* Innovation Slump: Aerospace and defense industry innovation is down, as the number of reported patents dropped to 179 last year from 478 the year prior, according to a Hitachi Consulting survey.
* Budget Blitzkrieg: Former German military officials blast the German defense minister’s proposal to eliminate mandatory conscription and reduce the Bundeswehr by a 3rd to cut EUR 8.2 billion from the defense budget.
* Frost and Sullivan: The European market for networked unmanned ground vehicles is expected to experience steady growth, with annual revenues of $311 million by 2016.
* Continued back-and-forth between the government and Northrop Grumman over the RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV program’s conduct, effectiveness, and satisfaction.
* UK receives QinetiQ’s new PASCAT landing craft: a partial hovercraft catamaran.
* US Army wants more unified helicopter protection systems.
* Beating Up on the Bands: Washington Post columnist Walter Pincus proposes cutting back on the number of US military bands as part of the Pentagon’s effort to slash defense spending.
* General Dynamics snags $62 million contract to provide IT support to the US Army Intelligence and Security Command.
* IED aftermaths: DoD’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) awards a contract worth up to $33 million to Omnivox of Downers Grove, IL to develop medical technologies to treat blast injuries from IEDs.