HUNTSVILLE, ALA.: The year of decision for the Army’s nascent Next Generation Combat Vehicle will be 2022. That’s when “at least two” NGCV demonstrators get field-tested by real troops, officials told the Association of the US Army conference here today. What the soldiers learn will then help Army leaders’ decide whether to fund a full-up program to… Keep reading →

ARLINGTON: The US Army wants its Next Generation Combat Vehicle to serve as pack master to a swarm of crawling and flying robots. It wants lighter weapons with heavier firepower, able to aim almost straight up to shoot drones out of the sky and hit rooftop snipers. It wants miniaturized missile defenses to shoot down incoming anti-tank… Keep reading →

[UPDATED with details on $90 million plus-up from House defense bill, total contract values] Alarmed by deadly battles in Ukraine, the Army wants to place miniaturized missile defense systems on its armored vehicles to protect them from anti-tank weapons. To reach this high-tech holy grail, which has  painfully evaded the service in the past, the Army is taking a… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: After two decades of dithering and delay, the Army wants to give its armored vehicles the ability to shoot down incoming anti-tank missiles. What’s more, while the service will continue its own long-term, in-house research program, the Army is now willing to accept something “not invented here” so it can get an interim Active Protection System… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Running weapons programs is a grueling job. Running Army programs, with their history of spectacular failures and cancellations, can be worse. That means Heidi Shyu‘s first achievement is endurance: in one senior position or another, the outgoing Army acquisition chief lasted five years amidst steeply declining budgets. Perhaps her biggest achievement was to keep her sense… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The US Army is deploying extra stocks of heavy weapons to Europe to deter Russia’s increasingly naked aggression. These are the most advanced ground weapons America can field — but the tanks and other heavy fighting vehicles in this buildup are the same ones we had the last time the Russians were a danger, back when… Keep reading →

You are reading the first of three in-depth stories on the future of US land forces and their new combat vehicles.  In this first piece, Sydney details what the Army wants in its new air-droppable vehicles for the oft-outgunned light forces who are first to the fight. The next two stories will explore the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV),… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The top question on defense lawmakers’ minds right now is: “Can we trust you with the people’s money?” And no large military organization has a worse record in that respect than the US Army, with its unhappy track record of canceled programs and wasted billions dating to before 9/11. It’s such a sensitive and high-stakes question that, when I started to ask Army… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The most surprising thing about a Central Command list of 3,222 ISIL targets struck during the air campaign is the number of tanks, Humvees, MRAPs and Armored Personnel Carriers.   Yes, the MRAPs and Humvees are American-made military equipment seized by ISIL as it swept the Iraqi Army aside on its way from Syria… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: After you count up all the cuts and additions in the House Armed Services Committee’s mark-up of the Pentagon budget, the bill appears to authorize $554 billion for national defense (budget function 050). At a time when the Pentagon faces the prospect of mandatory spending cuts of another $53 billion if sequestration happens… Keep reading →