DefenseNews

Can four big commands prepare the Air Force to win wars?

The Air Force is mulling a bureaucratic shuffle that would refocus the service on four key areas it believes can improve how it organizes, trains and equips airmen for war. Those core missions — combat readiness, careerlong training, acquisition and future force planning — will eventually fall under the purview of four major organizations, dubbed “institutional commands,” in charge of…
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DefenseNews

Dronemaker Skydio hiring team in Ukraine amid strategy shift

U.S. dronemaker Skydio said it has started hiring employees in Ukraine, a first step in an effort to expand its business there. CEO Adam Bry described the work in an interview with Defense News Wednesday, hours before he testified before Congress. “I’ve never met drone…
DefenseNews

The Navy’s ongoing carrier conundrum

After a grueling eight months leading the Navy’s effort to counter Iran-backed Houthi rebel attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower received a reprieve this month when it transited the Suez Canal and headed into the Mediterranean Sea, on its way back home to Norfolk. During more than 200 days taking down a barrage of Houthi…
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DefenseNews

US Army moves out on digital engineering strategy

The Army is embarking on a strategy to implement a digital engineering environment meant to speed the pace, lower the cost and reduce risk in weapons systems development, according to Jennifer Swanson, the service’s deputy assistant secretary for data, engineering and…
DefenseNews

US Army to launch AI pilot project for acquisition workforce

The U.S. Army wants to better understand how its acquisition and contracting workforce could use generative AI to improve efficiency and is launching a pilot next month to explore those questions. Jennifer Swanson, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for data, engineering and software, said the effort will shed light on how the service’s acquisition and logistics enterprise could take…
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DefenseNews

Europe's Artillery Rocket System: A Tense Race for the Future

PARIS — Tensions are running high in the race to decide Europe’s artillery rocket system of choice, with Germany emerging as a decisive player in a race between teams Rheinmetall-Lockheed Martin and Elbit-KNDS. On the opening day of the Eurosatory trade show here, all…
DefenseNews

How many F-35s to buy? Draft defense bills disagree

The Senate’s proposed National Defense Authorization Act would leave the military’s planned purchases of 68 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in fiscal 2025 unchanged. The chamber’s draft NDAA, which members of the Senate Armed Services Committee unveiled Friday, represents the latest of three different approaches lawmakers are taking to F-35 purchases for next year, which must be reconciled at…
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