Rapid Fire: 2010-09-07

• To Russia, With Request: The Israeli defense minister travels to Moscow to sign a military cooperation accord and to ask that Russia not sell supersonic P-800 Yakhont cruise missiles to Syria and S-300 air defense systems to Iran.

• Anglo-French Entente Cordiale: British, French defense ministers meet to talk about sharing military equipment, such as the A400M military transport plane; reports about sharing aircraft carriers are “entirely unrealistic,” says British minister Fox.

• Faking It: US Navy buys counterfeit computer chips from China, San Jose Mercury News reports. The GAO detailed [PDF] the problem of DoD buying counterfeit parts earlier this year.

• China needs to develop more “carrier-killing” capabilities to challenge US naval dominance in the Pacific, according to the state-controlled Global Times. The country is currently testing its upgraded DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile.

• The South Sudan military takes delivery of first shipment of 4 Mi-17 military transport helicopters from Russia; a total of 10 for $75 million have been ordered.

• The Boeing/Raytheon team’s 2nd government-funded JAGM missile test goes well.

• US federal prosecutors drop fraud charges against Agility over contracts to supply food and logistics to the US military in Kuwait and Iraq after a US judge blocks charges against its Kuwait-based parent company.