* Japan released its latest annual defense whitepaper, with a wary eye on China's increasing military spending and improving capabilities. * Germany cancelled a €100M ($135M) deal to build a training camp for Russia. Deutsche Welle | Süddeutsche Zeitung [in German]. *...
DID site Articles
Israel in Gaza: High Tech Advantage Doesn’t Help on the Political Front
* New technologies, including the Hermes 900 UAV, are being put to the test [Haaretz] by the Israel Defense Forces in their campaign against Hamas. But their efficiency may be backfiring as public opinion, rightly or wrongly, draws moral conclusions from very lopsided...
NDP Reminds US Government that Global Power Comes At a Cost
* The Congress-mandated National Defense Panel issued a report [PDF] criticizing the Pentagon's 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review for being a strategy driven by budget constraints, a conclusion that could be reached after 5 minutes of scanning through the QDR....
Replacing Canada’s Failing CC-130s: 17 C-130Js
CC-130 over BC(click to view full) The US military has been coming to the realization that its aging aircraft fleet will begin posing serious challenges in the coming years. Canada is experiencing similar problems. In 2005, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier...
Reality-Undeterred USAF Secretary Releases Buzzword Compendium
* US Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James is worried about the service's current readiness because of budgetary squabbling, but that didn't stop her from releasing a lofty long-term strategy document [PDF] where the word "global" appears no less than 65 times (one...
Iraq Requests Missiles, Aviation Support from US
* Iraq's government would like to procure more Hellfire missiles [US DSCA] as well as helicopter sustainment services from the US. * In the meantime ISIS is busy establishing Shari'a law, and a modicum of governmental services, in the northern city of Mosul. Institute...
Brazil’s New-Old Maritime Patrol Aircraft
FAB P-3AM(click to view full) The discovery of major deepwater oil finds off of Brazil's coast changed its military priorities. The military's mission has always been influenced by the land's vastness, but until recently, that meant keeping a careful watch over the...
GAO Frets About Tax Liability of Security Clearance Holders
* The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report stating that about 83,000 DOD employees and contractors who held or were eligible for security clearances (out of a total of about 5.1 million) had unpaid federal tax debt totaling more than $730M as...
C-17s for India: 10 Aircraft by 2015
IAF's 1st C-17(click to view full) In November 2009, reports surfaced that India was negotiating to buy 10 C-17A Globemaster III heavy transports for its air force. A Defense News article added that: "The C-17's advantages include its easier handling (compared with...