ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy is experimenting with launching and recovering medium unmanned underwater vehicles from submarines, even as a formal acquisition effort is ongoing.
The Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants is pursuing the project, which is meant to create a common drone that can conduct expeditionary mine countermeasures or operate from submarines.
Capt. Kevin…
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army plans to spend $3.1 billion in emergency fiscal 2024 supplemental funding to boost domestic 155mm artillery munition production if lawmakers approve the pending White House request, the service’s acquisition chief said during a Nov. 7 press…
Navy changing LCS maintenance and staffing practices
November 8, 2023
As the Navy seeks to improve the self-sufficiency of its littoral combat ships, the service is moving to have sailors conduct nearly all the maintenance for the vessels in the near future, according to Navy officials.
The LCS fleet was originally envisioned as having a small…
WASHINGTON — After another canceled test of the U.S. Army and Navy’s Common Hypersonic Glide Body due to a problem just prior to launch at the end of October, it is now “highly unlikely” the Army will field the weapon to the first unit by the end of the year as planned, Doug Bush, the service’s acquisition chief, told reporters in a Nov. 8 briefing.
The Army and Navy have in recent…
As the Navy continues to experiment with and expand upon its burgeoning drone fleet in the Middle Eastern patrolled by U.S. 5th Fleet, an unmanned surface ship fired missiles for the first time there during an exercise last month.
The firing of a so-called “Lethal Missile…
ARLINGTON, Va. — “It’s counterintuitive,” the head of U.S. submarine forces acknowledges, but the Navy’s ballistic missile submarine force is spending more time operating at sea while also seeing better material readiness rates.
The trend is encouraging, submarine…
US Air Force may remove 105mm cannon from AC-130 gunship
November 7, 2023
WASHINGTON — The days of the AC-130J Ghostrider’s hefty 105mm cannon may be numbered.
U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command confirmed to Defense News it is considering removing this howitzer-sized weapon, used to carry out punishing strikes on ground targets, from the aircraft as early as 2026. The idea comes as the service rethinks how it will use the heavily armed gunship following the…
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy’s three-star admiral in charge of fixing submarine maintenance delays says it will take four years to get the attack sub fleet back to its proper state of readiness.
In May, the Navy had twice as many attack submarines tied up in maintenance…
Lockheed to upgrade Chilean Air Force’s F-16 jets
November 7, 2023
SANTIAGO, Chile — Lockheed Martin will upgrade 36 operational F-16 fighter jets with the Chilean Air Force under a $177 million contract, the Pentagon announced.
The deal, unveiled Oct. 31, will see those F-16AM/BM Block 15/20 MLU aircraft modified to the M6.6 standard. A…
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is seeking industry feedback as it kicks off an overhaul of software designed to coordinate the use of mortars, missiles and more on the battlefield.
The service posted a request for information for the modernization of the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System, also known as AFATDS, and the development of the Joint Targeting Command and Coordination Suite, or…
