Among these victims of their own negligence were World War I ace of aces Manfred von Richthofen and second-ranking American World War II ace Thomas B. McGuire Jr.

Yet another cautionary tale was left by Neel Kearby.

While a second lieutenant in the Army Reserves in 1938, Kearby shot up the ranks after World War II broke out: captain on Feb. 1, 1942, major on March 1 and lieutenant colonel on Nov. 28.

In October 1942, Kearby was put in charge of a new unit, the 348th Fighter Group. It was the first outfit shipped to V Fighter Command in New Guinea equipped with the Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, a huge, sturdy single-engine fighter armed with eight wing-mounted .50-caliber machine guns.

American fighter jockeys in the South Pacific generally preferred the Lockheed P-38G Lightning, which had proven a highly successful ace-maker, while dismissing the P-47 “Jug” as too heavy and not maneuverable enough to dogfight nimble lightweights such as the Japanese navy’s Zero and the army’s Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa.

Once in command, however, Kearby became a hardcore “believer” in the P-47 and devoted himself to developing a doctrine for making the most of the Thunderbolt’s diving speed, while canceling out the Japanese advantages.

When the 348th moved to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on July 14, 1943, its pilots had trained well under Kearby’s tutelage and its first combat flight on Aug. 16 yielded its first victim: a Ki-43 of the 59th Koku Sentai (air regiment) downed by 2nd Lt. Wilburn C. Henderson.

In spite of being 32 years of age — practically ancient by USAAF standards — Kearby was a believer in leading by example and on Sept. 4 he scored his first victories, a Mitsubishi G4M bomber and one of its Zero escorts.

Ten days later he outran and downed a Mitsubishi Ki-46, a twin-engine reconnaissance built for speed. On Sept. 23 he was promoted to colonel. Then, on Oct. 11, he shot down six Japanese aircraft in a matter of 15 minutes, a feat that led to his being awarded the Medal of Honor from Gen. Douglas MacArthur on Jan. 23, 1944.

Over the next few months Kearby and the 348th established themselves as forces to be reckoned with over New Guinea. On Jan. 9, 1944, he downed two fighters, bringing his score up to 21. At that point he was dividing his attention between flying alongside the 348th and, after Nov. 12, 1943, flying a desk in V Fighter Command while Lt. Col. Robert Richard Rowland assumed command of the 348th.

Kearby’s superior in Fifth Air Force, Maj. Gen. George C. Kenney, encouraged this arrangement to stir up a rivalry between aces, as he was already doing with P-38 champions Richard I. Bong and Tommy McGuire. Besides bringing out the deadly best in these outstanding pilots — and pitting the P-38s against Kearby’s P-47 — the publicity it generated kept the Fifth Air Force in the public eye and attracted re-equipment stateside.

On Feb. 8, 1944, Kenney put Kearby in command of the 308th Bombardment Group (Heavy), and it was during this command that Kearby forgot his own dictum.

On March 5, 1944, Kearby was leading Captains Samuel Blair and William D. Dunham at 22,000 feet altitude over the enemy airfields at Wewak when, at 1720 hours, they spotted three Kawasaki Ki-48 bombers heading toward Dagua for a landing.

The Japanese at Dagua spotted their comrades’ plight, however, and the 77th Sentai scrambled five Ki-43s up after the intruders.

Diving on their prey, each American ace was credited with one, but Kearby was not sure of his and circled around to make another pass. His 22nd victim splashed in the sea, but in making that second pass at relatively low altitude and reduced airspeed, he handed the advantage to the Hayabusas. The 77th Sentai’s log credited a P-47 each to Warrant Officer Koichi Mitoma and Sgt. Hiroshi Aoyagi, while suffering one plane badly damaged.

In July 1947 Australian War Graves personnel found Kearby in the wreckage of his plane, “Fiery Ginger IV,” just 1,800 feet from Dagua. The only intact remnant, the white vertical stabilizer bearing the serial 42-22668, was returned to the U.S. and in 2001 it was put on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force beside a rebuilt plane in his markings.

Kearby’s remains were laid to rest at Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park.

Besides the Medal of Honor, Kearby was awarded two Silver Stars, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, five Air Medals and one Purple Heart. In 1959 a building on Sheppard Air Force Base is named in his honor and in 2010 the Texas Historical Commission and the City of Arlington unveiled a plaque and a statue of him in the Arlington Public Library.

WASHINGTON — The Association of the United States Army rolled out its annual conference from Oct. 13-15 in Washington, beckoning defense industry officials, lawmakers and military personnel from around the globe to assess the future force and the threats personnel may soon encounter.

Anchoring this year’s themes were efforts geared toward modernizing the force through next-gen weaponry and vehicles, personnel training, long-range artillery, unmanned systems, defense capabilities, network domains and much more.

Such efforts, meanwhile, continue to be influenced by conflicts abroad that demand battlefield tech evolution at breakneck speed.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is dragging toward another brutal winter as manned and unmanned innovations continue to reshape modern warfare. Arsenal developments throughout the increasingly contentious Indo-Pacific persist in response to territorial assertions by Beijing. And tensions endure in the Middle East, where regional attacks by Iranian proxies, Syrian upheaval and Israel’s war in Gaza are under the microscope of the international community.

Army officials attending the conference emphasized the service’s need for transformation as the technologies, policies and spending at the core of these conflicts intersect with the Army’s global mission.

Defense News and Army Times covered these discussions — and much more — from the show. Catch up on all of our top stories from this year’s AUSA conference and be sure to read more of our latest coverage at defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa.

Modernization

Early drops of new Army command software delight artillerists in drill

Never mind the mere beta status of the Army’s new app for operating howitzers, soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado, were itching to find out whether four decades of the existing, error-prone system were finally coming to an end.

So they hooked up their M777 to the novel Artillery Execution Suite during an exercise last month and pulled the lanyard.

The new software, AXS, is a module of the overarching Next-Generation Command-and-Control, or NGC2, envisioned to power all Army battlefield operations. The tests showed that AXS can drastically shorten what artillerists call the “kill chain.” Read more here.

Driscoll goes scorched earth on Army buying inertia

In what may be a first for the staid Association of the U.S Army’s annual meeting in Washington, the Army secretary kicked off the conference with an F-bomb.

Dan Driscoll, who has served as the Army’s civilian leader since February, announced major coming changes to Army purchasing, parts repairs and technological adoption in a heated address that accused construction contractors of corruption and stressed that the lives of soldiers were on the line. Read more here.

Inside the US Army’s new modernization mega-command

The Army created a new four-star outfit – Futures Command – in the late summer of 2018, right in Austin’s city center, empowered with a mandate to quickly develop new requirements for modern capabilities.

As Austin’s high-tech evolution continues, so does the Army’s. The service announced earlier this year that it would combine the new Army Futures Command with the 52-year-old Training and Doctrine Command, effectively doing away with two four-star-led organizations to create a brand new one. Read more here.

Next-gen tank to reach soldiers for testing by end of 2026

The Army’s already-accelerated plan to field its next-generation M1E3 Abrams tank will hit a major milestone before the end of next year with its first soldier touchpoint, a General Dynamics executive revealed Wednesday.

Speaking at a panel alongside Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy George, Danny Deep, executive vice president for Global Operations at GD, said a “pre-prototype” of the M1E3 would be sent to the fighting forces so they could kick the tires. Read more here.

First shots in future fights will be fired in cyberspace, leaders warn

The next conflict likely won’t start with bullets or missiles at a distant overseas location, but instead could be a cyber strike on the homeland.

“The first shots will be fired in the cyber domain,” said Maj. Gen. Jake Kwon, director of strategic operations for the Army’s Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff. “The Army has to think differently, and we have to fight faster.”

To move faster on cyber, Kwon said several initiatives must be met. First on the list is artificial intelligence-driven mission command, with the top goal to achieve decision dominance. Read more here.

General Atomics successfully tests next-gen artillery round

A controlled artillery round that can hit targets from 120 kilometers away in GPS-denied environments was successfully tested at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems’ Long Range Maneuvering Projectile, or LRMP, was fired from an M777 howitzer platform using M231 powder charges during an August test, the company announced. Read more here.

Training

Boeing and Leonardo join forces to modernize Army aviator training

U.S. aerospace giant Boeing and Italian firm Leonardo are uniting to offer a contractor-owned, contractor-operated solution for the U.S. Army as the service embarks on an effort to revamp its flight school, the companies announced Monday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference in Washington.

The two aerospace leaders are going to submit an offering to the Army’s Flight School Next program aimed at creating a more flexible and scalable approach to rotary-wing training focused on going back to the basics — particularly using a single-engine helicopter. Read more here.

Here’s what’s new in soldier gear in 2025 and beyond

From cold weather gear to loitering munitions, Program Executive Office-Soldier, the center for all things soldier gear, has been upgrading and fielding new equipment to troops, with more in store in the coming year.

This past year, the office has lightened body armor, added blood coolers for lifesaving measures and put together new cold weather gear for soldier testing, among other equipment. Program officers met with Army Times before the Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting & Exposition to showcase some of its equipment. Read more here.

Next Generation Squad Weapon continues fielding, seeing upgrades

The Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon continues to field to units and see upgrades, including a carbine version that’s currently under development.

The M7 and M250, both of which fire a new 6.8mm-caliber round, are the Army’s replacements for the M4 and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, respectively, among the close combat force.

Col. Jason Bohannon, program manager for soldier lethality at Program Executive Office Soldier, told Army Times in a recent interview that in addition to ongoing fielding of the weapons systems, some are already having upgrades applied. Read more here.

Soldiers need better way to evacuate casualties, enlisted leaders say

Top enlisted leaders who work on U.S. Army medical and operational needs are being increasingly vocal about modernization necessities when it comes medical evacuation and its associated tasks in a future large-scale combat with a near-peer enemy.

Casualty numbers in the Russia-Ukraine war point to what would likely be large-scale casualty events in future conflicts that will far eclipse the numbers seen by U.S. troops in recent campaigns like those in the Global War on Terror, a panel of command sergeants major said this week. Read more here.

These soldiers are finding ways to see enemy drones before they strike

Soldiers with the 1st Cavalry Division have found ways to help armored vehicles pair sensors with drones to spot enemy drones before they strike.

Col. Nicholas Dvonch, division artillery commander, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Trenton Huntsinger spoke with Army Times recently about the progress of the division’s experiment.

The soldiers have taken passive sensors — the size of a baseball home plate — and mounted them on armored vehicles to detect enemy drones and pass that information back to their air defense element. Read more here.

Armored soldiers get first live-fire work on Switchblade 600

Soldiers with the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division recently tested the Switchblade 600 Loitering Munition System during an exercise at Fort Hood’s eastern training area, marking the first time the system has been live-fired on the Texas installation.

Personnel from 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team in September conducted the trial in support of the Army’s Transformation in Contact initiative aimed at modernizing armored formations for future conflicts. Read more here.

Personnel

A new barracks task force aims to improve military living conditions

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has formed a new “barracks task force” to improve living conditions for U.S. service members in barracks across the globe.

“For too long this Department has neglected its responsibilities to set and maintain the appropriate standards for barracks, and that ends now,” he said in a memo.

The Barracks Task Force will be led by the Assistant Secretary of War for Energy, Installations and Environment. The team must develop an initial barracks plan that will identify investment opportunities and create department-wide policies for barracks standards that will prioritize air and water quality for troops. Read more here.

Army expands MOS program that allows soldiers to skip certain training

The Army recently announced a slew of military occupational specialties, or MOSs, that are being added as eligible jobs within the service’s Civilian Acquired Skills Program, or ACASP, an initiative that allows soldiers with particular sets of skills to skip certain portions of training early in their Army careers.

With the latest addition of 17 job specialties, which officially were added on Oct. 1, the number of jobs that qualify for the ACASP has climbed to 60.

Under the program’s guidelines, qualified recruits, meaning those who acquired job-specific certifications or training as civilians, are eligible to go into the service with modified training and at a higher rank than their peers. Read more here.

Infantry brigades shift to mobile brigades in Army transformation

Over the next two years, the U.S. Army will convert 25 Infantry Brigade Combat Teams into new formations known as Mobile Brigade Combat Teams as part of the service’s “Transforming in Contact” initiative, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said at a media roundtable in September.

As part of the service’s initiative to rapidly deliver new capabilities to operational units, three brigades are already undergoing the MBCT transition. Their leaders recently discussed some of the changes. Read more here.

Army secretary to soldiers: help get ‘human stupidity’ out of the way

U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll encouraged soldiers and families to help the Army get “human stupidity” out of the way to improve life on installations.

In a session that lasted over an hour, Driscoll, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer said they were working to improve quality-of-life measures for soldiers and their families. Read more here.

College-style dining facilities coming to Army bases

The U.S. Army has signed a contract to create dining venues at several installations aimed at revamping soldiers’ culinary experience, the service announced Sept. 30.

The Army Nonappropriated Fund Contracting Office at Installation Management Command, G9, awarded Compass Group USA a concession contract Aug. 28 to create college campus-style facilities at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Fort Carson, Colorado; Fort Hood, Texas; and Fort Drum, New York. Read more here.

Army begins ‘talent panels’ to cut 6,500 manned aviation jobs

The Army has officially embarked on its effort to relocate some 6,500 junior officers and warrant officers who it says are no longer needed in the aviation field.

Aviation officials say, however, that they hope to reach that target without forcing many troops out of the service.

Maj. Gen. Clair Gill, commander of the Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker, Alabama, told reporters at the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting on Wednesday that talent panels launched this month are intended to keep decision-making power with the soldiers and would not immediately lead to involuntary transfers or reductions. Read more here.

Industry

Printing with sand: How Rock Island Arsenal keeps Army gear humming

In the forge at Rock Island Arsenal, workers in silver heat suits and darkened face shields shovel fire unfazed as flames lick their feet and legs. Their work is older than the nation’s railroads.

A short drive down the road is Rock Island’s advanced manufacturing center built during World War II. The interior is brightly lit, clean and the only sound is the low hum of 3D printers at work. Despite the differences, both facilities serve the same mission: to keep the Army supplied and ready now and in the future. Read more here.

US Army’s first hypersonic battery to be fully equipped by December

The U.S. Army’s first unit to receive hypersonic weapons will get a battery’s worth of rounds by the end of the year, Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano, the service’s program executive officer for missiles and space, told Defense News in a recent interview.

In 2021 the 1st Multidomain Task Force, 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord received all equipment — except for the actual live rounds — for the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon capability it calls Dark Eagle. Read more here.

Army scrutinizes supply chain risks to deliver MV-75 aircraft by 2027

The U.S. Army has conducted a thorough assessment of supply chain risks to build the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, the MV-75, and is aiming to deliver the prototype aircraft in fiscal 2027, the program executive officer for Army aviation, Brig. Gen. David Phillips, told Defense News in a recent interview.

Following calls from Army senior leaders to dramatically accelerate the MV-75’s fielding, plans conveyed earlier this year to hit production of the advanced tiltrotor by FY28 still stand. Read more here.

New Army helo engine still powering on despite uncertain future

The U.S. Army has not yet terminated the Improved Turbine Engine Program despite the service proposing to end the program as part of its major transformation initiative laid out in May.

While the service continues to look at different courses of action with the program, it has continued its testing program. The Army had already installed the General Electric-designed engine, designed to replace all the engines in both UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache helicopters, into a Black Hawk at Sikorsky’s facility in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The aircraft first flew in May with the new engine and has since been tested in forward flight at up to 4,000 feet. Read more here.

Anduril, GDLS team up on smarter battlefield radar

Anduril Industries is partnering with General Dynamics Land Systems to integrate its Spark Radar onto armored vehicles and other ground platforms, aiming to strengthen maneuver force protection against emerging threats such as drones and precision munitions.

The collaboration brings Anduril’s radar and battle management technologies into GDLS’ vehicle designs from the start, rather than adding them after production. The companies said the integration is a step toward coordinated, multi-vehicle defense systems that connect sensors, radars and command nodes across formations. Read more here.

Army accelerates PrSM output as ATACMS nears sunset

The Army is finding ways to accelerate its new Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, as it begins to field it more widely to the force while sunsetting its 40-year-old tactical missile system, Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano, program executive officer for missiles and space, told Defense News.

The service is expecting a production contract for the first increment of PrSM by the end of the month, with Lozano noting, “We will put Lockheed Martin under contract for 400 missiles.” Read more here.

International

Where to stash combat gear in the Indo-Pacific? The Army wants to know

The U.S. Army is revising the worldwide distribution of forward-deployed equipment, dubbed preposition stock, as officials weigh its utility and cost, Lt. Gen. Chris Mohan, the acting Army Materiel Command commander, told Defense News.

The effort was designed to stage weapons, vehicles, equipment and supplies at key global locations so forces can rapidly respond to crises. In recent years, the Army has moved from viewing the use of Army Prepositioned Stock kit as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency situation to regularly dipping into the stocks for major training exercises.

While APS has long been a cornerstone of U.S. power projection, Mohan acknowledged the system must adapt to new strategic realities, particularly as the Pentagon shifts greater focus to the Indo-Pacific theater. Read more here.

Army Korea’s move to longer duty tours to come in stages, general says

The Eighth Army in Korea is already accepting soldier transfers under a new “tour normalization” system that began Oct. 1. But not every installation in the country is ready yet to accept soldiers and their families for longer tours.

Speaking to reporters at the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting on Monday, Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, Eighth Army commander, said the unit had embarked on a phased implementation model, with the southern installations, including Camp Humphreys, adopting tour normalization before the northern ones. Read more here.

I Corps adapts to meet modern challenges in the Indo-Pacific

The U.S. Army’s I Corps is at a moment of strategic transition, shouldering the responsibility of shaping the service’s readiness across the vast, complex Indo-Pacific theater.

Overseeing that effort is Lt. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, under whose command the Corps, through continuous exercise and training, is rethinking itself as both a forward campaign-capable headquarters and a practical force provider for homeland defense.

Defense News sat down with McFarlane in a recent interview to discuss how the Corps is preparing for various phases of conflict and recap lessons from its expansive training campaign. Read more here.

How the US Army, NATO are creating a new Eastern Flank Deterrence Line

The U.S. Army and its NATO allies are rapidly aligning resources to develop a new “Eastern Flank Deterrence Line” aimed at developing combat capabilities that can measure up to possible Russian attacks, according to service commanders in Europe.

U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander Gen. Christopher Donahue “wants to go fast on this,” Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, the Army’s V Corps commander, told Defense News in a recent interview. Read more here.

New program aims to put nuclear generators on Army bases around the world

U.S. officials on Tuesday announced a program to locate small nuclear power generation reactors on U.S. Army bases around the world.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced the Janus Program, aimed at developing microreactors to generate power without relying on diesel fuel, at the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington. Read more here.

Unmanned

Sikorsky turns the venerable Black Hawk into a true unmanned aircraft

The UH-60 Black Hawk has previously flown without a human pilot, but now it’s fully reconfigured to be an unmanned aircraft capable of flying a variety of missions, according to Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky.

The company is unveiling the unmanned aircraft system version of the Black Hawk at the Association of the U.S. Army’s conference, marking Sikorsky’s latest leap in autonomous helicopter development. Read more here.

Army’s big drone ambition runs into the hard part: scaling up

The U.S. Army is racing to turn its aging organic industrial base into a modern drone factory network — and learning just how hard it is to move from prototypes to mass production.

The Army’s push comes amid lessons from the war in Ukraine, where inexpensive drones and loitering munitions have reshaped the battlefield and overwhelmed conventional forces. Read more here.

No drones for Army squads, teams, 25th Infantry Division leader says

Amid a push to put more small drones in the hands of soldiers across the force, the U.S. Army is learning that there’s a ceiling to the number of unmanned systems that units can handle.

Col. Dave Lamborn, commander of 2nd Mobile Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, out of Hawaii, told a panel during the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting in Washington that in division testing, the Army’s smallest units could be overtasked by the challenge of operating drones on top of all their conventional duties. Read more here.

General Atomics, Hanwha to work on short takeoff version of Gray Eagle

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems announced Tuesday it is teaming up with South Korean firm Hanwha Aerospace to develop and produce a short-takeoff-and-landing version of the Gray Eagle drone.

The two firms signed the partnership agreement Tuesday, General Atomics said, and will work together to design and build a production-representative version of the drone. General Atomics said it has already flown a self-funded prototype, which the company said shows it can quickly move from development to delivery. Read more here.

The Army’s new watercraft plan banks on autonomy, commercial ships

The Army’s long-awaited watercraft strategy charts a course that prioritizes sustaining an aging fleet, leveraging commercial solutions and accelerating experimentation with autonomous vessels, according to senior service leaders who helped craft it.

The new strategy, which has yet to be published publicly, takes “a much more holistic or comprehensive approach to Army watercraft,” Lt. Gen. Karl Gingrich, the Army deputy chief of staff G-8 chief, told Defense News in a recent interview. Read more here.

AeroVironment eyes new factory, drone launches for Switchblade

In recent years, AeroVironment’s Switchblade loitering munition has become a critical weapon in Ukraine and played a growing role in multiple nations’ arsenals.

Now, AeroVironment is preparing to expand its ability to produce the Switchblade and is working on new ways to launch and control it — including from an MQ-9 Reaper drone. Read more here.

WASHINGTON — The Association of the United States Army rolled out its annual exposition from Oct. 14-16 in Washington, with defense industry officials, lawmakers and military personnel from around the globe huddling to discuss the future force — and what threats may await just over the horizon.

As in previous years, the service continues its aggressive modernization push, with efforts focused on next-gen weaponry and vehicles, personnel training, long-range artillery, unmanned systems, defense capabilities, network domains and much more.

Such efforts, meanwhile, continue to be influenced by evolving conflicts abroad.

Russia’s prolonged invasion of Ukraine is dragging toward another brutal winter as manned and unmanned innovations reshape the region’s tumultuous front lines. Tensions endure in the Middle East, where regional attacks by Iranian proxies remain a looming threat to U.S. troops and allies. And arsenal developments and troop movements throughout the Indo-Pacific region continue to unfold in response to increasingly bold territorial assertions out of Beijing.

Army officials attending the conference emphasized the service’s need for flexibility and quick adaptation as the technologies, policies and spending at the core of these conflicts intersect with all corners of the globe.

Defense News and Army Times covered these discussions — and much more — from the show. Catch up on all of our top stories from this year’s AUSA conference and be sure to read more of our latest coverage at defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa.

Modernization

All the high-tech gear the Army is bringing to soldiers

As technology advances, the gear soldiers use to survive on the battlefield and accomplish their missions becomes more sophisticated. As the epicenter of all things soldier gear, Program Executive Office-Soldier works with Army laboratories, research and development commands to deliver ready-to-field kit to troops, with gear ranging from soldiers’ boots to advanced targeting and night vision.

Army Times spoke with experts at PEO Soldier ahead of this year’s Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C, about some of the more high-tech equipment they’re developing and fielding. Read more here.

Trial by fire: How the Army banks on frontline units to test new gear

When learning recently that a prototype of the Army’s new air and missile defense radar was performing significantly better in tests than the old Patriot radar, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George had an idea.

Why not send the Raytheon-made Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, or LTAMDS, to units stationed in the Pacific, the Middle East or Europe to get a sense of how the new equipment works in field, he suggested.

The process would essentially outsource service test and evaluation procedures currently confined to controlled environments in the United States to what the Army calls the “tactical edge,” one step in a wider transformation initiative that prizes change driven by the deployed. Read more here.

How the Army’s chief of staff plans to modernize the service

The U.S. Army will ramp up its efforts to transform its formations with next-level technology including capabilities to counter drone threats much faster, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said.

“We have to buy smart and fast,” George said in a speech at the annual Eisenhower luncheon. “Our budget is tight, our numbers are lean and that requires us to prioritize and make informed investments.”

When George became Army chief a year ago, he announced he would focus on using units in the field to transform the service “in contact,” putting capability into the hands of soldiers in realistic operational environments to advance things that work and scrap what doesn’t. Read more here.

When will the Army embrace hybrid-electric vehicles?

The Army has long tinkered with the idea of making some of its vehicles electric or hybrid, and while the technology has become commonplace in the commercial vehicle industry, the service has yet to jump on the bandwagon.

As officials hedge their bets, companies have continued to put technology in front of the service in order to show the purported benefits, arguing that the technology is ready for prime time in the Army’s modernization plans. Read more here.

Take notes, a formation like this could be coming to your unit soon

In the piney woods of Louisiana, one brigade’s new approach to reconnaissance recently illustrated the Army’s plan to undertake more complex and demanding missions with new tech and fewer soldiers. The 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team, or MBCT, with 101st Airborne Division carried out their rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center in August, the culmination of months of planning, new equipment training and restructuring.

The brigade is one of three selected by the Army chief of staff to be the focus of his “Transformation in Contact” initiative, which seeks to deliver new equipment to units as they increase their readiness and prepare for deployments. Read more here.

Training

Fighting ‘dirty’ — The Army’s plan to survive, and win, a doomsday war

Daring moves by U.S. adversaries foreshadow the return of sinister nuclear, chemical or biological weapons as technological advances promise to bring new tools of destruction to strike soldiers on future battlefields. A soldier’s new best friend may not be a rifle, or altogether new weapons, but instead a gas mask, gloves and a protective suit.

As threats evolve, the Pentagon, and specifically the Army, is reimagining how units may have to fight large-scale combat in deadly, contaminated environments. But experts in Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) defense, must also fight complacency that’s existed for generations and bureaucratic red tape. Read more here.

From CamoGPT to life skills, the Army is changing how it trains troops

As the Army has adjusted its doctrine and modernized how it prepares soldiers for leadership and combat, the service’s Training and Doctrine Command touches nearly every aspect of those initiatives. Over the past year, new programs and updates to existing training have flowed across the force.

Army Times spoke with Gen. Gary Brito, head of Training and Doctrine Command, about some of these areas and what they mean for new and career soldiers. Brito took over his current command in 2022 after serving as the Army’s deputy chief of staff over personnel. Read more here.

Soldiers exposed to new combat realities with expanded training

A new approach to training brand new recruits in large-scale combat aims to prepare soldiers for future conflicts as the Army readies the force for a potential slugfest against foes like the Russian or Chinese militaries.

In March, the service launched “Forge 2.5,” another update to “The Forge,” which began as a concept in 2016 with a 96-hour field exercise for week-seven trainees. The Forge has been in place since 2018 as a regular feature of basic training. The event closely mirrors “The Crucible,” which the Marine Corps instituted in its recruit training in the 1990s. Read more here.

How the Army is improving care in the field to keep soldiers alive

The Army is revamping how it provides lifesaving care in the field, including new hospital setup gear, ways to preserve blood on the front lines and a new combat-ready respirator to keep wounded soldiers breathing. Over the past year, Program Executive Office-Soldier added medical devices to its portfolio of all things soldier, which includes clothing, weapons, body armor and a host of other items.

The 1945th Medical Detachment is slated to stand up in late 2025 and will hold three Prolonged Care Augmentation Detachments, or PCADs, officials said. Early work on the PCADs began as all U.S. service branches acknowledged that large-scale combat operations would mean wounded soldiers might have to wait longer for care. Read more here.

Training changes on the horizon for Army Guardsmen

The Army National Guard must find new ways to train in a limited number of days each year so that their formations are ready to fight large-scale combat operations when called, Army National Guard Director Lt. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs said Tuesday at the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference.

Guardsmen are generally restricted to serving 39 days each year, and in that time, soldiers must practice everything from physical training and small arms marksmanship to knocking down aerial threats or planning how to move a brigade across the globe. Read more here.

Why Army divisions must prepare to get dirty

During this past year the Army sent a division headquarters and its enablers into a large-scale, on-the-ground exercise to learn how these personnel groups will approach surviving the next war.

It was the first time in decades that division headquarters and the myriad units it would go into combat with — a combat aviation brigade, sustainment, air defense brigade and division artillery — trained together in person. But it certainly will not be the last. Read more here.

Personnel

What ‘Transformation in Contact’ means for the enlisted soldier

Over the past year, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and his top generals have merged two constant Army initiatives: readiness and modernization. Keeping soldiers ready to fight when called and delivering them new gear, updated doctrine and time to train on their equipment and tactics is a balancing act.

Although the Transformation in Contact initiative is part of an Army-wide effort, three brigades have been selected to test out many of the on-the-ground changes, including 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky; 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii; and 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, New York.

The brigades are buying commercial equipment and reconfiguring their unit structures to find out what they’ll need for a future fight. Read more here.

US Army sets ambitious new recruiting goal following years of struggle

The U.S. Army is aiming to recruit 61,000 new soldiers in the coming year, an ambitious goal that is building off of the service surpassing its goal with 55,000 new recruits in fiscal 2024 after several dismal recruiting years, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth announced Monday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference.

The Army recruited 55,000 new soldiers in FY24. The service’s Delayed Entry Program goal for FY25 is 10,000, which is twice the number as FY24, Wormuth said. The delayed entry program allows enlistees to sign up but leave for initial training later, often so that they can complete high school or college.

“This goal is ambitious but we believe it is achievable,” she said. Read more here.

How saving soldiers’ lives influenced the Army’s new kit options

While new night vision and advanced drones often attract a lot of attention, soldiers know that much of their comfort and survival in training and combat often depends on what they wear. Everything from boots and weapons to first aid pouches, new bomb suits for explosives specialists and even cold weather gear comes out of Program Executive Office-Soldier.

Such items — whether it’s the new Greens uniform, a better hot-weather boot, poncho or the beloved “woobie” — are all part of what soldiers wear. Army Times spoke with gear experts at PEO Soldier ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition about some of the items soldiers wear that are being fielded, developed or improved. Read more here.

Army wants all troops on new fitness program by 2032. How’s it going so far?

The Army recently announced that its all-around health and fitness program will now expand beyond a select 111 brigades to the entire Army. Since its inception in 2018 with a pilot program, the Holistic Health and Fitness program, or H2F, has sought to educate and improve soldier performance in physical, mental, nutrition, spiritual and sleep domains.

To that end, the force has built brigade-level civilian teams of nearly two dozen contracted staff members, which include an H2F program director; nutrition, injury control and mental health directors; registered dietitians; physical therapists; athletic trainers; strength coaches; cognitive performance specialists and occupational therapists. Read more here.

How Project Polaris is gearing up the brigade by targeting the squad

The home for all things soldier gear is partnering with a host of Army entities on a project to build a better infantry brigade by working from the bottom up at the soldier and squad level. Army Times spoke with Maj. Gen. Christopher Schneider, commander of Program Executive Office-Soldier, ahead of the annual Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition about the “Project Polaris” initiative.

Coordinating the Army’s many groups that encompass all the parts of a brigade requires significant effort. The coordination between Schneider’s command and others is now considered the service’s Close Combat Integration Enterprise, or CCIE, Schneider said.

“We have never been as aligned as we are today,” Schneider added. Read more here.

Soldiers will get $240 a month for operational deployments

Soldiers deployed for more than 60 days in an Army operation will now receive an extra $240 each month. For those already deployed, the cash benefit is retroactive to Oct. 1, said Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth.

The new benefit, dubbed “operational deployment pay,” is specifically for operational deployments and does not cover exercises at the combat training centers, Wormuth said. For example, the pay is intended for brigades and battalions who’ve deployed to Europe for Operation Assurance, she said. Read more here.

Industry

Army races to widen the bottlenecks of artillery shell production

The U.S. Army has started diversifying its supplier base for 155mm artillery shells, moving away from the bottleneck of a single source that has endangered the flow of fresh ammo, according to a top service official. The service is racing toward a goal of shoring up all major single sources that provide parts or materials for 155mm munitions by the end of 2025.

“There’s going to be a lot of ribbon cuttings between now and the end of the year,” Doug Bush, the Army’s acquisition chief, told Defense News.

The Pentagon is investing billions of dollars to increase the capacity of 155mm munition production as it races to replenish stock sent to support Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion, which began in early 2022, and to ensure the U.S. has what it might need should conflict erupt across multiple theaters at once. The Army planned to spend $3.1 billion in FY24 supplemental funding alone to ramp up production. Read more here.

Why the Army is looking abroad to close a widening artillery gun gap

More than two years into observing an artillery war play out in Ukraine, the U.S. Army finds its own gun technology options lacking. The service’s current arsenal is either old, as is the case of the towed M777, or lacking the desired range for future conflicts against near-peer armies, exemplified by the latest version of the Paladin self-propelled howitzer, made by BAE Systems.

The recent cancellation of an effort to mount an unwieldly long barrel on a Paladin body — length determines range, generally speaking — has forced the service to start from square one yet again. The Army quietly halted the yearslong prototyping effort, dubbed the Extended Range Cannon Artillery, or ERCA, a year ago, announcing only this March that “engineering challenges” had turned out to be insurmountable, as acquisition chief Doug Bush put it. Read more here.

US Army quits plan for next-gen Patriot missile replacement

The U.S. Army has decided to back off an effort to replace its Patriot missile with a next-generation interceptor, according to Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano, program executive officer for missiles and space.

“We are not going to move forward on what we were calling a Lower-Tier Future Interceptor,” Lozano told Defense News in an interview at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference, adding that those scrapped plans would have been “a very expensive endeavor.”

The effort would have completed the final piece of the puzzle in a new Integrated Air and Missile Defense System. Already the service has fielded its command-and-control system, and is developing and will soon field a new radar capable of detecting threats from 360 degrees. Read more.

What the Army is planning for its vehicle-protection push

The U.S. Army wants to pursue a more layered approach to protecting combat vehicles and formations, a step away from the singular push over the last decade to outfit them with active protection systems, Army officials in charge of ground combat modernization told Defense News.

Army Futures Command has been working on a Formation Layered Protection requirement and is releasing what it calls a “characteristics of need” statement to industry. The Army is looking for ways to protect dismounted soldiers, vehicles and full formations from a variety of threats. Potential approaches include masking vehicles or hardening them with both active and passive protection tactics. Read more here.

GM Defense pitches silent-drive vehicle as heir to the Humvee

Emerging rapidly out of dense foliage, a truck swings around a bend on a washboard gravel road, but the only sound is the crunch of gravel beneath tires and the occasional ping of a rock hitting its underside.

The truck is a new hybrid vehicle that GM Defense has developed to show the Army what is possible for a Humvee-type capability that meets the needs of modern warfare. The Army does not yet have a requirement for a new Humvee, or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or something else to replace the 40-year-old vehicle with 50-year-old technology. Read more here.

How the Army’s upgrading ammo to destroy targets large and small

From pistol rounds to artillery shells, the Army is developing a host of new ways to destroy targets large and small. The service is working on one-way tracer rounds for current standard rifle ammunition and reduced-range training rounds for some of the same cartridges.

Additionally, the service is testing proximity fuses for grenade launcher rounds that would help defeat enemies behind barriers and blast drones out of the sky. Meanwhile, on the larger end of the caliber spectrum, Army scientists are building new rounds for the 120mm tank rounds they expect will be needed to defeat enemy armor. Read more here.

International

One on one with US Army Pacific Command chief Gen. Charles Flynn

The Army has spent the last year increasing the complexity and breadth of its exercises in the Pacific while trying out new capabilities that will soon be a part of formations in the theater. Relationships with Pacific nations have grown amid continuing tensions with China, and U.S. Army Pacific chief Gen. Charles Flynn has staked out a role for land forces in a region associated primarily with air and naval power.

Defense News sat down with Flynn prior to the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. Here are edited excerpts of the conversation. Read more here.

US Army Pacific to absorb new units under ‘transformation’ mantra

The U.S. Army command for the Indo-Pacific finds itself at the front of the service’s transformation initiative, incorporating new unit types created to facilitate rapid adaptation to adversary tactics, according to U.S. Army Pacific Command chief Gen. Charles Flynn.

Several units in the Pacific, from Hawaii to Alaska, were chosen as part of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George’s initiative, dubbed “Transforming in Contact,” Flynn said in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference.

“But there’s a whole other transformation in contact that’s going on out here at the operational and theater level.” That transformation has to do with absorbing new organizations and capabilities designed to facilitate the quick incorporation of new tactics and technologies in the field. Read more here.

Project Convergence to plant a flag in the Pacific

The military’s massive experimentation event, Project Convergence, will plant a flag in the strategically vital Pacific region next year, the first time that U.S. and allied forces will kick the tires of the Pentagon’s latest warfighting concepts at the edge of America’s sphere of influence.

“Our large experiments need to be concept-informed, and the concepts we’re talking about are the sets of capabilities and relationships that we think we’re going to need to win in the operating environments we are going to face in the future,” said Army Brig. Gen. Zachary Miller, who heads the Joint Modernization Command at Fort Bliss, Texas. “And the priority theater for the Department of Defense is the Pacific.”

The joint force has simulated Pacific scenarios in the United States during previous iterations of the exercise, which began as an Army-only event in 2020 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. But the experimentation campaign has never been held forward in relevant theaters aside from some peripheral activities at the Army Pacific headquarters level earlier this year. Read more here.

How the US Army is helping Ukraine with front line repairs

It starts with a message on the secure messaging app Signal.

Front line units in Ukraine see an issue with their equipment and send notes to translators, who soon share those with the U.S. military. Then, operating from one of seven stations in Poland, American forces schedule video calls with the Ukrainians to help them repair the weapons.

This is the process for the Army’s virtual repair mission to help keep equipment working as long and as close to the front line as possible in Ukraine. Read more here.

Sending THAAD to Israel adds to strain on US Army, leaders say

The deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to Israel and roughly 100 soldiers to operate it will add to already difficult strains on the Army’s air defense forces and potential delays in modernizing its missile defense systems, Army leaders said Monday.

The service’s top two leaders declined to provide details on the deployment ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin over the weekend. But they spoke broadly about their concerns as the demand for THAAD and Patriot missile batteries grows because of the war in Ukraine and the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah and Hamas militants. Read more here.

Army weighing sending missile defense prototypes forward into theater

Tasked by the Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, the service’s missiles and space shop is examining the possibility of sending new air and missile defense capabilities still in the prototype phase into theater, the program executive officer told Defense News.

“The chief has challenged us and has asked us to look at opportunities, present some options, by which we would accelerate [the Integrated Battle Command System] to the field, accelerate [the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor] to the field and accelerate some of the [Indirect Fire Protection Capability] capabilities to the field,” Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano said in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference.

Both the Raytheon-developed LTAMDS and Leidos’ Dynetics-made IFPC have experienced successful test events over the past year. Read more here.

Unmanned Tech

As Ukraine builds better drones, do American firms still have a role?

In mid-September, massive explosions erupted in Toropets, a city in eastern Russia near the border with Belarus. Ukraine had struck a military warehouse, igniting bombs and missiles in what Pentagon officials later said was Russia’s largest loss of Russian ammunition during the war — hundreds of thousands of rounds destroyed.

Almost as important, though, was how Ukraine conducted the strike. Toropets is more than 300 miles from the Ukrainian border, outside the range of western weapons Kyiv wants permission to fire deep into Russia. Instead, Ukraine used drones it built alone. Read more here.

How the Army plans to remove soldiers from the deadly breach

If a collection of soldiers and scientists are successful, troops may never again have to run, on foot, into a breach, swinging a grappling hook in a scene resembling medieval foot soldiers breaking through enemy fortifications.

Instead, soldiers of the future may pilot explosives-laden drones and robotic bulldozers into the tangle of concertina wire, steel barricades and landmines. Over the past nine months, the 264th Engineer Clearance Company, with the 20th Engineer Brigade at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, began its third phase of human-machine teaming experiments. Read more here.

Make counter-drone training as routine as marksmanship: Army general

Soldiers recently deployed to the Middle East often had less than a minute to decide how to take down an incoming drone. A unit detecting, intercepting and destroying a drone often took less than four minutes, said Maj. Gen. Scott Naumann, commander of the 10th Mountain Division.

To meet that threat, the two-star is working with his unit and using a soldier-created tool to prepare troops to counter drones more effectively.

“Training [counter-drone] should be as routine as drawing our rifles, going to the range and honing our marksmanship skills,” Naumann said. Read more here.

Army closes in on autonomous boats to ferry supplies into battle

The Army is developing requirements to distribute supplies to troops on the battlefield in a contested environment using a network of autonomous boats and aircraft, according to the general in charge of logistics modernization.

“Our focus is an ecosystem looking at how we improve the supply chain, but also ensuring that we could keep that supply chain in motion — given a peer adversary like China — [when] we’re not able to [establish] fixed sites and keep them there for long periods of time,” Brig. Gen. Shane Upton, the Contested Logistics Cross Functional Team lead within Army Futures Command, told Defense News. Read more here.

For Replicator 2, Army wants AI-enabled counter-drone tech

The Army is eyeing a mix of existing and new technology to potentially scale through the second iteration of the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative, including systems that use artificial intelligence and machine learning to target and intercept small-drone threats.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced last month that Replicator 2 would center on countering threats from small drones, particularly those that target “critical installations and force concentration,” he said in a Sept. 29 memo. DOD plans to propose funding as part of its fiscal 2026 budget request with a goal of fielding “meaningfully improved” counter-drone defense systems within two years. Read more here.

WASHINGTON — The Association of the United States Army held its annual conference Oct. 9-11 in Washington, with defense officials, military personnel and industry representatives gathering to discuss the future force — and what threats it may face from advanced adversaries.

The service is in the midst of a modernization effort that has focused on long-range precision fires; next-generation combat vehicles; future vertical lift aircraft; the network; air and missile defense; and soldier lethality. It is now expanding that focus to positioning, navigation and timing, as well as advanced training technology. But the war in Ukraine has impacted much of the Army’s decisions.

Gen. James Rainey, who leads Army Futures Command, the service’s organization in charge of modernizing the force, said the service needs to adapt its artillery strategy based on both “what’s happening in Ukraine” as well as what U.S. Army Pacific requires from conventional fires.

“Everything we’re seeing in Ukraine [is] about the relevance of precision fires, all the emerging technology, but the big killer on the battlefield is conventional artillery, high-explosive artillery,” he said.

The U.S. Army plans to issue a new conventional fires strategy by the end of the year, he added.

Defense News, Army Times and C4ISRNET covered this and more from the show. Catch up on our top stories from this year’s AUSA conference and read more at defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa and c4isrnet.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa.

Modernization

Change of plans: US Army embraces lessons learned from war in Ukraine

Expensive, massive tanks destroyed by small and cheap loitering munitions. Drones helping artillery locate targets. A battlefield so flooded with sensors that it’s impossible to stay hidden for long.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Army has carefully taken note of these trends. Now those changes are reshaping the service’s plans from acquisition to how to approach formations to reimagining logistics. Already, the Army has rethought its plans to modernize tanks and altering its strategies with drones.

“The character of war is changing,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told Defense News in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. “It’s changed more in the last couple of years because of the war in Ukraine. And I think it will continue to change at a very rapid pace and we have to have the mindset to change with it.” Click here to read more.

Army’s upcoming artillery strategy has ‘a big menu’ to choose from

Decisions on the way forward for one of the U.S. Army’s top long-range fires priorities — the Extended Range Cannon Artillery program — won’t come until a new conventional fires strategy is complete, the service’s acquisition chief said.

“It really becomes a fiscal year 2025 budget decision, if we were to go in a different direction,” Doug Bush confirmed to Defense News in a recent interview. “I think, though, that the requirement is still there. We still need longer range in a more affordable way, which is an important caveat.”

Of the 24 new Army systems slated to make it into the hands of soldiers by the end of 2023, only the Extended Range Cannon Artillery program might miss that goal, Bush said when the Army unveiled its fiscal 2024 budget request this year. Click here to read more.

The Army’s new chief has a plan and it’s all about warfighting

Gen. Randy George begins his tenure leading the Army as it faces a period of rapid change, competition with adversaries across the globe and a strained force. The new chief of staff intends to fuel that fight by distilling the complex set of challenges facing the force into a singular goal: ensuring the service is the best warfighting organization it can be.

The general was once a private, having enlisted out of his Iowa hometown, but by 1984 he was at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Graduating in 1988, the infantry officer first saw combat with the 101st Airborne Division as part of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm only two years later.

That operational career has informed how he wants to lead the Army through the coming years amid old and new demands on a smaller Army that’s expected to be everywhere it’s needed when called.

George, 58, talked with Army Times about his four focus areas, the generals he’s tasked with leading those efforts and what he expects from soldiers across the force. Click here to read more.

What’s the firepower like for the Army’s new rifle?

The Army’s new rifle, automatic rifle and fire control provide a more accurate, farther reaching and deadlier combination of weapons than a squad or platoon currently carries.

During a September media event held at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland by Program Executive Office Soldier, participants shot both the Next Generation Squad Weapon XM7 rifle and the XM250 automatic rifle — the Army’s replacements for M4 and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon for the close combat force. That group includes infantry, scouts, combat engineers and special operations forces.

At the event, officials announced a unit in the 101st Airborne Division had received the weapons that week and would undergo initial training on the weapons later in the month, followed by limited-user tests in October. A squad from the 75th Ranger Regiment will also participate in testing the weapons. Click here to read more.

US Army ready to pursue electric light recon vehicle

The U.S. Army is ready to pursue a prototyping program for an electric light reconnaissance vehicle beginning in fiscal 2024, pending funding approval from Congress, the service’s program executive officer for combat support and combat services support told Defense News.

“We’re ready to get working on that program,” Brig. Gen. Luke Peterson said in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. “It’ll be a prototyping effort, and we will learn from that to help inform a fully developed capabilities development document.”

The Army already approved an abbreviated capabilities development document for the eLRV, and Peterson’s office has partnered with the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Moore, Georgia, to develop requirements.

Using some funding in FY22 to get started, the program office conducted market research that included purchasing some commercial electric vehicles in order to test them against an operational mission profile, Peterson explained. Click here to read more.

Beyond 2030: How Army Futures Command is adapting its approach

The U.S. Army five years ago established a new four-star command, shifting billions of dollars to fund it and basing it in a tech-centric city.

The goal of Army Futures Command was clear: It needed to disrupt the service’s lengthy record of failure when it came to producing a new modernization program.

As the Army gets closer to its 2030 goal for fielding new weapons, service leaders say the command is here to stay — but will expand its focus. Click here to read more.

Training

21,000 casualties in seven days: The push to update medic training

In a recent corps-level wargame, U.S. Army forces sustained 21,000 casualties in seven days. That’s nearly half the soldiers in a full-strength corps.

“It will take everyone to clear the battlefield as quickly as we can when we’re talking about the scale of 21,000 casualties in corps warfighting,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Talley, head of the Army’s Medical Center of Excellence. “That’s reality. How do you keep going? How do you sustain momentum?”

Talley laid out these challenges the military medical community faces, and what can be done, during a recent Maneuver Warfighter Conference panel at Fort Moore, Georgia. Click here to read more.

Divisions are headed into the dirt

Division staff and the units that support brigade operations will be getting dirty.

Exercises where a commander can simply simulate a water resupply or fueling station for long-range helicopter assaults are great for planning but miss the realities of actual fighting — weather, downed vehicles and the hands-on skills of individual soldiers.

Simulations help but can hardly predict or provide the “friction” of actual combat, or even some aspects of training, Gen. Andrew Poppas, head of Army Forces Command told Army Times.

“That’s a dynamic you have to refine only in the dirt,” Poppas said. Click here to read more.

How a shovel can help with training, plus common mistakes during drill

A company commander’s best tool for surviving the crucible of a combat training center may be a shovel.

Commanders headed for their time “in the box” at any of the major training centers across the Army — from the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, to the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Germany to the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Johnson, Louisiana — will need to do a lot of home station preparation and get their soldiers digging.

That’s one of a slew of tips that some current observer controllers/trainers at the centers shared at the recent Maneuver Warfighter Conference on Fort Moore, Georgia, during a session aimed at company commanders heading to the centers. Capt. Joseph White and 1st Sgt. Brandon Robinson, both cadre with the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, said the most significant struggle at their location isn’t related to technology but rather discipline and standards.

“Are your soldiers doing the right thing when you’re not there?” White said. Click here to read more.

‘As long as it takes’: US Army doubles down on Ukraine training goals

Canadian and U.S. Army officials are determined NATO efforts to train Ukrainian forces will last long term, despite uncertainty over whether Congress will continue to fund additional military assistance for Kyiv.

Canadian Brig. Gen. Mason Stalker, the deputy training commander for Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, stressed at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference that dozens of NATO members are contributing to these efforts, even though the future of the United States’ role in the conflict remains unclear. Click here to read more.

Op tempo, training complexity pose risk to aircrews, per aviation boss

A few months ago, the Army’s aviation community appeared to be facing a dire situation.

A series of deadly helicopter crashes killed 14 soldiers between February and April, interrupting one of the safest periods in the Army’s flying history.

That led the service’s leaders to order an Army-wide safety stand down in May — the rare move grounded all non-deployed flying units until they completed a mandatory safety training program led by their commanding generals. The sessions, leaders said, also allowed junior troops and other community members to provide feedback on safety practices and challenges in the community.

Ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting, Army Times spoke with aviation branch chief Maj. Gen. Mac McCurry, who commands the aviation schoolhouse and Fort Novosel, Alabama, about the stand down’s findings and ongoing initiatives in Army aviation. Click here to read more.

Personnel

Data powers Army’s return to the ‘lost arts’ of wartime personnel work

Fiscal 2023 proved busy for the Army’s top personnel officials.

A recruiting crisis made it harder to fill the ranks — and project what future forces the service needs and how it can fill those units. A new Army-wide human resources system debuted after multiple delays. And Russia invaded Ukraine.

According to Lt. Gen. Douglas Stitt, the Army’s top personnel officer and leader of its G-1 directorate, these events combine to create a “growth industry” where the service’s personnel pros can apply new technology and tricks to the “lost arts.” Stitt and his senior enlisted adviser, Sgt. Maj. Christopher “Smoke” Stevens, spoke with Army Times at the Pentagon on Sept. 25 ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. Click here to read more.

The Army’s new fitness program team will come to you

The command rolling out the Army’s new, all-encompassing fitness program has a fresh way to get the program’s expertise inside more units.

If an active duty division commander can dedicate a five-soldier team — comprised of one captain, two senior noncommissioned officers and two junior NCOs — to learning the essentials, the Center for Initial Military Training under Training and Doctrine Command will send cadre to them. Click here to read more.

House moves to strengthen vetting for military financial counselors

A bipartisan duo of House lawmakers has banded together to improve the vetting of financial advisers for service members. The move comes after an Army counselor with undisclosed conflicts of interest with outside brokerage firms allegedly swindled two dozen Gold Star families.

The House in July passed legislation from Reps. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., and Don Bacon, R-Neb., that would require the Defense Department verify its roughly 400 military financial advisers are without conflicts of interest by having them submit annual financial disclosures.

Sherrill and Bacon introduced the legislation as an amendment to the fiscal 2024 defense policy bill after a report by The Washington Post detailed how an Army financial counselor, Caz Craffy, allegedly mismanaged a cumulative $750,000 in four families’ life insurance funds by placing the money in the brokerage accounts of firms where he simultaneously worked. Click here to read more.

The inside story of how the Army rethought recruiting

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth knows she — and the Army — can’t control everything in life.

The Army can’t control childhood obesity rates. The Army can’t control the falling rate of applicants medically or legally eligible to enlist. Nor can the service stop seismic shifts in the labor market, or control the falling percentage of veterans, who are traditionally the most influential and trusted advocates for military service among the U.S. population.

But Wormuth, who recently announced sweeping recruiting reforms, is focused on what the Army can control. Click here to read more.

Army’s top NCO talks discipline and why we’re measuring op tempo wrong

“Hold on a second here,” said Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer at the start of a Sept. 29 interview with Army Times. “I’m just going to touch up a little bit.”

An electric razor’s gentle buzz emanated through the phone, followed by hearty laughter. Army Times spoke with Weimer ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference, but the conversation was barely underway before the Army’s top NCO poked fun at himself. Click here to read more.

Industry

GM Defense, Anduril team up on emerging battlefield needs

Tactical trucks producer GM Defense is partnering with unmanned and autonomous systems specialist Anduril Industries to address emerging needs on the battlefield.

The companies agreed on “establishing a framework to collaborate on defense program capture activities,” they said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference in Washington on Oct. 10.

“The team is focused on delivering autonomy solutions, battery electrification and other new propulsion technologies, as well as those integrating the full range of Anduril technologies onto GM Defense mobility solutions,” they added. Click here to read more.

Teledyne FLIR debuts vehicle for Army equipment carrier competition

Teledyne FLIR is entering the competition for the Army’s light equipment carrier.

The Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport vehicle, or SMET, is intended to carry gear and light payloads to make soldiers in the field more nimble. Four companies competed for the first generation in 2017, and General Dynamics Land Systems won the first two contracts in 2019 and 2020. The program is now entering its second increment.

Teledyne FLIR introduced its prototype, the six-wheeled M2RV, at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. It comes with 38 square feet of cargo space, more than 2,600 pounds of payload capacity, and the ability to move at speeds exceeding 10 mph, according to the company.

The model has two attached payloads. The first is its new R80D SkyRaider, a 10-pound quadcopter drone. The second is its 280-HDEP surveillance system, mounted on the rear of the platform. Click here to read more.

US Army seeks to drive down costs within hypersonic missile industry

The U.S. Army sees opportunities for industry to drive down the cost of producing hypersonic missiles as it helps to grow the industrial base, which was essentially nonexistent roughly five years ago, according to Chris Mills, the deputy director for the service’s hypersonics project office within the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office.

The Army awarded a contract to Leidos subsidiary Dynetics to build the Navy-designed Common Hypersonic Glide Body for both services. Each service will integrate the missile and fine-tune the capabilities based on individual service needs, such as launching from a ground vehicle or a ship. Click here to read more.

Competing robotic vehicles on display after Army signals new approach

The four companies vying for the Army’s robotic combat vehicle program displayed prototypes at this year’s Association of the U.S. Army conference.

The RCV is an unmanned system meant to serve alongside manned units, part of a larger slate of updated ground combatants — the Next Generation Combat Vehicles — the Army is acquiring. Its missions will include ones that would pose a high threat to soldiers, such as approaching enemy forces for intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance.

McQ, Textron Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems and Oshkosh Defense were selected to compete for the light model of the RCV in late September. The Army’s framework for the program has since changed, though. Click here to read more.

BAE preps adaptable armored vehicle turret for counter-drone missions

BAE Systems hopes a prototype redesign of its new armored vehicle’s turret could one day allow the U.S. Army to rapidly adapt it into an anti-drone weapon.

BAE is now developing the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle for the Army as a replacement for the Vietnam-era M113 armored personnel carriers. The company has so far built more than 270 of the tracked, heavily-armored AMPVs, and hundreds more are on the way, according to BAE’s vice president of business development for combat mission systems, Jim Miller. The business official spoke to Defense News on Oct. 9 at the Association of the U.S. Army’s conference in Washington. Click here to read more.

International

US Army moves to pre-position materials in Pacific

The Army is hoping progress made at Talisman Sabre, the joint U.S.-Australian exercise this summer, could open doors for it to position more equipment in the Indo-Pacific region.

The service sees expanding its pre-positioned equipment in the area as part of its contribution to deterring China.

And the Army made headway this summer when it was permitted to permanently keep three company sets of equipment in Australia following Talisman Sabre, Gen. Charles Hamilton, Army Materiel Command commander, told Defense News in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. Click here to read more.

US Army embracing remote maintenance beyond Ukraine

The U.S. Army is applying the telemaintenance capability it developed in a parking lot in Poland to its most challenging logistical theater — the Indo-Pacific, according to the head of Army Materiel Command.

“It has been a great enabler to the warfight in Ukraine,” Gen. Charles Hamilton told Defense News in an interview just ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army conference. “It’s one of the game changers in a sense.”

Now, AMC, working with U.S. Army Pacific and the 8th Theater Sustainment Command, is readying to use this telemaintenance capability in the challenging environment of the Indo-Pacific. It will first try it in a variety of exercises, including the Defender series and Talisman Sabre in Australia, Hamilton said. Click here to read more.

Military intervention in Niger unlikely, says Ghana’s top Army officer

A West African union is considering diplomatic options in response to the July coup in Niger that ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, the head of Ghana’s Army Staff told Defense News.

But Maj. Gen. Thomas Oppong-Peprah also noted a “military assessment” is underway to examine a possible armed intervention in Niger, a prospect the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, first floated in August after the bloc’s defense chiefs met in Ghana. Click here to read more.

US Army relies on Pacific allies, exercises to sustain supply lines

U.S. Army commanders overseeing forces in the Indo-Pacific outlined their work with allies and partners in the region to sustain the supply lines that allow the service to maintain forces throughout the broad, diffuse area.

“This mesh network of friends, partners and allies helps us to accomplish the things that the Army needs to have done,” Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunson, who commands the Army’s I Corps, said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. “One of those things is we’ve got to build interior lines.” Click here to read more.

US Army’s multidomain task force units could bring in allies, partners

The U.S. Army’s multidomain task force units could see elements that include allies and partners, according to the head of U.S. Army Pacific.

“We’re actually doing some work right now with the third MDTF in Hawaii to create conditions for a combined MDTF,” Gen. Charles Flynn told Defense News on Oct. 9 at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. “Australia is moving five officers this summer — summer of 2024 — to Hawaii so we can build out a combined element of the multidomain task force”

The Army is also considering how it could include Japan in an MDTF. Click here to read more.

Unmanned tech

Shield AI unveils V-Bat Teams drone swarm tech, with eye to Replicator

California-based defense technology firm Shield AI launched a new drone swarming capability called V-Bat Teams — one it hopes the Defense Department might use for programs such as its Replicator initiative.

V-Bat Teams, which grew out of Shield AI’s experiments with the Air Force’s AFWERX innovation unit that culminated in a demonstration this summer, has at its core the company’s artificial intelligence pilot software dubbed Hivemind. These teams consisting of a handful of V-Bat aircraft are intended to operate autonomously in high-threat environments, without needing instructions or guidance from GPS or communications. Click here to read more.

Kongsberg sending counter-drone network to Ukraine, pitching it to US

Kongsberg is sending its integrated counter-drone system to Ukraine to help guard against incoming Iranian-made loitering munitions, and hopes to convince the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to consider the system for future vehicle programs.

The Norwegian company builds the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station, or CROWS, used atop U.S. Army vehicles as well as the remote weapon station on the Marine Corps’ Marine Air Defense Integrated System.

But the company sees where its Integrated Combat Solution software, which would tie together multiple vehicles, unmanned systems and sensors, “could change the way we fight, and doctrinally change and improve survivability to our end user,” John Carlsson, the company’s vice president of business development in the United States, told Defense News at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. Click here to read more.

US Army mulls attack drones, ground robots for Replicator

The U.S. Army could contribute one-way attack drones and ground-based robotics to the Pentagon’s nascent Replicator initiative, which aims to deploy autonomous systems en masse to counter Chinese stockpiles.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks rolled out the venture in August, calling for thousands of attritable systems in the field in the next 18 to 24 months. Details have been scant regarding sourcing and validation of the systems as well as how the U.S. will dispatch them so quickly.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth on Oct. 9 said the service has “a number of areas that would be right for Replicator,” including UAVs “of all sizes.” The service is in close coordination with the defense secretary’s office.

“Obviously UAVs, both using them as sensors and as deliverers of payloads, and also defending against them, are key on the battlefield,” she told reporters on the sidelines of the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington. “Some of the loitering munitions that we have could be candidates for Replicator. And then, finally, perhaps some of our ground robots.” Click here to read more.

Teledyne launches latest Black Hornet nano-drone with upgraded sensors

Teledyne FLIR Defense is betting big on a drone so small it can fit in a soldier’s hand.

The company, part of Teledyne Technologies, rolled out the latest edition of the Black Hornet nano-drone at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. The Black Hornet 4 is less than a foot long and weighs a fraction of a pound. Click here to read more.

New radar to turn Gray Eagles into anti-drone hunters, says General Atomics

A new multidomain surveillance radar from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, dubbed Eagle Eye, aims to increase the U.S. Army’s ability to track and shoot down even small drones.

Mike Shortsleeve, vice president of Defense Department strategic development at the firm, said in an interview at the Association of the U.S. Army’s conference in Washington that Gray Eagle 25M drones are now in production with Eagle Eye, a synthetic aperture radar. Click here to read more.

Soldiers with the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment over the summer tested a batch of communications tools meant for Strykers, known as Capability Set 23. One issue identified during the experimentation, conducted in Germany, was related to power consumption.

The older Strykers upon which soldiers relied were power constrained, limiting what could be done in the field. At the time, questions lingered: Was the newly fitted kit — the integrated tactical network — or the Stryker variant at the root of the problem?

Operational feedback helped the Army’s Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications-Tactical, or PEO C3T, and others mitigate the concerns. Newer, upgraded Double V-Hull Strykers also offer greater amounts of power, which officials recognized.

“Some of the feedback items they found were, [soldiers] really liked the new networking kit, but they found that we had installed a lot of it on legacy vehicles because that’s what they have. They haven’t been issued the new vehicles. As a result, they were experiencing some power challenges when they weren’t connected to generators,” Matt Maier, a project manager at PEO C3T, told reporters in August during a demonstration in New Castle, Delaware. “In fairness to the unit, those systems, those vehicles, weren’t designed for the extra network capability.”

The effort looped in Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems, or PEO GCS, whose leader, Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, described the Strykers employed during testing as “some of the oldest” in “the fleet.” The executive office’s portfolio includes Strykers and the Abrams tank.

“We may find there might be some things that were put on that were significant power hogs,” Dean said in a September interview, “but more than likely it’s the first-gen Stryker space, weight and power as the limitations.”

One of the key takeaways from the experience is how critical coordination across executive offices and other entities is to ensure “the whole Army upgrade kind of happens at the same time,” Maier said. “So while they’re rolling out the new Double V-Hull Strykers or they’re rolling out the new armor formation vehicles, we can then roll out the same networking kit in those vehicles to those units.”

The Army is taking a stepwise approach to modernizing soldier communications and its own larger networks, the digital threads that connect assets on the battlefield and back home. The increments are known as capability sets, amalgams of ruggedized military tech and off-the-shelf products.

The capability set venture began in fiscal 2021 with eyes on infantry brigades. Capability Set 23 is tailored to Stryker brigades, using its predecessor as a foundation on which to further build. Capability Set 25 deals with armor.

“The focus on Capability Set 21 was on expeditionary units and infantry units,” Maier said. “But the focus for Capability Set 23 is on a more resilient network, better PACE options, and is focused on more-mobile units.”

PACE describes the order in which lines of communication will be tried until contact is established: primary, alternate, contingency and emergency.

Capability Set 23 provisions include cellular hot spots for vehicles, improved GPS routing and multiple input and output radios for rapid exchanges with command posts, both mobile and static. The set passed a critical design review in April, meaning the bloc of technologies was relevant, conceptually sound and cost effective.

The positive mark also cracked open the door to procurement.

The result was a new spectrum convergence business, which set out to break down the barriers between similar technologies linking intelligence, electronic warfare and cyber systems together.

Vice president of spectrum convergence, Deon Viergutz addressed how the business has been performing and some recent progress the company has made since its inception.

The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

How has the spectrum convergence business grown over the last year or so?

Spectrum convergence is continuing to grow and expand to support customers in the electromagnetic battlespace. We see that outlook continuing with significant cyber electronic warfare (CEW) market growth because of our customer’s high ops tempo and the high mission demand for our products and capabilities to support joint, all-domain missions.

Recent awards for Advanced Off-Board Electronic Warfare (AOEW) low-rate initial production and Multi-Functional Electronic Warfare Air Large (MFEW-AL) present new growth opportunities. Concurrently, we have continued to sustain and celebrate significant contract accomplishments in maritime EW with the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) 100th delivery and continued deliveries of the Submarine BLQ 10 system and award of the various airborne electronic warfare contracts including CRH, B2, MH 60R. We also deliver significant products and capabilities in the classified domain

How has the covid pandemic affected business?

There have been significant challenges during the pandemic and we, as with many companies, have had to adjust our workplace to ensure the safety of our employees.

This team has responded to these challenges remarkably. We were able to innovate our way through this pandemic, learning new ways to operate and increase our efficiency and effectiveness for engaging with our customers, employees and supply chain. Every element of our business has transformed to the new Normal.

There has been no slowdown in work, while meeting our customer commitments and enabling the warfighter with exceptional CEW unmatched capabilities on the battlefield.

What new or developing internal research efforts are underway?

We are constantly investing in advanced state-of-the-art technologies to leverage our 50-year heritage of CEW expertise to better address near-peer threats in the electromagnetic spectrum. These investments range from advanced miniaturized RF electronics, 3-D additive manufacturing RF antennas, Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) based systems, to artificial intelligence and machine learning.

We have embraced an agile delivery model that has enabled us to innovate at the speed of necessity and move much faster as a company to meet the demands of our customers.

How do you see cyber and electromagnetic spectrum operations continuing and progressing to converge on the battlefield?

Over the last three decades, our near-peer adversaries have learned from the U.S. how to exploit the electromagnetic spectrum and made significant strides in closing the technology gap. Cyber and electronic warfare capabilities will continue to be critical tools for U.S. and its allies’ commanders to ensure freedom of maneuver in the battlefield against evolving threats.

We believe CEW operations will be proliferated across the DoD and joint forces, becoming integrated into their Concept of Operations for the future fight. The electromagnetic spectrum is a physical battlespace for our warfighters, and it is increasingly paramount that we understand it and bolster our ability to operate, own, dominate, and defend against adversaries.

As part of our 21st Century Warfare vision, we’re leveraging emerging technologies to continue to grow in the all-domain environment, everything from electromagnetic spectrum defensive tools, battlespace awareness, command and control across spectrum, to long-range effectors and sensors.

As we look ahead, there will be sustained requirements for systems to be able to conduct multiple missions while delivering a variety of effects in partnership with our allies.

Where are you in terms of MFEW Air Large?

We are excited about the program. MFEW-AL is not only the Army’s longest-range effector but also the first Army program of record to conform to the DoD C5ISR/EW Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) and Sensor Open System Architecture (SOSA) standards. Earlier this year, MFEW-AL performed extremely well during the US Army’s Experimental Demonstration Gateway Exercise (EDGE) 21 events, important in validating performance and capability.

Currently, we are continuing to progress with the RDT&E phase of the program. Continued RDT&E funding was in the President’s Budget Request for FY 22. We look forward to receiving that funding to continue our demonstrations validating the long-range sensing, Electronic Warfare Support (ES) & Electronic Attack (EA) capabilities of this one-of-a-kind capability. Specifically, we are working towards two major capstone events in the first half of next year. These events will validate the performance of the MFEW-AL phase two systems against operational requirements.

Near term, the team is preparing to support flight experiments this fall during the upcoming Project Convergence 21 and Position, Navigation, and Timing Assessment Exercise (PNTAX) events. Our objective for each is to show how the MFEW-AL systems can support critical U.S. Army missions in operational, tactical environments.

What are some of the major trends and themes you’ve noticed within the last two years as it applies to cyberspace and electromagnetic spectrum convergence?

There have been several developments and trends in the electromagnetic spectrum domain over recent years, including technology advancement enabling size, weight and power – cooling (SWAP-C) reduction as well as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), market shifts and growing demand for CEW capabilities to support joint, all-domain warfighting.

There is the continual need to reduce the SWAP-C of RF electronics and the desire to enable as much capability as possible in a smaller footprint. Technology is now available to support those SWAP-C reductions and deliver increased performance at a lower cost.

Another major trend would be the increased use of AI/ML capabilities to enable “Cognitive Electronics Warfare” where systems can process vast amounts of data to assist operators in increasingly complex and congested electromagnetic battlefields.

Lastly, there is the concept of an Open Systems Architecture—ensuring we are building systems that are avoiding vendor lock and enabling fewer and fewer proprietary systems. This is an area where Spectrum Convergence is leading the way with systems like MFEW, AOEW, BLQ-10 and SEWIP being compliant with SOSA and CMOSS open system standards. This is key for enabling fast CEW technique development and deployment; interoperability of hardware and software across airborne and ground platforms; prompt insertion of new hardware technology; and significant reduction of total ownership costs. Ultimately this results in systems able to rapidly adapt to a continuously evolving threat that optimizes support for warfighters.

The Army will field the new tool, called Cyber Situational Understanding, to operational units in fiscal 2022 as part of what the service calls Capability Set ‘21, said Lt. Col. Scott Shaffer, product lead for Mission Command Cyber at Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical. Under the Army’s effort to modernize its network, the service adds capabilities every two years that build upon those from prior sets.

Cyber Situational Understanding is a tool specifically designed for ground commanders to better understand the cyber and electromagnetic landscape to make more informed decisions. The tool is not meant to be used for cyberspace operations.

It’s a first-of-its-kind tool that will be built into the Command Post Computing Environment, which will consolidate current mission systems and programs into a single user interface at the command post.

The Army has planned three incremental capability drops for the new technology. The initial capability planned for delivery in 2022 will provide a foundational capability for forces to see their own networks, Shaffer told C4ISRNET.

The next capability drop — Capability Drop 1, which the service hopes to field in 2023 — will add more to the ability of friendly forces to see their networks while beginning to add in some capabilities for seeing an adversary’s posture within the cyber and electromagnetic environment.

Lastly, Capability Drop 2, which is planned for fielding in 2024, will focus on refined analytics, shoring up the friendly and adversarial battlespace while adding in an ability to see and monitor what’s called gray space, or natural cyberspace, Shaffer said. The gray space will include social media feeds and networks.

The Army is working on a new concept and doctrine it calls information advantage, which will help commanders make better informed, faster decisions. The core tenet is the ability of forces to be able to see themselves, the adversary and everything else going on.

“As we talk information advantage, just go back to those three things: See yourself, see the adversary and see all the other relevant things that are occurring,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, commander of Army Cyber Command, said during the TechNet Augusta conference in August. “Because if we get focused and stuck on just blue [friendly forces] and red [enemy forces], we’re going to miss everything else that’s happening that may have a tremendous influence and impact on the outcome of our ability to accomplish our mission.”

Fogarty stressed in years past that U.S. forces have suffered because they didn’t have good visuals of themselves in these environments.

One of the key uses for Cyber Situational Understanding is allowing commanders to make informed decisions based on their battlespace. For example, Shaffer described a hypothetical in which, within the interface, a commander can see if a particular system, such as the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System, which coordinates fires, is compromised.

The commander will be able to see where the system is employed in an upcoming mission and make an informed risk decision. Should troops still use the system if it’s compromised, do they turn it off and use a backup system, or do they forego this fire mission and turn to a different capability?

Cyber Situational Understanding will also be the first tool directly built into the Command Post Computing Environment.

In contrast, other programs later integrated to the platform might be unable to share their data as seamlessly, Shaffer said.

But they have also long been a headache for planners, especially those in Hawaii and Alaska.

Now, the Army is bringing JRTC out to Hawaii for its first ever “home-station Combat Training Center rotation,” which begins Tuesday for the 25th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

The Schofield Barracks unit will embark on an “archipelago” training scenario with the assistance of observer-controller-trainers dispatched from JRTC at Fort Polk, according to a media release from the division. The rotation will include portions of the division’s aviation, artillery and sustainment brigades, as well.

A second exportable rotation is scheduled during fiscal 2022 for Army Alaska forces.

The new “exportable” CTC rotations have many advantages for both the training unit and the Army as a whole, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told Army Times.

“The exportable rotations are useful in a few different ways,” she said. “I think it provides our folks the opportunity to train in the environment where they would be operating…and it also allows us to use our equipment in that terrain to see how our equipment holds up to see what unique sustainment challenges we might have.”

The sustainment question looms large for units operating in Alaska’s Arctic environment, Wormuth added.

Another reason to embrace the exportable rotation concept is pragmatic, she said — it’s more cost-effective in an era when the Army budget is experiencing “downward pressure.”

“It saves money because obviously we’re not having to bring these brigades all the way [to the mainland with] all of their equipment,” she said. “That takes a lot of time, [and] the transportation costs are not insignificant.”

Training in theater also offers increased chances for multinational training.

“[These rotations] also frankly create some opportunities to again work with some of our allies and partners who are interested in some of those training opportunities,” Wormuth noted. “[Even] in Alaska, our European allies — the Scandinavian countries, Norway [and] Canada — they’re very interested in combined training with us in cold weather environments.”

According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, troops from Thailand and Indonesia will be joining in the Hawaii rotations beginning Tuesday.

If these first two exportable rotations succeed, they may be used increasingly in the future, due in part to the funding challenges that the Army may face.

“We’ll want to see how we are doing in these first few rotations, but at least conceptually…[increasing them is] something that we’ll want to look at if they go well,” Wormuth said. “We’re really going to have to be looking for how we can operate as efficiently as possible.”

Wormuth added that the Army will continue to explore unconventional concepts to meet operational needs and reduce spending moving forward.

“We need to find innovative ways to do some things differently that help us achieve our objectives, but if it can create cost savings, I’m very interested in that.”

WASHINGTON ― The U.S. Army is in the midst of a massive transformation, from strategy to platforms to weapons — all amid the prospect of a flat budget.

The Association of the United States Army held a virtual summit March 16-18, during which service leaders and industry officials discussed emerging technologies and requirements for the future battlefield.

Defense News and Army Times attended the Global Force Next sessions. Catch up on our best stories from the event below or at https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/global-force-symposium.

Jump to:

Planning

US Army chief says end strength will stay flat in upcoming budgets

The U.S. Army chief of staff has said that if the budget top line in future years either stays the same or decreases, he doesn’t see the service’s end strength dropping, but he also doesn’t see it growing.

“When it comes to what chiefs have to grapple with in a budget, it’s end strength and structure, it’s readiness, and it’s modernization. Those are the three kind of big resource buckets we have,” Gen. James McConville said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Next symposium, held virtually March 16.

“On the end strength and structure, I don’t see us growing at the rate I would like to grow in the end strength. In fact, we are probably going to flatten out end strength where we are right now,” he added.

The troop count is about 486,000 in the active force and a little more than a million in the total force, which McConville noted is the same size force the Army had on 9/11.

“We don’t want to make it any smaller,” he said. “I would like to make it bigger, but what we have to do is prioritize, and I’ve got to make sure the Army is ready to fight today.” Click here to read more.

New strategy sets up Army to operate in increasingly relevant Arctic

The Army released a new strategy on how to operate in the Arctic, one that would set up headquarters and units capable of working across all domains and establish a stronger foothold in the region.

The goal is for the strategy to serve as a way to preserve national interests, project power globally and defend the homeland.

The strategy was posted to the Army’s website March 16 directly after the Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville wrapped up his keynote speech at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Next virtual conference. Click here to read more.

New US Army doctrine coming summer 2022

The Army is expected to release its new doctrine, one that describes how the service will operate in the future across air, land, sea, space and cyberspace, in summer 2022, Lt. Gen. D. Scott McKean, the director of the Army Futures and Concepts Center under Army Futures Command, told Defense News in a March 15 virtual event.

The doctrine cements the Army’s developing warfighting concept it has coined Multidomain Operations — or MDO — that addresses the Army’s role in potential conflict with near-peer adversaries in a time of great power competition — namely with China and Russia.

That means the field manual, which currently addresses unified land operations, will transform into a field manual addressing operations across all domains for the first time in the Army’s history. Click here to read more.

Massive, Army-led NATO exercise Defender Europe kicks off

One of the largest U.S.-Army led military exercises in decades has kicked off and will run until June, with 28,000 total troops from 27 nations taking part. Defender Europe 2021 will include “nearly simultaneous operations across more than 30 training areas” in a dozen countries.

The exercise is the deployment of a division-size force from the United States to Europe, pulling equipment from Army prepositioned stocks, then moving personnel and equipment across the theater to multiple training areas.

Last year’s exercise was planned to be the largest NATO exercise in Europe in 25 years but had to be scaled back due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even so, U.S. and allied forces managed to conduct some of the planned drills and joint exercises.

This year’s wider-ranging exercise will include COVID restrictions and monitoring but will span the Balkans and the Black Sea region and use key ground and maritime routes that bridge Europe, Asia and Africa, according to a U.S. Army Europe and Africa statement. Click here to read more.

Commentary: This could be Army Futures Command’s moment of truth

The top U.S. military officer in the Pacific, Adm. Phil Davidson, warned last week that China could undertake a military attack against Taiwan within the next six years. To convince Beijing that it cannot achieve its political objectives in Taiwan or elsewhere with military force, the Pentagon is sprinting to transform ongoing research and development programs into fielded combat capabilities as quickly as possible.

If the U.S. Army is going to do that successfully, Army Futures Command must overcome persistent challenges that have plagued several of the service’s high-profile acquisition programs in the past. Click here to read more.

Jump to:

Platforms

General details next step for US Army’s future attack recon helicopter

The U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program is heading into a major requirements review next month, during which service leaders will determine if industry designs are ready for a fly-off at the end of 2022, according to Maj. Gen. Wally Rugen, who is in charge of the Army’s future vertical lift development.

The FARA program is to fill a critical capability gap currently covered by AH-64E Apache attack helicopters teamed with Shadow drones following the retirement of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters. The service has tried and failed three times to fill the gap with an aircraft. Click here to read more.

US Army prepping robotic combat vehicles for big test with soldiers in 2022

The U.S. Army has taken receipt of its light and medium Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) prototypes from industry teams and is putting them through the paces this year ahead of a major company-level soldier assessment in 2022.

The service took delivery of the first of four RCV-Light vehicles from a QinetiQ North America and Pratt Miller team — which won the contract to produce the prototypes a year ago — in November 2020 with the other three arriving before the Christmas holiday, Alfred Grein, acting director and deputy executive director of Ground Combat Systems at the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Next virtual symposium on March 16.

The RCV-L is a diesel-electric hybrid with a gross vehicle weight of no more than 8,500 pounds and a maximum payload of no more than 7,000 pounds, boasting a top speed of about 40 miles per hour, according to Grein. Click here to read more.

US Army’s unmanned aircraft rodeo firms up requirements for Shadow replacement

The U.S. Army is putting the finishing touches on its requirements for a replacement for its Shadow unmanned aircraft system as it conducts a week-long rodeo with four tactical UAS that offer far greater capability than the decades old, runway-dependent, noisy and logistically burdensome system used today.

The Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (FTUAS) rodeo, which began March 1 at Fort Benning, Georgia and is expected to end March 5, is part of a long-running evaluation of future capabilities. Click here to read more.

US Army’s newest tracked vehicle will undergo initial operational test in early 2022

The Army has scheduled the initial operational test for its newest tracked vehicle to begin the second quarter of fiscal 2022, a spokesperson for the program office leading the effort told Defense News.

The BAE Systems-manufactured Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) has already begun production qualification testing and has continued live fire testing ahead of the operational evaluation. Click here to read more.

Army’s Infantry Squad Vehicle undergoes tests at Arizona’s Yuma Proving Ground

A new vehicle that the U.S. Army is acquiring to provide infantry soldiers with battlefield mobility is being tested in the Yuma Proving Ground’s harsh desert terrain in southwestern Arizona.

Largely based on a midsize Chevrolet pickup, the Infantry Squad Vehicle is intended to carry an infantry squad’s nine soldiers and their equipment, the Yuma Sun reported.

Testing began in early February with a goal of finishing by April, said Isaac Rodriguez, team leader for the proving ground’s combat automotive division.

“Before the soldier ever touches the vehicle, we want to make sure that it is safe for them to use,” Rodriguez told the Yuma Sun. Click here to read more.

Jump to:

Weapons

US Army nears choosing first battalion for extended-range cannon

The U.S. Army is preparing to select an existing field artillery battalion to receive the first Extended Range Cannon Artillery system, according to Brig. Gen. John Rafferty, who is in charge of the service’s long-range precision fires modernization efforts.

Fielding will take place in 2023, but the Army will have to announce the unit with enough time to carry out a yearlong operational assessment, he said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Next virtual event on March 16. The assessment will be critical for working through “the operational concept for how we fight with general support artillery fires and a division,” he said.

At the same time, the Army is synchronizing the delivery of ammunition to include propellant and course-correcting fuses for the operational assessment, he added. Click here to read more.

Strategic Long-Range Cannon effort on hold ahead of report

While some work on the Strategic Long-Range Cannon science and technology effort is ongoing, the Army is primarily waiting for the National Academy of Sciences to issue a report on the cannon’s technical feasibility, Brig. Gen. John Rafferty, who is in charge of the service’s long-range precision fires development, told Defense News.

Long-Range Precision Fires (LRPF) is the top priority for the Army when it comes to developing a modernized force capable of facing off against near-peer adversaries such as China and Russia. The Strategic Long-Range Cannon could provide a means of achieving 1,000 nautical mile artillery ranges.

The long-range cannon remains a top S&T priority for the Army, Rafferty said in a recent interview, but the service has yet to make a decision on whether it should become a program of record and turned into a battlefield capability.

“It’s a big bet to see what is possible in those ranges that have an integrated cannon system and a way to shoot things that might be far less expensive,” Rafferty said. Click here to read more.

US Army’s extended-range guided rocket sees successful 80-kilometer test shot

The U.S. Army’s new extended-range version of its Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System had a successful 80-kilometer flight demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on March 4, according to a Lockheed Martin announcement.

Lockheed Martin is the manufacturer for the GMLRS munition and has worked with the Army to double the rocket’s reach through extended-range capability development.

The first flight test for the extended-range GMLRS took place in November 2020, but the round “experienced an anomaly after launch,” Lockheed told Defense News in a March 5 statement. The company conducted a thorough investigation and determined the cause was “a technical issue with a fin.”

Lockheed incorporated “minor enhancements to mitigate recurrence,” and the successful flight test on March 4 showed those enhancements solved the issue, the company said. Click here to read more.

Jump to:

WASHINGTON ― Even an ongoing pandemic can’t stop the U.S. Army’s largest conference.

The Association of the United States Army held its annual summit virtually this year from Oct. 13-16. Pentagon officials, service leaders and defense industry representatives gathered online to discuss the state of the Army. This included updates for industry, changes for personnel, ideas for future warfare and plans for tech acquisition.

As the service ― really, the military as a whole ― pivots from its counterterror mission to great power competition against advanced adversaries, it’s seeking to take a technological leap that will prepare war fighters for the future battlefield.

Defense News, Army Times and C4ISRNET attended the webinars. Catch up on some of our best stories from this year’s AUSA conference and can find more at defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa and c4isrnet.com/show-reporter/ausa.

A LETTER FROM AUSA

By Gen. Carter Ham (ret.), president and CEO of the Association of the U.S. Army

AUSA Now, the first virtual annual meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army, wasn’t the same as our usual in-person event, but it still offered multiple opportunities to hear directly from senior Army leaders and explore the innovative capabilities offered by more than 500 businesses, large and small.

We heard strong and consistent messages from Army leaders — the secretary, chief of staff, sergeant major of the Army and many four-star generals — that America’s Army is on the right track and continuing to build momentum toward a stronger force with vastly improved capabilities.

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy acknowledged the path won’t get easier as the Army faces tough choices on funding its modernization priorities, but he also expressed optimism for the work that’s underway.

“The payoff is starting to arrive,” McCarthy said. “The time of transformation and modernization for the future fight is now a reality.”

McCarthy, Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston also delivered a clear message about changing the Army’s culture, with McCarthy describing “rapid, positive and meaningful steps” on diversity, equity and inclusion.

McConville declared that the time is now to find innovative ways to accomplish training and rotational deployments while reducing stress on soldiers. This would involve revising deployment schedules and lengths, and rethinking training by giving small-unit leaders more time with their soldiers to build better squads, platoons and companies.

Grinston called on noncommissioned officers to help build strong bonds within their units. “When we focus in on fit, disciplined and well-trained teams, we’re going to drive down all the negatives that happen to us on a daily basis,” Grinston said. Having strong teams where soldiers know and care about each other will “drive down sexual harassment and sexual assault. It’s going to drive down suicide. It’s going to drive down issues we have with racial inclusion,” he said.

Drawing over 20,000 registrants, our event turned out better than we expected, considering we were in uncharted territory. The Army, industry and an audience of people interested in land warfare worked together for an information-packed event filled with exhibits, forums and forward-looking addresses that remain available for on-demand viewing by logging in to the AUSA Now virtual venue.

If you didn’t register earlier, you can do so now.

As the Army’s professional association, we certainly would have preferred to have hosted our traditional annual meeting at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., and we plan to be back there next year. Soldiering is, after all, a team sport, and we cherish the opportunity to celebrate together with the Total Army family.

We look forward to resuming our in-person events once we can do so safely, but even when we do, we’ll apply what we learned during AUSA Now to capitalize on the best of in-person and virtual programming.

Whether it’s in person, virtually or a combination of both, AUSA remains committed to its mission to support America’s Army.

INDUSTRY

Boeing and General Atomics join forces on new laser weapon

General Atomics and Boeing are teaming up to build a new high-energy laser for air and missile defense, the companies announced Oct. 13.

Under the agreement, the companies will create a 100 kilowatt laser that will be scalable to 250 kilowatts, the companies stated in a news release. The weapon will be able to be employed as a standalone system or integrated onboard ground vehicles, ships and aircraft.

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems will be responsible for the laser, batteries and thermal management system, while Boeing will create the beam director and software necessary for precision tracking and pointing the laser. Click here to read more.

Lockheed teams with Aerojet on Next Generation Interceptor

Lockheed Martin announced Oct. 16 it will partner with Aerojet Rocketdyne to compete for the right to build America’s next missile defense interceptor.

The pairing officially ends any speculation about which company would produce the propulsion system for Lockheed’s offering of the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) program, which is being run by the Missile Defense Agency.

Lockheed’s offering will be “designed from the ground up as an all-up-round to address all elements of environmental survivability from day one,” according to a company press release. Aerojet Rocketdyne will provide the primary propulsion for the interceptor. Click here to read more.

US Army wants industry to keep COVID safety rules in place, even after the pandemic ends

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the defense industry began adjusting its facilities to avoid major outbreaks that could shut down production lines for days or weeks at a time. And now that those changes are in place, the U.S. Army’s top acquisition official thinks they should remain so for good.

Speaking to reporters during the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference, Bruce Jette, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said he sees long-term benefits from maintaining the kind of social distancing protective measures put in place across industry.

“I don’t know that I would ever say it’s totally back to normal,” Jette said. “I don’t see us backing off of using these same techniques on a contouring basis, even as the vaccine continues to mature.”

“I would say we don’t back off of the COVID-19 standards because it will also reduce the impact of flu and other illnesses,” he added. “We think continuing to apply these same techniques would be further beneficial to the people and to the Army overall.” Click here to read more.

Lockheed, Bell begin forging prototypes to compete for Army’s future armed recon aircraft

Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky and Bell have each begun to forge the aircraft that will compete to become the U.S. Army’s Future Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) expected to be fielded by 2030.

“It’s become very real to me,” Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen, who leads the Army’s effort to develop future vertical lift aircraft, told Defense News in a recent interview. “We’re seeing forgings, castings, transmissions, gear boxes, blades, cockpits, airframes, real tangible things that are already built, already manufactured and going together,” he said.

Final designs on the aircraft are due from both Bell and Lockheed in November, according to Rugen. And despite complications across the defense industry due to the coronavirus pandemic, both vendors “see no problem” achieving that original schedule. Click here to read more.

PERSONNEL

US Army Europe and US Army Africa to merge as commander pins on fourth star

U.S. Army Europe Commander Gen. Christopher Cavoli received his fourth star as the service plans to merge the command with U.S. Army Africa, the service’s secretary told Defense News in an Oct. 8 interview.

“Gen. Cavoli was promoted yesterday to his fourth star,” Ryan McCarthy said. “I’m very excited for him and his family, he’s a very talented officer.”

Cavoli was nominated earlier this year for a promotion, and the Senate confirmed the advancement Sept. 30. He has served as U.S. Army Europe commander since January 2018.

The Army believes elevating U.S. Army Europe to a four-star command is “necessary,” McCarthy said. “That’s why we advocated and pushed hard and got that done because, in his capacity, as U.S. Army Europe commander he is the joint force land component commander, and in that capacity if war breaks out on the continent, this is the officer leading all of those NATO elements under that umbrella.” Click here to read more.

West Point creates advisory group, an honor stand-down, cadet-led talks to tackle race issues

Following alumni accusations this summer of racist treatment at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, cadets, staff and the head of a new advisory group highlighted efforts to foster “character growth” among cadets there.Those initiatives have included a focus on racially based incidents, in which cadets shared their experiences, at the fourth annual “Honorable Living Week” in September. That event also included anti-bias training. West Point has also created a Character Integration Advisory Group, aimed at integrating honor, respect and trust programs within the cadet corps.

Cadets are also conducting a pilot program of cadet-led “tree talks” on social issues such as online conduct, sexual harassment and racial issues. Click here to read more.

US Army names new chief data officer

The U.S. Army has tapped David Markowitz to be the service’s new chief data officer, C4ISRNET has learned.

An Army spokesperson told C4ISRNET that Markowitz started this week. He steps into the role previously filled by Greg Garcia, who served as both the chief data officer and deputy chief information officer. Click here to read more.

US Army wants coders at the tactical edge

A recent high-tech exercise at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona demonstrated to U.S. Army leaders how important having coders on the battlefield will be going forward against near-peer adversaries.

“We have to have coders at the edge,” Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, who led the Project Convergence campaign of learning over a six-week period from August into September, said Oct. 15. Coffman spoke as part of a C4ISRNET webcast at the Association of the U.S. Army’s conference.

“One of the success stories of Project Convergence was whenever we identified a problem with the code, a problem with an algorithm, we had — we called them the Pep Boys — and the Pep Boys were there coding into the night to fix problems every day,” Coffman said. Click here to read more.

Soldiers to evaluate new light tank prototypes

The U.S. Army is preparing a soldier vehicle assessment of two different light tank prototypes for infantry brigade combat teams that will start in January 2021 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The assessment will run through June 2021, according to the service.

BAE Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems were chosen in December 2018 to each build 12 prototypes of the Army’s future mobile protected firepower, or MPF, vehicle identified in the service’s ground combat vehicle strategy published in 2015. The service had found the capability one the service lacks.

GDLS is building a vehicle that takes the United Kingdom’s AJAX chassis and combines it with an M1 Abrams tank turret.

BAE Systems’ design is an updated M8 Buford armored gun system with new capabilities and components. Click here to read more.

New force generation model aims to regionally align Army units, give troops predictability

A new Army force generation model is being introduced to better balance demands across the globe with the transformational changes the service needs to prepare for a future fight against a peer adversary, said Lt. Gen. Charles A. Flynn, the deputy chief of staff for Army operations, plans and training.

The new plan, dubbed the “Regionally Aligned Readiness and Modernization Model,” will allocate Army units to different theaters in roughly one year, giving them expertise in the parts of the world to which they would deploy during an actual conflict and allowing them to stockpile the right equipment for those clashes.

The model also aims to provide soldiers more predictability, so formations have time in the near future to be outfitted with new equipment, hone doctrine and reorganize units if necessary. Click here to read more.

INTERNATIONAL

Army SFAB advisers will have to share some friends with China

Security force assistance brigades don’t view the race for military partnerships in Asia as a zero-sum game, SFAB leaders said during a telephone call with reporters Tuesday.

The 5th SFAB out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, is now dedicated to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command region, and the unit has already started working with Thai and Indonesian troops from there.

SFAB advisers are training foreign militaries as part of a Pentagon strategy aimed at courting regional partners. But in Asia, they also expect to be sharing some of those partners with Chinese military trainers. Click here to read more.

Afghanistan deployment proves One World Terrain is more than a training tool

The U.S. Army began building an entire virtual world a few years ago for its Synthetic Training Environment (STE) to bring accuracy and a real-life feel to training, but a deployment of One World Terrain in Afghanistan has proved it’s not just a training tool, according to Maj. Gen. Maria Gervais, who is in charge of the service’s STE development.

One World Terrain, or OWT, compiles realistic and, in some cases, extremely accurate virtual maps of territory all over the globe. The idea is to be able to click on any place on a virtual globe and go there. Soldiers can then train virtually in an exact environment in which they can expect to operate in reality.

“We’re seeing now there are better uses for operational capability,” Gervais told Defense News in an Oct. 8 interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. “And it’s helping us inform how do we now expand this to meet training, operational and also targeting requirements.” Click here to read more.

TRAINING AND SIMULATION

US Army demonstrates a first in electronic warfare

The U.S. Army has demonstrated the ability to remotely control electronic warfare sensors through an over-the-air data link and feed the information back to a central battle management tool.

Previously, sensors were connected to the Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool. The tool — a command-and-control planning capability that allows forces to visualize the potential effects of electronic warfare in the field and chart courses of action to prevent jammed capabilities — was connected through a wired link.

During Cyber Quest 20 — a prototyping assessment of capability needs involving industry, which took place in September — Army officials tested new capabilities for the tool. Click here to read more.

US-developed hypersonic missile hit within 6 inches of target, says Army secretary

U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy reported in his speech at the Association of the U.S. Army conference that the Pentagon’s hypersonic missile hit within 6 inches of its target.

“Hypersonic missiles are hitting their targets with a variance of only a mere 6 inches,” he said during his speech at the virtual opening ceremony Oct. 13.

McCarthy was referring to the Army and Navy’s successful hypersonic glide body flight test this year, which launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, on March 19, an Army spokesperson confirmed. Click here to read more.

Deployment demands, training requirements to be reduced, Army leaders announce

The Army secretary started this year’s Association of the United States Army with a bang, announcing the service will be reducing the demands of rotational deployments and decreasing requirements for brigade- and battalion-level training.

Events over the past year have taxed the force, including a rapid deployment of paratroopers and air defense artillery to the Middle East during tensions with Iran, an unprecedented global pandemic and nationwide racial justice protests that led to the mobilization of thousands of Army National Guardsmen.

That’s on top of the regular rotations of brigade combat teams to Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as well as training exercises within the United States. Click here to read more.

How the US Army integrated a Marine F-35 jet into its tactical network

During a recent U.S. Army exercise, the service was able to link a Marine Corps F-35B into its developmental networks, enabling the jet to both receive targeting data from satellites and send it to ground-based shooters.

Not only did that connection show the flexibility of the Army’s evolving tactical network, but it demonstrated the success the armed services can have as they connect different platforms.

“In some cases — I’m hesitant to use the word but I’ll use it — I think in some cases it was unprecedented,” said Willie Nelson, director of Army Futures Command’s Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing Cross-Functional Team. Click here to read more.

Satellites played a starring role at Project Convergence

To put it bluntly, the U.S. Army is not exactly known for its space savviness.

However, as the Army gears up for combat with near-peer competitors, it’s doing its best to leverage new space capabilities to improve its targeting and networks, greatly expanding the range it can fire at enemies effectively. And at Project Convergence 20, the service got its first high profile opportunity to show off what it can do with emergent tactical space capabilities.

Project Convergence is the first iteration of the Army’s new “campaign of learning,” an effort to bring together the most cutting edge technologies, connect them together with an advanced battlefield network, and extend their ability to hit beyond-line-of-sight targets with confidence. During six weeks in the blazing Arizona heat at Yuma Proving Ground, the Army ran through dozens of scenarios, linking weapons systems and sensors together, applying artificial intelligence to detect and target threats, and using a developmental network to expand the battlefield.

Perhaps most importantly, Army’s Futures Command was able to show how new tactical space capabilities can transform the battlefield. Click here to read more.

Transforming battlefield geometry: What’s to come in Project Convergence 2021

The U.S. Army’s ambitious first Project Convergence, an exercise that measured the progress of the service’s modernization strategy within its future operational concept, concluded last month, but the service already has a sense of what it wants to accomplish in 2021.

The series of exercises and experiments that made up the Project Convergence “campaign of learning” took place at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona. The event, held over a six-week period in the harsh desert at America’s southwest border, was deemed the most important Army event outside of global operations, and future annual iterations are expected to continue shaping the future force.

“We’re going to have even further transformation of the battlefield geometry,” Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen, who is in charge of future vertical lift modernization, told Defense News in an Oct. 6 interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. Click here to read more.

At Project Convergence, the US Army experienced success and failure — and it’s happy about both

During the U.S. Army’s high-profile test of emerging technology in the Arizona desert last month, service leaders packed explosives into a prototype of the Extended Range Cannon as part of a bold experiment.

The cannon had the ability to fire beyond 70 kilometers, and the XM1113 projectile had been customized with a precision guidance kit (not the next long-range precision guidance kit that will be integrated later).

“It didn’t go off every time,” Brig. Gen. John Rafferty, who oversees long-range precision fires modernization, said of the weapon during an Oct. 2 interview with Defense News. “It was kind of disappointing when there was a hole in the ground right next to the target because it didn’t explode.”

The XM1113 incident matched what many service leaders experienced at Project Convergence as new concepts and modernization efforts were put to the test. Sometimes, Army officials were thrilled with the progress of new technologies. Other times, they saw room for improvement.

“This is a major step forward in transforming the United States Army for the next 40 years,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said while attending Project Convergence at Yuma Proving Ground. Click here to read more.

Army training, recruiting marches on despite COVID-19 challenges

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, locking down much of the United States in its path, the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command still had a job to do — recruit new soldiers and train the ones they had.

Gen. Paul Funk, TRADOC commander, talked with Army Times ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition about how the command continued, and learned new ways of doing business, along the way.

“We’ve trained almost 500,000 soldiers this year, converted 600 classes to digital content to keep them moving, adapted our entire ROTC summer cap and used Operation Agile Leader to train in 72 locations to reduce the risks of COVID while training the officers of tomorrow,” Funk said. Click here to read more.

TECH ACQUISITION

US Army prioritizes open architecture for future combat vehicle amid competition prep

The U.S. Army still plans to release of its request for proposals in December to replace the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, and it wants industry to prioritize an open architecture in its designs.

“The network is almost more important in some ways than building the combat vehicles,” Maj. Gen. Brian Cummings, program executive officer of ground combat systems, told Defense News in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s virtual conference.

The future optionally manned fighting vehicle will need the flexibility to be networked with other capabilities across the battlefield, and designed such that capabilities can plug into the vehicle at the forward edge. This realization was highlighted during the Army’s Project Convergence exercise at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, which wrapped up last month and during which an OMFV surrogate played a part. Click here to read more.

3 questions with Bruce Jette, the US Army’s acquisition chief

Bruce Jette’s time serving as the U.S. Army’s acquisition chief has aligned almost entirely with the service’s ambitious effort to transition between its current fleet and a fully modernized force by 2030. The wheels have been quickly turning to field new capabilities, and it has kept Jette busy working to strike a balance between the service’s present needs and its future requirements.

Defense News spoke with Jette ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference, which will be held virtually. Click here to read more.

US Army solidifies requirements to counter small drones

Pentagon leaders approved in late September a set of requirements to help counter small drones, laying a path for how industry can develop technology to plug into a single command-and-control system, according to the general in charge of the effort.

The defense secretary delegated the Army in November 2019 to lead the effort to take a petting zoo of counter-small unmanned aircraft systems, or C-sUAS, many of which were rooted in urgent needs from Middle East conflicts, and to consolidate capability into a select group of interim systems. Army Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey, who is leading the effort through the Joint C-sUAS Office, spoke to Defense News on Oct. 2 ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference.

That part of his project would be followed by the development and fielding of a long-term system. Click here to read more.

US Army firms up requirements for future long-range assault aircraft ahead of competition

The U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program passed through the Army Requirements Oversight Council’s gauntlet and received preliminary approval of its abbreviated capabilities development document, bringing the aircraft a step closer to a competitive procurement, according to the head of the service’s future vertical lift efforts.

The service is on a tight timeline to field a brand-new, long-range assault aircraft by 2030.

“The AROC went well,” Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen told Defense News in an Oct. 6 interview. “The aviation enterprise continues to impress me, just our ability to drive on these tough administrative and requirements tasks and get them done on time and do what we said we were going to do.” Click here to read more.

FUTURE WARFARE

US Army pegs 2023 as tipping point for ending old weapons

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. Click here to read more.

The Army’s SAW and M4 replacement is headed to troops by 2022

The gun that will replace both the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon and the M16/M4 rifle/carbine weapons — and add a new, widely distributed caliber to the U.S. military inventory for the first time in decades — is less than two years away.

The Next Generation Squad Weapon finished its first prototype test event in September. The three previously selected offerings came from Sig Sauer, Textron Systems and General Dynamics Ordnance.

Brig. Gen. David Hodne, Infantry School commandant and Soldier Lethality Cross Functional Team director, along with Brig. Gen. Anthony Potts, head of Program Executive Office Soldier, gave updates to Army Times ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition. Click here to read more.

Army to conduct thorough review of aviation fleet in FY23

As the Army looks to bring on two future helicopters by 2030, the service is planning to review its entire aviation fleet in fiscal 2023, Lt. Gen. James Pasquarette, the Army G-8, told Defense News in an Oct. 8 interview.

Over the past several years, the Army has said it is at “an inflection point” when it comes to prioritizing modernization in order to ensure soldiers can fight in a multidomain environment against near-peer adversaries. Part of that is ensuring the Army is balanced properly when it comes to making sure the current fleet is ready while funding the ambitious development of two new aircraft along with a number of other enablers like a digital backbone, air-launched effects and a new engine, to name a few.

In FY20, the Army took controversial steps to shift funding from the current fleet to the future one when it decided it would not buy Block II CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopters for the active force, opting to procure the variant just for special operations.

Congress has pushed back on that decision in both its FY20 and FY21 defense bills, injecting funding into the program to keep the pump primed to build Block II Chinooks for the active component against the Army’s wishes.

So far the Army isn’t planning on backing down on its decision to scale down and only buy the Block II variant for special operations. Click here to read more.

Before joint all-domain operations, leaders need to solve data problems first

The top data official on the U.S. Army’s tactical network modernization team said Tuesday that the military will need to solve data governance and interoperability issues across the services as leaders work toward linking sensors and shooters across domains and services.

“Data governance across the services is going to be a challenge because we all have common things together but we also have a lot of uniqueness,” said Portia Crowe, the chief data officer of the Army’s Network Cross-Functional Team at Army Futures Command. She was speaking at a webinar hosted by C4ISRNET.

Crowe’s comments came after a busy few months on data issues within the Department of Defense. The DoD released its data strategy last week with a focus on enabling joint warfighting, while the Air Force and Army recently signed an agreement to collaborate on a Joint All Domain Command and Control concept just weeks after both services tested their individual platforms. Click here to read more.

The US Army wants to trade network for compute, but why?

The U.S. Army is working to improve its network at a rapid pace, increasing bandwidth, lowering latency and making it more robust for the future fight. So why does it want to send less data over that network?

At the virtual Association of the U.S. Army conference this week, officials emphasized that in order to get sensor data to weapons systems even faster, they need to push computing to the edge. And to hit deep-lying, protected targets, the Army needs to see farther to sense potential threats, create targeting data and send a solution to the best fires system for rapid response.

The concept is more frequently referred to as the sensor-to-shooter timeline, and the Army is putting vast amounts of effort into shortening that timeline as much as possible so it can respond to threats effectively. Part of that effort will involve shifting the processing step from the command post to the sensor, Army officials said.

This is known as edge processing. Click here to read more.

How ‘Team Ignite’ works to deliver concepts for the 2035 battlefield

Imagine a battlefield in which soldiers and equipment are hidden from satellites by living organisms that provide camouflage by filtering certain kinds of light. Or imagine concealing where soldiers have been by using organisms to build roads, with separate organisms that later eat away that pathway.

These ideas may seem like science fiction, but they are potential future capabilities under consideration by a relatively new program at the U.S. Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command, called Team Ignite. The team, which has been operational for about a year, operates as a middleman between the the Army’s Futures and Concepts Center and the service’s operational community. Click here to read more.