Americas
* Lockheed is protesting the award to its competitor of the massive JLTV program. The GAO said that the decision on the protest would be made before things start to close up in D.C. for Christmas. AM General, the other firm losing to Oshkosh, opted not to protest.
* President Obama’s call for new heavy ice breakers was a bit of a turn-around, as his last budget proposal cut the one that was contemplated. Were priorities to shift, a new Coast Guard icebreaker would take about a decade to field.
* The New York Times story casting the Pentagon as moving to iterate its Syrian rebel training efforts continues to collect more detail as follow-on coverage corroborates some of the program’s striking failures. Janes 360 noted that the Pentagon has yet to adjust its goal of fielding 5,400 fighters by the end of 2015, even as they have graduated only 54 people to date.
Asia
* The FAA tinkered with its guidance on model aircraft operations, bringing it into a parallel process with the development of drone policies. In some ways it was hard for the FAA to argue for a restrictive measure when model airplanes have been flying without those restrictions for decades.
Europe
* Bulgaria reportedly refused to let Russia use its airspace to reach Syria, fearing that the transport planes are not carrying aid, as the Russians have claimed.
* Russia’s land-based arms exports exceeded $12 billion across more than 700 pieces of equipment, according to state-run TASS.
* The sensitive work of removing Russian equipment from the Mistrals that France is refusing to deliver will take place in a few weeks. Among the sensitive systems are combat information control systems, missile fire control, and the helicopter landing control module.
* BlueBird, an Israeli drone maker, revised its ThunderB UAV. It weighs 61 pounds, with BlueBird shooting for a mid-market platform niche, with lower weight and expense, coupled with a high ratio of lift capacity, range and endurance.
Today’s Video
* Icebreakers are popular again. Here is a timelapse sequence showing the Nathaniel B. Palmer breaking ice, reducing 5 months into 5 minutes…
