Rapid Fire 2012-01-13: Avoiding Midair Collissions
Jan 13, 2012 10:15 ESTRelated Stories: Americas - USA, Asia - China, Britain/U.K., Budgets, Daily Rapid Fire, Field Reports, Missiles - Ballistic, Official Reports, Science - Basic Research, UAVs
- US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said yesterday that the US Army stationed in Europe will replaces 2 brigade combat teams with rotational units.
- The Pentagon is going to discuss with other government agencies on how to deal with international dealings that appear commercial in nature but may bring defense considerations into play. This follows a letter sent by Congressman Randy Forbes (R-VA) expressing concern that joint ventures such as GE/AVIC might lead to sensitive tech ending up in Chinese military equipment.
- The latest Approach [PDF] is focused on Near-Midair Collisions (NMAC), whose number has been slowly creeping up to about 50 a year, according to the Naval Safety Center’s data. After a near encounter by just 10 feet between his FA-18E Super Hornet and a Predator UAV, CDR Richard Rivera offers some advice on deconfliction that includes not relying solely on instrumentation and keeping your eyes peeled.
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- US Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), member of the Armed Services and Appropriations committees, addressed the Surface Navy Association Annual Symposium by expressing her concern on the Navy’s shipbuilding plans and the number of available ships.
- The US House Armed Services Committee is back in business next week with a hearing scheduled on Jan. 17 on the challenges of dealing with DOD for small and medium businesses.
- The US Navy accepted delivery of USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM 25), the 3rd such Missile Range Instrumentation ship operated by Military Sealift Command (MSC) to collect dual-band radar data in order to check compliance with ballistic missile treaties.
- The French MinDef published a comparison of French and British defense spending [PDF, in French].
- Discussions on Scottish independence, puns on having a “neverendum” aside, raise significant defense questions. Video wrap-up below from British Forces News:
