News
This is the Pentagon’s new strategy to defeat ISIS –
It involves a lot of old-school war fighting and could require more Americans on the ground to support unproven allies.
Business
Orbital ATK, SpaceX to build U.S. Air Force rocket engine prototypes –
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Orbital ATK and Elon Musk’s SpaceX contracts to develop prototypes of rocket engines as a part of the government’s ongoing effort to end reliance on the Russian RD-180 booster for military space launch.
Army special ops want multi-intelligence UAVs –
Army aviation special operators want new unmanned aircraft systems that can carry multiple sensors to collect vital intelligence from the battlefield and they’re working with the Army to achieve the capability.
CACI wins $81 million Army intel contract –
CACI has been awarded an $81 million Army contract to support intelligence-sharing systems.
Army’s got enough drones; New ones should be VTOL, Lundy says –
The Army aviation chief, Maj. Gen. Michael Lundy, wants to spend the service’s shrunken aircraft acquisition budget – down about 40 percent over the past three years — on manned rather than unmanned aircraft. After all, this is the Army.
General Dynamics wins Navy surface ship EW contract –
General Dynamics Mission Systems has been awarded a Navy contract to produce surface ship electronic warfare systems.
Mabus: Get moving on that F-18 sale to Kuwait –
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus wants the arms export bureaucracy to get a move on and approve Boeing’s “crucial” sale of Super Hornet fighters to Kuwait.
Pakistani naval modernization appears stalled –
Pakistan’s naval modernization program appears stalled, with no discernible progress being made on efforts to modernize and expand the surface and sub-surface fleet. This comes amid moves ensure the security of the deepwater port of Gwadar, and fears of mass obsolescence vis-a-vis arch rival India.
Army testing robo-parachutes that don’t need GPS –
The military needs what goes up to come down without the global positioning system.
Mabus: Navy to meet shipbuilding goals regardless if LCS buy is reduced –
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said the service is still on schedule to reach its shipbuilding goals despite a Defense Department directive calling for a reduction in littoral combat ship buys.
SECNAV Ray Mabus defends shipbuilding record –
A month after a terse memo from the Office of the Secretary of Defense that accused the Navy of spending too many resources to plus up its ship numbers, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus defended his seven-year shipbuilding record in a speech at the Surface Navy Association symposium Jan. 14.
Navy to begin LCU affordability talks with industry –
The Navy and industry will soon begin work on the Landing Craft Unit replacement program two years ahead of the original schedule, forcing some concurrent design and model testing but delivering a much-needed replacement sooner.
Defense
Pentagon sends Obama plan to close Guantanamo, move detainees to U.S. –
Hours after 10 percent of the remaining detainees leave Cuba, the defense secretary said he’s handed the president a plan for “Gitmo North.”
New Navy ships have trouble surviving high seas –
The U.S. Navy is spending millions of dollars to repair new high-speed transport ships built by Austal Ltd. because their weak bows can’t stand buffeting from high seas, according to the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester.
U.S. Air Force highlights UAV staffing strain –
The number of daily U.S. Air Force unmanned air vehicle combat air patrols (CAPs) reached its peak in 2015, but such demand, and the resulting manning shortages, have put extra strain on surveillance operations.
Veterans
McCain fires off angry letter over VA reappointments –
Sen. John McCain is not happy that two Veterans Affairs executives accused of mismanagement are back at work and he let department secretary Bob McDonald know it.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper, retired SEAL donate ballistic vests for Norfolk police dogs –
Three days after a Norfolk police dog was shot and killed in a standoff with a man who’d barricaded himself in his house, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper has donated enough money to outfit the Police Department’s entire K-9 unit with ballistic vests, similar to those used by military dog handlers.
Space
British astronaut begins historic spacewalk –
Tim Peake has taken his first “steps” outside the International Space Station, becoming the first official British astronaut to perform a spacewalk.
