* US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dempsey outlined military options in Syria, following Senator McCain’s recent demands. AP | NYT.
* Dempsey also sought to ease the tension between the Obama administration and Afghan President Karzai, by saying that he doesn’t recommend the “zero option” recently (officiously) floated by the White House. General Dempsey hopes to reach a security agreement with Afghanistan by October.
* In the meantime, US lawmakers are fuming at Afghanistan’s ludicrous exit fees on US equipment leaving their country. The senators threaten to more than make it up by cutting aid to Afghanistan. Using leverage from big pending aid checks worked last year to get Pakistan to reopen its roads.
* The US House of Representatives’ Committee on Rules reconvened yesterday to settle how the FY14 defense appropriations bill will be brought to the floor. At stake is whether amendments will be limited.
* Lockheed Martin reported Q2 sales down by 4% to $11.4B. Aeronautics was flat and Missiles and Fire Control grew by 11% Y/Y, but the other segments lost ground. They’re not as sequestered as they said they would be by now. Saab was complaining more vocally about the US budget situation a few days ago.
* United Technologies organic sales were flat for the quarter, but acquisitions brought them 16% revenue growth to $16B. Pratt & Whitney revenue grew by 5% Y/Y, while Sikorsky’s sales lost 3%. Conference call slides [PDF].
* The US Army recently held an industry day to present their Information Management Communications Systems III (IMCS III) program, in advance of an RFP scheduled for later this (calendar) year, as a small business set-aside, firm-fixed price award in support of the Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM). Here’s the Q&A following that event.
* In 2009 Northern European countries started working in earnest on defense cooperation, but 4 years later they are finding that savings are elusive, at least as far as pooled military logistics are concerned.
* France created the ANSSI IT/network security agency 5 years ago. Its director Patrick Pailloux told Parliament [in French] that they will be staffed with 360 people by the end of the year, or 3 times their initial size. Cybersecurity is one of the fashionable (but sensible) priorities laid out in the latest French defense whitepaper.
* German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere cannot seem to catch a break in the Euro Hawk debacle. He will testify in front of a parliamentary committee whose work started yesterday. With federal elections 2 months away, the stakes go beyond a messed up defense program with a questionable timeline.
* What is the UK MoD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO)? The video below explains their infrastructure management role, with 230,000 hectares (about 568,300 acres) of property in the UK, with 166,000 buildings including 55,000 houses, which makes them the 3rd largest estate organization in the country:
