* DoD and the US intelligence community pledge to bolster the space industrial base, update space technology export controls, and pursue strategies for fighting in a degraded space environment, according to the new National Security Space Strategy.
* What is the global medium military airlifter market like for key competitors like Lockheed’s C-130J, Embraer’s KC-390, HAL/Irkut’s MRTA, and the Airbus A400M? Forecast International has some thoughts.
* Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the country is preparing to launch 4 domestically-built satellites, although the launches of the Rasad-1 and Tolou imaging satellites and Mesbah-2 and Mehr Navid-e-Elm-O-Sanat communications satellites have been postponed before.
* Israel is considering expanding its military presence along the border with Egypt in response to the unrest and its possible negative aftermath.
* It’s also re-engining its Hermes 450 UAVs with an upgraded 70hp R902 (W) Wankel engine.
* NATO’s “Proud Manta 11” exercise in the Mediterranean features Teledyne’s UUV/AUV “Slocum Gliders,” which use buoyancy changes instead of propellers to move around slowly underwater, collecting hydrographic data for weeks at a time. Of course, future AUV/UUVs can and will do more.
* At its C-130J-30 induction ceremony, the IAF says it will phase out its MiG-21 Type 77 fighters by 2012. The aging MiG-21s have a high accident rate, and different takes on that phenomenon can be found from Prodyut Das’s aerodynamics analysis and Wing Commander K S Suresh VrC’s 2009 take.
* Shareholders of L-1 Identity Solutions, a Stamford, CT-based military and civilian biometric technology firm, have approved the company’s merger with French aerospace and defense firm Safran, in a transaction valued at $1.6 billion, including outstanding debt. As part of the deal, L-1 is selling its intelligence services businesses to UK’s BAE Systems.
* Virginia, which led US states in total FY2009 DoD expenditures with $56.9 billion, prepares for Pentagon belt tightening.
* Camgian Microsystems in Starkville, MS, gets 3-year, $9.2 million small business innovation research contract from the AFRL to develop ultra-low power application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for radar and infrared cameras.