The Joint Warfighting Concept “is an excellent concept, but the concept is just that — it’s a concept. That concept is going to drive experimentation, it’s going to drive future capabilities and future doctrine, but right now it’s just the concept and we’re still learning with it,” VCJCS Gen. John Hyten says.
By Theresa HitchensThe JROC now will issue “strategic directives” to the services prescribing how they craft buying plans to substantiate the emerging Joint Warfighting Concept, Brig. Gen. Rob Parker, Joint Staff J6 deputy director, says.
By Theresa HitchensPending the Deputy Secretary’s approval, the Joint All Domain Command & Control strategy could receive Secretary Austin’s okay within “weeks,” said Brig. Gen. Rob Parker.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Each service has unique problems to solve and billions invested in legacy systems. “I just can’t throw away everything we own — nor can the Air Force — and start over,” Gen. Mike Murray, head of Army Futures Command, says. “How does the Air Force architecture integrate with the Army architecture, with the Navy architecture?”
By Theresa HitchensJoint All-Domain Command & Control “will fundamentally change how we fight as a nation, and will change how we organize, train and equip,” Air Force director of operational capabilities Maj. Gen. Dawn Dunlop says.
By Theresa Hitchens“The JROC tended to be a receiver of requirements from services, not a generator of requirements for the services to meet,” Gen. Hyten said. “That’s not what was intended by Congress.”
By Colin Clark“If you look across every one of our [military software] programs, it’s a nightmare across the board,” says Hyten.
By Theresa HitchensARLINGTON: Outgunned in the airwaves by Russian jammers, the US Army has a new plan for electronic warfare. The Army hopes to rebuild the long-neglected EW branch more quickly — in part, paradoxically, by partially submerging it in other branches, namely military intelligence and cyber. There’s both an equipment aspect and an organizational one. First…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.PENTAGON: One of the most important — and most maligned — elements of the Pentagon bureaucracy has gotten 30 percent faster, according to data exclusively compiled for Breaking Defense by the staff of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council. In a new drive for openness, the infamously opaque JROC is also bringing in outside expertise from industry,…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.CAPITOL HILL: While Congress and the media focus on immediate issues with the F-35’s ejection seat, the program has begun working on a long-range modernization plan to upgrade the Joint Strike Fighter’s combat power. This modernization package, with the so-called Block 4 software upgrade at its core, is essential to the aircraft reaching its “full warfighting capability,” Maj. Gen.…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: The White House has made the day of one Air Force Force lieutenant colonel, one familiar to readers of Breaking Defense. That’s right! Dan Ward, who recently penned a piece for us about trimming the F-35 buy to keep the A-10 fleet flying (I think it’s a bad idea, but who says I’m always right),…
By Colin Clark
Reforming the U.S. military’s acquisition system has been a hot issue since Congress replaced the Continental Army’s first Quartermaster General in 1777. Despite near-continuous efforts to reduce waste, accelerate schedules and control costs, these efforts have rarely achieved their intended results. According to a recent study by the Institute for Defense Analysis, growth in the…
By Bryan Clark and Mark Gunzinger