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The secretary of defense has ordered the Army secretary to cut programs, reduce the number of general officers in the ranks and consolidate offices, commands and headquarters, including a four-star command formed in the previous Trump administration designed to reform its acquisition process.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to “implement a comprehensive transformation strategy, streamline its force structure, eliminate wasteful spending, reform acquisition, modernize inefficient defense contracts, and overcome parochial interests to rebuild our Army, restore the warrior ethos and reestablish deterrence,” he wrote in a memo published Wednesday.
“To build a leaner, more lethal force, the Army must transform at an accelerated pace by divesting outdated, redundant, and inefficient programs, as well as restructuring headquarters and acquisition systems,” Hegseth stated.
The Army should prioritize long-range precision fires and air and..

VICTORIA, British Columbia — The Canadian military hopes to start working with industry this summer on the acquisition of a new helicopter fleet that will deal with existing rotary aircraft gaps in firepower and mobility.
The Next Tactical Aviation Capability Set or nTACS project will provide a joint capability to be fielded by the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Canadian Army, and Canadian special forces.
In addition, Canada is also planning an upgrade of its existing fleet of Chinook heavy lift helicopters, according to a Feb. 25, 2025, briefing on Canada’s vertical lift capabilities.
The document noted that Canada will spend $12.9 billion (CA $18.4 billion) on new tactical helicopters. The briefing was prepared by RCAF Brig. Gen. Brendan Cook, director general of air and space force development, and provided to Defense News by the Department of National Defence.
The briefing pointed out that the nTACS project is in the options analysis phase but that discussions with indus..

The U.S. Army has awardedPalantir a $400.7 million contract to continue providing its artificial intelligence-enabled Vantage system as the service’s main data platform, the company announced Wednesday.
The contract covers a period of up to four years and could ultimately be worth nearly $620 million if additional options are exercised.
The service first brought Palantir on to provide its Army Data Platform, or ADP, in 2018, taking roughly 180 disparate data sources across the enterprise and consolidating them into one ecosystem.
“The Army has leveraged Palantir’s software to transform how it uses data and artificial intelligence (AI) to more effectively perform essential missions and enable faster decision-making across the force,” the Dec. 18 company statement reads.
The capability grew from a focus on a data platform that could help understand personnel and combat readiness to a system that “powers warfighters at every echelon and supports a diverse set of us..

DAKAR, Senegal — It’s been a tumultuous month for France and its relationship with former colonies in Africa, as its influence on the continent faces the biggest challenge in decades.
As Paris was devising a new military strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop presence in Africa, two of its closest allies struck a double blow.
The government of Chad, considered France’s most stable and loyal partner in Africa, announced on Nov. 28 it was ending defense cooperation to redefine its sovereignty.
And in an interview published hours later by Le Monde, Senegal’s new president said it was “obvious” that soon French soldiers wouldn’t be on Senegalese soil.
“Just because the French have been here since the slavery period doesn’t mean it’s impossible to do otherwise,” President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said.
The announcements came as France was making efforts to revive waning influence on the continent. Foreign minister Jean-Noël B..

Soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division, which is currently deployed in Romania, recently became the first Army unit to field the service’s newest reconnaissance drones.
The 317th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, out of Fort Johnson, Louisiana, employed the Skydio and GhostX systems during training operations at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, according to an Army release.
The new drones fit different mission profiles at the tactical level.
The Skydio X10D drone is a short-range recon aircraft that can fly up to 5 kilometers and stay aloft for approximately 30 minutes, according to the release. Typically, the Skydio is deployed by infantry and scout platoons on dismounted patrols, providing soldiers with a better snapshot of their immediate area during mission planning.
The GhostX, made by Anduril, goes a bit farther. It can fly up to 15 kilometers and stay in the air for an hour. This platform is geared toward a company commander’s needs in a larger a..

A Germany-based artillery brigade is now the first Army unit fully equipped with the service’s next-generation Multiple Launch Rocket System.
In November, soldiers with the 41st Field Artillery Brigade in Grafenwoehr, Germany, completed the replacement of their legacy M270A1 MLRS platforms with the A2 variant, according to an Army release.
“The major difference we have seen with the M270A2 is that they are a little bit faster and more mobile,” said Capt. Kendal Peter, commander of Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 41st FA Brigade. “They have an improved cab that protects the soldiers which the M270A1 did not have, as well as a myriad of system upgrades that allow us to shoot faster and process missions more efficiently.”
Army eyes autonomous missile launcher and 1,000-kilometer strikes
The M270, which has been in service since the early 1980s, is a tracked system built on the chassis of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle that can fir..

COLOGNE, Germany — The German army has received parliamentary approval to buy an initial batch of Elbit-made PULS rocket artillery systems, a decision that could see Berlin look to European munitions suppliers in the future.
The move, announced just before the Christmas holidays as part of a larger raft of funding approvals for Germany’s armed forces, means the Bundeswehr can spend roughly €65 million, or $68 million USD, on five systems.
The PULS pick, offered by Elbit in conjunction with German-French contractor KNDS, puts an end, for now, to a highly contested race for Germany’s next-generation, multiple-rocket launcher system.
Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall had pitched a competing offer, named GMARS, that came with the lineup of Lockheed’s munitions offerings, including the ubiquitous Guided MLRS rockets, baked into it.
In the end, the Lockheed-Rheinmetall offer wasn’t far enough along, a German Ministry of Defense spokesman told Defense News.
“..

The Army is scouring industry for unmanned aircraft systems to launch from medium- or high-altitude platforms that would perform tasks like intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, according to a request for information posted to the federal business opportunities portal Sam.gov.
The Special Electronic Mission Aircraft Product Directorate, part of the Army’s Fixed-Wing aircraft Project Office, plans to demonstrate operational capability in the fiscal 2026 timeframe, the notice states.
The “Launched Effects” systems, or LE, would be integrated onto “the hardpoints” of an executive jet category aircraft, such as a Bombardier G6500, which would operate above 41,000 feet mean sea level and would reach true airspeed of above 400 knots for more than seven hours. This means the LE and its sensors would need to survive in an air temperature 65 degrees below zero for lengthy durations.
Launched Effects is the service’s term of art for an envisioned unma..

The Marine Corps has awarded Oshkosh Defense a contract to integrate Forterra’s autonomy package on the Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary Fires ground vehicle, the Pentagon’s first-ever production contract for off-road autonomous driving capability.
The company’s advanced stack and AutoDrive system gives the ROGUE Fires vehicle – built by Oshkosh Defense – off-road, self-driving technology in “nearly any environment,” which moves “beyond Leader-Follower capabilities,” Forterra said in a Jan. 13 statement. Leader-Follower technology uses a lead vehicle to guide other unmanned vehicles behind it.
The deal to integrate the technology comes after two ROGUE Fires Low-Rate Initial Production orders in fiscal 2025.
“By seamlessly integrating cutting-edge autonomous technologies with Oshkosh systems, we’re equipping the Marine Corps to strengthen sea denial capabilities, enhance operational agility, and maintain a decisi..