• US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) published its latest acquisition guide [PDF].

• Katherine Hammack, the US Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy, & Environment), presented “US Army Power & Energy” [PDF] last week during AUSA.

• MBDA announced that it is pitching its Taurus air-to-ground missiles in answer to a Request for Information from the Indian Air Force.

• According to the New York Times, the Obama administration considered using cyber warfare during the war in Libya, but balked because of legal concerns and to avoid setting a precedent.

• South Africa’s Department of Defense discloses the value of its assets but the country’s Auditor General could not audit that statement, reports DefenceWeb. This sounds familiar.

• South Korea’s Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is reportedly working on a tilt-rotor UAV.

• If Scotland were to break up from the United Kingdom – an event that is actually under serious consideration – what would be its defense policy?

• US Rear Admiral Craig Faller, Commander of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3, muses over the value of a CSG in terms of power, flexibility and mobility.

• The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) released a briefing [PDF] on the state of Iran’s chemical, biological, and nuclear capabilities. The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) also published several updates about Iran’s nuclear facilities and centrifuges.
• Winslow T. Wheeler from the Center for Defense Information (CDI) takes US SecDef Leon Panetta to task on the latter’s assertion that “the American military today is without question the finest fighting force that has ever existed.” Wheeler’s contention: “We got this smaller, older, less ready force not because of less money but because of more.” While some may object to Wheeler’s tone, he’s summoning accurate facts to support his rebuttal: the US Navy does have fewer ships than it used to, and USAF planes are indeed aging on average.

• Video below of a Q&A with Dmitri Trenin at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Russia where Putin is likely to again become President:
  Continue Reading… »

The US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has a central role in addressing the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Their Research and Development Enterprise [PDF] is especially wide-ranging, covering everything from protective gear, to predictive and decision-support algorithms, to ScanEagle UAV variants that can monitor WMD levels, to co-operative non-proliferation programs, to development of new weapons like the Massive Ordnance Penetrator. Some of this work has even led to commercial spinoffs, vid. Sanofi Pasteur’s acquisition of VaxDesign and its DARPA/DTRA-financed MIMC model: an in vitro tool capable of predicting human immune response to specific bio-threat agents.

• 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.

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:

“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…

• $2 billion in Afghan infrastructure projects under the US military’s Commander’s Emergency Response Program [PDF] are in disrepair, according to a report by the Washington Post. See also McClatchey’s ongoing coverage.

• Meanwhile, the US Marines are less focused on weapons, and more on local police and district government. CFR’s Foreign Policy magazine suggests that this may be the missing piece in Mexico’s insurgency as well.

• That said, firepower trends in Afghanistan are also distinctly up... perhaps it’s about both?

• Defense Aerospace offers “Exquisite Technologies: Counting the Cost of USMC-Specific Weapons”

• Tim Colton’s Maritime Memos offers a recap of 2010 American civilian and military shipbuilding developments: good, bad, and ugly. Their site doesn’t use permalinks, but it’s currently at the top of the page.

• Report says Stuxnet worm likely took out 1,000 centrifuges at Iranian nuclear facility.

• Snipers are a critical asset in the current wars. Vanity Fair takes an up-close look at what that means, through the lens of Master Sgt. Russ Crane’s experiences.

• DoD to swap [PDF] IT, cybersecurity experts with private sector.

• 2011 forecast is mixed for US state defense industries. Texas | Michigan | North Carolina

• ITT snags contract worth up to $34.8 million to maintain US Army pre-positioned stocks and repair and return equipment in Doha, Qatar.

• Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems to invest $18 million in Pearls of Wisdom Advanced Technologies, a supplier of micro-sensors for intelligence gathering,

• Wikileaks, and China’s role in North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

• The value of US defense contracts to Massachusetts businesses has almost tripled since 2001, reaching $15.6 billion last year.

• Reality disconnect, Example 1,754,348: Gen. Cartwright says the US military must begin to value scale and numbers, not just capabilities. Meanwhile, the proposed Ground Combat Vehicle to replace the M2/M3 Bradley has an expected price of $9-10 million per GCV, and twice the expected per-mile operating cost of a Bradley. Guess they haven’t started yet.

• XM25 auto-ranging grenade gun deployed to Afghanistan – but using it as intended seems to violate the Rules of Engagement.

• US, Japan back stronger South Korean military stance against North, as US and South Korean military commanders hold talks.

• Getting personal: US military does poor job at protecting soldiers’ personal information, warn West Point professors.

• Puma team delivers first 2 IFVs to Germany.

• Proposed 1.4% pay raise not sitting well with US military personnel.

• Tens of thousands of jobs could be cut at EADS because of Germany’s tight defense budget, according to FT Deutschland.

• Volley for serve: US sits tight after North Korea launches artillery volley against South’s Yeonpyeong island.

• This comes hard on the heels of revelations that North Korea has a large, modern uranium enrichment facility, using P-2 centrifuges. This is less an intelligence failure, than an example of intelligence warnings not acted on.

• Chinese drones raising eyebrows. The UAVs’ actual effectiveness is in question, but Chinese determination to produce a wide variety of them is not.

• As part of its defense budget cuts, German Defense Minister Guttenberg says military conscription will end July 1/11.

• Weapons bazaar: Afghanistan could look to buy military equipment from non-NATO countries if NATO supplies prove insufficient, President Karzai said. Of course, they’re already doing that in several areas, like helicopters. Wonder what China would offer for more mineral concessions?

• Northrop Grumman to provide data management support for the DoD’s Defense Manpower Data Center under the $20 billion CIO-SP2i contract vehicle.

• Taxi tests begin testing for Boeing’s X-45C Phantom Ray stealth UCAV.

• 10th USN C-40A Clipper aircraft delivered by Boeing.

• US NAVAIR receives an initial 11 JSOW-C1 glide bombs with moving target capability, per the JSOW Block III contract.

• ITT delivers the first sponsons for Sikorsky’s new CH-53K heavy-lift naval helicopter.

• Hurt Locker: Face shields on helmets could reduce brain injuries from explosives.

• Yes, flying snakes: DARPA funds research into the aerodynamics of flying snakes. Which, we must admit, are pretty neat little beasties (q.v. video) that can even turn in the air.

• Sharing secrets: South Korea, Japan to share sensitive information on North Korean nuclear and missile capabilities.

• Boston brouhaha: Raytheon’s layoff creates political storm in Massachusetts.

• Standoffish: Lockheed Martin gets $157.7 million contract to develop a long-range anti-ship missile (LRASM) under the DARPA LRASM program.

• Defense companies buying up more homeland security vendors, says RBC technology sector analyst Daniel Meron.

• Boeing is testing a new rotor blade, other improvements for its CH-47F/MH-47G Chinook helicopters.

• The USAF is actively recruiting cybersecurity experts to combat the “great threat” to national security posed by cyber attacks, says Maj. Gen. Michael Basla.

• GPS-III satellite program’s 1st deliverable was ahead of schedule.

• A ceremony opens the new P-8 Poseidon sea control aircraft finishing facility near Seattle, WA.

• SAIC receives $45 million task order to support the Spectrum Warfare Systems Department at the Naval Surface Warfare Center under the SeaPort-e contract.

• Thinking Strategically: UK government’s new National Security Strategy [PDF] identifies terrorism, cyber attacks, natural disasters, and foreign wars as the top 4 threat facing the nation.

• Not So Strategic: UK parliamentary panel is not impressed with government’s strategic thinking.

• Max Boot looks at indicators of progress in Afghanistan, while WIRED discusses the prospects for an innovative program that aims to provide cellphone justice.

• Stepping Stone: Xi Jinping is named to head China’s People Liberation Army, a stepping stone to the presidency.

• Israel urged to step up civil disaster capabilities as a nuclear Iran – or Israeli strikes – loom large.

• Up to $490 million to ManTech to provide integrated logistics support services to US Army Sustainment Command.

• Peru and Ukraine’s Morozov begin testing their Tifon-2 derivative of Peru’s T-55 tanks.

• Raytheon gets $37.6 million initial production contract to supply 22 Navy Multiband Terminals (NMT), compatible with a range of US military satellite constellations, as part of $1 billion program.

• General Dynamics ATP continues its relationship with Boeing for C-17 parts & spares.

• Britain’s “Wolfhound” blast resistant supply vehicles are operational in Afghanistan.

• Infowar front: The suicide protest. Not the Buddhist variety.