Rapid Fire 2012-01-17: Information Preservation Challenges

• The RAND Corporation published a report prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) on what it would take to sustain a competitive military aircraft industry in the US. It comes with plenty of charts on research and procurement spending by contractor and by program, with historical context going back to 1980 and projections into 2025. Among the sustainment scenarios the research firm looked at: resuming production of F-22s for export, and starting a new bomber.

• Wired: “The Defense Department’s networks, as currently configured, are ‘not defensible,’ according to the general in charge of protecting those networks.” Among other threats, malware that targets DoD smart cards.

• The US Army is pausing its Enterprise Email migration until it has finished turning it into a formal acquisition program with the Army Acquisition Executive as its milestone decision authority (MDA), then reported to Congress.

• Preserving technical documentation across decades, from old-school 2D printed blueprints to CAD computer files in various formats is proving to be a headache because of physical deterioration, skill loss and fast digital obsolescence. Libraries around the world have been working on long-term preservation methodologies for years individually and together through organizations such as the OCLC, but they don’t face the same operational obligations.

• US, Israel postpone “Austere Challenge” missile defense exercise.

• The USA’s 2nd Independence Class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 4 Coronado) is christened.

• Over at HII, they’re touting a naval “Patrol Frigate 4921” that could be based on the US Coast Guard’s frigate-sized Legend Class National Security Cutters. They’ll need a customer, though.

• The British Armed Forces are about to go through their 2nd tranche of personnel reduction of up to 400 people in the Navy, 900 in the Air Force and 2,900 in the Army.

• Canada’s Ottawa Citizen: “The deputy minister of Defence approved a $374,000 renovation to his executive suite just three weeks after the department circulated a business plan highlighting the need to save money and eliminate the jobs of at least 2,100 civilian public servants…”