* The Indian government announced the termination “with immediate effect” of a contract for 12 VIP helicopters with AgustaWestland under investigation in India and Italy for alleged corruption. However the government also seems to have changed their mind and appointed an arbitrator, in line with an earlier request from the company and even though the government says in the same breath that “integrity-related issues are not subject to arbitration”.
Classified Information in the Public Domain: Don’t Look
* Doubling down on earlier guidance [PDF], the Pentagon’s Defense Security Service wants you [PDF] to wash your eyes with detergent while holding the shift key of your keyboard in case of “inadvertent exposure to classified information in the public domain”, also known as catching up on what the adversary already knows and is not going to un-know by you not reading it. Report any such findings to DSS, presumably just in case it’s early enough to put the toothpaste back in its tube before the leak goes wiki.
Buy Russian, Except Machine Tools
* The Russian government recently issued a decree similar to India’s injunctions to source defense goods locally. Interestingly, this comes with exemptions revealing their self-awareness of weaknesses in the machinery sector.
If It Wasn’t Complicated Enough
* With most, and possibly all US troops set to leave Afghanistan by the end of the year, clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan may expand into a broader conflict.
* India’s IDSA think tank, on the recent meeting between Indian and Pakistani military officials to discuss last year’s series of incidents at the Line of Control separating the two countries:
“It is a sign of maturity that both sides have expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the meeting and, at least for the present, the situation seems to have been brought under control. The lament, however, is why the Indo-Pak dialogue has to remain perpetually mired in one-step-forward-two-steps-back syndrome?”
How Many Nukes Are Needed, Continued
* National Interest argues against diminishing the US nuclear arsenal: “deterrence at lower numbers is a non-linear problem”.
Unmanned and Light
* India’s DRDO wants to test an unmanned airship for surveillance, after the development of their Akashdeep aerostat [PDF] in 2012.
* Today’s video features the Saildrone, a 19ft (5.8m) carbon fiber boat powered by the wind and sun. It can carry a 220lb (100kg) payload and has been developed for autonomous deployment in shallow waters using GPS guidance. Several research projects will put it to use in months to come:
