Washington: The fleet of up-armored, bomb-resistant vehicles DoD flooded onto the battlefield in recent years has saved the lives of untold numbers of American soldiers. Trucks like the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle and the up-armored Humvee have given U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan a significant edge. But getting these massive trucks off the… Keep reading →

Washington: A Lockheed Martin-built aerial cargo drone is one step closer to hitting the skies above Afghanistan this fall, after completing a key Marine Corps evaluation this month. The Marine Corps recently ran the K-MAX through a five-day Quick Reaction Assessment test in Yuma, AZ. The tests put the helicopter-like drone through a number of… Keep reading →

Washington: Failure to fix the way DoD does business on the battlefield will fall squarely on the shoulders of the congressional Super Committee tasked with trimming the national security budget, a former lawmaker said today. Former Rep. Chris Shays, a moderate Republican, said if the committee does not at least consider adopting the recommendations made… Keep reading →

Washington: The Pentagon must phase out its use of private security contractors, or find a way to make sure their presence on the battlefield does not put U.S. troops at risk, a former DoD official said yesterday. That recommendation was one of many included in the final report of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in… Keep reading →

UPDATED Cherry Point, NC: The Marine Corps is pushing some of its fighter aircraft to the breaking point, as the service waits for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Marine Corps fighter squadrons in Afghanistan have racked up thousands of flight hours on their legacy F/A-18 Hornets, scraping the ceiling of the 9,000 to 10,000-hour cap… Keep reading →

Mt. Airy, N.C. – Some have questioned the Army’s decision to pump millions into the aging Humvee, especially with defense spending expected to take a tumble over the next few years. Opponents argue the Humvee is simply an old warhorse that needs to be put down, replaced by more advanced systems already in the field,… Keep reading →

Washington: Bigger might not necessarily be better when it comes to the future of Army unmanned aircraft, according to a senior service official. Army field commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan have gotten the most bang for their buck from the smaller-class of unmanned drones, like the Shadow and Puma, for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions,… Keep reading →

Washington: Bigger, tougher and meaner — that is what the Army wants from its Humvee fleet. And according to the draft list of requirements issued by the service’s contracting shop for the iconic combat vehicle, the Army now has a plan to do just that. For more news and information on the swiftly-changing defense industry,… Keep reading →

Washington: The loss of 38 American soldiers, including members of SEAL Team Six, this week is spawning more questions than answers as DoD begins to piece together what happened that night in eastern Afghanistan. For more news and information on the swiftly-changing defense industry, please sign up for the Breaking Defense newsletter. You can also… Keep reading →

Washington: The Marine Corps does not know how it will replace ground equipment worn out by over a decade of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, or how much it will cost, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report. The service has a plan to replace its fighters and helicopters lost in battle, but “a… Keep reading →