Defense

WASHINGTON — North Carolina-based defense technology company Curtiss-Wright announced Sept. 24 that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Pacific Star, a major tactical communications vendor for the U.S. Army. Curtiss-Wright, based in North Carolina, bought PacStar for $400 million in an effort to boost its network communications business. […]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has awarded a nearly $40 million contract to Parsons to produce ground vehicles that can clear mines or unexploded ordnance from airfields — using a laser. The package covers the procurement of 13 Recovery of Airbase Denied by Ordnance (RADBO) vehicles, as well as […]

The U.S. Space Force will save $53 million in launch expenses due to a contract modification with SpaceX, which will allow the company to reuse Falcon 9 first-stage boosters for future launches. “SMC’s commitment to innovative partnerships and working with the commercial sector while maintaining our mission assurance posture and […]

WASHINGTON ― Conservative Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., might be opposites politically, but they agree the recently established job of chief management officer at the Pentagon ought to be saved. The two were among 13 lawmakers who urged armed services committee leaders not to “prematurely […]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department hopes Congress will approve a change in how it funds its next-generation ICBM in order to avoid what it views as unnecessary contract bureaucracy. Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, Pentagon acquisition head Ellen Lord said the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent […]

WASHINGTON ― An affiliate of government contractor Amentum will buy Dyncorp International, the global services provider, the companies announced Thursday. The deal, for undisclosed terms, is expected to close in fourth quarter of this year. In a joint release, the companies billed the deal as creating a mission critical support […]

ROME – Italy is considering using funds handed over by the European Union for its Covid-damaged economy as a way to fund defense technology programs including the U.S. Future Vertical Lift helicopter initiative. The so-called FVL program to build next-generation helicopters is currently being pursued by the United States only, […]

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s upcoming recommendation for a future Navy is expected to call for a significant increase in the number of ships, with a fleet of over 530 hulls having been discussed, according to documents obtained by Defense News. Inputs to the forthcoming Future Navy Force Study reviewed by […]

WASHINGTON ― Boeing has assembled a team with General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems and Aerojet Rocketdyne to bid to build the Missile Defense Agency’s Next Generation Interceptor (NGI). The MDA is holding a competition instead to design a brand new interceptor for the GMD system. The company has an extensive history […]

WASHINGTON ― Top Senate Foreign Relations Committee leaders Thursday invoked Israel’s qualitative military edge, signaling a complex path for a possible U.S. sale of F-35 joint strike fighters to the United Arab Emirates. At a hearing focused on Mideast issues, Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and ranking member Bob Menendez, D-N.J., […]

In his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination, President Donald Trump said that in a second term, “We will win the race to 5G, and build the world’s best cyber and missile defense.” On the last issue — missile defense — there are actions President Trump can and should […]

JERUSALEM – Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced a reciprocal procurement agreement with Italy’s defense ministry that will see Israel acquire 12 training helicopters and Italy receive Rafael Advanced Defense Systems “Spike” missiles and Elbit Systems simulators. The agreement builds on a 2011 deal between Israel and Italy in which Israel […]

The Marine Corps wants to provide information on demand. However, sensing, harnessing and acting upon the vast amounts of data produced daily is an enormous challenge and now the Corps is turning to its 2019 blueprint for the information environment. “If you were building a house, you would never just […]

WASHINGTON — Retired Gen. Paul Selva, who served as vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under President Donald Trump, is among the more than 480 national security leaders who today announced their support for Joe Biden to become the nation’s next commander in chief. The list includes five […]

WASHINGTON – The way the United States military has had forces arrayed in the Pacific for the last 70 years must change to meet a new threat environment, the US Marine Corps’ top general said Wednesday, arguing that the force must be in more places and spread across a wider […]

WASHINGTON — While the phrase “tsunami of data” seems to have exited everyday use by Defense Department officials, the problem remains the same: The Pentagon simply cannot exploit the sheer amount of information that comes in every day to its fullest. It’s a challenge that will only get worse as […]

WASHINGTON ― The Pentagon’s shared supply chains with the battered commercial aviation side will suffer if Washington doesn’t provide it with aid soon, the Aerospace Industries Association warned Wednesday. The trade group released its recovery plan for the broad aerospace and defense sector as Congress has begun a fierce Supreme […]

Army Futures Command shows off Project Convergence in new video Army Futures Command’s Project Convergence is AI and machine learning on the battlefield. WASHINGTON — The teaming of helicopters and unmanned aircraft just a few years ago meant that a pilot could control a drone to fly ahead to conduct […]

PARIS – The French Ministry of the Armed Forces has announced a firm order for a second tranche of the Jaguar and Griffon armored vehicles that lie at the core of its ambitious Scorpion program to reconfigure how its army wages war. This second tranche is for 42 Jaguar combat […]