* The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (aka Supercommittee – will it fly?) will have its first organization meeting on Thursday September 8. This will no doubt lead to a string of announcements from interested parties throughout the week. Bloomberg says lobbyists employed by primes have their work cut out for them.
* Member of US House Armed Services Committee Susan Davis (D-CA) tells the San Diego Union-Tribune she sees a need for more cybersecurity, drones, and special forces. LCS and carriers: yes (well, this is San Diego); JSF: maybe we don’t need the numbers that were initially projected. In an interview with Bloomberg Government, the chiefs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees similarly come out in support of an outward-looking role for the US in the world that would translate into continued funding support for projection forces.
* John Tierney (D-MA) introduced a bill to create a new Inspector General to supervise contingency contracting, in line with recommendations in the final report of the Commission on Wartime Contracting, reports The Hill.
* Meanwhile, the Washington Post implies that service contractors providing law enforcement, training or translation support that saw strong growth in Iraq and Afghanistan are in for difficult adjustments unless they find new opportunities in countries like Sudan or Libya.
* The Russian Ministry of defense announced (in Russian – see this Russian Forces post in English) a successful Topol (SS-25) missile launch to test 20+ year service life and new warheads. This follows tests from October last year.
* China denies having sold weapons to Qaddafi in fight against rebels. Over last weekend the Globe and Mail said they had obtained documents that showed that “state-controlled Chinese arms manufacturers were prepared to sell weapons and ammunition worth at least $200-million.” Under discussion according to the Canadian newspaper: truck-mounted rocket launchers; fuel-air explosive missiles; anti-tank missiles, and QW-18 man-portable surface-to-air missiles (MANPADS).
* According to Reuters citing unnamed sources, Raytheon tasked JPMorgan Chase & Co with auctioning ELCAN Optical Technologies. Raytheon and JPMorgan didn’t comment nor confirm.
* BAE begins showcasing its ADAPTIV “cloak” of hexagonal metal pixels meant to increase stealth in the infrared spectrum. The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) contributed to funding R&D. See embedded video below and this Defense Update article.