Rapid Fire Morning 2011-06-30: Weapons for Libyan Rebels

Rapid Fire Morning 2011-06-30: Weapons for Libyan Rebels

* In his last interview before stepping down as US Defense Secretary, Robert Gates says that military spending is not the main cause of the United States’ $1.4 trillion budget deficit. * The Government Accountability Office (GAO) publishes its report Further...
Rapid Fire Morning 2011-06-30: Weapons for Libyan Rebels

WNAN: DARPA’s Idea for Next-Generation Soldier Networks

Not ideal. At present, many soldiers don’t have communications radios because the hardware is too expensive. Buying 2-way radios from Radio Shack before deployments solved that problem for some soldiers, but insecure communications created others. On the high...
Rapid Fire Morning 2011-06-30: Weapons for Libyan Rebels

Rapid Fire Evening 2011-06-29: Safety in the Indian Ocean

* The Dutch Defense Minister, Hans Hillen, replicates outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and uses a Security and Defence Agenda event to call for a greater pooling of resources among NATO’s European partners. * President Barack Obama tells a press...
Rapid Fire Morning 2011-06-30: Weapons for Libyan Rebels

Rapid Fire Morning 2011-06-29: Australian Equipment Disposal

* The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passes a measure that authorizes President Obama to conduct a ‘limited’ military engagement in Libya. Note that the committee can’t actually authorize any such thing, but it can set up a full Senate vote. * In...
Rapid Fire Morning 2011-06-30: Weapons for Libyan Rebels

UH-60M VIP Helicopters for the UAE

US UH-60M carriesIraqi PM, 2007(click to view full) June 24/11: The US DSCA announces [PDF] the United Arab Emirates’ formal request for 5 UH-60M Black Hawk VIP helicopters. The move will bring the UAE’s UH-60M fleet to 45 helicopters, which breaks down as...