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Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 13 May 2008 [PDF]
• MND-B Soldier attacked by IED (Baghdad)
• May 12 airpower summary: C-130s continue support AFPN 13 May 2008
• Coalition, Iraqi Forces Expand Operations Into Qurnah AFPS 13 May 2008 -- Coalition and Iraqi forces expanded their operations about 70 kilometers north of Basra, Iraq, into Qurnah today, as the Iraqi army continues to develop its capabilities for tactical maneuvers over long distances.
• 1 NCD Commander Visits Seabees in Ramadi, Iraq Navy NewsStand 13 May 2008 -- Rear Adm. Richard E. Cellon, Commander, 1st Naval Construction Division (NCD) paid a visit to the Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 at Camp Ramadi on May 4.
• Operation Charge of Knights enters new phase in al Qurnah MNF-I 13 May 2008 -- Operation Sawlat al-Fursan, or Charge of the Knights, entered a new phase of operations in al Qurnah, May 13.
• Refugees can resume returning to Afghanistan from Pakistan - UN UN News Centre 13 May 2008 -- After security concerns prompted the United Nations to suspend assistance to Afghan refugees who are voluntarily returning to their home country from Peshawar in Pakistan, the UN refugee agency announced today that it will reopen its voluntary repatriation centre (VRC) in the city.
• AFGHANISTAN: Call for food aid from conflict-hit Helmand Province IRIN 13 May 2008 -- A provincial emergency response commission in insurgency-torn Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, has asked UN agencies and international aid organisations to provide food and non-food humanitarian relief to 4,200 families displaced by military operations in Garmsir District since the end of April.

Defense Policy / Programs

• US Defense Secretary Says Large-Scale War Less Likely VOA 13 May 2008 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the United States must prepare to fight insurgencies and similar types of wars for the foreseeable future, and put less emphasis on preparing for large-scale conventional wars
• Joint fires team helps Army improves force protection training JFCOM 13 May 2008 -- U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Fires Integration and Interoperability Team (JFIIT) has helped the Army's Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar (C-RAM) Program and the National Training Center to improve base defense systems in the training environment the Army's brigade combat teams use to prepare to go overseas
• New York Unit Brings Canadian Forces, Air Guard Troops Together AFPS 13 May 2008 -- While North American Aerospace Defense Command celebrates its rich and historic 50-year history, one unit will remain diligently watching the skies just as it did on Sept. 11, 2001.
• New technology proves to be dynamite during JEFX 08 AFPN 13 May 2008 -- F-22 Raptor pilots using an experimental version of a Tactical Targeting Network Technology, or TTNT, were able to send and receive information such as command and control messaging, imagery, airspace updates and even free text messages using a cockpit touch-screen color display during the Air Force Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2008, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., held April 15 to 25.
• New hydraulic lift aims to boost contingency capabilities AFPN 13 May 2008 -- Contingency response wings throughout the Air Force rely on their ability to move people and cargo quickly for fast deployment. An Air Mobility Battlelab initiative is looking to make that process even easier.
• Humanitarian aid provided to more than 1,600 Salvadorans AFPN 13 May 2008 -- An 18-person medical team made up of Airmen and Soldiers spent two days operating a makeshift clinic at an elementary school near Comasagua, El Salvador, May 7 and 8 during Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarias 2008.
• PaCom Commander Accompanies Burmese Relief Mission, Appeals to Allow More Aid AFPS 13 May 2008 -- The top U.S. officer in the Pacific accompanied the first U.S. relief flight into Burma yesterday, delivering not only desperately needed supplies but also personal appeals to the ruling junta and a letter asking the prime minister to allow more help.
• Mesa Verde Receives Operational Tasking 93 Days After Commissioning Navy NewsStand 13 May 2008 -- The amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) returned to homeport on April 4, after completing an interagency counter-narcotics mission.
• Chief of Navy Chaplains Visits USS Chosin Navy NewsStand 13 May 2008 -- Rear Adm. Robert Burt, Chief of Navy Chaplains, visited the Pearl Harbor-based USS Chosin (CG 65) May 7 while in the region for the Chaplain Corps' Professional Development Training Conference taking place on board Naval Station Pearl Harbor.
• Task Force Commander Visits USS Shoup Navy NewsStand 13 May 2008 -- The commander of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, visited USS Shoup (DDG 86) on May 9.
• USS Carr Trains with Local Coast Guard, Builds Relationships Navy NewsStand 13 May 2008 -- Sailors from USS Carr (FFG 52) completed theater security cooperation events and training to improve interoperability with the Barbados Coast Guard during a four day visit to Barbados, May 4-7.
• 'Aggressive' training helps pilots outmaneuver enemy AFPN 13 May 2008 -- Members of the 18th Aggressor Squadron are playing an important role in Northern Edge 2008, an annual joint-training exercise currently taking place here.
• NORAD officials celebrate 50th anniversary AFPN 13 May 2008 -- North American Aerospace Defense Command officials celebrated the 50th anniversary of the signing of the NORAD agreement with a Golden Jubilee Ball May 12 at the Broadmoor Hotel and Resort here.
• Gates Salutes NORAD's 50 Years as Guardian of Skies AFPS 13 May 2008 -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates saluted North American Aerospace Defense Command's role as the guardian of North American skies at the organization's 50th anniversary observance here last night.
• Senior Executive Service Appointment 13 May 2008
• Polish PM says no decision yet on U.S. missile shield RIA Novosti 13 May 2008 -- Warsaw is not yet satisfied with U.S. proposals to modernize the Polish army in exchange for the placement of a U.S. missile base in Poland, the prime minister said on Tuesday.
• UK regiments already serviced 5 tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan IRNA 13 May 2008 -- Two British regiments have so far served five tours of duty on Iraq and Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Des Browne has revealed.
• Press Gaggle by Dana Perino The White House 13 May 2008
• Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 13 May 2008

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for May 13, 2008
• Northrop Grumman Begins Installing New Engines On Joint STARS Northrop Grumman 13 May 2008 -- The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) two undefinitized contracts, worth $300 million collectively, to complete non-recurring engineering, flight test/certification and begin production of new engines for the service's E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) fleet.
• BAE SYSTEMS TO FIELD-TEST NEXT-GENERATION WIRELESS TACTICAL NETWORKS BAE Systems 13 May 2008 -- BAE Systems will field-test a suite of next-generation wireless tactical network protocols designed to improve communications within and among forward-deployed military units
• BAE SYSTEMS RECEIVES $9.7 MILLION DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY CONTRACT FOR ADVANCED COMBAT HELMETS BAE Systems 13 May 2008 -- BAE Systems has received a $9.7 million contract from the Defense Logistics Agency for 45,000 Advanced Combat Helmets (ACH).
• QinetiQ and Boeing's Team ACTIVE and UK MOD Complete 30-Month Training Simulation Demonstration Program Boeing 13 May 2008 -- QinetiQ and Boeing [NYSE: BA], leaders of Team ACTIVE (Aircrew Collective Training through Immersive Virtual Events), have successfully linked the U.S. Distributed Mission Operations Network aircrew training system and another nation's simulation facilities for the first time.
• CACI Awarded Prime Contract on Multiple-Award Defense Information Systems Agency ENCORE II Program With Ceiling Value of $12.225 Billion CACI 13 May 2008 -- CACI International Inc (NYSE:CAI) announced today that it has been awarded a prime contract to support Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) ENCORE II information technology solutions
• U.S. Army Awards Software Contract to Savi to Sustain Ammunition Depot Automation Applications Lockhed Martin 13 May 2008 -- Savi, a Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] company, has been awarded a contract with the U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command (JMC) for a government-developed, automated information system (AIS) that supports depot-level ammunition logistics functions
• Groundbreaking for the KC-45 Tanker Manufacturing Facilities Set for June 28 Northrop Grumman 13 May 2008 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and its key subcontractor, EADS North America, will join local, state and federal officials and the citizens of Mobile, Ala., in a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, June 28. Ground will be broken at Mobile's Brookley Field, where two adjacent manufacturing facilities will be built to produce the nation's new fleet of aerial refueling tanker aircraft.
• Northrop Grumman's Battlefield Airborne Communications Node Enables Unprecedented Real-Time Distribution of F-22 Data to Legacy Aircraft Northrop Grumman 13 May 2008 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) successfully accomplished the first-ever real-time download and distribution of sensor information from an F-22 Raptor fighter to F-15 and F-16 aircraft via an airborne network and an F-22-unique datalink
• SAIC Awarded Air Force $12 Million Contract for New Aircraft Component Repair Facility SAIC 13 May 2008 -- Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE: SAI) announced today that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Air Force to design, engineer and construct a new fixed and rotary-wing aircraft component repair facility at Robins Air Force Base (AFB) in Warner Robins, Ga
• SAIC Awarded ENCORE II Information Technology Solutions Contract From DISA SAIC 13 May 2008 -- Company to Provide IT Services and Solutions to the Military Services, Department of Defense (DoD) and Other Agencies of the Federal Government
• LOCKHEED MARTIN SUBMITS BID FOR U.S. AIR FORCE SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS PROGRAM Lockhed Martin 13 May 2008 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] today announced that it has submitted its proposal to the U.S. Air Force for the Self-Awareness Space Situational Awareness (SASSA) program.
• Israel Aerospace Industries and TATA Have Signed a Framework Agreement to Cooperate in the Development, Manufacturing and Support of Defense Products in India Israel Aerospace Industries 13 May 2008 -- Mr. Itzhak Nissan, President and CEO Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd (IAI) and Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman Tata Sons have signed a framework agreement for cooperation in the development, manufacturing, marketing and support of defence products in India. This agreement was signed following a Memorandum of Agreement that was signed on February 17 in New Delhi during the Defexpo defense show.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT United Nations 13 May 2008
• Security Council slates weekend attacks by Darfur rebels near Sudanese capital UN News Centre 13 May 2008 -- The Security Council today deplored the weekend attacks by a Darfurian rebel group against the Sudanese Government on the outskirts of the country's capital, Khartoum, but urged restraint from all sides and warned that no retaliatory action should be taken against civilians.
• Ban Ki-moon 'deeply disappointed' at continuing violence in Darfur UN News Centre 13 May 2008 -- Ongoing military activities by Darfur's rebel groups as well as reprisal actions by the Sudanese Government and its allied militia are costing lives and limiting humanitarian operations in the strife-torn region, the United Nations Secretary-General says today.
• SUDAN: Watermelons, conflict and climate change IRIN 13 May 2008 -- Several hundred kilometres from the simmering conflicts between pastoralists and farmers [over natural resources] in Sudan's Darfur region, the two communities in the village of Gereigikh in North Kordofan State have learnt to cool the tension with watermelons.
• Lebanon's Hariri Vows to Never Surrender to Hezbollah VOA 13 May 2008 -- Lebanon's parliamentary majority leader has vowed never to surrender to Hezbollah, as the army prepared to intervene in fighting between the militant group and pro-government militias.
• LEBANON: Army "under tremendous pressure" but still united IRIN 13 May 2008 -- The army's pledge to use force if necessary to impose law and order puts the only fully functioning national institution into the centre of Lebanon's violent crisis. But although strained, analysts say the military remains united.
• African Union Urges 'Major International Endeavor' in Somalia VOA 13 May 2008 -- The new leadership of the African Union is trying to organize what is described as a "major international endeavor" to bring stability to Somalia
• SOMALIA: Insecurity grips Kismayo IRIN 13 May 2008 -- Gangs of armed men have set up roadblocks in and around Somalia's coastal city of Kismayo, 500km south of Mogadishu, causing serious insecurity.
• Bosnian Croat commander jailed by UN tribunal to serve time in Italy UN News Centre 13 May 2008 -- A Bosnian Croat military commander, found guilty of committing crimes against Bosnian Muslims in the area around Mostar, was today transferred to a jail in Italy to serve out the remainder of his 18-year sentence, the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) announced.
• Georgia: Abkhazia Tensions Still High After EU, U.S. Visits RFE/RL 13 May 2008 -- Relations between Tbilisi and Moscow remain tense over Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia following a visit to Georgia by a European Union delegation and a top Washington envoy.
• Hamas rejects Israel's ceasefire terms RIA Novosti 13 May 2008 -- The radical Islamic group Hamas has refused to include the release of an Israeli soldier seized almost two years ago in the terms for a ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for the group said on Tuesday.
• Saudi Arabia Blames Iran for Lebanon Violence VOA 13 May 2008 -- Saudi Arabia has blamed Iran for what it calls the recent coup attempt in Lebanon and has called on all regional states not to interfere in Lebanon's political affairs.

News Reports

• Analysis: Saving Myanmar cfr.org 13 May 2008 -- As the death toll from the May 3 cyclone in Myanmar continues to rise-official state media list more than 30,000 dead and 35,000 missing-international relief agencies are expressing grave concern over delays in aid efforts
• The Aftermath in Myanmar cfr.org 13 May 2008
• Myanmar faces second catastrophe without more access for aid - UN UN News Centre 13 May 2008 -- Unless more access to Myanmar is granted to allow aid to flow more quickly to victims of this month's deadly cyclone, a second catastrophe could result, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned today.
• Zimbabwe: UN voices concern over politically-motivated violence UN News Centre 13 May 2008 -- The United Nations today expressed its concern over rising political violence in Zimbabwe, allegedly perpetrated by security forces, youth militias, war veterans and gangs of supporters of both the ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
• Another Southern African Summit On Zimbabwe Seen As Crisis Deepens VOA 13 May 2008 -- Leaders of the Southern African Development Community were expected to gather for another extraordinary summit on the crisis in Zimbabwe amid mounting pressure from the African Union and Western governments for the regional group to act decisively to tamp down political violence and press Harare to conclude presidential voting.
• ZIMBABWE: UN says violence affecting aid, wants to assess IRIN 13 May 2008 -- The United Nations has asked the government to help it conduct an assessment to evaluate the extent of politically motivated violence, which "could reach crisis levels", warned Agostinho Zacarias, the UN Resident Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator in Zimbabwe.
• Chinese Rescue Workers Fight to Save Thousands Buried in Massive Quake VOA 13 May 2008 -- Chinese rescue workers are struggling to save the lives of thousands buried under collapsed buildings and schools across southwestern China's Sichuan province.
• Time Running Out for Burmese Cyclone Victims VOA 13 May 2008 -- The United Nations says tens of thousands of desperate survivors of the powerful storm that struck Burma 10 days ago are likely to die of hunger and disease because they are not receiving needed assistance
• UN Warns of Rising Tensions in Zimbabwe VOA 13 May 2008 -- A U.N. official in Zimbabwe says post-election violence is increasing, and he largely blames President Robert Mugabe's supporters for the attacks
• KENYA: Govt raises funds, resettlement ongoing despite hitches IRIN 13 May 2008 -- The Kenyan government has raised Ksh1.46 billion (US$22.4 million) of the Ksh30 billion ($462 million) it says it needs to resettle at least 350,000 people displaced during the post-election crisis.
• Serbia/Russia: Do Election Results Spell Defeat For Moscow? RFE/RL 13 May 2008 -- As Western governments rushed to praise the victory of pro-Western parties in the May 11 parliamentary elections in Serbia, the initial reaction from Moscow was muted.
• Commentary: With Surprise Party Over, It's Time To Do The Math RFE/RL 13 May 2008 -- Most polls heading into Serbia's early parliamentary and local elections on May 11 had given the advantage to the right-wing Radicals
• Central Asia: Andijonis Continue To Flee Uzbekistan, Three Years Later RFE/RL 13 May 2008 -- It started as a trickle in mid-May 2005, but became a deluge as Uzbek nationals fled the eastern city of Andijon after security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters on May 13.
• Pakistan: Islamabad Plunged Into Political Crisis After Nine Ministers Resign RFE/RL 13 May 2008 -- Pakistan is in the midst of a political crisis after nine ministers from the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigned from the cabinet because of a disagreement over reinstating sacked judges.
• Pakistan's PM Optimistic About Mending Government Rift VOA 13 May 2008 -- Pakistan's new prime minister says he hopes the two main political parties in Pakistan will resolve their differences over how to reinstate judges deposed by President Pervez Musharraf