AUSA: Hollywood gives us the idea that US troops control their weapons with the latest video game-style graphics in glorious, full-color 3D. The reality is more like Pong — only with life and death at stake.
The mainstays of the modern Army, like the M1 tank or the Patriot missile, were introduced in the 1980s back when Atari cartridges were cool. While their electronics have … (read more)
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has picked Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to continue on the path to develop a next-generation air and missile defense radar following a concept design phase that looked at four different companies’ technology, according to company representatives.
A year ago, the Department of Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium awarded contracts to four companies to come up with designs to help inform the Army’s requirements for the Patriot AMD radar replacement. Because of their previous involvement, it came as no shock both Raytheon and Lockheed received contracts for … (read more)
Spurred in part by Russia’s campaign of hybrid warfare in Ukraine, the Pentagon will purchase more electronic warfare equipment, a move that could lead to consolidation in the cybersecurity industry, an analyst said in a new report.
Russia’s use of electronic warfare combined with conventional combat tactics during its 2015 invasion of Ukraine exposed how the Department of Defense needed to … (read more)
WASHINGTON— The U.S. State Department has ok’d a package of potential sales for South Korea, including six P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft and 64 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles.
The P-8 deal has a potential price tag of $2.1 billion, while the Patriot weapons could cost $501 million, a $2.6 billion overall deal for American military contractors.
The potential sales were announced by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Sept. 13. All DSCA notification are not final; if cleared by the … (read more)
WASHINGTON— The U.S. has sold more weapons to other nations in the first half of fiscal year 2018 than it did in all of fiscal year 2017. Is that sustainable?
It is if you ask a top State Department official, “I would anticipate—I am an optimist and a realist—that next year’s numbers will be higher … (read more)
The Marine Corps is investing money into a variety of new unmanned aerial vehicles, ranging from large systems that can be flown off of amphibious vessels to tiny quadcopters that can fit in the pockets of dismounted troops.
One of the service’s most high-profile efforts is known as the Marine Air-Ground Task Force UAS Expeditionary — or MUX — maritime drone. The service envisions using the platform in austere conditions on both land and water, said Col. James Frey, branch head of unmanned aerial systems at the Marine Corps’ office of aviation, weapons and requirements.
The UAV — which could be the size of a group 5 system, which include large platforms like … (read more)
WASHINGTON — While the U.S. Army has been working to qualify a Virginia-based company’s active protection system for the Stryker combat vehicle, it is also in the process of evaluating several additional APS solutions for the platform beginning in November.
“The Army will be executing a fourth non-developmental APS system evaluation,” Army spokeswoman Ashley Givens told Defense News in a recent statement. The evaluation will be … (read more)
FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom — Raytheon is nearing an agreement with the Defense Department to build a new weapon that can travel at speeds greater than Mach 5, a company executive said July 18.
The contractor was recently selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to create the next tactical boost glide system, said Tom Bussing, Raytheon’s vice president for advanced missile systems. “We’re in negotiations with them now … [and] we hope to be on contract here in the next several months,” he said during a meeting with reporters at the Farnborough International Airshow.
Alarmed by Chinese and Russian efforts to acquire their own capabilities, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin has made developing these … (read more)
This week, I have traveled to the United Kingdom, along with colleagues from the White House and the U.S. departments of State, Commerce and Defense, as the official U.S. delegation attending the Farnborough International Airshow, one of the world’s largest international defense and aerospace exhibitions. This year’s show will highlight the 100th anniversary of the British Royal Air Force, as well as the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, a particularly relevant opportunity for government … (read more)
While commercial drone delivery services max out most payloads at less than 40 pounds, the Marine Corps is asking for a much larger, more powerful autonomous drone delivery system capable of carrying as much as 500 pounds to Marines at least 10 km away.
A recent request for information posting on the government website FBO.gov by the Marine Corps’ Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons wants the drone delivery vehicle to … (read more)
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