Today’s security environment is uncertain and complex, and the pace of change is accelerating rapidly. It is the Army’s responsibility to provide current and future ground force commanders with relevant capabilities that provide “the maximum possible versatility for the broadest plausible range of conflicts.” We must simultaneously adapt current capabilities, and develop new capabilities required to win today’s wars and hedge against an uncertain future. The Army’s BCT Modernization Plan is the blueprint for accomplishing this monumental task. As part of this strategy, the Army will:

• Incrementally develop and field new capabilities based on advanced technologies, synchronized with the ARFORGEN process.

• Continuously be informed by current operations and guided by the insights and experiences of battle-tested Soldiers
and the evolving needs of our Warfighters.

• Field an expansible network with the capacity for incremental upgrades which will connect Soldiers and platforms, molding them into a coherent fighting force of unmatched power.

• Leverage the investments our Nation has made in the MRAP family of vehicles to save the lives of our Soldiers while accomplishing the most dangerous missions.

• Accelerate the development and fielding of incremental Capability Packages and supporting network Capability Sets to stay ahead of the current threat and to hedge against unexpected contingencies.

• Develop and begin fielding a new Ground Combat Vehicle that will enhance the options available to our joint force commanders for operations across the spectrum of conflict.

The Army’s BCT Modernization Plan is closely linked with the Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) process, by which the Army continuously supplies its Warfighters within both the Active and Reserve components, and manages its equipment, based on defined equipping goals, linked to each phase (Reset, Train-Ready, Available) of the ARFROGEN cycle.

Capability Packages and Network Capability Sets

The Army is integrating and fielding Capability Packages and supporting network Capability Sets – key elements of the BCT Modernization strategy – in order to collapse redundant and competing network strategies into a single path forward that provides more capability, quicker, to more formations. These Capability Packages and Sets provide the Army a regular process to strengthen its units with the latest materiel and nonmateriel solutions to meet the challenges faced in the continually evolving combat environment.

The Army’s most important network task is to be synchronized with the maturing Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) process. The Army has changed its network focus from providing exquisite capability to a few formations over multiple years to a deliberate strategy of providing robust network capability to all strategically relevant, available and deploying forces.

The incremental Capability Package and network Capability Set approach not only mitigates high-risk gaps for our BCTs, but does so by measuring risk reduction and operational benefits informed by solution cost, technological and production constraints, budget and ARFORGEN deployment projections. Essential to developing Capability Packages and supporting network Capability Sets is bringing Warfighters, formation managers and functional area experts together to identify and assess gap-mitigating solutions, and to collectively determine which best serve the needs of the Army and its respective formations. This involves a concerted effort to place new technologies in the hands of our Soldiers earlier in the developmental process of these packages in order to solicit valuable feedback and properly develop new capabilities.

Network Capability Sets allow the Army to answer many of the challenges of today’s maturing network environment by bringing together all network players responsible for requirement development, capability development and material development on a synchronized recurring schedule, allowing the Army to make the necessary resourcing adjustments in response to operational requirements in a timely manner. The first network Capability Set will be fielded in 2013/2014 to support Capability Package 13-14.

Accelerating proven solutions, these packages and network sets will upgrade our units every two years. These bundles of capabilities include Doctrine, Organization and Training, in conjunction with materiel, to fill the highest priority shortfalls and mitigate risk for Soldiers. The incremental deliveries will build upon one another as the Army continually adapts and modernizes.

• Army Modernization Plan 2012 PDF Document
• Common Operating Environment - CIOG6.army.mil
• 2011 Weapon Systems Handbook - U.S. Army