COMBAT SUPPORT AND Product Director for Army Watercraft The Large Tug (LT) 128’ is used for COMBAT SERVICE SUPPORT Systems transocean/coastal towing operations and With an understated motto of “Sail for assisting with the docking/undocking Under the Program Executive Office Army,” the Product Director for Army of large ships. The LT 128’ is outfitted to for Combat Support & Combat Service Watercraft Systems (PD AWS) provides provide salvage, rescue and firefighting Support (PEO CS&CSS), project man- “a flexible and responsive fleet, projecting assistance to other vessels and shore in- agers, together with their reporting prod- and sustaining America’s forces through stallations on a limited basis. The LT 128’ uct managers and product directors, are the 21st century.” PD AWS is responsible fleet recently completed an extensive mod- responsible for Army systems and some for the life-cycle management of Army wa- ification program, which included lower- joint service programs across all phases of tercraft. This includes engineering, pro- ing the pilothouse and upgrading the fuel their life cycle. duction, fielding, initial logistics support tank systems and bow fendering. Program phases fall into the areas of: and modernization/modification of the The 900 Class Small Tug (ST) mission is pre-systems acquisition (concept refine- Army’s fleet of watercraft and associated to move logistical supplies and equipment ment or technology development), gener- support equipment, all of which enable the in harbor and inland waterways. The ally consisting of research and develop- warfighter to rapidly project and sustain small tug also provides the capability to ment programs and prior to a Milestone B; the nation’s armed forces. assist larger tugs in docking and undock- systems acquisition (between Milestone B The Logistics Support Vessel (LSV) ing all types of ships and watercraft and and full materiel release); systems after provides worldwide transportation of can be used in routine harbor utility work. full materiel release (in production and combat vehicles and sustainment cargo. The Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM8), fielding phases); and two types of sustain- The 313-foot LSV class vessel, designed to used in utility work, features a specialized ment (operations and support)—systems carry 2,280 tons of deck cargo, has a beam Mod 2 program. This provides additional that have completed fielding, are no of 60 feet and a molded depth of 19 feet. It capabilities of command and control, per- longer in production and are managed di- provides intratheater movement to remote sonnel transfer and light salvage. rectly by the project manager and systems underdeveloped coastlines and inland wa- The Modular Causeway System (MCS) that have completed fielding, are no terways. The LSV is the primary joint lo- provides a means of moving cargo from longer in production and are managed by gistics over-the-shore (JLOTS) vessel. It ship to shore across unimproved beaches an Army Materiel Command commodity also assists in unit deployment and reloca- in areas of the world where fixed port fa- command, but for which the PM is the life- tion. The LSV fleet service life-extension cilities are unavailable, denied or other- cycle manager. program includes changes to command, wise unacceptable. MCS sections are Inter- PEO CS&CSS Project Managers include: control, communication, computers, intel- national Organization for Standards (ISO)- Project Manager Force Projection, Project ligence, surveillance and reconnaissance compatible modules. Four configurations Manager Joint Combat Support Systems, (C4ISR) and integrated bridge systems, are derived from basic modules: roll-on/ Project Manager Tactical Vehicles and Pro- hull and engineering systems, and force roll-off discharge facility, causeway ferry, ject Manager Mine Resistant Ambush Pro- protection upgrades as well as improve- floating causeway (FC), and the warping tected Vehicles. A representative sampling ments to crew messing and living spaces tug. of their programs follows: and deck equipment. The Barge Derrick (BD) Crane 115 Ton The Landing Craft Utility (LCU) 2000 is used primarily for discharging heavy Project Manager Force Projection provides worldwide transport of combat loads beyond the capacity of a ship’s gear The Project Manager Force Projection vehicles and sustainment cargo. It also and assisting in salvage operations. The (PM FP) encompasses the Product Director supports intratheater and tactical resupply. crane provides the lift and reach needed to Army Watercraft Systems (PD AWS), The LCU 2000 has a length of 174 feet, discharge the heaviest of the projected Product Manager Bridging, Product Man- beam of 42 feet and loaded draft of 9 feet. Army cargo—the M1A2 main battle ager Combat Engineer/Material Handling The LCU 2000 can carry 350 tons of deck tank—from the centerline of the large, Equipment (PM CE/MHE), Product Man- cargo. The LCU 2000 fleet is nearing com- medium speed roll-on/roll-off ships. ager Force Sustainment Systems (PM FSS), pletion of a C4ISR upgrade, which pro- The Product Director for Army Water- Product Manager Petroleum and Water vides state-of-the-art communication craft Systems (PD AWS) is committed to Systems (PM PAWS), and Product Director equipment, navigational equipment and developing, acquiring, fielding and sus- Non-Standard Vehicles (PD NSV). safety of life-at-sea electronics. taining highly capable equipment that meets emerging watercraft requirements. The Army watercraft community provides a variety of systems and platforms that operate in geographical environments bounded, influenced and accessed by ports, littorals and waterways. Army Wa- tercraft Systems provide critical capabili- ties that support full spectrum land com- bat operations by extending the ground Logistics support commander’s available maneuver space. vessel (LSV) These functions include the capability to conduct amphibious and riverine opera- tions and providing logistics support to joint operations and campaigns including joint over-the-shore operations and in- tratheater transport of time-sensitive, mis- sion-critical personnel and materiel. The watercraft solutions documented in the current Army Watercraft Systems Strategy U.S. Navy/MC3 Kristin L. Grover are designed to provide capability to ma- 344 ARMY I October 2011 neuver in all tactical and operational envi- was terminated in 2000. The Joint Assault ples include new systems like the High- ronments; to rapidly make the transition Bridge program will provide an M1A1- Mobility Engineer Excavator, Engineer between operations, missions and engage- based platform to launch and recover the Mission Module-Water Distributor, Paving ments; to support decentralized forces; legacy Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge Machine, Backhoe Loaders, Hydraulic Ex- and to rapidly deploy and sustain forces, (AVLB) scissor bridge and replace AVLB cavators, Light and Medium Dozers, Light equipment and materiel to multiple loca- launchers in combat engineer units. The and Heavy Loaders, Grader, Asphalt Mix- tions worldwide. Efforts to develop Army Rapidly Emplaced Bridge System (REBS) ing Plants, Route Remediation Equipment, watercraft capability for the future will fo- provides bridging capability to Stryker Enhanced Rapid Airfield and Construction cus on the creation and maintenance of an BCTs. Capability, Route Clearance and Interroga- Army watercraft portfolio that delivers the tion Systems, and Skid Steer Loaders. speed, agility and operational payload Product Manager Combat Engineer/ These programs support the current engi- needed to maneuver operationally ready Material Handling Equipment neer forces within Stryker, Heavy and In- forces and provide commanders with the The Product Manager Combat Engi- fantry brigade combat teams, engineer ability to deliver combat power at the time neer/Material Handling Equipment (PM support companies, vertical and horizon- and place of their choosing. CE/MHE) coordinates and supports a tal companies, asphalt and concrete teams, wide range of combat engineer and ma- and multirole bridge companies. PM Product Manager Bridging teriel handling equipment. Program exam- CE/MHE also supports the Transporta- The Product Manager Bridging is com- mitted to developing, acquiring, fielding and sustaining gap-crossing solutions that meet the warfighters’ requirements. PM Bridging works with other defense organi- zations on a range of existing and emerging bridging systems including the Wolverine Heavy Assault Bridge (HAB), Armored Ve- hicle Launched Bridge (AVLB), Improved Ribbon Bridge (IRB), Bridge Erection Boat (BEB), Common Bridge Transporter (CBT), Rapidly Emplaced Bridge System (REBS), Dry Support Bridge (DSB) system, M3 Medium Girder Bridge (MGB), Joint As- sault Bridge (JAB), Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV), Improved Boat Cradle (IBC), Bridge Adapter Pallet (BAP) and Line of Commu- nication Bridge (LOCB). The Dry Support Bridge system and the Improved Ribbon Bridge provide representative examples. The Dry Support Bridge (DSB) pro- vides the Army with assault and support bridging for gaps of up to 40 meters. The DSB replaces the outdated, manpower- and time-intensive medium girder bridge (MGB) with a mechanical system capable of emplacing a 40-meter bridge with 14 soldiers in 90 minutes or less. In addition, the DSB will improve current bridge load- carrying capacity, raising it to military load classification (MLC) 96 for wheeled traffic, such as an M1 tank uploaded on a heavy equipment transporter. The DSB is designed for transportation