Rapid Fire 2010-06-28: Bad UAV Billing

• Anosognosia: What does a bank robber who smears lemon juice on his face to defeat video cameras, have to do with Donald Rumsfeld and the management of complex engineering projects?

• Pentagon waking up to reality that having interest payments nearly the size of the defense budget just for America’s acknowledged debts might be a security problem; USAF debating cuts to existing fleets.

• Doesn’t Add Up: AeroVironment, maker of the Raven, Wasp, and Dragon Eye UAVs, discloses that the US Department of Justice is investing its billing practices for government contracts going back to FY 2006.

Australia Revisiting Defence Industrial Policy

In the wake of its 2006-2007 defense budget proposal “To Defend Australia” [PDF], the Australian government announced that it would begin a comprehensive review of the country’s defense industrial policy. This is not uncommon in an industry that’s a domestic oligopoly by nature, but has some global export potential. In late 2005, Britain also undertook a review of its defense industrial policy, leading to wide-ranging recommendations and a new blueprint.

Australia’s road has been slower. Initial steps were taken under a Liberal Party government in 2006, and have continued under the current Labor Party government. In June 2010, an initial blueprint was released: