Wednesday, May 8, 2024
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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.
The Defense Department recently sent congressional defense committees a $47 million Army reprogramming request that would start the service's Mid-Tier Networking Vehicular Radio program, which is intended to replace the terminated Ground Mobile Radio.
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has again waded into the tempestuous debate surrounding the Army's Abrams tank industrial base, saying today that lawmakers on his committee sought to strike a balance between funding what the service wants and what industry needs.
A second Senate hold surfaced today on Heidi Shyu's nomination to become the Army's next acquisition executive, according to a published report.
The Army's new tentative date to pick up to three contractors to proceed in the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle competition the service is pursuing with the Marine Corps is Aug. 24, although the schedule is still subject to change, according to several industry teams anxiously awaiting a decision.
The Army is eying plans to reprogram nearly half of its budget for the on-the-move network backbone system known as Warfighter Information Network Tactical Increment 2, a move that might signal a larger shift in the service's equipping strategy, according to officials.
The Army's plans to downsize its number of heavy brigade combat teams, coupled with the Defense Department's new Asia-Pacific strategy, could weaken the service's case for a new Ground Combat Vehicle or at least lower the required quantity, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee has authorized nearly $400 million in unrequested funding increases to programs in the Army's heavy combat vehicle portfolio against the wishes of the service, according to officials and documents.
More than 170 members of the House of Representatives have signed a bipartisan letter sent to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta asking that he work with Congress to sustain Abrams tank production in the fiscal year 2013 budget.
The Army is drafting a plan to accelerate the acquisition of the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle, eying the release of a request for proposals as much as a year earlier than previously planned in a bid to expedite the modernization of the M113 fleet for the service's heavy brigade combat teams, acco
One of the Army's chief modernizers said today he expects the service will soon approve the earliest initiatives to emerge from the ongoing “force mix/force design” study expected to significantly impact the future of the ground force.
AM General, the armored vehicle contractor poised to suffer most should it lose the contract for the Army-Marine Corps Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, announced today it had submitted a second, independent bid for the program.
BAE Systems shook the defense industry today when, on the eve of the deadline to enter the Army-Marine Corps Joint Light Tactical Vehicle contest, the company announced its team would begin a relationship with Ford Motor. Co. with an eye toward the future.
Navistar Defense will be flying solo in its bid for the Army-Marine Corps Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, separating from its former partner on the project, BAE Systems, InsideDefense.com has learned.
The Army's chief of programs this morning sought to assuage concerned industry officials who fear that the service's declining resources will sap the nation's defense industrial base.
Abrams tank contractor General Dynamics Land Systems is pitching a proposal on Capitol Hill that calls for lawmakers to insert more than $180 million in unrequested funding into the Army's fiscal year 2013 budget to protect industrial capacity at a plant in Lima, OH, though the service does not want it, InsideDefense.com has learned.
The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments today released a report on the future challenges in military vehicle modernization, recommending that the Army and Marine Corps find ways to make do amid an environment of fiscal austerity.
Unlike many lawmakers from both parties on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the panel's ranking member, isn't outright hostile to the Army's proposed procurement holiday for the Abrams tank, Stryker and Bradley Fighting Vehicle programs, though he said today that he would like to strike a balance to preserve core industrial base capabilities.
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL -- Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said this week that while current plans call for the service to eliminate eight brigade combat teams, leaving a total of 37, officials are discussing the possibility of cutting the number of BCTs to as few as 32.
The Army issued a sources-sought notice today for a single-channel, vehicle-mounted radio capable of running the Soldier Radio Waveform, the service's first procurement action resulting from its Network Integration Evaluation and the so-called "Agile Process."
A California congressman is upset that the schedule for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program won't be changed to accommodate a bid by Ford Motor Co., a subject he may broach with Army leaders on Friday.