DefenseNews: Is The F-15ex On The Brink Of Being Cancelled?
F-15EX – Cancelled? – The F-15 Eagle was designed in the 1970s, without “a pound for air-to-ground,” meaning the plane was built strictly for air superiority. McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle Accordingly, the original F-15 was excellent at engaging other airborne targets, or dogfighting – the jet was perhaps the preeminent fourth-generation air-to-air fighter – but lacked systems or capabilities to engage on the ground targets.
US Army triggers competition for future long-range assault aircraft
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has launched its future long-range assault aircraft competition, quietly releasing a request for proposals limited to two industry teams. The service has also homed in on a schedule to deliver FLRAA prototypes after debating two different options to stay on schedule. The service weighed the option of pursuing both prototype builds for the airframe and the weapons systems at the same time, or on slightly separate schedules, which would have meant the difference between delivering full prototypes to the Army by the s…
US Handed Over Seven Facilities To Afghan Military: Pentagon
Washington: "The US has officially handed over seven facilities to the Afghan Ministry of Defense," CENTCOM said, adding that the US has completed more than 95 per cent of the entire withdrawal process. The US has handed over as many as seven facilities to the Afghan military, the Central Command said on Tuesday, asserting that America has completed more than 95 per cent of its troop withdrawal and has entered the last phase of the drawdown from the war-torn country. Since the decision of US President Joe Biden, the Department of Def…
‘It Failed Miserably’: After Wargaming Loss, Joint Chiefs Are Overhauling How the US Military Will Fight
A brutal loss in a wargaming exercise last October convinced the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. John Hyten to scrap the joint warfighting concept that had guided U.S. military operations for decades. “Without overstating the issue, it failed miserably. An aggressive red team that had been studying the United States for the last 20 years just ran rings around us. They knew exactly what we're going to do before we did it,” Hyten told an audience Monday at the launch of the Emerging Technologies Institute, an effort by the National D…
Limits of a US-India military alliance amidst a growing challenge from China
In the wake of the ongoing military stand-off between India and China there is considerable debate about the possibility of deeper engagement between New Delhi and Washington. While a deeper strategic relationship is highly probable as result of Chinese military conduct to unilaterally shift the Line Actual Control (LaC), it could fall well short of the Americans fighting alongside Indian forces in a Sino-Indian war. Therefore, whatever optimists about the US-India strategic partnership may conclude, the Modi-led government would be well…
Rolls-Royce to Supply propulsion system for new US Army Aircraft
Rolls-Royce is to provide the propulsion system for a new aircraft which will form part of the US Army's long-range assault program. The Derby-headquartered company has reached agreement with Bell Textron Inc, a Textron Inc company, to provide the system for the V-280 Valor aircraft as it moves forward in the competition for the US Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) Program. Rolls-Royce will manufacture the engines for the refined V-280 Valor design as well as an advanced Infrared Suppressor system to deliver greater …
Esper: ‘No orders’ issued to remove forces from South Korea
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Tuesday that he has not issued any orders to remove American forces from South Korea, but left the door open for such a move in the future. Esper, speaking at an event hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, also said that America remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon was drawing up plans to reduce the U.S. presence in South Korea below the current level of 28,500 personnel. A similar situation,…
NDAA amendment slamming Chinese aggression against India passed by US House of Representatives
The NDAA amendment, moved by Congressman Steve Chabot along with Indian-American lawmaker Ami Bera and passed on Monday, said that India and China should work towards de-escalating the situation along the Line of Actual Control. The US House of Representatives has unanimously passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), slamming China’s aggression against India in the Galwan Valley and its growing territorial assertiveness in and around disputed areas like the South China Sea. The NDAA amendment, moved by Congr…
American troops in Afghanistan drops to 8,600 as Taliban make big changes ahead of expected talks
ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have put the son of the movement’s feared founder in charge of their military wing and added several powerful figures to their negotiating team, Taliban officials said. The shake-up, one of the most significant in years, comes ahead of expected talks with Kabul aimed at ending decades of war in Afghanistan. American troops in Afghanistan returning As head of a newly united military wing, 30-year-old Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob brings his father’s fiercely uncompromising reputation to the battlefield. Equally signifi…
US Air Force Awards Boeing $1.2 Billion for 8 F-15EX
The U.S. Air Force has awarded a contract to acquire its first fourth-plus-generation F-15EX fighter aircraft from Boeing Co. The service said Monday that the nearly $1.2 billion contract will cover eight jets, including initial design, development, test and certification, plus spare parts and support equipment, training and technical data, and delivery and sustainment costs. "The F-15EX is the most affordable and immediate way to refresh the capacity and update the capabilities provided by our aging F-15C/D fleets," Gen. Mike Holmes…
UK signs £65m contract for first three Protectors
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has ordered its first three of a planned 16 Protector RG1 unmanned air vehicles from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, with the £65 million ($82 million) contract announced on 15 July. Also including three ground control stations and support equipment, the launch production order follows what the MoD describes as a “successful development phase” activity performed by General Atomics in the USA. With its first production order now in place, the MoD says operations with the Protector fleet will start by mid-2…
Defense News: US Army wants $364million for Defender Pacific in FY 2021
New York: The U.S. Army is requesting $364 million to conduct a division-sized exercise in the Indo-Pacific region in fiscal 2021, the service confirmed to Defense News . Yet, the cost breakout details are classified, according to an Army spokeswoman. The exercise is fueled by a rising China , characterized in the National Defense Strategy as a long-term, strategic competitor of the United States. The NDS lays out a world where great power competition rather than counterterrorism will drive the Defense Department’s decision-making an…
US Army successfully flies its hoverbike prototype
The Army has proven that the hoverbike its contractors are developing actually works during a flight demo with the Department of Defense. Dr. William Roper, director of the Strategic Capabilities Office for the Secretary of Defense, watched the large rectangular prototype quadcopter take off at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland on January 10th. The hoverbike began as a Kickstarter project by creator Malloy Aeronautics. Once Malloy secured a contract with the military, it teamed up with defense company Survice Engineering Co.…
U.S. Military Concerned About Dirty Drones
Drones typically make the news for striking terrorists , delivering a pizza or potentially delivering packages from Amazon. There is one drone scenario government officials hope does not make the news. Military officials are proactively planning how to counter drones carrying chemical or biological weapons , reports Defense One. The Pentagon has created an official program called Thunderstorm to develop a defense system . They have already placed a request for information (RFI) out to vendors such as private companies and univers…
US Army Labs Test DARPA's Load-Lightening Exosuits
The futuristic exosuits being tested by US Army researchers won't help soldiers outrun locomotives, and it'll still take more than a single bound to clear a tall building. But a final prototype of the device, which could cut a wearer's exertion level by 25 percent when carrying a 100-pound load and might let an unburdened soldier run a four-minute mile, could be tested in a realistic setting in less than two years, according to Maj. Christopher Orlowski, who runs the program under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Age…
US Army Struggles With War-Zone Inventory
WASHINGTON — As the Defense Department retrogrades mountains of equipment from Afghanistan, the US Army has failed to effectively report $419.5 million worth of equipment that may have gone missing, according to a recent DoD Inspector General’s (DODIG’s) audit. Some 15,600 pieces of equipment lost from the Bagram and Kandahar property redistribution yards were not reported in a timely manner by the unit responsible for tracking it, the 401st Army Field Support Brigade, according to the Oct. 30 audit. Once the inspectors made their …
'Streets safer' after Afghan mission, says General Sir Nicholas Houghton
The UK's top military officer says the "streets of the United Kingdom are safer" because of the Afghan mission. Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nicholas Houghton said the "prime strategic purpose" of having troops in the country had been achieved. "In the last 13/14 years there has not been a single international terrorist attack launched from Afghanistan," he said. Britain's 13-year war in Afghanistan ended last month. More than 450 UK troops died during the conflict, and as …
India, US army chiefs seek stronger defence cooperation
Army chiefs of India and the US have reviewed the ongoing army-to-army cooperation and opportunities to further strengthen bilateral cooperation, including through joint training exercises and military exchanges. The review was undertaken at a meeting here between India's Chief of the Army Staff, General Bikram Singh and his US counterpart General Ray Odierno during General Singh's Dec 2-5 visit to the US. General Singh also utilised the opportunity to discuss the US-India defence relationship with other senior US military lea…
US benefits from a capable Indian military
As the US initiated a range of country-specific measures to give a new thrust to its defence relationship with India, a top Pentagon official has said that America benefits from a strong and capable Indian military. “In the long run, the United States benefits from an Indian military with all the capabilities it needs to meet its growing regional security responsibilities,” said the outgoing Deputy Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter. Carter, considered to be architect of the new India-US defence policy along with the National Security…
US keen to partner with India on defence modernisation program
WASHINGTON: The United States is keen to partner with India in its defence modernisation drive, the Pentagon has said amidst calls from the Indian armed forces for involving private sector in developing country's defence infrastructure and a strong manufacturing base. "As we've often noted, we want India to have all of the capabilities it needs to meet its security needs and we want to be a key partner in that effort," the Defence Department spokesman, Jeffrey S Pool, told PTI. "It's encouraging to…
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