By
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on March 17, 2021 at 2:24 PM
A soldier tests the ENVG-B inight vision goggles n 2019. (Chris Bridson / Army)
WASHINGTON: The Army aims to outmaneuver and outthink its adversaries so thoroughly it achieves “decision dominance,” its generals said in unison this week. Will the new term became the latest bureaucratic buzzword or shed real light on how the future force should fight?
Gen. James McConville
The Army must move faster, McConville, declared, both as an institution developing new weapons – not in decades, but in a few years – and as a battlefield force destroying enemies – firing artillery, not minutes after spotting a target, but seconds.
By
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on March 16, 2021 at 7:30 AM
Photo: Courtesy of Raytheon Missiles & Defense
WASHINGTON: Raytheon will soon deliver the Army’s first “production readiness” model of the new LTAMDS radar, in time for key tests this summer. By next September (2022), the first six early-model LTAMDS should have passed initial Army testing. That will allow the Lower-Tier Air & Missile Defense Sensor, to use its formal name, to be approved for “Urgent Materiel Release” to Army missile defense units.
If Raytheon makes that deadline, it’ll have gone from initial contract award – in Oct. 2019 – to operational fielding in less than three years. That’s a remarkable pace for the Pentagon, made possible in large part by using the streamlined Other Transaction Authority process instead of traditional contracting regulations.
When high-tech enemies hack and jam communications, “small units need to be able to operate on their own,” the Army Chief of Staff said. “If they are not masters of their craft, they are not going to be able to do that.”
By
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on March 16, 2021 at 2:18 PM
Holding events virtually saves venue, transportation, and lodging costs, AUSA’s Guy Swan says, but setting up and checking all the digital links takes way more work from staff. They’re hoping to do part of their October Annual Meeting in person in DC.
By
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on March 16, 2021 at 7:00 AM
By
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on March 15, 2021 at 1:53 PM
The two contenders for the Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA), just one of 35 priority modernization programs: The Bell 360 Invictus (top) and the Sikorsky Raider-X (bottom)
WASHINGTON: Officials from across the Army are thrashing out how to field a host of new weapons to combat units without disrupting readiness and training.
“We’re conducting rock drills right now,” said Lt. Gen. Thomas Todd, head of acquisition for Army Futures Command. “And it really has to do with, not just what we can afford to do, but the absorption rate and how it impacts readiness.”