January 7, 2022 | International, Naval
The submarine-industrial base is facing an increased workload even as it's already behind in deliveries, making it all the more important to get new processes and well-trained new recruits in place quickly.
October 10, 2024 | International, Aerospace
This award marks an important advancement in Canada’s defence capabilities, ensuring that the CAF are equipped with cutting-edge technology designed to excel in complex and challenging operational environments.
October 14, 2020 | International, Land, C4ISR
Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army will see a significant shift in funding from its current fleet to new and modern capability designed to fight in multidomain operations in fiscal 2023, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told Defense News in an Oct. 8 interview. The service has conducted several rounds of “night court” reviews already, a deep dive across the Army's portfolios to determine whether money is in the right place to ensure modernization priorities are getting what they need to progress. In FY18 and FY19, the Army focused on the science and technology portfolio, but in FY20 ramped up the process finding north of $25 billion to apply to modernization priorities across the next five years. The FY21 and FY22 process was similar and still resulted in a substantial amount of funding that was redirected, according to McCarthy. “We're basically lining ourselves up for the '23 program where you will see a much more aggressive effort like you saw in FY20,” McCarthy said. “The choices are going to get bigger and tougher, but that's necessary” as modernized programs begin to be fielded, he said. “That will force us to make harder calls with legacy systems that will have to be forced to end their service life.” The FY22 night court review has wrapped up, and the number of canceled, reduced or delayed programs is less than in previous years. The Army still had to make some hard decisions, Lt. Gen. James Pasquarette, the Army G-8, told Defense News in a separate Oct. 8 interview, but there were fewer. “It did still result in dozens of reductions and eliminations, but smaller, much smaller than in the past.” In FY20, for example, the Army canceled, delayed or reduced 186 programs. In FY21 that number was roughly 80. “I feel better now than I did on the front end of this thing a year ago,” Pasquarette said, “and how we were going to make ends meet.” Pasquarette, who manages the night court process, said a year ago that after two deep dives he was concerned there wouldn't be enough low-hanging fruit to move over to fund modernization at the levels needed in the coming years. But since the Army has already found $37 billion total from the previous night courts and no major changes have been made to the strategy or what is being prioritized, less needs to move around because everything is in the right place, according to Pasquarette. Yet in FY23 some big programs will begin to go out to units such as the Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense System (M-SHORAD), next-generation squad weapons, enhanced night-vision goggles, the Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) systems, the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) and ground-launched hypersonic weapons. “So in our fires community, massive changeover,” McCarthy said, “so units will be taking on new weapon systems, changing their task organizations, so you have to start divesting legacy weapon systems at a much greater rate of speed. ... Then as you get towards the back end of the [five-year defense plan] FYDP, in '25 and '26, here come the helicopters.” In FY23, McCarthy said, the Army will also make trades in order to invest in logistics to accommodate new weapons. Questions center on determining whether there are appropriate hangars, maintenance facilities and ranges that accommodate greater lethality and range for things like the Long-Range Precision Fires capabilities. More difficult decisions could be around the corner should the defense budget face cuts in the future. Some are projecting numbers as high as a 20 percent cut in military spending if there is a change in the administration. “If we see a reduced top line, I do wonder what would be the impact to some of the things that we put in place,” Lt. Gen. Thomas Horlander, the Army's comptroller, told Defense News earlier this month. “How will things like our modernization plan become pressurized? And so definitely a reduced top line will pressurize some of the programs and we'll be making some tough decisions.” Should the Army face cuts, McCarthy said, “we'll have a hard look at our readiness portfolio.” The Army has “been very blessed” to have 27 or 28 brigades at the highest levels of readiness, he added. “So you look at your readiness portfolio and are there ways to do it more efficiently? Do you need that many ready at any given point in time? Can you make an adjustment to that large bucket of funding in the readiness portfolio?” McCarthy asked. On the modernization side, the Army will have to continue to divest legacy platforms, according to McCarthy. “But you also need to take a very hard look” at priority programs to ensure they are correctly lined up, he said. As for quality of life, the Army “will not take much risk there,” McCarthy said. “We're very concerned that we spent over a decade at deficit spending on that side and we've made some pretty substantial moves. We're going to make some more here in the next week or two that you'll hear about ways that we're working to improve upon that.” The Army will do what it can to manage the balance sheet “as efficiently as possible,” McCarthy said. “If the cuts come, they will come. You have to face that down. The fiscal posture of the country has been challenged with the COVID-19 pandemic and we're going to do the best we can with the budgets we are granted.” https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2020/10/13/us-army-pegs-fy23-as-tipping-point-for-ending-old-weapons/
October 15, 2019 | International, C4ISR
ARLINGTON, VA, October 14, 2019 ̶ Leonardo DRS announced today it has been awarded a $14.7 million dollar contract to provide next-generation, near real-time battlespace awareness capabilities for the U.S. Army's Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar (C-RAM) program directorate at Redstone Arsenal, AL. The company's Joint Tactical Terminal - Integrated Broadcast Service (JTT-IBS) radio system is used by the U.S. military and select allied military forces to receive and transmit near real-time multi-source threat, survivor and Blue Force Tracker data among airborne, land-based and ship-board tactical systems. It enables world-wide beyond line of sight situational awareness by connecting tactical users and intelligence nodes over UHF SATCOM. Under the contract with the Defense Logistics Agency, the Leonardo DRS Airborne and Intelligence Systems business will provide 81 JTT-IBS tactical terminal sets to complete fielding of C-RAM's situational awareness and command and control cells. The JTT-IBS provides a key capability in C-RAM's mission to provide in-theater force protection against the indirect fire and Unmanned Aerial Systems threats. “We are proud to be a trusted provider of JTT systems to the U.S. Army's Missile and Space Defense units over the past 15 years and ensuring warfighters have the best situational awareness available to them,” said Larry Ezell, vice president and general manager of the Leonardo DRS Airborne and Intelligence Systems business unit. “As the operational need of JTT systems increase, we look forward to continue working with existing and new customers to provide this long trusted critical situational awareness equipment and support to the war fighter.” Leonardo DRS recently completed design and certification efforts on the third-generation JTT-IBS adding to its family of systems currently operational in Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Special Operations applications. The latest JTT-IBS is positioned for long-term operations as the Army continues to modernize. Leonardo DRS's JTT systems are the only certified IBS transmit capability in production today. Leonardo DRS provides a family of Joint Tactical Systems supporting Integrated Broadcast Service (IBS) receive-only and IBS transmit users across multiple airborne, land and sea platforms. These systems are well positioned as the leading solution for the pending Joint Tactical Terminal – Next Generation (JTT-NG) acquisition program. To see more of the Leonardo DRS Tactical Terminal technology, visit: https://www.leonardodrs.com/TacticalTerminals About Leonardo DRS Leonardo DRS is a prime contractor, leading technology innovator and supplier of integrated products, services and support to military forces, intelligence agencies and defense contractors worldwide. Its Airborne and Intelligence Systems business unit is a global leader and strategic partner committed to delivering world-class, full life-cycle defense and intelligence products that protect the security of our nation and our allies. From air combat training to state-of-the-art electronic warfare systems, our technology is deployed by virtually all U.S. military and government agencies around the world. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Leonardo DRS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leonardo S.p.A. See the full range of capabilities at www.LeonardoDRS.com and on Twitter @LeonardoDRSnews. For additional information please contact: Michael Mount Senior Director, Public Affairs 571-447-4624 mmount@drs.com View source version on Leonardo DRS: https://www.leonardodrs.com/news/press-releases/leonardo-drs-to-provide-joint-tactical-terminal-integrated-broadcast-service-systems-to-us-army/