DefenseNews

US Army awards $1.5B to boost global production of artillery rounds

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army said it awarded $1.5 billion in contracts to nine companies in the U.S., Canada, India and Poland to boost global production of 155mm artillery rounds. Over the last two weeks in September, the service finalized a flurry of contracts that “resourced each major component, material or required production process to maintain momentum for the goal of 80,000 projectiles…
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DefenseNews

Electronic warfare training is headed to an Army school near you

Future Army ground unit commanders will have nearly instant, possibly deadly, feedback on whether they followed the right steps or if they revealed themselves on the electronic battlefield. That’s the message that the commanding general over the Army’s Cyber Center of Excellence has for current and incoming maneuver unit leaders. “If you remember nothing else, remember 8 minutes,” said…
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DefenseNews

Can the US Navy save money by accepting the LCS as a sunk cost?

WASHINGTON — It’s been called an “entirely new breed of U.S. Navy warship” and a “lemon.” A “mothership” for unmanned systems and “the wrong ship at the wrong time.” A cornerstone of the Navy’s “transformation” and the “little crappy ship.” This…
DefenseNews

Army accepts delayed next-gen engine for future attack recon aircraft

WASHINGTON — The Army has accepted the first of its long-delayed next-generation engine, which is set to power the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft as well as AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, the service announced Oct. 4. The second T901 engine for the Improved Turbine Engine Program is still going through the acceptance process and will be delivered to the two…
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DefenseNews

Wittman says patience wearing thin on F-35 sustainment plan

WASHINGTON — A leading House lawmaker wants to see some hard details — and soon — from the F-35 Joint Program Office about how it plans to fix the jet fighter’s long-lagging availability rates. And Rep. Rob Wittman’s patience with the JPO on the fighter’s low…
DefenseNews

Defense Innovation Unit seeks modular test system to scale drone tech

WASHINGTON — As the Pentagon prepares to field thousands of autonomous systems in the coming years, its commercial innovation hub is seeking a modular test platform that it could use to validate payloads, sensors and other technology. The Defense Innovation Unit wants a system that could be ready for its first flight test within seven months, reach a range of 500 nautical miles (926 kilometers)…
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