Defense

LONDON — Britain’s defense secretary has committed to a deal to acquire a new fleet of Boeing-built extended-range Chinook helicopters. Fourteen CH-47-ER Chinooks, destined principally for use by British special forces, will be delivered to the Royal Air Force under the terms of the deal signed between the British and U.S. governments. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps on Thursday confirmed the…

Unmanned technologies are maturing at such a rapid rate that multiyear purchases would likely leave the U.S. Army with outdated devices, according to a service acquisition official. Militaries the world over are increasingly developing and deploying drones and robotics, with the systems posing a threat on land, at sea and in the air. The growing importance of uncrewed systems has been on display…

The U.S. Navy’s fiscal 2025 budget request includes money for one Virginia-class attack submarine instead of the planned two, but still represents “a prioritization and very significant investment in undersea warfare capabilities,” the service’s undersecretary said Friday, arguing this is not contradictory. The Navy has been buying its attack subs at a rate of two per year since FY11, but…

The U.S. Army is changing its approach to acquiring a long-range artillery capability and scrapping its 58-caliber Extended Range Cannon Artillery prototyping effort, according to the service’s acquisition chief. “We concluded the prototyping activity last fall,” Doug Bush told reporters at a March 8 briefing on the fiscal 2025 budget request. “Unfortunately, [it was] not successful enough…