Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 18 Jan 2007 [PDF]
• Sailor dies in non-combat related incident
• CENTAF releases airpower summary for Jan. 18 AFPN 18 Jan 2007 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released the airpower summary for Jan. 18.
• US Admits Raid on Sudanese Embassy in Baghdad VOA 18 Jan 2007 -- The U.S. military has admitted that American troops raided the embassy of Sudan in the Iraqi capital.
• Car Bombings in Baghdad Kill at Least 17 Iraqis VOA 18 Jan 2007 -- Iraqi officials say at least 17 people have been killed in a series of car bomb explosions in Baghdad as violence in the city continues to surge.
• MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle crashes AFPN 18 Jan 2007 -- A U.S. Central Command Air Forces MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle crashed five miles southeast of Baghdad International Airport Jan. 17 at approximately 11:35 p.m. local Baghdad time
• Secretary Gates Says Gains in Afghanistan Must Be Sustained Washington File 18 Jan 2007 -- On his first visit to Kabul, Afghanistan, since becoming defense secretary in December 2006, Robert Gates says it is important for the United States and its allies to do whatever is necessary to sustain the success already achieved in Afghanistan.
• Leftist Lawmakers in Italy Threaten to Vote Against Italy's Afghan Mission VOA 18 Jan 2007 -- Members of the far left in Italy's governing coalition are threatening to vote against refinancing the country's mission to Afghanistan
• Pakistan plans major operation against Taliban: police IRNA 18 Jan 2007 -- Police chief in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan said on Thursday that a major operation against Taliban suspects will soon be launched in the province.
• Pakistan military rejects Afghan charges IRNA 18 Jan 2007 -- Pakistan military on Thursday rejected a claim from a captured Taliban spokesman that it is sheltering the movement's leader, Mullah Omar.
• U.S. Intelligence Chief Says Pakistan Must Address 'Sanctuary' For Taliban RFE/RL 18 Jan 2007 -- The head of U.S. intelligence operations says Pakistan must do more to address the "sanctuary" that Taliban fighters enjoy in Pakistan before security can improve in Afghanistan.
• Islamabad Denies Mullah Omar Sheltered in Pakistan VOA 18 Jan 2007 -- A Taleban spokesman has told Afghan authorities that the militant Islamic group's leader, Mullah Omar, is living inside Pakistan under the protection of the country's main intelligence agency, the ISI
• South Asia: Captured Taliban Fuels Islamabad-Kabul Fire RFE/RL 18 Jan 2007 -- A captured Taliban spokesman, known as Mohammad Hanif, has claimed that the leader of Afghanistan's former Taliban regime is living in Pakistan under the protection of that country's intelligence service.

Defense Policy / Programs

• DoD Releases Military Commissions Manual AFPS 18 Jan 2007 -- The Defense Department today presented to Congress its manual outlining rules for military commissions as they will be conducted under the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
• Transcript: DoD Press Briefing on New Military Commissions Rules 18 Jan 2007 -- Presenter: Principal Deputy General Counsel Dan Dell'Orto and Legal Advisor Brigadier General Thomas Hemingway, Office of Military Commisions
• China Tests Anti-Satellite Weapon VOA 18 Jan 2007 -- Space experts have confirmed a report that China successfully tested a new anti-satellite weapon last week, firing the weapon to destroy one of its own old satellites
• MARKEY DENOUNCES CHINESE MISSILE TEST; CALLS ON BUSH ADMIN. TO STRIKE AGREEMENT TO BAN FUTURE TESTS Office of Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) 18 Jan 2007 -- Today Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Co-Chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation and Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, denounced the reported Chinese test of an anti-satellite missile system
• Airmen advise Djiboutian air traffic controllers AFPN 18 Jan 2007 -- As the air traffic controller approaches his perch, he enters through the smoke-filled lobby of an old, white tower
• Software maintainers help warfighters achieve mission AFPN 18 Jan 2007 -- While the E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or Joint STARS, platform is celebrated for its ability to provide air commanders with real-time ground surveillance in support of attack operations, the surveillance giant couldn't complete its mission without the support from Airmen of the 116th Computer Systems Squadron.
• Deployed B-52s complete counter-sea exercise AFPN 18 Jan 2007 -- Usually, naval mines are placed at sea by dedicated ships traveling days from their home port.
• JPADS continues 'revolution in airdrop technology' AFPN 18 Jan 2007 -- Since October 2005, the Air Mobility Warfare Center here has partnered in an effort to revolutionize the way the Air Force does its airlift airdrops in the expeditionary environment and around the globe with the Joint Precision Air Drop System, or JPADS, initiative.
• New U.S. Task Force Commander, Staff Prepare for Posting to Africa AFPS 18 Jan 2007 -- The new headquarters commander and staff for Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa are nearing the end of training before their posting to a region of vital strategic importance in the global war against terrorism.
• AFSO 21 event targets transportation efficiency AFPN 18 Jan 2007 -- Air Force leaders continue to shape wartime work processes by applying Lean principles and techniques from Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st century.
• US General Says Overhaul of UN Command in South Korea Necessary VOA 18 Jan 2007 -- For more than half a century, the U.S.-led United Nations Command has preserved the peace along the tense demilitarized zone between North and South Korea
• EU Holds Firm On China Arms Embargo RFE/RL 18 Jan 2007 -- The European Union today insisted that its arms embargo against China will remain until the nation's human rights record improves.
• Press Briefing by Tony Snow The White House 18 Jan 2007
• Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 18 Jan 2007

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for January 18, 2007
• General Dynamics Awarded $7 Million for Production of M2HB Machine Guns Gneral Dynamics 18 Jan 2007 -- General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has been awarded a $6.9 million contract modification from U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command, Rock Island, Ill., to produce M2HB Machine Guns
• Pratt & Whitney Selected to Power United States Air Force Joint STARS Pratt & Whitney 18 Jan 2007 -- Northrop Grumman has selected Pratt & Whitney to power the United States Air Force's fleet of 19 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) aircraft
• Tadiran Communications Received $20.5 Million Order from Israeli Ministry of Defense Tardiran Communications 18 Jan 2007 -- Tadiran Communications received an order in the amount of $20.5 million from Israel's Ministry of Defense
• Boeing Awarded Contract for 126 Remanufactured AH-64D Apache Longbow Helicopters Boeing 18 Jan 2007 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and the U.S. Army recently signed a $1.149 billion contract for the remanufacture of 96 AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters for the U.S. Army and 30 AH-64Ds for the United Arab Emirates.
• U.S. Air Force Awards Northrop Grumman $98.7 Million for ICBM Guidance Modernization Program Northrop Grumman 18 Jan 2007 -- The U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) a $98.7 million contract in December to complete the full-rate production phase of the ICBM Guidance Replacement Program (GRP).

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 18 Jan 2007
• Rice Says Weeks of Intensive Diplomacy Ahead for the Middle East Washington File 18 Jan 2007 -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she expects her trilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will take place during the first half of February, and that some of the discussions will focus on building Palestinian political and economic institutions.
• Rice Sees 'Intense' Middle East Peace Efforts in Coming Weeks VOA 18 Jan 2007 -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she expects the pace of contacts on Middle East peacemaking to accelerate following a trip to the region in which she arranged a three-way meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on final-status peace issues
• Palestinian President to Meet with Hamas Political Chief VOA 18 Jan 2007 -- A Palestinian lawmaker says Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with the political chief of the governing Hamas group on Saturday.
• U.S. Optimistic on Direction Somalia Is Taking, Official Says Washington File 18 Jan 2007 -- Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer gave an upbeat assessment of the progress Somalia is making toward forming a national unity government aimed at providing security and stability for the nation, which has been ravaged by clan fighting and warlordism.
• UN Envoy Meets with Somalia's Interim Leader VOA 18 Jan 2007 -- The United Nations' special envoy to Somalia has met the country's interim president for the first time in the Somali capital Mogadishu
• UN Envoy in Somalia to Discuss Peacekeeping Force VOA 18 Jan 2007 -- A top United Nations envoy is in Somalia to discuss plans to deploy an African peacekeeping force in the country.
• SOMALIA: UN calls for immediate re-engagement IRIN 18 Jan 2007 -- The United Nations wants the international community to re-engage in Somalia to take advantage of a "window of opportunity", the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Eric Laroche, said.
• DRC-RWANDA: UN official welcomes deal with dissident general IRIN 18 Jan 2007 -- An agreement between the army and a dissident general to end his rebellion in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) would allow thousands of refugees and displaced people to return home, said a United Nations official.
• CHAD: Aid agencies still on war footing as insecurity continues IRIN 18 Jan 2007 -- Aid agencies in eastern Chad that had scaled down during heavy fighting in mid-November are still operating at minimum levels, despite a lull in hostilities because of lingering fears of hijackings and armed attacks.
• SUDAN: Insecurity in Darfur threatens aid delivery - UN agencies IRIN 18 Jan 2007 -- Ongoing insecurity in Sudan's Darfur region means humanitarian organisations operating there cannot ensure the survival of thousands of internally displaced persons, United Nations humanitarian agencies said.
• Renegade General's Forces to Rejoin Congo Army VOA 18 Jan 2007 -- Democratic Republic of Congo's renegade General Laurent Nkunda has said his forces are reintegrating into the country's national army, following an informal peace deal struck in neighboring Rwanda

News Reports

• Alcatel Alenia Space has signed a Euro 103 million contract to provide SICRAL-1B satellite Thales 18 Jan 2007 -- Alcatel Alenia Space announced that it has signed a Euro 103 million contract with the Italian Ministry of Defense to provide the telecommunication satellite SICRAL-1B. The satellite, dedicated to the Italian Armed Forces, will ensure strategic and tactical communications on the Italian and foreign territories as well as mobile communications between terrestrial, naval and air platforms.