* General David Petraeus wins unanimous Senate confirmation to replace Leon Panetta as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. * The Chief Executive Officer of the Aerospace Industries Association calls for increased investment in research and development so that...
USA Articles
Rapid Fire Morning 2011-06-30: Weapons for Libyan Rebels
* In his last interview before stepping down as US Defense Secretary, Robert Gates says that military spending is not the main cause of the United States' $1.4 trillion budget deficit. * The Government Accountability Office (GAO) publishes its report Further Actions...
WNAN: DARPA’s Idea for Next-Generation Soldier Networks
Not ideal. At present, many soldiers don't have communications radios because the hardware is too expensive. Buying 2-way radios from Radio Shack before deployments solved that problem for some soldiers, but insecure communications created others. On the high end, the...
Rapid Fire Evening 2011-06-29: Safety in the Indian Ocean
* The Dutch Defense Minister, Hans Hillen, replicates outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and uses a Security and Defence Agenda event to call for a greater pooling of resources among NATO's European partners. * President Barack Obama tells a press...
Rapid Fire Morning 2011-06-29: Australian Equipment Disposal
* The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passes a measure that authorizes President Obama to conduct a 'limited' military engagement in Libya. Note that the committee can't actually authorize any such thing, but it can set up a full Senate vote. * In an interview for...
UH-60M VIP Helicopters for the UAE
US UH-60M carriesIraqi PM, 2007(click to view full) June 24/11: The US DSCA announces [PDF] the United Arab Emirates' formal request for 5 UH-60M Black Hawk VIP helicopters. The move will bring the UAE's UH-60M fleet to 45 helicopters, which breaks down as at least 17...
Morocco Boosting its Air Defense System
MPQ-64F1 Sentinel(click to view full) June 24/11: The US DSCA announces [PDF] Morocco's official request to buy 8 AN/MPQ-64F1 Improved Sentinel radars, 8 M1152 HMMWV Sentinel transports, 8 accompanying AN/VRC-92E SINCGARS Vehicular Dual Long-Range System Radios, plus...
$64.4M for Brigade Garrison in Ghazni, Afghanistan
The Lakeshore TolTest JV, LLC in Detroit, MI recently won a $64.4 million firm-fixed-price contract to design and build a brigade garrison at "Deh Yak Ghazni", Afghanistan. Work will be performed in Ghazni, Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of Jan 30/13....
Rapid Fire: Evening 2011-06-28
* At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on President Obama's unilateral decision to engage US forces in Libya, State Department Advisor Harold Koh stated that Congressional approval was not required due to the 'limited' nature of military operations....

