Life after Future Combat System: a family of ground robotic systems

Until recently, the Army Future Combat System (FCS) was the future of Army ground robotics hallmarked by system of systems interoperability for manned and unmanned platforms. New missions, threats, and realities have caused the Army to restructure the Army Future Combat System, but still require unmanned systems interoperability without the FCS system of system interoperability architecture. The result is the Army material developer has no overarching unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) interoperability standards in place equal to the Army unmanned aircraft system (UAS) community. This paper will offer a Life After the FCS vision for an Army family of common ground robotics and payload standards with proposed IEEE, STANAG, SAE, and other standards to potentially achieve common ground robotics interoperability to support the Army and Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence (MSCoE) Chemical, Engineer, and Military Police mission needs.