A new report by the Government Accountability Office entreats the Pentagon to move out smartly if it wants to ensure US Special Operations Command can handle its increasing mission. GAO says that SOCOM knows how many new personnel it needs to fill out warfighting units, but it does not know how many staff personnel it needs to oversee training, equipping, and planning. And, says GAO, SOCOM does not have a warm fuzzy from the services that they can meet current and future personnel requirements. Despite progress by the services in recruiting, training, and retaining special ops forces, GAO reports that “hundreds of authorized positions” have gone unfilled since Fiscal 2000. DOD “generally concurs” with GAO findings and recommendations to provide more guidance.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.