Description
The Weapon System
The TOW Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS) is an integrated
day/night sight for the current TOW weapon system. The ITAS provides the
soldier with the capability to detect, recognize, and identify threat
armor at twice the ranges of the current TOW weapon system. The ITAS
also provides improved countermeasures performance, thereby further
increasing system lethality and the soldier's ability to survive on the
battlefield. In addition to improved performance, ITAS minimizes total
ownership costs through the reduction in the number of components to be
supported, the elimination of peculiar support equipment, and the
elimination of scheduled maintenance associated with the current TOW
system.
Production Status, Population, and Planned Life
The Army Acquisition Objective (AAO) for ITAS is 1,841 systems and the
program is currently funded for 1,086 systems. 188 systems have been fielded
to the 82nd Airborne Division and 54 to other units.
Prime contractor: Raytheon Systems Company (RSC) in McKinney, Texas
Office of Primary Responsibility: Close Combat Anti-Armor Weapon Systems (CCAWS) Project Office
R-TOC Focus Areas: (From USD (AT&L) memorandum dated May 10, 1999)
The main thrust of the R-TOC initiative for ITAS is the Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) concept. The ITAS CLS concept is to contract for wholesale supply and depot maintenance support for the life cycle of the system. At the organizational and direct support levels, soldiers perform all maintenance and supply functions using standard Army processes and procedures.
1. Reduced demand from weapon systems via reliability and maintainability improvements
- The redesigned sight and associated equipment for the ITAS results in a reduction of the number of TOW components to be supported.
- The CLS contact provides an incentive to keep system availability high. Minimum operational readiness (OR) under the contract is 90%, with incentives for better performance and penalties for falling short. (OR rates have been 100% since February 01).
2. Reduced supply chain response times, leading to reduced spares, system support footprint, and depot needs
- The requirement for certain weapon-system-peculiar support equipment associated with the current TOW is eliminated by ITAS.
- Some scheduled maintenance associated with the current TOW system is eliminated with ITAS.
3. Competitive sourcing of product support, leading to streamlining and overhead reductions
- The CLS contract was signed in June 2001. The ITAS CLS concept is to contract for wholesale supply and depot maintenance support for the life cycle of the system. At the organizational and direct support levels, soldiers perform all maintenance and supply functions.
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