* US Defense Acquisition Undersecretary Frank Kendall issued a memo [PDF] on should cost management giving some flexibility to the services to provide them an incentive to pursue savings:
“Components will continue to baseline acquisition budgets using will cost estimates and CAPE Independent Cost Estimates when available […] However, successful should cost initiatives should drive down future program budgets once the savings have been demonstrated and realized. Components have the latitude to apply savings to their most pressing unfunded requirements, or may reinvest this funding within the same programs to accelerate the acquisition, fund cost-reduction initiatives, or cover critical unfunded requirements.”
* There may be less to Al Qaeda’s foiled terror plots in Yemen than the country’s government claimed yesterday.
* Registan.net tries to parse the Taliban’s latest Eid message. There’s been an increased focus over the years on their anti-corruption political platform.
* The return of American troops to the Philippines seems to be getting closer.
* Did India really receive less than $5 million of total defense foreign direct investment (FDI) over 13 years? That seems too ridiculously low to be true. Whatever the number is, it is leaving the Ministry of Defence unfazed, as they are sticking to their position that going beyond 26% foreign ownership of an Indian defense firm or joint venture will remain subject to case-by-case cabinet approval.
* Case in point: India wants their future $5B battle management system to be made locally.
* The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) has a new paper [PDF] on the evolution of precision strike.
* CSC’s Q1 FY14 revenue was down 10.3% to $3.2B, though they claim adjustments to a more comparable basis would lead to a more modest 6.1% drop.
* Huntington Ingalls Industries’ 2nd quarter sales were down 2.2% to $1.68B. With $5.3B in new awards, total backlog grew to $20.7B (66% funded), up 20% from $17.2B at the end of the previous quarter.
* James Mattis, a retired USMC general who until recently led USCENTCOM, has joined General Dynamics’ board.
* The US Army now anticipates to release its final RFP for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) in mid-September.
* The US Navy’s PMW/A -170 office is adapting GPS anti jam components already found on P-3 Orions to put them in F/A-18 Hornets, Fire Scout UAVs, and on ships too. With distinct constraints comes the need for different antennas, but common components lower costs. More in the video below:
