Congress' decision to pass a six-month stopgap spending measure in lieu of an appropriations bill has complicated Navy efforts to assess the damage sequestration would do to individual programs should the automatic cuts go into effect Jan. 2, service acquisition chief Sean Stackley told Inside the Navy last week. 694 words

The chief of naval research told Inside the Navy last week he expects directed-energy weapons to be installed and integrated into ships' combat systems within the next two years and the electromagnetic railgun to follow suit just a few years after that, thanks to energy-efficiency improvements. 733 words

The Marine Corps is working on a 30-year vehicle fleet plan to better manage the systems in its current and future inventory, which will allow the Army and Marine Corps to share information more effectively, according to a top Marine Corps official. 701 words

Navy researchers are looking to push autonomous systems beyond simply being able to travel and collect data on their own and advance to the point that they can interpret data and present remote operators "a small amount of very actionable bandwidth," Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder told Inside the Navy last week. 854 words

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office has completed the first phase of the JSF sustainment business case analysis and has announced its intention to enter into a sole-source contract with A.T. Kearney for the second phase, which will last nine months, according to an Oct. 19 notice in Federal Business Opportunities. The first phase included "deep-dives" in four areas, including supply chain management, sustaining engineering, field support operations and fleet management. The next phase will address areas such as training, depot maintenance, repair, software and logistics support, among others, according to the notice. 96 words

The Marine Corps and Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program acquisition strategy is becoming a model for many new programs, including the Amphibious Combat Vehicle program, according to a Marine Corps official. 384 words

The Navy is seeking to "lighten the load" for troops in the field not just in physical terms, but also in the amount of data required on the battlefield, among other top research and development priorities moving forward, Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley said last week. 513 words

Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory recently demonstrated an unmanned helicopter to the Navy that could be used on ships to provide full-motion video and infrared cameras to assist in surveillance at a fraction of the cost of current platforms, according to an APL official. 383 words

As the Enterprise (CVN-65) transits the Mediterranean Sea for the last time on its way home to Virginia for retirement and inactivation, the Navy is bracing for a new reality -- starting Dec. 1, it will have only 10 aircraft carriers. 1615 words

The Navy is facing a growing crisis as development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter ends, as the current aviation engineer workforce reaches retirement age without enough younger engineers to replace them, according to analysts, industry and a recent Defense Department report. 540 words

Navy officials last week implored industry to not only continue innovating in the areas of ship design, power and weapons systems, but also to find ways to integrate their ideas onto existing platforms. 719 words

In an era of shrinking budgets and growing demand for naval forces, advanced technology will be critical to allowing the Navy to operate whenever and wherever it needs, the vice chief of naval operations told government and contractor researchers last week. 779 words

The Marine Special Operations Combat Support Battalion will conduct three training events in the winter, spring and summer that will focus on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance training for troops, according to an Oct. 22 statement of work posted on Federal Business Opportunities. 271 words

The Navy is looking to predict weather changes in the Arctic just like the service does in other regions through a next-generation fully coupled ocean atmosphere and arctic prediction system, according to a service official.283 words

The Marine Corps would like the science and technology community to focus on improvised explosive device neutralization and force protection as top priorities as the service shifts its focus from Afghanistan to the Asia-Pacific region, the Marine Corps' top official said last week. 334 words

The Marine Corps is looking to industry for an underwater propulsion device that goes faster and farther than the legacy system for its combatant divers, according to a service spokeswoman.228 words

An anti-missile capability intended to intercept future long-range Iranian weapons might need to be designed with modified launching systems and a liquid propellant, but whether these features will be required remains undecided.1051 words

The Navy needs to overhaul how it develops and invests in autonomous systems that could prove critical in countering future anti-access and area-denial threats, according to a study briefed last week to senior service officials.1216 words

The Defense Department on Oct. 24 put marquee missile interceptor and radar programs to the test over the Pacific Ocean in the "largest, most complex" live-fire test to date, recording a number of intercepts but also the failure of an SM-3 Block IA interceptor -- a centerpiece of the Obama administration's missile-defense architecture that was declared operational last year.423 words

The Pentagon has authorized foreign shipyards to construct up to two prototype vessels or major components for its Dry Combat Submersible development program, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command has informed Congress.636 words

The Marine Corps estimates the cost to repair and return to service two salvageable AV-8B Harriers, which were damaged by Taliban attackers last month in Afghanistan, will be at least $11.2 million, according to a service official.625 words