U.S. Army News:

DoD News Briefing with Geoff Morrell from the Pentagon Briefing Room, Arlington, Va.



MR. MORRELL: Hello, all. Good afternoon. A few quick announcements, and then we'll get to questions.

This morning, Secretary Gates was pleased to pay tribute to General McKiernan during his retirement ceremony at Fort Myer. He thanked the general for his 37 years of distinguished service to the United States Army and wished him and his family the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Tomorrow morning, the secretary travels to Fort Drum, New York, the home of the 10th Mountain Division, which I believe is still the Army's most-deployed unit. There, he will meet with recently deployed brigade commanders and command sergeants major, as well as separately with spouses to discuss the stresses and strains of frequent and lengthy deployments. He will also conduct a town hall-style meeting with hundreds of soldiers on base.

Later that afternoon, the secretary will travel to President Obama's home town to address the Economic Club of Chicago. In a speech to hundreds of executives, including many from the defense industry, he will continue to press for fundamentally reshaping the Pentagon budget and reforming the way the military does business.

As Congress debates the FY '10 budget here in Washington, the secretary will take his case to the nation that we must not just change the way -- the way -- the weapons we buy, but how we buy them to ensure that we win the wars we are waging, prepare for the wars of tomorrow and -- rather than continue to rearm for previous ones. Secretary Gates will argue that when it comes to defense spending and weapons buying, from missile defense to the F-22, business as usual simply will not do.

On Friday, the secretary will travel just north of Chicago, to Naval Station Great Lakes, where 50,000 recruits receive their basic training every year. He will observe some of that training, meet with instructors, and address the 971 freshly minted sailors who are graduating this week.

He arrives back in Washington later that afternoon, in some to bid farewell to Army Secretary Pete Geren, who is leaving his post after two years of exemplary service to the nation.

And with that, I'll take your questions.

Lita, welcome back. Do you have anything on your mind today?

Q Well, let me throw sort of a budget question your way. It looks like the Senate has postponed debate on the F-22. It appears to be making more time for some it appears to be negotiating and wrangling over this.

Is the secretary making any either additional calls or just having any additional discussions with members of the Senate on this? And any comment, I guess, on the postponement?


http://www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=4444

US Soldier Kills 12 in Rampage on Texas Base

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
06 November 2009

In-Depth Coverage A U.S. Army officer opened fire on a large military base in Texas Thursday, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 30. Local officials identified the shooter as Major Nidal Malik Hasan.

U.S. military officials say a U.S. Army officer opened fire on a large base in Texas Thursday, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 30. Officials identified the alleged shooter as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist who worked at the base hospital. They say they do not know his motive.

The commander of Fort Hood, Lieutenant General Robert Cone, says the officer opened fire in a building where soldiers were preparing to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan. The general says the man had two handguns, and in a stunning announcement late Thursday evening, the general said his own earlier report that the suspect had been killed was wrong.

"He was not killed as previously reported. He is currently in custody and in stable condition. I say again, the shooter is not dead, but in custody and in stable condition," the general said.

Then, standing at the base gate in the glare of television lights, General Cone contradicted another early report.

He said "Earlier it was reported that one victim (who) was killed was a female civilian (police) officer. We now know that the female officer is alive, just out of surgery and in stable condition. She is believed to be the first-responder who shot the suspect."

The general would not provide any further information about the alleged shooter or his possible motive, nor would he confirm the major's first name, which was released by local civilian law enforcement officials. Nidal Malik Hasan is believed to be about 39 years old.

General Cone says two other suspects were questioned and released, and that investigators believe Major Hasan acted alone.

The general also said with Hasan firing two guns in a small, crowded room, the results could have been even worse than they were, if not for the training and quick action of those who survived.

"People tell stories of soldiers ripping their uniforms apart and basically applying first aid. We put a great investment in soldiers' first aid and taking care of each other. I'm sure this could have been much worse. As horrible as this was, I think it could have been much worse," the general said.

Officials and observers have expressed surprise that the shooter was an officer. Major is the fourth of 10 ranks in the U.S. Army corps of commissioned officer, which has 75,000 members. They handle professional duties, like medical care, and supervise the work of the Army's 450,000 enlisted personnel.

Nidal Malik Hasan was a Muslim, and the New York Times reports he became disenchanted with the Army after being teased about his religion by some other soldiers. The Times also reports he was concerned about possibly being deployed himself, after hearing traumatic stories from dozens of soldiers he counseled who had returned from the war zones. The Times says Major Hasan was born in the United States after his parents immigrated from a Palestinian village near Jerusalem.

He was licensed to practice medicine in his home-state,Virginia. According to the website of the state's Medical Board, he got his degree from a military medical school near Washington, DC in 2003. He finished his training in psychiatry at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington in 2007, and completed additional training in Disaster and Preventive Psychiatry at the same two facilities just this year. According to the website, he has been in "active clinical practice" for less than a year and is based at the hospital on Ft. Hood. Major Hasan was also a member of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress.

Officials have not said what his motive was, and Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell says speculation about a motive is premature.

"I don't know how anybody is possibly speculating about motives, given how few facts we have," he said.

Fort Hood is one of the largest U.S. Army bases in the world. Nearly 30,000 soldiers and civilians work on the base, and thousands of their family members live there. Another 15,000 are currently deployed overseas. Its troops have had multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, leading to speculation that post-combat stress could have contributed to the shooting. But Major Hasan has never been deployed.

There were also reports quoting people who say they know him, and claiming he has expressed opposition to U.S. involvement in the wars.


http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2009/11/mil-091105-voa15.htm

Russian Patriot wrote:

Officials have not said what his motive was, and Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell says speculation about a motive is premature.

"I don't know how anybody is possibly speculating about motives, given how few facts we have," he said.

Nonsense! They are doing "damage control", because there are 12,000-15,000 Muslims currently in US armed forces.
He was just an Islamic extremist!

That was just nuts. A psychiatrist going psychotic... how ironic. Is this guy coming back with any Jihadi connections or accomplices?

Vladimir79 wrote:That was just nuts. A psychiatrist going psychotic... how ironic. Is this guy coming back with any Jihadi connections or accomplices?

I'm not sure... It's obvious (to me) that he is some Islamic extremists from few details. He was a medic, which means he wasn't in combat in the way to shoot other person and I think he was never deployed to Iraq (not sure about the last).
Anyway, here is an interesting article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fort-hood-hasan7-2009nov07,0,4710653.story?page=1

Suicides in the US Army are headed to a new record this year but it remains unclear if repeated combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq are causing more soldiers to take their lives, a top general said on Tuesday.

With 140 suspected cases reported among active duty soldiers since the start of 2009, the number of suicides was already at last year's level, General Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, told a news conference.

"We are almost certainly going to end the year higher than last year," Chiarelli said.

The release of the latest suicide numbers came as President Barack Obama considers sending more US troops to Afghanistan, where nearly 68,000 American forces are already deployed.

The army has come under severe strain from years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, with officers citing repeated deployments and the stress of combat as fueling an increase in depression and marital problems.

But Chiarelli said the causes of the rising suicide rate remained unclear and varied from base to base.

About one-third of the soldiers who committed suicide had not yet deployed to either war, he said.

As of Monday, 71 suspected suicides also were reported among service members no longer on active duty, which surpassed the 2008 figure, he said.

Chiarelli said the army had launched promising initiatives to try to prevent suicide and teach soldiers how to recover from trauma.

"We believe, despite these numbers, that we are making some progress," he said.

The army had pored over the numbers to try to figure out what factors might be behind the suicides -- including links to combat tours or seasons of the year -- but there was no clear pattern, he said.

"So everywhere I try to cut this and look at it to try to find out what the causal effect is, I get thwarted," he said.

"And that's why we think that we've got to look in its totality at a whole bunch of different issues, and it's going to take time."

One possible link cited by the Army Science Board was that soldiers appeared more likely to commit suicide if they were separated from a base or post, even if they were living in an American city, he said.

Chiarelli said alcohol and drug abuse was on the rise and that was also likely part of the problem.

He said about 900 mental health specialists had been hired to offer more help to troubled soldiers but another 800 were needed. And he said there was a shortage of counselors for those with substance abuse problems, with about 300 more required.

"I need more of them so that I can expand this program to other posts, camps and stations," he said of the substance abuse counselors.

The general also repeated his appeal to army leaders to ensure soldiers who needed psychological help did not face ridicule or risk to their careers.

"This is a matter of life and death and it is absolutely unacceptable to have individuals suffering in silence because they're afraid their peers or superiors will make fun of them, or worse, it will adversely affect their careers," he said.

Chiarelli said a recently-launched study of suicide and mental health among army troops should offer insights into the roots of the problem.

The elaborate, five-year study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is examining factors possibly associated with suicide, including combat-related trauma, personal and economic stress, family history, childhood abuse, a military unit's cohesion and general mental health.

The 50-million-dollar study will include a survey of the up to 120,000 recruits who enter the army every year and will analyze data and interview soldiers who attempted suicide in the past, comparing them to individuals with similar demographic details.


Copyright 2009 AFP American Edition
http://www.inform.com/article/Soldier%20suicides%20to%20hit%20new%20record%20in%202009:%20US%20Army

If their own officers don't kill them first. Tragedy at Ft. Hood... Looks like Al Queda infiltrated US Army... wack.

U.S. Army Asks to Cancel NLOS-LS
By KATE BRANNEN
Published: 23 Apr 2010 13:08




The NLOS-LS was originally part of the Future Combat Systems program. It is being developed by Netfires LLC, a joint venture between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. (U.S. Army)

After completing a review of its precision fires portfolio, the U.S. Army is recommending the Defense Department cancel the Non-Line of Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS) program.

Army senior leaders decided on the move at an April 22 meeting, according to sources. Because NLOS-LS is an acquisition category 1 program, Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter will have the final say.

Originally part of the Army's Future Combat Systems program, NLOS-LS is also intended for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship. It is being developed by Netfires LLC, a joint venture between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, which builds the system's container launcher unit.

After poor test results earlier this year, the Army had to decide whether to pay for additional tests and fixes and accept schedule delays, or cancel the program.

The NLOS-LS Precision Attack Missile failed to hit its target four out of six times during a flight-limited user test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., between Jan. 26 and Feb. 5. The Army determined that fixing the system's problems would delay the program more than a year and keep it from being included in the first brigade set of Increment 1 equipment of the Brigade Combat Team-Modernization program, Maj. Gen. Keith Walker, commander of the service's Future Force Integration Directorate, told reporters in Fort Bliss, Texas, earlier this month.

In addition to performance troubles, members of Congress and Army officials have also raised concerns about the cost of NLOS-LS.

In the Army's budget request for 2011, each Precision Attack Missile costs $466,000. Once the missile reached full-rate production, both the service and industry expected that number to fall. Raytheon said in a March letter to the Army that the company planned to reduce the average unit production price to $198,000 for the Army's acquisition objective of 9,942 missiles.

Still, concerns remained.

"It's very expensive," said Lt. Gen. Robert Lennox, deputy chief of staff for Army programs, responding to a question from Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., at an April 15 hearing of the Senate Armed Services air and land forces subcommittee.

Lennox told Thune the Army is reviewing the system as part of an overall precision fires capability portfolio review.

"The Army needs options for precision targeting moving vehicles with a more cost-effective munition," read an early briefing chart on the precision fires portfolio review.

"We're going through and saying what gap does this fill, and then looking at the cost of it and looking at the benefit for soldiers," Lennox said. "We're taking it very seriously."

In an e-mailed statement, Raytheon said it was disappointed by the decision to cancel the NLOS-LS program.

"To date the NLOS-LS program is 90 percent complete with system design and development. Raytheon is the leader in precision technology and recognizes the warfighters' critical need for immediately responsive, all-weather precision fires. We stand ready to continue development of this important capability should the customer decide to resume the program," the company statement said.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4596224&c=AME&s=LAN

The U.S. Army has recalled 44,000 Helmets

The U.S. Army has begun the process of withdrawal of 44 thousand helmets ACH (Advanced Combat Helmet), previously purchased from the American company ArmorSource, reported Army Times. The reason for withdrawal was low bulletproof helmets, made, presumably from defective materials untested manufacturing standards and inadequate quality control.

As required by the Army, in all parts must undergo an urgent review of all ACH helmets and their exchange for new ones. Comments are subject to all helmets manufactured by ArmorSource. Now their number in the armed forces of four per cent of the total number of ACH. Presumably some of the potentially defective helmets have already arrived in the military units in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Company ArmorSource in its press release announced that has not received notification of withdrawal of helmets. The U.S. Army for its part does not disclose on what basis it was concluded poor quality helmets ACH. It is unknown how long U.S. troops are using defective helmets. With the introduction of ACH, in addition to ArmorSource involved three companies - Gentex, BAE Systems and MSA.

It should be noted that the U.S. Army withdraws helmets are not the first time. In May 2009, were replaced by 34,2 thousand ACH. The reason for withdrawal was a statement by the manufacturer Gentex that they used sub-standard screw fastening chin strap.

The Pentagon bought the first batch of ACH for soldiers in 2005. The new helmet to replace outdated and heavier PASGT. According to the ballistic tests, ACH, made of aramid fibers, is able to withstand the hit 9-millimeter bullets at close range. Helmet equipped with holders for additional equipment - night vision devices or headphones.

I gues money don't grow in trees.

That happens because the people that join the U.S. army for direct material benefits.
Some of them are not mentali capable of killing.

*Update*

NLOS-LS has been cut from the Army FCS programme. Funding has been switched to the Navy LCS module development.

Before there was Drozd, there was... Dash-Dot.

Dash-Dot is quite an obscure project but it is a notable one, primarily for how prescient it seems in retrospect. Dash-Dot was a "dynamic armor" system conceived, developed and tested by the US Army in the 1950's. Dash-Dot used arrays of primitive infrared photodetectors to detect an incoming projectile and detonate a linear shaped charge that would destroy it (the closest modern equivalent would be the explosively formed axe.) Dash-Dot was considered a failure and though I do not know the full story of the programs demise the limitations of 1950's technology likely played a major role.

Like modern APS systems Dash-Dot was motivated by the perceived inadequacy of armor against shaped charge weapons. Dash-Dot though is a contemporary of the very earliest composite armor experiments and predates the discovery of ERA.

For your enjoyment I have put found a few relevant documents about the Dash-Dot program:
Dash-Dot illustration

Relevant Documents:
A Sensing System for Dash-Dot, Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories, 1957
Theoretical Analysis of a Dash-Dot Sensing System, Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboiratories, 1957
Developmental Sensing Compute System for Project Dash-Dot, Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboiratories, 1960
TARDEC Active Protection System Compliance Plan

Actually before Drozd-1 there was Shater (Tent), Dikobraz (porcupine).

Shater eventually evolved into ARENA.

http://www.defenceiq.com/amoured-vehicles/articles/lockheed-martin-claims-breakthrough-in-development/&mac=DFIQ_OI_Featured_2011&utm_source=defenceiq.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DFIQOptIn&utm_content=12/13/12

Hardly revolutionary.

This would be more important in body armour than for tank use.

Well this strikes me as a short-sighted project being pushed through by morons who don't realize that an infantry fighting vehicle is supposed to be able to have something in the way of mobility... This thing is heavier than the Abrams tank and it is twice as heavy as the existing Bradley.


This vehicle is going to be utter garbage... The gas mileage will be terrible, it will ruin strategic airlift capabilities [it would take EVERY single C-17 the USA has to move enough of these for just HALF of a division], and it will still probably be prone to being knocked out by a single guy with an RPG-29.


Compared to the BMP-3 or the BTR-90, this new Army Ground Combat Vehicle is garbage, it violates all of the principles of a sound infantry fighting vehicle.


The military's main criteria was for this vehicle to provide protection against specified threats and allow for operation in a wide variety of missions... I guess counter-insurgency operations/missions were not on the list because this vehicle will be miserable for counter-insurgency operations.



http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/11/15/bradley-replacement-to-outweigh-abrams-tank/


The Army’s high-priority battle wagon, the Ground Combat Vehicle, is likely to weigh as much as 84 tons, making it the heaviest armored vehicle on the battlefield.

The new weight estimate, released by the Congressional Budget Office, mean that the service’s replacement for the outdated Bradley fighting vehicle would be heavier than an M1 Abrams tank and weigh more than two current Bradleys.

The CBO latest working paper, “Technical Challenges of the U.S. Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle Program,” makes the GVC resemble overly ambitious Army programs that failed in the past such the Comanche attack helicopter, the Crusader self-propelled howitzer and the family of super vehicles under the failed Future Combat Systems program.



Even at that weight, the CBO maintains that the GCV “would still need to employ new electromechanical active protection systems to meet the Army’s survivability goal.”

The Army intends to replace about 40 percent of the Bradleys in its heavy combat brigades with GVCs. The Army issued a revised RFP in November 2010 after the initial solicitation were deemed too ambitious and created a real possibility that high technical risks and immature technologies would lead to spiraling costs and schedule delays.

The revised RFP left some flexibility in how the contractor could address the requirements and designated a manufacturing cost of between $9 million and $10.5 million per vehicle, an average procurement unit cost of $13 million per vehicle, and a sustainment cost of $200 per mile of operation.

Its becoming interesting.

- Zumwalt-class destroyer
- Future Combat Systems
- F-35
- F-22
- GBI/KEI
- Comanche
- etc

etc and now this utter monstrosity (85 tons) joins the club. Well I thought it was about time for Bradley-2 movie.

Viktor wrote:Its becoming interesting.

- Zumwalt-class destroyer

I haven't heard much about the Zumwalt or problems there of, care to mention a few.

Viktor wrote:- Future Combat Systems

Was canceled, but somehow the GVC and Stryker (aka:Kevlar coffin) managed to avoid getting axed.

Viktor wrote:- F-35

An aircraft meant to do everything, but actually being able to do nothing.

Viktor wrote:- F-22

An aircraft meant to go one on one with elite Soviet fighters, but became nothing more than a very late overpriced,badly built hangar queen.

Viktor wrote:- GBI/KEI

Aah yes, the MKV(Multiple Kill Vehicle) project that later turned into the KEI(Kinetic Energy Interceptor), it was an overpriced,over-sized and Short ranged(has to be deployed close to its potential target) delusion!

Viktor wrote:- Comanche

A stealth chopper that was also meant to go one on one with the Soviet elite, but also became nothing more than a very late overpriced,badly built American wet dream!!

AlfaT8 wrote:
I haven't heard much about the Zumwalt or problems there of, care to mention a few.

Look at its price. Officially its 3 billion $ per ship - but I suspect US is hiding its real cost in many other different program and

its actual price could be several times bigger. Besides only few units will be build. Total failure.

Eh, way too early to call Zumwalt total failure.

By that standard we can call a LOT of Russian post-Soviet equip total failures due to limited production.

TR1 wrote:Eh, way too early to call Zumwalt total failure.

Your right, way to early to be called a "total" failure, but its not to early to call it way overpriced.

TR1 wrote:By that standard we can call a LOT of Russian post-Soviet equip total failures due to limited production.

Agreed, although i am asking if there are actual problems with the Zumwalt, we already know its going to be limited in numbers cause of the high price.

Problem with F-22? It's not F-35

A stealth chopper that was also meant to go one on one with the Soviet elite, but also became nothing more than a very late overpriced,badly built American wet dream!!

Well Russians still can't build proper radar for their Mi-28. Should we call it wet Russian dream too? Comanche was more of test bed. AH-64 and it's versions are very capable, why US would wanted to replace them is out of my mind. But I bet they learned one thing or another about stealth in helicopters. Just enough to stealthily crash-land in Bin Ladens cabbage patch.

badly built hangar queen.

Wouldn't be so vocal knowing Russian aircraft building quality and conditions they are kept. Things are getting better tough.

- F-35

Don't even get me started on that. Money laundering international. It's not even US that involved and that is scary. Every time US works with Europeans suddenly things go dirty. Europe should have their own NATO and produce weapons themselves imho. There would be no stupid wars in middle east, no US weapon systems being pushed through.

Was canceled, but somehow the GVC and Stryker (aka:Kevlar coffin) managed to avoid getting axed.

What's wrong with Stryker? It does it's job, it's not too heavy, it has proper protection from mines, ied. It is reasonable design.



Sometimes it seems that You guys get erotically aroused by taking crap on America. Not a fan of that country, but sheeshh.. You sound no better than those American cowboys who tell that everything Soviet/Russian is crap. There is no middle ground or what?

And about article.

The weight is UNBELIEVABLE. It's a monstrosity with no mobility, it couldn't even properly use most of the bridges in Europe.
Must be something wrong with article. Or else...
BAE and General Dynamics both proposed such heavy vehicles and now they are trying to make them lighter. Shouldn't it work other way around? I bet that they were asked to build wunderwaffe. They thought, OK, we know this thing won't be real so why not to make some cash while we are at it.
Mark my word, they will choose something totally different than they are presented.
I don't see nothing wrong of having HAPC like Namer, I think they are perfect for role they are intended. And Israel has more experience on these matters, but we don't see 190 t machine with star of David instead of sprockets.