“We’re moving towards a talent management system where we will manage people by 25 variables instead of two,” Gen. McConville said. It will be “a system that recognizes and capitalizes on our people’s knowledge, their skills, their behaviors and even their preferences.”

FLRAA will go to select Guard units ahead of most of the regular Army, Gen. McConville said. That’s a far cry from past conflicts over helicopters.

For the first time, the US plugged its high-altitude THAAD into the Israeli missile defense network — just one of the ways the two countries are cooperating against Iran.

HUNTSVILLE: Modernizing the Army is about much more than equipment. To defeat Russia and China in future multi-domain warfare — or better yet, deter them — the service is contemplating cultural revolutions as ripe for controversy as any multi-billion dollar weapons program. They include allowing junior officers more initiative, ending chronic micromanagement; creating long-term “regimental” affiliations… Keep reading →

Will the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft “replace” some AH-64 Apache gunships? Sort of, technically — but that’s a misleading slice of a bigger story.

PENTAGON: More troops are heading to the US border with Mexico, Pentagon officials said on Friday. That brings the number deployed from the current 5,000 to about 6,000, even as the Pentagon considers transferring close to $4 billion to support the Border Patrol and build infrastructure. About 2,100 of the troops deployed currently are National… Keep reading →

Now that President Trump has signed the fiscal 2019 defense appropriations bill — marking the first time in nine years that defense is not bound by a Continuing Resolution — the broad trend was cuts to Operational and Maintenance (O&M) to fund Research, Development, Testing, & Engineering (RDT&E). The top line was consistent with the… Keep reading →

“Once the US companies come on line,” Gen. Milley said, “the intent is to outfit the entire heavy force — the Bradleys, the tanks, any future combat vehicles — with active protective systems.”

Will Trump rip a page from the Obama playbook in sending troops to the border with Mexico?

Mark Cancian, a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, knows budgets. He used to help build the defense budget at the Office of Management and Budget, the largely unheralded center of federal fiscal power. So when he picks apart the budget deal Congress recently approved (or any other one) you should pay attention. He’s doing… Keep reading →