Getting ahead: Ukraine Defense Contact Group forms 2 coalitions

Getting ahead: Ukraine Defense Contact Group forms 2 coalitions
Getting ahead: Ukraine Defense Contact Group forms 2 coalitions

Latvia is heading up a new drone coalition while Poland will helm another focusing on armor, according to US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander.

Let The (War) Games Begin: Army Buying High-Tech Training Sims

Let The (War) Games Begin: Army Buying High-Tech Training Sims
Let The (War) Games Begin: Army Buying High-Tech Training Sims

After decades using the same clunky simulators, the Army is about to buy new sims drawing on the latest innovations in online gaming.

NGCV: Hard Choices In Bradley Replacement, RFP Out Friday

NGCV: Hard Choices In Bradley Replacement, RFP Out Friday
NGCV: Hard Choices In Bradley Replacement, RFP Out Friday

The Army will sacrifice some protection to fit two NGCVs on one Air Force C-17.

Tank Plant Trump Says He Saved Was Never In Danger

Tank Plant Trump Says He Saved Was Never In Danger
Tank Plant Trump Says He Saved Was Never In Danger

Here’s the real history of the nation’s only factory for the massive M1 Abrams tanks.

Vietnam-Vintage Vehicles Blaze Trail For Robot Tanks: Army RCV

Vietnam-Vintage Vehicles Blaze Trail For Robot Tanks: Army RCV
Vietnam-Vintage Vehicles Blaze Trail For Robot Tanks: Army RCV

The actual Robotic Combat Vehicle that gets mass-produced and fielded by 2028 will be an all-new design, not a converted M113. But why wait for someone to design and build the perfect hardware, when you can start testing the software and the tactics on something cheaply available today?

Army Rejects Iron Curtain APS For Stryker, Launches New Programs

Army Rejects Iron Curtain APS For Stryker, Launches New Programs
Army Rejects Iron Curtain APS For Stryker, Launches New Programs

By 2022, the service plans to field new advanced reactive armor tiles to neutralize incoming warheads, a laser early warning system to warn crews they’re being targeted, and a signature management effort to avoid detection in the first place.

Trump’s Vision & NATO’s Future: Streamline The Alliance For Modern War

Trump’s Vision & NATO’s Future: Streamline The Alliance For Modern War
Trump’s Vision & NATO’s Future: Streamline The Alliance For Modern War

It would be wrong for Europeans to conclude that President Trump wants to withdraw all US forces from Europe. The President simply wants the US military to be NATO’s security guarantor of last resort, not NATO’s “first responder.”

All Armored Brigades To Get Active Protection Systems: Gen. Milley

All Armored Brigades To Get Active Protection Systems: Gen. Milley
All Armored Brigades To Get Active Protection Systems: Gen. Milley

“Once the US companies come on line,” Gen. Milley said, “the intent is to outfit the entire heavy force — the Bradleys, the tanks, any future combat vehicles — with active protective systems.”

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Trophy APS: The Best Defense Is Shooting Back

Trophy APS: The Best Defense Is Shooting Back
Trophy APS: The Best Defense Is Shooting Back

No, the Trophy anti-missile system now going on US tanks won’t accidentally shred friendly troops when it goes off, the manufacturer told me this morning. And, the expert from Rafael Ltd. explained, Trophy will calculate where the enemy fired at you from so you can shred _them_.

Army Hopes For $6.8B From FY18 Budget Deal: 70% For Modernization

Army Hopes For $6.8B From FY18 Budget Deal: 70% For Modernization
Army Hopes For $6.8B From FY18 Budget Deal: 70% For Modernization

UPDATED: Adds SecArmy Esper Roundtable PENTAGON: The figures aren’t final, but the Army hopes to get about $6.8 billion in additional funding for fiscal year 2018 thanks to the recently concluded budget deal, Army Secretary Mark Esper said this morning. The service’s new plan would start delivering a Next Generation Squad Weapon to the infantry…

261 M1 Tanks Getting Trophy Anti-Missile System As Army Reorients To Major Wars

261 M1 Tanks Getting Trophy Anti-Missile System As Army Reorients To Major Wars
261 M1 Tanks Getting Trophy Anti-Missile System As Army Reorients To Major Wars

PENTAGON: The Army’s 2019 budget will upgrade 261 M1 tanks, enough for three brigades, to carry Israeli-made Trophy Active Protection Systems (APS) to guard against anti-tank missiles, service officials said this morning. That’s just one of many funding changes — from buying more howitzer shells to intensifying training exercises — meant to reorient the Army…

Tanks Up, Choppers Down, Artillery WAY Up In Army’s Old School 2019 Budget

Tanks Up, Choppers Down, Artillery WAY Up In Army’s Old School 2019 Budget
Tanks Up, Choppers Down, Artillery WAY Up In Army’s Old School 2019 Budget

PENTAGON: The Army’s 2019 budget is all about old-school firepower. It’s a plan unmistakably driven by the Russian threat. Artillery, the king of battle, and armored vehicles dominate the service’s request: Joseph Stalin would approve. Meanwhile, helicopters — until this year the service’s top procurement expense — slip to second place. What’s more, the Army…

Heavy Competition For Light Tank: SAIC & Singapore Vs. BAE, GDLS

Heavy Competition For Light Tank: SAIC & Singapore Vs. BAE, GDLS
Heavy Competition For Light Tank: SAIC & Singapore Vs. BAE, GDLS

If the stars align for defense contractor SAIC, the US Army and Marine Corps will soon be buying hundreds of armored vehicles designed in Singapore. Yesterday, six months after joining forces for the first time on the Marines’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle competition – and just four days before the massive Association of the US Army…

Laser In Front, Grunts In Back: Boeing Offers Anti-Aircraft Vehicles

Laser In Front, Grunts In Back: Boeing Offers Anti-Aircraft Vehicles
Laser In Front, Grunts In Back: Boeing Offers Anti-Aircraft Vehicles

ARLINGTON: Need to shoot down Daesh drones or Russian gunships? Boeing is offering the Army an array of ways to do it, from laser-armed 8×8 Strykers to missile-launching MATV trucks and tracked Bradleys. This September, the Army plans a “shoot off” of competing anti-aircraft systems as it tries to rebuild battlefield air defenses it largely…