Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
News Reports

Current Operations

• INDONESIA/TIMOR/TRIAL VOA 27 Dec 2002-- A human rights court in Indonesia has sentenced a high-ranking military officer to five years in prison for his role in atrocities committed in East Timor three years ago
• Troops in Afghanistan Report Several Incidents AFPS 27 Dec 2002-- American soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division on a routine patrol in Afghanistan Dec. 26 reported finding a site previously used to fire rockets at a U.S. base near Khowst, Defense Department officials said.

Other Conflicts

• Annan urges rebels to halt offensive in northeastern DR of Congo UN News centre 27 Dec 2002 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced deep concern over reports that rebel forces have continued military offensives in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) despite committing themselves earlier this month to a ceasefire and agreeing on transitional arrangements intended to set the stage for the holding of free and fair elections
• ISRAEL PALESTINIANS VOA 27 Dec 2002 -- Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Friday, killing at least four people and wounding eight others before he was shot to death by Israeli security forces
• ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS VOA 27 Dec 2002 -- The Israeli military continues its clampdown on Palestinian towns and cities across the West Bank. Israeli troops shot dead at least seven Palestinians in a series of clashes Thursday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and pushed back into Bethlehem to re-impose a curfew that had been lifted for the Christmas holidays
• IVORY COAST VOA 27 Dec 2002 -- A U-N team is in Ivory Coast meeting with government and rebel leaders to investigate allegations of human rights violations by both sides. Meanwhile, the war of words continues between President Laurent Gbagbo and his political opponents
• ISRAEL PALESTINIANS VOA 27 Dec 2002 -- Palestinian gunman opened fire in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Friday, killing at least four people and wounding eight others before he was shot to death by Israeli security forces

Defense Policy / Programs

• BUSH POLAND VOA 27 Dec 2002 -- Poland has decided to buy more than three-billion dollars worth of U-S made fighter jets to upgrade its air force. President Bush discussed the deal Friday with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski

Defense Industry

• Poland Announces Decision To Purchase 48 Lockheed Martin F-16 Aircraft Lockheed Martin 27 Dec 2002 -- The government of Poland today declared Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] the winner in the fighter competition to supply the Polish Air Force with 48 advanced multirole aircraft. Poland selected Lockheed Martin's advanced Block 52 F-16C/D over Dassault's Mirage and the SAAB/BAE Systems Gripen.
• Initial C-5 Upgraded Under The Avionics Modernization Program Makes Its First Flight Lockheed Martin 27 Dec 2002 -- The first C-5 Galaxy modified under the C-5 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) made its first flight Saturday, Dec. 21, from Lockheed Martin's [NYSE: LMT] Marietta, Ga., facility several weeks ahead of the planned February 2003 date.
• Lockheed Martin Receives $63.7 Million For Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Launchers Lockheed Martin 27 Dec 2002 -- Lockheed Martin has received the first Full-Rate Production (FRP-1) contract for 34 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) M270A1TM launchers.
• Poland selects Pratt & Whitney-powered F-16 as New Frontline Fighter Pratt & Whitney 27 Dec 2002 -- The Government of Poland today declared Lockheed Martin the winner in the fighter competition to supply the Polish Air Force with 48 advanced multirole aircraft.

News Reports

• TURKMENISTAN / PIPELINE VOA 27 Dec 2002 -- Leaders from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan have signed a long-awaited deal to build a natural gas pipeline through the three countries. But there are still questions about the feasibility of the project
• KENYA / ELECTIONS VOA 27 Dec 2002 -- Voters in Kenya have been streaming to the polls to determine the successor to the country's long-ruling president, Daniel arap Moi. Kenyans are hoping for a leader who can stop corruption, and ease the poverty that has plagued the country for decades
• UNICEF/ANGOLA VOA 27 Dec 2002 -- The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, says malnutrition and measles remain critical threats to Angolan children. The agency says it is able to move ahead with programs to try to reverse these problems, now that peace has come to the country
• KENYA ELECTIONS KIBAKI VOA 27 Dec 2002 -- Kenya's leading presidential contender, Mwai Kibaki, of the opposition National Rainbow Coalition, cast his vote in his home district Friday morning.
• KENYA / ELECTIONS WRAP VOA 27 Dec 2002 -- Election day is over and the counting has begun in Kenya, after millions of people voted in crucial elections to choose a new president. But polling problems prevented many would-be voters from casting their ballots