DefenseNews

MDA awards Lockheed $4.1B contract to upgrade battle command system

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to $4.1 billion to continue to field, maintain and upgrade its battle command system, according to an April 11 contract announcement from the Defense Department. The contract period runs May 1, 2024, through April 30, 2029, with an option to extend it to April 30, 2034. “This contract will accelerate innovation and…
Read more
DefenseNews

Army pushes more safety training as helicopter crashes spike

The Army has ordered an aviation “safety stand up,” with additional aviation training across the force following a dozen mishaps that have resulted in 10 fatalities in only the first six months of the fiscal year. By comparison, the Army had 10 mishaps and 14 fatalities for all fiscal 2023. The current number of mishaps is equal to or higher than the total annual mishaps reported each year…
Read more
DefenseNews

US Air Force reports lower B-21 costs after negotiations with Northrop

The Air Force is seeing the unit cost of the B-21 Raider, its next stealth bomber, come down after negotiations with manufacturer Northrop Grumman, the service’s secretary said Tuesday. Frank Kendall told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense the cost decline shows the negotiations are “going in the right direction.” He declined to discuss upcoming milestones for the B-21 in the…
Read more
DefenseNews

Saildrone, Thales collaborating on sub-sensing unmanned surface vessel

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Two defense companies separated by vast stretches of water are collaborating on drone boats capable of spotting submarines. U.S.-based Saildrone and Thales Australia, a division of France-based Thales Group, on April 8 said they would outfit the former’s Surveyor unmanned surface vessels with the latter’s BlueSentry towed arrays capable of detecting and classifying…
Read more