* RAFAEL’s ASPRO-A/ Trophy (and see video) active protection system records its 1st live kill against an enemy anti-tank weapon (reportedly an unguided RPG). The Israeli Merkava tank crew only discovered they had been fired upon after the fact. This is one of the lessons of the 2006 Lebanon War – but the US Army still has nothing like it in the field.
* American Small Business League is suing the US Army for refusing to release subcontracting reports on contracts awarded by Bechtel – reports that the group believes will demonstrate Bechtel violated federal law requiring 23% of federal contracts be awarded to small businesses.
* 3 Dutch Marines held by Libyan government, after an in-country rescue operation of Dutch nationals mounted from the frigate HNLMS Tromp went awry.
* Ares Management is acquiring Global Defense Technology and Systems (GTEC), a McLean, VA-based defense technology firm, for $223.1 million in cash.
* Argentina’s defense budget is projected to grow at a robust 15.9% annual growth rate, reaching $5.5 billion by 2015, according to iCD Research.
* MEADS’ PAC-3 MSE missile hits a ballistic missile target at White Sands, NM.
* Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force scrambles F-15 jets to track Chinese Y-8 maritime patrol aircraft near the disputed Senkaku (Diaoyutai) Islands.
* EADS signs an MoU with Russia’s Skolkovo Innovation Centre near Moscow, to conduct research in the areas of aerospace technology, telecommunications and navigation, efficient energy technologies, and information technology.
* US to deploy the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) to the Mediterranean next week as 1st component of European missile defense shield.
* BAE Systems gets a $5 million order to produce T-11 parachutes under a 2009 US Army contract.