Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. has written for Breaking Defense since 2011 and served as deputy editor for the site's first decade, covering technology, strategy, and policy with a particular focus on the US Army. He’s now a contributing editor focused on cyber, robotics, AI, and other critical technologies and policies that will shape the future of warfare. Sydney began covering defense at National Journal magazine in 1997 and holds degrees from Harvard, Cambridge, and Georgetown.
Starting with a summit this December, the Army’s acquisition chief wants to harmonize technical standards across ground vehicles, aircraft, and other systems so they can easily use common components in their design – potentially saving millions – and share tactical data in battle – potentially saving lives.
The modestly named “Mid-Range Capability” will hit targets more than one thousand miles away, Lt. Gen. Neil Thurgood tells me. But the brand-new program needs reprogramming authority from Congress to catch up to other Army missiles already in flight tests.
Answering the Pentagon’s call to bolster defense industrial base.
The Army can’t keep modernizing around the edges at its World War II-era ammunition plants, Assistant Secretary Bruce Jette said: It has to “transform” them. The detailed plan -- and cost -- are TBD.
While Combat Training Center wargames will still work out full brigades, training at home base will emphasize small-unit teambuilding over big events.
The Army Chief of Staff and the head of Army Futures Command told Breaking Defense why, even without the chance to meet and mingle in the flesh, the AUSA Annual Meeting is still vital.
As the Army braces for a post-COVID budget crunch, Gen. John Murray told Breaking Defense, his Army Futures Command is studying conflict scenarios to decide which new weapons could be kept or cut.
From emerging data networks to missile tracking and cyber resilience, Breaking Defense’s latest eBook brings together essential reporting on the evolving role of satellites in national security.
Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville and other top Army pilots say these new technologies, tactics, & training will keep aircraft alive against high-tech foes like Russia and China.
The Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, an off-road truck to scout ahead of airborne and light infantry units, could lead the Army’s move to electric motors. But electrifying heavy cargo trucks, let alone tanks, could take decades.
The experimental targeting goggles field-tested last fall didn’t work in the rain. The ruggedized version to be tested this month will fix that flaw – and more, the Army says.
Other Transaction Authority prototyping tripled from 2017's $1.6 billion, while other non-traditional vehicles, like research grants, declined from $730 million to $590 million.
Defending a country the size of the US from threats requires advanced sensing, communications and interception capabilities.
General Dynamics Land Systems can now order materials to start building the first 28 vehicles, worth a total of $230 million, in 2021.
The Pentagon is finding alternative clouds while waiting for JEDI, Dana Deasy said, so it can upgrade them to JEDI as soon as the courts allow.
Mounted on a pair of heavy trucks, the Terrestrial Layer System – Echelons Above Brigade (TLS-EAB) will do long-range jamming for high-level HQs – and fry the circuits of incoming enemy missiles as well.
A host of high-tech specialties will have to work together, Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty said, so “stop fighting and start figuring out how to integrate the capability.”