October 24, 2024 | International, Naval
Navy to name submarine after the city of Atlanta
Hotlanta, aka A-Town, aka The Big Peach, aka ATL, has had several Navy vessels named in its honor over the years.
December 31, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Budget Busters: What to Look For in 2019 and Beyond
By PAUL MCLEARY
The release of the 2020 defense budget is still over a month away, and it's already been a wild ride. A look at what has happened, and what might happen next.
WASHINGTON: If there's one complaint that has sounded a consistent across the Joint Chiefs and Pentagon leadership in recent years, it has been the lack of predictability in year-to-year funding.
If there's one thing we have learned about President Trump, it's that nothing is certain until the very end. And even when there's a decision, it can be flipped, rehashed, tinkered with or forgotten about in the time it take to knock out a Tweet on phone. After two years of budget certainty in 2018-19, the 2020 submission was humming along at $733 billion — until it wasn't. In late October, the number plummeted (relatively speaking) to $700 billion, until the president was convinced by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis — not yet on his way out at the time — to rocket it up to $750 billion.
But even that number isn't certain. Most analysts see the 2020 submission settling around the $733 billion level. Visiting US troops at the Al Asad air base on Dec. 26, the president gave the latest vague update. “I mean, I want to see costs come down, too. But not when it comes to our military. You have to have the finest equipment anywhere in the world, and you have that — $716 billion. And this year, again, we're going to be — don't tell anybody because nobody else knows — even a little bit higher.”
Whatever the number is, it appears likely that incoming acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan will be the one to deliver and defend it on Capitol Hill in February, as Mattis has been told to leave by Jan. 1. It's unclear what effect the firing of Mattis will have on the process, or if there will be any significant strategic shifts for the department given the change in leadership.
As budget guru Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told me this week — specifically in reference to the Space Force, but it really applies across the entire budget — “the thing to keep in mind is that this is, so far, just the Pentagon's proposal to the White House. It's not clear if the White House is going to agree to this. The president has a way of sticking to his ideas even if his own administration recommends otherwise.”
Here are a few of the stories we've done over the past months breaking down what is happening, and what might — might — happen next.
Full article: https://breakingdefense.com/2018/12/budget-busters-what-to-look-for-in-2019-and-beyond
On the same subject
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June 25, 2019 | International, Aerospace
US Army Deploys New Battlefield Counter-UAS Capability
Author: Mike Rees The U.S. Army has announced that its Howler counter unmanned aerial system (UAS) capability has achieved Initial Operational Capability, putting critical protection against drones in the hands of soldiers. Howler, a name coined by the U.S. Army, combines the capabilities of Raytheon's Ku band radio frequency system multi-mission simultaneous radar and Coyote unmanned aircraft system. The KuRFS advanced electronically scanned array acquires and tracks all size UAS threats. Coyote works with KuRFS using its advanced seeker and warhead to identify and eliminate UAS threats. “We developed and fielded this system in just 17 months,” said Bryan Rosselli, vice president of Mission Systems and Sensors. “Detecting the drone threat is the first critical step in the counter-UAS kill chain. The combination of precise tracking and engagement of these two proven systems gives the U.S. Army a vital capability to defeat this constantly evolving threat.” In addition to providing advanced situational awareness, precise discrimination and mobility to successfully counter UAS threats, Howler gives the Army singular flexibility to adapt to the quickly changing, multidimensional threat environment. “Test after test proves that our Coyote is an integral solution for defeating the growing number of enemy drones in the skies above the battlefield,” said Sam Deneke, Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice president. “Protecting soldiers on the ground is a top priority, and this new system truly delivers.” Raytheon's portfolio of sensors, and kinetic and non-kinetic effectors networked into a command and control system covers the full counter-UAS kill chain. https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2019/06/us-army-deploys-new-battlefield-counter-uas-capability/
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July 21, 2024 | International, Aerospace
How the sixth-generation fighter jet will upend air warfare
Militaries around the world are working on planes they hope will represent a generational leap in aviation technology.