One of the most unshakable Pentagon acquisition narratives to emerge from the past decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan holds that Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles saved lives and were well worth the government's $40 billion investment.1275 words

While the Army's electronic-warfare specialists have managed to gain the upper hand in countering remote-controlled bombs buried by insurgents in Afghanistan, those experiences may count little in predicting how the ground service would fare in future conflicts covered under the Air-Sea Battle doctrine, according to experts and officials.1135 words

Senate appropriators last week urged the Army to put the brakes on plans to modernize the aging Patriot system, arguing the lack of an approved strategy and the prospect of no-bid contracts -- Raytheon makes the system -- has the markings of an acquisition effort doomed to fail.747 words

A Pentagon request to reprogram $334 million away from the Army's fiscal year 2012 budget for the Warfighter Information Network Tactical program will be trimmed to only $54 million by lawmakers leery of defense job losses, according to officials.615 words

Officials at the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command have prepared a new process for matching worldwide requests for missile-defense forces with the services' supply pool, according to SMDC chief Lt. Gen. Richard Formica. Dubbed a "ballistic missile defense framework," the goal is to have a "senior leader decision support tool" for the deployment of scarce BMD capabilities that are in high demand by combatant commanders, Formica said Aug. 3 during a breakfast on Capitol Hill. The Joint Staff and the services have yet to approve the framework, he added. 115 words

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A Joint Requirements Oversight Council review of the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor system has been moved from Aug. 3 to Aug. 23, though details on the purpose of the meeting remain sketchy.534 words

The Army's use of "directed requirements" to justify programs in the fiscal year 2013 defense budget is causing headaches for members of the Senate Appropriations Committee who last week argued that the maneuvers do nothing to fix the service's acquisition problems, according to a panel report.365 words

Senate Appropriations Committee members last week moved to honor an Army request for increasing the fiscal year 2013 budget of the Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System, recommending an additional $70.6 million for the program, according to a report on the panel's FY-13 defense-spending bill.519 words

The Senate Appropriations Committee last week voiced its support for a partial revival of the Army's terminated Medium Expanded Capacity Vehicle, urging the service to conduct a more elaborate competition than currently planned.652 words

The Senate Appropriations Committee wants the Army to be more forthcoming about its future tactical wheeled vehicle strategy, voicing apprehension last week about ongoing efforts to reduce the fleet.398 words

Senate appropriators are worried that the Army's combat vehicle modernization strategy relies too heavily on spending to develop the Ground Combat Vehicle and underfunds future efforts to upgrade platforms already in the inventory.636 words

Senate appropriators want to add more than $700 million to the fiscal year 2013 budget for Army aircraft, according to the spending bill they completed last week. 603 words

Delays due to technical difficulties and the ramifications from a Nunn-McCurdy breach prompted Senate Appropriations Committee members to cut more than $95 million from the extended-range Excalibur artillery round program as part of the panel's fiscal year 2013 defense-spending bill.516 words

The Army should slow Gray Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle production to 15 aircraft in fiscal year 2013 due to testing issues, the Senate Appropriations Committee says in its FY-13 defense-spending bill.394 words

Senate appropriators think the Army's funding strategy for its Joint Multi-Role demonstrator program presents risk and recommend no funds for the program be obligated or spent until the service shows it has appropriately budgeted for it, according to a congressional report.327 words

The Senate Appropriations Committee moved last week to cut $190 million from the Army's $287 million fiscal year 2013 request for procurement of the Joint Tactical Radio System's Manpack system in an effort to slow the program down.334 words

The Army is gearing up to award extended technology-development phase contracts for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile program by the end of August, according to a service spokesman.451 words

The Army is expected to solicit proposals for new research contracts in the field of ground robotics, according to a recent notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website.181 words

The White House needs to develop a national security strategy for its multibillion-dollar efforts to build the security capacity of foreign countries, update Byzantine processes for prioritizing and funding such projects, aid more civilian security personnel as opposed to troops and find better ways to assess whether individual initiatives are succeeding or failing, warns a State Department draft report prepared for senior administration officials.1088 words

As part of its effort to combat improvised explosive devices, the Defense Department is seeking industry proposals on ways to defeat bombs made from potassium chlorate. 463 words

New Pentagon guidance requires design decisions for major acquisition programs to take into account the fully burdened cost of fuel.551 words

The Senate Appropriations Committee is accusing the Defense Department of failing to correct "years of poor fiscal discipline," arguing DOD's plans to reduce force structure and take risk in meeting military commitments worldwide stem from a lack of oversight by Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale.703 words