Rapid Fire May 1, 2012: Philippines | F-22s | DRS | Arlington
- The Philippines, whose appeal for international arbitration of territorial disputes with China has been rejected by Chinese authorities, wants to develop a “minimum credible defense posture”, gets closer to the US.
- Rory Medcalf from the Lowy Institute for International Policy gives his Australian perspective on US rebalancing toward Asia [PDF]:
“[I]t’s not only or principally China’s navy that been involved in incidents at sea, but in fact more often Chinese civilian and paramilitary agencies, whether they are fisheries, the oceanic administration, or any number of auxiliary actors. In some ways, confrontation with these groups can be more dangerous because civilian agencies probably have less discipline regarding rules of engagement than their military counterparts.”
- The latest DoD Report on progress toward security and stability in Afghanistan [PDF] is out:
“The insurgency’s safe haven in Pakistan, as well as the limited capacity of the Afghan Government, remain the biggest risks to the process of turning security gains into a durable and sustainable Afghanistan.”
- The Associated Press claims that the US military “is under-reporting the number of times that Afghan soldiers and police open fire on American and other foreign troops.”
- Representative Randy Forbes [R-VA, chairman of the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee] in an op. ed. on the Air Force says the US “must seriously consider reopening the F-22 line.”
- Cybersecurity reports and resources [PDF] gathered by the Congressional Research Service.
- DRS Technologies announced a reorganization and the consolidation of its corporate headquarters from New Jersey and Maryland to Arlington, VA. Virginia Governor McDonnell’s Opportunity Fund made a $1M grant to support Arlington County’s facilitation of the move.
- The Acquisition Reform Working Group (ARWG) – a group of defense and business trade associations – thinks [PDF] regulatory changes made with the intention of making the DoD supply chain more secure will have adverse effects like pushing commercial manufacturers away.
- A different type of featured video today, found via The State of NoVa. “Arlington/The saddest acre in our nation”:
