Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 26 Jul 2007 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• MND-B unit targeted by small arms fire attack
• MNF-W forces attacked
• Marine dies in non-combat related incident
• MNC-I Soldier targeted by IED
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• Press Briefing, July 26, 2007 MNF-I 26 Jul 2007 -- TOPIC: CURRENT OPERATIONS
• July 25 airpower summary: A-10s provide top cover AFPN 26 Jul 2007 -- Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan during operations July 25, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
• Troops Detain Suspects in Iraq; U.S. Condemns Baghdad Attack AFPS 26 Jul 2007 -- Iraqi and coalition forces netted 39 suspects in Iraq over the past two days, and military officials strongly condemned an attack that killed at least 50 Iraqi soccer celebrants in Baghdad.
• Task Group 152 Enhances Regional Security and Stability Navy NewsStand 26 Jul 2007 -- Commander, Task Group (CTG) 152, currently commanded by Commander, Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (BHRESG) and Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON) 7, is conducting Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the Persian Gulf.
• Car Bomb Blast Kills 25 in Central Baghdad VOA 26 Jul 2007 -- Iraqi police say a car bomb has killed 25 people and wounded more than 70 in central Baghdad.
• Taleban Militants in Afghanistan Extend Deadline for Hostage Negotiations VOA 26 Jul 2007 -- A self-described Taleban spokesman says militants in Afghanistan have extended the deadline to negotiate the release of 22 South Korean hostages.
• UNICEF Needs Emergency Funds For Afghanistan VOA 26 Jul 2007 -- The United Nations Children's Fund is urgently appealing for $7 million for emergency assistance for tens of thousands of women and children in Afghanistan
• Troops in Afghanistan Thwart Ambushes, Kill Scores of Enemy Fighters AFPS 26 Jul 2007 -- Afghan and coalition forces repelled three insurgent ambushes, killing scores of enemy fighters in Afghanistan over the past two days.
• AFGHANISTAN: UNICEF appeals for more aid to help women, children IRIN 26 Jul 2007 -- In 2007 floods, diseases, drought and armed conflict have increased the need for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, the UN Children's Agency (UNICEF) said in its donor update report issued on 26 July. Women and children have been particularly affected, it said.
• South Korean, Afghan Efforts To Win Hostages' Release Continue RFE/RL 26 Jul 2007 -- The South Korean and Afghan governments are stepping up efforts to win the release of 22 South Korean hostages held by Taliban militants in Afghanistan's central Ghazni Province.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Airborne Laser Demonstrates Full Weapon System Engagement Sequence in Flight Missile Defense Agency 26 Jul 2007 -- Lieutenant General Henry "Trey" Obering, Missile Defense Agency director, announced today that the Airborne Laser (ABL) program has accomplished another historic "first" on July 24, 2007 by propagating its Beacon Illuminator Laser (BILL) and using the return to compensate for atmospheric disturbances.
• USS Pearl Harbor Arrives in Puerto Quetzal Navy NewsStand 26 Jul 2007 -- After a successful port visit in Panama, USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) arrived in Puerto Quetzal July 25, to perform a series of theater security cooperation (TSC) events in support of Partnership of the Americas (POA) 2007.
• Comfort Arrives in El Salvador Navy NewsStand 26 Jul 2007 -- U.S. Navy Hospital Ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) arrived in El Salvador on July 25 to continue its four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean after caring for patients in Belize, Guatemala, Panama and Nicaragua.
• Lincoln Leaves San Diego, Begins TSTA Navy NewsStand 26 Jul 2007 -- USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) wrapped up two weeks of training and certification with a scheduled port visit to Naval Air Station North Island July 22-24.
• Boxer Back at Sea to Off-load Ammunition, Train New Sailors Navy NewsStand 26 Jul 2007 -- USS Boxer (LHD 4) returned July 19 from a one-week underway period off the coast of Southern California for the first time since returning from its nine-month deployment nearly six weeks ago.
• PCU Bush Officers Drive the (Simulated) Ship Navy NewsStand 26 Jul 2007 -- Pre-commissioning Unit (PCU) George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) officers brushed up on their ship driving skills at the Marine Safety International (MSI) Navy Bridge Resource Management (BRM) course here July 16-18.
• Transportation Airmen compete in Rodeo 2007 AFPN 26 Jul 2007 -- With engines blazing, the door slams onto the ground causing man and machine to make a mad dash toward a giant beast with its mouth open, growling, shaking and waiting to devour all in its path.
• Elmendorf, coalition forces hone skills at Red Flag-Alaska AFPN 26 Jul 2007 -- Airmen from Japan, Mongolia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and the United States are at Elmendorf Air Force Base honing their warfighting skills as they participate in Red Flag-Alaska July 12 through 27.
• Iraq, Afghanistan Campaigns Have Kept U.S. Safe, Intelligence Official Says AFPS 26 Jul 2007 -- The U.S. offensive targeting overseas terrorists has helped to prevent more Sept. 11-type attacks on the homeland, the defense department's top intelligence official told legislators at a Capitol Hill hearing yesterday.
• Military Study of Guantanamo Detainees Suggests Many Pose Danger VOA 26 Jul 2007 -- A published report says a new study shows the majority of terror suspects being held at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, pose a serious security threat to the United States.
• Another train with Russian military hardware leaves Georgia base RIA Novosti 26 Jul 2007 -- A train carrying military equipment left a Russian base in Georgia early Thursday as part of a 2006 deal on the withdrawal of Russian bases from the ex-Soviet Caucasus state, a Russian military official said.
• Russia offers NATO strategic missile defense partnership -official RIA Novosti 26 Jul 2007 -- Russia is offering to engage NATO in a strategic partnership to counter possible missile threats, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Thursday.
• Press Gaggle by Tony Snow The White House 26 Jul 2007

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for July 26, 2007
• BAE SYSTEMS' CHIEF EXECUTIVE WELCOMES CARRIER ANNOUNCEMENT BAE Systems 26 Jul 2007 -- BAE Systems has today welcomed the UK government's announcement to enter into full manufacturing phase contracts for two new 65,000 tonne aircraft carriers.
• Northrop Grumman Awarded Contract to Develop New Submarine Technology Northrop Grumman 26 Jul 2007 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) was awarded funding by the U.S. Navy for research and development of advanced technologies for current and future submarines.
• ATK Awarded $80 Million in Medium-Caliber Ammunition Contracts ATK 26 Jul 2007 -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) has received $80 million in additional orders for 20mm M940, 25mm M792 and PGU-23, and LW30 M789 medium-caliber ammunition from the U.S. Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island Arsenal, IL. Work on the contracts will be performed at ATK facilities in Arizona, Missouri, Virginia and West Virginia.
• Boeing Flies Blended Wing Body Research Aircraft Boeing 26 Jul 2007 -- The innovative Boeing [NYSE: BA] Blended Wing Body (BWB) research aircraft -- designated the X-48B -- flew for the first time last week at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN RECEIVES $33 MILLION FOR PAVEWAY II PRECISION GUIDED SYSTEMS Lockheed Martin 26 Jul 2007 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has been awarded a $33 million contract to deliver paveway II Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) GBU-12 kits to the U.S. Air Force.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 26 Jul 2007
• PRESS CONFERENCE BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR NEPAL United Nations 26 Jul 2007
• ISRAEL-OPT: Three years after ICJ barrier ruling, access to land still a problem IRIN 26 Jul 2007 -- Three years ago, in July 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague issued an advisory opinion, which, by a vote of 14 to one, declared the barrier illegal, and expressed particular concern that parts of it were being built within the occupied Palestinian territory.
• SRI LANKA: New security measures slow deliveries to the Vanni IRIN 26 Jul 2007 -- Heightened security measures and renewed skirmishes between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and government forces are causing severe delays in delivering supplies and price increases in goods and fuel in four northern districts of Sri Lanka, collectively known as Vanni, officials said.
• ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA: New camp opened for Somali refugees IRIN 26 Jul 2007 -- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has started relocating about 4,000 Somali refugees to a reopened refugee camp at Teferi Ber in eastern Ethiopia

News Reports

• Analysis: Reading Oil's Tea Leaves cfr.org 26 Jul 2007 -- A recent study from the U.S. National Petroleum Council (NPC), led by former ExxonMobil chairman Lee Raymond, asserts global energy consumption will increase as much as 60 percent by 2030 but assures "the world is not running out of energy resources."
• Libya-U.S. Relations Proceeding on Positive Trajectory Washington File 26 Jul 2007 -- Bilateral relations between Libya and the United States have improved to the point that the United States has appointed its first ambassador to Tripoli since 1972 and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could become the first secretary of state to visit Libya since the Eisenhower administration.