Rapid Fire April 10, 2012: Not So Rare Earths

by Editorial Staff | Apr 10, 2012 | Asia - Other, Britain/U.K., China, Daily Rapid Fire, Fighters & Attack, Japan, Legal, Raytheon, USA

* Concerns about China’s ability to disrupt electronics and defense manufacturing by withholding rare earth materials are blowing over thanks to a ramp up in domestic production. See also this CRS report [PDF]. * The US closed its military bases in the...

Rapid Fire April 9, 2012: Counting Our Blessings

by Editorial Staff | Apr 9, 2012 | Asia - Other, Budgets, China, Europe - Other, Fighters & Attack, Leadership & People, Medical, Mines & Countermine-IED, Policy - Doctrine, Procurement Innovations, Think Tanks, USA

* The US Navy said it would start releasing emergency funds today to start compensating the households whose property was destroyed in an F/A-18 crash on Friday in Virginia Beach. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt: “about as close as you can get to a...

Rapid Fire April 5, 2012: Rationale, Structure, Obligations and Incentives by Contrat Type

by Editorial Staff | Apr 5, 2012 | Africa - Other, Britain/U.K., Budgets, Canada, China, Daily Rapid Fire, Japan, Middle East - Other, Russia, Think Tanks, USA

* The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) put together a convenient chart [PPT] that compares major contract types – FPAF, CPIF, T&M et. al. – to show what risks they intend to mitigate, when they should be used, their main elements, what they commit...

Rapid Fire April 4, 2012: Retrofitting Energy Efficiency

by Editorial Staff | Apr 4, 2012 | Alliances, Asia - Central, Canada, Daily Rapid Fire, Europe - Other, France, Fuel & Power, IT - Software & Integration, Legal, Logistics, Logistics Innovations, T&C - Microsoft, USA

* Pentagon Energy use data from a recent Congressional testimony [PDF] by Sharon Burke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs: “For FY13, DoD anticipates spending over $16 billion on energy for military operations, which will...

Rapid Fire April 3, 2012: Cutting Order Size Is Self-Inflicted Wound

by Editorial Staff | Apr 3, 2012 | Brazil, Budgets, Canada, Daily Rapid Fire, India, USA

* Daniel Goure at the Lexington Institute challenges the value of the “should cost” procurement methodology pushed by Undersecretary of Defense Ashton Carter. He calls it “new” but finds it “rather traditional in nature”. Well,...