10 Oct 02. The Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA – News) — Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), Future Combat Systems (FCS) team received a green light from the U.S. government on the program “go/no go” decision that ensures it will continue as the industry lead for this critical Army program.

“The `go/no’ go review was, in essence, an `off ramp’ for the government that was built into the FCS contract and for a good reason,” said Jerry McElwee, Boeing vice president and program manager for FCS.

“The concept of an industry lead systems integrator (LSI) was so revolutionary that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Army wanted an opportunity to reaffirm their choice of the LSI early in this phase of the program.

“The thumbs up for the Boeing-SAIC LSI team is a welcome decision,” he said. “Close collaboration between DARPA, the Army, the LSI, and industry is absolutely essential to meeting the demanding schedule.” The timing of the “go/no go” decision was tied contractually to the second FCS interim program review (IPR), which was completed recently at the FCS facility in Anaheim and briefed last week to top government officials in Washington.

“This second IPR, which was held just six months into the program, showed that significant progress has been made,” said Col. William Johnson, DARPA FCS program manager. “The team has met or exceeded all the objectives for the current phase of the program; they are on budget and on schedule.”