The services and industry need to take the Defense Department’s drive for efficiency seriously, warned Ash Carter, Pentagon acquisition czar. He told attendees at AFA’s Air & Space Conference on Wednesday that the drive to find $100 billion in savings is solely focused on having “growth in that part of the budget that really matters”—recapitalizing worn-out systems and providing new cutting-edge technologies. The alternative, he said, is “broken and canceled programs” and “erosion of the taxpayer’s confidence” in DOD’s capacity to spend tax dollars wisely, which is “not good for us.”
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.