Operations
Defense Policy
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 18 Jan 2006 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• MND-B SOLDIER DIES FROM NON-COMBAT INJURY

• CENTAF releases daily airpower summary AFPN 18 Jan 2006 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials released its daily airpower summary.
• More Kidnappings, Car Bombs Hit Iraqi Capital VOA 18 Jan 2006 -- Gunmen killed 10 guards and kidnapped an African engineer in an attack on a private security convoy in Baghdad, Wednesday.
• Gunmen Ambush Convoy, Kill At Least Nine RFE/RL 18 Jan 2006 -- Gunmen in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, have ambushed a convey of cars carrying employees of a cell-phone company, killing at least nine people.

• Afghan Police Leaders Discuss Internal Security AFPS 18 Jan 2006 -- Afghanistan's recently selected top 31 leaders from the Ministry of the Interior and Afghan National Police met Jan. 7 and 8 on how to increase security, fight internal corruption and eradicate poppy production.
• Afghanistan: NATO's Dutch Dilemma -- A News Analysis RFE/RL 18 Jan 2006 -- The stalled debate in the Netherlands over the deployment of troops to south-central Afghanistan could lead to the collapse of the Dutch ruling coalition at home and jeopardizes NATO's planned expansion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
• Hundreds Of Afghans Protest Suicide Bombings RFE/RL 18 Jan 2006 -- Hundreds of Afghans have marched through a town near the Pakistani border to express their outrage at a recent suicide bombing.
• UN Security Council Condemns Afghan Terror Attacks RFE/RL 18 Jan 2006 -- The United Nations Security Council has condemned the recent wave of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Transcript: News Briefing with Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey 18 Jan 2006 -- Presenter: Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey

• "Battle Frigate" Ingraham Returns to Everett Navy NewsStand 18 Jan 2006 -- The guided-missile frigate USS Ingraham (FFG 61) returned to its homeport of Everett, Wash., after a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific and U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations Jan. 16.
• Tarawa Sailors Excel in Warfare Qualifications Navy NewsStand 18 Jan 2006 -- Jan 14, the 471st Sailor aboard the USS Tarawa (LHA 1) earned the coveted enlisted warfare qualification since the ships departure from its homeport of San Diego six months ago for its current Western Pacific/Indian Ocean deployment.
• NPS Contract Management Program Goes Global Navy NewsStand 18 Jan 2006 -- On Dec. 13, 17 students received their degrees for the Master of Science in Contract Management (MSCM) 835 Curriculum at the Navy Postgraduate School (NPS), after completing their required learning from locations other than Monterey, Calif., via video teleconferencing (VTC) technology and online learning.
• Seabees Renovate Orphanages in the Seychelles Navy NewsStand 18 Jan 2006 -- Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 detachment based in Bahrain completed renovations and re-opened two orphanages during a ribbon cutting ceremony in Victoria, Seychelles, Jan. 18.
• Air Force to replace combat search and rescue helicopters AFPN 18 Jan 2006 -- Air Force combat search and rescue teams will use a new helicopter -- the now under development CSAR-X -- to help recover downed pilots around 2012.
• Last WC-130H departs Keesler AFPN 18 Jan 2006 -- The last of a generation of aircraft lifted gently off the runway here Jan. 12.
• First Army takes over mobilization nationwide Army News 18 Jan 2006 -- First U.S. Army's training mission expanded Jan. 16 to include training, readiness oversight and mobilization for U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard units throughout the continental United States and two U.S. territories.
• Unit Rebalance Will Make Guard More Effective, Army Secretary Says AFPS 18 Jan 2006 -- Rebalancing the types of brigades being added to the National Guard will make that component more effective in its two-fold mission and will contribute to the overall capability of the Army, the secretary of the Army said here today.
• Start Date for New Personnel System Pushed Back Three Months AFPS 18 Jan 2006 -- Defense officials have scaled back the initial group of civilian employees to fall under the new National Security Personnel System to 11,000 in the first group from a previously scheduled 60,000, officials announced yesterday.
• Better Body Armor Meets Changing Threat, Army Official Says AFPS 18 Jan 2006 -- Soldier protection is one of the Army's highest priorities, and body armor has been continuously improved to meet the changing threat in the war on terror, Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey said here today.
• Americans Must Understand U.S. Is at War, General Says AFPS 18 Jan 2006 -- The American people must remind themselves every day that the United States is at war, a top Army general said today.

• Better Jointness Needed Between Military and Diplomats, Rice Says AFPS 18 Jan 2006 -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today highlighted the importance of promoting a more cooperative working relationship between American diplomats and the U.S. military in order to achieve global objectives.

• White House Briefing, January 18 Washington File 18 Jan 2006 -- Syria, economy, Iraq/hostage Jill Carroll status, ban on torture, Human Rights Watch report, budget/belt-tightening, Social Security, Iran/nuclear talks, Army recruitment, monetary policy, Abramoff/visits to the White House

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts 18 Jan 2006
• Boeing Awarded Final Phase of CF-18 Avionics Upgrade Boeing 18 Jan 2006 -- Canada's Department of National Defense has awarded Boeing [NYSE: BA] a $39 million contract for installation of the second phase of an avionics upgrade for its 78 CF-18 aircraft. The upgrade will add a data link system, a helmet-mounted sight system, new cockpit displays and a new flare-dispensing electronic warfare system to the Hornets. Two additional aircraft will be modified for the essential validation and verification of the planned upgrade.
• The UH-145 Light Utility Helicopter’s EC145 Version Builds on its Growing Sales Success in the U.S. Market EADS 18 Jan 2006 -- EADS North America’s entry in the U.S. Army’s Light Utility Helicopter competition, the UH-145, is benefiting from the growing operational experience of its commercial variant, the EC145, which is increasingly used in America and abroad by medical services, police forces and other operators.
• Lockheed Martin Awarded $18 Million For Israeli F-16 Flight Trainer Lockheed Martin 18 Jan 2006 -- The Israeli Ministry of Defense has awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) an $18 million Foreign Military Funds (FMF) commercial contract to provide a Flight and Systems Trainer (FST) for Israeli F-16I pilot training. This trainer will be used to familiarize Israeli aircrews with the performance of the latest F-16 Block 50 aircraft.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN AWARDED $144.3 MILLION FOR THE NAVY'S ADVANCED DEPLOYABLE SYSTEM Lockheed Martin 18 Jan 2006 -- The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin $144.3 million for continued development of the Advanced Deployable System (ADS), a rapidly deployable undersea surveillance system. The work will be performed under an option to a $21 million contract awarded to Lockheed Martin in 2004.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN SELECTED AS LEAD SYSTEMS ENGINEER FOR U.S. NAVY INFORMATION OPERATIONS ARCHITECTURE Lockheed Martin 18 Jan 2006 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] announced today that it has been selected by the U.S. Navy to be the lead systems engineer for the Distributed Information Operations (DIO) project, which addresses the Navy’s need for network-centric intelligence to improve interoperability, enhance battlespace awareness and support Naval operations. Under this two-year effort for PEO C4I & Space, Lockheed Martin will make disparate Navy signals intelligence systems interoperable and facilitate tactical data exchange throughout the space, air, surface, subsurface, and unmanned sensor network-centric warfare arena.
• MAJOR MILESTONE ACHIEVED ON NEW MISSILE WARNING SYSTEM BUILT BY LOCKHEED MARTIN Lockheed Martin 18 Jan 2006 -- The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) team led by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has successfully completed engineering thermal vacuum testing of the payload for the first geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellite. SBIRS will provide early warning of missile launches and support other missions simultaneously including missile defense, technical intelligence and battlespace characterization.
• Northrop Grumman's Navy Fire Scout Gets Its Sea Legs, Completes First Autonomous Ship Landings Northrop Grumman 18 Jan 2006 -- The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) wrote a new chapter in naval aviation history Jan. 16-17, when two RQ-8A Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) completed nine autonomous shipboard landings on board USS Nashville (LPD 13) off the coast of Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT United Nations 18 Jan 2006
• PRESS CONFERENCE ON SUDAN BY PRESIDENT OF SLOVENIA United Nations 18 Jan 2006
• African Union Prepares for Eventual Hand Over of Darfur Mission VOA 18 Jan 2006 -- African leaders gather next week for an African Union summit amid a major setback in the fledgling organization's peacekeeping mission in Sudan's western Darfur region

• COTE D IVOIRE: Five killed, peacekeepers beat retreat on third day of anti-UN protests IRIN 18 Jan 2006 -- Five people were killed and hundreds of UN peacekeepers forced to abandon base on Wednesday as anti-UN protests swept government-held southern Cote d'Ivoire for a third straight day.
• COTE D IVOIRE: Five dead in clashes with UN peacekeepers in "Wild West" IRIN 18 Jan 2006 -- Five people were killed and 10 injured in violent anti-UN clashes that broke out after dawn on Wednesday at a peacekeeping camp in the western Cote d'Ivoire town of Guiglo, where an angry crowd also torched several United Nations offices, a hospital source said.
• Côte d'Ivoire: UN reacts to attacks with restraint as diplomatic bid to end crisis intensifies UN News Centre 18 Jan 2006 -- As hate media in Côte d'Ivoire broadcast messages inciting attacks against United Nations peacekeepers, diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis are intensifying, a spokesman for the world body said today.

• LIBERIA: Recruitment drive for new army kicks off IRIN 18 Jan 2006 -- Queues of hundreds of young wannabe soldiers began forming from early morning on Wednesday as authorities kicked off a countrywide recruitment drive for Liberia's new national army.
• CHAD: Rebels admit 'friendly' ties with Sudan but deny receiving support IRIN 18 Jan 2006 -- A Chadian rebel leader on Wednesday said insurgents seeking to oust President Idriss Deby have 'friendly' relations with Sudan and have met on Sudanese soil, but are receiving no arms or other assistance from Khartoum, as charged by N'Djamena.
• CONGO: ICRC suspends aid in Pool region IRIN 18 Jan 2006 -- Worsening insecurity has forced the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to pull out of Pool, a troubled region in the Republic of the Congo (RoC).
• Little hope for resolution of Western Sahara situation this year: UN Envoy UN News Centre 18 Jan 2006 -- The United Nations top envoy for Western Sahara today implied he did not foresee any breakthroughs during the current year in the political impasse between the Moroccan Government and the Frente POLISARIO independence movement over the territory's status.
• Tension persists as troop build-up continues on both sides of Chad-Sudan border - UN UN News Centre 18 Jan 2006 -- Sudan's West Darfur province remains tense, with Chadian troops and Sudan Armed Forces on both sides of the border being reinforced amid a recent spate of attacks on commercial and non-governmental organization (NGO) vehicles in the area, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said today.
• Nagorno-Karabakh Talks Expected In London RFE/RL 18 Jan 2006 -- The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia are expected to meet today in London for talks related to efforts to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between their countries
• Russia Considering Milosevic Plea For Treatment RFE/RL 18 Jan 2006 -- Moscow is reportedly considering a request by former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to come to Russia for medical treatment.

News Reports

• US Sanctions Top Syrian Official VOA 18 Jan 2006 -- The United States is taking action against Syria's military spy chief.