Sunday, April 28, 2024
Key Issues Optical clocks Prototype funding SPAFORGEN
The Army wants congressional permission to reprogram $111 million to pay for 21 additional LUH-72A Lakota light utility helicopters for the service's training fleet at Ft. Rucker, AL, according to the fiscal year 2014 omnibus reprogramming request obtained by InsideDefense.com.
Poland earlier this month selected offerings from Raytheon and the Eurosam consortium of Thales and MBDA to remain in its competition for a new air and missile defense system, ousting Lockheed Martin's Medium Extended Air Defense System as well as Israel's David's Sling from further consideration.
The Army has begun testing the integration of applications into the open architecture software framework for its next generation of unmanned aircraft systems controllers and is seeking industry feedback, according to a service spokesman.
The Missile Defense Agency conducted its first successful intercept test using a second-generation Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle when a Ground-Based Interceptor took out an intermediate-range ballistic missile target over the Pacific on Sunday, paving the way for system contractors to restart production of a new version of the EKV, according to a June 22 Pentagon statement.
The Missile Defense Agency had its first successful intercept using a second-generation Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle when a long-range Ground-Based Interceptor took out an intermediate-range ballistic missile target over the Pacific on Sunday, according to a June 22 Pentagon statement.
The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, created to combat IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan, will shrink but take on a much broader mission after the United States withdraws most of its troops from theater, according to a Pentagon interim report on the agency's future.
The House Appropriations Committee wants to increase funding for the Army's Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system procurement by $49 million, according to its fiscal year 2015 defense spending bill.
House appropriators want to put $65 million into the base defense budget for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization due to a lack of an overseas contingency operations request from the Pentagon, according to a congressional source.
The Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed Martin are discussing a possible next iteration of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, according to company officials.
The Army could buy the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System without fully demonstrating its ability to manage sensors and weapons because the service has not adjusted the program's schedule after a software delivery delay, the Defense Department inspector general states in a new report.
House appropriators want to halt the divestment of the Army's TH-67 training helicopter fleet until the Army secretary delivers a report to Congress that addresses the impact on the helicopter industrial base, according to the committee's draft version of the fiscal year 2015 defense spending bill.
Senate authorizers want the Army to buy 35 more LUH-72A Lakota helicopters than requested in fiscal year 2015 to replace the TH-67 training fleet, according to the Senate Armed Services Committee's report on its FY-15 defense authorization bill.
A Turkish military official has acknowledged that the country is facing significant pressure to make a final decision on the acquisition of an air defense system.
The Excalibur Increment lb -- a GPS-guided, precision, 155 mm artillery projectile -- wrapped up initial operational test and evaluation earlier this year, demonstrating accuracy better than required, according to the Army's Excalibur product manager.
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee wants to block the transfer of AH-64 Apache helicopters from the Army National Guard to the Army, according to the committee's fiscal year 2015 defense spending bill.
The White House opposes language in the House Armed Services Committee's fiscal year 2015 defense authorization bill that would give the Army and Air National Guard Bureau chiefs the authority to choose directors and deputy directors, according to a May 19 statement of administration policy.
Army sustainment and logistics operations must adapt to serve a leaner and more agile force, which will be no easy task, according to the service's vice chief of staff.
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) is sponsoring an amendment to the House fiscal year 2015 defense authorization bill that recommends the Army upgrade the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter despite the service's plans to divest the aircraft.
House authorizers want to give the National Guard Bureau chief the authority to pick Army National Guard and Air National Guard directors and deputy directors, according to the panel's version of the fiscal year 2015 defense authorization bill.
NASHVILLE, TN -- The Army National Guard is developing an implementation plan for the Army's controversial aviation restructure that will likely be 90 percent in place by the end of the month, according to Guard officials, who said they expect turbulence as the strategy begins to emerge.