Pentagon acquisition executive John Young said today the White House has decided to proceed with both increments of the VH-71 presidential helicopter program despite huge cost increases and other complications.
Monday, December 9, 2024
Monday, December 9, 2024
Pentagon acquisition executive John Young said today the White House has decided to proceed with both increments of the VH-71 presidential helicopter program despite huge cost increases and other complications.
The sudden resignation of U.S. Central Command chief Adm. William Fallon may have been the result of White House pressure due to his perceived opposition to the administration's policy on Iran, a senior House Democrat speculated today.
The House Armed Services Committee's roles-and-missions panel today released a report urging the Pentagon to overcome the "tyranny of optimism" that has repeatedly led defense officials to underestimate challenges when developing and acquiring new weapon systems.
Recognizing that military strength alone will not provide security, defense officials want to bolster U.S. "soft power" and expand the interagency manning approach envisioned for the new U.S. Africa Command to all the major combatant commands worldwide.
The Pentagon this week announced 10 new joint capability technology demonstration projects aimed at developing unmanned vehicles, communications gear and other equipment for special operations troops and the armed services.
Adm. Timothy Keating is having a tough time persuading China to provide him with phone numbers for Chinese officials, a step he sees as vital for improving Sino-U.S. relations.
The Pentagon has quietly told the Navy to spend millions more on existing presidential helicopters so they can continue flying amid troubles in the development of the next-generation aircraft.
Major weapons programs including the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship, the Army's Future Combat System vehicles and the Air Force's F-22A fighter face the prospect of big cuts in the fiscal 2008 defense appropriations bill, but the Pentagon is asking Congress for leniency.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates today shot down Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway's proposal to shift Marines from Iraq to Afghanistan, which would leave the Army to handle operations in Iraq.
A new U.S. maritime strategy advocates tighter integration of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard; more cooperation with foreign fleets; and better tracking of "dangerously anonymous" oceanic shipments of cargo and people, according to an advance copy reviewed by Inside the Pentagon.
The Pentagon is asking the House and Senate not to cut funding for the Littoral Combat Ship and other key naval programs in the fiscal year 2008 defense authorization bill.
After serving as Navy acquisition executive for two years -- the latter dominated by a crisis in a key shipbuilding program -- Delores Etter is resigning, according to sources in the department and the defense industry.
The Army must rethink its future airlift concept for transporting Future Combat System vehicles because the plan is too expensive, risky and difficult, according to the Pentagon's Defense Science Board.
The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee today approved its $459.3 billion fiscal year 2008 defense appropriations bill, including a proposal to rescind funding for the second of two Littoral Combat Ships that General Dynamics is developing.
The Pentagon's top acquisition officials have issued strong warnings in recent weeks about significant cost growth in Defense Department weapons programs, prompting a new initiative to contain the number of changes to requirements and system specifications pushed by program managers.
Marine Corps officials are tackling a handful of key V-22 Osprey maintenance problems as they prepare to deploy the tiltrotor to Iraq this fall, according to an internal service bulletin obtained by InsideDefense.com.
The Marine Corps says its MV-22 Osprey has achieved initial operational capability (IOC), meaning both the aircraft and the first combat squadron are ready to fly military missions.
The production of new VH-71 presidential helicopters will not be moved overseas, Navy Secretary Donald Winter said today.
In what would be a dramatic change, the Pentagon may have all of the new VH-71 presidential helicopters built overseas, dropping plans to build of most of them in the United States, InsideDefense.com has learned.
Frustrated by schedule delays and cost increases, the Army has directed Bell Helicopter Textron to stop work on the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, giving the company a final chance to save a program potentially worth $4.1 billion.