Tuesday, July 31, 2007

DARPA Watch, NGA "World View I", Russia etc.




F6 "Future Fast, Flexible, Fractionated, Free-Flying,"

Autonomous mini-satellites to replace their aging big brothers
http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2007/07/31/autonomous_mini.html

Military minds at DARPA are figuring out ways to replace cumbersome satellites with groups of mini-spacecraft that are easier and quicker to launch, are more versatile, and best of all, that cost a lot less than their oversized big brothers. The project, named F6, stands for "Future Fast, Flexible, Fractionated, Free-Flying," and it involves groups of small satellites electronically linking together, creating larger virtual satellites.

Defense Department Looking for Brain-Controlled Prosthetics
http://public.cq.com/docs/hs/hsnews110-000002562333.html

The Defense Department’s research agency is looking for partners who can bring sweeping new breakthroughs to its program for creating brain-controlled prosthetics.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) says it is looking for "a new experimental and theoretical paradigm" in order to advance its Human-Assisted Neural Devices (HAND) program "beyond incremental advances in development." (cont..)


NGA "World View I"




BOULDER, Colo., July 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has successfully completed assembly and performance testing of WorldView I, the remote sensing satellite built for DigitalGlobe(R). Ball Aerospace, DigitalGlobe and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) have completed their comprehensive pre-shipment review and the satellite is being readied for delivery to California's Vandenberg Air Force Base for a mid-September launch.
Ball Aerospace built the satellite bus and the WorldView 60 camera for WorldView I, the next-generation commercial remote sensing satellite. The satellite will provide unprecedented high resolution imaging capability for DigitalGlobe's customers, including the NGA and other customers around the world. Once launched, WorldView I will be the world's only half-meter commercial imaging satellite and will provide still higher resolution capability than the QuickBird satellite, currently the world's highest resolution commercial Earth imaging satellite in operation. (CONT..)

Russia's strategic aviation to conduct 6 exercises in August
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070731/70022257.html

MOSCOW, July 31 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian strategic aviation will fly over the North Pole and conduct test launches of cruise missiles during a series of exercises in August, the Defense Ministry said on its website Tuesday.
Units of the 37th Air Army of the Strategic Command will conduct a total of six tactical exercises in August as part of an annual training program, the ministry said in a statement.
"During the exercises, strategic bombers will test launch cruise missiles, conduct simulated bombing raids, and fly over the North Pole, the Pacific and Atlantic oceans," the statement said.
(CONT..)

Russia begins large-scale military exercises in North Caucasus
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070731/70012347.html

Terrorism drill set for October (TOPOFF update)
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070801/NEWS01/708010336/1002

The nation's "premier terrorism preparedness exercise" is set to take place on Guam in October, though local officials involved in the Top Officials 4 (TOPOFF4) exercises are still crunching the numbers that possibly could affect the lives of residents during that period.
T4 is the fourth exercise of the congressionally mandated TOPOFF series, which provides an assessment of the nation's capability to prevent, respond to, and recover from realistic and threat-based acts of terrorism during a national, biennial exercise series.
T3 , conducted in 2005, was a $16 million Homeland Security Department exercise that tested the ability of 27 federal agencies, state and local governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and other countries. (cont..)

Vanguard to Host Emergency Response Exercise
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070731006382&newsLang=en

VALLEY FORGE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Vanguard Group will conduct a comprehensive, four-hour emergency response exercise with several county and local emergency response teams, hospitals, and law enforcement officials on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 (cont..)

India and China on parade
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IH01Df02.html

'Malabar 07'

USS Nimitz to return next month
http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=8bd50a0b-5e4d-42b5-a733-bd1d3a584c48&&Headline=USS+Nimitz+to+return+next+month

It might drive the Left round the bend, but nuclear-powered super-carrier USS Nimitz is returning to Indian waters with a vengeance very soon.
The US is moving a flotilla of warships, led by Nimitz, to the Bay of Bengal to take part in the Indo-US joint naval exercises 'Malabar 07' from September 4-9. The American armada includes aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Chicago, guided missile cruiser USS Princeton and five other warships.

FEMA, Coast Guard and TSA to Host Northeast Homeland Security Conference
http://presszoom.com/story_138254.html

BOSTON - In an ongoing effort to keep New England at the forefront of preparedness, the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will conduct a region-wide homeland security conference next week in Boston. The three-day Northeast Homeland Security Conference will bring together all of New England's federal and state homeland security advisors for discussion and demonstrations of the regions security capabilities. (cont..)


* example of limited hangout. Nation article on privitization in US military, yet no mention of
9/11 Inside job ( privitization of US military was a main goal of the staged 'attack')

Outsourcing Intelligence: How Bush Gets His National Intelligence from Private Companies
http://www.alternet.org/story/57979/
Posted by at 21 comments:

Monday, July 30, 2007

LMT'S TSAT, Drills, Video/War Games, PMC$ Up






Israel is looking into reports that Russia plans to sell 250 advanced long-range Sukhoi-30 fighter jets to Iran
in an unprecedented billion-dollar deal.
According to reports, in addition to the fighter jets, Teheran also plans to purchase a number of aerial fuel tankers that are compatible with the Sukhoi and capable of extending its range by thousands of kilometers. Defense officials said the Sukhoi sale would grant Iran long-range offensive capabilities.
Government officials voiced concern over the reports. They said Russia could be trying to compete with the United States, which announced over the weekend a billion-dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.



Lockheed Martin Team Submits Proposal to Design and Build U.S. Air Force's TSAT Space Segment

http://www.blogger.com/Ý°%14Ô

ST. LOUIS, July 30, 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and its TEAM TSAT industry partners today submitted a proposal to the U.S. Air Force for the Development and Production phase of the Transformational Satellite Communications System Space Segment

The Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grummanteam today submitted its proposal to design and build the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) Space Segment, the future global communications network for the U.S. Air Force that will provide seamless, protected communications for a wide range of defense and intelligence users.
The proposal builds upon the team's combined experience developing advanced military and commercial communications systems, including the Milstar satellite communications network currently in operation, the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) system now in production, and the successful TSAT risk reduction and system definition activities conducted under contract to the Air Force. "Our team has worked closely with the Air Force for more than five years to mature the key TSAT technologies and define a program that is adaptive and executable," said Joanne Maguire, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "Building upon our legacy of delivering protected satellite communications systems with assured connectivity, our low-risk TSAT solution will provide unprecedented capabilities for our warfighters and we stand ready to deliver this vitally important system on cost and on schedule."
Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Sunnyvale, Calif., is competing to serve as the TSAT Space Segment prime contractor, with teammate Northrop Grumman Space Technology, Redondo Beach, Calif., responsible for the communications payload, including laser and radio-frequency communications and on-board processing. Other members of the team include:
-- Juniper Networks, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., will apply its Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) routing software and related expertise in the design of the team's TSAT processor/router. Juniper's JUNOS software, which is used in the Department of Defense's Global Information Grid, is the first IPv6 routing system approved by the Defense Information Systems Agency;
-- ViaSat Inc., Carlsbad, Calif., will provide dynamic bandwidth and resource allocation algorithms and software and the integrated cryptographic processor security system; and
-- Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Services, Gaithersburg Md., will provide the satellite ground control and gateway elements.

Agencies join in pandemic flu drill
http://www.blogger.com/Ý°%14Ô

CUMBERLAND - The Allegany County Health Department and Western Maryland Health System are collaborating with other agencies in the county to participate in a state-wide pandemic influenza exercise Tuesday through Thursday. This pandemic flu exercise will involve federal, state and local agencies. Different regions across the state will exercise various portions of pandemic flu plans, with a local focus on antiviral distribution to the hospital staff. Other local agencies to participate include the Allegany County Sheriff's Office, Cumberland Police and Allegany County Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security.The exercise is based on a pretend pandemic flu scenario. The heath department's role is to practice requesting antiviral medications from the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, just as it would be done in a real-life situation. DHMH will then request these supplies from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Strategic National Stockpile.The CDC will send pretend "medications" to the state. During this exercise, the state will test air transportation for delivering supplies by helicopter to Allegany County. These requested medications will go to the hospitals to treat healthcare workers, who would receive antivirals first in any situation because they are most at risk for becoming infected with the influenza virus and they also need to be well to care for the sick in the community. The WMHS will distribute the "antivirals" to its employees. The county will coordinate communication with the local hospitals and first-responders and will be partially activating its Emergency Operations Center.Law enforcement agencies will practice providing security and safety for the people transporting the antiviral medications once they arrive in Allegany County.The Brandenburg Center, Thomas B. Finan Center and the Potomac Center in Hagerstown will practice distributing antivirals to their staff members.When the drill is complete, the participants will discuss in a state-wide conference what went well and what went wrong. Local planners will then use this information to better protect the community.

Singapore to take part in Indian navy exercise
http://www.newkerala.com/july.php?action=fullnews&id=50179

Singapore, July 29: The republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) will be participating in
ExerciseMalabar 07-2, held by the Indian Navy (IN) and the United States Navy (USN) in the Bay of Bengal.Singapore Defence Ministry in a statement issued today stated, the RSN accepted an invitation, in October last year, to participate in a multi-lateral exercise in the Indian Ocean.

"Doom Goes To War"

The Marines are looking for a few good games.
http://www.blogger.com/m°%14Ô

When it comes to knowing how the United States military spends our tax dollars, some of us are happy to adopt the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. I, for one, have enough futility in my life without being informed that the army has just developed, for instance, a US$4,500 titanium combat-ready toothbrush.
Well, here's another kind of scenario that, on the surface, promises to be just as stupid and expensive as the notorious $10,000 toilet seats of yore. It seems that the Marine Corps is using a modified version of id Software's Doom II, the addictive and hyperviolentPC-based videogame, for training purposes.
You read that right.
The cynic in me immediately imagines a squad of sweating, red-eyed marines slashing, shooting, zapping, and blowing up nightmarish demons on their PC monitors as their sergeant stands over them barking orders:
"Demon at 3 o'clock! Go with the nail gun! Kill, kill, kill!"
Gadzooks, is this the future of warfare?
It's a chilly, misty day in mid-December. Lieutenant Scott Barnett has put me in the passenger seat of his black Camaro Z28, and we're driving around the Quantico, Virginia, Marine Corps base at or below the posted speed limit of 25 mph. The slow creep makes the vast base seem even larger.
We glide past a cluster of nondescript brick buildings. "That's OCS, Officer Candidate School," says Barnett, project officer of the Marine Corps Modeling and Simulation Management Office ("McMismo," in the standard acronymic mil-speak). Just beyond it, very large helicopters hover like monstrous dragonflies over an airstrip. "We make officers there," Barnett says. "Takes 10 weeks."
Barnett, 30, is a fairly heavy guy with piercing blue eyes set in friendly, vaguely Germanic features. He wears his hair long - which for a marine means that it doesn't quite stick straight up on top.
We slow to a stop across from what looks like a fenced-in obstacle course. Barnett explains that it is, in fact, a fenced-in obstacle course.
"We bring young lieutenants here and run them through all kinds of battlefield scenarios," he says. "This place and Combat Town, which is where fire teams train, are seriously overbooked pieces of property. That's part of the problem."
He drives me through a long stretch of forest to another part of the problem: a weapons range. Several hundred yards away, in the middle of a long green field, about 100 marines are shooting the hell out of stationary targets with both rifles and machine guns. "Unlike in the army, the navy, and the air force," Barnett says with what is surely habitual pride, "every marine is a rifleman. The problem is that with budget cuts, we don't have the money to pay for the ammo and field time we need to keep ourselves in practice. So for a few years now, the corps has had to scramble to find cheaper, more efficient ways to train marines and keep them in fighting trim." We listen for a while to the staccato chatter of M-16s, and then Barnett drives me back to his office to show me what he firmly believes is part of the solution.
In today's military, computer simulation is increasingly taking the place of conventional training exercises. No longer must war games simply involve elaborate flight trainers or tank simulators in which highly trained officers learn how to handle multimillion-dollar death machines. This is especially true of the Marine Corps, which doesn't conduct warfare from "platforms" such as aircraft carriers, M-1 Abrams tanks, or B-52 bombers. The marines' role is to be extremely mobile, the worldwide 911 quick-response team, good-to-go anytime, anyplace, anywhere. Their primary fighting platform is a soldier with a rifle. That's a source of both pride and frustration. Because the marines don't have the big toys, they don't get the big bucks, either. Make do with less is what they're told by the Department of Defense. The Marine Corps was allotted just 4.1 percent - or $10.3 billion - of the DOD budget in fiscal 1997.
Two years ago, the ever-increasing pressure to produce more bang for the buck led to a mandate from the annual General Officers Symposium. As Lieutenant Colonel Rick Eisiminger, team leader of the Modeling and Simulation Office, tells me rather formally, "We were tasked with looking at commercial off-the-shelf computer games that might teach an appreciation for the art and science of war." Civilian translation: Barnett and his partner, Sergeant Dan Snyder, were ordered to dig into dozens of military-inspired videogames to see if any could be used for training. Which, when you think about it, is kind of like cops watching NYPD Blue to pick up procedural pointers. Which, when you continue to think about it, a lot of cops probably do

Hunted in reality, jihadists are turning to artificial online worlds such as Second Life to train and recruit members, writes Natalie O'Brien July 31, 2007 (cont..)

Defense Earnings Continue To Soar
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/29/AR2007072900806.html

Several of Washington's largest defense contractors said last week that they continue to benefit from a boom in spending on the wars in
Iraqand Afghanistan as well as sustained government demand for information technology, defying predictions that the sector's expansion would begin to slow.
Profit reports from Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin showed particularly strong results in operations in the region. Though the wars have started to reduce the Pentagon's appetite for large, futuristic weapons that traditionally drive these companies' bottom lines, the shift in defense spending hasn't hurt profits (cont..)

Homeland Security spending bill heads to conference
http://www.blogger.com/€°%14Ô

The Homeland Security Department’s 2008 spending bill is the first to be approved by both the House and Senate.
The Senate last week finished work on the $37.6 billion bill with a vote of 89-4.
It includes $3 billion in emergency spending for border security and $100 million for an emergency communications grant program (cont..)

10 fingerprints needed to enter US soon
http://www.blogger.com/€°%14Ô

Visitors traveling with visas or visa-free to the United States will soon have to give 10 digital fingerprints when entering the United States, a senior U.S. Homeland Security official said recently.
Border checks could also soon include other biometric data, such as facial and eye retina scans, as the U.S. upgrades security at its ports, airports and border crossings, said P.T. Wright, the operations director for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s US-VISIT Program.
All people from European nations and others participating in the U.S. Visa-Waiver program would have to give additional prints, as would people traveling from nations where visas are needed, he said.
A pilot project at 10 major U.S. airports would be launched in late 2007, expanding the current program that calls for taking prints of two fingers and facial photographs of visitors to the United States. (Cont..)

Searching for Security Skills
http://public.cq.com/docs/cqw/weeklyreport110-000002561366.html

(Excerpt:)

"Since 2001, the federal government has added an estimated 137,000 new positions at the departments of Homeland Security and State, the FBI, the military and the intelligence community. That does not count millions of contractors hired for military and other national security-related missions, nor the thousands of new security personnel scattered among departments from Energy to Treasury.
National security, in fact, has driven the increase in the size of the federal government. The Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization that promotes public-sector employment, estimates that the government will need 63,000 new workers in security fields in the next two years."

Of note:

Wikipedia and the Intelligence Services: Is the Net's popular encyclopedia marred by disinformation?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6444


*every publication, every political group etc. should be considered as infiltrated and manipulated. COINTLEPRO has come a long way





Posted by at 4 comments:

Friday, July 27, 2007

(BA)Missile Defense, Robots, DHS BS,Real ID, FCS etc







$80M to Boeing for GMD Missile Defense Complex in Europe
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/80m-to-boeing-for-gmd-missile-defense-complex-in-europe-03532/?camp=newsletter&src=did&type=textlink




Boeing in Huntsville, AL received a sole-source maximum $80 million cost-plus-incentive-fee, indefinite-delivery letter contract to conduct activation planning of a European-based Missile Defense Complex, as part of the
of the USA’s anti ballistic missile program. Work will be performed at Huntsville, Alabama and the European site, and is expected to be complete by September 2013. The contract funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Missile Defense Agency, Huntsville, AL is the contracting activity (HQ0147-07-D-0001).
Upon completion, GMD will consist of an complex array of components: Air Force Defense Support Program satellites (DSP – in service); Space Based Infrared System-High satellites (SBIRS-High, encountered problems and may be supplanted or supplemented by AIRSS); the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS); Upgraded Early Warning Radars (UEWRs – in progress around the world); a Battle Management, Command, Control and Communications system (BMC3 – in Colorado and Alaska); the SBX Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX); and Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) missiles at Ft Greely, AK and Vandenberg, CA.
Missile defense efforts in Europe remain a source of controversy. Russia, which is helping Iran with its nuclear program, has objected strongly to such efforts. The nature and location of this complex are not discussed in the DefenseLINK release, however. Some additional readings related to this subject include…

Somerville holds a drill to test itself in case of pandemic, and gives out free tetanaus shots
http://www.blogger.com/Ý°%14Ô

Russia: SMF To Conduct Exercises
http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=292995

Russia's Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) plan to conduct more than 100 exercises this summer and fall, the SMF press service reported July 27. The exercises will center around command and control operations using the mobile Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile in preparation for arming an additional missile battalion at the Teikovo missile base in the Ivanovo region, according to SMF commander Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov

Biology proves a natural for robotic design
http://www.blogger.com/Ý°%14Ô
(Excerpt)

"BIGDOG"


"One of the biggest advocates of biologically inspired robots is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, a semi-secret arm of the Pentagon that over the years has promoted the development of numerous cutting-edge technologies, from the Internet to stealth planes.
Among its current interests is BigDog, a four-legged, semi-autonomous robot that military planners hope might one day lope alongside soldiers at the front, carrying supplies, weapons, communications and navigation gear, medicine and more.
In early field tests, BigDog already suggests it's a robotic breed apart, lugging up to 150 pounds on its spare metal frame at 7 mph over varied terrain.
There's talk of creating a larger version of BigDog: a robotic pack mule for the Army, which last used the real thing in 1957. "

Intrepid could be post-terror command center
http://blog.silive.com/advanceupdate/2007/07/intrepid_could_be_postterror_c.html







The aircraft carrier Intrepid -- currently docked at the home port in the Stapleton section of Staten Island in the midst of an 18-month makeover -- returns to its mission as a floating military museum in fall 2008.But the legendary World War II ship is also available as an emergency operations center in the event of another terrorist attack, the
Associated Press reported."If there is another terrorist attack and Intrepid is called to duty, she will be ready to go back into service of her country," Bill White, president of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, said today.




Homeland security site gears up, and just in time
http://www.blogger.com/°%14Ô

With the latest National Intelligence Estimate saying the United States will face "a persistent and evolving terrorist threat over the next three years" from groups such as al-Qaida, work at 500 Grumman Ave. West in Bethpage takes an even greater urgency.
About 80 corporate, government and academic leaders gathered recently to learn about that work, and offer input on a new homeland security research center planned for the site.

"This is our coming-out party – we’re on our way," said Kenneth Morrelly, president of the Long Island Forum for Technology and spiritual leader of the Applied Science Center of Innovation and Excellence in Homeland Security.
The building, once used by Northrup/Grumman, is now 600,000 square feet of near emptiness (several rooms are big enough for a game of touch football). When it’s up and running, the homeland security center will occupy about 90,000 of those square feet.
Morrelly sees that happening within a year, and foresees a dual purpose for the center. Its primary role will be to speed the development of technology that can protect society from terrorist attacks. The facility can also serve as an emergency operations center, should the need arise, Morrelly said.
The center will house 20 participating organizations, which will have work cells of generally less than 1,000 square feet each, filling the second floor. The third floor will house anchor tenant Northrup/Grumman, spread over 30,000 square feet.
The hope is that gathering a variety of tenants under one roof will lead to cross-pollination. "We want to get companies’ equipment in here to have as many tools in the center as possible," Morrelly noted.
One likely tenant is Balfour Technologies of Bethpage. Its president, Richard Balfour, was at the coming-out party, demonstrating his patented fourDscape – which lets users access data in 3D virtual reality and observe data or environments as they change over time, the fourth dimension.
That sort of capability will serve the center’s secondary mission as an emergency operations center. In a crisis, the center could be used to coordinate the response of various government agencies. That action would focus on the first floor, which will house secure conference rooms, communications, a 2,400-square-foot command center and an auditorium that could be used for briefings and news conferences.
Another local firm involved in the project is Juma Technologies of Farmingville, which integrates telecommunications and IT systems specializing in converged voice and data networks. Juma has worked with LIFT on various homeland security exercises.
"We were excited to be involved from square one," said Juma President David Giangano, adding that he’s looking forward to continued involvement in the project.
The original plan for the homeland security center had been to build it from the ground up. But once the Grumman property became available, it offered several advantages, Morrelly said. Primarily, the timeframe for the center was vastly accelerated from the four to five years it would take to build from scratch; the location was right, too, with easy access to helipads, the LIRR and New York City.
And Northrup/Grumman’s decision to be the anchor tenant helped secure additional funds from New York State, which is contributing $25 million to the cause, Morrelly said, covering most of the infrastructure and construction costs.
As an applied science center, the facility won’t pay taxes, so all rents will go to support the self-sustaining center’s work, Morrelly said.
This isn’t the first time the cavernous building on Grumman Avenue West has served the nation’s needs. In the 1960s, it was the birthplace of the Apollo lunar module.
"The LEM was assembled down the hall – kind of hard to believe," said Leonard Poveromo, technology development director for Northrup Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems.
From 1984 to ’94, Giangano was a senior engineer for Northrup/Grumman. Seeing former colleagues and the old buildings "was like homecoming," he said.

Homeland Security Funds LED Light That Blinds, Disorients
http://www.blogger.com/°%14Ô

"Ryand Singel's Wired blog notes that Homeland security has developed an
LED flashlightthat uses 'powerful flashes of light to temporarily blind, disorient and incapacitate people.' The idea is to use it to incapacitate people — 'arrest them' — on airlines, borders, etc. without using traditional weapons. The company's president Bob Lieberman says the tool is perfect for confronting 'border jumpers.' 'You don't want to hurt or kill them, just take them into custody,' says Lieberman. 'With this, they don't need to know English to comply.' The 'light saber' can even be scaled up to bazooka size for subduing crowds."

Real-life 'Q' working to thwart the bad guys
http://indystar.gns.gannett.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070726/TECH03/703080592/1001/TECH

U.S. Army’s FCS To Get New Name
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2926436&C=america

The U.S. Army has decided that its eight-year-old flagship modernization program, the Future Combat Systems (FCS), will get a new name.
"It’s not future anymore. It is here. We are bending metal now," said FCS spokesman Paul Meheny.
Officials at the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command have forwarded the recommended name to Gen. George Casey, U.S. Army chief of staff, who will make a decision in coming months, said Helen Lardner, deputy director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, Forward.
Several kinds of FCS gear are in testing and slated for fielding by 2008 or 2010, including the Micro Air Vehicle UAV, the Unmanned Ground Sensors and the bomb-detecting Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle. The chassis for the first 27-ton FCS Man-Ground Vehicle is being built at a BAE facility in Santa Clara, Calif. FCS computers, software-programmable radio and communications gear are being installed for testing on Bradleys, Abrams and Humvees. FCS is conducting 65 different tests in 41 states, Meheny said.
"In the late ‘90s, it was future, plus we were embarking on something the Army’s never done," Lardner said.

(the media faked planes on 9/11, how far into fake "terror" will they go?)
'Mirror' reporters held over fake bomb
http://www.stratcommagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=535&Itemid=31


Senate rejects extra $300 million for Real ID
http://news.com.com/Senate+rejects+extra+300+million+for+Real+ID/2100-7348_3-6199220.html
Posted by at 91 comments:

Thursday, July 26, 2007

AU War Games, OR "TOPOFF", + Psyops



Major Wayne Gough and Captain Paul Graham from Combat Training Control, check the location of Australian soldiers and United States Marines during exercise Talisman Sabre 07. (Official photo by Corporal Chris Moore, 1st Joint Public Affairs Unit, Commonwealth of Australia)

U.S. Joint Forces Command supports Exercise Talisman Saber 2007
http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2007/pa072607.htm

Working across oceans, USJFCOM flexed a multinational training network on the Suffolk, Va.-based Joint Training and Experimentation Network while linking together exercise participants in Australia and at U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii during Talisman Saber 2007, one of Australia's largest military training events.

(SUFFOLK, Va. - July 26, 2007) -- U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) linked training networks for both Australia and U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) as the command supported Exercise Talisman Saber 2007 (TS07), which wrapped up earlier this month.
Talisman Saber is a biennial series of training exercises designed to conduct collective training and exercise interoperability between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and U.S. forces in the Pacific region. It is one of Australia's largest military training events.
USJFCOM connected the Joint Training and Experimentation Network (JTEN) and Australia's Defence Training and Experimentation Network (DTEN), allowing USJFCOM, USPACOM and the ADF to continue work on the U.S. / Australian bilateral Joint Combined Training Capability (JCTC).
JTEN, the communications network for Joint National Training Capability (JNTC), provides a rapidly reconfigurable network which supports joint training exercises, experimentation, and the evaluation of new warfighting concepts in support of the U.S. Department of Defense's Training Transformation program.
The link allowed U.S. and Australian forces to link simulation networks so they could train together in a live, virtual and constructive environment (L-V-C). Live portions of the exercise took place in various locations in Australia, including the High Range Training Area in Queensland (cont..)


Top Officials" (TOPOFF) exercise (update)

http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=375612&category=38037

Oh my god oh my god oh my god! We're all going to DIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Okay, fine. Maybe not immediately. I mean, we're all going to die eventually, but you can't help but get a little paranoid from all of city council's recent gloom and doom. It's like the Grim Reaper—or Condi Rice in those patent leather dominatrix boots—has been writing the council agendas, and it's starting to freak me out.
For instance, during Wednesday, July 25's afternoon agenda, city council was expected to discuss an item called "Adopt Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive Incident Annex to the Basic Emergency Operations Plan." Eeeep!
And it only gets worse from there. The first line in the resolution reads, "WHEREAS, the Portland Urban Area possesses numerous features and facilities identified as potential terrorist targets." Christ! What? Where? Is it the tram? Powell's City of Books? Voodoo Doughnut? The Zoobombers' bike rack?
At any rate, the resolution is aimed at creating a coordinated plan between city bureaus in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive "incident." Since city bureaus have a little bit of a reputation for being isolated and not working together, this plan will head off any weird territorial disputes in the case of an incident. (Mayor Tom Potter should be kicking himself for not thinking of this argument during the "strong mayor" campaign.)
It's all a lead up to the "Top Officials" (TOPOFF) exercise planned for this October, in which a simulated terrorist attack—a dirty bomb—will go down here in Portland, and leaders from all levels of government, plus groups like the Red Cross, will pretend to respond to the pretend catastrophe.
But, if we're all going to pretend to die, at least city council is going out in an uproariously characteristic way—by celebrating the hell out of itself. By Wednesday morning, the mayor and all the commissioners will have been awarded as "Blue Works businesses" for "their leadership in waste-reduction, recycling and sustainable purchasing practices." (Seriously?) Hopefully, an emergency responder will be on hand to triage the commissioners' wrists from the violently gratuitous, self-congratulatory backslapping that is guaranteed to happen.
Something else council can slap its back for: Finally holding evening sessions, so that community members who work during the day can witness firsthand what happens in the hallowed halls of city government. They've been holding them once a month on Wednes—oh, wait, no they haven't. The last evening session council held was in February; the rest have been canceled, including one last Wednesday.
smoore@portlandmercury.com

Psy Ops: A war of ideas
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=268158

Col. Curtis Boyd and his commanders last week spent an afternoon discussing the definition of psychological operations.
For Boyd, who commands the 4th Psychological Operations Group, the answer is simple.
"Everybody has a different way of looking at it, but if you really want to get your head around it, it’s marketing," he said. "We inform a foreign (*and US. MSM) audience of the good things and bad things about activities in the name of them for their future." (Cont..)
* my insertion in italics



First responders in the Triad for emergency drill








GREENSBORO - Dozens of first responders from across the state were in the Triad on Thursday. Guilford County leaders held an emergency preparedness drill.
The scenario: an alarm goes off at the Pleasant Ridge Road post office in Greensboro.
A biological contaminate has been detected. Officials fear dozens of workers may have been exposed to anthrax.
A bio-hazard team is mobilized. Victims are decontaminated and moved to another location for treatment. Thankfully it wasn't real.
"This drill is teaching others as well as allowing our own staff to practice what it would be like to dispense medications to a large group of people," said Lynne Beck with the Guilford County Dept. of Public Health.
According to Beck, more than 100 first responders from across the region participated in Thursday's exercise, manning triage tables and evaluating patients. (Cont..)

Russia & China to hold joint war games in August (update)
http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/11392



Sept. 11 Security Bill to Include Protections for Citizens Who Report Suspicious Activity
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290674,00.html

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Wednesday, July 25, 2007

DHS Scam Gets 'Cheesy', FCS Cuts, etc




"Operation Bold Step"





Later this week, the Naval Station Norfolk-based USS Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier strike groups will link up with a British carrier, the U.S. Air Force and various NATO aircraft off the East Coast for a training exercise.

A total of 15,000 troops from three countries will participate.

Dubbed Operation Bold Step, the exercise is meant to "provide realistic training…for U.S. and coalition forces that close replicate the operational challenges routinely encountered during military operations around the world," according to a Navy press release.

The exercise will also act as refresher training for troops who recently returned home from various deployments and act as the certifying event for the Harry S. Truman strike group. Certification gives the group the green light to deploy.

"Participating forces will train using equipment and systems that incorporate the latest advances in technology," according to a U.S. Navy press release, "and will support the full range of capabilities that may be required in geographic areas."

TANDBERG and SAIC Sign Strategic Joint Marketing Agreement
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070724005438&newsLang=en

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TANDBERG, a global leader in visual communication, announced today that it has signed a joint marketing agreement to provide collaboration solutions and services with Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE:SAI), a leading provider of scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services and solutions. Under the agreement, the companies will jointly pursue business opportunities – offering integrated video-based collaboration solutions. Working together, TANDBERG and SAIC intend to deliver robust, enterprise-wide communications solutions that combine TANDBERG’s world-class videoconferencing technology with SAIC’s equally high caliber of integration, consulting and support services.
TANDBERG and SAIC are joining forces to support government agencies’ increasing requirement for end-to-end, integrated collaboration solutions. Combined, TANDBERG videoconferencing technology and SAIC consulting, integration and support will offer organizations solutions that enable both day-to-day and emergency situation communications, including continuity of operations, robust telework programs and overall remote collaboration. Through this agreement, TANDBERG and SAIC will empower their customers to implement advanced intelligence gathering and analysis tools, as well as knowledge management applications and employee training programs.

Conference studies homeland security
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=170807&format=html

The focus switched from solar- and wind-powered generators to simulated terrorist attacks and squealing tires.
Government officials and business executives on a 2 1/2-day mission in West Virginia to explore new homeland security initiatives moved to the Summit Point Raceway on Monday to learn about antiterrorism training.
This week's conference hosted by Discover the REAL West Virginia Foundation is designed to lure more private companies involved in homeland security to West Virginia.
Led in part by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the conference started Sunday in Shepherdstown, W.Va., and participants on the trip were expected to travel to Morgantown, W.Va., Clarksburg, W.Va. and Fairmont, W.Va., to learn about other security-related industry in the state.
Some participants in the mission have built high-security facilities in other states, and officials with at least one of the companies said Sunday they are considering expanding in West Virginia.
Summit Point Raceway, a car racing track, in recent years has expanded into antiterrorism training through an organization known as BSR.
Recognized internationally for its work, BSR has a predominant share of the federal government's business and its clients include White House agencies, the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI, according to the organization.
Rockefeller said Monday morning at the track that there needs to be more private sector investment in homeland security. (Cont..)

(FCS Cuts)




MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin vowed Wednesday to strengthen Russia's military capability and step up spying abroad in response to U.S. plans to build 1. missile defense sites and deploy troops in Eastern Europe.
"The situation in the world and internal political interests require the Foreign Intelligence Service to permanently increase its capabilities, primarily in the field of information and analytical support for the country's leadership," Putin said at a meeting with senior military and security officers in remarks that were posted on the Kremlin's Web site.
The Foreign Intelligence Service is a successor agency to the KGB.
Putin did not identify specific nations as targets, but officials in the United States and Britain have said recently that Moscow has intensified its spying in those countries.
Putin said U.S. plans to station troops in Eastern Europe and Washington's intention to base missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic pose security challenges for Russia. Washington says the facilities are necessary to protect the U.S. and Europe from missiles launched by Iran or other rogue states

(where are the names of these alleged passengers? I bet they have easy links to the DOD and offshoots: PMC's)

WASHINGTON -- Airport security officers nationwide have been alerted by federal officials to watch for terrorists practicing to carry explosive components onto aircraft, based on four curious seizures at airports since September, including in Texas.
The unclassified alert was distributed Friday by the Transportation Security Administration to federal air marshals, its own transportation security officers and law enforcement agencies.
The seizures at airports in San Diego, Milwaukee, Houston and Baltimore included "wires, switches, pipes or tubes, cellphone components and dense claylike substances," including block cheese, the bulletin said. "The unusual nature and increase in number of these improvised items raise concern."
Security officers were urged to keep an eye out for "ordinary items that look like improvised explosive device components."
NBC Nightly News, which first reported the story, posted the bulletin on the Internet.
A federal official familiar with the document confirmed the NBC posting's authenticity but declined to be identified by name because it has not been officially released.
On Tuesday, TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe said: "There is no credible, specific threat here. Don't panic. We do these things all the time."
The bulletin said that the passengers carrying the suspicious items seized since September included men and women and that initial investigation had not linked them with criminal or terrorist organizations. But it said that most of the passengers' explanations for carrying the items were suspicious and that some are still under investigation.
Online: TSA statement, www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/intelligence_ bulletin.shtm
The seizures
Baltimore, Sept. 16: A couple's checked baggage contained a plastic bag with a block of processed cheese taped to another plastic bag holding a cellphone charger.
Houston, Nov. 8: The checked baggage of a U.S. person -- either a citizen or a foreigner legally in the country -- contained a plastic bag with a 9-volt battery, wires, a block of brown claylike minerals and pipes.
Milwaukee, June 4: A U.S. person's carry-on baggage contained wire coil wrapped around a possible initiator, an electrical switch, batteries, three tubes and two blocks of cheese. The bulletin said block cheese has a consistency similar to that of some explosives.
San Diego, July 7: A U.S. person's checked baggage contained two ice packs covered in duct tape. The packs contained clay rather than the normal blue gel.

Darpa, NIST Evaluate Military Translation Computers
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201200790
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Sunday, July 22, 2007

Terror Drills, Lockheed FCS Robot, + "Falcon Virgo"













Since we live in an age of terror threats and accidental disasters, medical centers must be in a constant state of readiness. With that in mind, the main hospital at Vanderbilt demonstrated a dress rehearsal Monday night for the real thing. Shower curtains came down on the sidewalk outside the Nashville's Vanderbilt Medical Center to clean off dozens of make-believe victims of a campus chemical explosion. Officials got help from technicians in special suits. The victims even got waned by a glow bar to see if all the chemicals washed away. Only their clothing gave way that the drill wasn't

"Operation Red Rose II"

UPMC to Test Biodefense System in Emergency Exercise
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=43076

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) will participate on Friday, July 27, in a simulated mass casualty incident involving the Pennsylvania National Guard, St. Francis University’s Center of Excellence for Remote and Medically Under-Served Areas (CERMUSA) and various regional emergency responders.
Named "Operation Red Rose II," this second annual exercise will begin at 7:30 a.m. at the Lancaster County Public Safety Training Center, 101 Champ Blvd., in East Hempfield Township. More than 500 emergency and other personnel are expected to participate. The event is designed to measure the ability of various state, federal and private agencies to effectively deal with emergency situations. To add to the realism of the exercise, none of the participants will be informed of the nature of the situation until the exercise has begun. (Cont..)




Lockheed Martin reaches major milesstone for the MULE robotic vehicle engineering evaluation unit
http://www.shephard.co.uk/UVOnline/default.aspx?Action=-187126550&ID=ec8ceebf-55a6-48e9-b42c-a52ade176bdb





The Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment (MULE) robotic vehicle’s Engineering Evaluation Unit (EEU) recently reached a major milestone in demonstrating autonomous navigation over complex obstacles, such as steps and gaps.
The EEU autonomously climbed a 30-inch step and bridged a 70-inch gap without operator intervention, using only parametric descriptions of the obstacles and the vehicle’s self-awareness. This capability exceeds the performance of other high-mobility vehicles, such as the HMMWV. Although a smaller vehicle, the MULE is able to address complex obstacles, such the ones used for the demonstration at a testing facility, by employing its specialized articulating suspension.
"We’ve now demonstrated mobility that exceeds the HMMWV or any other small combat vehicle," said Joe Zinecker, program manager for the FCS MULE at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "The MULE can keep up with dismounted Soldiers, and will not be restricted to roads or trails like most other vehicles. We are eager to provide this capability to our Soldiers as early as 2013."
The EEU represents a full-scale MULE vehicle, and is the largest and most sophisticated robotic vehicle yet constructed by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control and its partners in Unmanned Ground Vehicle development. The EEU was designed and built in only 13 months by Lockheed Martin and subcontractors MillenWorks and BAE Systems. Since December 2006, the team has incorporated a series of hardware and software enhancements, and has subjected the EEU to a variety of risk mitigation challenges.
The MULE/ARV-Assault Light, a 3.5-ton class vehicle for the Future Combat Systems Program, offers an extraordinary capability that will support the U.S. Army’s transformation to a lighter and more mobile fighting force. The robot’s unique mobility will enable it to go everywhere the Soldier can go and more. It will allow Soldiers of the transformed Army to use technology to perform a number of dull, dirty and dangerous jobs performed by Soldiers today, freeing troops to focus more effectively on the success of their mission. (Cont..)

Defense Leasing Remains Strong in Northern Virginia
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/22/AR2007072201004.html



After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the federal government and its defense contractors began scarfing up new office space in the Washington area.
Today, their appetites have diminished

With budget constraints and the
Iraqwar -- and some of the initial hunger sated -- the government has become far more restrained. The defense industry meanwhile continues to expand its presence, particularly in Northern Virginia, but at a more modest clip than before, real estate experts say.
"The post-9/11 impact in the Northern Virginia office market has been enormous," said Herb Mansinne, national director at Jones Lang LaSalle, a commercial real estate firm. (Cont..)













WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Don't be alarmed by an increase in military aircraft buzzing around in local skies early next week. The North American Aerospace Defense Command is planning a series of exercises Monday and Tuesday across the National Capital Region, and officials say the tests are likely to start early in the morning and continue late into night.
The intercept and identification drills, code named Exercise Falcon Virgo, will be led by NORAD and feature Civil Air Patrol aircraft, Air Force F-16s and C-38s, and Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters. Residents should expect flights to occur throughout the day, including late night and early morning hours.
The exercise is a test of NORAD's intercept and identification operations, and a gauge of the region's visual warning system. Training flights are to be held in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, the NCR Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center, Civil Air Patrol and NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector.

Norfolk Health Dept. runs bio-terror drill
http://www.wvec.com/news/topstories/stories/wvec_medical_072007_bioterror_drill.94955512.html

The Norfolk Health Department ran an exercise Friday to test their preparedness in the event of a bio-terror attack.
Imagine that anthrax bacteria are released in Norfolk and no one knows it until many people have the same flu-like symptoms. It's not far-fetched; in 2001 anthrax powder was sent through the mail sickening 22 people.
So, the Norfolk Health Department’s drill aimed to see what it could do in the event of such an attack. (cont..)








The Boeing Co. in St. Louis, MO received a minimum guaranteed $10.5 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for "intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance services utilizing an unmanned aircraft system in support of the Global War on Terrorism." This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $381.55 million. Work will be performed in the area of operations in support of I and II Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEFs) deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and is expected to be complete December 2007 (December 2010 with options). Contract funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the Navy Electronic Commerce Office, with two offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, VA issued the contract (M67854-07-D-2052).
Boeing has had field representatives in theater for a couple of years now to support and operate the Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle UAV from ships and ashore, receiving high praise and a fairly regular stream of contracts like this one from the USA and Australia. ScanEagle was developed to track dolphins and tuna from fishing boats, but its characteristics (low infrastructure launch and recovery, small size, long endurance, automated flight patterns) have turned out to be very good for battlefield surveillance. It has also been adapted to a number of specialty roles from sniper locator, to bio-warfgare agent detection.

Boeing to Develop Elements for a Mobile High Energy Laser Weapon Demonstrator
http://www.defense-update.com/newscast/0707/news/230707_hel_td.htm


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Thursday, July 19, 2007

DARPA "Crystal Ball", Space War, PMC+...






Pentagon Plots Digital "Crystal Ball" to "See the Future" in Battle
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/07/darpa-deep-gree.html

Darpa, the Pentagon's way-out research arm, is looking to design a software suite that predicts the future for battlefield commanders. At the heart of the package: A digital "Crystal Ball" that forecasts how a mission is going to turn out, before it's done. No, I am not kidding.
The overall, three-year program is called "Deep Green." Its goal is to "allow the commander to think ahead, identify when a plan is going awry, and help develop alternatives 'ahead of real time.'" If it works out the way agency officials hope (a very big if), Deep Green will enable officers to out-hustle and out-think any potential foes -- and do all that planning and analysis with a quarter of the staff that it takes today.
Deep Green has a half-dozen different interlocking components, including a "Sketch to Plan" program that reads a commander's doodles, listens to his words, and then "accurately induces" a plan, "fill[ing] in missing details." That allows an officer "to specify an option at a coarse level, then move on to the next cognitive task." A related program, "Sketch to Decide" allows a commander to "see the future" by producing a "comic strip" to represent his possible options in a given situation. That may "sound exotic," the Agency notes. But "since the 1970s (and perhaps earlier), there have been novels and game books in which the reader is asked to make a decision and then is directed to a different page or paragraph, depending on the choice made."
To make these warzone versions of choose-your-own-adventure novels, Darpa proposes two pieces of software. "Blitzkrieg" will quickly model sets of alternatives, while "Crystal Ball" will take information currently coming into a headquarters to figure out which scenarios are the most likely to happen, and which plans are likely to work best. Crystal Ball will use this estimate to nominate to the commander futures at which he/she should focus some planning effort to build additional options/branches. Crystal Ball will identify the trajectory of the operation in time to allow the commander to generate options before they are needed.














(cont..)

Neugenesis wins DARPA contract
http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/07/16/daily17.html








Outside View: Space war menace -- Part 1 http://www.upi.com/Security_Terrorism/Analysis/2007/07/19/outside_view_space_war_menace__part_1/5064/


US Army Plans To Extend Boeing's Future Combat Systems Role
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200707191255DOWJONESDJONLINE000897_FORTUNE5.htm

Iran Military Exercises
http://www.upi.com/Security_Terrorism/Analysis/2007/07/19/outside_view_space_war_menace__part_1/5064/


Czechs lead NATO in chemical capability but more work to be done
http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2007/07/18/response-in-bio-attack-drills-draws-praise.php


Cubic Provides Unprecedented Training Capabilities for the Joint Combined Training Capability (JCTC)
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0280000.htm

Cubic Defense Applications, a defense unit of Cubic Corporation (AMEX: CUB), delivered breakthrough technology and capabilities for joint military training during the biennial Talisman Sabre exercise in Australia. Cubic is a worldwide provider of combat training systems (cont.)
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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

DHS "Port Exercise, SAIC &Ports, NGA, + "Pork"






U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., speaks with reporters May 11 at Port of Tacoma headquarters. Federal, state and city officials gathered to announce the Port has been selected as the site for a testing center aimed to scan and detect intermodal cargo for traces of radiation. The first set of exercices will occur July 24.

A full-scale homeland security training exercise will take place at the Port of Tacoma July 24. Tideflats-area businesses and residents with views of the Port area may observe emergency response vehicles, simulated explosions and smoke and limited on-water activity on Commencement Bay.
According to officials from the Center for Asymmetric Warfare (CAW), a federally-funded, national center aimed at protecting U.S. forces, citizens and property, this activity will not disrupt normal business activity and should not create visual or audible distractions outside the immediate Port area.
The Port of Tacoma exercise is expected to begin at 8 a.m. and will conclude by early afternoon. There will be no public or media access to the exercise.
The CAW exercise launches Friday with the simulated seizure of a ferry in Steilacoom and concludes a few days later with disasters and mock terrorist attacks around the Puget Sound. In all, more than 50 agencies will participate in the two-phase exercise, including participants from the Department of Defense and federal, state, county, local and private entities.
The Asymmetric Warfare Initiative exercise is designed to challenge local, state and federal agencies to assemble rapidly and establish a coordinated response to multiple terrorist attacks. Participants will practice specialized tactics, techniques and procedures aimed at preventing an attack and lessening human, social and economic impacts.
Funded by the United States Congress through the Asymmetric Warfare Initiative, the exercise is the fifth of its kind to be conducted in the Puget Sound region.
The objective of the exercise is to provide demanding, scenario-driven events that prompt agencies to assemble rapidly and establish a coordinated response using procedures mandated by the National Incident Management System. It is also designed to challenge agency participants’ technical capabilities, as well as communication and coordination of efforts for responding to multiple, serious events.
The Center for Asymmetric Warfare (CAW) is a national center dedicated to protecting U.S. forces, citizens and property against asymmetric threats. CAW provides testing, training and experimentation for Department of Defense expeditionary forces to prepare them to counter the effects of asymmetric warfare, both outside of the United States and in concert with federal, state and local authorities in a homeland security environment.
Activities will begin at the Steilacoom Ferry Dock, July 19 and 20, and will include a hostage situation on a ferry. Ferries are the second largest transit system in Washington State, servicing about 25 million riders per year. The Anderson Island ferry will be used in the exercise.
Exercise activities will continue the following week at the Port of Tacoma on July 24, the location of last year's exercise. Scenarios will include both terrorist and non-terrorist activities and the distinction between the two could be ambiguous, further challenging participants.
The United States Coast Guard Sector Command, USCG District 13, the Captain of the Port of Seattle, Pier 90/91 Facility Security, Port of Seattle Police, Seattle Fire, U. S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will have a concurrent exercise to validate their Alien Migrant Interdiction Operation (AMIO) plan. This scenario involves a fishing vessel that arrives with people aboard who do not have proper identification and a civil disturbance with an attempt to enter secured areas.

Port Commission Candidate Gael Tarleton's SAIC Backers Could Soon Be Asking Her For Business
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-07-18/news/port-commission-candidate-gael-tarleton-s-saic-backers-could-soon-be-asking-her-for-business.php




SAIC has had numerous contracts with the Port in the past

Port Commission candidate Gael Tarleton now works in the University of Washington's office of Global Affairs as a special assistant. But she once worked for one of the heavyweights in port security technology—a company that's had more than $7 million in contracts at the Seattle port in the past and may vie for more in the future. And her campaign has been generously supported by some of her former colleagues at the company.
In her bid to unseat commissioner Bob Edwards, Tarleton has raised more than $78,000 to date (compared to just $32,000 for Edwards). About $12,000 of her total has come from current and retired executives at Science Applications International Corporation (commonly known as SAIC). That includes $2,800—the limit for an individual—from the company's founder and former CEO, Robert Beyster.
Asked if she actively solicited her SAIC connections, Tarleton says, "Absolutely. I worked at that place for 12 years. They were on my 'friends and family' list from day one."
SAIC is a research and engineering firm that provides information technology and security products and services for government customers. According to Fedspending.org, SAIC had more than $24 billion in federal contracts in fiscal 2005, the last complete year for which numbers are available. The company's top customers include the Defense, Homeland Security, and Energy departments.
In the port security realm, SAIC is best known for its Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System, a machine that uses gamma rays instead of the traditional X-rays to scan the insides of cargo containers through their metal walls.
According to a list obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and provided to Seattle Weekly, the Port of Seattle had 11 contracts with SAIC between 2002 and 2004, totaling more than $7 million. Details on the contracts are sparse, but all appear to be security and "safe commerce" related. A 2002 Seattle P-I article said the Port obtained one of the $1.2 million vehicle and cargo inspection machines in 2002 and intended to purchase another.
Spokesman David Schaefer says the Port of Seattle has no current contracts with SAIC, and he declined to say whether the Port is currently considering future contracts with the company. SAIC also declined to comment about current or future business at the Port of Seattle.
Edwards, first elected to the post in 1999, says "I've tried not to pay too much attention to what [my opponents] are saying and doing. I'm sticking to the record of what I've done as Port commissioner," when asked about Tarleton's ties to SAIC.
The commission only holds sway over contracts that total $200,000 or more, says Edwards. But he notes that when it comes to federal money coming into the Port, the commission has no say over who gets what, but acts in more of an administrative role. (According to commission minutes, SAIC led a $2.7 million demonstration project funded by the Transportation Security Administration in 2003, though no details were available about what the project entailed.)
"We are going through our ethics policies right now to make sure there isn't any way that commissioners can personally profit by knowledge that they have or by direct award of contracts or business," Edwards says.
But Jack Block Jr., another challenger for Edwards' post, says he's alarmed at Tarleton's backing by SAIC employees. He quotes a March 2007 Vanity Fair article about the company that says: "No Washington contractor pursues government money with more ingenuity and perseverance than SAIC. No contractor seems to exploit conflicts of interest in Washington with more zeal."
"With all the problems we're having with accountability and transparency at the Port, it scares the hell out of me that SAIC has taken an interest in this race," Block says. "Obviously SAIC is moving into the port security business. With their emphasis on security and sensors this is a big market for them."
Tarleton says she'll recuse herself from any future Port Commission decisions that have to do with her former employer, "and I will do it in the open."
"I think first of all our ports are a target, we all know that, for potential terrorists," says Diane Archer, a former SAIC contracts manager from Great Falls, Va., who gave Tarleton's campaign $200 earlier this month. "The Port of Seattle is as vulnerable as any other. I've worked with Gael in the past and she's a very dynamic individual. Her knowledge in security would serve the Port very well."
Tarleton worked as a vice president and director at SAIC from 1990 to 2002, and was responsible for building the company's business with Russia, she says. "I managed 60 employees in Russia and 20 [in the United States]. The business was science and technology for environmental cleanup, environmental monitoring, nuclear reactor safety and earthquake detection systems."
Her financial affairs statement with the state's Public Disclosure Commission lists an SAIC retirement account worth $75,000 or more—the highest category. Tarleton says she doesn't know how much SAIC stock is in the account, "but it's less than 1 percent of my retirement profile."
When SAIC went public in 2006, former employees were restricted from selling off their shares until January 2008, she says. "I will make a decision about what I'm going to do with the stock then."

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
Please see also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLROLbkfc5o



Empire Challenge 07 exercise focuses on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/podcasts/2007/pod071607.htm

(CHINA LAKE, Calif. – July 16, 2007) – Empire Challenge 07 (EC07), an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) demonstration, kicks off here today, at Naval Weapons Station China Lake.
EC07 will be headed up by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) with U.S. Joint Forces Command’s Intelligence Directorate’s ISR Division (J28) providing operational support.
"This is the joint and coalition ISR experiment for the year," said Chris Jackson, J28 division chief "This is kind of a proving ground where we test out emerging ISR technologies and concepts. The question we look to answer is do these new capabilities actually help the operational commander or do they hurt? Empire Challenge is where we try to find that out."
Jackson said EC07 will be a live demonstration with a primary focus on ISR integration, the ability to fuse together information from a variety of different sources of in order to inform a commander’s decision-making process. EC07 will also be used to assess exploitation management, the ability of a system to discern usable information from unprocessed intelligence data.
The demonstration will consist of a variety of scenarios, from border enforcement to combat search and rescue operations. Unmanned aerial vehicles, such as the Predator and Scan Eagle, as well as ground and acoustic sensors, such as ShotSpotter, will be among the ISR capabilities tested during these scenarios. These sensors will be integrated into the demonstration using the Joint Battlespace Awareness/ISR Integration Capability (J-BAIIC), an ISR test bed managed by the Naval Post-Graduate School (NPS).
In addition to supplying some of the ISR technology for EC07, J28 coordinated the establishment of both the opposing force and the blue force.
Jackson said that the combination of actual forces on the ground and information gathering technology in the field will help to provide insight into ISR capabilities across the operational spectrum and the various services’ Distributed Common Ground Systems (DCGS), a group of systems that combine and collect intelligence data.
"We want to find out early on if there are technical and procedural with one services’ DCGS talking to another service’s DCGS because these different systems are all tied together", said Jackson. He said that the main audience for EC07 will be ISR and intelligence professionals.
"The goal is to experiment with and to demonstrate that we can bring these different sources of information and ISR data together," said Jackson.
EC07 will have more than 700 participants, including NGA, USJFCOM’s Joint Transformation Command- Intelligence, and the Joint Systems Integration Command. Representatives from the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia will also participate in EC07, bringing their own technologies and concepts to the event.
Other organizations partcipating include the Distributed Ground Station – eXperimental (DGS-X) at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and the NATO Command and Control and Consultation Agency (NC3A), which will be using information generated by EC07 to improve and assess information sharing with coalition partners.
When EC07 wraps up, the results will be assessed and recommendations developed and provided to the Joint Staff on ways to improve ISR across the spectrum of operations.
"The goal is that we get ISR to the point where the warfighter doesn’t have to worry about where his information is coming from, he just knows that we have the capability to "plug and play" ISR capabilities in to the mix so that his information needs are met – with timeliness and precision.," said Jackson.

U.S. Army to Acquire Future Combat Systems Spin Out and Manned Ground Vehicle Technology


http://www.army.mil/-newsreleases/2007/07/18/4090-us-army-to-acquire-future-combat-systems-spin-out-and-manned-ground-vehicle-technology/

(Excerpt:)
"Future Combat Systems is the primary Army modernization program consisting of a family of manned and unmanned systems and sensors, connected to a common network that will enable the modular force by providing Soldiers with leading-edge technologies and capabilities that will allow them to dominate in complex environments."

Lockheed Martin awarded 1.1 bln usd training contract from US Air Force
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-18219875.htm


July 18, 2007: 09:14 AM EST

LONDON, Jul. 18, 2007 (AFX International Focus) -- The US Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) a 1.1 bln usd 10-year Aircrew Training and Rehearsal Support II (ATARS II) contract, providing Air Force Special Operations Command crews with training on a variety of weapon systems. (cont..)


Look at the flow of $$$$ ( this is just one page of Google News from a few hours!)

NJ sees increase in federal homeland security funds
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--homelandsecurityf0718jul18,0,126676.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey

Metro Detroit gets $14.6 million in Homeland Security grants
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070718/NEWS06/70718053/0/NEWS01


Dallas-Fort Worth area to get nearly $21 million in Homeland Security money
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/jul/18/dallas-fort-worth-area-get-nearly-21-million-homel/

Vermont receives $6.68 million in homeland security funds

Colorado gets $19.8 million in homeland security grants
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5634546,00.html


State sees big jump in federal security funding
http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=6808991


$1 Billion for Emergency Radios
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/18/ap3928201.html
etc etc....
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