Rapid Fire 2010-09-01: Flying Road Vehicles

• China’s FY 2010 defense spending increased 7.5% to $78 billion, says Taiwan defense report.

• Up and Down: Wells Fargo upgrades outlook for Raytheon’s shares due to significant international sales by the company, while the investment bank downgrades the outlook for Lockheed Martin’s shares because of tighter DoD budgets.

• The Pentagon is cutting $1.5 billion from the WMD defense budget over the next 5 years; over $1 billion is being moved to fund development of vaccines to combat pandemics, according to a DoD memo obtained by Global Security Newswire.

• India may add another 59 Mi-17 helicopters to its $1.2 billion, 80 helicopter deal from 2008.

• UK commissions its new first-of-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine as HMS Astute, after many delays and technical issues.

• The US Navy’s last Wasp Class LHD, Makin Island, looks like it will face more delays.

• OSI Systems in Hawthorne, CA gets contract worth up to $12 million to provide research support to the US Domestic Nuclear Detection Office.

• USAF is moving ahead with its program to privatize its military housing, which shifts the financial responsibility of renovation, construction, operation, and maintenance of the housing to the private sector. Latest contract was let to Forest City Enterprises for housing at Shaw AFB and Charleston AFB in South Carolina, Arnold AFB in Tennessee, and Keesler AFB in Mississippi.

• Flying Cars?: Yes, it’s true. DARPA is developing a Transformer military transport vehicle that would also be able to take off and fly like an aircraft to avoid roadside bombs; Lockheed Martin and AAI have been selected to develop it, according Popular Mechanics magazine.