Author: Michael

US Soldiers in an M1 Abrams tank compete in the Strong Europe Tank Challenge at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany, in June 2018. The US Army will enhance 34 of its Abrams MBTs to the System Enhancement Package (SEP) v3 configuration if its FY 2024 budget request is enacted. (US Army )
If enacted, the US Army’s budget request would cut ground vehicles out of enduring programmes and reinvest in procurement and research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) for newer programmes, according to budget documents released on 13 March.

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A CH-53K King Stallion performs aerial refuelling trials in 2020. (Lockheed Martin)
The US Navy (USN) in its fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget requested USD17.3 billion to purchase 88 aircraft and helicopters, including spare parts, support equipment, and facilities.
The USN intends to spend USD4.9 billion dollars to procure Lockheed Martin F-35s. USD2.3 billion is meant to purchase 16 F-35Bs, the vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft flown by the US Marine Corps (USMC). The F-35Bs will replace Boeing AV-8Bs and F/A-18C/Ds. Another USD2.

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The U.S. is at increased risk of a firepower gap with China as U.S. production of explosives and propellants declines and China’s increases.
This month, Forbes reported that China had surpassed the United States in developing new types of explosives, particularly its version of CL-20, an explosive developed in the 1980s that is 40% more powerful than RDX or the HMX and has widely used in American munitions since World War II.
In 2011, China reportedly conducted tests of an explosive similar to CL-20, and since then, the country has been producing the explosive in large quantities.

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The US Navy’s proposed fiscal year 2024 budget includes funding for Ford-class aircraft carrier John F Kennedy. (Michael Fabey)
The US Navy (USN) fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget request includes USD3.9 billion for Ford-class aircraft carrier construction and Nimitz-class Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH) life extension work, according to USN and Pentagon budget documents released 13 March.
The FY 2024 request represents a decrease of about USD462.8 million compared to last year’s funding, documents show.

The proposed FY 2024 spending plan includes USD2.

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The Russian Ministry of Defense published a video through its account on the VK social network on Saturday, March 11, which shows the destruction of the first Stormer HVM (high-velocity missile) anti-aircraft defense system supplied by the UK, using Lancet-3 loitering ammunition.
According to reports, this is the first time Russia has publicly claimed responsibility for losing a Ukrainian Stormer HVM Starstreak air defense vehicle. Britain has given Kyiv its Stormer HVM. In 2022, Ukraine received at least six of these anti-aircraft systems.

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HII

As part of its trilateral defense initiative aimed at Beijing called AUKUS, the U.S., U.K., and Australia on Monday officially unveiled long-rumored plans to create an Australian nuclear-powered submarine force.
The three-phase deal, designed to counter growing Chinese military dominance in the region, calls for U.S. and U.K. nuclear-powered submarines to visit Australia on a rotational basis as early as 2027, according to senior U.S. administration officials who spoke to reporters, including from The War Zone, on Sunday.

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Improving the GMD system has been a top priority for MDA. However, the effort suffered a major setback after a new kill vehicle programme was terminated. That programme was replaced by the NGI. (MDA)
The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is requesting about USD3.076 billion to improve its strategic missile defence system, known as the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), including funding to develop a new Next Generation Interceptor (NGI).
Last year, MDA received USD2.618 billion for strategic missile defence.

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THAAD is intended to engage targets both inside and outside the earth’s atmosphere. (US Missile Defense Agency)
The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has requested USD484.7 million for the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) programme in fiscal year (FY 2024).
This funding would integrate the THAAD capability into the US Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) and continue development of an 8th THAAD battery, according to the agency’s budget documents, published on 13 March.

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