“All too often,” the enemy in training scenarios is “two guys… with AK-47s and then another guy with an RPG,” Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe says. “That’s not the threat we need to be training our force against today.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.A major overhaul is coming in software for missile warning
Space Systems Command’s FORGE program is the first, major missile-warning software modernization effort in 20 years.
New technologies and organizations will give soldiers an edge, Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe said, but tanks and foot troops will still face brutal close combat.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Army aims to replace its RQ-7 Shadow with a new, more nimble drone that doesn’t require a runway, to better scout and survive in fast-moving conflicts with great powers.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Army wants its Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) program to provide a transformational leap in battlefield capability.
By Breaking Defense Staff
Under Gen. Milley the Army went from two ready brigades to 25 and it finally — after at least three false starts — began to shed the heavy weight of the Cold War weapons known as the Big Five.
By Colin Clark
Warships sink. Bases burn. F-35s die on the runway. Can $24 billion a year — 3.3 % of the Pentagon budget — fix the problem?
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: Army planners are thrashing out how many electronic warfare specialists the service needs, not just to rebuild radio-jamming and spoofing capability in combat units, but to create a training cadre that can sustain the EW corps for the long-term. Whether this plan for robust growth — certainly hundreds of soldiers, possibly over a thousand…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Why cloud modernization is critical to multi-domain operations
JADC2 is a forcing function, driving digital transformation of network infrastructure.
These special squadrons would probably be the first units to get the revolutionary Future Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) the service wants flying by the mid-2020s to replace conventional helicopters.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
AUSA: The Army is giving its electronic warfare force more troops, more training, and a more prominent role in combat headquarters, senior officers said here Thursday, pushing back on criticisms that the service neglects EW even as Russia and China pull ahead. The number of EW troops has increased from 813 (both officers and enlisted)…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
ARLINGTON: As Russia and other adversaries stock up on drones, rockets, and missiles, the US Army is building up defenses to shoot them down. But that Short-Range Air Defense force has been devastated by a decade of cuts. The service’s plan to revive SHORAD involves deploying to Europe about 50 more of its current Avenger…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
ARLINGTON: The Army is reinforcing its combat brigades with cyber soldiers. In 18 months of wargames with a wide range of units — tanks, Strykers, infantry, Airborne, Rangers — Army Cyber Command troops have brought hacking and jamming to bear on the (simulated) battlefield alongside guns and bombs. The exercises have already revealed cybersecurity shortfalls…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Army Must Forge New Path on Weapons Spending
The Army needs to break with DoD’s modernization strategy or risk being broken itself. Simply stated, the Army cannot afford to cut end strength and units in order to free up resources for modernization. This is all the more true if the modernization programs are complex, expensive and will take years to reach IOC. The…
By Daniel Goure
The battle between the regular Army and the National Guard, which we all knew would blow up one of these days, has blown up. At 3:30 this afternoon, the spokesman of the 54 state and territorial Guard commanders, Kentucky Adjutant General Ed Tonini, raised the standard of revolt against the active-duty leadership who had, he said, “slammed their…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Trump’s plan would undercut the more expansive National Defense Strategy for “great power competition” that embattled Defense Secretary Jim Mattis rolled out just nine months ago.
By Mark Cancian