WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, under new pressure from congressional budget-cutters, continues to draw criticism that its underlying concept is flawed. The massive, ambitious FCS program would unite a large number of Army vehicles and weapons systems through a common computerized network, in theory allowing for better interoperability and coordination of troops in the field. The problem: “The whole concept doesn’t work,” according to Winslow Wheeler, a defense analyst at the Center for Defense Information in Washington. The Army heartily disagrees with this viewpoint, as does The Boeing Co., which is one of two main […]

IRBIL, Iraq — Take a walk up to the gates of the ancient citadel thrusting from the heart of this Kurdish regional capital and it’s clear that a city-wide makeover is in progress. Fancy new hotels and foreign-built office buildings rise above the din of diesel trucks and clatter of men at work. Then turn around and look inside the fortress itself. All is quiet, save for a few peshmerga guards making tea. Police tape cordons off its deserted warrens and piles of cinderblock lay idle — for the moment. Kurdish authorities have big plans for the site they insist […]