National Defense articles from May 2007

National Defense archives from May 2007

Logistics requires teamwork, solid leadership.(PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE)
May 1, 2007... THE BUSINESS OF SUPPLYING AND sustaining a military force in combat often is overlooked and underappreciated. Currently, it is a $130 billion a year enterprise that employs 1.1 million people and has a network of more than 100,000 suppliers....

In defense of aircraft carriers.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... I read your article, "A Navy With Fewer Aircraft Carriers No Longer Unthinkable," (March 2007, page 14). For some strange reason, to me, a Navy with fewer aircraft carriers is unthinkable. Fighting wars at sea is not only about sinking...

More on navy carriers.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... In reference to your article, "A Navy With Fewer Aircraft Carriers No Longer Unthinkable," (March 2007, page 14), I found it amusing and lacking a lot of information. Your sources provided unrealistic costs and insight. Two things jump out. In...

Tunnel warfare.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... I was recently alerted to your article, "Daunting Challenges Face Those Waging Sub-terranean Warfare." (February 2007, page 20) I was very surprised that you had no reference whatsoever to the Underground Facilities Analysis Center. The...

Vehicle misidentified.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... The featured picture in your article titled "Military Services in the Market for 4,000 Blast-Proof Vehicles," (February 2007, pages 24-25), is listed in the caption as a Cougar mine-protected vehicle. This is an error as the vehicle pictured is...

Better business.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... In reference to the March 2007 story, "Army Not Always Amenable to the Ways of Corporate America," on page 22, I believe that my views on the transformation of the Army's industrial base were not fully reflected. I believe that the application...

Comrades in arms with penchant for bitter rivalries.(DEFENSE WATCH)
May 1, 2007... In his latest, and downright grim, communique about the situation in Iraq, retired four-star general and West Point professor Barry McCaffrey marvels at: the miracle of joint-service combat power. The report, which concludes that U.S....

SecDef laments paucity of reconstruction talent.(Robert Gates, defense secretary)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... A dramatic downsizing of the U.S. Agency for International Development during the past decade is now resulting in undue burdens for the Defense Department, said Pentagon chief Robert Gates. Humanitarian and reconstruction duties in Iraq and...

Lawmakers wonder why services can't cooperate.(Washington PULSE)
May 1, 2007... The Air Force continues to face congressional scrutiny over its decision to abandon a multibillion-dollar project to build an unmanned stealth bomber for the Air Force and the Navy. "Why have we walked away from this program?" asked Rep....

Air force tanker: a competition, but not really.(Washington PULSE)
May 1, 2007... Politics is a huge piece of an upcoming competition between Boeing and the European conglomerate Airbus to build possibly hundreds of aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force. Many industry insiders agree that it is unlikely that Airbus...

$160b army effort so far an 'interesting experiment'.(Washington PULSE)
May 1, 2007... Army leaders for months have been engaged in a public relations campaign behalf of the embattled Future Combat Systems--a $160 billion modernization program. While the Army continues to publicize FCS "success stories," the Defense Department's...

Virulent outlook: expert slams federal government pandemic plans.(SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs)
May 1, 2007... The Bush administration's plan for treating and stemming a pandemic outbreak in the United States will not work, said Barbara Billauer, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and a public health expert. To prevent the...

Alienation, frustration contribute to the making of a terrorist.(SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs)
May 1, 2007... Potential terrorists often become suicide bombers when they already feel dead, according to terrorism psychologist Anne Speckhard. In areas of conflict, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, the population undergoes daily trauma and becomes...

Governors want guard voice at the Pentagon.(SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs)
May 1, 2007... HEAVY NATIONAL GUARD deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan are taking a toll on state disaster preparedness. The nation's governors are responding by seeking a presence at the Pentagon to protect their turf. "Governors are the...

U.S. food supply chain among nation's many vulnerabilities.(SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs)
May 1, 2007... AMONG THE DOZENS of potential targets terrorists can attack in the U.S. homeland is the nation's food supply chain. The demand for fresh produce, the quick and efficient distribution networks and the short shelf lives of products "makes it...

Scientists bemoan loss of exploration vessel.(INSIDE Science AND Technology)
May 1, 2007... It has been around for nearly four decades, but it may be one of the Navy's best kept secrets: a small nuclear-powered submarine that has been plying the world's oceans on scientific missions. One of its latest expeditions was in the Gulf...

Fuel crunch: Air Force energy-saving plans face technical, financial hurdles.(UPFRONT)
May 1, 2007... The Air Force is proposing new measures to cut aviation fuel consumption by 10 percent within the next six years. Among the initiatives is to substitute up to 50 percent of the fleet's conventional fuel with synthetic alternatives by 2016,...

Tracking military supplies no longer requires RFID.(UPFRONT)
May 1, 2007... The Defense Department has relaxed an earlier mandate that all vendors that deliver food, equipment and other provisions to the U.S. military affix radio-frequency identification tags on their products. Radio-frequency identification, or...

Air Force gunships could be grounded.(UPFRONT)
May 1, 2007... For four decades, the AC-130 gunship has rained down destruction on enemies from the Ho Chi Min Trail in Vietnam to the mountains of Afghanistan. The storied gunships, however, may be grounded within the next two years. The problem is...

Erratum.(Correction notice)
May 1, 2007... In the April 2007 story, page 45, "Navy Steaming Ahead With Shipbuilding Plans, But Costs Becoming Problematic," the last name of Joe Carnevale was misspelled.

Trouble shooter: Cohen puts imprint on beleaguered Homeland Security technology arm.(Jay Cohen)(Interview)
May 1, 2007... A terrorist has a smorgasbord of potential ways to launch an attack--chemical, nuclear, biological or conventional explosives--along with a plethora of potential soft targets including ports, public transportation, schools and the food and...

'Interim' fix: trials and tribulations persist in Joint Tactical Radio.(COMMUNICATIONS)
May 1, 2007... The military services are slashing by nearly two-thirds their expected buys of the Defense Department's troubled joint tactical radio system. As the program continues to lose support across the military services, Defense Department...

Defense Department 'bundles' handheld radio procurements.(COMMUNICATIONS)
May 1, 2007... THE DEFENSE Department is expected to soon seek industry bids for as many as 89,000 handheld combat radios. To obtain lower prices, the Pentagon will consolidate multiple contracts that currently are managed individually by each military...

Big-ticket army program still lacks communications network.
May 1, 2007... THE COMMUNICATIONS network that is the basis for the Army's $160 billion "future combat systems" continues to suffer setbacks and its costs are expected to soar. A hacker-proof high capacity network that would connect Army vehicles and...

'Hybrids sailor': recruits virtually experience the high-tech Navy.(NAVY TRAINING)
May 1, 2007... Five years into an ambitious program to overhaul an outdated training regimen rooted in the Cold War, the Navy appears to be making progress. With sophisticated warships poised to enter Its fleet during the next several years, the Navy is...

Boot camp graduates sail through warship simulator.(NAVY TRAINING)
May 1, 2007... TO TEST WHETHER recruits on the cusp of graduating from boot camp have what it takes to become sailors, the Navy next month will begin running them through an immersive simulation designed to replicate the experience of serving on a ship. ...

Blue screens: Air Force 'Virtual Flag' makes up for lost flying hours.(AIR FORCE TRAINING)
May 1, 2007... KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- Along the back wall of a dimmed warehouse-size room, four large screen displays cast a blue glow over the F-15E pilots and weapons systems officers sitting inside the jet simulator cockpits. The airmen, from...

Air Force to design specialized simulations for tactical training.(AIR FORCE TRAINING)
May 1, 2007... KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- The Air Force not only is shifting a percentage of live flying time into simulations but also small-unit tactical training. In addition to the quarterly "Virtual Flag" exercises that train hundreds of...

Aerial convoys: Army, Marines plan improvements for cargo choppers.(COMBAT AIRLIFT)
May 1, 2007... As the Army and Marine Corps embark on programs to modernize their medium-heavy cargo helicopters, roadside bombs and ambushes have forced the U.S. military to increasingly rely on the skies to transport supplies and troops in Iraq and...

Loaded questions: Air Force struggles to define future airlift needs.(COMBAT AIRLIFT)
May 1, 2007... The Air Force is walking a political tightrope as it tries to garner support for multibillion-dollar investments in new cargo aircraft while it copes with cost overruns and tightening budgets. Service officials assert that the ongoing wars and...

Air Force may forgo cargo features in future refueling tanker.(COMBAT AIRLIFT)
May 1, 2007... As the Air Force moves forward with plans to replace its aerial refueling tankers, it may decide to forgo earlier plans to make the tanker a multi-mission aircraft. A budget crunch and political pressures to keep the program on schedule could...

Eyes wide open: Army wants to make 'every soldier a sensor'.(BATTLEFIELD INTELLIGENCE)(Cover story)
May 1, 2007... "EVERY SOLDIER IS A SENSOR" is a catchphrase employed with increasing frequency by Army generals. But what does it mean? To some, it is simply increasing awareness about the dangerous environments infantrymen find themselves in. To others,...

Unblinking gaze: soldiers test tools for urban surveillance.(BATTLEFIELD INTELLIGENCE)
May 1, 2007... FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The nine infantrymen sweeping through a mock village sent the robot in the targeted building first. Its camera showed that the room was clear. As the squad entered the building, a soldier stuck a surveillance camera...

Flurry of lobbying reform affects defense industry.(ETHICS CORNER)
May 1, 2007... Congress with a frenzied frequency is introducing government reform legislation. Proposals are labeled "lobbying reform," "accountability in contracting," "clean contracting," "anti-profiteering" and "honest leadership" --all aimed at ending...

Chilled chips: smaller is better in satellite terminals.(TECH TALK)
May 1, 2007... A digital technology that has been developed by Hypres Inc. of Elmsford, N.Y., for the project manager of Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems, promises to substantially trim the foot print of ground-based satellite stations....

Explosive detection kits provide on the spot results.(Expray and DropEx)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Want devices that ascertain the existence of TNT, RDX, chlorate and peroxide-based explosives? Mistral Group of Bethesda, Md., is offering two test kits--Expray and DropEx--that offer rapid results. They are able to detect a wide range of...

Rough and tumble laptop now available.(TECH TALK)
May 1, 2007... COMPUTER MAKER DELL Inc. of Round Rock, Texas, is now producing a ruggedized laptop PC for military and civilian customers. Called the Latitude ATG, for all terrain grade, the portable processor features a super bright 14.1 inch display that is...

Landing zone kit comes in hardened case.(TECH TALK)
May 1, 2007... TWO WEST COAST Companies have teamed to produce a protected and portable helicopter landing zone system. Providing the high impact, watertight case is Pelican Products of Torrance, Calif. The "Extreme LZ Kit," meanwhile, is fabricated by...

Medical station boasts small arms protection.(TECH TALK)
May 1, 2007... GERMAN ARMY TROOPS are receiving 30 medical treatment centers that are housed in 20-foot, air-conditioned shelters. Officials say the units, called TransHospitals, can be operated autonomously for up to three days. They are designed for...

Enhanced communication-information centers fielded.(Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... U.S. military leaders in South Korea have received new command center technologies that were developed by the project manager of Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems at Fort Monmouth, N.J. The theater air naval ground...

Flight evaluator unveiled.(D7000)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... A COMPACT, MODULAR airborne data and recording system--called the D7000--has recently been introduced by Heim Data Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Zodiac Data Systems Inc. of Alpharetta, Ga. "With up to a 256 Mbit/s total system data rate,...

NDIA events calendar.(National Defense Industrial Association)(Calendar)
May 1, 2007... MAY 2007 14-17 Global Demilitarization Conference & Exhibition Reno, NV POC: Veronica Allen @ (703) 247-9478 Exhibits: Alden Davidson @ (703) 247-2582 15-17 National Small Business Conference Houston, TX ...

Affiliate events.(National Defense Industrial Association)(Brief article)(Calendar)
May 1, 2007... JUNE 21, 2007 Cyber Deterrence Arlington, VA MARCH 4-5, 2008 Fulfilling the Warfighters' Vision 2008 Tampa Bay, FL Contact Nicole Peterson at 703) 247-9474 or email npeterson@afei.org MAY 15, 2007 USAF APBI...

Chapter events.(National Defense Industrial Association)(Brief article)(Calendar)
May 1, 2007... JUNE 14 Picatinny Chapter 32nd Annual Firepower Benefit Birchwood Manor Whippany, N.J. AUGUST 13-16 Tennessee Valley Chapter Space & Missile Defense Conference Von Braun Center Huntsville, Ala. ...