Latvia halts $206 million armored vehicle contract amid controversy

On the same subject

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  July 27, 2018 | International, Land

  The Army wants to replace the ‘Mickey Mouse’ cold weather boots

  By: Todd South The old “Mickey Mouse” cold weather boot, a rubber relic from the 1960s still in service with both soldiers and Marines, could be replaced if a recent Army posting proves fruitful. The aim is to reduce the weight and bulk of the boot, which earned its nickname for its white, bulbous size, like the famed cartoon rodent's feet. The boot does also come in black, and for a time, they were also called “Bunny Boots” by troops. Earlier this month, U.S. Army Contracting Command posted a special notice on fbo.gov, a federal business opportunities website. The notice detailed the procurement of 150 pairs of three models of an Extreme Cold Weather Overboot to replace the classic version, called the Extreme Cold Weather Boot. And the post author noted the long-standing boot's deficiencies. “The current Extreme Cold Weather Boot (ECWB) has remained largely unmodified since the 1960s and utilizes outdated technology and manufacturing processes which are no longer available within the U.S.,” according to the notice. “Additionally, the ECWB is heavy, bulky, and difficult to pack/carry when conducting dismounted operations,” according to the notice. The white, bulky boot provides a vacuum-type seal that maintains foot warmth in temperatures down to -60 Fahrenheit. So much so that troops often soak their socks with sweat while standing in banks of snow. Researchers at the U.S. Army Soldier, Research, Development and Engineering Center along with Product Manager-Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment, “will commence an effort to evaluate insulated overboot solutions with the potential to offer similar environmental protection at reduced weight/bulk.” The boot was developed during the Korean War to combat the extreme cold weather soldiers and Marines faced in fierce fighting during that war. Minor modifications occurred early in its development, including an air valve being added in the 1960s for use in high altitudes, whether on mountainsides or in aircraft. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/07/26/the-army-wants-to-replace-the-mickey-mouse-cold-weather-boots

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  March 19, 2024 | International, Land

  Pacific force’s wish list seeks $11 billion more than defense proposal

  Indo-Pacific Command says it faces an $11 billion funding gap for regional military construction, space programs, munitions and Guam missile defenses.

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  August 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  USAF Stages ARRW Captive-Carry Test, Merges DARPA Payload

  Steve Trimble A U.S. Air Force B-52H on Aug. 8 completed the second and final instrumented measurement vehicle test flight of the Lockheed Martin AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), and the Air Force announced the payload for a previously separate risk-reduction program will be merged into the ARRW flight-test vehicles. The latest trial by the 419th Flight Test Sqdn. (FLTS) at Edwards AFB, California, confirmed that the Navy's sea-range ground stations at Point Mugu, California, can receive transmissions of telemetry and GPS data from the instrumented measurement vehicle, the Air Force said in an Aug. 8 news release. The second test appears to clear the Air Force to move forward with a series of powered test flights of the AGM-183A, beginning with a booster flight test before year-end. “The entire team is excited to take the next step and begin energetic flight test of our first air-launched hypersonic weapons,” said Lt. Col. Michael Jungquist, commander of the 419th FLTS and director of the Global Power Bomber Combined Test Force. The statement indicates that the Air Force has made a fundamental change to the original test plan for the Defense Department's only development program air-launched hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). When the Air Force launched the ARRW program in 2017, service officials expected to leverage flight-test data from the Tactical Boost-Glide (TBG) program, which is funded jointly by DARPA and the Air Force. The TBG and ARRW were expected to use a similar, if not identical, high lift-to-drag-ratio HGV. DARPA planned to complete flight tests of the TBG in 2019, so the performance data could be used to inform any changes necessary for ARRW, which completed the critical design review in February 2020. The Air Force now acknowledges for the first time that DARPA has previously completed two captive-carry tests of the TBG demonstration system. Instead of continuing a separate series of flight tests, the TBG demonstration system “will be integrated into the ARRW payload,” the Air Force said. “We are in a competition and must remain diligent in our efforts to stay ahead of our adversaries, who are vigorously pursuing similar weapon systems,” said Gen. Arnold Bunch, head of the Air Force Materiel Command. It is not clear when the TBG captive-carry tests were staged, but the Aug. 8 event comes 416 days after the 419th FLTS completed a captive-carry test of the first instrumented measurement vehicle for the AGM-183A. For the second test on Aug. 8, the Air Force loaded both AGM-183A captive-carry vehicles onto the inboard pylon of the left wing of a B-52 nicknamed “Dragon's Inferno.”
 Unlike the white-painted, first instrumented test vehicle, the second captive-carry version of the AGM-183A emerged in an operational, two-tone gray scheme, with the nose section painted a few shades darker than the booster section. The second instrumented measurement vehicle also was adorned with a new logo, featuring a skeletal figure firing an arrow over two Latin words, “celeri responsio,” which means “rapid response.” The Air Force plans to fire the AGM-183A at the most heavily guarded targets, using the weapon's agility at hypersonic speed to evade missile defenses. The Air Force expects to field the first four AGM-183As by the end of fiscal 2022. The booster tests this year and next year will be followed by flight tests of the all-up round, including the release of the TBG-derived HGV payload, starting in October 2021. “This capability will directly support our warfighters. Hypersonic weapons further enable the U.S. to hold any target at risk in any environment anywhere,” said Gen. Tim Ray, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/missile-defense-weapons/usaf-stages-arrw-captive-carry-test-merges-darpa-payload