{"id":35626,"date":"2020-04-06T19:33:45","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T19:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/04\/06\/can-the-army-stay-on-top-of-modernization-plans-during-covid-pandemic\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:53:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:53:17","slug":"can-the-army-stay-on-top-of-modernization-plans-during-covid-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2020\/04\/06\/can-the-army-stay-on-top-of-modernization-plans-during-covid-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"How are the US Army\u2019s modernization plans faring under a pandemic?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Army commands in charge of acquisition and modernization are taking it day-by-day as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens<\/a> in the United States, but so far see minimal impact to production lines and modernization efforts<\/a> underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Army has been very carefully looking at our industrial base and our ability to maintain programs, both for continued readiness and continued modernization, and, in general, we are still remaining fairly close to being on track,\u201d Bruce Jette, the Army\u2019s acquisition chief, told reports in an April 3 teleconference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean that individual programs or individual issues haven\u2019t arisen, but, at this point, we have, we think, in the long run, we can resolve any of the challenges we have at hand,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jette said he has sent letters out to contracting officers, program managers and program executive officers as well as industry providing them guidance and insight \u201cinto how we want to work together as a team, through good constructive and continuous and transparent communications, make sure that we know what\u2019s going on in each other\u2019s camp well enough that we can respond quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One major point of concern is what might happen with sub-tier suppliers <\/a>to the bigger prime contractors, Jette said, so the Army is doing what it can to understand challenges that these suppliers might be experiencing if they have to shut down production to keep employees safe and healthy should cases of coronavirus crop up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are still working various individual issues,\u201d Jette said. \u201cI track, on a daily basis, about 21 pages\u2026 on suppliers down to those lower levels.\u201d That list provides projection for 30, 60 and 90 days, but are updated all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, Boeing is the only major defense contractor to shut down an Army production line<\/a>, according to Jette. The company reported late in the evening on April 2 that it would have to halt its H-47 Chinook production line in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, for 10 days to better prevent the spread of the coronavirus after some employees tested positive for the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jette said he didn\u2019t believe the work stopping at the Boeing plant would affect the delivery schedule for the H-47s to the force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All other lines are delivering on schedule including the newest version of the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle<\/a> \u2014 the A4 \u2014 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pfc. Kyle Penney, a Auburn, California native and an M2A3 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle driver replaces some track pads on his vehicle, Oct. 14 at Fort Bliss, Texas. Performing maintenance during field operations can prevent vehicles from becoming inoperable. (Sgt. Brandon M. Banzhaf\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The fielding of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle<\/a>, Jette said, will be delivered at a \u201clower density,\u201d but added, \u201cit doesn\u2019t mean we won\u2019t catch up, it just means that we\u2019re slowing down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jette also said testing would likely be difficult in the coming months due to \u201cthe density packing necessary in some cases and how that puts a lot of people at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Joint Assault Bridge <\/a>that was already delayed due to other issues was supposed to go into testing, but that will have to be rescheduled, Jette said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt became a concern about moving the unit, moving the equipment together, getting all the testers,\u201d he said, \u201cand again, I go back to this issue that sometimes military operations require you to be in very close quarters for extended periods of time and that kind of violates our desire to keep people social distancing at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2020 calendar year is also packed with major milestones for the Army\u2019s ambitious modernization plans. And as the country\u2019s citizens continue to self-isolate, avoid travel and work from home as much as possible, it becomes hard to conduct various tests or prototyping activities to move major programs along.<\/p>\n\n\n\t