Rapid Fire 2011-03-03: Russian Arms Exports
- British PM David Cameron describes recent British military operations within Libya. Meanwhile, Canada has sent its JTF2 special forces unit, the civil war flares in Marsa Al Burayqah, and the rebels have Tobruk’s oil terminal working.
- Russia busts arms export record with $10 billion in 2010. That’s about double the 2005 totals.
- Conflict of interest at DARPA over awarding of contracts?
- Senate agrees to mid-March continuing resolution (CR); effects of year-long CR during wartime unknown, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn warns Congress.
- GAO faults DoD for dragging its feet in fulfilling urgent operational needs in the field, due to issues of request structure, funding, and technological overreach.
- Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin is trying to make emergency airborne surveillance programs easier to accomplish with its Dragon family of aircraft kits, ground stations, and services.
- Here’s a cool private sector job. If you can’t fly with someone like ATAC, how about Hawker Beechcraft’s T-6 Aerobatic Team? [PDF]. They’re in Australia now, where HBC is busy working with Raytheon and BAE [PDF] to promote the T-6C as Australia’s Project AIR 5428 choice, to replace the current PC-9A turboprop intermediate trainers.
- Eurocopter’s X3 compound helicopter program sharpens its focus to “cost-effective speed,” plans to introduce the technology on its Super Puma medium helicopter family by 2016. Its current main competitor is Sikorsky’s X2 platform, though growing attention could also help firms like Piasecki, with their X-49A “Speedhawk” H-60 retrofit.
- US Navy orders common display systems for surface ships, submarines, and aircraft from General Dynamics under a $26.9 million contract modification.
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