SAN FRANCISCO, March 17 (UPI) -- Wind River Systems will provide a software-development platform for the U.S. Army's Future Combat System data-and-communications project.
The California software developers said Friday it would join prime systems contractor Boeing in developing the vast amount of software that will be used to run the sprawling system that is slated to be a keystone of future Army operations.
Wind River's Workbench platform will serve to streamline the development of FCS software by providing a single, standardized environment for the estimated 2,000 engineers working on 18 individual combat systems.
"The FCS program sought a common software development environment that was an extensible, standards-based platform, to address a broad range of needs for its software development projects," said Paul Schoen, a software director for the FCS project.
Once deployed, the FCS will give the Army a tightly knit network-centric system that will enable rapid movement and concise after-action capabilities that take into account the lessons of recent actions in the Persian Gulf and in peacekeeping operations.
The Pentagon two years ago ordered an acceleration of the program so that deployment would begin in about 2008 despite a resulting increase in the price tag to some $92 billion.
The basic components are a "system-of-systems" information management system, battlefield software for commanders, secure communications and a network of intelligence, surveillance and recon sensors that can be readily accessed.
