Damned if you do, damned if you don't * Giovanni de Briganti argues that EADS' 5,800 job cuts look like a red rag to a bull to the French and German governments since the company has a strong balance sheet, a huge backlog, and is creating jobs in Poland. Germany will...
Looking for More Leonards * In the wake of the Glenn Defense Marine Asia investigation, US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus ordered [PDF] a review of the service's acquisition of all port services contracts worldwide. * Northrop Grumman paid $11.4M to settle...
Questions Without Easy Answers * To grow exports, should US manufacturers stick with offsets or consider genuine work shares? The fear is to eventually spawn competitors rather than partners. * Have restrictive US Rules of Engagement contributed to a long-standing...
MOIRE concept(click to view full) In physics, a moire pattern is an interference pattern created when two grids are overlaid at an angle, or when they have slightly different mesh sizes. It's an appropriate name for DARPA's Membrane Optic Imager Real-Time Exploitation...
* Booz & Co's strategy + business magazine has "A Skeptic's Guide to 3D Printing", which applies the time-tested forecasting approach Wright developed at the Curtiss Aeroplane Company. We're fans of Additive Manufacturing - my next set of glasses are being made this...
USA * One of Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter's last acts involved an interim policy to replace the previous DoD Instruction 5000.02 acquisition guidelines supplement. The defense Acquisition Portal's Program Management Community of Practice builds on that...
F125 Concept(click to expand) Over the last decade, a belief has taken root in global naval circles that shallow littoral chokepoints for maritime trade, operations in and around failed states like Somalia, and expeditionary stabilization operations, will become key...
DLA: It's a Blast! This week DID's Olivier Travers is attending WBR's 2013 Defense Logistics event. Email me if you'd like to meet up or submit logistics themes for us to look into. Vice Admiral Mark Harnitchek has been heading the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for 2...
USA * Christine Fox will succeed Ashton Carter as the USA's Deputy Defense Secretary. The acting DDS is a budget specialist who was part of a recent management review, and has served as president of the federally funded R&D Center for Naval Analyses. * After...