News
Appropriators cut $20 million from B-21 program in omnibus spending bill –
The Air Force’s secretive B-21 bomber took a hit in the fiscal 2017 omnibus spending bill, with congressional appropriators stripping about $20 million from the program, budget documents show.
Business
Sweden orders signals intelligence ship –
Saab has been awarded a Swedish contract for a new signals intelligence, or SIGINT, ship.
French government, bank to jointly set aside $55 million to back small firms –
France’s arms procurement office and the state-backed bank Bpifrance announced that on May 2 they signed an agreement to set up this year a €50 million (U.S. $55 million) fund to invest in small firms seen to be of strategic defense importance.
Turkey’s Anka UAV undergoes weapons trials –
Turkey has conducted test firings of domestically manufactured weapons from its Anka unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the Defence Industries Undersecretariat (SSM) announced account April 28.
Israel’s Meteor secures first orders for unmanned Impact 700 –
Israeli unmanned air vehicle manufacturer Meteor Aerospace has secured the first customers for its Impact 700 design, and is also now developing a larger version.
Global drone market expected to surpass $22B by 2022 –
While the military market for drones is only a subcategory of that market, military usage is also expected to grow.
Defense
DOD officially lifts hiring freeze restrictions –
The Department of Defense said May 3 it has removed all hiring restrictions, officially ending the freeze on new positions that began in January.
Defense intelligence has opportunity to be ‘reimagined’ –
With the goal of providing military commanders and policymakers with the best possible analysis, defense intelligence has reached a point where innovations in information technology and cyber present an opportunity to drastically reimagine the entire enterprise, according to a Defense Intelligence Agency expert.
Army network strategy evolving beyond counterinsurgency –
As the U.S. Army transitions from counterinsurgency fights to countering near-peer threats, its network communications strategy is at a crossroads, according to Army officials.
What is the Army doing to assure GPS, navigation? –
All domains of war will be contested. This is the notion of multi-domain battle. And it includes the GPS signals that the military and the commercial world — think every day navigation for ride-hailing company Uber — are so reliant upon for location and timing of operations.
Can autonomy help solve the Army’s logistics challenges? –
The Army is learning that it must adapt and change the way soldiers fight to succeed on future battlefields. That is being accelerated through multi-domain battle, in which future conflicts and adversaries will contest forces in all domains of war simultaneously.
U.S. Navy will delay award of new frigate construction by a year –
The U.S. Navy will delay by at least a year plans to award a multibillion-dollar construction contract for a frigate meant to succeed the troubled Littoral Combat Ship, service officials said.
Holloman AFB investigates cause of drone crash –
Officials at an Air Force base in southern New Mexico say no one was injured after a drone crashed during a training mission.
Air Force secretary vote to move forward as hold is lifted –
The U.S. Senate will vote on Heather Wilson, President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next secretary of the Air Force, by early next week, a Senate official told Military.com May 3.
Veterans
VA will look at military’s health records system, but won’t commit –
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said he is open to adopting the new military electronic health record system for his department but stopped short of promising that will happen this summer.