National Defense articles from March 2009

National Defense archives from March 2009

Buy American restrictions: bad for jobs, bad for business.(PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE)
March 1, 2009... The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 set the stage for a heated debate on the importance of global trade as one of the nation's greatest sources of economic strength. Earlier versions of the legislation contained draconian...

Message to weapons buyers: make it cheaper and faster.(DEFENSE WATCH)
March 1, 2009... The Pentagon has been put on notice that the days of lavish spending are over and it must make "tough choices" about what weapons to buy. But even it the military does end up pulling the plug on wasteful spending, that still leaves...

Praise for Marine Corps.(READERS' FORUM: VIEWS ... COMMENTS ... SUGGESTIONS)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2009... I read with great interest Kimberly Johnson's December 2008 article, "Marine Companies Win Praise, but Also More Responsibility," highlighting the Marine Corps shifting more authority to its company commanders and pushing responsibility to...

Clinton: USAID must regain credibility.(WASHINGTON PULSE: NEWS FROM INSIDE THE BELTWAY)
March 1, 2009... * U.S. commanders in Afghanistan repeatedly have asked for non-military help, such as engineers, agronomists and reconstruction experts. Such assistance typically would come from the U.S. Agency for International Development. But USAID is a...

Export controls rhetoric not backed with actions.(WASHINGTON PULSE: NEWS FROM INSIDE THE BELTWAY)
March 1, 2009... * The defense industry for years has complained that export-control regulations undermine U.S. competitiveness in the global economy and also undercut military alliances with friendly nations. But most of that talk is not backed up by any real...

Some troops don't get fair share of deployment burdens.(WASHINGTON PULSE: NEWS FROM INSIDE THE BELTWAY)
March 1, 2009... * A Pentagon advisory panel suggests that Army and Marine Corps troop-rotation methods may be partly to blame for the stress in the force. The Defense Business Board, made up of former Pentagon and industry officials, parsed military payroll...

Everything competes for the same pot of resources...
March 1, 2009... "Everything competes for the same pot of resources... a lot of hands are going in." Rear Adm. Victor G. Guillory, director of Navy surface warfare, predicting a tough budgetary environment for the service.

I will tell you that we will, over the next five years.
March 1, 2009... "I will tell you that we will, over the next five years, fly more unmanned vehicles than we will fly manned vehicles." Lt. Gen. Norman Seip 12th Air Force and Air Force Southern

It took the Army 13 years to fly the first 100,000 hours.
March 1, 2009... "It took the Army 13 years to fly the first 100,000 hours. From the start of the war it took 10 months' to fly the next 100,000 hours." Tim Owings, manager of Army aviation programs, speaking about the number of hours flown by the...

Fear itself: emotions drive many homeland security decisions, scholars say.(SECURITY BEAT: HOMELAND DEFENSE BRIEFS)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * When it comes to spending funds on the nation's security, the U.S. government must make risk-based decisions, but should they be based on logic or emotions? There is a small, but increasingly vocal group of...

DHS testing 'squid' to halt border-jumping vehicles.(SECURITY BEAT)
March 1, 2009... The Department of Homeland Security is funding technology aimed at stopping drug runners and migrants from speeding through border checkpoints. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The department is testing the Safe Quick Undercarriage...

Coast guard to beef up vessel identification network.(SECURITY BEAT)
March 1, 2009... The Coast Guard has embarked on an initiative to improve communication between its land bases and vessels at sea. The service in December awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp. to build the Nationwide Automatic...

Correction.(SECURITY BEAT)(Correction notice)
March 1, 2009... In the February story, "DHS Pilot Program to Focus on State Emergency Planning," (p. 13) Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart was misidentified as ah Army officer.

Building a cybersecurity lab.(INSIDE SCIENCE + TECHNOLOGY)
March 1, 2009... Shortly before the Russian military drove tanks into the restive region of South Ossetia last year, a cyber-attack hit neighboring Georgia, knocking government and news organization websites offline for days. In January, a similar digital...

Choke point: hijacked super tanker exposes vulnerability of energy supplies.(Energy)
March 1, 2009... The hijacking on the high seas by Somali pirates of a super tanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil destined for the United States created many troubling precedents and makes the vulnerability of energy supplies quite clear. No less...

Uncertain future: military may be souring on laser weapons.(Laser Technology)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Pentagon's enthusiasm for laser weapons is not what it used to be. Disappointing technical performance, competing budget priorities and uncertainty about the military's future missions could jeopardize...

To catch a smuggler: in the war on drugs, even small victories are celebrated.(War On Drugs)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN THE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN -- An Air Force surveillance plane takes off on a balmy December evening flora Curacao, a Dutch island dependency off the northern coast of South America. After reaching altitude,...

Danger afloat: no silver bullet for thwarting terrorists aboard small boats.
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 9/11 attacks proved that terrorists can use virtually any vehicle to strike. Small boats are no exception. And experts agree they will remain a weapon of choice in the maritime environment, given their low...

Military weapons adapted for port defense.(Port Security)
March 1, 2009... Technologies that for decades have been tested and deployed by the U.S. military are now being tailored for use by the Department of Homeland Security to protect the nation's ports. Among them are radar, unmanned patrol boats, underwater...

After six years, still no tamper-proof shipping containers.(Port Security)
March 1, 2009... After a six-year search for a tamper-proof shipping container, no product has been fielded and one major vendor has dropped out of the race, citing a lack of progress by the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Customs and Border...

Global monitor: space sensor measures aerosol impact on climate.(TECHTALK: A TIP-SHEET ON THE LATEST GADGETS)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NASA will soon be receiving a space-based system that should help scientists better understand the impact of aerosols on climate change and global warming. Under development by Raytheon Co. of El Segundo, Calif.,...

Machine gun ammo pack redesigned.(TECHTALK: A TIP-SHEET ON THE LATEST GADGETS)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Reusable softpacks for squad level M249 machine guns are being used by soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and UN forces that are deployed at hotspots around the world. The improved packs were designed by Polymer...

Contractors should protect their reputation.(Ethics Corner)
March 1, 2009... Professional reputation is important for all businesses. But for government contractors, reputation in the form of past performance information often makes the difference between winning or losing a contract. Contractors must ensure the...

Industry, government participate in NDIA's Certification Program.(NDIA NEWS)
March 1, 2009... Four organizations--Lockheed Martin Corp., U.S. Army ARDEC, Ball Aerospace and COLSA Corp.--were the largest participants in NDIA's Configuration and Data Management Certification program for 2007. Employees completed the Technical Information...