The Pentagon certified the Air Force’s Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program to continue despite 81 percent cost growth after a six-month review determined there are no other acceptable alternatives. Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante announced the decision, but did not say ...
No matter what happens with the Nunn-McCurdy review of the Sentinel ICBM program, the nation must have a land-based element of its nuclear triad, Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee.
The nation needs a better-coordinated policy for dealing with unmanned aerial systems that threaten domestic bases, Air Force vice chief of staff Gen. James C. Slife told a panel of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He and Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante co-chair ...
While the Pentagon is halfway through its review of the Air Force’s new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program in the wake of “critical” cost and schedule overruns, the service has declared a similar issue for the helicopters meant to provide security and transport across those ...
Northrop Grumman has received the B-21 low-rate initial production contract, which was keyed to achieving the first flight of the new bomber, which happened Nov. 10, 2023. The value of the contract may be revealed when Northrop holds its fourth quarter 2023 earnings call later ...
The first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy sets out the challenges facing supply of the U.S. and allied militaries and prescribes broad remedies, though it doesn’t get into specific programs. An implementation plan to translate the policies into action is expected within a month, Pentagon officials ...
After a pause, the Pentagon will try again to cut an F-35 Performance-Based Logistics Contract with Lockheed Martin, defense officials told a congressional panel. The company didn’t offer enough cost or performance savings, and government negotiators were overwhelmed with the amount of data to review ...
With a government shutdown looking increasingly likely on Oct. 1, Active-Duty Airmen and Guardians will still report for duty. But things will be far from normal. For weeks, defense officials have warned of the impacts of a continuing resolution (CR), a short-term stopgap to keep ...
Despite sending more than $43 billion in military aid to Ukraine—both lethal and non-lethal—the U.S. is not “running out” of any particular munitions or equipment needed for its own forces, Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante told attendees at a defense conference in Washington, ...
Even relatively unsophisticated drones are playing a critical role in modern air warfare, underscoring the importance of air defense systems that can cope with them, experts said in a Stimson Center streaming seminar, “Ukraine and the Future of Air Warfare.” Another theme: Distributed operations are ...
Congress is of a mind to allow the Pentagon to do more multiyear procurement—in the billions of dollars—particularly of munitions, given the situation in Ukraine and its implications for other potential conflicts, Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante said.
One of the biggest lessons to emerge from the war in Ukraine is that weapons that are in production constitute a credible threat to adversaries, whereas weapons that are merely experimental—or are not actually being made in numbers—are not, according to William LaPlante, the Pentagon’s ...