A key House committee wants the military services to absorb the cost of systems designed to jam improvised explosive devices instead of continuing to have the money come from supplemental wartime spending bills.

Recent Congressional criticisms on how the Pentagon is running two key organizations designed to expedite much-needed capabilities to the warfighter may lead to reams of unnecessary legislation and oversight, which in the end could defeat the purpose of the two groups, a senior defense official tells Inside the Air Force.

The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization has created a new position -- deputy director for rapid acquisition and technology -- focused on providing oversight of all of the counter-IED organization's acquisition efforts.

The Air Force is expanding the length of its Explosive Ordnance Disposal preliminary course to focus on team building and increase the amount of information provided, according to a service spokesman.

The counter-IED task force established by Defense Secretary Robert Gates last year has prioritized three bundles of capabilities intended to respond to urgent needs in Afghanistan, the director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization said last week.

The director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization said last week he is holding monthly meetings with top service acquisition and program officials to ensure there are no surprises when JIEDDO seeks to transfer programs to a service.

The Army's fiscal year 2010 supplemental budget request to finance the planned surge in Afghanistan reflects the service's continued focus on detecting and defeating improvised explosive devices, according to budget justification documents sent to Congress.

The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization does not need the ability to execute contracts on its own, a feature sought by the organization's previous director, according to a study commissioned by JIEDDO.

The Pentagon is boosting the sharing of information and expanding technical efforts to improve the capabilities of allies in Afghanistan battling improvised explosive devices, the No. 1 killer of deployed troops, according to internal documents.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- The military must improve its ability to detect improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan, and the Joint IED Defeat Organization is prepared to take risks to do so, Lt. Gen. Michael Oates, the new JIEDDO director, said last week.

The Air Force plans to launch a development program in fiscal year 2011 that will attempt to field a new electronic attack pod designed to defeat remote-controlled roadside bombs and insurgent communications, according to Pentagon budget documents.

The first element of a new aerial, counter-IED platform developed by the Air Force and the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization is slated to go operational over the skies of Afghanistan next month, sources tell Inside the Air Force.

The Office of Naval Research issued a broad agency announcement last week inviting industry to submit ideas for an extensive overhaul of Joint Counter Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare equipment.

A Senate panel's proposed cut to a program that develops devices used for electronically jamming improvised explosive devices (IEDs) would significantly impact the program but would not likely affect its schedule, an official said last week.

As the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization adapts its mission to the challenges of Afghanistan, the organization is pushing back against a new Government Accountability Office report critical of its limited visibility over some of the military's counter-IED efforts.

Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli has promoted two systems that were rapidly developed and fielded to Iraq and Afghanistan to program-of-record status, according to Army documents.

The Pentagon has transferred $130 million to bolster funding for counter-improvised explosive device electronic warfare systems used by coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a recent reprogramming action made publicly available last week.

As House and Senate appropriators prepare to reconcile differences in their respective versions of the fiscal year 2010 defense appropriations bill, one issue that hangs in the balance is how to fund a Pentagon organization focused on countering improvised bombs, the No. 1 cause of fatalities and casualties among U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Pentagon is arguing congressional budget proposals would "atrophy" progress in countering improvised bombs, the No. 1 cause of fatalities and casualties among U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Researchers and officials who will work out of the new Naval Directed Energy Center at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, VA, should focus their efforts on defeating improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the No. 1 killer of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gen. James Mattis, commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command, said recently.