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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
	FY98 Annual Report

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The Crusader system refers to a set consisting of the Army's next generation, 155 mm, self-propelled howitzer (SPH) and its companion resupply vehicle (RSV). Crusader will be the indirect fire support system that will provide direct support, reinforcing, general support reinforcing, and general support fires to armored and mechanized forces on the battlefield. The SPH is intended to provide significantly increased fire support capabilities over the current M-109-series fleet. The Crusader system is being developed to address present cannon systems' deficiencies in range, rate of fire, ammunition handling, mobility, survivability, and manpower requirements. The Crusader should provide more lethal firepower at longer ranges to support the dominant maneuver force.

The Crusader SPH will employ Advanced Solid Propellant Armament using a modular propellant charge system, auto-settable multi-option fuse, automated ammunition handling system, a Global Positioning System-based position location and azimuth reference system, and improved mobility and RAM. The SPH is required to deliver unassisted munitions at ranges to 30 kilometers, and assisted munitions to 40 kilometers. It will be designed to provide a maximum rate of fire of 10 to 12 rounds per minute for 3 to 5 minutes and a sustained rate of 3 to 6 rounds per minute until on-board ammunition is exhausted. It is required to have the agility and mobility to keep up with the supported maneuver force of M1 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. Crusader is required to be able to complete a survivability move of 750 meters within 90 seconds of identifying a potential threat. The RSV sustains the SPH with ammunition and fuel. It will be a self-propelled armored vehicle with automated ammunition and fuel resupply functions, increased payload carrying capabilities (130 complete rounds), increased survivability, and GPS-based navigation system. The SPH and its RSV will each have a crew of three to replace the four and five crewmen, respectively, currently on the Paladin and the current M992A1 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicle.

The Crusader SPH and RSV began as the Advanced Field Artillery System (AFAS) and Future Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (FARV). In 1992, the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition approved continuation of the Crusader programs to a Milestone I. Crusader Operational Requirements Documents were approved in June 1993. In November 1994, the program completed a successful Defense Acquisition Board Milestone I review, and was authorized to enter the Program Definition and Risk Reduction (PDRR) Phase (formerly the Demonstration/Validation phase).

In March 1996, the Army decided to terminate liquid propellant development because of higher than expected technical development risks and the expectation that the solid propellant alternative could meet key performance parameter requirements at lower cost and less risk. In 1997, a decrement in program funding caused the Crusader program manager to revise the Acquisition Program Baseline, introduce a two-phased decision process for Milestone II, and slip the milestone review to 2001. The IOT&E and the first unit equipped (FUE) date remained in 2005.

In March 1998, the Program Executive Officer Ground Combat and Support Systems and the Commandant of the Field Artillery School conducted an in-process review to assess maturity of the system to proceed into phase II of development.

In September and October, the Army conducted a third Concept Experimentation Program (CEP) exercise to develop Crusader tactics, techniques, and procedures. CEP III employed distributed interactive simulation (DIS) to create a synthetic theater of war (STOW) environment for the command and control elements of a direct support field artillery battalion. The STOW environment included live unit elements, the Target Acquisition Fire Support Model, and a DIS-compatible version of the Janus battlefield simulation.

Developmental testing is being conducted in accordance with the TEMP.

In 1994, when DOT&E approved the Milestone I AFAS and FARV TEMPs, the approval memorandum required TEMP updates for Milestone II to have Critical Operational Issues and Criteria (COIC) that include criteria for platoon, battery and battalion-level mission accomplishment. In 1998, the Crusader Test and Evaluation Working Integrated Product Team (T&E WIPT) worked to develop new COIC and a consolidated TEMP. DOT&E, as a member of the T&E WIPT, has provided guidance to the PM, TRADOC, and the US Army Operational Test and Evaluation Command.

The current schedule compresses EMD by almost a year by shifting the end of PDRR to the right, but retains the FY05 FUE date. The revised EMD test and evaluation schedule keeps the same amount of testing and is executable, but at a higher risk than with the previous schedule. Since the Early User Test occurs after the initial Milestone II review, that decision will have to rely on developmental test results. Crusader is required to demonstrate a high volume of fires and thermal management in order to meet Milestone II exit criteria. The Force Development Test and Experimentation is still scheduled, but will no longer be available to support the low-rate initial production decision in FY03. This raises the risk of entering production with an immature system.

Areas of concern are maximum range, firing precision, tube wear life, rate of fire, automatic transfer of fuel and ammunition, propulsion system performance, howitzer vehicle weight, and reliability.

This is the first U.S. field artillery system to incorporate an automated ammunition and fuel loading and transfer system. The RSV will automatically transfer fuel and ammunition to the Crusader SPH. The automated ammunition handling system in the SPH will select and load the projectiles and charges for each fire mission. Developing this computer-driven, mechanical system and the RSV-SPH docking system will be a greater challenge than developing traditional howitzer and resupply ammunition-handling system. Experience has shown that greater reliance on automated systems is also likely to have an impact on the Crusader's overall reliability.

In developing the Milestone II TEMP, the issue of comparison testing the Crusader and the Paladin is not yet resolved. Although it would involve some additional resources the IOT&E should include limited baseline comparison test and evaluation of battalions of each type. Because of the unknowns in interoperability with supporting systems and tactics, it is not yet clear that a Crusader system meeting most Operational Requirements Document requirements would demonstrate overall battalion mission accomplishment better than a battalion of Paladin howitzers. For this comparison, the Army should set a criterion expressing how much better a Crusader battalion should be compared to a Paladin battalion.

Although the approved Milestone I TEMP includes an initial LFT&E strategy, a revised strategy must be completed before Milestone II to describe the planned LFT&E in more detail. In the meantime, DOT&E and the Army have reached agreement on an interim strategy update that includes a better description of all supporting LFT&E activities, an updated schedule, and a document approval matrix.