Boeing's Future Combat System work eyed

CHICAGO, March 18 (UPI) -- The Boeing Co. is facing mounting questions about whether it should remain the sole, overall manager of the U.S. Army's Future Combat System, observers say.

Boeing has a contract to develop the $20 billion program through 2015, one of the Chicago company's biggest defense contracts. But the FCS is on the chopping block as the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee has a critical hearing on the program next week, Crain's Chicago Business reported Wednesday.

The hearing is coming after the Government Accountability Office recommended this month to cut back funding for the effort, which uses the Internet to control a complex network of manned and unmanned vehicles and weapons, until its technologies are better defined, the publication said.

The Army is strongly defending the program even as Boeing's role as FCS "lead system integrator" is being questioned by the GAO and Pentagon officials have ordered a study to determine if there are less costly alternatives to using Boeing.

A company spokesman told Crain's: "We're just working to the Army's plan. We're just making sure we execute."