All told, the Army’s investing $57 billion in modernization over five years — but it wants to take time to test new technologies before it commits to them.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.AI can make logistics data as valuable as intelligence or operational data for mission success
Valuable intelligence insights can be gleaned from logistics or flight-test data when artificial intelligence or machine learning is applied.
Let a hundred hypersonic flowers bloom, Pentagon officials say, instead of a single cumbersome mega-program.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Good news: That’s more money than the Army thought it could get for its top priorities. Bad news: We won’t see most of it this year.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Alarming headlines to the contrary, the US Army isn’t building robotic “killing machines.” What they really want artificial intelligence to do in combat is much more interesting.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
That’s $6 billion more than previously announced — but it all comes at the cost of almost 200 cut, cancelled, or slowed-down programs, each with backers in Congress.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Army plans to move at least $25 billion over the next five years from low-priority programs to preparing for major war. That includes developing a wide variety of new weapons, from high-speed aircraft, to partially-robotic armored vehicles, to a long-ranged 6.8 millimeter rifle to replace the venerable M16/M4 family and its controversial 5.56 mm round.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
“It’s establishing buy-in over the next three, four, five years from the institution (of the Army),” Gen. Murray said. “It’s about establishing buy-in on Capitol Hill, because if I don’t have buy-in there, this won’t survive.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Modernizing military simulation with open systems architecture
Best-of-breed common models and architecture enable virtual training and testing with the same data in a cyber-resilient posture.
“None of this would be happening without someone who’s not here today, and that’s Senator John McCain, an American hero,” General Milley said to some of the loudest applause of the day.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. Gen. Milley lays out what the Army needs, embodied in its Big Six modernization priorities. Sec. Esper then works on how to fund and deliver those needs.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Marines are plenty happy about getting more money in 2018 and 2019, but are nervously eyeing the potential return of sequestration in 2020. And it’s influencing how the Corps is spending that money today.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
“It’s very encouraging,” McCarthy said. “It gives you high confidence in some of these investments we’re going to make….We’ve got these decisions coming up here by the middle of the summer for the POM 20” — the five-year budget plan (Program Objective Memorandum) for 2020-25.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
“You fix your roof when it’s sunny out, and right now it appears to be sunny for the next couple of years,” Esper said. “We have to do our best now to find those dollars so we can, again, apply them back to our priorities.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. “’20 and ’21 is where we need to make sure we don’t kind of hit turbulence,” McCarthy said. “The budget deal was great — we had an enormous increase, and we’re grateful for that — but this (sequestration) still looms.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
“If you start a process with an org chart, you’re toast,” Army Under Secretary Ryan McCarthy said. “Focus on what you want to achieve.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
