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  • New in 2019: Army Europe adds new units, boosts air defense, artillery

    January 4, 2019 | International, Land

    New in 2019: Army Europe adds new units, boosts air defense, artillery

    By: Todd South The new units the Army plans to add to its troops stationed in Europe are a small but crucial part of its support of allies and force projection on the continent. That ongoing work has seen increases in rotations, a focus on improving ground vehicle lethality and protection, and reactivating units with a European battlefield focus. U.S. Army Europe announced in September that it would add another 1,500 troops to units that would be stationed in the following areas of Germany: Grafenwohr, Ansbach, Hohenfels and Baumholder. Currently there are about 33,000 U.S. soldiers in Germany alone. Though the complete standup and stationing won't conclude until September 2020, according to plans, the base of those units begins building now. And that includes a field artillery brigade headquarters, two Multiple Launch Rocket Systems battalions and supporting units at Grafenwohr, a Short-Range Air Defense battalion at Ansbach and other supporting units at Hohenfels and Baumholder. In addition, existing units will move within the country. That includes one military police brigade headquarters and a battalion headquarters moving in Bavaria, a signal battalion to Baumholder and a truck company to Kaiserslautern. These changes are part of an overall move back to power projection and ally support, which had declined following the peak of U.S. troop stationing in the 1980s, a drawdown through the 1990s and during the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Our number one priority is readiness, which must be sustained through training, personnel and equipment. We set the theater to support operational plans and contingencies throughout Europe and enable an efficient flow of forces as needed, so we must maintain critical capabilities and enhance interoperability,” Col. Joe Scrocca, spokesman for U.S. Army Europe, told Army Times. Beginning in 2016, the Army announced nine-month deployments for an armored brigade combat team in Europe, putting more troops in the region to train with Eastern European allies, especially in Poland, Romania and the Baltics. Today, there are more than 8,000 rotational soldiers in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. The Army also is beefing up its equipment in Europe. In late 2017, the first of the Army's upgunned Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle-Dragoon — which features a 30mm cannon instead of the previous M2 .50-caliber machine gun — arrived at the 2nd Cavalry Regiment. The same unit was also among the first to receive the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station capable of firing a Javelin missile, also called the CROWS-J. The initial fielding that began in August included 86 systems across the Army with another fielding planned for late 2020. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/01/03/new-in-2019-army-europe-adds-new-units-boosts-air-defense-artillery

  • US Army chief: How COVID-19 will impact modernization is a wait-and-see situation

    March 20, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    US Army chief: How COVID-19 will impact modernization is a wait-and-see situation

    By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — It's realistic for the U.S. Army to wait and see how the new coronavirus might affect its ambitious plans to modernize the force, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville told Defense News in a March 18 interview. With major economic centers on both U.S. coasts restricting public gatherings, and with most of the country attempting social distancing to avoid the spread of the virus, industry as of this week appeared to still be sorting out how it would handle its own workforce and keep employees safe from infection. Much of what the Army is doing to address its top modernization priorities depends on industry collaboration and efforts. “We're watching what is happening,” McConville said. “We do have some high-priority tests that we think are continuing to go, and industry is doing the same thing that we're doing — they're putting measures in place with their people. They're weighing risks to the force and, really, risk to their missions as they do that.” Some high-priority tests will continue, he said, while “other ones will slow down.” While he did not list all high-priority tests that would likely go on, McConville noted that the Army is still moving forward with contract awards and making progress where it can. He pointed to the service's recent contract awards to Bell and Sikorsky to continue to develop and test aircraft for the Army's Future Long Range Assault Aircraft program. That contract was awarded on the expected timeline. The Army also tested its Extended Long-Range Cannon Artillery system at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, on March 6, but that was only as uncertainty was just beginning to build in the U.S. regarding the spread of COVID-19. The service has an abundance of important milestones planned across its modernization priorities this year, to include a robust flight test program for the Precision Strike Missile at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, and a likely imminent flight test of a jointly developed hypersonic glide body. The Army also plans to award contracts to build Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft prototypes this month. But it's unclear how other programs will move forward. The previously troubled Integrated Battle Command System for air and missile defense is finally slated to go into a limited-user test in May this year, which is critical to the program's success. The Army planned to conduct a series of industry days to restart its effort to competitively procure a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle replacement, but according to sources, a virtual industry day to kick things off has been postponed and the Army plans to post informational slides to industry on Beta.Sam.Gov in the near term instead. “The acquisition cycle continues to move on,” McConville said, “and we'll have a better idea over the next 30 to 60 days, as more measures are implemented in certain states, what and how that really plays out.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/army-modernization/2020/03/19/army-chief-how-covid-19-will-affect-army-modernization-is-a-wait-and-see-situation/

  • Turkey and Ukraine to coproduce TB2 drones

    February 11, 2022 | International, Aerospace

    Turkey and Ukraine to coproduce TB2 drones

    Ukrainian Defence Minister Olesii Reznikov told reporters in Kyiv that the coproduction compound would also include a training center where Ukrainian pilots would be trained.

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