Rapid Fire August 10, 2012: Mechanic Mules for Marines

Aug 10, 2012 10:15 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff
  • Commander of US Fleet Forces Admiral J. C. Harvey, Jr. thinks that actions undertaken to reverse a trend [PDF] of degrading fleet readiness are starting to pay off. Challenges remain though, including Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD), a mission that is “complex and technically very demanding. This unique mission will increase the complexity of our ships and amplify the problems we are working to resolve today.”
  • The US government and military are still struggling to figure out the legal framework that would allow cyberspace defensive actions outside of the Pentagon’s own networks.
  • According to Japanese media relayed by the Taipei Times, the US is going to use its Guam-based RQ-4 Global Hawks to monitor Okinawa and the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands disputed by Japan and China.

  • South Korea seems receptive to some of the recommendations made by the CSIS think tank in its recent report on Asia/Pacific to Congress, though these statements were made anonymously.

  • If Israel were to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, which flight route would they use?

  • Not all the vehicles used by the US and allies in Iraq and Afghanistan will make it back home. Buyers are lining up to buy everything from Abrams tanks to hummers, in the case of Israel.

  • Are defense procurement reforms planned in Canada going to go far enough?

  • The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab is still testing the Ground Unmanned Support Surrogate (GUSS) vehicle and the Cargo Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) to lighten soldier load by trucking around a lot of a squad’s water, ammo, or batteries. They have been at it for a couple of years. Video of the mule on wheels below:
    Categories: Canada, China, Daily Rapid Fire, IT - Cyber-Security, Japan, Legal, UAVs, USA

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