US Army finalizes requirements for future attack reconnaissance aircraft

On the same subject

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  August 30, 2018 | International, Land

  Army National Guard soldiers anxious over new PT test, gear shortfalls

  By: Kyle Rempfer NEW ORLEANS — Equipment requirements, logistics and training are on the minds of Army National Guard soldiers this year, as the Army prepares to roll out a new gender- and age-neutral fitness test. But while soldiers voice trepidation, the larger Army says it's not going to be an issue. “I think the test is going to be good, [but] my concern in the National Guard is the equipment requirement,” a battalion commander from the Louisiana National Guard said during a discussion with Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley at the National Guard Association of the United States conference in New Orleans this past weekend. “There's a tremendous amount of equipment that's going to be needed at every company, every armory, every detachment in order to administer the test and to train our troops. Have we addressed a plan to do that prior to the roll-out?” the soldier asked. Milley said the equipment concerns were not just an issue for the Guard, but one across the force. However, the new Army Combat Fitness Test correlates much better to actual combat requirements, and “we'd all be negligent if we didn't train to this [new] test," he said. “In order to do it right there's going to have to be a lot of training the trainers, it has be phased in, we have to make sure the scoring standards are correct, and, as you pointed out, it does require a little bit of equipment," Milley said. The ACFT field tests will begin in October and last one year. It will include 60 different types of battalions from all three components of the total force — active Army, Army Guard and Army Reserve. Additionally, Milley said, Training and Doctrine Command is currently conducting an analysis of all the equipment required throughout the force, how much it will cost and how to distribute the gear to the entire Army. There will be some challenges, Milley acknowledged. “For example, embassies," he said. “We have soldiers at embassies around the world, not in big units but small ones. ... But the equipment is an issue. The Guard will get the same equipment the rest of the Army gets. In the meantime — which means the next year — you can train for it. This isn't rocket science." For instance, grab “a 10-pound medicine ball, throw it over your head. Every gym in America has a 10-pound medicine ball,” he added. Full article: https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/08/29/army-national-guard-soldiers-anxious-over-new-pt-test-gear-shortfalls

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  August 20, 2020 | International, Naval

  Britain moves to boost Ukraine’s naval chops

  By: Andrew Chuter LONDON — Britain is stepping up its military support in Ukraine with an announcement that the U.K. will lead a multinational maritime initiative to train the Ukrainian navy. During a visit to Ukraine on Aug. 17 British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed the Royal Navy is coordinating a training initiative which also involves Canada, Denmark and Sweden. The training initiative will be complemented by U.S. security assistance support, said the British Ministry of Defence in a statement. Other nations are expected to join the naval training effort, said the MoD. The British-led training will focus on areas such as navigation, operational planning, military diving, sea surveillance, firefighting and damage control. The Royal Navy also plans to deploy warships to the region later in the year, Wallace said. Last year the Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan visited Ukraine as part of the NATO's Sea Breeze exercise. That followed a visit by the survey ship HMS Echo. The U.K. has been conducting maritime training with the Ukraine for a while. Last year the British announced they were enlarging the scope of a wider military training effort, known as Operation Orbital, by deploying training teams from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines to boost a Ukrainian Navy facing increasing threats from Russia in the Sea of Azov. The Ukrainians are trying to rebuild a maritime presence following Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine lost most of its navy, including 75 percent of personnel, 70 percent of ships and key infrastructure. It faces a rising number of threats from the Russians in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, and its armed forces continue to counter Moscow-backed separatists in the Donbass region of the country. Last year the Ukrainian navy unveiled a 15-year, three-stage strategy to rebuild naval capabilities starting with the aim of developing capabilities to establish control over territorial waters and beyond by 2025. Britain announced late last year it was extending Operation Orbital by three years to March 2023, and despite a COVID-19 enforced suspension, now lifted, the U.K. armed forces have trained over 18,000 Ukrainian military personnel. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/08/19/britain-moves-to-boost-ukraines-naval-chops/

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  June 20, 2018 | International, Land

  BAE wins Marine Corps contract to build new amphibious combat vehicle

  Jen Judson WASHINGTON — BAE Systems has won a contract to build the Marine Corps' new amphibious combat vehicle following a competitive evaluation period where BAE's vehicle was pitted against an offering from SAIC. The contract allows for the company to enter into low-rate initial production with 30 vehicles expected to be delivered by fall of 2019, valued at $198 million. The Marines plan to field 204 of the vehicles. The total value of the contract with all options exercised is expected to amount to about $1.2 billion. The awarding of the contract gets the Corps “one step closer to delivering this capability to the Marines,” John Garner, Program Executive Officer, Land Systems Marine Corps, said during a media round table held Tuesday. But the Corps isn't quite done refining its new ACV. The vehicle is expected to undergo incremental changes with added new requirements and modernization. The Corps is already working on the requirements for ACV 1.2, which will include a lethality upgrade for the amphibous vehicle. BAE's ACV vehicle will eventually replace the Corps' legacy amphibious vehicle, but through a phased approach. The Assault Amphibious Vehicle is currently undergoing survivability upgrades to keep the Cold War era vehicle ticking into 2035. BAE Systems and SAIC were both awarded roughly $100 million each in November 2015 to deliver 16 prototypes to the Marine Corps for evaluation in anticipation of a down select to one vendor in 2018. [BAE, SAIC Named as Finalists in Marines ACV Competition] All government testing of the prototypes concluded the first week of December 2017 and the Marine Corps issued its request for proposals the first week in January 2018. Operational tests also began concurrently. Government testing included land reliability testing, survivability and blast testing and water testing — both ship launch and recovery as well as surf transit. Operational evaluations included seven prototypes each from both SAIC and BAE Systems, six participated and one spare was kept for backup. BAE Systems' partnered with Italian company Iveco Defense Vehicles to build its ACV offering. [BAE Systems completes Amphibious Combat Vehicle shipboard testing] Some of the features BAE believed were particularly attractive for a new ACV is that it has space for 13 embarked Marines and a crew of three, which keeps the rifle squad together. The engine's strength is 690 horsepower over the old engine's 560 horsepower, and it runs extremely quietly. The vehicle has a V-shaped hull to protect against underbody blasts, and the seat structure is completely suspended. SAIC's vehicle, which was built in Charleston, South Carolina, offered improved traction through a central tire-inflation system to automatically increase or decrease tire pressure. It also had a V-hull certified during tests at the Nevada Automotive Test Center — where all prototypes were tested by the Marine Corps — and had blast-mitigating seats to protect occupants. The 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division out of Camp Pendleton, California, is expected to receive the first ACV 1.1 vehicles. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/06/19/bae-wins-marine-corps-contract-to-build-new-amphibious-combat-vehicle/