Pentagon's billion-dollar programs falter: New challenges emerge

After almost 30 years, vehicles commonly referred to as light tanks, essentially serving as fire support vehicles, are returning to the United States Army. The first M10 Booker units are already participating in tests in active units, and the target production of this equipment is expected to exceed 500 units.

For the past three decades, the Pentagon, though recognizing the need for this class of equipment, despite attempts, could not replace the M551 Sheridan light tanks withdrawn in 1996.

Work on their successors began in the 1980s. One of these was the Stingray light tank, developed by Textron Marine & Land Systems (formerly Cadillac Gage Textron), and armed with a 105-mm cannon.

With a weight of 49,000 pounds, it was deemed too heavy by the military. However, the design was not wasted. Although the American army was not interested in it, Thailand purchased 110 units in the late 1980s.

Another candidate for the American light tank was the 40,000-pound M8 AGS Buford, armed with a 105-mm cannon with an automatic loader. Despite the decision to implement this equipment and produce several initial units in 1996, the Pentagon decided it did not want such equipment and abandoned the M8.

Nearly 30 years later, the "light" tank that entered service is the more than 88,000-pound M10, almost twice as heavy as the Stingray, which was considered too heavy.

One of the weaknesses of the American army is the lack of modern barrel artillery. Although the M109A6 Paladin and its developmental version, the M109A7, are the primary artillery of the American army, this equipment lags behind contemporary European or Asian counterparts in terms of capabilities.

Americans have been trying to solve this problem for over 20 years, and so far, without success. In the spring of 2024, the Pentagon abandoned the ERCA program, which aimed to develop a new generation of barrel artillery. This included developing the XM1299 ERCA howitzer with a barrel length of 58 calibers; within this and other programs, firing ranges exceeding even 62 miles were achieved.

More than two decades earlier, another attempt to replace the M109 howitzers was canceled, which was the Crusader program. At that time, the American army tested the XM2001 Crusader gun-howitzer, conceptually similar to the Polish Krab, German PzH 2000, or South Korean K9.

The Crusader was a heavy, 95,000-pound howitzer with a high degree of automation and a high rate of fire. According to data obtained during trials, a battery of six Crusaders could deliver almost 33,000 pounds of shells to a distance of 25 miles in just 5 minutes.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the program was canceled; the howitzers were deemed too expensive and too heavy.

Since the early 1980s, the Pentagon has been trying to build a specialized, advanced reconnaissance helicopter. For many years, this role—acting as a substitute for the target machines—was fulfilled by Bell OH-58 Kiowa helicopters. These small, light, and highly mobile helicopters, intended for reconnaissance operations and cooperating with heavy, attack AH-64 Apache helicopters, were retired in 2020.

The result of the search for the OH-58 successor was the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, under design since the early 1980s. Two prototypes of this super-modern machine with a reduced radar signature were created: its radar echo was 360 times smaller than that of the Apache. Eventually, the construction program for the Comanche was canceled in 2004.

Its functional successor was supposed to be a helicopter selected within the FARA program. Even here, the program reached the stage of two competing prototypes—the Sikorsky Raider X and Bell Textron 360 Invictus helicopters, whose maiden flights were planned for 2024. Despite the program's advancement, partly based on experiences from the war in Ukraine, the FARA program was canceled in early 2024.

An interesting example of replacing older but more advanced equipment with newer but less advanced units is the Seawolf-class submarines (SSN-21). They were designed in the 1980s as "hunter" units.

The Seawolfs were intended to operate near Russia's Arctic coast, where, under the protective umbrella of their own navy and air force, Russian boomers hid underwater (and still do). These are nuclear-powered submarines with intercontinental ballistic missiles equipped with nuclear warheads on board.

Due to the extremely hostile environment they had to operate in, Seawolf-class subs were very well silenced, making them very difficult to detect. Of the planned 29 units of this type, only three were built, and then the Seawolf program was canceled. Their cost-effective successor is the now-produced Virginia-class submarines.

A similar fate—30 years later—befell the Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers. These futuristic ships, designed with stealth features, were to become the backbone of the American Navy, replacing the Arleigh Burke-class units in service.

The design of the Zumwalt-class ships was focused on minimizing detection. The 600-foot unit, displacing 31,000 tons, has a radar signature similar to that of a 49-foot yacht. Plans included arming the ships with innovative weapons like railguns or lasers and cruise missiles for land-attack purposes.

Ultimately, due to delays in the target weapons programs for the Zumwalts and a radical increase in the price of a single ship (from $3 to $7 billion for the prototype), the planned mass deployment of these units was abandoned. Instead of the planned 30, only three destroyers were built.