Thursday, April 25, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Key Issues Optical clocks Prototype funding SPAFORGEN
This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has coverage of the AUSA convention and more.
The Army's top civilian spoke this week during the Association of the United States Army's annual convention:
Wormuth: Army must 'ruthlessly prioritize' to avoid becoming a 'bill-payer' for other services
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth this week acknowledged the tensions between the Army and other the U.S. military services as the Pentagon is structuring its multiyear budget strategy, especially since deterring the "pacing threat" of China means accepting geographic realities in the Indo-Pacific region.
More from AUSA:
Pentagon's CTO creating new positions to improve software and sustainment
The Pentagon’s chief technology officer announced this week she is creating two new positions in her office to improve the Defense Department’s software and technology sustainment.
Army plans to spend $16B modernizing organic industrial base
The Army intends to spend around $16 billion over the next five years to modernize all its depots, arsenals and ammunition plants as the service shifts its logistics posture to compete more directly with China, according to a senior official.
Army aims for flexibility with Common Tactical Truck requirements, could use diesel rather than jet fuel
The Army might consider relaxing some of its tactical vehicle requirements, including the use of diesel fuel, to maintain commonality between commercial systems and the upcoming Common Tactical Truck, service officials told Inside Defense in an Oct. 6 interview.
Army plans OTAs for wheeled 155 mm howitzer development
The Army intends to award other transaction agreements for the prototyping of a next-generation 155 mm truck-mounted mobile howitzer that fills the role of the M777 towed howitzer, according to a pair of Oct. 7 notices from the Army’s program office for towed artillery systems.
GM Defense to display all-electric and gun carrier ISV variants at AUSA
GM Defense will display two potential variants of its Infantry Squad Vehicle at its booth at the Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, which begins today: a heavy machine gun carrier and a fully electric model.
Army RCV experiment to include General Dynamics prototypes
Four prototypes of the Robotic Combat Vehicle-Medium from General Dynamics Land Systems will participate in a soldier operational experiment at Ft. Hood, TX, next year, a spokesman for the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team told Inside Defense Oct. 5.
Raytheon to unveil new medium-range air and missile radar optimized to support NASAMS missile
Raytheon Technologies has developed a new medium-range radar optimized to support the full reach of the NASAMS missile, offering users of the ground-based air defense system a detection range greater than the Sentinel radar by drawing on technology developed for the Army’s Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor.
Moving on to F-35 Joint Strike Fighter news:
Pratt & Whitney targets 36% cost reduction on first F135 scheduled maintenance visit
The F-35 program is approaching its first wave of scheduled engine maintenance in 2023, and in preparation, engine-maker Pratt & Whitney is readying its architecture and processes for what the company views as a test of whether the engine sustainment enterprise is positioned to maintain readiness as it takes on additional workload.
The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments has released a new report on Future Vertical Lift:
CSBA: FVL programs need new cost projection methods due to open architectures
The Modular Open Systems Architecture the Army is developing alongside its new Future Vertical Lift manned aircraft might require changes to current cost projection methods, according to a new report from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
The Navy's top civilian recently issued his first strategic guidance:
Del Toro's strategic guidance warns of China threat, supports modernization
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro echoed familiar themes in his first strategic guidance released today, identifying countering China as the service’s top priority while also stating he is focused on improving the Navy’s culture and working to address climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Document: SECNAV's strategic guidance