While the Army's cornerstone missile-defense program has cleared a critical design review in recent months, service officials are keeping the results of a new cost estimate, mandated by a February acquisition decision memorandum, under wraps.685 words

Details emerged last week about reservations held by some on the Senate Armed Services Committee toward the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's nascent effort to crowd-source the design of military combat vehicles.680 words

The Army plans to conduct voluntary flight demonstrations from August into November to inform its plans for a new Armed Aerial Scout helicopter, the service has told industry. 868 words

The Defense Department recently sent congressional defense committees a $47 million Army reprogramming request that would start the service's Mid-Tier Networking Vehicular Radio program, which is intended to replace the terminated Ground Mobile Radio.493 words

What does the Army consider the worst-care scenarios in world events? It turns out Training and Doctrine Command officials are keeping a pretty specific list. The "fall of the House of Saud" is in that category of "unthinkable" events, according to a briefing prepared by the command and shown at a recent service war game at the Army War College in Carlisle, PA. Also on the list is a "hostile Turkish regime," the formation of "Central American narco states" and the destruction of the Panama Canal. Predictably, a nuclear incident in the United States, a pandemic, and a conflict between NATO and Russia are considered unthinkable, too. A "hostile Pakistan" made it into the "possible" category.118 words

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The Army expects to pay Boeing $474 million in termination fees for the Future Combat System program, driving the total estimated cost for the failed modernization effort to $19.9 billion, according to a Defense Department report to Congress.545 words

Army officials next year will demonstrate an emerging concept aimed at quickly overwhelming future adversaries through the rapid insertion of armored formations, according to documents and officials.587 words

The Army will be unable to fund testing needed to reach a production decision for the Excalibur extended-range, precision-guided artillery round unless the service receives an additional $9.4 million, according a recent Defense Department reprogramming request sent to lawmakers.338 words

The Army has concluded operational testing of potential non-developmental Ground Combat Vehicle candidates and plans to include the findings in an analysis of alternatives scheduled to wrap up next month.406 words

BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman will brief the Army on the status of their work on the Common Infrared Countermeasure program next month, the service's program manager for infrared countermeasures said last week.757 words

The Army's top think tank believes more resources need to be directed toward ground-level intelligence gathering if the service, per Pentagon guidance, is to develop greater capabilities to counter weapons of mass destruction, according to the one-star general in charge of a recent war game.383 words

U.S. Special Operations Command received bids last week from a range of industry competitors seeking a nearly $320 million contract for the service's next Ground Mobility Vehicle, according to officials.350 words

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has again waded into the tempestuous debate surrounding the Army's Abrams tank industrial base, saying that lawmakers on his committee sought to strike a balance between funding what the service wants and what industry needs.612 words

As U.S. forces draw down from Afghanistan, Army officials plan to lean on contractors to operate surveillance systems designed to provide bases in the country with an early warning capability against enemy attacks, according to officials and documents.411 words

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) plans to offer an amendment to the fiscal year 2013 defense authorization bill that would establish an interagency personnel-rotation system to promote integration of national security and homeland security organizations, according to a congressional source.267 words

The Pentagon's routine practice of shifting billions of dollars in the defense budget without seeking permission from Congress is raising concerns on Capitol Hill.894 words

The Defense Department's spending on Canadian-made combat vehicles and other purchases from foreign entities dropped by $4 billion in fiscal year 2011 even as overall Pentagon procurement grew by double that amount, according to DOD reports issued this year and last.446 words

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) said his best guess is the Pentagon will face additional cuts worth $10 billion annually over the next decade.437 words

Army officials say the Distributed Common Ground System is steadily growing in capability as the service continues to integrate commercial technology into the enterprise, but Senate authorizers say they are concerned the Army might not be able to deliver a fully capable system on time and within budget.1120 words