* House Armed Services Committee releases full committee markup of the FY 2012 defense authorization bill, which revives the F136 engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
* Peru’s $1 billion SIVAM Amazon basin surveillance program attracts IAI interest, centered on its Gulfstream G550 CAEW platform. Neighboring Chile uses the same Phalcon radar technology, mounted on a 707. In Peru, IAI can be expected to compete with Embraer’s ERJ-145 based R-99A/B surveillance aircraft, which handle SIVAM duties for Brazil.
* Israel is planning to invest $1 billion in development and production of the Iron Dome rocket/artillery defense system, says Defense Ministry.
* Azerbaijan is expected to sign agreements with Turkey to buy Kasirga TR-300 rocket launcher systems, Pars armored vehicles, and other items at the IDEF-2011 defense trade fair being held in Istanbul this week.
* Turkey expects to receive its 1st Boeing E-737 AEW&C aircraft by the end of 2012, with the other 3 arriving in 2013. The $1.6 billion contract was signed in 2003, with delivery expected by 2007. Australia’s Project Wedgetail has faced the same kinds of delays, due to problems developing the E-737 platform.
* Taiwan is monitoring China’s refurbishment of the ex-Soviet Navy aircraft carrier Varyag, which is expected to be ready for deployment early next year.
* Lockheed Martin announces that it has just delivered its 2,000th Symphony jamming system to protect vehicles against remote-controlled land mine attacks.
* Export sales of the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jets are expected to fuel an increase in the South Korean defense market to $34 billion in 2011, predicts Research and Markets. On the one hand, South Korea is building world-class land and naval platforms, and continues to diversify. On the other hand, the T/A-50’s export luck hasn’t been great so far in Singapore, the UAE, and Iraq.
* Green bullet: Environmentally friendly M855A1 5.56mm [PDF] copper-core bullet gets positive reviews from soldiers in the field.