Friday May 24, 2013 | 20:00 UTC

Memorial Day, 2013

Honor & Reflect
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Monday, May 28th is Memorial Day in the USA. DID honors those who have given all of their tomorrows in American military service; we will not be publishing.

Readers are reminded that in America, the Memorial Day moment of [...] »

The International Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) Program

Rapid Fire May 24, 2013: 2012 Selected Acquisition Report Redux

• The Pentagon finally released its Selected Acquisition Report [PDF] for 2012, though a lot of its content had already been revealed by the GAO almost 2 months ago.
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• The US and Oman are negotiating a deal for an air defense system. They just won’t tell us what system yet. The amount in question is said to be about $2 billion. Oman has a lot of short range systems right now, and a modern C2/ medium range centerpiece like NASAMS could be very effective. If their objectives include missile defense, PATRIOT or THAAD are both popular in the region.

• Israel contracted McKinsey to help reform their military construction, procurement and logistics, but results fell short of the consultants’ lofty goals. Lean logistics initiatives went nowhere, while some modest procurement savings were achieved, according to Defense News.

• Like BAE Systems, but at a smaller scale, Qinetiq has been struggling with its US sales. CEO Leo Quinn told Bloomberg that all options are on the table.

• The pre-proposal conference for the US VXX presidential helicopter has been postponed to an undetermined date.

• Denmark wants to buy 15 new wheeled or tracked artillery systems: tender, Forsvaret [both links in Dånish] | Shepard.

• An article in Foreign Affairs argues that China is facing many legal and diplomatic constraints in its use of its newly acquired UAVs.

• The US Army is testing DARPA’s Warrior Web undersuit. Lighter than the usual scifi exoskeleton, it is meant to help soldiers maintain their endurance while carrying heavy loads. Short video below: