Rapid Fire April 18, 2012: Obsolescence Management

• NATO, Australia hope to be able to rely on Afghan forces to fight the Taliban by next year: Washington Times | US Joint Chiefs of Staff | NYT | Speech by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

• US Senator Richard Lugar [R-IN], ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, says the Obama administration should not bypass early, informal consultations with Congress before formally notifying it of a planned foreign military sale.

• The Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) portal is a new online resource set up to help DoD and its industry partners to “implement best practices for monitoring, tracking, resolving, and performing analytical logistic and engineering analysis related to obsolescence impacts.”