Washington: The Army’s fleet of light tactical vehicles is about to get a lot smaller once a service-wide review wraps up. Army Training and Doctrine Command is fine-tuning a plan to cut a significant number of light armored vehicles and replace them with the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, according to an Army official with knowledge… Keep reading →

Washington: The Army’s strategy to close long-term readiness gaps stemming from its rush to rebuild war-torn equipment is falling woefully short of expectations, leaving service units to come up with their own solutions. The Army’s R3 initiative has been the blueprint for how the service plans to reset, retrograde and redistribute weapons, vehicles and equipment… Keep reading →

Washington: Millions in unspent reconstruction dollars could be left behind in Iraq and Afghanistan if DoD does not fix its contracting review process, a new Government Accountability Office says. The Defense Department’s acquisition office is facing a review backlog of nearly 58,000 contracts awarded to Iraqis between 2003 and 2010, according to the report. 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 →

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 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 →

Washington: Iraqi hand wringing on whether to keep American troops in country could force U.S. military commanders to take on the difficult task of readjusting the massive wave of men and materiel currently flowing out of Iraq. American forces have already “stepped over” nearly 60 percent of DOD weapons and equipment to Iraqi security forces,… Keep reading →

Washington: American troops are preparing to leaving Iraq by the end of this year, and military officials worry that Iran will get credit for that withdrawal, Gen. Martin Dempsey told lawmakers. Dempsey, the White House’s pick to replace Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that Tehran is… Keep reading →

Washington: The armed services are tired, broke and running near empty. And if Capitol Hill looks to the Pentagon to shoulder any more of the debt burden, those forces will break, according to the vice chiefs of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and the Air Force. During today’s hearing of the House Armed Services Readiness… Keep reading →