An $80 million cut to the Army's Bradley upgrade program in the fiscal year 2019 spending bill signals congressional support for the service's decision to forego improvements to a legacy system in favor of investing in a new replacement.
Combat Vehicles
September 26, 2018
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, VA -- BAE Systems predicts it will begin delivering 30 low-rate initial production Amphibious Combat Vehicles to the Marine Corps next summer, slightly ahead of the previous fall 2019 projection.
September 15, 2018
House and Senate appropriators are backing the Army's aim to upgrade its Stryker combat vehicles -- approving $94 million more than requested -- but are not assured the service has a feasible plan to complete the upgrades at the desired rate.
September 12, 2018
The Marine Corps has issued a stop-work order to Science Applications International Corp. for the Assault Amphibious Vehicle survivability upgrade in the service's first step toward terminating the program's upgrade.
August 29, 2018
Army officials are working to lock in requirements for a planned big-ticket acquisition program to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle -- a program launch set for this fall that would give the service a marquee "next-generation" project to tout in the same way the Air Force has a new bomber and the Navy a new ballistic missile submarine.
August 29, 2018
The Army needs to upgrade a total of 933 M88A2 Hercules tank recovery vehicles to adjust to increasingly hefty Abrams tanks, according to a recent notice.
August 24, 2018
The Army announced today it will not move forward with testing an American-made, non-developmental active protection system on the Stryker vehicle and will instead seek new alternatives.
August 20, 2018
Army Secretary Mike Esper has directed the service to accelerate the Next Generation Combat Vehicle program, establishing a two-pronged project to immediately launch a major competition to replace the Bradley fleet with NGCV optionally manned fighting vehicles, while also establishing an NGCV robotic combat vehicle project to mature technologies for future platforms.
August 17, 2018
SAPA Transmission, the U.S. subsidiary of a Spanish defense contractor, is moving forward with support from the state of Michigan to establish a bona fide industrial operation there, advancing plans for a domestic manufacturing beachhead to challenge the Pentagon's two long-standing combat vehicle transmission suppliers.
August 7, 2018
The Army is seeking vendors to produce two new mortar systems, one an unmanned turret for brigade combat teams and the other a replacement for the current 120 mm dismounted variant.
August 7, 2018
As the Army continues its efforts to decrease the weight of the Abrams tank while adding technologies, the service is seeking information on industry's ability to support the next iteration of the vehicle.
July 26, 2018
With big promises from the Army, Congress wants questions answered on the service's Future Vertical Lift and Mobile Protected Firepower programs.
July 26, 2018
With big promises from the Army, Congress wants questions answered on some of the service's Future Vertical Lift and Mobile Protected Firepower programs.
July 25, 2018
The final fiscal year 2019 defense policy bill scales back a proposed limit on Next Generation Combat Vehicle funding, allowing the Army to use up to 90 percent of the money authorized before the service secretary submits a report on the NGCV's development.
July 17, 2018
The Army is looking to accelerate development of Next Generation Combat Vehicle experimental prototypes by shifting $57 million within its fiscal year 2018 budget, according to the Pentagon's annual omnibus reprogramming request awaiting congressional approval.
July 5, 2018
The Defense Department inspector general has determined the Army failed to properly oversee the maintenance schedules of its prepositioned stock equipment in Kuwait and Qatar after switching contractors, according to a new report.
June 23, 2018
Senate lawmakers, afraid the Army might award a foreign company a sole-source contract to replace transmissions for the entire fleet of Bradley fighting vehicles, have taken steps to insulate U.S. manufacturers by proposing legislation requiring a full and open competition, Inside Defense has learned.
June 15, 2018
Lawmakers are lining up to support the Army's fast-track project to rapidly develop and field an air- and missile-defense system that can be bolted onto the Stryker vehicle, a potential billion-dollar effort to harden ground forces in Europe from Russian threats which service leaders did not formally validate until after the Pentagon submitted its fiscal year 2019 budget to Congress.
June 14, 2018
The House Appropriations Committee is worried that the Army may need to use two M88A2 Hercules recovery vehicles to tow one Abrams tank due to the tank's increased weight, according to the committee's fiscal year 2019 defense spending bill.
June 14, 2018
The House Appropriations Committee has taken issue with the Army's path so far toward modernizing its Stryker vehicles, asking the service to submit a resourcing strategy for its desired A1 upgrade.