Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
News Reports

Current Operations

• U.S. Following Up on Predator Strike; More Detainees Headed for GITMO AFPS 08 Jan. 2002-- Bad weather has prevented U.S. military officials from reaching a site near Zawar Kili, Afghanistan, where a Feb. 4 strike by a CIA Predator unmanned aerial vehicle reportedly killed several Al Qaeda leaders, Pentagon spokeswoman Torie Clarke told reporters here today.
• Transcript: Adm. Blair Outlines Fight against Philippine Terrorists 08 Jan. 2002-- "The number of hostages that the Abu Sayyaf Group has held has been as high as 30 or 40 several months ago, and ... the number of hostages has been reduced to three right now, two Americans and one Philippine woman, so that's progress," Adm. Dennis C. Blair said in an interview with NHK Television in Tokyo February 5.
• PAK/AFGHAN/KARZAI VOA 08 Feb. 2002-- Afghan leader Hamid Karzai has arrived Friday in Pakistan for his first official visit since Afghanistan's interim government took power in December
• General: U.S. forces in Afghanistan are now in 'sustainment phase' Stars & Stripes 08 Feb. 2002-- The mission for U.S. forces in Afghanistan has changed, a high-ranking U.S. general said Thursday.
• Throughout Kosovo, KFOR troops root out weapons with Iron Fist Stars & Stripes 08 Feb. 2002-- About 3,000 KFOR peacekeepers performed extensive searches in villages and towns throughout Kosovo recently as part of Operation Iron Fist II.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 08 Feb 2002
• PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR KOSOVO United Nations 08 Feb 2002
• CHECHNYA / HELICOPTER CRASH VOA 08 Feb. 2002-- Russian investigators are focusing on the possibility that engine failure could have caused the crash of a military helicopter in the breakaway republic of Chechnya (Thursday) that killed seven people

Defense Policy / Programs

• Rumsfeld Explains Detainee Status AFPS 08 Jan. 2002-- It is because the United States places such emphasis on the Geneva Convention that American officials do not consider Al Qaeda covered by the agreement nor are they willing to award the Taliban detainees POW status
• Transcript: Rumsfeld, Myers Pentagon Briefing, February 8 08 Jan. 2002-- Rumsfeld: As the president decided, the conflict with Taliban is determined to fall under the Geneva Convention because Afghanistan is a state party to the Geneva Convention. Al Qaeda, as a non-state, terrorist network, is not. Indeed, through its actions, al Qaeda has demonstrated contempt for the principles of the Geneva Convention. The determination that Taliban detainees do not qualify as prisoners of war under the convention was because they failed to meet the criteria for POW status.
• Text: Adm. Blair Says World on the Offensive Against Terrorism 08 Jan. 2002-- Blair said the United States, with its alliance with Japan, has an integrated force structure that counts "on working with Japan to be able to maintain that deterrence."
• Text: Ambassador Burns on NATO's Future in a Changed World 08 Jan. 2002-- "Rather than trying to guess which enemy the alliance will confront years from now, or where wars in the world may occur, we need to focus on what capabilities adversaries could use against us, on shoring up our own vulnerabilities, and on exploiting the most modern new technologies to extend our own military advantages. This is the essence of capabilities-based defense planning," Burns said.
• Transcript: Adm. Blair Lauds U.S.-Korean Anti-terrorism Cooperation 08 Jan. 2002-- "Korea's response to the war on terrorism has been wide, with Korean ships sailing as far as Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, and Korean aircraft supporting the United States throughout the Western Pacific," Admiral Dennis C. Blair said.
• Raptor gets green light on refueling capability Air Force News 08 Feb. 2002-- The F-22 Combined Test Force here expanded the Raptor's operational capability by certifying the aircraft for "hot-pit" refueling operations recently.
• Flight increases survival odds of Pacific aircrews Air Force News 08 Feb. 2002-- The 36th Airlift Squadron here serves as the airlift "hub" of the Pacific Region, and its fleet of 13 C-130 Hercules aircraft are constantly on the go. Squadron people support various humanitarian, joint-exercise and real-world operations in an area covering about 3 million square miles of water, dense jungles, snow-capped mountains and barren deserts.
• Lt. Gen. Hailston, top Marine in Pacific, is ordered to Bahrain Stars & Stripes 08 Feb. 2002-- Lt. Gen. Earl B. Hailston, the Pacific's top Marine, has been ordered to Bahrain, a spokesman in Hawaii confirmed Wednesday.
• Blair: Kitty Hawk to take entire air wing next time Stars & Stripes 08 Feb. 2002-- When the USS Kitty Hawk deploys this spring, it will serve a more conventional role in the unconventional war on terrorism, the Pacific's top U.S. military commander said Wednesday.
• Future Small Fast Combatants Reviewed by NSWCCD and ONR Navy News Service 08 Feb. 2002-- Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD) hosted an Office of Naval Research-planned "Technology for Small, Fast Ships" workshop recently. Experts explored cost-versus-gain of shipboard hull, maintenance and electrical technologies related to future small, fast combatants that could be incorporated into a demonstration vehicle within five years.

Defense Industry

• BAE SYSTEMS awarded laser warning contract BAE Systems 08 Feb 2002 -- BAE Systems Integrated Defense Solutions has received a $3.5 million contract from ATK Integrated Defense Company, Clearwater, Florida, for production of an integrated laser warning receiver. This contract is for deliveries of laser warning electronics to be integrated into the AN/AAR-47(V)2 Missile Warning Receiver produced by ATK Integrated Defense Company.
• BAE SYSTEMS MEMS IMU in second successful guided flight test of ERGM BAE Systems 08 Feb 2002 -- BAE Systems Avionics supplies the silicon Micro-machined Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Inertial Measurement Unit (SiIMU) fitted to the Extended Range Guided Munition (ERGM). Team ERGM, led by Raytheon Company, successfully conducted an all-up round, guided flight of ERGM on 10th December 2001, at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, USA. This is the second time that an all-up ERGM round has been successfully fired from a 5-inch/62 gun.
• Boeing Awarded $133 Million Contract for French AWACS Radar Upgrade Boeing 08 Feb 2002 -- The Boeing Company's [NYSE:BA] $133 million contract to upgrade the radar system of France's fleet of four E-3 AWACS aircraft will be the most significant upgrade to the fleet since its delivery in the early 1990s. It also will bring the French surveillance radar capability up to the same standards as their NATO allies.
• Lockheed Martin Delivers MH-60s Tactical Operational Flight Trainer to the U.S. Navy Lockheed Martin 08 Feb 2002 -- LeadLockheed Martin has delivered to the U.S. Navy a state-of-the-art helicopter trainer incorporating the latest open-system, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) architecture and providing Navy MH-60S helicopter pilots with realistic, expandable training. Delivered concurrently with introduction of the MH-60S helicopter into the Fleet, the MH-60S Tactical Operational Flight Trainer (TOFT) is now installed and operational at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego, Ca.
• Lockheed Martin's Guided MLRS Rockets Successful in Test at White Sands Missile Range Lockheed Martin 08 Feb 2002 -- The U.S. Army and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control successfully tested the new Guided version of the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) rocket at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., on Wednesday, firing two rounds consecutively. Both rockets performed nominally.

News Reports

• INDIA / RUSSIA VOA 08 Feb. 2002-- Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov has wrapped up three days of talks with Indian leaders that focused on stepping up defense cooperation.
• MALAYSIA / PHILIPPINES ARREST VOA 08 Feb. 2002-- Philippine authorities have detained a Malaysian national holding more than one hundred passports, which were allegedly for use by members of the al-Qaida terrorist network
• SHAPE NEWS SUMMARY & ANALYSIS 08 FEBRUARY 2002 08 Feb. 2002-- In a long interview in National Journal, Secretary General Lord Robertson, when asked about NATO becoming irrelevant due to a changing in the international security environment, pointed out that NATO has never been busier in its entire history.
• Former Defense Secretary Offers Insight Into 9/11 Commission Inquiry 08 Jan. 2002-- Schlesinger: Mr. Chairman, to this point many questions have been addressed piecemeal -- or not at all. The purpose of a National Commission would be systematically and comprehensively to address such questions -- and to give a complete public accounting of the events leading up to 9-11. In my judgment, such a Commission would serve a high, indeed indispensable, national purpose.