* Last week Bill Gertz at the Washington Free Beacon reported that according to US officials China had conducted its 3rd test of a hypersonic missile. Chinese officials seemed to implicitly confirm the test in the state-run China Daily today.
* Yu Long is the second former United Technologies employee accused of having attempted to provide a foreign country with sensitive documents related to defense aerospace programs. Hartford Courant | Fox CT.
* WSJ: the minuscule cost of equipping a Chinese soldier.
US Biz Dev
* DARPA will host a proposer’s day [FBO] about the Resilient Synchronized Planning Assessment for the Contested Environment (RSPACE) program on January 5 in Arlington, VA. It is one of several programs pursued by the research agency to maintain coordination even when communication networks are disrupted.
* The US Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (PEO STRI)’s Program Manager Constructive Simulations (PM ConSIM) will host an industry day [FBO] about the Intelligence & Electronic Warfare Tactical Proficiency Trainer (IEWTPT) on January 9 in Orlando, FL.
* The US Army postponed its industry day about the Grenadier Sighting System (GSS) to February 11, 2015. A draft RFP should be released on January 12. The idea is to provide day and night targeting for M320 grenade launchers that’s more accurate than the current folded leaf sight and handheld laser range finder. Caveat Propositor: a market survey had already taken place in mid-2012, and a previous draft RFP issued last year was eventually cancelled in September 2013.
* The US Army issued [ASFI] a 2nd request for information on Increment 2 of the controversial Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A) program.
US Congress
* The Hill reports that the US House Armed Services Committee will soon have 6 new Republican members: Sam Graves [MO], Ryan Zinke [MT], Elise Stefanik [NY], Steve Knight [CA], Tom MacArthur [NJ], as well as Martha McSally pending the result of a recount in Arizona.
Used LSD for Brazil?
* According to Poder Naval [in Portuguese], the Brazilian Navy is sending a team to France to evaluate whether acquiring the Foudre-class Siroco dock landing ship would make sense. The French ministry of defense announced in mid October that the Siroco and 4 other ships would be decommissioned in 2015 as part of a broader restructuring effort. Chile acquired another used ship in the class 3 years ago.
Iranian drones for Mexico?
* Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of Iranian parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, claims that Mexico is interested in Iranian drones. Boroujerdi did meet with [in Spanish] Mexican senators, though nothing was said publicly about drones. It may make sense to support counter-narcotics operations like Colombia does, but believe it when you see it.
CIA Torture
* In yesterday’s Rapid Fire we got Senator Dianne Feinstein’s last name completely wrong. We didn’t mean to slur or to commit one of our infamous puns – though it may have sounded that way – and edited the entry as soon as this was pointed out. Please excuse what was an honest, absent-minded mistake.
* The Washington Post has an easily scannable list of highlights if yesterday’s report was too much to stomach. Former CIA director Michael Hayden fired back that some of the report’s conclusions are untrue. Senator Feinstein’s full speech on the Senate floor yesterday can be seen 56 minutes into the video below:
