Thursday, May 9, 2024
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 and Navy officials who participated in a roundtable discussion last week that mulled the future of Army forces in the Asia Pacific all agreed on the same basic point: the United States should not create a second Marine Corps.
The Army has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems and BAE Systems contracts totaling $340 million to extend the technology development phase of the Ground Combat Vehicle by six months, according to a Defense Department notice.
The Army is seeking $130 billion in base budget funding for fiscal year 2014 -- $5 billion less than requested in FY-13, according to internal budget documents obtained by InsideDefense.com.
Oshkosh Corp. announced today that its defense division will be laying off nearly 1,000 workers this summer due to expected decreases in military vehicle sales.
The Congressional Budget Office, in a new report on alternatives to the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle program, concludes that every option open to the service -- buying off-the-shelf vehicles from foreign allies, upgrading Bradley infantry carriers and killing the GCV altogether -- is less risky and more affordable than the Army's current path.
The Army has released a draft request for proposals outlining a new acquisition strategy for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle that calls for proceeding with a single engineering and manufacturing development contract as a cost-saving measure.
The Army in June will launch a pilot capability portfolio review process centered on eliminating infantry brigade combat team redundancies, a departure from previous reviews' focus on mission areas like precision fires or intelligence, according a senior service leader.
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.
Army leaders have sent out a service-wide message urging soldiers and civilians to remain focused on their missions and preserve their “espirt de corps” despite the $18 billion fiscal crisis barreling toward them.
The Defense Department issued additional budget guidance today that promises strict travel policy enforcement; plans to cease all military flyovers; reduces military tuition assistance; and curtails participation in all non-DOD events, according to an internal Pentagon memo obtained by InsideDefense.com.
The Defense Department announced today that Germany-based elements of the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team will relocate within Germany and to Italy in summer 2013, and also detailed a number of units that will be inactivated and returned to the United States by 2015.
The Army's top budget planners today said the service would begin feeling the pain of a "6-6-6" funding crisis in April, pushing back against suggestions that the Defense Department is overstating the impact of billions of dollars in sequestration cuts.
Lockheed Martin recently demonstrated the ability of its Direct Attack Guided Rocket to launch from its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, according to a company statement.
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL -- The Army has crafted a new modernization strategy to account for billions of dollars in budget cuts that would be forced by sequestration, according to a top service official.
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL -- The Army general tasked with supervising the return of billions of dollars in equipment from Afghanistan said today that sequestration threatens to delay the service's plans to exit the country.
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL -- The Army has given Congress a state-by-state accounting of what $15.35 billion in sequestration cuts are expected to mean -- including the loss of more than 300,000 jobs.
FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA -- The smaller trade floor footprint and the shrunken attendance at the Association of the United States Army's Winter Symposium here show clearly that times -- and budgets -- have changed.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said today that the Army would have to begin closing bases if it is made to bear the full brunt of sequestration.
Lt. Gen. John Campbell has been nominated to become the Army's next vice chief of staff. Campbell is the Army's deputy chief of staff, G-3/5/7.
Every Army procurement program is poised for cuts of up to 15 percent under sequestration, which would impact more than 1,000 companies in more than 40 states and "shock" communities around the country, according to a service "talking points" memo obtained by InsideDefense.com.