Friday, September 29, 2023
Key Issues SAR on SM-6 SAR on MPF SAR on F-15EX
Tony Bertuca is chief editor of Inside the Pentagon, the flagship publication of InsideDefense, where he focuses on defense budget and acquisition policy. He previously worked for the Sun-Times News Group in his hometown of Chicago, IL, and at the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, NH. Tony has also served as managing editor of Inside the Army. He has a master's degree in journalism from Boston University.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno acknowledged today that the service is incurring risk in its new Ground Combat Vehicle strategy, which calls for picking a single contractor earlier than initially planned, though he remains confident the program will be successful.
Defense leaders have significantly altered the course and cost of the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle program, deciding this week to down-select to only one contractor in the second phase of the program, extend the current development phase by six months, and delay a production decision until fiscal year 2019, according to internal memos obtained by InsideDefense.com.
The Army has issued guidance on how to reduce spending to mitigate "significant budgetary uncertainty in the coming months," according to a memo signed today by the Army secretary and chief of staff.
The Pentagon's top weapons testers think the safety of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle is suspect after two underbody blast tests conducted in September revealed "severe vehicle and occupant vulnerabilities," according to a new Defense Department report sent to Congress.
The research arm of Congress is suggesting that lawmakers should seek answers regarding international participation in the Army-Marine Corps Joint Light Tactical Vehicle since Australia and other nations have yet to embrace the program.
Army Training and Doctrine Command has scheduled a war game for February aimed at addressing the service's future power-projection challenges, according to a TRADOC commander who today cautioned that the Army's new expeditionary focus should not be interpreted as competition for the Marine Corps.
Army Training and Doctrine Command released the service's new capstone concept today, laying the ground work for transitioning the Army's focus from winning two wars toward the future and becoming a more expeditionary force.
The Army's Ground Combat Vehicle development is poised to be hit by massive budget cuts that could radically transform it from one of the service's most prized modernization efforts to an endangered program, Inside the Army has learned.
Despite the gridlock afflicting Capitol Hill, Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Bob Casey (D-PA) have cast partisanship aside on at least one issue: protecting defense jobs in their home state.
BAE Systems has launched a robust public relations effort to champion its hybrid-electric Ground Combat Vehicle design in the wake of a recent Congressional Budget Office report that said the Army's GCV program faced an array of challenges driving vehicle weight and cost.
As top Pentagon officials continue to discuss how to cut the cost to develop the Army's multibillion-dollar Ground Combat Vehicle, the Congressional Budget Office has released a report highlighting a variety of challenges facing the program -- singling out the nascent technology associated with active protection systems.
After a few false starts and re-boots, the Army will soon begin fielding Nett Warrior radios -- smartphone-like communications devices -- to soldiers set to deploy to Afghanistan.
The military vehicle industry showcased an array of autonomous and robotic technology at the recent annual meeting of Association of the United States Army, asserting that designs have matured to the point where they can be fielded or kitted on existing systems.
The Army and Marine Corps are compiling a study to determine the future of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle fleet, with findings expected to be presented to service leaders for approval in December, according to the director of the MRAP program office.
While great uncertainty continues to surround the issue of sequestration, the Army's program executive officer for ground combat systems said last week that the weapon systems under his purview might weather serious budget cuts better than others.
The Pentagon's weapons testing chief is pushing back against assertions made by an Army radio contractor who has claimed his product wasn't properly evaluated at the service's biannual Network Integration Evaluation, according to a memo being circulated on Capitol Hill.
The Army last week converted the first flat-bottomed Stryker into a double-V hull configuration, kicking off its pilot exchange program, the service announced.
The Defense Department has approved the two-channel Manpack radio made by General Dynamics C4 Systems for low-rate initial production after validating that previously identified flaws have been fixed, according to an internal Pentagon memo signed by the DOD's acquisition chief.
The Army announced last week that the Joint Tactical Radio System program had been officially closed and that the new Joint Tactical Networking Center was open for business.
As Vice President Joe Biden and a host of Defense Department acquisition officials gathered at the Pentagon this week to celebrate the official end of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle production, questions continued to swirl around whether the $45 billion spent on the vehicles was truly worth it.