DefenseNews

US Air Force eyes advance procurement to more quickly make E-7 planes

DAYTON, Ohio — With pressure on the U.S. Air Force to field its upcoming fleet of E-7A battlefield management aircraft as quickly as possible, the service is leaning heavily on advance procurement. The Air Force wants to have a fleet of up to 26 of the Boeing-made command-and-control aircraft by 2032 to replace the aging E-3 Sentry. The latter’s airborne warning and control capabilities are…
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DefenseNews

US Air Force moves closer to awarding Cloud One Next contract

WASHINGTON — A request for proposals for the U.S. Air Force’s Cloud One Next program could come as soon as this month, as the service eyes a spring 2024 contract award, an official said. The Air Force teased its Cloud One successor in November, seeking industry feedback…
DefenseNews

US Army greenlights armored vehicle for full-rate production

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army this week approved the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle for full-rate production, a spokesperson for the service’s Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems told Defense News. The full-rate production contract award to AMPV-maker BAE Systems is pending, the spokesperson said. The Army delivered the first AMPVs to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry…
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US Air Force electronic warfare commander seeks spectrum dominance

WASHINGTON — Bombs boom. Tanks trundle. Fighters fly. All are visible to the human eye and are familiar images of war. But invisible battles are fought, too. And as the U.S. prepares for potential conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific or with Russia in Europe, the value of the electromagnetic spectrum is proving paramount. Militaries rely on the unseen energy to communicate, guide weapons…
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US Army readies new artillery strategy spurred by war in Ukraine

FORT LIBERTY, N.C. — The U.S. Army is working on a new conventional fires strategy expected by the end of this year, according to Gen. James Rainey, who leads Army Futures Command. “We did a very deliberate strategic fires study that underpin the long-range precision fires efforts,” Rainey told Defense News in an exclusive July 27 interview on his way to Fort Liberty, North Carolina, to…
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