Sunday, December 8, 2024
Pentagon officials should further explore the possibility of re-merging the Army's Aerial Common Sensor program and the Navy's EPX program, both of which were once a single joint spy-plane effort, Pentagon acquisition executive John Young said today.
Figuring out the proper end strength for the Army ranks at the top of several short- and long-term challenges facing the service as a new administration prepares to take control early next year, the Army secretary said today.
The Army today began evaluating options for a possible new rifle competition and expects by next summer to have an approved set of requirements for the service's premiere individual weapon system, according to top Army officials.
Defense Department officials have identified at least one viable and less expensive alternative to the Army's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, according to John Young, the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
The Air Force announced today it will issue a "minor amendment" to the combat search-and-rescue helicopter replacement program's request for proposal, making it the seventh amended request for the troubled and highly sought-after acquisition program.
Senior Pentagon and Army officials yesterday decided to terminate the troubled Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program during a review that was prompted by another large cost increase for the aircraft.
The Army is weighing alternatives to Bell-Textron's currently contracted model of the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter as the service awaits a Pentagon decision on whether to cancel or continue the ARH program, aviation officials said.
As the Army finalizes its upcoming spending plans, service leaders are working to strike an appropriate balance between procuring emerging Future Combat Systems equipment and upgrading legacy vehicles that are already combat-proven, according to the service's top officer.
High-ranking members of the House Armed Services Committee are urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to examine the ramifications of a proposal to significantly reduce funding for Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Stryker vehicles in order to boost the budget of the Future Combat Systems starting in fiscal year 2010.
Lawmakers agreed to increase oversight of the Army's massive Future Combat Systems program and pared down proposed cuts to the program's research and development efforts when House and Senate conferees met yesterday to harmonize their versions of the fiscal year 2009 defense authorization bill.
The Pentagon is making a final effort to reclaim about $200 million in funding that House Armed Services Committee members would cut from the Army's Future Combat Systems program in their version of the fiscal year 2009 defense authorization bill.
The Army today awarded a $4.3 billion, five-year contract for next-generation Chinook cargo aircraft, marking the first multiyear contract for the new helicopters, according to a Boeing statement.
The Army today announced its new plan for fielding the first iteration of Future Combat Systems equipment to infantry brigade combat teams, garnering support from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.
Army leaders want to restructure the Future Combat Systems program to better tailor its first technology "spin-out" for fielding to infantry brigade combat teams, which would shift the program's focus away from heavier brigades and toward the type of forces most often used in operations today, according to sources familiar with the new plans.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey this week briefed top Pentagon brass on options being considered to recalibrate the size, scope and schedule of the Future Combat Systems program, a development that sources tracking the program say is a prelude to an announcement that the Army is scaling back its top-priority modernization program.
The Defense Department must work more closely with the Army to help develop the service's Future Combat Systems, a sweeping modernization effort that relies on ancillary joint programs for its communications backbone, the Pentagon's acquisition executive said after receiving a lengthy briefing on FCS this weekend.
A new variant of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, called the MRAP II, may not finish testing in time to be included next month in a round of contract awards for the next set of vehicles, according to the Pentagon's acquisition executive.
EL PASO, TX -- Army officials are deliberating how to "reorient" the service's marquee modernization effort, the Future Combat Systems, following three years of significant congressional funding cuts and in the face of House legislation that could add to those reductions, according to a service official.
The House Armed Services air and land forces subcommittee today voted to cut $200 million from the Army's Future Combat Systems program and include measures to bolster congressional oversight of the service's marquee modernization effort.
Senate lawmakers have fully supported the Army's fiscal year 2009 funding request for Future Combat Systems and voted to significantly increase the budget for combating improvised explosive devices.