U.S. Army News:

Werewolf wrote:I used Crysis exoskeleton not as an example of actual exoskeleton we could have but as a comperision of todays mechanic/electric exoskeleton that have no other use but giving the carrier ability to carry about 100-150kg, but cripples his maneuverbility. You would not be able to take cover when you got under enemy fire, and going into squad position when your only cover would be even 10 cm lower you would be still exposed.

I mean untill exoskeletons become to what people dream about, a structure that makes you stronger,faster and more robust that will take more like 50 years, something like that we should be prepared for. And this 50 years would only give the timespan to develope such technology, not counting the time we would need until we can see it in military use.

Such technology on the low level we have right now is already so expensive that even Special forces would not won't or be capable to purchase such technology in sufficient number and we will only see that the Technology will become more expensive through a lot more components to comprimise the stiffness of those suites.

I for myself think that if they really want to make exoskeleton that makes you stronger,faster and more robust we will end up having such suites like Space Marines, or we would go with compromises, that boosts only human capabilities by about 25-30% but is still light and not to thick, adding a bullet proof vest or some structure to protect vital parts of the upper torso, but leaving the lower torso less protected but therefor more space for movement. More an exoskeleton like the Xenomorphs have, torso real exoskeleton and the arms and lower torso normal endoskeloton, giving them high agility with good protection of vital organs. I would bet on that kind of exoskeleton that would be able to be enter military service and have a good impact on morality, combat effeciency, ordnance at battle, lower amount of casualities and more firepower, by wielding bigger calibre weapons.

I would like to see such a version of an exoskeleton.

afaik the crysis suit is not mechanical- more like it directly enhances human ability. kinda like it pumps adrenaline into your muscles while the frame supports most of the pressure that without the suit would rupture your muscles from the bones. there is also an onboard cognitive improvement AI.

The U.S. Congress has approved a gigantic defense policy bill.  

The $585 billion National Defense Authorization Act  was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate Friday, a week after passing in the House of Representatives.

It now awaits President Barack Obama's signature.

The measure authorizes federal military spending for fiscal year 2015, which began on October 1.  

It includes emergency funding requested by the president for military operations against Islamic jihadists in Iraq and Syria. The measure also authorizes funds for training moderate Syrian rebels and Iraqi Kurdish forces for two years.

The bill includes money for basic U.S. military operations, ranging from a one percent pay raise for the troops to the purchase of ships, aircraft and other war-fighting equipment.

The NDAA also mandates the retention of the fleet of A-10 close-air support aircraft.  The U.S. Air Force had proposed retiring more than 100 A-10s, but the NDAA prohibits that action in 2015.  

Despite opposition from Mr. Obama, the bill extends restrictions on closing the US. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, renewing a ban on transferring detainees from Guantanamo to the United States.  

http://www.voanews.com/content/us-congress-approves-defense-budget/2557635.html

The $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill from Congress includes $1.46 billion for 15 Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft and $1 billion to start work on a 12th San Antonio-class (LPD-17) amphibious warship, according to a summary of the bill released late Tuesday.
The compromise bill agreed to by House and Senate appropriators and expected to pass both chambers will extend Boeing’s Super Hornet — the airframe on which the Growler is based — production line into 2017, according to Reuters.

The Navy gave Congress an unfunded wish list that asked for 22 Growlers at a cost of $2.14 billion. With the extra airframes, the Navy intends to expand its EA-18G squadrons from five aircraft up to seven.

The bill also gave the service $1 billion to start procurement on a 12th San Antonio-class amphibious warship — about half the total cost of the ship. The Marine Corps has been lobbying Congress and the Navy for the additional ship it says will act as a bridge to the next generation LX(R) amphibious warship which will be based on the San Antonio-hull.

Line items in the bill also fully fund the planned procurement of the Ohio-class Replacement Program ballistic missile submarine, fully funds the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) research and development efforts — despite restrictions in the parallel authorization bill — and includes $843 million to begin the refueling and complex overhaul of carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73).

http://news.usni.org/2014/12/10/omnibus-spending-bill-includes-money-15-growlers-12th-san-antonio

US Army has made the final selection of the program Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV), provides for the replacement of 2897 M113 tracked armored personnel carriers and vehicles based on them in armored brigades (Armored Brigade Combat Teams - ABCT). The choice can not be called a surprise, because it was made in favor of the sole remaining in the program AMPV offers - nominated by BAE Systems Corporation project tracked armored personnel carriers, which is a variant of M2 / M3 Bradley.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/1110615.html

US Army Signs Contract to Upgrade Tactical Missiles: Defense Contractor

Lockheed Martin said in a press release that the US Army awarded the defense contractor a $78 million contract to upgrade the surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile System.

WASHINGTON, January 8 (Sputnik) — The US Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $78 million contract to upgrade the surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), the defense contractor announced Wednesday.

“The program will take hardware from early-production ATACMS Block 1 missiles and develop an enhanced and affordable weapon system capable of eliminating targets without the risk of unexploded ordnance, which meets the U.S. Army’s long-range precision strike requirement,” Lockheed Martin said in a press release.

The ATACMS is the US Army’s only tactical long-range precision surface-to-surface weapon with a range of up to 300 kilometers (185 miles). Lockheed Martin has produced more than 3,700 of the missiles over the past 20 years. Nearly 560 have been used in combat, including the Persian Gulf War and Iraq War. The ATACMS destroyed enemy airfields, surface-to-air systems, artillery and command centers.

Lockheed Martin will test the upgrade before beginning production in early 2016, according to the press release.

The Ground Combat Vehicle program was cancelled in February 2014

http://presstv.com/Detail/2015/01/24/394544/US-Marines-killed-in-helicopter-crash

It seems that an US military helicopter crashed-?- in a supposed Southern California area-?-. This crash would be under investigation. Is it true ? Is it false ? US propaganda used to lie regarding its losses in combat. Nowdays, many US US soldiers seem to be involved in Iraq, including US attack hellicopters. However, Isis, has many efficients -russian- anti aircrafts guns, and missiles. During US occupation of Iraq, US Army lost many AH-64 Apache, this forced US to clear off Iraq.
US propaganda used to attribute its losses in combat operations by mysterious accident occured somewhere in the world, where noone could withness. For example during air war in 1991 against Iraq, iraqi pilot claimed to have damaged a B-52 with air to air missiles, however american's ridiculous statement claimed that a B-52 crashed in indian ocean du to electric problems. In the history of US air force, how much aircrafts losses were disguised into a so-called accidents. In the war, the best US -and their allies, chieffly Israel- weapons stays the lie. For that reason I often beware about US statements concerning an supposed accident in period of intensives combat operations.
Maybe it is right, maybe it is false.

Boeing and US officials start working on AH-64 Apache attack helicopters massive deal

(Reuters) - Officials from Boeing Co and the U.S. Army said on Wednesday they had begun discussions about a multiyear agreement to buy about 240 AH-64 Apache helicopters from fiscal 2017 to 2021, a deal that analysts say could be worth around $4 billion.

U.S. Army acquisition chief Heidi Shyu recently signed a document allowing both sides to begin work on a multiyear agreement, with an eye to securing approval from the defense secretary by March 2016, Colonel Jeff Hager, Apache program manager, told reporters at an event hosted by Boeing.

Mark Ballew, Boeing's head of business development for attack helicopters, told Reuters that the multiyear agreement could include options for about 100 international sales of the attack helicopter, which would add to its overall value.

The U.S. government has already approved Apache sales to Qatar and Indonesia, and those deals are being negotiated now, Ballew said. He said three or four other countries have expressed interest in the helicopter, but declined to name them.

He said such deals could take many years to complete, given the complications often involved in the foreign arms market.

Boeing hosted a separate meeting about the third successive Apache multiyear agreement with government officials and suppliers on Wednesday at its Washington headquarters.

Military services must demonstrate significant savings when asking for approval for multiyear agreements, as compared with the cost of negotiating procurements on a year-by-year basis. There is no specific target, but lawmakers generally look for those savings to amount to around 10 percent

Kim Smith, vice president for Boeing's attack helicopter programs, said the company was "absolutely on track" to work with the Army and its suppliers to identify savings that would help justify a multiyear agreement.

"We at Boeing have been doing our part to leave no stone unturned," Smith told reporters.

Pentagon chief arms buyer Frank Kendall told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that he favored multiyear agreements because they allowed program managers to focus on program performance, and less on yearly contract negotiations.

Earlier on Wednesday, Boeing reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit, sending its shares up 4.6 percent to $138.58.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/28/us-boeing-helicopters-idUSKBN0L11ZG20150128

Damn, hope they made these actually bulletproof .

TR1 wrote:Damn, hope they made these actually bulletproof .

Haha... True too!

It is better to use them properly so they don't have to be bullet proof.

I personally like the Apache... sure, she is high maintainence... but most hot girls are...

The fact is that when used properly she is an effective and deadly machine.

GarryB wrote:It is better to use them properly so they don't have to be bullet proof.

I personally like the Apache... sure, she is high maintainence... but most hot girls are...  

The fact is that when used properly she is an effective and deadly machine.

The problem is for Attack Helicopters is proper Intel, if the AH squadrons don't get proper Intel they will unavoidably run into trouble, since Ambushes are usually prepared to let your enemy not know where you are and be it from Vietnam, Afghanistan in 80's or today the main threat for Attack Helicopters is still ballistical with most common used Anti Aircraft weapons in low to high intensive battlefields of 7,62x51/54mm, 12,7mm and 14.5mm with quite high amount of 20-23mm AA guns around the globe.

There are three major disadvantages that when fixed would boost the Apache in effeciency higher. The outdated doctrine of M230 that it was designed as Aeral Weapon Suppression, inteded for spraying against large Soviet troops, which makes it inaccurate and waste of ammunition and false ammunition.

The lack of bulletproof glass, that would need to reshape the cockpit glass otherwise the weight would be enorm.

The shp/t ratio and kg/cm^2 ratio (which is the worst of all AH's) regarding the NTOW/MTOW weight and the relative small rotor disc that is similiar to lighter attack helicopters, which translates negative on climb ratio and maintenance of entire rotor assembly and rotor blades.

However it is a great Attack Helicopter but fixing such simple problems would boost its effeciency significantly.

US Army’s New Self-Propelled Howitzer Follows 20 Years of Delays

It took two decades and the cancellation of two costly programs, but the United States Army on Thursday will finally unveil the newest self-propelled howitzers from its Paladin Integrated Management program.

While the Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) program’s M109A7 “is not a truly new vehicle, in that it borrows from others,” according to one Hill staffer who spoke to Breaking Defense, the new artillery vehicle “is still a success.”
U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Chang Ahn, leader of 2nd Platoon, 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, and Maj. David McCulley, battalion operations officer with the 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, update perimeter maps to increase base security at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, on Sept. 11, 2008.

Success of any kind is welcomed by the beleaguered Army acquisition system, which has a track record of canceled programs and wasted billions dating to before 9/11.

The PIM – built by Britain-based contractor BAE Systems – was created by taking the gun turret that was upgraded by previous programs, and installing it on an all-new chassis.

Previous programs “built a new turret and put it on the old chassis,” said Mark Signorelli, head of combat vehicle programs at BAE Systems. “M109A7 put a new chassis under the A6 turret, with a few upgrades to the turret, and effectively in two steps the Army built a new howitzer.”

While the PIM continues to use the same gun as the older artillery piece, it essentially a new weapon system from the bearing ring on down – one that comes with digital displays and a 70 kilowatt, 600-volt on-board power system.

Signorelli is a veteran of the Army’s cancelled Future Combat Systems and Ground Combat Vehicle programs, which attempted to develop entirely new designs.

“When you have one of these big bang programs … it’s hugely expensive, it takes forever and it’s risky,” he told Breaking Defense. “When you do this Lincoln’s axe approach, you can … put the modernization in bite-size packages, so you’ve got a high probability that you can get the work done on schedule, on budget.”

While the PIM’s new automotive and electrical systems make it 25% heavier than its predecessor, the new model generates 50% more horsepower and almost four times as much electrical power.

The Army identified the Paladin Integrated Management program is one of its top 12 critical programs in the Fiscal Year 2016 budget.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/news/20150408/1020594764.html#ixzz3WfKHsAev

Army lists top 12 items in fiscal year 2016 budget request

The M109 Paladin Integrated Management program is one of the Army's top 12 critical programs in the Fiscal Year 2016 budget.

WASHINGTON (April 6, 2015) -- Topping the list of things the Army wants in its $127 billion Fiscal Year 2016 budget request are 12 critical programs that support mission command, joint combined arms maneuver, and broad joint mission support.

Experts within the Army's G-8, responsible for matching programs with limited resources, were quick to point out that the list of items are in no prioritized order, but that they are all high-dollar programs that are critical to the Army mission.

"It shows Congress where we are spending taxpayer dollars. These programs also provide critical capability to Soldiers," said. Col. Brian Halloran, Army G-8 force development division chief for plans, strategy and policy. "How we chose these 12 specific programs from the more than 200 we have going on is three-fold: these are programs with high-dollar investment by the nation; and they also provide very increased capability to the Soldier and they nest within our broad priorities within the strategy as well."

Supporting mission command initiatives is the Nett Warrior system, which is an Android-based cell phone that has been modified to work with Army communications systems to bring critical operational information to the dismounted leaders of platoons, squads, and teams.

The 2016 budget request includes funding to allow the system to be fielded at the tactical level in three brigade combat teams, said Col. Richard Price, Army G-8 force development division chief for mission command.

"That will go down to the team-leader level, to allow them to use commercial, off-the-shelf equipment to display maps and position data," Price said. "It's an Android phone, where we take off the proprietary software, and we put Army software on it, so we can display Army applications, which give you maps and location data."

Price said for Nett Warrior, the Army has reached a level of robustness and readiness with the hardware to field the system, but added that the software component will continue to improve for a long time.

"As we continue to develop apps, it will give you the capability to display information from the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System, unit data, war plans, operations orders and other things on the screen," he said.

Price said the Nett Warrior supports the Army, and is critical in that it provides the dismounted leader - the Army's most critical "resource" - with the information he or she needs to do their job.

"It allows you to share information down to the lowest tactical level, with the team leaders on the ground, and allows you to understand from a location standpoint where those team leaders are located," Price said.

Price also said the Army wants to field to three brigade combat teams, or BCTs, the communications equipment included in the family of networked tactical radios, including the rifleman radio at the squad and platoon level, the "handheld, manpack and small-form fit" radios at the platoon and company level, and the maneuver radio that connects everything to Army command elements.

Also making the list in support of mission command capabilities is the Warfighter Information Network - Tactical system, the Joint Battle Command - Platform, and the Distributed Common Ground System - Army.

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, or JLTV, which is a joint program between the Army and the Marine Corps, makes the list as a contributor to the joint combined arms maneuver mission. Right now there are three commercial contractors competing to win the JLTV program contract. Those contractors include Lockheed Martin, Oshkosh Defense and AM General.

Col. Michel M. Russell Sr., Army G-8 FD division chief for focused logistics, said the Army expects to exit the current engineering and manufacturing development stage of the JLTV competition, and down-select from three contractors to one as part of an acquisition decision in the fourth quarter of FY 2015. That one winning contractor will be awarded the low-rate initial production contract for the JLTV.

The Army plans to eventually purchase 49,099 JLTVs, while the Marine Corps plans to eventually buy 5,500 of the vehicles. For the Army, initial operating capability on the JLTV is expected in the fourth quarter FY 2018.

Russell said in light tactical vehicles, the Army looks for three primary components: payload, performance and protection. Those three characteristics together, he said, are referred to as "the iron triangle."

"What JLTV does is it meets the capability gap that allows us to bring all three of those back into balance," Russell said. "We gain all that back, and it's deployable in all the different environments."

Also included in the 12 critical programs for the Army is the Maneuver Support Vessel - Light, or MSV-L, a watercraft that is intended to replace the existing Vietnam-era Landing Craft Mechanized 8. The MSV-L supports the Joint Combined Arms Maneuver and the Army Operating Concept, Russell said.

"It's a new start program, and is critical because it is the lynchpin to the Army's watercraft strategy," Russell said.

He said the MSV-L will allow commanders to maneuver supplies, sustainment and systems in and around their waterscape. The watercraft can carry a tank, a JLTV, a Stryker, troops, or supplies.

"This is a brand new program and will have to proceed through the acquisition milestone agenda, in terms of requests for production and getting bids back from original equipment manufacturers, doing testing, RDT&E [research, development, test and evaluation], procurement, the whole nine yards," Russell said.

Despite this meticulous process the Army must go through to provide Soldiers the best equipment available, Russell said he expects the MSV-L can be fielded in as little as six years. The system is not a "developmental" program, in that it will not be designed from scratch. Instead, he said, it is very likely the MSV-L will be based on an existing "commercial off-the-shelf" watercraft that will be "ruggedized and made to fit the Army's mission profile."

"With the current emphasis on this particular vessel, and how it anchors to the Army Operating Concept for watercraft operations for combatant commanders, there is a lot of emphasis on getting this program moving," Russell said.

Also supporting joint combined arms maneuver within the 12 critical programs is the AH-64 Apache helicopter. The Army resourcing for the Apache is mostly to convert existing D-model aircraft into E model aircraft.

James St. Amour, a civilian working in Army G-8 force development as a staff synchronization officer for AH-64, said the move is, "a huge underpinning of our modernization effort." The modernization effort is possible due to the cost savings and avoidance that the Army's Aviation Restructure Initiative provides.

Conversion from D to E models involves "depopulating the airframe and rebuilding the helicopter from the ground up. The aircraft gets a totally new fuselage, a new rotor system and other component parts. It's like a new aircraft coming off the line," St. Amour said. "The E model resets the airframe to zero hours."

Right now there are fewer than 100 E model Apaches in the Army. But the goal is to have all 690 Apaches in the Army modernized to E models.

With the Apache E model, AH-64E, the Army will pair the combat helicopter with the Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle to fill the armed reconnaissance role filled by the OH-58 Kiowa helicopter. The Kiowa is being divested from the Army, and St. Amour said all will be gone from the fleet by 2018.

There are 104 Shadow "systems" in the Army, each of which includes four aircraft, two ground control stations, antennas and data terminals. There are 416 Shadow aircraft in the Army, and as part of paring those aircraft with the Apache E model, the Army plans to upgrade those Shadows to V2 Shadow models. Right now, none have made the transition, but they will eventually have longer wings, better endurance, a different engine, and a different datalink, St. Amour said.

As part of the Aviation Restructure Initiative, the Army plans to have all combat aviation brigades converted to the new structure by 2019. Once fully fielded, the AH-64E provides Army Aviation with a much more lethal and capable force.

Rounding out the Army's Critical Programs that support joint combined arms maneuver are the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, the Patriot Missile, the Paladin Integrated Management program, and the UH-60 Black Hawk. Both the Black Hawk and the MSV-L also add to the Army's broad joint mission support capabilities.

It seems USA want to respond to Kurganets vehicles

US Defense Contractor to Develop Designs for New Infantry Vehicle

JohninMK wrote:Although this article refers to US Army/Ukrainian Army cross learning its main thrust is about the problems the US Army would have operating under proper Russian EW in the next 10 years. That's why I have posted it here not in the Ukraine thread. My highlight.

WASHINGTON — The US military has for weeks been training Ukrainian forces in US tactics, but the commander of US Army Europe says Ukrainian forces, who are fighting Russian-backed separatists, have much to teach their US trainers.

Ukrainian forces have grappled with formidable Russian electronic warfare capabilities that analysts say would prove withering even to the US ground forces. The US Army has also jammed insurgent communications from the air and ground on a limited basis, and it is developing a powerful arsenal of jamming systems, but these are not expected until 2023.

"Our soldiers are doing the training with the Ukrainians and we've learned a lot from the Ukrainians," said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges. "A third of the [Ukrainian] soldiers have served in the ... combat zone, and no Americans have been under Russian artillery or rocket fire, or significant Russian electronic warfare, jamming or collecting — and these Ukrainians have. It's interesting to hear what they have learned."

Hodges acknowledged that US troops are learning from Ukrainians about Russia's jamming capability, its ranges, types and the ways it has been employed. He has previously described the quality and sophistication of Russian electronic warfare as "eye-watering."

The rest of this long article at http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/warfare/2015/08/02/us-army-ukraine-russia-electronic-warfare/30913397/

And by 2023 when us army will unleash its arsenal of jamming systems russia will advance and march further ahead in Electronic warfare not only that russians have improved masking their own signals. I read an article somewhere mentioning Nato soldiers faced problem in baltic during their exercise in communixations. I dont think Ukraine army personnel can provide any valid or secret info to american about russian jammers. US is yet to jam russian signals and mask its own properly.

max steel wrote:

JohninMK wrote:Although this article refers to US Army/Ukrainian Army cross learning its main thrust is about the problems the US Army would have operating under proper Russian EW in the next 10 years. That's why I have posted it here not in the Ukraine thread. My highlight.

WASHINGTON — The US military has for weeks been training Ukrainian forces in US tactics, but the commander of US Army Europe says Ukrainian forces, who are fighting Russian-backed separatists, have much to teach their US trainers.

Ukrainian forces have grappled with formidable Russian electronic warfare capabilities that analysts say would prove withering even to the US ground forces. The US Army has also jammed insurgent communications from the air and ground on a limited basis, and it is developing a powerful arsenal of jamming systems, but these are not expected until 2023.

"Our soldiers are doing the training with the Ukrainians and we've learned a lot from the Ukrainians," said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges. "A third of the [Ukrainian] soldiers have served in the ... combat zone, and no Americans have been under Russian artillery or rocket fire, or significant Russian electronic warfare, jamming or collecting — and these Ukrainians have. It's interesting to hear what they have learned."

Hodges acknowledged that US troops are learning from Ukrainians about Russia's jamming capability, its ranges, types and the ways it has been employed. He has previously described the quality and sophistication of Russian electronic warfare as "eye-watering."

The rest of this long article at http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/warfare/2015/08/02/us-army-ukraine-russia-electronic-warfare/30913397/

And by 2023 when us army will unleash its arsenal of jamming systems russia will advance and march further ahead in Electronic warfare not only that russians have improved masking their own signals. I read an article somewhere mentioning Nato soldiers faced problem in baltic during their exercise in communixations. I dont think Ukraine army personnel can provide any valid or secret info to american about russian jammers. US is yet to jam russian signals and mask its own properly.

Too little...too late...Russia will have by 2020 photonic based ECM complexes that are orders of magnitude more powerful than electronic based ECM systems:

https://www.russiadefence.net/t2547p315-russian-radar-systems#92339

There has been major concern amongst American military brass that the USA's armed forces could not effectively fight against a "peer conventional army" or "equal conventional forces" which is meant to be taken to mean Russia or China.

https://news.vice.com/article/can-the-us-army-still-fight-as-a-heavyweight?utm_source=vicenewsfb

On August 5 and 6, a whole mess of senior Pentagon leadership and military brass will convene in California's Mojave Desert to witness something both spectacular and confusing. In the middle of the night, under a bright desert moon, US soldiers bristling with high-tech weaponry and other assorted killamajigs will gently parachute from the sky, then capture and secure an objective. Sort of.

It will be the grand finale of Operation Dragon Spear, an exercise from which the bigwigs are supposed to draw useful conclusions about how the US military will fight in years to come. The army, like the rest of the military, is still working through the implications of President Barack Obama's shift from the George W. Bush-era focus on fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. This involves planning for threats other than insurgents and suicide bombers, which means thinking about the kind of big, proper armies capable of fielding lots of heavy weapons like tanks, ground attack aircraft, artillery, and helicopters. That, in turn, will drive changes in US equipment and training.

Related: America's Dark History in the Philippines Casts Shadow Over Defense Pact

Operation Dragon Spear is a signal that the US Army is turning its attention from low-intensity counterinsurgency conflicts, which it's been engaged in for close to 15 years, to conventional wars — variously described by the Pentagon as high-intensity conflict, full-spectrum operations, major contingency operations, and decisive action. Whatever term is used, the Pentagon is referring to the kind of insanely destructive conflict that would result if the US found itself in a war with Russia, China, or what is called a "peer or near-peer competitor," which means anyone with a large, high-tech military.

...

...

Anything that need the full power of the US military can always be dealt with using nukes and indeed if it involves Russia or China then it will be decided diplomatically or atomically.

"The U.S. Army has launched its long-awaited competition to replace the M9 9mm pistol by offering gun makers the chance to supply the service with a new Modular Handgun System and the ammo to go with it.
The Aug. 28 XM17 MHS request for proposals calls on gun makers to submit packages that include full-size and compact versions of their handgun and hundreds of thousands of rounds for testing.
In a break from tradition, the Army is also requiring competing firms to prove that they are capable of delivering millions of rounds of pistol ammunition per month in addition to delivering thousands of new handguns per month, according to the request.

Gun makers have until Jan. 28 to submit proposals.

"The acquisition strategy is to conduct a full and open competition that will utilize the tradeoff method to evaluate and select the best value systems submitted that meets the MHS requirements," the notice states. "The Government will down-select to the Contractor whose proposals represent the best value to the Government ... giving the appropriate consideration to the six evaluation factors: System accuracy Shooter-in-The Loop, Reliability and Service Life, License Rights ammunition, License Rights Handgun and Accessories, Other Characteristics, and Price."
The Army intends to award up to three contracts at the end of the initial evaluation. The service then plans to select from those a single contractor a 10-year contract for the new handguns, accessories and spare parts and a five-year contract for the ammunition, according to the request. The Army began working with the small arms industry on MHS in early 2013, but the effort has been in the works for more than five years. If successful, it would result in the Defense Department buying more than 400,000 new pistols during a period of significant defense-spending reductions. One of the major goals of the MHS effort is to adopt a pistol chambered for a more potent round than the current 9mm, weapons officials said. The U.S. military replaced the .45 caliber 1911 pistol with the M9 in 1985 and began using the 9mm NATO round at that time. MHS is set to cost at least $350 million and potentially millions more if it results in the selection of a more potent pistol caliber, sources said.

The competition will also evaluate expanding or fragmenting ammunition, such as hollow-point bullets, that have been used by law enforcement agencies for years. Earlier this summer, the Army's draft solicitation cited a new Defense Department policy that allows for the use of "special purpose ammunition." The competition will include a user evaluation with each Modular Handgun System candidate using the Modular Handgun Joint Pistol Qualification Course, or JPQC, according to the draft solicitation. "Each warfighter in this test will fire each candidate weapon system," the request for proposals states. "The JPQC includes target engagements spanning 1 [meter] to 35 [meters], from various firing positions, with target exposure times of 3 to 8 seconds." Competitors will also be judged on how close they come to meeting the objective requirement for reliability with is 2,500 mean rounds between stoppages and 10,000 mean rounds between failures, according to the RFP. Each gun maker will be required to submit full-size and a compact-size MHS packages. The full-size package includes 100 guns; the compact package calls for 75 guns. Both include magazines, spare parts and other accessories. Both packages also require an ammunition support package of about 600,000 rounds of ball and special-purpose ammunition. The winner will have to be able to deliver 6,300 full-size pistols per month within a year and 3,000 compact pistols per month with in a year, according to the RFP. The winning contractor will have to be able to ramp up to delivering 2.8 million rounds of ball ammunition per month within three years and 1.6 million rounds of special-purpose ammunition per month within three years, according the RFP. Current plans call for the Army to purchase more than 280,000 full-size handguns and 7,000 compact versions, Army officials maintain. The other military services participating in the MHS program may order an additional 212,000 systems above the Army quantity."

I hope they finally replace God damn M9 so i dont have to read news about it being replaced. Last 20 years they talk about it being replaced.

JohninMK wrote:

Militarov wrote:

The winner will have to be able to deliver 6,300 full-size pistols per month within a year and 3,000 compact pistols per month with in a year, according to the RFP. The winning contractor will have to be able to ramp up to delivering 2.8 million rounds of ball ammunition per month within three years and 1.6 million rounds of special-purpose ammunition per month within three years, according the RFP. Current plans call for the Army to purchase more than 280,000 full-size handguns and 7,000 compact versions, Army officials maintain. The other military services participating in the MHS program may order an additional 212,000 systems above the Army quantity."

I hope they finally replace God damn M9 so i dont have to read news about it being replaced. Last 20 years they talk about it being replaced.

Note the thousands of pistols a month and ammo building up to millions a month. Are they scrapping all the stocks they already have? What a huge quantity per pistol!

Meanwhile they are purchasing thousands of Gloch pistols.

Na, i doubt they will just like that destroy current stock of ammunition, i mean they are still at this moment buying 9mm PARA for their MP5s, M9s etc so naa, that ammo is not going anywhere till its storage time ends or it gets spent. They might even just gift it to countries like Iraq, Kurds, Israel, Albania, Croatia or very likely Ukraine. And Glocks are used in small quantities by some special units like MARCOS and SOCOM... actually they used Sig226/228/Glock17/Glock19/USP even Colt 1911 derivates even tho they were never part of standard military issued kits.

" Fort Carson says a Black Hawk helicopter landed hard in a suburban Denver forest in Douglas County, injuring two soldiers onboard.
The military says it's investigating how the accident happened about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on U.S. Forest Service land. Officials say four soldiers were in the helicopter during a routine training mission.
Fort Carson spokeswoman Danny Johnson described the incident as a hard landing. The military said in a news conference that the injuries are not life-threatening.
KMGH-TV reports that the Elizabeth Fire Department responded shortly after the accident but initially had trouble finding the helicopter in the forest.
The soldiers were part of Fort Carson's 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division" Source: military.com

They had two hard landings in Navy and Army in last 24h, 1 dead 13 wounded total.