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VMETRO to support F-35 program
Published: May 16, 2008 at 9:07 PM
HOUSTON, May 16 (UPI) -- VMETRO announced it has been contracted by Lockheed Martin to support the U.S. Defense Department's next-generation strike fighter F-35 Lightning II program. -
Navy contracts BAE for TCDL tech
Published: May 16, 2008 at 9:07 PM
WAYNE, N.J., May 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy says it has contracted BAE Systems for tactical common data link technology to provide pilots with real-time sensor and targeting information. -
South African army to get wireless tech
Published: May 16, 2008 at 9:05 PM
JERICHO, N.Y., May 16 (UPI) -- Saab Grintek Communications has contracted Telephonics for wireless intercommunication technology in support of a deal with the South African army.
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Analysis: European defense contracts
Published: May 16, 2008 at 10:15 PM
By LEANDER SCHAERLAECKENS
UPI Correspondent
BRUSSELS, May 16 (UPI) -- Patria could lose Slovenian deal to bribery charges; Italian training aircraft for Philippines; Estonia opens cyberterrorism center and looks to purchase field artillery -
BMD Watch: Japan changes space policy
Published: May 16, 2008 at 9:35 PM
By MARTIN SIEFF
UPI Senior News Analyst
WASHINGTON, May 16 (UPI) -- The Japanese Parliament Tuesday formally agreed to permit the deployment of space surveillance satellites as part of the country's ballistic missile defense program. -
Analysis: China boosts Jiangxi air defense
Published: May 16, 2008 at 9:10 PM
By ANDREI CHANG
HONG KONG, May 16 (UPI) -- China's air force has substantially reinforced its air defense posture in Jiangxi province in the past year. There are indications that China has completed its second-line air defense operational deployment against Taiwan centered on Fujian and Jiangxi provinces. This has greatly expanded the depth of China's air defense coverage. -
Outside View: Russia at war -- Part 1
Published: May 16, 2008 at 12:07 PM
By ILYA KRAMNIK
UPI Outside View Commentator
MOSCOW, May 16 (UPI) -- The scale of the armies engaged, the casualties suffered and inflicted on both sides, and the number of weapons systems deployed in the conflict between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany dwarfed all other theaters of World War II and all conflicts since then. -
Analysis: China copter deal -- Part 3
Published: May 15, 2008 at 7:16 PM
By MARTIN SIEFF
WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- Russia's landmark sale of transport helicopter assembly kits to be assembled in China could point the way to a vastly larger transformation in global arms production. -
Outside View: Georgia civil war -- Part 2
Published: May 15, 2008 at 12:13 PM
By ILYA KRAMNIK
UPI Outside View Commentator
MOSCOW, May 15 (UPI) -- Georgia's officer corps is said to be riddled with corruption, there are no trained sergeants, only about 50 percent of the nation's military equipment is operational, and coordinated operations in adverse conditions are impossible.
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SPEIS defines nuke complex reform
Published: Dec. 28, 2007 at 4:58 PM
WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- The National Nuclear Security Administration has outlined its plan to streamline the U.S. nuclear complex.
The plan "is described in a draft Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement -- SPEIS -- that NNSA will issue in January," the agency said in a statement Dec. 18.
"These needs include facilities that are safer and more secure, consolidating special nuclear materials, eliminating duplicative capabilities, establishing a plutonium capability, and implementing more efficient and uniform business practices throughout the complex," it said.
"I feel a sense of urgency," said NNSA Administrator Thomas P. D'Agostino. "We must act now to adapt for the future security needs of the country, and stop pouring money into an old, Cold War-era nuclear weapons complex that is too big, too expensive, and doesn't offer updated and safer ways of maintaining our nuclear stockpile or that is responsive to other national security needs."
"Over the next several years, the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile will be reduced by nearly 50 percent from the 2001 level, making it the smallest stockpile since the 1950s," the NNSA, an agency of the Department of Energy, said.
"The draft SPEIS evaluates four alternatives to address NNSA's needs: maintaining the status quo, distributed centers of excellence, consolidated centers of excellence, and a capabilities-based complex. The SPEIS also ... would consolidate missions and facilities within the existing NNSA sites. This means that NNSA would eliminate redundancies in missions, capabilities, and facilities," the agency said.
The NNSA said it planned to:
" -- Consolidate special nuclear materials at five sites by the end of 2012, with reduced square footage within those sites by 2017;
" -- Close or transfer from weapons activities about 600 buildings or structures, many by 2010;
" -- Cease NNSA operations of two major testing sites supporting our laboratories by 2015;
" -- Reduce the square footage of buildings and structures supporting weapons missions by as much as one-third, going from greater than 35 million to less than 26 million square feet;
" -- Employ 20-30 percent fewer workers directly supporting weapons missions consistent with a smaller, more efficient complex; and
" -- Dismantle weapons at a significantly faster pace."
The plan "is described in a draft Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement -- SPEIS -- that NNSA will issue in January," the agency said in a statement Dec. 18.
"These needs include facilities that are safer and more secure, consolidating special nuclear materials, eliminating duplicative capabilities, establishing a plutonium capability, and implementing more efficient and uniform business practices throughout the complex," it said.
"I feel a sense of urgency," said NNSA Administrator Thomas P. D'Agostino. "We must act now to adapt for the future security needs of the country, and stop pouring money into an old, Cold War-era nuclear weapons complex that is too big, too expensive, and doesn't offer updated and safer ways of maintaining our nuclear stockpile or that is responsive to other national security needs."
"Over the next several years, the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile will be reduced by nearly 50 percent from the 2001 level, making it the smallest stockpile since the 1950s," the NNSA, an agency of the Department of Energy, said.
"The draft SPEIS evaluates four alternatives to address NNSA's needs: maintaining the status quo, distributed centers of excellence, consolidated centers of excellence, and a capabilities-based complex. The SPEIS also ... would consolidate missions and facilities within the existing NNSA sites. This means that NNSA would eliminate redundancies in missions, capabilities, and facilities," the agency said.
The NNSA said it planned to:
" -- Consolidate special nuclear materials at five sites by the end of 2012, with reduced square footage within those sites by 2017;
" -- Close or transfer from weapons activities about 600 buildings or structures, many by 2010;
" -- Cease NNSA operations of two major testing sites supporting our laboratories by 2015;
" -- Reduce the square footage of buildings and structures supporting weapons missions by as much as one-third, going from greater than 35 million to less than 26 million square feet;
" -- Employ 20-30 percent fewer workers directly supporting weapons missions consistent with a smaller, more efficient complex; and
" -- Dismantle weapons at a significantly faster pace."
© 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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