Inside the Army highlights

Some must-reads from this week's edition of Inside the Army:

1. The Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center seeks to use other transaction authority for three alternative fuel projects, two of which will leverage the Next Generation Combat Vehicle platforms for experimentation.

Full story: Army considering future electric vehicles based on NGCV

2. Senate lawmakers want to give Defense Secretary Jim Mattis authorization for a major roles and missions review that could result in tectonic shifts at the Pentagon, but former senior defense officials say it's not as simple as it sounds, especially if senior leaders aren't on board.

Full story: Senate policy bill triggers doubt that DOD will wrestle with roles and missions review

3. Congressional investigators have uncovered new costs associated with the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program that would bring the running tab for the acquisition of long-range, guided-missile interceptors to $67 billion, 63 percent higher than the Missile Defense Agency's $41 billion estimate.

Full story: GAO: True cost of GMD program 63 percent higher than MDA estimate

4. The Missile Defense Agency's program of record for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system is $10 billion short of what the Army says it needs to defend troops around the world, a sore point that foiled negotiations last year between MDA and the Army over transferring responsibility for THAAD to the service.

Full story: GAO: MDA balks at Army request for additional $10B to meet THAAD need