Rebuilding Army Acquisition For Multi-Domain Battle

Rebuilding Army Acquisition For Multi-Domain Battle
Rebuilding Army Acquisition For Multi-Domain Battle

  Plagued by bureaucracy, budget cuts and canceled programs, the US Army is aggressively trying to improve how and what it buys by better collaborating with industry to innovate instead of evolving. A few simple changes to our current methods could have tremendous impacts on our ability to innovate and meet future challenges. A key could…

Navy Railgun Ramps Up in Test Shots

Navy Railgun Ramps Up in Test Shots
Navy Railgun Ramps Up in Test Shots

PENTAGON: Consider 35 pounds of metal moving at Mach 5.8. Ten shots per minute. 1,000 shots before the barrel wears out under the enormous pressures. That’s the devastating firepower the Navy railgun program aims to deliver in the next two years, and they’re well on their way. “We continue to make great technical progress,” said…

Hill To Navy: Hurry Up On Rail Guns, Lasers

Hill To Navy: Hurry Up On Rail Guns, Lasers
Hill To Navy: Hurry Up On Rail Guns, Lasers

WASHINGTON: Rail gun bullets move seven times the speed of sound. Laser beams fire at the speed of light. But Pentagon procurement? Not so fast. But with both Congress and the Navy Secretary expressing impatience, the Navy is accelerating its efforts to move both lasers and rail guns from the test phase into the fleet. “We’ve…

‘We’ve Got To Wake Up’: Frank Kendall Calls For Defense Innovation

‘We’ve Got To Wake Up’: Frank Kendall Calls For Defense Innovation
‘We’ve Got To Wake Up’: Frank Kendall Calls For Defense Innovation

WASHINGTON: “We’ve been complacent,” Frank Kendall said. For decades, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said yesterday, the US has assumed its forces will be better equipped than any foe, but that’s increasingly in doubt: “Our technological superiority is very much at risk, there are people designing systems [specifically] to defeat us in a very thoughtful…

Open Source, 3D Printing Key To Staying Ahead Of Enemy Tech

Open Source, 3D Printing Key To Staying Ahead Of Enemy Tech
Open Source, 3D Printing Key To Staying Ahead Of Enemy Tech

WASHINGTON: Hey, defense contractors! Open source software is not your enemy. In fact, far from undercutting your profits, it may increase them – and increase the US military’s capabilities at the same time. That’s a central concept in the Center for a New American Security’s recently established Technology and Security program, which aims to shake…

US Intelligence Must Boost S&T Sources, Analysis As China Rises

The folks at the University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE) offer a fascinating look at the rich harvest of science and technology China gets from us when they host conferences. You can be sure the Chinese weapons of tomorrow arise, at least in part, from today’s scientific papers. And they raise…

Army Pays Scientists $90 Mil To Smash Stuff Good

WASHINGTON: The US Army is traditionally the most low-tech of the four armed services, but the quest for lighter, stronger armor for troops and vehicles alike puts them on the cutting edge of materials science, from advanced ceramics to carbon nanotubes. That’s the reason the Army made an award worth up to $90 million over…