Previous MDA budget requests in FY19 and FY20 asked for funding for the discriminating radar as well as another somewhere else in the Pacific. The plan in FY19 was to field the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii by FY23, which meant military construction would have taken place beginning in FY21. Then in […]
Jen Judson
18 posts
WASHINGTON — The fielding of a U.S. Air Force radar to detect ballistic missile threats, currently being installed at Clear Air Force Station, Alaska, is delayed by roughly a year, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report. Information provided by the Missile Defense Agency in June to the GAO […]
WASHINGTON — The Army grappled with the difficult challenge of incorporating heavy robotic combat vehicles into its formations during a month-long experiment at Fort Carson, Colorado, and came away with a clearer path to bringing robots into the fold while it is still years away from ground robots fitting in […]
WASHINGTON — The Government Accountability Office is warning the Army its approach to cost estimates and technical development for its Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle program is risky and should be amended, according to an August 6 report. The Army has already struggled to get the OMFV program, intended to replace […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]