* According to Reuters, US Acquisition Undersecretary Frank Kendall allowed the use of Chinese magnets in F-35 components to avoid delays for lack of parts. Such magnets often depend on rare-earth materials.
* The UAE is reportedly concerned that US components on satellites they’re to acquire from France may be used as backdoors.
* BAE Systems has successfully tested 3D-printed parts on Tornado GR4s.
US Business
* Huntington Ingalls Industries acquired for undisclosed terms the S.M. Stoller Corporation, a technical consulting and engineering firm with a specialty in the nuclear field.
* Boeing gained the upper hand over unions after machinists voted to agree to the company’s terms on future pensions. In return the 777x will be built in Seattle. Washington state is traditionally seen as one of the states where organized labor is strongest in the US. But with 24 states now featuring right-to-work legislation, unions have been getting weaker and weaker.
Tired Aussie Patrols
* Australia’s Herald Sun: The navy’s patrol boat fleet is over worked and under maintained
Lebanon, Again a Proxy Battleground
* Foreign Policy: Can anyone stop Lebanon’s descent into chaos?
* Al-Monitor: What next after death of al-Qaeda leader in Lebanon?
* Today’s video shows the Cape Ray, a former merchant ship to be used in the Mediterranean to dispose of Syria’s chemical weapons:
