The Insider

A Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptor successfully shot down a tactical ballistic missile target during a test today at White Sands Missile Range, NM, according to statements from contractors Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.

Raytheon is the prime contractor for the PAC-3 MSE program; Lockheed builds the interceptor.

"The combat-proven Patriot system, upgraded with a suite of improvements collectively known as Post-Deployment Build 8 (PDB-8), successfully detected, tracked and engaged a threat-representative ballistic missile target in a March 17 test. It then destroyed the target by first firing a PAC-3 MSE interceptor and, seconds later, a GEM-T interceptor," a Raytheon statement reads.

Ralph Acaba, vice president of Raytheon's Integrated Air and Missile Defense unit, said in the statement: "This latest test ensures the 13-nation-strong Patriot partnership will have an enhanced ability to use different interceptors in the PDB-8 configuration to defend against a broad spectrum of threats."

Representatives from seven of the 13 Patriot partner nations were on hand to witness the intercept along with delegations from Poland and Sweden, according to Raytheon.

"The PAC-3 MSE continues to demonstrate its reliability and hit-to-kill capability," Scott Arnold, vice president of PAC-3 programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said in a separate statement, adding: "The enhancements of the MSE will provide the warfighter with the tools needed to defend against current and evolving threats."

Inside the Army reported this week that Lockheed has seen its missile-defense business fortunes on the rise in Europe:

U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin, along with its partner MBDA Germany, hopes to sign a contract for the Medium Extended Air Defense System with Berlin this year, as Poland also is showing renewed interest in the technology, according to company officials.

The German government selected the program for its lower-tier, air-defense investment, the Taktisches Luftverteidigungssystem, or TLVS, last year. Contract negotiations for the $4.5 billion deal to finish development and produce the systems have been ongoing since then.

Germany's armed forces want to divest their aging Patriot inventory in exchange for an open-architecture, 360-degree-capable system. The MEADS program was specifically designed by the United States, Germany and Italy as a Patriot replacement, including with those features.

The co-development trio began breaking apart in 2011, however, when then-acquisition chief Ash Carter decided to leave the program after the development phase, citing delays and cost overruns. While a rebirth of the program is in store for Germany, and potentially other European countries, there appears to be no coherent effort within the U.S. military to give the system as a whole a second look.

The Army, unlike the Office of the Secretary of Defense, has long loathed MEADS because it meant a challenge to Patriot. The decades-old system has nurtured a generation of faithful followers within the service, making the program almost synonymous in Army circles with the discipline of missile defense itself.

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest highlights news from a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing this morning and more.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee this morning, talking about creating a national nuclear deterrence fund:

Carter supports creation of national nuclear deterrence fund

Defense Secretary Ash Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee he would favor the creation of a national nuclear deterrence fund to address the Defense Department's coming "bow wave" of triad modernization expenses.

A now-former United Launch Alliance executive has stirred up a hornet's nest on Capitol Hill:

McCain wants Carter to investigate 'disturbing comments' from ULA exec

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) wants Defense Secretary Ash Carter to investigate comments made by a former executive from the United Launch Alliance, who resigned this week after making controversial statements implying the government had gone out of its way to favor ULA over its competitor SpaceX.

Document: Senate hearing on DOD's FY-17 budget request

Air Force officials recently outlined the possible cost of replacing the service's nuclear convoy helicopters:

Huey replacement program could cost $1.4 billion for 41 helicopters

The recapitalization effort for the Air Force's nuclear convoy helicopters would cost $1.4 billion, Air Force officials confirmed Wednesday.

Continuing our coverage of the AUSA conference in Alabama:

Army hopes that better business practices can fund greater force readiness

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- The Army is focused on maintaining and building readiness, and will seek to increase efficiency to help fund this effort, according to the service's acting secretary.

The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke recently at the McAleese/Credit Suisse conference. Our coverage:

Selva: Best case for saving money is targeting duplication in DOD

The Pentagon needs to target duplication of effort and forgo some capabilities it may like to have in an aim to help save money, according to the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Selva: DOD needs to focus on integrating EW tools across joint force

The Pentagon needs to focus on integrating electronic warfare tools across the joint force, according to the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Keep an eye out for a DARPA program on getting industry to come up with commercially available technologies that could be used to threaten the military:

DARPA seeks input for program using commercially available technologies

The Pentagon's advanced research arm seeks industry input for a program designed to use commercially available technologies to threaten military operations and personnel, according to a recent notice.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter is testifying this morning on his department's fiscal year 2017 budget request.

Here's an excerpt from his prepared testimony:

In this budget, we're taking the long view.  We have to, because even as we fight today's fights, we must also be prepared for what might come 10, 20, or 30 years down the road. Last fall's Bipartisan Budget Act gave us some much-needed stability after years of gridlock and turbulence, and I want to thank you and your colleagues for coming together to help pass it. That budget deal set the size of our budget, and with this degree of certainty we focused on its shape -- changing that shape in fundamental but carefully considered ways to adjust to a new strategic era, and to seize opportunities for the future.

To check out his spoken and prepared remarks in full, click here.

The Pentagon recently sent Congress a package of legislative proposals, some of which lay detailed ground work for a new round of base realignments and closures, as well as seek exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act concerning military doctrine and tactics.

Jamie Morin, the Pentagon's director of cost assessment and program evaluation, said last week the Defense Department could reap as much as 25 percent savings in some mission areas if it were given the authority by Congress to cut excess facilities and infrastructure.

“It's not a popular answer, but base realignment and closure is an important piece of this,” he said during a panel discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“When I worked for the Air Force, our walking-around, rough-order estimate was it took 800 to 900 airmen to open a base, before you had any operational folks there,” he continued.

Many in Congress, however, are staunchly opposed to another round of base realignments and closures, known as BRAC, after a 2005 effort yielded little or no savings.

Morin stressed that DOD was unsatisfied with the 2005 BRAC.

“A future BRAC round would have a much different financial ramification,” he said. “Even though the 2005 BRAC round is now paying off for the department financially, it was a much smaller scale of closure and large scale realignment than the previous rounds, which yielded much larger financial savings earlier.”

Meanwhile, a different provision in the legislative proposal package DOD sent to Congress asks for FOIA exemptions for military “tactics, techniques and procedures related to the rule of engagement” that are unclassified, but categorized as sensitive.

The provision is focused on “the public disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to risk impairment of the effective operation of Department of Defense by providing an advantage to an adversary or potential adversary,” according to the proposal language.

Accenture Federal said today that retired Army Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, the first woman to serve as military surgeon general, will lead its defense health practice.

Horoho, who spent 33 years with the Army, was also commanding general of Army Medical Command. She retired in December and will begin at Accenture on April 6.

Vectrus announced this week that 2015 sales dipped to just shy of $1.2 billion, down about 2 percent from last year.

But the contractor reported profit of nearly $31 million, up from $22.8 million in 2014.

Ken Hunzeker, Vectrus' chief executive, said in a call with analysts this morning that 2015 was "an important and defining year for Vectrus."

He said he sees the contractor as well positioned in high-priority areas for the military.

Lockheed Martin said today it has combined its energy products and technologies into a single commercial line of business called Lockheed Martin Energy.

The new business will be led by Frank Armijo, newly appointed vice president of the unit. He previously served in other Lockheed leadership roles in energy, technology integration, strategy and business development.

The new business, the contractor said, will include energy management systems, energy storage systems, nuclear systems, ocean technologies and bioenergy.

Lockheed said the integration effort began last year. The new unit is based in Grand Prairie, TX, and has close to 1,000 employees. It's housed under Lockheed's missiles and fire control business.