Rapid Fire 2010-08-19: Common Range Integrated Instrumentation System

* US Missile Defense Agency is reportedly eying potential competitive bids worth as much as $37 billion over the next 5 years, as it moves away from sole-source contracts. The GMD system is an early harbinger. * Brookings think tank staffer P.W. Singer discusses the think tank world in Washington. * Honeywell has now delivered 28 engines, as part of Britain’s CH-47 Chinook upgrade to handle Afghan conditions. * ViaSat deploys mobile broadband terminals on-board the USAF’s twin-turboprop MC-12W Liberty surveillance aircraft. * China’s none too happy about what the Pentagon is saying in its new report. Xinhua | Christian Science Monitor | Bloomberg * Over 70% of JFCOM’s budget goes for contractors, making it an easy target for Pentagon cuts, but Virginia’s governor and mayors want to save it. * Rockwell Collins gets $140 million USAF contract to develop the Common Range Integrated Instrumentation System (CRIIS) that will provide time, space, and position information for military test ranges * Colombia’s high court strikes down a deal that would have given US troops greater access to Colombian military bases.