Rapid Fire: 2011-02-09

* US, French defense chiefs ink agreement on space situational awareness. * Global defense firm are vying for a piece of India’s defense industry, which Boeing expects to be worth $31 billion in 10 years. * Bridge over the River Arghandab?: Portable bridges produced by Alpha Composites help British troops in Helmand province, Afghanistan, cross short gaps in terrain. * AAR to shut down former Blackwater operations in Currituck County, NC, affecting 260 employees. * USMC Captain Eric Schmidt sentenced to 6 years by federal judge for skimming nearly $2 million using fraudulent military equipment orders. * Would you like some Bubba Gump Shrimp?: The US Defense Commissary Agency is buying up Gulf seafood to serve at 72 base commissaries along the East Coast to boost the Gulf’s fishing industry. * L-3 Communications to redeem $650 million in notes due 2015. * US administration has been slow to implement cybersecurity protection for critical infrastructure, CSIS says [PDF]. * Do. Not. Mess. With a Gurkha. Not even if you have 39 friends behind you. Good on his regiment, too…