Rapid Fire 2011-08-03: Strategic Defence and Security Review
- President Barack Obama announces his intent to promote Ashton B. Carter from Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics to Deputy Secretary of Defense.
- The House of Commons Defence Select Committee publishes its report on the UK’s Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) [PDF]. The Committee rejects Prime Minister David Cameron’s view that the Armed Forces have a full spectrum of defense capabilities. Concerns are also raised that expenditure savings have overridden state security.
- Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) publishes Defense of Japan 2011. In the foreword [PDF] the Minister of Defense highlights China’s rapid military modernization and its increasing presence around Japanese waters.
- South Korean prosecutors have indicted three retired senior Air Force officers for allegedly passing classified military information to Lockheed Martin.
- Finmeccanica subsidiary DRS Technologies announces that its has been awarded a $514.3 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to supply the US Army with its Small Tactical Optical Rifle Mounted Micro Laser Range Finder (STORM-mLRF).
- An Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot was killed when his MiG-21 fighter crashed in Rajasthan. This takes the number of accidents involving MiG-21s to 25 over the past three years and reinforces concerns that India is struggling to keep its aging Soviet fleet airworthy.
- Talk about your bad run for Army Aviation. An old Thai UH-1H crashed on July 16th, so they sent a UH-60 Blackhawk to recover remains etc. It crashed in challenging weather on July 19th. So they sent a UH-1N/212 twin-Huey. Which… crashed on the 24th. Toll: 17 dead and Thailand’s 54 UH-1N’s are now grounded.
Categories: Asia - Other, Britain/U.K., Budgets, China, Daily Rapid Fire, Fighters & Attack, Finmeccanica, Helicopters & Rotary, India, Industry & Trends, Japan, Laser & EM Weapons, Leadership & People, Lockheed Martin, Other Corporation, Policy - Doctrine, Projections & Assessments, Russia, Scandals & Investigations, USA
