Rapid Fire July 16, 2013: Russia Tests Its Siberian Readiness, Neighbors’ Nerves

by Editorial Staff | Jul 16, 2013 | Africa - Other, Britain/U.K., Budgets, China, Daily Rapid Fire, General Dynamics, IT - Networks & Bandwidth, Japan, Missiles - Anti-Ship, Nuclear Weapons, Oceans - International, Policy - Doctrine, Procurement Innovations, Russia, South Korea, Tanks & Mechanized, Think Tanks, USA

* Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a massive surprise exercise last Friday in the Eastern Military District, which he is now overseeing himself. With 160,000 men, 5,000 tanks and armored vehicles, 130 aircraft, and 70 warships, nothing of this scale had been...

Rapid Fire July 15, 2013: KMW and Nexter Reportedly in Merger Talks

by Editorial Staff | Jul 15, 2013 | Canada, China, Daily Rapid Fire, Fighters & Attack, France, Germany, GPS Infrastructure, India, Japan, Mergers & Acquisitions, People, Surface Ships - Other, USA

* According to a German financial newspaper, vehicle manufacturers Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Nexter are well on their way to negotiate a merger. Handelsblatt [in German] | Les Echos [in French]. * 5 Chinese ships coming back from a joint exercise with Russia...

Rapid Fire July 12, 2013: US Bill Introduced to Get DoD Civilians Unfurloughed

by Editorial Staff | Jul 12, 2013 | Airbus, Asia - Other, China, Contracts - Awards, Daily Rapid Fire, DARPA, Forces - Naval, Germany, Helicopters & Rotary, Logistics, Policy - Doctrine, Think Tanks, USA

* US congressman John Barrow [D-GA, centrist voting track record] introduced a bill (H.R. 2613) to exempt civilian DoD staff from furloughs, in addition to military personnel already exempt since before the furloughs started. That bill does not look very likely to get...

Rapid Fire July 11, 2013: Pentagon Sequestration Contingency Planning Lacks Specificity

by Editorial Staff | Jul 11, 2013 | Asia - Central, Britain/U.K., Budgets, China, Daily Rapid Fire, India, Logistics, Middle East - Other, Missiles - Ballistic, Nuclear Weapons, Official Reports, Scandals & Investigations, Submarines, USA

* US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sent a letter [PDF] to the Senate Armed Services Committee’s leadership outlining the consequences of keeping sequestration in place next year, though the Pentagon has yet to produce anything granular enough to express more...

IPG Ad Agency President Slanders US Army and Personnel as “Prejudiced… Deeply Flawed… Low Average Esteem, Suicidal Tendencies”

by Joe Katzman | Jul 10, 2013 | Contracts - Awards, Marketing & Advertising, USA

In December 2005, AdAge reported that the U.S. Army had awarded the US government’s largest single ad account to Interpublic Group of Cos. (IPG) McCann Erickson in New York, NY, following a series of on-again, off again account reviews. IPG has held on to the...