[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 38 (Thursday, March 30, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E468]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        SUPPORT FOR THE CRUSADER

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                          HON. J.C. WATTS, JR.

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 30, 2000

  Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the 
Army's new advanced field artillery system, the Crusader. When fielded 
in 2008, Crusader will provide unprecedented fire support capability to 
the U.S. Army.
  The DoD budget requests $355.5 million in Fiscal Year 2001 to 
continue the development of the Crusader system.
  Field artillery is the one combat capability where the United States 
significantly lags behind its allies and potential adversaries. While 
the Abrams tanks and the Bradley fighting vehicle is recognized as the 
best in the world, the U.S. field artillery ranks 9th in the world in 
terms of systems and the current howitzers is outperformed by at least 
four more modern foreign systems. With Crusader that balance will be 
reversed.
  In anticipation of the fielding of the Crusader, the Army 
dramatically reduced its field artillery organization by eliminating 
six howitzers from each cannon battalion. Additionally, the Army later 
reduced the number of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and soldiers in 
its mechanized divisions. Again, this was done because of the 
offsetting capabilities of the Crusader advanced field artillery 
system. Should we not follow through with fielding the Crusader, then 
all these systems and soldiers would have to be added back to the Army 
organization and force structure to maintain its combat capability.
  In recent testimony before our committee, General Shinseki, the Army 
Chief of Staff, emphasized the importance of the Crusader to the Army, 
both its counterattack corps and its transformation forces. He is fully 
supportive of its development and fielding and was the major architect 
of its modification to become more supportive of the Army 
transformation initiative and its objective force. General Shinseki 
insisted upon the maintenance of its key combat capabilities, (range, 
rate-of-fire, mobility and survivability) while enhancing its global, 
strategic deployability. With changes that will reduce the Crusader's 
weight to approximately 40 tons, two can be airlifted to any theater in 
the world on a single C5B aircraft. Those two howitzers will provide 
more fire support capability than six of today's Paladin systems. That 
six-gun Paladin unit with its 94 soldiers, like the one sent to Kosovo 
in Task Force Hawk, required 8 C-5B sorties to deploy, while a smaller, 
but more lethal Crusader capability would include just 31 soldiers and 
need only 4 C-5B sorties.
  Mr. Speaker, the Army needs the Crusader to be developed and fielded 
without delay to enhance its capability to rapidly and globally respond 
to threats to the nation's interests and ultimately to win the nation's 
wars.

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