Wednesday, November 12, 2025
The Army is preparing to tap a mix of flexible procurement authorities in an effort to generate a "predictable demand signal" and fully leverage the capacity of the U.S. industrial base as it pursues an ambitious plan to buy 1 million drones over the next two to three years, according to a service official.
The Army has issued a broad agency announcement for research and development into manned and unmanned drive systems within rotorcraft engines, such as corrosion-resistant gearbox housings, lubrication systems as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning for "drive system prognostics."
The Army issued a request for information last week seeking potential vendors to produce a high-energy laser weapon system "to protect semi-fixed and maneuver forces” from unmanned aerial systems.
The Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center (DEVCOM AC) is beginning an initiative in partnership with Picatinny Arsenal, NJ and the 10th Mountain Infantry Division out of Ft. Drum, NY to establish a "Close Combat Innovation Cell" (CCIC).
The government shutdown, in its 30th day as of Thursday, is "clearly the challenge" facing defense contractor L3Harris, and is "definitely impacting the timing of awards," CEO Chris Kubasik said today.
The Army will field AEVEX Aerospace's Atlas Precision Strike System as part of its initial fielding of short-range Launched Effects, the company announced today.
No new military construction will be required for the Army's initial push to build 10,000 drones a month by the end of fiscal year 2026 under its new SkyFoundry initiative, a service official said last week.
Former Army Secretary Christine Wormuth has been named as the next president and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative -- a nonprofit organization focused on reducing “nuclear, biological, and emerging technology threats imperiling humanity.”
Despite the Army's decision to cancel two modernization programs earlier this year that Textron was involved in, the company's CEO believes there will still be business opportunities in the area of unmanned aerial systems going forward.
As the Army plans to move out on an ambitious plan to field 24 Future Long Range Assault Aircraft -- the MV-75 -- in two years, prime contractor Bell Textron plans to fly its first test aircraft in fiscal year 2027.
When newly minted Army acquisition chief Brent Ingraham envisions the future of the service’s program executive officers, he sees them operating much like CEOs of companies in the private sector.
Army aviation leaders said this week that as the service places a heavier emphasis on unmanned systems and Launched Effects, a new requirement similar to the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft could be in the works.
The Army's new planned "Western Hemisphere Command," a merger of U.S. Army North and South, is expected to be stood up in the next six to eight weeks at Ft. Bragg, NC, Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said Tuesday.
The longer the now-two-week-old government shutdown lasts, the more the Army will need to find areas within the budget to reprogram funds to keep critical programs on schedule, the service's newly appointed acquisition chief warns.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said today that he doesn't expect a shift in Pentagon research and development dollars during the ongoing government shutdown will have a significant impact on Army transformation initiatives.
Army Materiel Command has four main sites it is eyeballing to carry out the service's new "SkyFoundry" effort to mass-produce drones at organic industrial base sites, a service official said today.
The Army has conducted an initial review of almost 2,000 requirements and has taken the first steps toward eliminating redundancy, according to an official from the service's newly merged Transformation and Training Command (T2COM).
The Joint Air-to-Ground Missile successfully integrated with a cannister-based launcher, known as the JAGM Quad Launcher (JQL) during a ground-based demonstration at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ in late August, prime contractor Lockheed Martin announced today.
Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky will display its prototype S-70UAS "U-Hawk" at this year's Association of the United States Army conference -- a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter that has effectively been converted into an autonomous drone.
Boeing announced today that it is developing a new collaborative, unmanned aircraft platform that will serve in attack, logistics and other types of missions.