* Pentagon acquisition chief Carter issues guidance for “acquisition professionals” to reduce overhead costs associated with the $400 billion per year spent on contracts.
* Can We Talk?: In response to the Carter memo, the Aerospace Industries Association called on the US to implement a set of policy initiatives, including easing export controls, to enable the industry to improve productivity and efficiency.
* Across the Pond: Not to be outdone, the new UK government is looking to reduce its spending on defense, even though the nation’s defense spending has been steadily shrinking as a percentage of GDP since the 1980s.
* High casualties put Danish military under pressure to buy blast-resistant vehicles, but military says they can’t do it within their budget.
* US Defense Acquisition Board waffles regarding next steps for the RQ-4 Global Hawk program, after problems surface.
* Bigger Bang: General Dynamics snags $14 million in US Army contracts to supply 30mm M789 High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) ammunition for the AH-64 Apache helicopter and develop 25mm scalable fuze technology for the Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle and Marine Corps LAV-2.
* Crypto-philosopher: Cracking Plato’s code. Meanwhile, modern cryptologists are working on Quantum Decoys and Quantum interference.
* By Any Other Name: Vought Defense Systems, a Dunedin, FL-based maker of Minuteman and Borderguard surveillance UAVs, is changing its name to ALAS (Air Land and Sea) Defense Systems.