Inside the Army highlights

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

1. The Army is establishing a project office headed by a two-star general for hypersonic weapon development at Redstone Arsenal, AL, marking the latest advancement by the U.S. military in the race against China and Russia to develop and field a family of ultra-fast, maneuvering warheads.

Full story: Army standing up hypersonic project office to be led by two-star

2. The Army is using a new rapid prototyping and fielding, "middle-tier acquisition," authority granted by Congress to procure prototypes for its designated replacement for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, called the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle.

Full story: Army using section 804 authority for Bradley replacement

3. The Army's fiscal year 2020 budget will propose canceling, reducing or consolidating at least $25 billion in expenses across the Pentagon's new five-year spending plan to realign the service's weapon system modernization portfolio with the Trump administration's National Defense Strategy and emphasize investments in "next-generation" capabilities.

Full story: Esper: Army canceling, reducing, consolidating at least $25B across investment accounts

4. The Army has a new plan for the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor program that would accelerate initial fielding by four years to 2023, a revised schedule that addresses congressional concerns about the program and quickens competition between Lockheed Martin and Raytheon which were both tapped for the next phase of the Patriot radar modernization project.

Full story: Army to accelerate LTAMDS, pulling target fielding from 2027 to 2023