Wednesday, January 15, 2025
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.
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.
The Missile Defense Agency is readying a sole-source contract with Boeing as part of the project to break up the Ground-based Midcourse Defense continuing sustainment and development work, announcing plans for a potential five-year deal for a Ground-based Interceptor Integration and Test Contract (ITC).
The Biden administration is proposing nearly $30 billion in fiscal year 2024 to counter missiles, a request that includes $10.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, funds improved space-based sensors, seeks $1.5 billion to defend Guam against Chinese ballistic, cruise and hypersonic threats and bolsters the U.S. military's all-domain missile defense backbone.
The Pentagon this week scrubbed a long-delayed, high-stakes hypersonic weapon flight test after discovering a faulty component during a pre-flight check of the joint Army-Navy program to develop an ultra-fast, maneuvering, intermediate-range offensive capability, setting in motion a review to resolve the root cause of the problem.
The Pentagon estimates it will cost at least $120 billion and 20 years to vacate the mid-band electromagnetic spectrum being eyed for auction to telecommunications companies developing the 5G commercial market and put at risk military capabilities that currently use S-band systems such as the Aegis radar and assured navigation and more for strategic missions.
China quietly destroyed a high-flying spy balloon last month over the Atlantic Ocean in waters off South America, somehow downing an airship previously spotted over Costa Rica at about the same time a platform that appeared identical was transiting the United States last month, according to senior military officials.
The top U.S. military official responsible for defending the nation against a North Korean nuclear strike said he is "concerned" about the Pentagon's ability in the future to defend the nation against a limited attack.
Army leaders huddled in secret last week to contemplate one of the most consequential decisions in two generations: whether the time has come to replace the Abrams main battle tank and what exactly a fifth-generation combat vehicle replacement might be.