WASHINGTON — The most advanced variant of the Patriot missile misfired during a major test of the Army’s air-and-missile defense battle command system against a tactical ballistic missile and cruise missile target, an Army official has confirmed. Inside Defense, on Aug. 24, first reported the failure that occurred at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on Aug. 20. A Patriot Advanced Capability-2 Guided Enhanced Missile (GEM-T) […]
Jen Judson
23 posts
WASHINGTON — The Army is turning to small business innovators to figure out a way to increase the rate of fire of self-propelled howitzers, according to an Aug. 25 service statement. The effort is being worked through an Army Small Business Innovation Research pilot that brings government and industry best practices to help drive innovative solutions, according to the release. “This rate of fire aspect is […]
WASHINGTON — The Army has awarded 10 contracts totaling $29.75 million to companies to provide mature technologies in the realm of Air-Launched Effects (ALE) for future vertical lift aircraft expected to come online around 2030, Army aviation officials have told Defense News. Raytheon, Alliant Techsystems Operations LLC, of Northridge, California, and Area-I Inc., of Marietta, Georgia, were awarded contracts to develop air vehicles. L3 Technologies, Rockwell […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S> Army plans to field its “cloud in the sky” for the current aviation fleet by the end of fiscal 2024, according to the service’s Program Executive Office Aviation. Other transaction authority contracts through the Army Contracting Command’s New Jersey center were awarded to three vendors in July, and they will hit the ground running to conduct analysis for an Aviation Mission Common […]
ASMDC will retain its responsibilities as the service component command to U.S. Strategic Command and will follow similar organizational and reporting guidelines with Space Command. “The Army is the largest user of space-enabled systems in the Department of Defense,” Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said in a statement. “Naming USASMDC as a component command to both combatant commands strengthens command and control, unity of effort, and synchronization […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army’s future missile defense battle command system capped off a major test in the desert of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on Aug. 20 by nearly destroying two threat targets simultaneously. Completion of the test clears a challenging hurdle for the system as the service prepares to decide whether it is ready for production. The cruise missile and advanced tactical ballistic […]
WASHINGTON — The Missile Defense Agency is planning to develop a layered homeland intercontinental ballistic missile defense architecture, but it must clear a range of hurdles to get after an approach that addresses emerging threats and fills a gap while a next-generation interceptor is developed, according to the agency’s director. The agency unveiled plans in its fiscal 2021 budget request in February to create a more […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is recycling demilitarized rocket motors and repurposing the materials to make test missiles and it’s saving the service money, according to Thomas Webber, director of the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command Technical Center. These test missiles are called “zombies” and save the Army from having to destroy old boosters, giving them a new life, Webber said during the Defense News […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is slowing its pursuit of a future ballistic missile interceptor to replace the Patriot family of missiles, but it is continuing to conduct research on a less expensive, more capable replacement in preparation to field a new missile down the road. There’s no question a new interceptor — one that will have to keep up with higher performing radars and launchers […]
WASHINGTON — The Army has wrapped up developmental testing for its interim short-range air defense system after experiencing a minor “hiccup” that, when paired with complications due to the coronavirus pandemic, set the program back by a few weeks, Maj. Gen. Robert Rasch, the service’s program executive officer for missiles and space, said Aug. 5. It took just 19 months from the time the service generated […]
WASHINGTON — The Army, in conjunction with the Navy, is planning to conduct three flight tests of its hypersonic glide body in 2021, an ambitious schedule to initially fielding the weapon in fiscal 2023, according to Lt. Gen. Neil Thurgood, who is in charge of the Army’s rapid development of hypersonics, directed energy and space capabilities. The Army and Navy had a successful first flight test […]
WASHINGTON — A Ukrainian cargo plane landed in Israel August 3 delivering trucks that will be used to support Iron Dome battery testing ahead of delivery in the United States, U.S. Army Futures Command has confirmed. The Ukrainian plane was used to transport the trucks because of its capability to meet load requirements and delivery timelines, an AFC spokeswoman told Defense News. The U.S. Army has […]
WASHINGTON — The Missile Defense Agency has paused its effort to design a defensive hypersonic missile and wants to refocus its plan of attack by concentrating on near-term options that could feed into a more “elegant” solution, according to Vice Adm. Jon Hill, the organization’s director. The agency tapped industry in January to design and build an interceptor capable of defending against regional hypersonic weapons threats, […]
WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin said it will compete to build the Missile Defense Agency’s Next-Generation Interceptor designed to protect the homeland against intercontinental ballistic missile threats from North Korea and Iran. The company is “excited to confirm that we are putting in a bid for the Next-Generation Interceptor,” Sarah Reeves, Lockheed’s vice president of missile defense programs, told reporters August 3. Bids were due July 31. […]
The company had to delay delivery of the first LRIP vehicles by roughly four to six months, moving delivery from March to July. But as BAE prepared to move ahead on delivery, the pandemic hit, bringing with it another delay of roughly a month, which pushed the vehicles’ delivery date to August. The AMPV program entered LRIP in January 2019, but the program office indicated last […]
WASHINGTON — American firm Raytheon Technologies and Israeli-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems have formed a joint venture to build the Iron Dome missile defense system in the United States, the companies announced Aug. 3. Under the name Raytheon Rafael Area Protection Systems, the partnership is being set up to build a first-ever Iron Dome “all-up-round” facility stateside. The facility will build Iron Dome systems, the Tamir […]
WASHINGTON — The Army has awarded Boeing a $265 million contract to build nine more MH-47G Block II Chinook helicopters for the service’s Special Operations Aviation Command, according to a July 31 Defense Department contract announcement. The company is now under contract to build 24 of the G-model Chinooks. The service is expected to buy 69 special operations variants. The original plan was to procure 473 […]
WASHINGTON — A high-stakes test of the Army’s battle command system expected to control air-and-missile defense shooters and sensors on the future battlefield is underway following a brief delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenn Todorov, Northrop Grumman’s vice president for missile defense solutions, told Defense News in a recent interview. Northrop Grumman is the developer of the Integrated Air-and-Missile Defense Battle Command — or IBCS […]
WASHINGTON — The Army is still mulling two different paths to build prototypes for its Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft following an industry day earlier this month, but is pushing toward a contract award in fiscal 2022, according to the service’s FLRAA program manager. While the service continues to sift through industry feedback that will determine which road the Army takes, it remains on track to publish […]
WASHINGTON — Congress is establishing increased oversight of the Missile Defense Agency’s plans for its homeland missile defense system — designed to protect against possible intercontinental ballistic missile threats from North Korea and Iran — through a handful of provisions in both the House and Senate passed versions of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. Displeased with the abrupt cancellation of the agency’s major upgrade […]
“The Army has not committed yet to a form factor of long-range precision munitions. If it’s Spike, or something else, we have time to work with that. We have time to do one fly-off or more” over the next few years to inform requirements, Col. Matthew Isaacson told reporters during a July 24 briefing. The service is molding a future fleet for the early 2030s, acquiring […]
WASHINGTON — Despite numerous warnings of critical problems from experts within and outside the government over roughly 10 years, the cost to develop the now-canceled Redesigned Kill Vehicle program for homeland missile defense more than tripled, and the program’s schedule slipped by four years, a new U.S. government watchdog report reveals. “At the time [the Defense Department] canceled the RKV program in August 2019, MDA [the […]
WASHINGTON — The Army is on a path to use space sensors to help its artillery see and shoot well beyond current capability. The service has already wrapped up an effort to achieve this capability, which took place in Europe in February and March, Gen. Mike Murray, Army Futures Command commander, told reporters in a media call. Murray was discussing how Army modernization would proceed despite […]