Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Sebastian Sprenger was the chief editor of Inside the Army until May 2016, where he primarily reported on land warfare and associated budgets, policies and technologies. A native of Siegen, Germany, he got is start in journalism at the now-defunct Westfälische Rundschau in Kreuztal. He studied at Universität Trier and elsewhere.
The Defense Department is reevaluating plans to restart a demonstration in October of a large blimp designed to watch for incoming cruise missiles, according to the Obama administration's nominee to lead U.S. Northern Command.
A panel of House lawmakers is urging the Army to examine the utility of employing more powerful missiles for both air defense and strike missions.
New legislation proposed by the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee aims to restrict funding for the Patriot antimissile system in fiscal year 2017 until key issues related to system compatibility and the acquisition strategy are resolved.
While defense leaders agree that new thinking is needed to win the increasingly costly global missile-defense race, details of a new shot doctrine, dubbed "left-of-launch," were left out of a public hearing on the issue last week.
U.S. government dignitaries have been instructed to stay out of Afghanistan during the summer months.
Lawmakers can expect to review an analysis of alternatives about Army plans to modernize its lower-tier air-defense radars, an elusive study expected to guide billions of dollars in future investments, according to a key service official.
Despite schedule delays documented in a recent report to lawmakers, the Army believes the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle will be available for soldiers and Marines years earlier than initially planned.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley threw in a new argument for decreasing the size of forward-deployed headquarters units last week, saying their electromagnetic signature makes them vulnerable to attack.
A key Army panel is slated to discuss the costs for upgrading the venerable Patriot system's radar this week, as proposed near-term investments exceeding $1.5 billion on the legacy technology raise questions about the service's commitment to finding a replacement.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley presented senators with a mixed assessment of the service's Distributed Common Ground System, saying it works "reasonably well" at the division level, but less so during tactical battlefield operations.
The Army is expected to decide later this year about the rapid fielding of commercially available vehicle active protection systems, as the service examines four candidate technologies from the United States, Israel and Germany, according to service officials.
The Government Accountability Office has warned in a new report that the Paladin howitzer program could increase in cost because the Army is buying the weapons before they are fully tested.
With a new $50 million contract in hand to help the Army make its vehicles lighter, the president of aluminum giant Alcoa's defense business says the service is facing some key decisions for the way ahead.
Government Accountability Office auditors have pointed to software and tooling as two areas of risk for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle program schedule, but manufacturer BAE Systems says initial production will go ahead as planned this spring.
Army officials have begun a series of tests to determine the performance of various missiles that could function as interceptors under the service's Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2-Intercept program, the service has announced.
While Army officials have publicly described proposals by the National Commission on the Future of the Army as thoughtful and well-intentioned, the price tag associated with implementing the more capital-intensive recommendations could test the polite talk exchanged so far.
Though Congress is blocking the reprise of a controversial missile-defense blimp this fiscal year, the Army still hopes to get a second shot at the program come October.
The Army may be looking for an eventual replacement of its Patriot sensors, but that time is considered so far in the future that modernization investments for the legacy equipment are due sooner, a senior official said.
Some must-reads from this week's issue of Inside the Army.
Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA) has asked the House Appropriations defense subcommittee to increase funding for the Army's Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, which is in line for cuts under service plans for fiscal year 2017.