FORT SILL, Okla. (Aug. 6, 2015) -- The Fires Center of Excellence (FCoE) and Fort Sill satisfied a milestone by approving the Electric Fires Range Environmental Assessment.
The assessment concluded with a finding of no significant impact to the environment on post or surrounding areas following demonstrations of Electric Fires systems (e.g., laser, microwave and railguns technologies). This will pave the way for future demonstrations of these technologies at Fort Sill.
The FCoE has been identified as the proponent for Electric Fires and is responsible for the developing doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities and policy strategies for Fires and its Soldiers.
These revolutionary systems have been labelled as potential game changers for modern and future battlefields. This realization has been discussed throughout the Army and the rest of the Department of Defense (DoD) posing questions and directing the use of emerging technologies and identifying possible capability gaps these systems may reduce on the battlefield.
To solidify the Army's interest regarding these technologies, during a recent visit, Brad Carson, under secretary of the Army, said the FCoE is the perfect place for the Army to find more effective ways to fight the enemy.
"I definitely see it as a mission for Fort Sill," he said. "The problem with air and missile defense today is each missile costs millions of dollars trying to take down targets that are just a few hundred dollars, or a few thousand dollars. So, we have to change that imbalance in cost. Directed energy weapons, electric weapons and Electric Fires is a way to address that imbalance. It's reusable, inexpensive and can put the balance of cost back in the Army."
With the Electric Fires Range on Fort Sill, developers can observe and examine these potential game-changing technologies in a live-fire event besides just evaluating the technologies through modeling and simulation.
The benefit of demonstrating these systems to capability developers is to showcase their tailorable and scalable effects, increased speed of engagement (i.e., speed of light), greater magazine depth and reducing the logistical footprint while minimizing collateral damage.
The Fort Sill range will not be considered a testing facility, but a site for demonstrations, one of only a handful of ranges approved across the DoD for use of these futuristic weapons. This range will provide a cost effective and less restrictive schedule alternative when demonstrating Electric Fires, which is essential for many budget constrained research and development programs.
The range will be available to the DoD, industry, academia and science and technology communities. Demonstrating emerging technologies at Fort Sill will require a thorough technology review and approval process, which will be managed by the science and technology office in the Capabilities, Development and Integration Directorate here.
Along with the environmental assessment approval, the science and technology office has also begun the process for modernizing the firing location identified for these technology demonstrations. The proposed renovations include a command and control building and a concrete firing pad.
The FCoE and Fort Sill are surging ahead regarding the integration of these revolutionary concepts that could potentially provide and maintain a battlefield advantage to Fires Soldiers.
To ensure the Army maintains a ready and modern force, new capabilities such as Electric Fires are under development and involve a collaborative effort between science and technology, industry, government, intelligence and academic communities. Investing in these emergent revolutionary technologies counters current threats and ensures a decisive advantage to the Army of 2025 and beyond.
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