Inside the Army highlights

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

1. The Army announced late last week it will not move forward with testing an American-made, non-developmental active protection system on the Stryker vehicle and will instead seek new alternatives.

Full story: Army drops Iron Curtain APS, considering others for November demo

2. Army Secretary Mark Esper has directed the service to accelerate the Next Generation Combat Vehicle program, establishing a two-pronged project to immediately launch a major competition to replace the Bradley fleet with NGCV optionally manned fighting vehicles, while also establishing an NGCV robotic combat vehicle project to mature technologies for future platforms.

Full story: Army accelerates NGCV, planning draft RFP for October

3. The Army will soon issue a solicitation for Future Attack Recon Aircraft concept designs, according to a service program manager.

Full story: Army official: Future Attack Recon Aircraft final solicitation out soon

4. Army Futures Command, which was activated late last week during a ceremony in Austin, TX, will cost roughly $80 million to $100 million per year to operate and will manage a portfolio worth $30 billion to $50 billion, according to Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.

Full story: Milley: Army Futures Command to oversee $30 billion to $50 billion