THE LONG VIEW


“OLDER PROCESSES DID NOT ALLOW FOR REAL STRATEGIC THOUGHT, SINCE THEY ONLY LOOKED OUT A FEW YEARS. LIRA SYNCHRONIZES REQUIREMENTS, ACQUISITION AND RESOURCE PLANNING OVER A 30-YEAR PERIOD.”


improvements to invest in the Coman- che helicopter, the Crusader Howitzer and Future Combat Systems. When the Army deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq following 9/11, there was an immediate need to provide Soldiers with upgraded equipment to meet mission requirements, Ferrari said; their equipment was 10 years old and not adequate for the new threats, terrain and climate. When LIRA was developed in 2012, current and future worldwide risks were a major factor in the budget planning process. As a result, the Army decided not to cut near-term incremental improvements or S&T fund- ing for the future, and investments were made in a limited development of capa- bilities, he said.


PORTFOLIO REVIEW


MG Cedric T. Wins, director of the Requirements Integration Directorate, Army Capabilities Integration Center, makes a point during the Protection Portfolio Review Oct. 22, 2014, at the Pentagon. Hershell “Hew” E. Wolfe is the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for environment, safety and occupational health. (Photo by Marla J. Hurtado, HQDA G-8)


CONCLUSION With LIRA providing a long-term, top- down affordability review of capabilities and the life cycle of equipment, the Army was able to make decisions on some major vehicle programs. For example, in 2017, the Army will upgrade and extend the life of the Abrams tank and the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, in conjunc- tion with a network installation, instead of replacing them in the short term. In 2019, the Army will begin production of the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) to replace the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier, which is more than 50 years old.


from the lab to the field, so we need to look at a 30-year time horizon,” he said.


When the Army modernizes equipment using research, development and acqui- sition accounts,


it uses three general


time periods to balance portfolios under LIRA: making incremental improve- ments (up to 10 years); starting new development to yield capabilities (10- 20 years) and S&T investments for the future (20-30 years).


“We don’t have a balanced [S&T] portfo- lio right now, because we can’t afford it,” Ferrari said. “We are taking huge budget reductions in a very uncertain world, so the question is, in which time frame do we park the risk?”


According to Ferrari, the Army took a “procurement holiday” after the Viet- nam War, without a long-term balanced budget and portfolio view, as the result of an anticipated “peace dividend.” Te service sacrificed S&T and incremental


130 Army AL&T Magazine January–March 2015


“LIRA allows us to ask, ‘Can we afford the AMPV?’ or ‘When do we need a replacement for the HMMWV [High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehi- cle]?’ using data and an analysis of cost, affordability and obsolescence, instead of anecdotal information,” Mullins said. “We cannot afford to modernize all the Army’s equipment at once, but with LIRA we can avoid budgeting bow waves by deciding when to invest our money.”


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