Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
News Reports

Current Operations

• U.S. Pilots, High-Tech Aircraft Triumph Over Afghan Weather, Terrain AFPS 18 Jul 2002-- "The Taliban was our greatest threat, but the weather was our greatest challenge and hazard," an Army helicopter pilot told reporters at the Pentagon today.
• Operations Continue in Eastern Afghanistan AFPS 18 Jul 2002 -- U.S. and coalition troops continue the painstaking process of searching eastern Afghanistan for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, Combined Joint Task Force 180 officials said July 18.
• GREEK TERROR VOA 18 Jul 2002 -- Greek police say they have captured a ringleader and three members of a shadowy terrorist organization that has been linked to 23 killings since 1975. Police say two of the men have confessed to taking part in the assassinations of U-S and British officials.
• U.S., India Commit to Intensifying Cooperation Against Terrorism Washington File 18 Jul 2002 -- The U.S.-India Joint Working Group on Counterterrorism met for the fifth time since January 2000 in Washington July 11-12, and issued a joint statement in which the Indian and U.S. governments committed to intensifying their cooperation against terrorism.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 18 Jul 2002
• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS VOA 18 Jul 2002 -- Israel is tightening restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank
• SPAIN / MOROCCO VOA 18 Jul 2002 -- Spain has offered to withdraw its troops from an uninhabited Mediterranean island it occupied Wednesday in a dispute with Morocco -- but only if Morocco pledges not to send its own soldiers back to the island. Morocco, in turn, is demanding an unconditional Spanish withdrawal from the rocky islet before the two countries can begin talks.
• U-S / MIDEAST TALKS VOA 18 Jul 2002 -- The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have presented the Bush administration with a series of proposals aimed at setting up a reformed Palestinian government that could lead to statehood after Palestinian elections in January. The Arab ministers held talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell in advance of an afternoon White House meeting with President Bush.
• BUSH / MIDEAST VOA 18 Jul 2002 -- President Bush vowed to push ahead with plans for Mideast peace Thursday despite the resumption of suicide bombings in Israel. The president held White House talks with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

Defense Policy / Programs

• PENTAGON / FOAM BOMB VOA 18 Jul 2002 -- The Pentagon is exploring new ways of attacking underground sites containing chemical or biological weapons, including the idea of a deep-penetrating bomb designed not to blow up a target -- but to seal it off with an impenetrable substance like sticky foam.
• Transcript: General Kernan Briefs on Millennium Challenge 2002 18 Jul 2002 -- "Millennium Challenge '02 begins next week. It starts on the 24th of July, and it runs through 15 August, and it includes the efforts of about 13,500 people stretched across the United States in nine live-force training locations and 17 simulation locations.(...) Our main intent here in this experiment is to determine the extent to which our forces are able to establish and maintain knowledge superiority, assure access into and throughout the battle space, leverage all national elements of power, and sustain ourselves as we conduct operations against adversaries that may come at us very differently than we have experienced in the past."
• Largest Military Experiment to Test Transformation Theories AFPS 18 Jul 2002 -- The U.S. Joint Forces Command is about to test U.S. military transformation theories by conducting the largest, most complex military experiment in history. Called Millennium Challenge 2002, the experiment will combine live forces with simulation to test the theories, equipment and doctrine U.S. forces will use.
• Wolfowitz Tells Troops U.S. Not An"Army of Occupation"in Afghanistan Washington File 18 Jul 2002 -- Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz told American military personnel in Afghanistan that a fundamental principle of the U.S. mission in the country was its function as an "army of liberation, not an army of occupation."
• U.S. Relations with South Asia Called Central to War on Terrorism Washington File 18 Jul 2002 -- Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca said that the United States' relationships with South Asian states have been central to the successful prosecution of the war on terrorism. Rocca was speaking before the Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee on July 18.
• Wolfowitz Says Democracy in Iraq Would Benefit Whole World Washington File 18 Jul 2002 -- A democratic government in Iraq that truly cares for the welfare of its people would benefit not only Iraqis but the region and the whole world as well, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said July 17 in Ankara, Turkey.

Defense Industry

• ATK Composites Named To Vought Sonic Cruiser Technology Development Sub-Team ATK 18 Jul 2002 -- ATK (Alliant Techsystems, NYSE: ATK) said ATK Composites, Clearfield, Utah, has been named to a team of world-class companies assembled by Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc., Dallas, Texas, to support its participation on the Boeing Sonic Cruiser technology development program. Other current members of the team are Alcoa, Inc., Cincinnati Machine, Cytec Engineered Materials, Nova-Tech Engineering, and Parker Aerospace.
• BAE SYSTEMS delivers first U.S.-built XM777 Lightweight Howitzer; supplier base successfully integrated BAE Systems 18 Jul 2002 -- BAE Systems RO Defence delivered the first U.S.-built XM777 Lightweight Howitzer to representatives from the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps during ceremonies held today at its new facility in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Today's delivery also marks the successful integration of the company's U.S. supplier base, which BAE Systems has been developing for the past two years.
• BAE SYSTEMS campaigns for Australia's largest commercial support contract BAE Systems 18 Jul 2002 -- BAE Systems is touring northern Australia this month representing NexGen Logistics (NexGen) to communicate the team's approach and capability in support of the Australian Defence Force's warehousing, maintenance and distribution needs.
• Northrop Grumman Awarded Contract to Upgrade Ship Electronic Warfare System Northrop Grumman 18 Jul 2002 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) will give the U.S. Navy surface fleet's AN/SLQ-32A(V) electronic warfare systems a modern, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) upgrade that also accommodates future improvements.
• French Aerospace Company Achieves Key Distinction With Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman 18 Jul 2002 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Integrated Systems sector today named Potez Aeronautique S.A., located here, a "Key Plan" supplier. Potez and other Key Plan suppliers help Integrated Systems lower the cost and raise the quality of products to its U.S. and international customers.
• Lockheed Martin Announces Additional Team Members for the UK Watchkeeper Programme Lockheed Martin 18 Jul 2002 -- Lockheed Martin today unveiled its international partners for the forthcoming UK MOD Watchkeeper Systems Integration and Assurance Phase (SIAP).
• Modified Airborne Laser Aircraft Takes Successful First Flight From Boeing Flight Line In Wichita Boeing 18 Jul 2002 -- The first Airborne Laser (ABL) aircraft, extensively modified by Boeing [NYSE: BA] to house the revolutionary ABL ballistic missile-defense system, successfully flew for the first time today.

News Reports

• PRESS BRIEFING ON HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA United Nations 18 Jul 2002
• Senate Panel Passes 2003 Foreign Operations Spending Bill Washington File 18 Jul 2002 -- The Senate Appropriations Committee has completed work on a $16,350 million foreign operations spending bill for the fiscal year that runs from October 1, 2002, through September 30, 2003.