National Defense articles from May 2004

National Defense archives from May 2004

'Information fusion' key to winning wars.(President's Perspective)
May 1, 2004... When Air Force Secretary James Roche was asked recently what he thought was the most effective platform in the war on terrorism, the answer may surprise a lot of people. Roche said the most helpful system was not an airplane or a combat...

Congress fears another contras scandal.(Washington Pulse)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Despite widespread support on Capitol Hill to put Iraq and Afghanistan back on their feet, the Pentagon has had a tough time getting $500 million authorized in 2005 to train and equip those nations armies. The reason is that many lawmakers fear...

Industry consolidation contributed to tanker woes.(Washington Pulse)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The Air Force would have been much better off if there had been more than one U.S. competitor bidding for the air-refueling tanker program, says Secretary James Roche. Ongoing investigations into procurement irregularities associated with an...

Romania prepares bases to host U.S. troops.(Washington Pulse)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... As part of a global realignment of U.S. forces, the Defense Department could be expected to move a yet-to-be determined number of troops to Romania. George Cristian Maior, the Romanian secretary of state, says Pentagon officials and experts...

Request for more C-17s up in the air.(Washington Pulse)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Although the U.S. Transportation Command repeatedly has asked the Air Force to buy more C-17 heavy lift cargo airplanes, a decision to do so is far from certain. Congress already approved 180 aircraft, but TRANSCOM would like 222, based on the...

U.S. beefs up security on railway systems.(Security beat: homeland defense briefs)
May 1, 2004... In the aftermath of the March terrorist attacks on Spanish rail and mass transit lines, the Department of Homeland Security is stepping up safeguards on U.S. rail systems. Many of these efforts began after 9/11, but they are getting more...

Budget amendment good news for DHS.(Security beat: homeland defense briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... A recently introduced amendment to the homeland security budget is poised to increase resources for domestic defense by more than $1.2 billion. U.S. Rep. Jim Turner, ranking member of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security,...

Air Force adopts biometrics security systems.(Security beat: homeland defense briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... U.S. Air Force bases will be installing biometrics security systems to help control access. Scott Air Force Base, Ill., is one of several facilities to employ the biometric HandReaders technology produced by IR Recognition Systems. HandReader...

Army lends a hand to homeland security.(Security beat: homeland defense briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The U.S. Army's research and development arm is looking for ways to facilitate technology transfer to homeland defense agencies, according to service officials. The Research Development and Engineering Command is developing a plan to support...

Congressional oversight needed in homeland defense.(Security beat: homeland defense briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The Department of Homeland Security needs a certain level of congressional oversight to function properly, according to James Jay Carafano, of the Heritage Foundation. Congress, for its part, needs to be properly organized to be able to provide...

Nearly $7 billion going to states and cities.(Security beat: homeland defense briefs)
May 1, 2004... The Department of Homeland Security plans to issue $6.9 billion in grants to state and local governments in fiscal year 2004, according to a report by INPUT, a consulting service based in Reston, Va. That's half a billion dollars less than the...

Erratum.(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2004... Erratum: The C-141 Starlifter transport, mentioned on p. 37 of the April 2004 edition of National Defense, is 168 feet in length, rather than 93 feet, as stated in the article.

Fiscal Storm on the Horizon .(Defense Watch)
May 1, 2004... One of the Washington cliches du jour in 1999 was "defense budget train wreck." It described what was then viewed as a dicey situation facing the Defense Department: its budget was estimated to be too small to pay for the services' ambitious...

Commanders ponder how best to mend battlefield logistics.(Up Front)
May 1, 2004... A team of about 100 logistics experts dispatched to Iraq earlier this year pinpointed serious problems in the distribution of military supplies in the war zone, and is taking steps to solve them. The ad hoc group--known as the deployment...

Defense Dept. studying options to lower cost of GPS receivers.(Up Front)
May 1, 2004... Information-age technologies such as software radio and miniaturized electronics could, one day, make it possible for soldiers to combine their global positioning satellite receivers and handheld radios into a single device. Experts caution,...

Pentagon rethinks management approach to joint tactical radio.(Up Front)
May 1, 2004... The Defense Department's ambitious plans to replace every military radio with a single radio system are being dampened somewhat by the difficulties in coordination among the services and the sheer scope of the project. To expedite the...

Battery hitches hamper performance of army smart munitions programs.(Up Front)
May 1, 2004... The production of smart munitions may be jeopardized by instability in the battery manufacturing sector, Army officials fear. Although batteries often are not viewed as critical components, some munitions programs have been delayed because of...

Army video games shaped by growing need for junior-officer training tools.(Up Front)
May 1, 2004... To help sharpen junior officers' decision-making skills in peacekeeping and nation-building operations, the Army is banking on its multimillion-dollar investment in video game technology. Although not everyone is convinced that video games...

Pentagon review approaching for Army-Navy air-to-ground missile.(Up Front)
May 1, 2004... Proponents of joint-service weapon programs will be watching closely the outcome of an upcoming Pentagon review for a new air-to-ground missile, to be launched from Army, Marine Corps and Navy aircraft. If the Defense Department's top...

Degree of violence surprised officials.(Up Front)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Although Army officials insist that they had anticipated a certain level of violence in post-Saddam Iraq, they still were surprised by the "quantity and quality" of the attacks, said Gen. Dan K. McNeill. McNeill, who heads the U.S. Army...

Weapon evaluators must change, or risk irrelevance, warns Christie.(Up Front)
May 1, 2004... At a time when the military services are rushing to field new equipment to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many systems see combat before they go through operational testing. This is one among several reasons why weapon test organizations must...

Army not yet sold on hybrid vehicles.(Up Front)
May 1, 2004... The Army's decision to stop funding the production of hybrid-electric Humvees is a clear sign that military vehicles will continue to be a tough sell in the world of fuel-efficient technologies. During the past decade, the Army has...

Smart missiles: weapons can switch targets in flight, send back pictures.
May 1, 2004... The Army is beginning to develop sophisticated "smart" missiles and launchers, intended to be deployed in advance of maneuver forces. Operated by remote control from miles away, these weapons would destroy enemy armored vehicles and other...

Warfare by remote control: security robot could protect military bases.
May 1, 2004... A long-awaited robotic security system--capable of detecting intruders, assessing their intentions, communicating their location and even stopping them in their tracks--will be evaluated next month at Hawthorne Army Depot, Nev. The Mobile...

Marine Gladiator charges ahead.
May 1, 2004... After splitting from a joint ground robotics program with the U.S. Army, the Marines decided to build their own unmanned combat vehicle, called the Gladiator. "The Army chose FCS [future combat systems], and the Marines said they can't...

Vehicles proliferate in the battlefield.(Army Unmanned Air)
May 1, 2004... The U.S. Army is committing increasing resources to developing sharply enhanced surveillance, communications and weapons for unmanned aerial vehicles. It also is developing tactical doctrine to deploy these assets from corps to company levels....

Joint-service focus shapes UAV roadmap.(Army Unmanned Air)
May 1, 2004... The Pentagon is working on a new roadmap for unmanned aerial vehicles to accommodate the rapid growth in UAV programs seen in the past several years. The document will be updated by the middle of 2005, said Dyke Weatherington, deputy of the UAV...

Army plans to network ground robots and unmanned aircraft.(Army Unmanned Air)
May 1, 2004... Army researchers are working on a program that would pair autonomous unmanned aircraft with ground robots. A demonstration of this networking capability is scheduled for October, at Fort Dix, N.J., under me oversight of the...

Underwater robots.(Navy Adjusts Course for)
May 1, 2004... The Navy is updating its blueprint for future undersea robotic vehicles to reflect recent changes in military strategy. A revised "master plan," expected in about a year, will emphasize joint-service operations and interoperability between...

Unmanned tactical aircraft.(China is Pursuing)
May 1, 2004... China has been quietly at work pursuing unmanned aircraft technologies both domestically and from foreign partners. It also is marketing its drones to friendly nations in Asia and Africa, according to a Chinese industry official. "It is...

India catching up with advances in UAVs.
May 1, 2004... India is looking to beef up its domestic capabilities by rapidly developing a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles. The slow development of indigenous UAVs forced India to drop around $300 million to purchase the Heron and Searcher-II systems from...

Air force refines training programs for UAV operators.
May 1, 2004... With growing numbers of Predator and Global Hawk unmanned aircraft expected to enter service in the years ahead, the U.S. Air Force is solidifying plans to train operators and support crews. For the Predator now armed with Hellfire...

Schoolhouses for UAV Pilots up and running.
May 1, 2004... The U.S. Army has set up training programs for the Hunter and new Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. E Company of the 305th Military Intelligence Battalion, 111th MI Brigade, is the schoolhouse for UAV operators. The...

Infantry troops will test backpack-size drones.
May 1, 2004... The Army 25th Infantry Division will be testing later, this year five unmanned air vehicle systems--small UAVs called micro air vehicles." Each MAV system contains a ground control station and two air vehicles in a backpack weighing 40 pounds...

Defending harbors: Coast Guard requiring ports to tighten security.
May 1, 2004... The U.S. Coast Guard has begun aggressive enforcement of the Maritime Transportation Act in an effort to increase protection of the nation's ports and waterways from terrorist attack, according to the service's vice commandant, Vice Adm. Thomas...

Patrols keeping watchful eye on Potomac.
May 1, 2004... Puttering along in the Boundary Channel of the Potomac River, near the Pentagon, the operator of the slow-moving dinghy warily watched the sleek, red and gray Coast Guard response boat as it approached. Would he be stopped and questioned? Would...

Coast Guard sets path for aviation upgrades.
May 1, 2004... The U.S. Coast Guard is moving briskly on its multifaceted Deepwater aviation upgrade program. Integrated Coast Guard Systems--the Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman joint venture--formally launched the Coast Guard aviation upgrade with a...

The new face of peacekeeping: military services refocus attention on stability operations tactics.
May 1, 2004... For the 1,800 or so U.S. troops mostly Marines--who deployed to Haiti in March, it was, in many ways, back to the future. The Marines occupied the country from 1915 to 1934. In the mid-1990s, more than 22,000 U.S. military personnel...

Trucks: with more than just bells and whistles.(Tech Talk)
May 1, 2004... Always in the quest for the next breakthrough in vehicle technology, the Army's National Automotive Center has built a futuristic truck concept that, at least for the near term, is likely to remain within the confines of trade shows. This...

Unmanned: aircraft gain greater acuity.(Tech Talk)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Recent advances in technology will permit highly sensitive antennas to be embedded on aircraft wings. This could lead to the detection of moving targets beneath dense foliage and air-to-air missile threats while cutting airframe weight and...

Intelligent truck does everything.(Tech Talk)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Smartruck III, built by the U.S. Army in partnership with International Truck and Engine Company, is a multifunctional platform with advanced communications that is designed to negotiate the tactical arena and handle an array of homeland...

Sensors, robots bad news for city thugs.(Tech Talk)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Urban warriors may soon receive a batch of new tools that could make life much tougher for bad guys holed up in big-city hideouts. One promising gadget is a hand-held radar-powered device by Time Domain that permits investigators to "see"...

Firefighters to wear lighter suits aboard ships.(Tech Talk)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... A new, lighter fire suit designed for sailors assigned to the next generation DD(X) family of ships has been developed by the Navy Clothing and Research Facility at the Army's Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass. The project in part was...

D.C. Chapter solicits contributions for ROTC.(NDIA News)
May 1, 2004... NDIA's Washington, D.C. Chapter currently is seeking contributions for its ROTC scholarship fund, according to a letter signed by the chapter's scholarship co-chairmen, Matt D. Hay and retired Army Lt. Col. Douglas D. Stewart. This year,...

Army ARDEC recognizes retiree John P. Amerspek.(NDIA News)
May 1, 2004... The Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., has recognized one of the arsenal's longtime supporters, John P. Amerspek. In a recent ceremony, the center named its executive conference room after...

DACOWITS chair to speak at HORIZONS fund raiser.(NDIA News)
May 1, 2004... Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Carol A. Mutter, chair of the Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, will be the guest speaker at the June fundraising event for HORIZONS, a Women In Defense Foundation. The meeting will...

NDIA events calendar.(Calendar)
May 1, 2004... MAY 17-20 Global Demilitarization Symposium & Exhibition Dallas, Texas POC: Christina Buck @ (703) 247-2478 Exhibits: Cathy Vilga@ (703) 247-2460 17-20 Naval Logistics: Roadmap to Seapower 21 Reston, Va. POC: Veronica Allen @ (703)...

Affiliate events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
May 1, 2004... MAY 19-21 ICSTM '04 Conference University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pa. SEPTEMBER 21-23 Enterprise Integration EXPO 2004 Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, Calif. MAY 5 NAVAIR Orlando TSD & PMTRASYS APBI (Advance Planning Briefing...

Chapter events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
May 1, 2004... JUNE 17 Picatinny Chapter 29th Annual Firepower Benefit Parsippany, N.J. 28 Rocky Mountain Chapter Luncheon Colorado Springs, Colo. JULY 23 Michigan Chapter Annual...