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| Iraq |
| US Army spent $2.7 billion on a battlefield computer that doesnÂ’t work |
| 2011-07-05 |
| It has emerged that the multi-billion-dollar DCGS-A military computer system that was designed to help the US Army in Iraq and Afghanistan simply doesn’t work. DCGS-A is meant to accrue intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and provide real-time battlefield analysis and the current location of high-value targets. According to two former intelligence officers that have worked with the system, however, it has hindered the war effort rather than helped. This story has developed over the last year, beginning with a memo sent by Major General Michael Flynn, the Army’s top intelligence officer stationed in Afghanistan. In the memo, Flynn damns the apparent ineffectiveness of DCGS-A: “Analysts cannot provide their commanders a full understanding of the operational environment. Without the full understanding of the enemy and human terrain, our operations are not as successful as they could be. This shortfall translates into operational opportunities missed and lives lost.” The memo reached the ears of several Representatives on July 19 2010, who then asked the US Army to consider switching to another, proven system that the FBI and CIA use: Palantir. The Army refused, and instead rolled out a software update that was meant to fix any issues. Unfortunately, according to the former intelligence officers, the system is still unusable. “You couldn’t share the data,” says one of the former officers, and they both agree that the system is “prone to crashes and frequently going off-line.” “Almost any commercial solution out there would be better,” said one. “It doesn’t work. It’s not providing the capabilities that they need,” said the other. This isn’t the first time that the US Army — or indeed any sovereign armed force — has spent a lot of money on a system that doesn’t work. With such huge budgets, and massive systems and weapons with additional expenditure that can’t possibly be accounted for ahead of time, military spending nearly always turns into case of throwing good money after bad. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #7 Â Â This article is total bullshit. DSGS-A is a good tool designed to do a hard job. Is it perfect? Probably not. Is it fair to say it doesn't work? No. Woo hoo! Now that, my friends, is a a righteous rant. :-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-07-05 23:51 |
| #6 This article is total bullshit. DSGS-A is a good tool designed to do a hard job. Is it perfect? Probably not. Is it fair to say it doesn't work? No. I am sick and tired of these news-people relaying some backroom gabble about how something that is good should have been great, and it would have been if only this or that company were fully funded. It is meritorious to just put together stuff that works. Just like you, DSGS-A can be better. Let's repent on Sunday and work harder on Monday to make this system serve our soldiers. |
| Posted by: rammer 2011-07-05 22:36 |
| #5 DCGS-A is a big turd, but spending buckets of money on proprietary solution like Palantir is not the solution. This article has all the hall marks of being a planted story by someone who is angry the Army didn't buy Palantir. |
| Posted by: Bigfoot Thud6124 2011-07-05 22:18 |
| #4 Not sad; the cost of war. Perhaps it should have been killed sooner, but other projects paid off well before anyone ever thought they would. You have to pay for them all. Find the senior officers who let it go on too long and end their careers. Find out if the juniors learned anything and forget it for them if they learned. We're still human. We'll keep making the same mistakes in new flavors. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2011-07-05 21:41 |
| #3 And let us not forget the USN's "$5 Billion Misunderstanding," AKA the A-12 Avenger II debacle. |
| Posted by: USN,Ret. 2011-07-05 21:38 |
| #2 If true, this is just sad. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2011-07-05 21:34 |
| #1 More detail here: http://www.gdc4s.com/content/detail.cfm?item=004279f8-a9a9-4c18-8051-f9e1acb643ee FOUO on Google... http://info.publicintelligence.net/commanders_handbook.pdf |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2011-07-05 20:37 |