Defense leaders significantly altered the course and cost of the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle program last week, deciding to down-select to only one contractor in the second phase of the program, extend the current development phase by six months, and delay a production decision until fiscal year 2019, according to internal memos obtained by Inside the Army.1069 words

A new Defense Department report offers a behind-the-scenes account of an Army Patriot test last year that was fraught with problems, but was characterized as a success by the service and industry officials.902 words

The Army has awarded five companies contracts that give them the opportunity to compete to sell small unmanned aircraft systems to the service on a quarterly basis, according to the Army's product manager for small UAS.621 words

Raytheon officials are claiming recent testing shows their Quick Kill vehicle active protection system is a mature technology, though company officials are concerned about continued government funding should Army leaders move to scale back requirements for the Ground Combat Vehicle -- the only program currently experimenting with APS.854 words

Fresh from a visit to Afghanistan, Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Jack Reed (D-RI) recently wrote a letter to National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon praising the autonomy of Afghan national security forces in Regional Command-East. "This seems to run counter to some other reported statistics, but you should check it out," their Jan. 8 letter states. Levin and Reed urge President Obama to reconsider plans that would shrink the number of ANSF personnel from 352,000 to 230,000. As for the U.S. footprint, the duo supports a "small number for the post-2014 force," according to the letter.96 words

The Army has issued guidance on how to reduce spending to mitigate "significant budgetary uncertainty in the coming months," according to a memo signed last week by the Army secretary and chief of staff.753 words

The Army staff has hammered out a draft of a force structure report to Congress that is likely to inform a coming debate between the executive and legislative branches over which installations will be closed as the service cuts 72,000 soldiers over the next five years.563 words

Lacking 2013 funding from the United States for the trinational Medium Extended Air Defense System, the NATO program office is freeing up leftover money from last year to keep activities going through March, when key decisions are due in Washington.510 words

Sikorsky and Boeing are teaming up for a chance to build a vertical-lift aircraft to fly in the Army's Joint Multi-Role technology demonstration effort, according to officials from both companies.618 words

General Dynamics Land Systems announced last week it would begin laying off 139 employees who build the Stryker vehicle at Anniston Army Depot, AL, as well as furloughing 82 employees who build the Abrams tank at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, OH.664 words

The Army has picked a U.S. location to base the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System for a combatant command exercise, according to the Army's JLENS program manager.859 words

One of the many Army efforts being impacted by the looming budget cuts that could be triggered by sequestration is an analysis to determine the future of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle fleet, according to a service spokeswoman.401 words

The Army awarded a $56.6 million low-rate initial production contract to Raytheon to build the Excalibur extended-range, precision-guided artillery round Increment Ib variant last month, according to Raytheon's assistant program manager for Excalibur.525 words

The Pentagon's acquisition chief has directed the services to provide information on the impact of a 10 percent cut to science and technology programs, according to guidance on handling budgetary uncertainty issued Jan. 15.399 words

Army will conduct additional testing on the Precision Guidance Kit artillery munition later this month following a report from Pentagon testers that contends an unusually high variability in the weapon's accuracy should be investigated ahead of an upcoming production decision.368 words

Army officials were able to allay concerns over the Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system's reliability during an initial operational test and evaluation event last summer, but the Army should continue to work on developing doctrine for using the aircraft in combat operations, the Defense Department's director of operational test and evaluation recommends in a report.624 words

The Army has selected five companies' engines to evaluate as possible replacements for the Shadow unmanned aircraft system's current engine, with two vendors slated to be picked for technology development later this year, a service spokesman said last week.680 words

As the Army expects to increase its operations in the Asia Pacific region, where potential adversaries are more technologically savvy, its aircraft fleets would become more vulnerable to electronic warfare threats they have not encountered in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to service officials.797 words

The Defense Department's network defenses remain vulnerable to advanced attacks in cyberspace that could jeopardize military missions, according to a new assessment from the Pentagon's operational testing chief.686 words

Collaboration between the requirements and the test communities needs to be strengthened to better ensure needed systems are operationally effective and suitable, the Pentagon's top weapons tester writes in a new report.686 words

While reliability continues to lag in many programs, the Defense Department is beginning to see some improvements, according to a new annual report to Congress from DOD's top tester.542 words

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has launched a review to determine how, in this tough fiscal environment, the Pentagon could adapt best business practices from the private sector.482 words

BAE Systems is pursuing a new market for its 5-inch Standard Guided Projectile -- looking at Army and Marine Corps ground weapons -- even as the original round still works its way through internally funded testing to prove its capability, a company official said last week.598 words