Saturday, May 11, 2024
Bell Helicopter unveiled its tiltrotor helicopter design -- the V-280 Valor -- that it submitted last month to the Army's Joint Multi-Role technology demonstrator competition, according to company briefing slides released today.
The Army has zeroed out funding to procure new AH-64E Apache Guardian helicopters in its fiscal year 2014 budget request, choosing instead to pursue only remanufactured variants in keeping with its new equipment modernization strategy, according to internal documents obtained by InsideDefense.com.
The Army plans to convene an "early retirement board" in August to tap many of the service's colonels and lieutenant colonels for involuntary retirement, according to an internal message from Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno and Army Secretary John McHugh.
The Army has delivered to congressional committees what it believes will be its last report outlining corrective actions taken to prevent the Patriot Missile Defense System from contributing to fratricide following incidents during Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to an Army spokesman.
The Army approved a recertification of the Raytheon-made Patriot Air and Missile Defense System that will extend the system's life by 15 years and make upgrades to the system less expensive, according to a Raytheon statement today.
Program officials for the Army's AH-64E Guardian Apache helicopter are working to address operator concerns with the aircraft's new transmission design, but a new design might be needed, the Government Accountability Office states in a new report on selected weapon acquisition programs.
The Army is on track to reach its efficiency goals it set out to achieve from fiscal years 2012 through 2016, a direct result of the service's capability portfolio reviews, according to an Army spokesman.
Industry submitted at least four proposals to the Army for a chance to build a Joint Multi-Role technology demonstrator air vehicle that will guide possible designs and concepts for the service's Future Vertical Lift helicopter expected to take flight around 2035, according to company sources.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) picked out the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle today as an example of the Defense Department's failure to pull the plug on foundering programs before making substantial investments.
The Army has a $93 million shortfall in funding that prevents it from shuttering European bases already slated for closure as a cost saving measure because Congress has yet to pass a fiscal year 2013 spending bill, according to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno.
The Army has canceled plans to buy newly built AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters over the next five years, pushing their acquisition beyond fiscal year 2018 and exacerbating a shortfall in the service's combat helicopter force structure.
The Army has drafted a new equipment modernization strategy focused on developing "versatile, tailorable, yet affordable and cost-effective" capabilities for a time of fiscal austerity.
While the Army is accepting proposals from industry to build technology demonstrator aircraft for a future vertical lift helicopter, the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is asking industry for design proposals for a dramatically faster, more efficient vertical-takeoff-and-landing experimental aircraft.
Sikorsky and Boeing will submit a design proposal for the Army's Joint Multi-Role technology demonstration air vehicle that is centered on Sikorsky's X2 Technology, the companies said today.
After some difficulty last year in working with leaders of two Pakistani fertilizer factories, which produce most of the ammonium nitrate used by insurgents to make homemade explosive devices in Afghanistan, the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization is reporting progress in the factories' effort to curb the flow of the substance into IED-making networks, according to JIEDDO's director.
The Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System has shown in recent tests that it can detect and track tactical ballistic missiles during the ascent phase, according to the JLENS program director for prime contractor Raytheon, which conducted the testing.
While Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Loyd Austin did not provide specifics in terms of appropriate troop levels for both American and Afghan forces following the 2014 drawdown, he pledged to push for a force size that would accomplish the U.S. military's objectives if he is appointed to be the next head of U.S. Central Command.
The Army's behemoth hybrid airship -- the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle -- has been terminated, according to service and congressional sources.
After years of rapidly procuring a plethora of ground robots to help soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has determined it will keep approximately half of what it has purchased while divesting the other half, according to the Army's G-8 force development director.
The Army will base a Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, for the next several years, according to defense officials.