AUSA: In a promising sign for the US Army’s Big Six modernization plan, not one but three different companies have invested their own money in full-up working vehicles for the Army’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) project: BAE Systems, which makes the current M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, a heavily armed and armored troop carrier… Keep reading →

France and Australia must resolve major differences over the Aussies’ new submarine program before a new Australian government is elected next year, and the most obvious alternative is Japan.

Three weeks ago, US Army experts traveled to the Negev Desert to watch a test of the latest, longest-range version of Rafael’s Spike missile. Fired from an Israeli AH-64 Apache, the same gunship used by US attack helicopter squadrons, the Spike NLOS struck a target 20 miles away — four times the range of the… Keep reading →

JSF HQ: The head of the Joint Strike Fighter program, Vice Adm. Mat Winter, says the crucial operating costs of the F-35 dropped significantly in 2017. Winters told a group of defense reporters that the costs of operating the F-35 fleet dropped by $1.1 million “per tail per year across the fleet” and cited “a… Keep reading →

The latest version of Israel’s Trophy defense system stopped more than 95 percent of roughly 300 missiles and rockets shot at it in Israeli tests this summer, laying the groundwork for US Army testing this fall on the 8×8 Stryker armored vehicle.

The head of Strategic Command must be very happy this evening, having learned that the Air Force is finally buying a new helicopter to guard America’s ICBM fields. The Boeing-Leonardo team won the contract to supply 84 helicopters.

TEL AVIV: Complex export rules make it much easier to sell a high-tech weapons system labeled “Made In The USA” than one marked “Made In Israel.” So it’s significant that last week, the US subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Mississippi-based Stark Aerospace, ceremoniously delivered the first US-built canister for IAI’s Arrow-3 missile defense interceptor. While… Keep reading →

Japan and South Korea are getting new generations of sub-hunting and intelligence-gathering aircraft as China, North Korea, and Russia continue to push more assets into the waters of the Pacific.

TEL AVIV: Until last week there was a shadow war, fought behind closed doors, mainly in the highly guarded complex of the Israeli Defense Ministry and the Israeli Air Force headquarters in Tel Aviv. And in some newspapers. But now the war has gone public and the big guns could be heard all over Israel’s… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: A long-time State Department official who oversees critical security assistance programs is heading to the Pentagon, a move that may usher in another big change in the reworking of the acquisition and arms exports programs at the Defense Department. The unexpected announcement was made by Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment,… Keep reading →