Rapid Fire 2010-11-10: Biowarfare Pathogens

* Sino-Russian detente – or at least a service contract or 2: China, Russia sign military cooperation agreement that includes contracts for spare parts for air defense systems, aviation, and naval equipment. * Not so bad: CEO of UK defense contractor Babcock expects UK defense spending to improve over the next 6 months; company wants to revive canceled UK military training contract. * Could India’s C-17 order rise from 10 planes to 16? * It’s so urgent: In response to an urgent CENTCOM request, DISA fields 5,300 push-to-talk DTCS-RO radios, which use the Iridium satellite communication infrastructure, in Iraq and Afghanistan. * UAV drones heading into everyday life: is “C3Paparazzo” next? * Northrop Grumman expects a $230 million fourth-quarter pretax charge related to its recent offer to buy back $1.9 billion in debt. * Medic, medic: Malaysia is sending a 40-unit medical unit to work with New Zealand troops in Afghanistan. * ManTech snags $24 million contract to provide technical support to the US Naval Air Warfare Combat Center Aircraft Division for combat ID and air traffic control. * Snowdon gets $8.2 million contract to develop novel medical treatments for biowarfare pathogens under the DoD’s Transformational Medical Technologies program.