DefenseNews

National Museum Dedicated to Army Debuts on Veterans Day

A marker commemorating the service of Sgt. William Carney, a former slave who served in the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry Regiment and became the first African American Medal of Honor recipient, is displayed outside the new National Museum of the United States Army on Nov. 10, 2020, in Fort Belvoir, Va. (AP Photo/Matthew Barakat) FORT BELVOIR, Virginia — A sword from the defense of…
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DefenseNews

Congress clashes with Army over purchasing cargo helicopters

WASHINGTON — For the second year in a row, Congress is poised to bolster the CH-47F Chinook Block II program as the Army holds steady on its decision to scale back and only buy the latest variant for special operators. Both the House and Senate appropriators are…
DefenseNews

Senate appropriators add F-35s to defense budget, but there are strings attached

WASHINGTON — The Senate wants to spend an additional $1.7 billion to buy 17 more F-35 fighter jets for the military in fiscal 2021. The Senate Appropriations Committee’s $696 billion defense spending bill, which was released Nov. 10, would add 12 F-35As for the Air Force and five F-35Cs for the Navy and Marine Corps for a total of 96 jets in FY21. That’s five more than House appropriators…
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DefenseNews

US Army floats the option of fielding high-altitude balloons

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is now carving out a path to field high-altitude balloons to provide an additional but less expensive layer of communications, connectivity, range extension and surveillance capabilities, adding resiliency to the service’s existing architecture of space assets and aircraft supporting multidomain operations. Recent tests and experiments with high-altitude balloons…
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DefenseNews

Army Head Coach Monken: COVID Won't Shut Down Team

FILE – Army head coach Jeff Monken watches in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sept. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File) Even as Army head coach Jeff Monken disputes the COVID-19 reasoning for canceling…
DefenseNews

Lockheed Martin to build mid-range missile prototype for US Army

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin has been chosen to build the U.S. Army’s new mid-range missile prototype, landing a nearly $340 million contract to take elements from Navy missiles to forge the new weapon, the service’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office announced Nov. 6. Through an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement, Lockheed will take the U.S. Navy’s…
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