The worldwide spread of precision weapons could jeopardize U.S. amphibious operations unless naval forces acquire new survivable tools for communication and targeting, and develop unmanned systems not only to gather intelligence but also to spearhead perilous beach assaults in mine-laden waters, according to a draft briefing from a naval advisory panel.
1127 words
The Navy is downsizing the Naval Research Advisory Committee, a panel that is in the midst of preparing a study on countering precision weapons and has published reports on an array of issues over the years at the Office of Naval Research.
249 words
The Pentagon is considering a third flight of an unmanned, rocket-launched, hypersonic air vehicle that prematurely crashed into the Pacific Ocean during its first two test runs, according to a congressional source.
1061 words
An amendment proposed by Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) requiring the Pentagon to compete ground-testing activities for a program designed to strike targets worldwide in under an hour was added Wednesday to the House authorizers' defense bill during mark-up.
414 words
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the military's top brass, including combatant commanders overseeing U.S. operations worldwide, are preparing to meet next week at the Pentagon to discuss major strategic and budgetary issues amid continuing uncertainty about the magnitude of cuts the department will face under the Budget Control Act.
643 words
Independent
cost analysts in the Office of the Secretary of Defense last summer estimated
the average unit production cost for the Ground Combat Vehicle would be $17
million -- 30 percent higher than the $13 million price tag the Pentagon's
acquisition executive formally adopted in an August decision to modernization
the Army's infantry fighting vehicle, according to a new DOD report.1052 words
British
defense minister Phillip Hammond is slated to announce Thursday that the United
Kingdom will drop plans to buy the F-35C aircraft-carrier variant of the Joint
Strike Fighter and opt instead for the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing
variant, according to published reports. The Daily Telegraph reported
Wednesday that Hammond "will claim the decision will save hundreds of millions
of pounds" and help the U.K. military. The potential for such a switch had been
widely reported in recent weeks as British officials grew concerned about the
cost of converting one of the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers to handle the
F-35's carrier variant.106 words
The House Armed Services Committee chairman wants the defense secretary to certify that the Pentagon is implementing competition requirements -- and plans to prohibit the department from spending more than 80 percent of the Office of Secretary of Defense's funds for fiscal year 2013 until that happens.
451 words
The average
unit cost of Littoral Combat Ships, not including their mission modules, is
$420 million, which is $118 million under the congressional cost cap for the
program, LCS Program Executive Officer Rear Adm. James Murdoch told reporters
in a teleconference Wednesday.309 words
The House Armed Services Committee chairman wants Pentagon leaders to review the department's strategic portfolio of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities and provide details to Congress about its plans for a task force overseeing ISR needs.
952 words
The House
Armed Services Committee on Wednesday voted to ban the Defense Department from
buying or producing alternative fuels if they cost more than fossil fuels.341 words
House Armed
Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) has given the thumbs up, at
least in part, to several of Defense Department legislative proposals on force
reshaping, acquisition authority and reimbursing coalition nations.795 words
The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee wants to ensure that nuclear weapon experts can "freely share" their views on the safety, security, reliability and credibility of and plans for the nuclear weapons stockpile and nuclear forces with national leaders.
220 words
The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee wants the Defense Department's acquisition chief to submit an annual assessment for five years on the synchronization of satellite, ground and user terminal segments of major space acquisition programs.
628 words
The service
chiefs will settle on new initial operational capability targets for each F-35
Joint Strike Fighter variant when the program finalizes its development plan
around September, the program head told reporters Tuesday.244 words
The Defense
Department last week announced a potential $10 billion sale of 42 Joint Strike
Fighter aircraft to Japan, a deal furthered by formal assurances made by Air
Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz to his Japanese counterpart in
January that the Air Force is committed to the stealth fighter.661 words
Lockheed
Martin will join the Hewlett Packard-led team pursuing the Navy's Next
Generation Enterprise Network contract, according to an internal memo sent to
HP employees May 8 and obtained by Inside the Navy.247 words
NATO nations
should not organize their withdrawals from Afghanistan in isolation, the
organization's top transformation official said Tuesday.380 words
Lawmakers
have approved a Pentagon request to shift more than $300 million between
missile defense accounts to support immediate needs, including funding required
to avoid a stop-work order on the Next Generation Aegis Missile -- a weapon
that figures prominently in the Obama administration's plan to defend Europe
from Iranian missiles.692 words
Air Force and
Navy testers are awaiting the OK to begin operational testing of the AIM-9X
Block II missile, a one-year assessment required before full-rate production of
the Pentagon's most advanced short-range air-to-air missile can begin.694 words
The
Pentagon's acquisition executive last week assented to the Army's plan to
explore a potential new helicopter competition instead of incrementally
improving its OH-58 fleet, clearing the way for the service to formally proceed
with its Armed Aerial Scout program.388 words
|
