Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 21 Mar 2006 [PDF]
• MND-B SOLDIER KILLED IN WESTERN BAGHDAD
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• Predator Crashes in Iraq; Operation Swarmer Continues AFPS 21 Mar 2006 -- An unmanned aerial vehicle crashed this morning in Iraq, and combined operations continued in Salah ah Din province as part of Operation Swarmer.
• Coalition builds base at Jurf As Sukhr Army News 21 Mar 2006 -- Coalition forces completed construction of a patrol base in Jurf As Sukhr, about 80 miles southwest of Baghdad, March 17.vehicles.
• CENTAF releases combined airpower summary AFPN 21 Mar 2006 -- Coalition aircraft flew 56 close-air-support missions March 20 for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Fighter aircraft help apprehend insurgents AFPN 21 Mar 2006 -- Air Force fighter aircraft pilots helped apprehend three suspected insurgents accused of mortaring Balad Air Base, Iraq, March 16.
• MQ-1 Predator crashes in Iraq AFPN 21 Mar 2006 -- An Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, crashed at about 3:30 a.m. today while operating in Iraq. Airmen and Soldiers recovered the wreckage and returned it to its home base.
• Insurgents Attack Government Compound in Iraqi Town, 16 Killed VOA 21 Mar 2006 -- Insurgents in Iraq have attacked a government compound north of Baghdad, killing at least 16 policemen and freeing more than 30 prisoners.
• NATO Troops To Destroy Cache of 15,000 Land Mines in Afghanistan Washington File 21 Mar 2006 -- More than 15,000 abandoned land mines have been discovered in old storage bunkers in Afghanistan, according to a State Department report.
• No military operation in tribal areas, Balochistan: Pak minister IRNA 21 Mar 2006 -- The Pakistani government in the Senate on Monday denied any military operation was underway in Balochistan or Waziristan.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Transcript: Press Conference of the President The White House 21 Mar 2006
• Bush Discusses Iraq, US Economy During Tuesday News Conference VOA 21 Mar 2006 -- President Bush discussed the war in Iraq and the strength of the economy in a news conference in Washington.
• USS Eisenhower Hosts Tour for APEX Program Participants Navy NewsStand 21 Mar 2006 -- Senior military and civilian leaders participating in the APEX orientation program had the opportunity to visit USS Eisenhower (CVN 69) March 16.
• USS Columbia Returns From Western Pacific Deployment Navy NewsStand 21 Mar 2006 -- The nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Columbia (SSN 771) returned to its homeport of Pearl Harbor March 17, following a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific.
• USS Norfolk Sailors Visit United Arab Emirates Navy NewsStand 21 Mar 2006 -- USS Norfolk (SSN 714) arrived in the port of Jebel Ali, U.A.E., March 17 for a brief visit, providing the crew an opportunity for liberty and the Norfolk, Va.-based attack submarine an opportunity for routine upkeep.
• Rushmore First to Receive TORIS/TFOM ?Tough Book’ Computers Navy NewsStand 21 Mar 2006 -- The amphibious assault ship USS Rushmore (LSD 47) was the first afloat command to receive two “tough book” laptop computers from Afloat Training Group, Pacific, (ATGPAC) as part of the SHIPTRAIN program March 13.
• CV-22 delivered to Air Force AFPN 21 Mar 2006 -- A new chapter in Air Force aviation opened March 20 as the first operational CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft arrived here.
• C-17s would help USAFE's air mobility business AFPN 21 Mar 2006 -- As the need grows for more Air Force transports to move cargo and troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. Air Forces in Europe is feeling the pinch.
• Missile Defense Technology Valid, Viable, General Says AFPS 21 Mar 2006 -- A robust, fully operational missile defense system is on its way to becoming a reality, the director of the Missile Defense Agency said here yesterday.
• US, South Korea Discuss Changes in Military Relationship VOA 21 Mar 2006 -- Senior South Korean and American defense officials are meeting in Seoul to discuss major transformations in the two countries' military relationship
• NAVY TO SEND THREE SHIPS TO HELP IMMOBILIZED 'CHENG HO' OFF PALAU CNA 21 Mar 2006 -- The Republic of China Navy will send three ships to Palau to help tow back the immobilized Cheng Kung-class frigate Cheng Ho, the Naval Fleet Command said Tuesday.
• Review of European Security Issues Washington File 21 Mar 2006 -- Milosevic's death; Kosovo talks; U.S. commander on strategy in Europe, Africa; U.S. troops leaving Iceland; U.S.-Bulgaria close to basing deal; "impasse" in Northern Ireland; EU may cut Bosnia force
• State Department Briefing, March 21 Washington File 21 Mar 2006 -- North Korea, United Nations, Iran, Palestinian Authority, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for March 16, 2006
• BAE Systems launches Talisman autonomous underwater system BAE Systems 21 Mar 2006 -- BAE Systems today launched its new autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) Talisman at Oceanology International 2006. The Talisman System, developed by BAE Systems in the UK, is a latest-generation modular multi-role UUV, capable of a wide range of maritime littoral operations.
• EADS to supply data-link for German Army reconnaissance drone 'KZO' EADS 21 Mar 2006 -- After the official handing over of the first series-system of the Rheinmetall reconnaissance drone 'KZO' ("Kleinfluggerät Zielortung") to the German Army, EADS Defence Electronics has now started the series production of the 'KZO' data-link system. The data-link system guarantees a world-wide unrivalled jamming resistance in the data-transfer between the drone and the ground station.
• Lockheed Martin Delivers New Integrated Weapons System to A-10C Flight Test Program Lockheed Martin 21 Mar 2006 -- The Lockheed Martin-led A-10 Prime Team has delivered a new weapons delivery system to the U.S. Air Force’s A-10C flight-test program. Called the Digital Stores Management System (DSMS), the new system is integrated with the Sniper® and LITENING targeting pods to give the aircraft a ?smart’ weapons capability for its close air support role.
• Raytheon's Upgraded Early Warning Radar Participates Successfully in Key Missile Defense Flight Test Raytheon 21 Mar 2006 -- Raytheon Company's Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR) at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., performed successfully in a flight test of the Ground Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). The test was conducted by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Feb. 23.
• U.S. Army Awards Raytheon $80 Million Patriot Engineering Services Contract Raytheon 21 Mar 2006 -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has been awarded an $80 million contract modification from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command to provide engineering services support to the Patriot Air and Missile Defense program.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 21 Mar 2006
• Israel Captures Would-be Bombers After High-Speed Chase VOA 21 Mar 2006 -- Israeli security forces have arrested ten Palestinians speeding on a main highway in a van packed with explosives.
• Israel Reopens Gaza Crossing VOA 21 Mar 2006 -- Israel reopened the main crossing for commerce and goods into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday
• Sudan: top UN envoy calls for urgent action to counter brutality in Darfur UN News Centre 21 Mar 2006 -- Saying that killings, rapes and other abuse of human rights in Darfur continue to threaten the peace in Sudan as a whole, the United Nation's top envoy to that country today called for a swift peace agreement and a peacekeeping force large enough to cover the region and strong enough to deter any attack.
• UNHCR Suspends Repatriation to South Sudan VOA 21 Mar 2006 -- The U.N. refugee agency says it is suspending the repatriation of Sudanese refugees from the Central African Republic, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to several areas of South Sudan.
• SUDAN: Two UN peacekeepers wounded in Yambio IRIN 21 Mar 2006 -- Two United Nations peacekeepers were wounded at the weekend in an attack by more than 100 armed men on a UN base in the Sudanese town of Yambio, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• DR of Congo: Annan honours fallen peacekeepers, lauds UN role in coming vote UN News Centre 21 Mar 2006 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan today arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the United Nations is fielding one of its largest peacekeeping forces, with nearly 17,000 uniformed personnel, and helping to organize elections in the biggest and most expensive such operation it has ever undertaken.
• DRC: Ituri warlord faces first trial at ICC in The Hague IRIN 21 Mar 2006 -- A Congolese warlord, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, made his first appearance at the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday, on charges of conscripting children and using them to participate in hostilities during 2002 and 2003.
• CHAD: Government troops clash with rebels in east IRIN 21 Mar 2006 -- Government soldiers have launched a military offensive against rebels in eastern Chad, days after the government said it foiled a coup attempt against President Idriss Deby.
• Chad Forces Attack Rebels VOA 21 Mar 2006 -- Chad's government says it has launched a new offensive against rebels, sparking more instability in the border region with Sudan's troubled Darfur province
• Annan calls for UN Liberia operation to be extended; drawdown but more police UN News Centre 21 Mar 2006 -- Describing the security situation in Liberia as still "fragile," United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for the UN mission in the country, which is recovering from a prolonged civil war, to be extended until March 2007 and for more police officers to be added as military personnel are withdrawn.
• GUINEA-BISSAU-SENEGAL: Clashes leave villagers cut off as rebels lay fresh mines IRIN 21 Mar 2006 -- Fighting in the forests of Guinea Bissau near the border with Senegal has left many civilians in distress, their villages wholly cut off, Guinea Bissau military sources say.

News Reports

• First MetOp satellite ready to leave for Baikonour EADS 21 Mar 2006 -- MetOp is the first in a series of three satellites built by EADS Astrium for the European Space Agency (ESA) and Europe’s weather satellite organisation EUMETSAT. As partners in this cooperative venture the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) in France and the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), provide payload instruments embarked on the satellite.
• Orbital To Launch NASA's Space Technology 5 Spacecraft March 22 Aboard Pegasus Rocket Orbital Sciences Corp. 21 Mar 2006 -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) today announced that it is prepared to launch the Space Technology 5 (ST5) scientific spacecraft for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) aboard the company's Pegasus® rocket.