Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 06 Jul 2005 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• Raid nets kidnapping suspects, cash MNF-I 06 Jul 2005 -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers captured four terror suspects and seized 1,000,000 Iraqi dinar and $6,000 in U.S. currency at a house in south Baghdad July 4.
• Iraqis, Coalition conclude Operation Sword MNF-I 06 Jul 2005 -- Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Marines and Soldiers from Regimental Combat Team-2, 2 nd Marine Division are concluding Operation Saif, which translates as Sword, and will remain in the city of Hit indefinitely to provide a security presence.
• Group Threatens To Kill Kidnapped Egypt Envoy RFE/RL 06 Jul 2005 -- Iraq's Al-Qaeda today threatened to kill Egypt's top envoy to Iraq, Ihab al-Sharif, who was kidnapped recently.
• Iraqi, Coalition Forces Remain in Hit; More Weapons Found in Baghdad AFPS 06 Jul 2005 -- Military officials in Baghdad, Iraq, today said U.S. and Iraqi forces will remain in the Iraqi city of Hit indefinitely to provide a security presence by manning outposts and conducting joint patrols and stabilization operations.

• Former Afghan commanders lay weapons down, head home Army News 06 Jul 2005 -- Eighteen of Gulbiddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami commanders turned themselves over to government officials in the Paktia Province June 12.
• U.S. Rejects Setting Central Asia Withdrawal Date RFE/RL 06 Jul 2005 -- The United States has rejected a call by the six-country Shanghai Cooperation Organization to set a date for the withdrawal of American and coalition forces from bases in Central Asia.

Defense Policy / Programs

• U.S. Military Will Expand Homeland Security Support Washington File 06 Jul 2005 -- The U.S. armed forces will expand their ability to protect the homeland through a strategy of an active and layered defense that is designed to defeat the most dangerous challenges quickly and at a distance, according to a recently approved Defense Department plan.
• Report: Loss of control caused Predator crash AFPN 06 Jul 2005 -- The loss of control of an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle caused it to run out of fuel and crash Jan. 14 at a forward-deployed location in Southwest Asia, Air Force officials said July 6.
• Quadrennial Defense Review Process Revs Up AFPS 06 Jul 2005 -- The Quadrennial Defense Review looks to make sure DoD is "arranged in the way that makes the most sense for the current situation," a senior Pentagon spokesman said here July 5.
• 'Army Values' Concept Sells in Tough Recruiting Environment AFPS 06 Jul 2005 -- It was an exciting afternoon at the Times Plaza Recruiting Station here in downtown Brooklyn, as three newly recruited soldiers stopped by the station one last time before shipping off for training.
• Bush Praises U.S.-Danish Partnership in War on Terrorism AFPS 06 Jul 2005 -- President Bush today thanked Denmark for providing hundreds of its troops to augment U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the global war on terrorism.
• Guam Guard returns from Africa Army News 06 Jul 2005 -- More than 150 Soldiers from the Guam Army National Guard returned to Hawaii after serving a year with Combined Joint Task Force -- Horn of Africa June 28.
• USNS Sirius Becomes Training Ship for Texas Maritime Academy Navy NewsStand 06 Jul 2005 -- The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command combat stores ship USNS Sirius (T-AFS 8) became the Texas Maritime Academy's new training ship July 1.
• Wasp Tests New 'Green Deck' Navy NewsStand 06 Jul 2005 -- The multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) got underway June 20 to certify its new "green deck."
• Iwo Jima Arrived in Portland for July 4 Celebration Navy NewsStand 06 Jul 2005 -- USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) arrived in Portland, Maine, July 2 to kick off Independence Day celebrations hosted by city officials and the Propeller Club of the Port of Portland.
• Barbary Thunder II Proves to be a Success Navy NewsStand 06 Jul 2005 -- The amphibious transport ship USS Nashville (LPD 13) concluded joint exercise Barbary Thunder II with allied forces from Britain, Spain, France, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria in July.
• EOD, Marines Practice Cast and Recovery Operations Navy NewsStand 06 Jul 2005 -- Search and Rescue swimmers from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 26, based out of Norfolk, Va., led a Cast and Recovery Operation in the Mediterranean Sea as part of Barbary Thunder II.
• Talisman Saber Concludes as a Successful Evolution Navy NewsStand 06 Jul 2005 -- More than 11,000 personnel completed one of the largest combined military exercises between the U.S. and Australian militaries June 30.
• Wasp Earns Well Deck Certification Navy NewsStand 06 Jul 2005 -- The multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) earned its well deck certification June 23 off the coast of Virginia.

• State Department Briefing, July 6 Washington File 06 Jul 2005 -- Burundi, Sudan, Deputy Secretary Zoellick Travel to Sudan, Jordan and Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Albania, Turkey, Syria, Burma, Israel/Palestinians

Defense Industry

• BAE SYSTEMS Awarded $90 Million Contract To Upgrade M113 Family Of Vehicles BAE Systems 06 Jul 2005 -- The U.S. Army has awarded a $90 million contract to BAE Systems to upgrade 356 M113 Family of Vehicles (FOVs) to the latest A3 configuration. The vehicles produced will be the M577A3 Command Post Carrier, the M1064A3 Mortar Carrier and the M1068A3 Standard Integrated Command Post (SICPS) Carrier.
• U.S. Army, Boeing Sign First Block III Apache Longbow RDT&E Contract, Set Stage for Long-Term Modernization Program Boeing 06 Jul 2005 -- The U.S. Army paved the way for continued modernization of the world's most capable multi-role combat helicopter by signing the first production engineering contract with Boeing (NYSE: BA) for Block III AH-64D Apache Longbows.
• U.S. Joint Forces Command Extends General Dynamics Contract for Engineering and Technical Support General Dynamics 06 Jul 2005 -- General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has been awarded a $92 million contract extension to continue its support of the U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Experimentation Program and Joint Futures Lab. Work will be performed in Suffolk, Va., and includes engineering, technical and administrative services for joint concept development and prototyping.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN COMPLETES COMBAT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SOFTWARE FOR LITTORAL COMBAT SHIP Lockheed Martin 06 Jul 2005 -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) recently completed the core combat management system software development for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program, roughly a year before the ship is scheduled to be launched.
• Lockheed Martin's Joint Common Missile Successfully Completes Key Design Review Lockheed Martin 06 Jul 2005 -- Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] Joint Common Missile program successfully completed its system-level Preliminary Design Review (PDR) on June 30. The PDR culminates the design review process under Phase 1 of the System Design and Development (SDD) program and follows successful completion of 17 subsystem-level PDRs.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN FLIES FIRST F-16 FOR CHILE Lockheed Martin 06 Jul 2005 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] flew the first F-16 produced for the Chilean Air Force on its initial production acceptance flight. Two flights were successfully accomplished here on June 23, with no discrepancies reported on either flight.
• Lockheed Martin Awarded $24.7 Million Contract for Joint Net-Centric Mission Execution System Lockheed Martin 06 Jul 2005 -- The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a 2-year, $24.7 million contract to continue development of a web-enabled mission execution system that will allow Joint battle commanders to work together to carry out battlefield strike missions in real time.
• Lockheed Martin Team Successfully Completes Key Design Milestone For Transformational Communications Program Lockheed Martin 06 Jul 2005 -- A Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT]/Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) team announced today the successful completion of a major system design review of the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) Space Segment program. TSAT will provide thousands of users with wideband, highly mobile, beyond line-of-sight protected connectivity to support network-centric operations for the future battlefield.
• BAE Systems partners with Acquis on geospatial information system BAE Systems 06 Jul 2005 -- BAE Systems and Acquis Inc. have announced a partnering agreement to develop and supply enterprise Geospatial Information Systems (eGIS) utilising the Acquis Data Editor (ADE) technology.
• Boeing ScanEagle UAV Completes Sea Trials Aboard U.S. Navy Ship Boeing 06 Jul 2005 -- ScanEagle, a long-endurance fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Boeing [NYSE:BA] and The Insitu Group, successfully completed sea trials aboard the USS Cleveland as part of the U.S. Navy-sponsored 2005 Joint Task Force Exercise
• Sagem Défense Sécurité extends Sperwer UAV system functionalities Sagem (Safran group) 06 Jul 2005 -- Sagem Défense Sécurité (SAFRAN Group) has conducted a successful test flight of its tactical Sperwer UAV system at the French Air Force test center at Istres in southern France. A ground control station located more than 180km from the launching site was used to fly the aircraft.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 06 Jul 2005
• United States Welcomes Declaration of Principles on Darfur Washington File 06 Jul 2005 -- The United States congratulates the parties on their signing of the Declaration of Principles for the Resolution of the Sudanese Conflict in Darfur, the U.S. State Department announced July 6.
• US Welcomes Declaration of Principles for Ending Darfur Conflict VOA 06 Jul 2005 -- The United States is welcoming the signing in the Nigerian capital Abuja late Tuesday of a declaration of principles for ending the Darfur conflict in western Sudan. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick will push for fulfillment of the deal when he visits Sudan, including Darfur, later this week.
• NIGERIA-SUDAN: Darfur talks adjourn until August after sides agree on some basics IRIN 06 Jul 2005 --The Sudanese government and two Darfur rebel groups have finally signed a broad declaration of principles, but have postponed working out the finer details of the peace settlement until the end of August, mediators from the African Union said.
• Annan welcomes initial agreement between Sudan, rebels to end Darfur conflict UN News Centre 06 Jul 2005 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed today the signing in Nigeria of a preliminary agreement between the Sudanese Government and rebel factions aimed at ending the two-year-old civil war, which has killed at least 180,000 people and displaced nearly 2 million others in the country's Darfur province.
• Sudan Signs Preliminary Peace Deal with Rebels VOA 06 Jul 2005 -- The Sudanese government and Darfur rebels have settled on a preliminary agreement aimed at ending the civil war in the country's troubled western province. But important decisions on a comprehensive peace agreement have been left for later talks, and experts and human rights activists remain wary.
• Sudan's Parliament Approves Draft Interim Constitution VOA 06 Jul 2005 -- Sudan's parliament Wednesday approved the draft of an interim constitution, that is part of the recently signed peace deal between the Khartoum government in the north and the rebels in the south.

• ANGOLA: Fighting flares up again IRIN 06 Jul 2005 -- Civil society groups in Angola's oil-rich Cabinda enclave have confirmed that a "major offensive" against separatist rebels is underway in the interior of the province.
• Security Council demands Ivorian parties comply with new peace timetable UN News Centre 06 Jul 2005 -- With the Government of Côte d'Ivoire and opposition leaders having reached an agreement on a timeline for implementing a stalled peace plan, the United Nations Security Council today demanded that all Ivorian parties and signatories "scrupulously comply" with all aspects of the new deal.
• Israel Speeds Up Construction of West Bank Barrier VOA 06 Jul 2005 -- Israel is speeding up construction of its controversial West Bank barrier.
• UN peacekeepers pursue militias in eastern DR of Congo UN News Centre 06 Jul 2005 -- The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) said today it has deployed forces to pursue rebel militia groups in eastern South Kivu province.
• Indonesia Rejects Tribunal for East Timor VOA 06 Jul 2005 -- Indonesia has rejected a UN panel's recommendation for an international tribunal to try Indonesian military officers accused of atrocities after East Timor voted for independence in 1999.

News Reports

• Former Chilean Dictator Pinochet Stripped of Immunity VOA 06 Jul 2005 -- A Chilean court Wednesday stripped former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution for alleged human rights violations during his 17-year reign.