Washington: The Army and Marine Corps have pulled out all the stops to save the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, but those efforts could end up killing the entire program. The Army claims it can buy the JLTV for just over $200,000 per truck, after drastically paring down the vehicle’s requirements. Previous estimates put the truck’s… Keep reading →

Washington’s handling of the national debt crisis is sounding a lot like a script for a Hollywood action movie with all this talk of sequestration “triggers” and “doomsday.” The thrills will start in a few weeks when the congressional Super Committee will unveil its recommendations to cut at least $1.2 trillion from the federal budget… Keep reading →

Washington: Just as the Navy is planning to take on a larger strategic role in regional hot spots around the world, the service is considering massive fleet reductions — including a two-year delay on its new aircraft carrier — as part of its upcoming budget plan. The Navy may cut nine cruisers and three amphibious… Keep reading →

Washington: The new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff put Capitol Hill on notice today, telling lawmakers that DoD may not be able to afford all three versions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. In his first appearance before House Armed Services Committee as chairman, Gen. Martin Dempsey said that buying the Air Force,… Keep reading →

Washington: Army acquisition is facing the largest financial crunch since the infamous defense drawdown of the 1990s. To meet that challenge, service officials today rolled out a list of seven “commandments” it will follow to get the Army through these tough times. The problem is these “commandments” — increased focus on cost and schedule, increased… Keep reading →

Washington: American troops stationed in Europe may be coming home much sooner than the White House or the Pentagon had initially expected, the top U.S. commanding officer in the region said. European Command leaders have submitted recommendations that would mean an Army Brigade Combat Team would be pulled from the region much sooner than originally… Keep reading →

Washington: America’s shipyards are sinking fast, and the only way to keep them afloat is to kick the Navy’s shipbuilding plan into high gear, a recently released DoD report states. Pentagon officials noted that U.S. shipyards are falling behind their international peers, in both technology and productivity, according to the department’s annual assessment of the… Keep reading →

Washington: The Army is breaking in half its massive plan to revamp its Humvee fleet, giving industry two separate shots to lock in a part of the multimillion-dollar program. In the end, the Army will produce nearly 5,800 modified Humvees at a rate of three to four vehicles a day, under the Modernized Expanded Capability… Keep reading →

Washington: In the last few days one thing has become crystal clear: the Obama administration — from the Pentagon to the Situation Room to OMB — has decided America cannot sustain defense cuts that go beyond the currently planned $450 billion. We knew the Pentagon felt this way ever since a carefully masked “senior Pentagon… Keep reading →

Two top Pentagon spokesmen’s exchange with reporters today illustrated why U.S.-Pakistani relations are like a troubled marriage that at least one partner would like to preserve. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s spokesman George Little and Joint Chiefs chairman Adm. Michael Mullen’s flak Navy Capt. John Kirby echoed their bosses’ accusation that Pakistan’s Inter-service Intelligence agency (ISI)… Keep reading →