Rapid Fire 2012-02-24: Federal Acquisition Rules – Or Lack Of – Circa 1941

by Editorial Staff | Feb 24, 2012 | Africa - Other, Britain/U.K., Budgets, Canada, Daily Rapid Fire, Issues - International, Logistics Innovations, Soldier's Gear

* Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Bob Pap made his annual State of the Coast Guard address [PDF]. On acquisition: “[T]here was a time when the Coast Guard operated 8 polar ice breakers. How did that happen? In 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed a...

Rapid Fire 2012-23-02: Connected People

by Editorial Staff | Feb 23, 2012 | Daily Rapid Fire, Fighters & Attack, Legal, Middle East - Other, Official Reports, People, Scandals & Investigations, T&C - SAIC, Think Tanks, USA

* Turkey plans to proceed with its F-35 plans according to Reuters, while the US Defense Acquisitions Board (DAB) recently met to recertify the program because of its 2010 Nunn-McCurdy rule breach. See also the Feb. 16 update of the F-35 CRS backgrounder [PDF]....

Rapid Fire 2011-02-21: Private vs. Public, Local vs. Global?

by Editorial Staff | Feb 21, 2012 | Australia & S. Pacific, Britain/U.K., Budgets, Daily Rapid Fire, France, People, Politics, Russia

* Spending on private consultants within the UK’s Framework Agreement for Technical Support (FATS) is again making headlines: The Telegraph; The Guardian. Soon after being appointed, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said last year that he was working on it. *...

Rapid Fire 02-20-12: Chinese State-Owned Entreprises

by Editorial Staff | Feb 20, 2012 | Alliances, Americas - Other, Britain/U.K., Budgets, China, Daily Rapid Fire, France, Guns - Personal Weapons, Helicopters & Rotary, Middle East - Other, Think Tanks, USA

* France and Great Britain had a summit last Friday where they announced they are tightening their defense and nuclear energy cooperation. The two countries plan to establish a Joint Force headquarters and confirmed their joint UAV plans. * According to The Telegraph...

Rapid Fire 2012-02-17: Sculpt, Don’t Just Cut

by Editorial Staff | Feb 17, 2012 | Daily Rapid Fire, Europe - Other, Japan, Legal, Middle East - Other, Think Tanks, USA

* German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the first rule of peace talks with the Taliban is, you don’t talk about peace talks. Well, he didn’t actually paraphrase Fight Club, but that’s the substance of his position expressed during a joint...