Monday, June 10, 2013

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: US Spy Programs Raise Ire Both Home And Abroad

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: US Spy Programs Raise Ire Both Home And Abroad
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Lara Jakes - AP
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 10, 2013: The Obama administration faced fresh anger Monday at home and abroad over U.S. spy programs that track phone and Internet messages around the world in the hope of thwarting terrorist threats. But a senior intelligence official said there are no plans to end the secretive surveillance systems.

The programs causing the global uproar were revealed by Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old employee of government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden, whose identity was revealed at his own request, has fled to Hong Kong in hopes of escaping criminal charges. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee and supports the surveillance, accused Snowden of committing an "act of treason" and said he should be prosecuted.
Coolly but firmly, officials in Germany and the European Union issued complaints over two National Security Agency programs that target suspicious foreign messages — potentially including phone numbers, email, images, video and other online communications transmitted through U.S. providers. The chief British diplomat felt it necessary to try to assure Parliament that the spy programs do not encroach on U.K. privacy laws.
And in Washington, members of Congress said they would take a new look at potential ways to keep the U.S. safe from terror attacks without giving up privacy protections that critics charge are at risk with the government's current authority to broadly sweep up personal communications.
"There's very little trust in the government, and that's for good reason," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who sits on the House Intelligence Committee. "We're our own worst enemy."
Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was considering how Congress could limit the amount of data spy agencies seize from telephone and Internet companies — including restricting the information to be released only on an as-needed basis.
"It's a little unsettling to have this massive data in the government's possession," King said.
A senior U.S. intelligence official said there are no plans to scrap the programs that, despite the backlash, continue to receive widespread if cautious support within Congress. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive security issue.
The programs were revealed last week by The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers.National Intelligence Director James Clapper has taken the unusual step of declassifying some of the previously top secret details to help the administration mount a public defense of the surveillance as a necessary step to protect Americans.
One of the NSA programs gathers hundreds of millions of U.S. phone records to search for possible links to known terrorist targets abroad. The other allows the government to tap into nine U.S. Internet companies and gather all communications to detect suspicious behavior that begins overseas.
Snowden is a former CIA employee who later worked as a contractor for the NSA on behalf of Booz Allen, where he gained access to the surveillance. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said it was "absolutely shocking" that a 29-year-old with limited experience would have access to this material.
The first explosive document he revealed was a top secret court order issued by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that granted a three-month renewal for a massive collection of American phone records. That order was signed April 25. The Guardian's first story on the court order was published on June 5.
In a statement issued Sunday, Booz Allen said Snowden had been an employee for fewer than three months, so it's possible he was working as an NSA contractor when the order was issued.
He also gave the Post and the Guardian a PowerPoint presentation on another secret program that collects online usage by the nine Internet providers. The U.S. government says it uses that information only to track foreigners' use overseas.
Believing his role would soon be exposed, Snowden fled last month to Hong Kong, a Chinese territory that enjoys relative autonomy from Beijing. His exact whereabouts were unknown Monday.
"All of the options, as he put it, are bad options," Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, who first reported the phone-tracking program and interviewed Snowden extensively, told The Associated Press on Monday. He said Snowden decided to release details of the programs out of shock and anger over the sheer scope of the government's privacy invasions.
"It was his choice to publicly unveil himself," Greenwald told the AP in Hong Kong. "He recognized that even if he hadn't publicly unveiled himself, it was only a matter of time before the U.S. government discovered that it was he who had been responsible for these disclosures, and he made peace with that. ... He's very steadfast and resolute about the fact that he did the right thing."
Although Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the U.S., the document has some exceptions, including for crimes deemed political. Any negotiations about his possible handover will involve Beijing, but some analysts believe China is unlikely to want to jeopardize its relationship with Washington over someone it would consider of little political interest.
Snowden also told The Guardian that he may seek asylum in Iceland, which has strong free-speech protections and a tradition of providing a haven for the outspoken and the outcast.
The Justice Department is investigating whether his disclosures were a criminal offense — a matter that's not always clear-cut under U.S. federal law.
A second senior intelligence official said Snowden would have had to have signed a non-disclosure agreement to gain access to the top secret data. That suggests he could be prosecuted for violating that agreement. Penalties could range from a few years to life in prison. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the process of accessing classified materials more frankly.
The leak came to light as Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is being tried in military court under federal espionage and computer fraud laws for releasing classified documents to WikiLeaks about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other items. The most serious charge against him is aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence. But the military operates under a different legal system.
If Snowden is forced to return to the United States to face charges, whistleblower advocates said Monday that they would raise money for his legal defense.
Clapper has ordered an internal review to assess how much damage the disclosures created. Intelligence experts say terrorist suspects and others seeking to attack the U.S. all but certainly will find alternate ways to communicate instead of relying on systems that now are widely known to be under surveillance.
The Obama administration must also now deal with the political and diplomatic fallout of the disclosures. Privacy laws across much of Western Europe are stricter than they are in the United States.
On Tuesday, the European Parliament, through its 27-nation executive arm, will debate the spy programs and whether they have violated local privacy protections. E.U. officials in Brussels pledged to seek answers from U.S. diplomats at a trans-Atlantic ministerial meeting in Dublin that begins Thursday.
"It would be unacceptable and would need swift action from the EU if indeed the U.S. National Security Agency were processing European data without permission," said Guy Verhofstadt, a leader in the Alde group of liberal parties.
Additionally, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters Monday that Chancellor Angela Merkel would question President Barack Obama about the NSA program when he's in Berlin on June 18 for his first visit to the German capital as president. In Germany, privacy regulations are especially strict, and the NSA programs could tarnish a visit that both sides had hoped would reaffirm strong German-American ties.
In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague was forced to deny allegations that the U.K. government had used information provided by the Americans to circumvent British laws. "We want the British people to have confidence in the work of our intelligence agencies and in their adherence to the law and democratic values," Hague told Parliament.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama is open for a discussion about the spy programs, both with allies and in Congress. His administration has aggressively defended the two programs and credited them with helping stop at least two terrorist attacks, including one in New York City.
But privacy rights advocates say Obama has gone too far. The American Civil Liberties Union and Yale Law School filed legal action Monday to force a secret U.S. court to make public its opinions justifying the scope of some of the surveillance, calling the programs "shockingly broad." And conservative lawyer Larry Klayman filed a separate lawsuit against the Obama administration, claiming he and others have been harmed by the government's collection of as many as 3 billion phone numbers each day.
Army records indicate Snowden enlisted in the Army Reserve as a Special Forces recruit in May 2007 and was discharged that September without completing any training or getting any awards.
___
Associated Press writers Donna Cassata, Frederic Frommer and Matt Apuzzo in Washington, Robert H. Reid in Berlin and Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
___
Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at https://twitter.com/larajakesAP

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Lara Jakes - AP
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated June 10, 2013

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated June 10, 2013
Source: U.S. DoD issued No.  425-13 June 10, 2013
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 10, 2013: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued  June 10, 2013  are undermentioned;


CONTRACTS
NAVY
             United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney, Military Engines, East Hartford, Conn., is being awarded a $648,769,404 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-02-C-3003) to extend the F135 System Development and Demonstration contract period of performance.  In addition this modification is for the procurement of the technical baseline review design, verification, validation and qualification tasks; two spare flight test engines, and additional spare parts to support the F-35 Flight Test Program.  Work will be performed in East Hartford, Conn. (72 percent); Bristol, United Kingdom (22 percent); and Indianapolis, Ind. (6 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2016.  No funds are being obligated at time of award.  Funds are obligated incrementally.  Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

             Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $104,734,081 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-10-C-0002) for the procurement and delivery of 83,169 Xilinx field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) for the U.S. Air Force (35,842), U.S. Marine Corps (10,517); U.S. Navy (9,517), and the governments of Italy (5,992); Turkey (6,370); Australia (5,952); Norway (4,905); United Kingdom (3,530); the Netherlands (61); and Denmark (483).  These FPGAs are required for the manufacture of the low rate initial production Lot VII through full rate production Lot III Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.  Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in September 2014.  Fiscal 2011 Aircraft Procurement, Navy; Fiscal 2011 Aircraft Procurement, Air Force; Fiscal 2013 Operations & Maintenance, Navy; Fiscal 2013 Operations & Maintenance, Air Force; and International Partner funding contract funds in the amount of $104,734,081 will be obligated at time of award of which $70,136,722 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Air Force ($46,384,611; 44.3 percent); U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps ($23,752,211; 22.7 percent); and the governments of Italy ($8,107,089; 7.7 percent); Turkey ($7,593,019; 7.2 percent); Australia ($6,894,676; 6.6 percent); Norway ($6,640,664; 6.3 percent); United Kingdom ($5,132,732; 4.9 percent); the Netherlands ($115,809; .11 percent); and Denmark ($113,370; .10 percent).  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

            W.S. Darley & Co., Itasca, Ill., is being awarded a $20,396,669 firm-fixed-price delivery order #0004 under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-12-D-5008) for 397, 600-gallons per minute pumps in support of product manager, expeditionary power systems, program manager, combat support systems.  The pumps will be used for fuel and potable water transfer to Marines in combat.  Work will be performed in Itasca, Ill., and is expected to be completed by June 5, 2014.  Fiscal 2013 Procurement Marine Corps funds in the amount of $20,396,669 will be obligated at the time of award.  Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.

             Homeland Contracting Corp.*, Chesapeake, Va., is being awarded a $14,354,000 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a medical clinic replacement facility at Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, N.C.  The existing Berkeley Manor Building 5400 complex will be demolished.  The work to be performed provides for the construction of a single-story clinic facility.  Clinic workspace supports treatment and medical administration activities including pediatrics, dermatology, traumatic brain injury, educational and developmental intervention services, optical lab, information management, and general medical administration.  Supporting facilities will include utilities, communications, paving, parking, sidewalks, site improvements, landscaping, and roadway signage.  Construction includes all signalization systems, road signage, and vehicle inspection areas.  Work will be performed in Jacksonville, N.C., and is expected to be completed by April 2015.  Fiscal 2013 Military Construction, Defense Medical contract funds in the amount of $14,354,000 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with nine proposals received.  The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N40085-13-C-6003).

             LRAD Corp.*, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $12,231,360 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for small, medium and large acoustic hailing devices, mounts, test teardown and evaluation, provision item order spares, and data.  Small, medium and large acoustic hailing devices will be used by the Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection Afloat Program Office (PMS 480) and/or other Department of Defense Activities.  Acoustic hailing devices will be used in support of large and small deck naval surface ships, submarines, security boats, shore security operations and others as warning devices employed in anti-terrorism/force protection missions.  Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by June 2018.  Fiscal 2012 and 2013 Other Procurement, Navy contract funds in the amount of $1,988,785 will be obligated at time of award.  Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was competitively procured and solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received.  The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-13-D-JQ05).

             Arcadis U.S. Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo., is being awarded $8,509,606 for firm-fixed-price task order #0006 under a previously awarded environmental multiple-award contract (N62473-11-D-2226) for loading, transportation and removal of waste material at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.  The work to be performed provides for support, transportation and disposal and/or recycling of waste soil, green waste, and miscellaneous construction debris.  Work will be performed in San Francisco, Calif., and is expected to be completed by December 2014.  Fiscal 2013 Base Realignment and Closure, Navy contract funds in the amount of $8,509,606 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  Three proposals were received for this task order.  The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.

AIR FORCE
            Northrop Grumman Electronic Business Segment, Linthicum Heights, Md., has been awarded a maximum $115,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide 16 AN/APG-68 (V)9 radar systems for the Royal Thai Air Force and 22 AN/APG-68 (V)9 radar systems for the Republic of Iraq for a total of 38 radar systems.  This foreign military sale also includes spares for the Egyptian Air Force, Royal Moroccan Air Force and Pakistan Air Force.  $51,449,989 will be obligated at time of award.  This is a sole-source acquisition.  Work will be performed at Linthicum, Md., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 20, 2017.  Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/WWMK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8615-13-C-6018).

            Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been awarded a $44,500,000 firm-fixed-price contract to install the KC-135 Global Air Traffic Management Block 40 Upgrade into three KC-135R French Air Force aircraft.  Work will be performed at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is expected to be completed by Nov. 10, 2015.  This contract is 100 percent funded foreign military sales.  Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/WKKPA, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity (FA8105-13-C-0001). 

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
            World Fuel Services Inc., Miami, Fla., has been awarded a maximum $16,750,496 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, into-plane contract.  This contract is for aircraft fuel services.  Locations of performance are Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands with a March 31, 2017 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 through fiscal 2017 Defense Working Capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va. (SP0600-13-D-0081). 

            Newpark Mats & Integrated Services LLC, The Woodland, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $16,043,571 modification (P0009) exercising the second option year period on contract (SPM8E6-11-D-0011) for facilities maintenance, rotary-wing aircraft Dura-Base Mat System.  The contract is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract.  Location of performance is Texas, with a July 10, 2014 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army and Air Force.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 Defense Working Capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa. 

*Small Businesses

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources 
U.S. DoD issued No.  425-13 June 10, 2013
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - RUSSIA DEFENSE NEWS: ‘Missile Defense Killer’- Russia Finalizes Testing On Prototype ICBM

DTN News - RUSSIA DEFENSE NEWS: ‘Missile Defense Killer’- Russia Finalizes Testing On Prototype ICBM
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Russia Today
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 10, 2013: Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces have reported a successful launch of a next-generation ICBM that can supposedly pierce any anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system. The test came after the US announced it would resume its ABM program in Europe.


The test missile launched from a mobile pad at 9:45pm (17:45 GMT) on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said Friday. The test was carried out in the Astrakhan region, deep inside Russian territory, and the prototype’s payload successfully hit the Balkhash range in Kazakhstan.
“The test launch was a success as the [simulated] warhead hit a designated target within the set timeframe,” the Russian Defense Ministry statement said. “This test launch was intended to confirm technical characteristics of the missile, as well as to check the safety of the launch procedures and equipment.”
The launch was the fourth successful test of the prototype ICBM. The development of a new solid-fuel ICBM was officially announced in 2012, and is set to gradually replace the existing Topol-M and later the recently developed Yars missile complex. 
Russia will put the new strategic missile complex on combat alert by the end of the year, and deployment of the first regiment will start in 2014, announced the Head of the Main Operations Directorate of the Joint Staff Colonel-General, Vladimir Zarudnitsky.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin about assigning officers to higher military ranks.
"In the framework of the approved plan of development of the armed forces of the Russian Federation last night we conducted a test launch of the perspective intercontinental ballistic missile complex Rubezh (‘frontier’) with increased accuracy," Zarudnitsky said, adding that the test launch was ordered to work out "the new combat equipment."
"We assess the launch results as successful, all the blocks (warheads) hit their targets. To complete the tests one more launch is needed, it is scheduled to take place by the end of the year. Then ‘Rubezh’ system will be adopted by the strategic missile forces," Zarudnitsky said.

Tactical training exercises of Air Defense Forces at Kapustin Yar range. Troops prepare the anti-aircraft missile system S-300V to detect and destroy air targets. (RIA Novosti / Kirill Braga)

He also revealed that infrastructure preparations are underway for the new complex, as is personnel training and the coordination of combat crews.
"The new missile complex will have a significantly improved, compared with the existing complexes, maneuvering characteristics that significantly enhance the potential of Russia's nuclear forces to ensure strategic deterrence," Zarudnitsky concluded.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin welcomed the test, calling the new ICBM a “missile defense killer... Neither current nor future American missile defense systems will be able to prevent that missile from hitting a target dead on.”
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. (RIA Novosti / Sergey Mamontov)
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. (RIA Novosti / Sergey Mamontov)

Russia maintains at least 58 silo-based Soviet-made P36M ('SS-18 Satan' NATO classification) ballistic missiles, believed to be the most powerful in the world with up to 10 megaton-class warheads. The Strategic Missile Forces have 160 mobile Topol-M ('SS-25 Sickle') missile systems, 50 silo-based and 18 road-mobile Topol-M ('SS-27 Sickle B') systems, and 18 RS-24 Yars systems.
In recent years, two missile divisions were rearmed with the newest Topol-M and Yars systems, and more will follow in 2013. The Defense Ministry is also preparing to introduce the latest automated battle management system (ASBU), enabling rapid retargeting of ICBMs.
Russia sped up development of new intercontinental ballistic missile systems after the US announced plans to continue deploying its missile defense system in Eastern Europe, near Russian borders.
 
Tactical exercises of the Air Defense Forces at Kapustin Yar range. Anti-aircraft S-300V missile system. (RIA Novosti / Kirill Braga)

The issue of the US missile shield in Europe has become a major stumbling block in Russia-US relations. Moscow has demanded legal guarantees from Washington that missile defense systems deployed in Europe would not target Russia's strategic nuclear deterrence capabilities. But Washington refused, citing a need to protect Europe from ‘rogue states' like Iran and North Korea.
In mid-March of 2013, Washington attempted to engage Moscow in new talks about further nuclear arms reduction, after presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev agreed to reduce their nuclear stocks with the New START arms reduction treaty. The US said it would no longer deploy SM-3 IIB ballistic missile interceptors in Poland until 2022.
Nevertheless, Moscow still demands legally binding guarantees from Washington that the system's intentions are peaceful.
On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry met with the Polish Foreign Minister, and committed to deploy missile defenses in Poland by 2018 as planned. “We are on track to deploy a missile defense site in Poland by 2018 as part of NATO’s modernized approach to our security,” Kerry said.
*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Russia Today
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*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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