Pentagon tech chief says new rapid experimentation reserve is moving forward

Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu expects to be able to kick-start the new Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve in fiscal 2022 with some help from congressional appropriators.

Amid Russia crisis, Pentagon nominee criticizes Obama response to Crimea

A top Pentagon pick for President Biden has criticized the Obama administration’s response to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea as “too slow and too incremental.”

EU readies key guides for its defense, space postures during French presidency

Defense ministers met this week in Brest, on the tip of western France, to make headway on an upcoming proposal dubbed the “Strategic Compass.”

US Army plans to make big advances in cloud initiatives this year

The Army's first tactical cloud environment outside of the U.S. will be located in the Pacific.

Commentary

Modernizing US nuclear deterrence presents a rare bipartisan opportunity

A former senator argues America’s intercontinental ballistic missiles are the foundation of nuclear deterrence, but that they must be modernized to remain effective.

India, China talks on border standoff end in stalemate

The previous round of commander-level talks in October also ended in a stalemate, with China accusing India of sticking to “unreasonable and unrealistic demands, adding difficulties to the negotiations.”

US Navy works to speed up damage assessments, ship repairs

The Navy won't just assume that battle damage assessments and repairs happen during war games and live exercises. It wants to actually practice these skills on ships.

Army readies to deliver first set of Strykers with 50-kilowatt laser weapons

The U.S. Army nears initial fielding of a powerful laser weapon on Stryker combat vehicle.

Navy should be ‘offended’ by its own maintenance and manning faults, admiral says

Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, said the Navy does not have the “luxury to do more with less.”

Boeing pledges expanded German industry involvement if the nation buys the F-18

While prospective local partners remained unnamed, Boeing claims its outreach effort would amount to deals worth about $4 billion.

US Navy official says service is going ‘head to head with our adversaries’ all over the world

Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener shared how the guided missile destroyer Mustin shadowed a Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning in the South China Sea in April 2021.

Stopgap spending bills undermine the military, Pentagon officials and trade groups warn

Extended budget gridlock would sabotage the U.S. military’s efforts to compete with China, stall new weapons like hypersonic missiles and block $3 billion for defunct Afghan forces from being moved to new priorities, top Pentagon officials testified Wednesday.

Lithuania accelerates rocket artillery buy amid Russian military buildup

The Lithuanian government has decided to accelerate its planned purchase of a multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) amid Russia’s military buildup on its border with Ukraine.

Commentary

Three ways the Pentagon can create an automation first culture

Automation has the ability to transform the DoD, but to do so it must become a mission-critical priority on the same level as cybersecurity and other top initiatives. The time to do that is now.

Ellen Lord joins GEOST board of directors

GEOST, a mid-sized space company based in Tucson, AZ, announced today it has appointed former Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief Ellen Lord to its board of directors.

Indian, Chinese army commanders discuss border impasse

The 14th round of talks is being held on China’s side of the Moldo meeting point and is likely to conclude late Wednesday or Thursday, the Indian Army says.

Wanted: New missions for the littoral combat ship

Even as the Navy tries to wrap up testing of two LCS mission packages years after their original fielding dates, service leadership is also polling fleet commanders on alternate mission ideas for the LCS ships.

Surface warfare boss unveils strategy to create ‘more ready ships,’ better trained sailors

Here are the five lines of effort that could see the U.S. Navy's surface fleet become larger and more capable.

New in 2022: Marine Corps light armored reconnaissance is at a crossroad

The top Marine wants more recon/counter-recon. This year could see details revealed.

US Space Force considers purchasing weather data as a service

As it looks to replace the legacy Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, the U.S. Space Force may issue a solicitation for a new space weather data procurement effort later this year.

New UK military air traffic management suite falls far short of savings goals

The first element of a major overhaul of Britain’s military air traffic management system has gone fully operational, but the Ministry of Defence has admitted the projected savings expected from the program are drastically reduced.

In Russia talks, US floats deal to limit missiles and war games

U.S. officials have raised the possibility of limiting missile deployments in Eastern Europe and the size and scope of its military exercises

Inspector General criticizes documentation on Pentagon’s artificial intelligence project

The DoD must document contract management for Project Maven, or risk capturing lessons learned for efforts in the future, the Pentagon's inspector general said.

New German government revisits Tornado replacement options

Germany is once again weighing its options for replacing the country’s aging Tornado aircraft fleet, which could put the F-35 back on the table.

President nominates new chief for National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

If confirmed by the Senate, the current director of intelligence for the Joint Staff would take over the NGA, the intelligence agency in charge of analyzing and distributing geospatial intelligence for the national security community.

Soldiers ‘seeing’ outside the Bradley with Army high-tech goggle

Next steps include using the IVAS with the Stryker, starting in August.

The Air Force and Boeing haven’t yet fixed the troubled KC-46 Pegasus vision system

Air Mobility Command expects the revamped Remote Vision System will still be delivered on schedule, but the Air Force has not yet accepted its design.

Navy reports improved ship maintenance, but is still falling short of CNO’s goals

On-time deliveries from repair periods has improved from 29% in 2018 to a projected 59% for 2021 -- but that's still short of the CNO's goal to reach no lost days to maintenance overruns by now.