News
China has practiced bombing runs targeting Guam, US says –
China has practiced bombing runs targeting the U.S. territory of Guam, one of a host of activities making U.S. forces here consider Beijing the most worrisome potential threat in the Pacific, even as North Korea pursues a nuclear warhead.
Business
Malaysian military to acquire patrol aircraft, howitzers after budget increase –
Malaysia’s military has been given the go-ahead with the acquisition of maritime patrol aircraft and self-propelled howitzers, as the country increases its defense spending slightly following drastic reductions.
Japan to bolster Philippine maritime security with TC-90 aircraft –
Japan says it will donate five turboprop training aircraft to the Philippines for use in the maritime patrol role, boosting the Southeast Asian nation’s ability to carry out maritime security operations.
Navy enhancing its electronic warfare systems –
Engility Corp. has been awarded a $9.4 million contract modification to perform additional electronic warfare services for U.S. Navy and Australian aircraft.
Army wants next-gen situational awareness sensors –
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $12 million Army contract to develop sensor fusion for helicopters.
Northrop dinged by both Army, Air Force on quality concerns –
Quality control on Northrop Grumman Corp.’s multibillion-dollar weapons systems is under scrutiny after the U.S. Army discovered problems with the contractor’s antimissile system for helicopters and the Air Force voiced fresh concern over its upkeep of surveillance aircraft.
Defense
After 16 years, congressional debate on military force authorizations remains stalled –
Senate lawmakers said the deaths of four U.S. service members in unheralded anti-terrorism operations in Africa has brought new focus on the need to update the military force authorizations governing those missions.
Court bars Trump on transgender troops policy –
A federal court on Monday ruled President Donald Trump cannot act to force transgender service members out of the ranks, a move which critics have repeatedly assailed as unconstitutional.
Pentagon responds to GAO F-35 sustainment report –
The F-35 joint program office concedes the Government Accountability Office’s F-35 sustainment report is “factually accurate,” but argues it does not account for depot capability and capacity acceleration.
Army hopes to streamline modernization efforts after WIN-T ‘debacle’ –
In addition to technical changes, the U.S. Army is considering structural modifications in the way in procures networking equipment. This includes guidance in the way of recently established cross-functional teams.
A new network approach is changing how the Army does business –
The U.S. Army is currently in the throes of a massive change in the way it handles IT systems. After an intensive internal process and insight from congressionally mandated studies, the service has determined that drastic changes are needed for its network and command posts.
Broken F-35 parts take six months to fix, GAO finds –
If a part on one of the U.S. military’s growing fleet of 250 F-35.s fails, it takes about six months for the depots to repair it—twice the program’s objective.