* Defense industry is running out of patience with Congress over FY2011 defense appropriations. Since the last Congress failed to pass a budget, the “continuing resolution’s” expiry could create a crisis of mismatched funds. The hardest hit service would probably be the Navy.
* Speaking of crises, some people believe that upheavals in Tunisia, Egypt, etc. may delay approvals and contracts for American arms sales to the region. Is that prudence, or digging a deeper hole?
* Meanwhile, the British are very unhappy that American diplomats divulged classified information about Britain’s nuclear deterrent to the Russians, as part of New START negotiations.
* That treaty isn’t going to stop Russia from developing its new SS-NX-30 Bulava SLBM and Yars-24 ICBM nuclear missiles.
* To add to British unhappiness, their new nuclear fast attack boat HMS Astute is back in port yet again. This time, failures to its weapon support and onboard toilets & sewage were to blame. “A busted flush,” indeed.
* Pentagon has failed to pay for transportation improvements to accommodate BRAC-mandated personnel transfers in the greater Washington, DC, area, according to a report by the National Research Council.
* Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in San Diego, CA agrees to acquire Herley Industries, a Lancaster, PA-based supplier of defense microwave products, for $270 million in cash.
* Raytheon and Analytical Graphics are teaming under a $22 million contract to develop a wind turbine/radar modeling tool that will determine the best wind farm locations to avoid interference with radar systems, a significant concern of the DoD [PDF].
* There are more than 2,000 ground robots deployed in Afghanistan, and US troops want more.
* Australian Department of Defence issues tender documents to conduct cybersecurity review of department personnel.