Saturday, April 1, 2023
Jason Sherman is a reporter for Inside Defense. For more than two decades -- including stints with Defense News and Armed Forces Journal -- he has covered the Pentagon, defense industry, the military budget, weapon system acquisition and defense policy formulation as well as reporting on technology, business, and global arms trade. Jason has traveled to more than 40 countries, studied medieval history at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and lives in Brooklyn.
The U.S. military executed what it says was a successful do-over live-fire of a major ballistic missile defense test when a pair of Standard Missile-6 interceptors -- configured in a new variant -- launched in a single salvo and intercepted a medium range ballistic missile target in a simulated last-line-of-defense protection for an aircraft carrier strike group.
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Army leaders drafting the service's fiscal year 2025 budget proposal are considering establishing a dedicated program element for counter-drone technology, a move that if adopted would stake out a consolidated place in long-term spending plans for projects currently dispersed across multiple air defense research and development funding lines.
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- The Army last week executed a live-fire test of the Patriot air defense system -- pitting a developmental PAC-3 software upgrade to address more advanced threats -- against a medium-range ballistic missile target at a test site in the Western Pacific.
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- The Army achieved record-setting distance when demonstrating a cannon-launched hypervelocity projectile prototype -- a munition capable of maneuvering in flight and striking moving targets -- in an event that points to a future where artillery units will be able to reach targets at ranges that today require missiles at a fraction the cost.
HUNTSVILLE, VA -- BAE Systems today announced a major realignment of its combat vehicle manufacturing operations -- including repositioning significant industrial capacity -- as part of a long-term plan to increase manufacturing rates and speed delivery of fighting vehicles to the Army and Marine Corps.
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Army Futures Command's fledgling project to begin to design the force of 2040 will target science and technology funding with a focus on two future five-year budget planning windows: 2030 to 2034 and 2035 to 2039, the first indication for how near-term spending plans could be influenced by early drafts of a very long-term blueprint.
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- The Army is raising the planned future monthly procurement target of 155mm artillery shells to 85,000 by 2028 -- a goal 20% higher than the 70,000-rounds-a-month goal by 2025 previously set by service Secretary Christine Wormuth -- by building more North American production capacity.
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- The Army has locked in dates for two remaining major acquisition milestones for the Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense (AIAMD) program: full-rate production is April 10 and initial operational capability declaration is April 24, according to Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano, program executive officer for missiles and space.
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- The Army has selected Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies to develop competing prototypes of a next-generation short-range interceptor, a move that knocks Boeing from an expected multibillion-dollar competition to design and build a follow-on to the Stinger missile.
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- The Army is making the case to congressional appropriators that multiyear procurement authority for two major munition programs -- the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System -- will yield substantial savings compared with an annual purchase and provide crucial stability for second-tier suppliers.
The Army is advancing development of a potential 1,000-kilometer surface-to-surface missile, a new variant of the Precision Strike Missile that aims to double the range of the baseline weapon, expand the service's deep-attack reach and give U.S. commanders a new capability by 2026 for a multidomain fight against a near-peer adversary such as China.
The Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon apparently suffered a significant setback during the second of four planned flight tests which the Air Force notably declined to call a "success" as it did the first ARRW launch.
Pentagon top brass are set to review progress in the U.S. military's signature hypersonic defense project which is now poised to pivot from concept development to building hardware for the Glide Phase Interceptor, a major milestone review that will focus on efficacy of proposed GPI designs to defeat ultrafast maneuvering glide vehicles.
The Air Force is backing plans that aim to "sustain" air supremacy over China with $22 billion in the fiscal year 2024 five-year spending plan, a 70% hike compared with the $13 billion FY-23 future-years forecast for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) capability by significantly increasing research and development funding in FY-27 and FY-28.
The head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace and Defense Command has identified a $211.5 million project not funded in the Pentagon's fiscal year 2024 budget request that would buy nine Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long Range Radars to monitor domestic airspace if Congress were to provide additional funding.
The Pentagon is planning the final flight test of a prototype ground-launched, medium-range hypersonic weapon this spring before shelving the design, a culminating event for the OpFires program launched in 2018 that promised a new strike capability to hit targets at varying ranges -- but could not find long-term sponsors in the Army or Marine Corps.
The Air Force wants to launch a competition for a new "state-of-the-art" long-range radar in fiscal year 2024 to defend Hawaii from cruise missile threats in response to an "urgent mission need" from U.S. Indo-Pacific and Northern commands along with the Federal Aviation Administration and have the new sensor operational by 2027.
The Air Force's fiscal year 2024 budget advances the first part of a planned $1 billion down payment needed to launch production in FY-26 of the U.S. military's next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile, seeking $539 million in advanced procurement for the LGM-35A Sentinel.
The U.S. government is eyeing a key role for Japan in the Pentagon's marquee hypersonic defense program that could give Tokyo responsibility for helping design and build some of the most advanced components of a Glide Phase Interceptor, and plans to facilitate exploratory meetings soon between defense companies on both sides of the Pacific.
The Biden administration is fundamentally recalibrating Indo-Pacific plans in the fiscal year 2024 budget request, increasing total spending to counter China by nearly 33% compared with last year's Pacific Defense Initiative forecast, increasing scores of projects by more than $3 billion in part by shifting $850 million away from previous PDI priorities.