* The White House finally withdrew [Navy Times] the nomination of Jo Ann Rooney as the US Navy’s Undersecretary, after a year in limbo [Next Navy]. The Administration will have to nominate people whose qualifications don’t seem such a stretch for the job [CDR Salamander] if they want confirmations to stand a chance through a Senate (most likely) counting at least 53 Republicans.
* Senator John McCain [R-AZ] will prioritize [Defense News] repealing sequestration and going after cost overruns, once he’s chairman of the Armed Services Committee early next year. As the Avascent consultancy noted last week, McCain is a vocal critic of the F-35 and LCS programs, so the looming SSC/LCS decision for one will no doubt come under heavy scrutiny.
* The Pentagon’s Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) released data on acquisition competition late last month showing that DoD slighly exceeded its goal to compete 58% of FY14 procurement. But many of the Navy and Air Force’s large acquisitions – especially aircraft – remain sole sourced, with NAVAIR and AFMC‘s procurement reaching under 23% and 36% competed respectively. PDF | XLS.
Near & Mid East
* NATO is conducting the Blue Whale 2014 exercise in eastern Mediterranean where military activity has been increasing [Al Monitor]. Turkey’s Navy was given new rules of engagement [Hurriyet] in the area a few days ago that they were quick to test with one of their submarines, according to Cypriot media Sigmalive via Famagusta Gazette. After the double-dealing with ISIS, this is going to raise further questions about Turkey’s status within NATO.
* Iran showed a video of the UAV they claimed they were able to clone from a captured US RQ-170. It is likely [Jane’s] that the copy is rather superficial.
Helos in the Stans
* Russia continues to tout a possible deal [Radio Pakistan] for Mi-35 helicopters with Pakistan, no doubt with India as the main intended recipient of their messaging.
* Azerbaijani forces shot down [Reuters] an Armenian military helicopter in the Nagorno-Karabakh region where they last clashed 20 years ago.
Careful Using that Wifi
* According to Kaspersky, a security software firm, a threat actor they dubbed Darkhotel [PDF] has been mixing basic and sophisticated tactics to go after executives in industries including defense. Beware what looks like software updates from the likes of Adobe or Microsoft while you’re using a hotel’s wifi connection, and make sure to use a VPN. Separately the firm has also published more details on the first victims of the 2010 Stuxnet attack.
Zhuhai Air Show
* DefenseOne asks why did the US send a C-17 to a Chinese air show despite concerns? The answer seems to be “General Officer Bright Idea” (GOBI), which is the military version of HiPPO (highest paid person’s opinion) in civilian circles.
* That’s while South Korea cancelled [WSJ] the appearance of its aerobatics team under US pressure because their T-50s include American tech.
* Today’s video is China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)’s promotional clip for the show, which is looking somewhat like what a Western company would produce. Can we advise more cowbell and higher-res CGI though?
