DefenseNews

Congress clashes with Army over purchasing cargo helicopters

November 13, 2020
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 injecting cash into the Boeing-manufactured, F-model Chinook program in fiscal 2021 to buy them for the active force after the Army…
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DefenseNews

3 questions with the US Army’s Synthetic Training Environment lead

November 10, 2020
WASHINGTON — Maj. Gen. Maria Gervais has led the Synthetic Training Environment Cross-Functional Team as part of Army Futures Command since its inception a few years ago, and already the STE has made great strides in bringing state-of-the-art training to the force. Defense News spoke with Gervais just ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference, which took place virtually…
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DefenseNews

US Army floats the option of fielding high-altitude balloons

November 10, 2020
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…
DefenseNews

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

November 8, 2020
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

Army, Marines Want New Machine Guns to Replace the M240 and 'Ma Deuce'

November 8, 2020
1st Lt. Emilio Pacheco, an Expert Infantry Badge Candidate from 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, fires blank rounds from an M2 .50 caliber machine gun during training at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., on Oct. 18, 2019. The Army and Marine Corps are looking for a replacement for the M2, known as “Ma Deuce.” Army photo The Army and Marine Corps are both looking…
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DefenseNews

Army Still Wants a Precision Infantry Weapon to Destroy the Enemy From Behind Cover

November 7, 2020
A soldier aims an XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement weapon system at Aberdeen Test Center, Md. Army photo The XM25 program may be dead, but Army maneuver officials at Fort Benning, Georgia, still want to arm infantry squads with a precision weapon that can destroy enemies hiding behind cover. “There are certain aspects of a firefight or a gunfight that have not changed and probably…
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