Army Eyes Summer to Complete Latest Modernization Strategy

Gen. John Murray, commander of Army Futures Command and 2019 Wash100 Award winner, said the U.S. Army plans to finalize a new modernization strategy over the summer providing “a holistic solution” to update military capabilities amid the changing warfare, National Defense Magazine reported Tuesday. He announced the plan at the recent Association of the United States Army’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Ala. 

The Army’s new strategy will focus on doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel and facilities opposed to last year’s approach that prioritized materiel alone, Murray said. The service this time will look at the “budget reality” to properly plan its modernization initiatives. 

“It will start to drive how we’re organized. It will start to drive the leader development process,” Murray said. “It will start to drive the facilities that we’ll need to either be capitalized or build new.”

Part of the strategy is establishing a multi-domain “capable” force by 2028 and a multi-domain “ready force” by 2035, the general said. The service wants to determine how to organize and equip its forces to prepare for adversaries in the future. The Army also intends to continue working on its top modernization priorities focusing on long-range precision fires, next-generation combat vehicle, future vertical lift, the network, air-and-missile defense and soldier lethality.