• While the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) seeks to develop Mission-oriented Resilient Clouds (MRC), the Department of Defense (DoD) drags its heels over the implementation of ‘cloud computing’ initiatives.

• Concerns are raised that General Electric’s proposal to build a a $1 billion plant in North Carolina to support laser enrichment efforts may have implications for nuclear proliferation.

• South Korean media raises concerns that the country has insufficient radar systems to track long-range artillery attacks by North Korea. This is compounded by reports that six Swedish-made Arthur radars broke down 78 times last year, alongside ThalesRaytheon-made TPQ-36 and 37s malfunctioning on 98 and 60 times respectively over the past five years.

• India launches the frigate INS Satpura, the second indigenously-built stealth warship of the Shivalik class.

• The Israeli defense budget dispute continues unabated. The Defense Ministry claims that the budget is already ILS6.2 billion ($1.6 billion) under 2011/12 estimates. The Finance Ministry wants greater efficiencies within the defense establishment.

• Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) deployment of Rafael’s Iron Dome air defense system has prompted a change of tactics by militants in the Gaza Strip.

• Russia delays the next test-firing of the Bulava (SS-NX-30) submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) until the end of August.

• As China’s profile in the UAV sector rises, state-run media shows the hand-held ASN-15 in action, supporting a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) main battle tank (MBT) unit.

• The US Navy’s Program Executive Office (PEO) Integrated Warfare Systems (IWS) announces that it has made $50 million-worth of savings in procuring weapons for new construction amphibious ships between FY2009-2011.

• The British House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) publishes a report warning that until the Ministry of Defence (MoD) implements the Future Logistics Information Services project the UK’s Armed Forces remain reliant on a supply chain susceptible to a ‘critical risk of failure’.

• The US Army awards General Dynamics a $107 million contract for unspecified combat, assault and tactical vehicles.

• Meanwhile, the US Navy awards Federal Cartridge Company a $46.5 million contract for 5.56m frangible ammunition.

• Russia is to build its second Tupolev Tu-214ON aircraft for international aerial inspections under the Open Skies Treaty [PDF].

• Saab says its Skeldar V-200 unmanned helicopter will soon be on the market in its land-based and maritime versions.

• Boeing announces that it will use a Ryan Aerospace Helimod helicopter simulator to train Australian Army pilots to fly Bell 206B-1 Kiowa helicopters.

• The right-wing Heritage Foundation think tank raises concerns that the Budget Control Act will jeopardize the US solid rocket industrial base via the Administration’s reluctance to modernize strategic missiles to replace or expand on the likes of the Minuteman III ICBM and Trident II D-5 SLBM.

• US Army Corp of Engineers unveils $5 billion Civil Works plan for FY 2011.

• Nearly 1,000 workers at 3 defense contractors in the Washington, DC area – General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman – are being laid off this year, the Washington Examiner reports.

• A number of projects are working to free science from the bottlenecks of copyright-bound paper articles, even for research produced on the public dime. Open source science is impractical for much defense R&D, except as a potential input. On the other hand, new Open Science approaches have shown great promise for areas like disease cures – which do have a military dimension.

• India continues working on creating a nuclear triad with the deployment of its 1st Arihant class nuclear submarine expected in 2012. It also has inspection teams doing assurance checks in advance of an expected buy of M777 ultra-light howitzers.

• UK announces plans for a new nuclear-powered submarine to replace its existing Vanguard class submarine. Advance design contracts for the missile section started a while ago, and the main build decision is expected in 2016.

• Italy accepts 2 of its 4 ordered KC-767A aerial tankers into service, after a long set of technical delays and certifications.

• Israel is setting up a taskforce to develop defense capabilities against cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. Rumor has it that they set up a task force to handle the other end a while back. You’d have to ask the Iranians.

5-6 year, $950M contract. (April 27/11)

Through the Co-operative Threat Reduction program, the Department of Defense provides equipment, services, and technical advice to Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine to assist them in eliminating (or in the case of Russia, reducing) the weapons of mass destruction remaining from the Soviet era, and preventing proliferation. That means dismantling the associated infrastructure, or transforming portions of it to engage in peaceful civilian activities.

The U.S. objectives in the CTR program as established by Congress are to cooperate with the Newly Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union to:

• US, Romania agree to install European missile defense system site at Deveselu Air Base, about 145 miles west of Bucharest, Romania.

• Biometrics played role in Osama bin Laden identification, says White House counterterrorism adviser; DoD provides background briefing on US operations to take out Bin Laden.

• Northrop Grumman buys $1 billion worth of its stock from Goldman Sachs as part of $4 billion share repurchase program.

• DoD is dragging its feet on developing a life extension program for the aging stockpile of B61 tactical nuclear bombs in Europe, says GAO.

• Tactical Air Defense Services (TADS) in Carson City, NV acquires exclusive use of counter-insurgency aircraft from Tactical Air Support Services, which TADS is in the process of acquiring. TacAir’s training and contract services operates L-39s and CF-5s, and is upgrading an EMB-314 Super Tucano.

• UK opens training center for Afghan National Army personnel near Camp Bastion in Helmand Province.

• General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing all beat Wall Street first quarter results estimates.

• Raytheon sees strong Q1 growth in its ace and Airborne Systems (SAS) business thanks to its acquisition of Applied Signal Technology. Meanwhile ManTech had a mix of organic and external growth through the quarter.

• Oshkosh’s Q2 finds the company in the middle of M-ATV to FMTV transition.

• GAO finds flaws in DoD’s contingency contracting, which amounted to $367 billion in FY 2010.

• Russia successfully test fires second RSM-54 Sineva SLBM (SS-N-23 Skiff) from a Delta-IV class submarine, according to the defense ministry.

• The Royal Australian Air Force completes testing of Boeing’s Vigilare command and control system.

“Go Ahead, Make My Day”

The US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has undertaken an R&D effort to provide an integrated approach to combating weapons of mass destruction (WMD) known as the Research and Development Enterprise [PDF]. Their efforts are aimed at improving situational awareness about the WMD threat, controlling WMD materials and systems worldwide, reducing the threat to US troops, protecting the homeland, transforming the US nuclear deterrent, and controlling the threat of loose nuclear weapons in the world.

As part of this effort, DTRA awarded a contract April 18/11 worth up to $600 million to TASC in Chantilly, VA to provide advisory services to the agency’s effort in this area…

• Manufacturing Institute releases their “Roadmap for Education Reform for Manufacturing” – download full report here [PDF].

• Sen. Shaheen [D-NH] unveils Inspiration School Grant Program initiative to close the US robotics gap with Asian nations.

• US Army 2nd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment provides lessons learned from Afghanistan [PDF].

• US-supplied W76-1 arming device would make Britain’s Trident SLBMs more accurate, Sandia National Lab test shows.

• BAE Systems to repair and maintain 6 Ticonderga-class (CG-47) guided missile cruisers under a US Navy MSMO dry dock contract.

• In addition, BAE snags US Navy contract, worth up to $165 million, to supply 40 Mk 38 Mod 2 25mm close defense gun mounts in 2011 and 2012.

• DARPA awards $2.7 million contract to Lockheed Martin to develop resilient command and control (RC2) for the US military.

• American Small Business League sues [PDF] the Department of Defense for refusing to release subcontracting reports on contracts awarded to Raytheon to ensure compliance with small business contracting rules.

• Fresh from its success in Gaza while mounted on a Merkava main battle tank, RAFAEL’s ASPRO-A/ Trophy active protection system against incoming shells, rockets and missiles (see video) has now finished tests in the USA, mounted on a Stryker/ LAV-III wheeled APC. The need for Trophy was one of the lessons learned from the 2006 Syrian-Iranian-Israeli war in Lebanon.

• In blast-resistant MRAP vehicles, ammunition is from MARS. Which solved a perplexing problem.

• “We can’t afford to stay fat, dumb and happy.” US Air Force Global Strike Command’s A9 directorate is working to apply critical self-assessment, and lessons learned.

• HMS Albion, HMS Sutherland and RFA Cardigan Bay, together with elements of 40 Commando Royal Marines, set sail as lead element of the UK’s Cougar 11 deployment to the Mediterranean and Middle East. RFA Cardigan Bay is a sister ship to Largs Bay, which was just sold off to Australia.

• Lesson learned from Libya: don’t expect to fly Swedish JAS-39C/D Gripens on JP-5 naval aviation fuel. JP-5 is less likely to catch fire on board a carrier, but not so good for planes that need Jet A1 (similar to the USAF’s JP-8).

LGM-30G Minuteman III

$12.5 million to Lockheed Martin to refurbish re-entry vehicle arming and fuzing assemblies. (March 14/11)

For 50 years, land-based Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) have been part of the US primary strategic deterrence capability, the nuclear-armed triad that also includes submarine-launched ballistic missiles and long range heavy bombers.

Although the main target for the US deterrent – the Soviet Union – imploded in 1991, other threats – such as nuclear-armed rogue states and non-state actors – have emerged. To address these new threats, the US Air Force undertook a major ICBM modernization program.

To carry out this program, the USAF awarded a 15-year ICBM Prime Integration Contract (F42610-98-C-0001) in 1997 to a team led by Northrop Grumman. Since then, the team, which includes Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and ATK, has been carrying out a major modernization of the ICBM system to ensure its readiness…

• India is planning to boost its defense spending by 11.6% in the next fiscal year to counter China’s growing military capabilities.

• How was the Stuxnet attack on Iran targeted?

• But a recent IAEA report says enrichment and production has continued at Natanz despite the Stuxnet slowdown, and adds that Iran continues to prepare military delivery vehicles etc. for nuclear weapons.

• Steel cut to begin CVN 79, the 2nd carrier in the Gerald R. Ford class. If only budgets and funding could be as certain.

• According to Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, Russia is still planning to supply supersonic P-800 Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria, despite US and Israeli opposition.

• Advanced Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles are also on their way to Venezuela, now that a timeline has been agreed. There have been rumblings for a few months now that Iran’s requested missiles could be headed that way instead.

• Oshkosh job fair attracts over 1,700 applicants to fill between 650 and 750 positions to build US Army tactical vehicles.

• On the other hand, Frost & Sullivan expects a steep drop in US military tactical vehicle market, from $4.45 billion in 2010 to just $740 million in 2015.

• SAIC gets $25 million contract to provide management planning and systems integration services to the US Navy Strategic Systems Programs Command.

• Harris secures $14 million order from Brazil to provide Falcon III RF-7800V VHF handheld combat net radios and Falcon II AN/PRC-150-C [PDF] HF manpack radios.

• Expand your intellectual horizons a bit, and meet Gene Sharp... the unsung, mostly-unknown thinker whose ideas and approaches have underpinned many modern non-violent uprisings. You might want to read former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky’s current thoughts after that. Both can provide insights into counterinsurgency and the “3 block war.”

• America’s under-performing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education is widely seen as a slow-motion crisis by the industry. Former hedge fund manager Sal Khan and The Khan Academy say… YouTube to the rescue!