DefenseNews

Lockheed to ship advanced Sentinel A4 radars for US Army tests

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Lockheed Martin expects to deliver a batch of Sentinel A4 radars to the U.S. Army by December to support preliminary assessments in fiscal 2025. The next-generation radar, deemed critical to the service’s future of overhead defense, is powered by an active electronically scanned array, or AESA, and is able to concurrently detect and classify cruise missiles, rockets…
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US Army eyes $3.1 billion ammo production boost in new spending ask

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 briefing. Congress is considering President Biden’s budget package of roughly $106 billion in emergency supplemental funds.
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DefenseNews

Navy changing LCS maintenance and staffing practices

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…
DefenseNews

Navy surface drone fires its first missile during Middle East exercise

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 Aerial Missile System” from a MARTAC T38 Devil Ray drone came during the Digital Talon exercise in the waters around the…
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US Air Force may remove 105mm cannon from AC-130 gunship

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…
DefenseNews

Navy’s sub readiness boss unveils steps to reach on-time maintenance

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 than it should have according to its own plans, due to delays at public and private yards conducting maintenance and…
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