Rapid Fire: 2011-07-21 | CIRCM

• The Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Buck Mckeon (R-CA), says that the $866 billion spending-reduction proposal formulated by the ‘Gang of Six’ would not allow the United States to provide ‘safety and security’.

• Despite UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox’s recent announcement of plans to reduce troop levels from 101,000 to 82,000 by 2020, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is struggling to attract voluntary redundancies, particularly from the Royal Navy and Air Force.

• Bidders for the US Army’s Common Infrared Countermeasure (CIRCM) program raise their game by declaring that the products on offer can be adapted for broader applications.

• Boeing holds an industry forum in Brazil to outline opportunities available as part of the company’s F/A-18 Super Hornet offering for the F-X2 competition.

• Russia has ordered two Sukhoi Su-30SM multirole fighters. The new version of the Su-30 is a modification of the Su-30MKI developed for the Indian Air Force. The Russian Air Force is looking to purchase an additional 30 aircraft.

• Meanwhile, Russia’s Chief of the General Staff, General Nikolai Makarov, says the country will move towards ‘virtual battlefield’ military training by 2013. The move is likely to be welcomed by Transas New Technologies, a Russian company that has already impressed Makarov with its battlefield simulation technology.

• India announces the successful test flight of its Prahaar short range tactical missile. The launch was conducted from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Orissa with the missile hitting a pre-designated target in the Bay of Bengal.