The INSIDER - October 14, 2015

/ October 14, 2015 at 12:05 PM
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AUSA Coverage.

More news from this week's AUSA confab:

Army To Weigh Worldwide Rides For New Mobile Protected Firepower Vehicle

The Army will spend fiscal years 2017 and 2018 evaluating vehicle offerings from around the world that could meet the service's need for a mobile protected firepower vehicle, a key official said.

A requirement for the vehicle was articulated in the new Combat Vehicle Modernization Strategy, unveiled at the Association of the United States Army's annual conference in Washington this week. Service leaders want an armored vehicle that can be more quickly deployed than tanks or infantry fighting vehicles, all the while packing a hefty combat punch.

"Right now the Army is pretty early on in that program," Col. James Schirmer, product manager for armored vehicles, said at a press conference. "We're still fleshing out what the strategy will look like, and we're trying to lay out some options for senior leadership."

Army Leaders To Assess Threats, Dollars Needed In 'Top Secret' Meeting

The Army's top acquisition executive will conduct a "deep dive" into looming foreign threats and the dollars it will take to counter such dangers with a planned "top secret" meeting this week.

Service acquisition chief Heidi Shyu said she will sit down with "all the intel guys . . . each one of my program executive officers," in a seven-hour session to "go through all the details of what the threats are, the impacts we have seen and our planning in terms of what we are doing to counter it."

Speaking to reporters Oct. 13 at the Association of the United States Army annual conference in Washington, Shyu said the meeting is to "make sure we get the latest intel information that's coming out of Europe, so we're on the same page," and to work out long-term budget planning and development.

Army Leaders Defend High Cost Of Stryker Gun Upgrades

Senior Army acquisition leaders appear resigned to accept a substantial price tag for mounting larger guns on Europe-based Stryker vehicles, arguing the urgency of the project leaves them no other choice.

Under the plan, the service would spend $411 million to modify 81 vehicles, a brigade's worth, prompted by an operational needs statement that called for the ability to destroy lightly armored vehicles with the Stryker's armaments. The weapons are needed, officials have argued, to ward off potential Russian land incursions into NATO territory.

"It's really driven by schedule," Army acquisition chief Heidi Shyu said Tuesday at the Association of the United States Army annual conference in Washington when asked about the price tag. Because of the envisioned fielding schedule -- the Army is planning on two years or so -- there would be no time to implement cost-reduction measures, such as comprehensive vendor competition, normally applied in acquisition programs, she added.

Hunting Mines.

The Navy is reviewing the Remote Minehunting System:

Navy Charters Review Of Remote Minehunting System

The Navy has set up a team to review the service's troubled Remote Minehunting System after the Pentagon's top weapons tester flagged the RMS for reliability issues earlier this year.

Service leadership chartered an assessment of the system's capability and reliability on Sept. 25, according to Capt. Thurraya Kent, spokeswoman for the Navy's acquisition office.

"Focus areas of the team's review include validating the requirements and mission concept of operations, assessing the RMS against the requirements, evaluating alternatives, assessing the program's technical risk, schedule and cost; and evaluating the program's management structure," Kent wrote in an Oct. 13 statement.

Document: DOD Letter To Congress On LCS RMS Mission Package

Science Advisory Board.

Some new Air Force Scientific Advisory Board studies are in the works:

AFSAB Chair Outlines 2016 Studies

The Air Force Scientific Advisory Board is examining four studies for fiscal year 2016 that focus on directed energy, anti-access/area denial operations, data analytics to support decision making and adaptive threats in electronic warfare.

Board Chairman Werner Dahm and Vice Chair Iain Boyd briefed Inside the Air Force last week on three long-term studies, as well as a shorter-term study on directed-energy maturity for airborne self-defense applications.

The board will begin meeting in January and will finalize the reports at the end of June.

Document: AFSAB Terms Of Reference For Directed-Energy Study

Document: AFSAB Terms Of Reference For Airspace Surveillance to Support A2/AD Operations Study

Document: AFSAB Terms Of Reference For Electronic Warfare Threat Study

Document: AFSAB Terms Of Reference For Data Analytics Study

Down Under.

The United States and Australia have signed a new bilateral security cooperation statement:

New U.S.-Australia Bilateral Security Statement Will Increase Defense Industry Engagement

A new bilateral security cooperation statement between the United States and Australia will, among other things, increase opportunities for defense industry engagement and acquisition program teaming, according to Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

Carter announced the agreement Tuesday at a joint press conference in Boston, MA, with Secretary of State John Kerry, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defense Minister Marise Payne.

The officials said the agreement, which was not made immediately available after the press conference, will also lay the groundwork for increased military exercises and combined training between both nations.

-- John Liang

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