The Latest Stories from 2017 AUSA Annual Meeting
AUSA: After a generation of centralized control and absolute air superiority, the US Air Force needs to decentralize to handle high-tech adversaries, the head of Air Combat Command said Wednesday. Top-down direction won’t always work against enemies who can hack or jam our communications networks, Gen. Mike Holmes said. That means we need to devolve…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
AUSA: How do you coordinate foot soldiers moving four miles per hour with fighter jets moving 1,500 mph? To address the differences in speed and range, the Army’s Training & Doctrine Command is already revising its new “battlefield framework” – which was first circulated just in July – to open up the Army’s traditional geographic zones…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Videos from AUSA 2017
AUSA: Ellen Lord, the former Textron executive now heading the Pentagon’s acquisition shop, revealed today in her first public appearance since her confirmation that she is making fundamental changes in how the Office of Secretary of Defense starts and manages military weapons programs. This comes on top of internal Army reforms announced here by the…
By Colin Clark
AUSA: On the last day of this enormous trade show, the acting Army Secretary made a point of reaching out to the defense industry. Ryan McCarthy promised action on a host of issues important to business, from R&D investments to intellectual property, as well as offering more details on sweeping acquisition reforms internal to the…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
AUSA: 15 years ago, when the Stryker entered Army service, traditionalist treadheads derided the eight-wheel-drive armored vehicle as far too light to fight alongside heavy tracked machines. Today, the Stryker is the middle-weight mainstay of the Army, filling a niche between light trucks like the Humvee and heavy tanks like the M1 Abrams. A big…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
AUSA: Last year we introduced Breaking D readers to a camouflage-painted, hydrogen-powered pickup truck GM was going to test for the Army. This year, the Chevrolet Colorado ZH2 is back at AUSA, still dirty from months of tests at various Army bases around the United States. Its fuel cell turns hydrogen into electricity, powering an…
By Richard Whittle
AUSA: Bell Helicopter is moving right along with its new V-280 Valor, a tiltrotor being built under the Army-led, multiservice Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program. The V-280 – which flies at 280 knots cruising speed — resembles the bigger V-22 Osprey built by Bell and Boeing for the Marine Corps, Air Force Special Operations Command…
By Richard Whittle
AUSA: Qinetiq’s aptly named Titan is a big robot, but don’t be afraid of it — yet. The company built it to compete for the Army’s Squad Maneuver Equipment Transport (S-MET) contract, so its main function is to haul backpacks, ammunition, water, and other heavy, bulky supplies for human infantry. That said, Qinetiq’s also looking at an…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
AUSA: Lockheed Martin company Sikorsky and teammate Boeing are taking a deliberate approach to building their prototype for the Army-led Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program, the SB>1 Defiant, officials told our contributor Richard Whittle when he visited their booth. Based on Sikorsky’s award-winning X2 technology demonstrator, the Defiant is a compound helicopter with coaxial rotors…
By Richard Whittle and Colin Clark
UPDATED: McCain Endorses Army Move AUSA: Army leaders are creating eight interdisciplinary teams to jumpstart modernization programs in six key areas, from (non-nuclear) ballistic missiles to body armor. Each team will be led by a battle-hardened brigadier general and consist of specialists drawn from across the Army. These Cross Functional Teams are linked to a…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
