Rapid Fire 2011-05-05: Body Armor Vests

* Boeing charged the US Army $13 million more than the “fair and reasonable” price for 18 parts, the DoD Inspector General concludes [PDF]; so far, Boeing has refunded $1.6 million. * House Armed Services Committee panels release details of FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act markups. * Australia’s DoD adapting to new disclosure rules for all government agencies. * Australia delivers its initial report on its MRH-90 (NH90) helicopter program. Short version? The program’s on probation. * US AFSOC begins running a transportable $7.5M waste to energy plasma system at Hurlburt Airfield, FL. It has 5x more capacity than the next biggest system using this technology. * The textile specialists at Ehmke Manufacturing have designed a new system of body armor vests and attachments they call “Higher Ground.” They’ve put some thought into it, too… check it out. * NATO-related spending is expected to fuel a turnaround in the Romanian defense market, from a 1.5% decline from 2006 to 2010 to 2.8% annual growth through 2015, according to iCD Research. * ATK receives more than $488 million in US Army orders to produce a mix of 5.56mm, 7.62mm and .50 caliber military ammunition at the Lake City Army Ammunition […]