yet to be taken – though this may be more a matter of timing for the publicity conscious government machine in the UK.
