VIDEOS: CAPITOL HILL EVENT – Army Rapid Equipping Forum – 2.27.17

The Lexington Institute organized a Capitol Hill forum on Monday, February 27th to discuss U.S. Army rapid equipping needs. Topics discussed at this forum included enhanced lethality, force protection, aviation upgrades, battlefield communications, and electronic warfare. Click on the names of the speakers below to view videos of their speeches.

Videos of speeches:

Lieutenant General Joseph Anderson, Deputy Chief of Staff G-3/5/7, U.S. Army

Major General David G. Bassett, Program Executive Officer, Ground Combat Systems, U.S. Army

Brigadier General James (Jamey) Moran (Ret), Vice President, Army Systems, Boeing

Major General Walter Piatt, Director of Operations, Army Rapid Capabilities Office, U.S. Army

Mr. Lawrence B. Prior, III, Chief Executive Officer, CSRA Inc.

Mr. Mark L. Signorelli, Vice President, BAE Systems, Inc.

Dr. Loren Thompson, Chief Operating Officer, Lexington Institute

The U.S. Army is being stretched thin responding to growing threats in Eastern Europe, Iraq, and elsewhere. The Russian military in particular has demonstrated significant improvements across a wide range of warfighting capabilities. A focused modernization program has now provided Moscow’s military, especially ground forces, with new capabilities aimed at countering well-documented U.S. and NATO advantages.

Senior U.S. military leaders are increasingly concerned about a near-term confrontation with Russia or a regional adversary. Deterring such a confrontation has become an urgent requirement. U.S. Army Europe Commanding General Lieutenant General Ben Hodges has said he is trying to make 30,000 U.S. soldiers in Europe look like 300,000.

During the eight years of the Obama presidency, the buying power of the Army’s modernization budget has fallen by three-fourths. The service has said it will not begin any major new modernization efforts until the next decade due to the lack of financial resources.