The Israeli’s have jumped with both feet into the Active Protection System market, producing new systems designed to protect vehicles from rocket propelled grenades and larger anti-tank guided missiles by detecting incoming rounds and then launching a projectile to intercept and either destroy or deflect the round. DOD has invited Israeli Military Industies to demonstrate their Iron Fist APS, against any U.S. built APS, in tests scheduled for next year.

The Army’s new Ground Combat Vehicle must survive IEDs, be able to turn on a dime in cities and fight its way out of a jam. It should use modular armor and be easily upgraded. The all-important network must be available as widely as possible through the force. On top of that, the Army wants new, more capable UAVs, unmanned ground vehicles and the jazzed-up version of Land Warrior fielded over the next three years.

UPDATED: JSF Program Office Details Damage to Engine

The engine war plot thickened Wednesday as GE/Rolls Royce, builders of the F136 alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter, stopped testing the engine this week after a routine inspection revealed “dings and nicks” on the turbine blades.

The veil will be partially lifted next week but almost nobody outside a small group in the Army knows what the service’s new Ground Combat Vehicle will look like or what it will be expected to do. So we surveyed industry leaders at AUSA to get their best guesses.

The full Senate convincingly snubbed Sen. John McCain, who had fought to strip 10 C-17s added by Sen. Daniel Inouye’s appropriation committee, voting 30–68 against his spending amendment. The C-17 amendment was not McCain’s only attempt Tuesday afternoon and evening to whack spending from the bill. He tried to cut earmarks with a series of amendments but he failed on all of them.

UPDATED: Pratt Says Bill Not Signed Yet; GE Crows

House and Senate conferees rejected the Obama administration’s mild threats and fully funded the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter in the defense authorization bill.

In a surprise announcement, Joint Light Tactical Vehicle officials said India has signed a letter of intent to participate in the next phase of the program. And the U.S. will perform joint exercises with India later this month when we send 17 Strykers to the subcontinent.

DoD Buzz speaks with officials from the Joint IED Defeat Organization about threats and countermeasures in today’s fight.

Army drones will have to curtail training and operational flights by fiscal 2012 in the United States unless the FAA approves some form of UAS deconfliction, a top Army UAS official says.

Responding to an urgent request from soldiers in Afghanistan, the Army is ruhsing to develop and field a precision guided mortar to beef up firepower in its light infantry units. The service has yet to decide the size of the new weapon or whether it will be laser guided or GPS; it may opt for a range of sizes, with a man-portable mortar as a high priority.

Ash Carter delivered his best line during his appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations Monday night when asked if he thought there might be another Last Supper, the famous 1993 dinner where then-Defense Secretary Bill Perry made clear industry consolidation was needed in the wake of the Cold War. “How many times can you bill something as the Last Supper?” Carter, the undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, asked to appreciative laughter.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey offered tentative details about the future Ground Combat Vehicle at the Association of the US Army conference, saying it would carry nine to 10 troops and be fielded in five to seven years once approved.

In a largely supportive and generous speech, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the annual gathering of the Association of the US Army that he continued to support the Army’s modernization plans but reminded the service that it must find uses for the MRAPs bought for Iraq and Afghanistan.

There’s a saying that the best weapon against a sniper is another sniper. If, as top military officials from Defense Secretary Robert Gates on down, say future enemies will be of the hybrid type, and Lebanese Hezbollah is repeatedly held up as the hybrid enemy archetype, does that mean the best way to counter Hezbollah is to fight like Hezbollah? That’s exactly what some leading thinkers in the military establishment believe.

Is Boeing losing its grip on crucial portions of its domestic market? That is the broader question being asked in the wake of a stunning contract loss for the American aerospace giant. The reason for the uncertainty is that Northrop Grumman has won the nine-year $3.8 billion contract to maintain the KC-10 fleet — which Boeing built and had maintained since 1998.

Afghan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal spoke Thursday at Britain’s prestigious IISS where he laid out U.S. strategic interests in the war and explained what he called “counterinsurgency mathematics:” how killing two insurgents can lead to the creation of 20 more in their place. He said the war will be won or lost not by killing insurgents but by protecting the population.

House Republicans mounted a spirited critique of the Obama administration’s new European missile defense plan, saying the intelligence does not support the administration’s claims of a change in the threat. GOP members also claimed the new plan would not sufficiently contain the threat from Iran.

Professor Mark Moyar of the Marine Corps Univeristy fears that Gen. McChrystal’s plan to rapidly expand the Afghan National Army will lead to a radical drop in its quality as good officers take many years to develop. His proposal: U.S. officers should take direct command of Afghan units.

The Recon Robotics Recon Scout XT is a throwable mini ground drone used for surveillance of rooms and terrain up to 300 feet away and even through concrete walls.