The US is touting the fact that the Aegis BMD system, which is an antimissile system, has successfully shot down 2 missiles simultaneously. The fact is, it still does not have a 100% accuracy rate and is listed as being successful in 11 out of 13 times. This is in a test. It will be much harder to intercept missiles in real life.

The UK is starting work on developing a new submarine. A contract for 4 months has been awarded to BAE Systems Submarine Solutions, Rolls-Royce and Babcock Marine. The program is going to run 2 years. The new submarine would be a replacement for the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class submarines. Speaking of submarines, the Greek Navy is fighting with a contractor over a submarine that they took out on sea trials that didn't make the grade.

Remember those British sailors that were seized by the Iranians in the Persian Gulf and later released? An investigation has led to a finding by the British military that there is a weakness in intelligence, in communications and in training. Action is now being taken to address these issues.

The US Osprey mine hunting ships didn't last very long. The US has retired the last one and it was only 8 years old. The last three were commissioned in 1996, 1997 and 1999. Why did we spend so much to get these in the first place, was it to give a gift to some contractor?

I bet that you didn't know that Trinidad and Tobago had a coast guard, but they do and they are getting three new patrol boats? The ships are being constructed in the UK at the famous Portsmouth shipyard. The country placed an order worth about 300 million dollars with the builders. Quite a hefty order for such a tiny country.

A study is being conducted in Britain to determine what defenses are needed to protect against a swarm attack. These are attacks from many fast moving craft at once.

The Italian Air Force has just embarked on a program to upgrade their trainer jets. They have awarded a 58 million dollar contract.

The GPS IIR M, the global positioning System Block IIR satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in October, 2007. It is the fourth in a series of eight. The satellites are said to improve communications between the earth and spacecraft.

The Indian Air Force has received it's first delivery from a one billion dollar order. Two Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers have just arrived there. We have to remember that the Indian Air Force jets and pilots beat us during combined war games, so they must be doing something right.

Well the world just became a little more dangerous. BrahMos Aerospace, the Indian and Russian joint venture, is going to export supersonic cruise missiles. They expect to sell at least 2 billion dollars worth in the next 10 years. Right now a list is being compiled of countries that the missiles will be exported to. The UK has decided to update some of it's strike aircraft. BAE systems has been awarded 2 contracts. It is going to upgrade the Tornado and Harrier aircraft. The updates will include secure communications gear and the Link 16 Joint Tactical Information Distribution System, known as JTIDS. This later will allow a pilot to receive tactical information that is sent to the plane by text. This way the pilot will be able to receive secure radio and text communications

For the first time since the US entered Iraq, Iraqi Ministers will hold a Defense Summit. It will have taken place between February 16-17 of this year in Dubai. Private meetings were held with global defense and security contractors. What a gold mine Iraq has turned out to be for them.

The French are increasing the production of VBCI combat vehicles. In France they are know as Véhicule Blindé de Combat d'Infanterie (VBCI) 8 x 8. It is essentially a combat vehicle for the French Army. It is being produced by Nexter Systems in Roanne. The initial batch will be 54 combat vehicles and 11 command post vehicles. Look for delivery in the middle of the year.

Here is a new one, the Coast Guard is asking a contractor for it's money back, or should I say our money back? It seems that Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman were contracted to supply 8 patrol boats, which the Coast Guard never received. Now it is asking for a refund of 96.1 million dollars. They might as well return it and avoid the hassle, after all they can just add it on to the next contract.

In 2007, the US Navy had grounded it's entire fleet of F-15 planes. Some of the planes have been cleared to fly and are back on flight status. They had originally been grounded for safety concerns. Cracks had been found in the fuselage longerons. It funny, during World War II we kept trying to build more and more powerful bombs, which culminated in the atom bomb. Today things are reversed. The US Air Force is flight testing a Small Diameter Bomb known as SDB. The bomb is made of carbon fiber, rather than the traditional iron or steel and it is hoped that this will eliminate fragments, thus reducing collateral damage. Maybe some day we will develop a bomb that doesn't explode and that will be the ultimate safe bomb. A new air breathing ram jet missile is being developed by the United States Air Force. It might act like a cruise missile on steroids if Is really a pulse jet, which experts agree can reach speeds beyond Mach 15 or 15 times the speed of sound.

Here we go again. in 2006 a contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin to develop an airborne, multipurpose sensor. It was supposed to be capable of identifying ground targets while also being able to intercept enemy signals. It was just too heavy. Well the contract is being put out again and this time Raytheon will compete with Northrop Grumman for the gold. Remember the ballistic missile system? That is the system that can only hit a couple of incoming missiles, if it gets extremely lucky. Well the tests are on again. Three test firings are planned for 2008. They will be carried out by the US Missile Defense Agency or MDA. I bet you didn't know we had one. A Japanese destroyer will be part of the test as will a short range ballistic missile in the terminal phase.

The Nimrods are on the way out. The Royal Air Force's Nimrod electronic intelligence aircraft have been found to be a fire risk and the British are looking around for a replacement. One of the planes burst into flames above Afghanistan in September last year.

The Swedish military is in big trouble, budget wise. It may not sound like much to us with our huge military budget, but it went into the red this year by the tune of 230 million dollars, forcing the government to withdraw troops from different global exercises and cutting down on the flight time of it's fighter aircraft. Can you imagine what we would have to do if we wanted to make up our deficit instead of throwing money at it. It would probably be so huge we would have to disband the armed forces.

Get them there when nobody is looking. It is said that the US is planning to send a substantial amount of people to Afghanistan in the form of a US Marine Corps contingent. The force will be consist of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. All in all it is thought that the size of the new force will be about 2,200 people. Is this the beginning of a new buildup, I hope not? Remember what I said about the Swedish military budget? Keep it in mind with you read this next sentence. The US Senate has just approved spending an additional 23.6 BILLION DOLLARS to accelerate the procurement of Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected Vehicles. The procurement of Heavily Armored Trucks was increased earlier this year when the Senate allotted an additional 5.3 BILLION DOLLARS toward that goal. I have to ask the question, is this just a giant give away to the contractors folks? We need the vehicles, but do we need anywhere as many as we were ordered and are we spending too much on these things? Did you ever notice the fuss that is made when we ask to get an additional 500 million dollars for the extension of unemployment benefits or food stamps? So I have to tell you about what happened when a new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle was hit with a roadside bomb in Iraq, one of the crew died and I don't know the fate of the others?

I'm upgrading the equipment I use to get the articles out and maintain the website, so I have to toddle off now.