DTN News: US Government Lacks Tech Talent For Cyber Defense ~ Analysis

DTN News: US Government Lacks Tech Talent For Cyber Defense ~ Analysis

*Source: DTN News / Defense Media

(NSI News Source Info) SAN FRANCISCO, USA - July 25, 2009: Bureaucracy and a shortage of employees with technology prowess have left the US government without the talent it needs to defend against cyber attacks, a study warned Wednesday. "The results of this research are troubling and, in many ways, familiar," said the authors of the report, which is intended to check the status of the federal cybersecurity workforce. "The overriding finding of our analysis is that our federal government will be unable to combat these threats without a more coordinated, sustained effort to increase cybersecurity expertise in the federal workforce." The "pipeline of potential new talent" are inadequate, while complicated processes and rules hamper efforts to recruit and retain federal workers with needed technology skills for cybersecurity, according to the study, titled "Cyber IN-Security." It also found that there are conflicting views inside government regarding what technology talents are sought in new hires. The study surveyed 18 federal agencies and experts both inside and outside government, said the Partnership for Public Service, a non-profit group based in Washington that authored the study with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. "Numerous factors hamper government's ability to build a top-notch cybersecurity workforce, making it difficult to fill critical talent gaps," the study concluded. US leaders, it suggested, need to vastly improve the way government hires, manages, and cultivates employees with technology talent. Congress and the White House should also promote and support students learning math and science skills to bolster the future pool of cyber security workers, the study concluded.

DTN News: Australia ~ USAF C-17 Globemaster Sustainment Partnership

DTN News: Australia ~ USAF C-17 Globemaster Sustainment Partnership

*Source: DTN News / US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - July 25, 2009: On July 17, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the Government of Australia’s request to continue participation in the USAF/Boeing Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership (GSP), which consists of support for four Boeing C-17A aircraft.

The estimated cost is $300 million.

The Government of Australia has requested to continue participation in the USAF/Boeing Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership (GSP) which consists of support for Australia’s fleet of four Boeing C-17A Globemaster III cargo aircraft, contractor technical and logistics personnel services, support equipment, spare and repair parts, and other related elements of logistics support.

Australia is one of our most important allies in the Western Pacific. The strategic location of this political and economic power contributes significantly to ensuring peace and economic stability in the region. Australia’s efforts in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations in Iraq and in Afghanistan have had a significant impact on regional, political, and economic stability and have served U.S. national security interests. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives and facilitates burden-sharing with our allies.

This program will ensure Australia can effectively maintain its current force projection capability that enhances interoperability with U.S. forces. Australia is a staunch supporter of the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan. Australia’s troops are deployed in support of Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, where U.S. assets currently provide this proposed capability.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The principal contractor will be Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in St. Louis, Mo. There are no known offset agreements in connection with this proposed sale.

Implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of ten U.S. Government and contractor representatives to participate in program management and technical reviews for two-week intervals annually. Additionally, up to ten contractor representatives will be required to provide in-country services throughout the life of this case.

There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.

This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded.

DTN News: South Korea ~ MH-60S Multi-Mission Helicopters

DTN News: South Korea ~ MH-60S Multi-Mission Helicopters *Source: DTN News / US Defense Security Cooperation Agency

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - July 25, 2009: On July 17, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government Korea of eight MH-60S Multi-Mission Helicopters with 16 T700-GE-401C Turbo shaft engines and associated Airborne Mine Countermeasure (AMCM) Sensors, eight AN/AQS-20A Towed Sonar Mine Countermeasure Systems, eight AN/AES-1 Airborne Laser Mine Detection Systems, eight AN/ASQ-235 Airborne Mine Neutralization Systems, eight AN/ALQ-220 Organic Airborne and Surface Influence Sweep Systems, eight AN/AWS-2 Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance Systems and related support and services.

The estimated cost is $1.0 billion.

The Republic of Korea has requested a possible sale eight MH-60S Multi-Mission Helicopters with 16 T700-GE-401C Turbo shaft engines and associated Airborne Mine Countermeasure (AMCM) Sensors, eight AN/AQS-20A Towed Sonar Mine Countermeasure Systems, eight AN/AES-1 Airborne Laser Mine Detection Systems, eight AN/ASQ-235 Airborne Mine Neutralization Systems, eight AN/ALQ-220 Organic Airborne and Surface Influence Sweep Systems, eight AN/AWS-2 Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance Systems, test and support equipment, spare and repair parts, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical data, U.S. Government and contractor technical assistance and other related logistics support.

The Republic of Korea is one of the major political and economic powers in East Asia and the Western Pacific and a key partner of the United States in ensuring peace and stability in that region. It is vital to the U.S. national interest to assist our ally in developing and maintaining a strong and ready self-defense capability, which will contribute to an acceptable military balance in the area.

This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives. The Republic of Korea needs these helicopters to support the Korean Navy's ability to provide mine warfare detection and mine neutralization operations to maintain critical sea-lines of communication and coastal access around the Korean peninsula.

DTN News: India To Resume Selling Arms To Nepal

DTN News: India To Resume Selling Arms To Nepal

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) KATHMANDU, Nepal - July 25, 2009: India will resume sending arms to Nepal, lifting a four-year ban imposed after former Nepalese King Gyanendra enforced autocratic rule in the Himalayan kingdom. The ban's end is part of the fruit of the July 21 meeting of Nepalese Defense Minister Bidya Devi Bhandari and Indian Defence Minister A. K. Antony, according to Indian Defence Ministry sources. India and Nepal will also resume talks on India-Nepal security issues, the sources said.Details of the sales are not yet formalized. India had been supplying Nepal automatic rifles, machine guns, mortars, mines and mine-protected vehicles. It also had sold two Advanced Light Helicopters to Nepal at a discount. Recruitment of Gurkhas from Nepal in the Indian Army and joint training of the countries' troops will begin soon, the sources said.The countries have had strong military ties since they concluded an agreement about recruiting Gurkhas in 1949. The relationship deepened as the Maoist insurgency gained ground in Nepal. The resumption of military supplies to Nepal is well-timed because it will stem the growing Nepal-China ties that had gained momentum after the Maoists briefly came to power in Nepal in 2008, said Mahindra Singh, a retired Indian Army major general. That government fell in May, after Prime Minister Prachanda sacked the country's army chief, plunging Nepal into political turmoil.

DTN News: South Korea Drops 5th-Generation Fighter Plan

DTN News: South Korea Drops 5th-Generation Fighter Plan

*Source: DTN News / Defense Media

(NSI News Source Info) SEOUL, South Korea - July 25, 2009: South Korea will refocus its KF-X fighter-development program, which aimed to create a fifth-generation stealth fighter, and instead solicit foreign firms' help in producing about 250 F-16-class fighter jets after 2010, according to a research institute here. SOUTH KOREA WANTS to retire the F-4Ds, shown above, which were received from the U.S. Air Force inventory. (FRED ROOS / BOEING) The Weapon Systems Concept Development and Application Research Center of Konkuk University was ordered in April by the government to look at the feasibility of the controversial KF-X effort, which originally aimed to produce and market about 120 aircraft, stealthier than Dassault's Rafale or the Eurofighter Typhoon but not as stealthy as Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II. "Korea has been evaluated with the capacity of 63 percent of necessary technology if the total technology is assumed 100 percent," the letter said. "That … means that self-development of aircraft is possible with joint development of core technology … and technology transfer from abroad."On May 18, the center told major foreign aircraft manufacturers that the South Korean military wants to replace older F-4s and F-5s with a lesser fighter, one on par with the F-16 Block 50. In a letter, the center sent detailed operational requirements for the new jet, which is to have basic stealth technology and a domestically built active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. On May 29, the center asked Boeing, Eurofighter, Lockheed Martin and Saab about their views on the per-plane cost estimate of $50 million, as well as budget-sharing ideas and technology transfer. The center will wrap up the feasibility study by October. The Ministry of National Defense will issue a decision on the KF-X initiative by year's end. REQUIREMENTS The new jet is to have a combat radius about 1.5 times that of the F-16; an airframe life span 1.34 times longer than that of the F-16; better avionics than that of the F-16 Block 50; an electronic warfare suite; an infrared search-and-track system; and data link systems fit for a network-centric environment, the document says. South Korea's LIG Nex1 is likely to build the AESA radar using technology provided by Israel's Elta Systems. Among other required capabilities are thrust of 50,000 pounds, provided by either one or two engines; super-velocity intercept and supercruise capabilities; and the ability to hit targets in the air, on land and at sea. In the first 11 years of exploratory and full-scale development, about 120 KF-Xs would be built to replace F-4s and F-5s, and more than 130 aircraft would be produced after the first-phase models reach initial operational capability. An industry source here said Boeing might be the front-runner with its F/A-18 Super Hornet and other 4.5-generation fighter technologies. Sweden's Saab aerospace group might take part as a systems integrator with Korea Aerospace Industries, South Korea's only aircraft maker, he said. Greg Lexton, vice president of Boeing Korea, said July 23Boeing is looking at South Korea's KF-X proposal and called an F/A-18 green aircraft a "possible idea." A Lockheed Martin executive noted that his firm had worked with South Korea to produce KF-16s under license and develop the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jet. He also noted Lockheed's co-development work with European nations, Japan and Taiwan. "We'll look at what South Korea wants carefully and discuss what Lockheed Martin will be able to do or not be able to do for the KF-X in the coming months," he said. Defense analysts here remain skeptical about the effectiveness of the KF-X program. One chief researcher at the state-funded Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) recalled an earlier study by a local economic policy think tank that concluded that the program would cost at least $10 billion, but would reap only $3 billion in economic benefits. "I believe there have been no major changes in the content of the KF-X program since the 2007 feasibility study," he said. "There is almost no persuasion in the rationale behind the costly program. Do you want to acquire sophisticated stealth aircraft technologies through the KF-X partnership? Or do you believe indigenous KF-16+ aircraft could be operationally feasible and sold to other nations after 2020?" State-of-the-art fifth-generation combat aircraft, such as the F-35 and Typhoon, are expected to dominate the global market between 2020 and 2050, so developing an indigenous KF-16+-level fighter could never be sound economically and technically, the researcher said.

DTN News: Russia Lays Down Second Yasen Class Nuclear Submarine

DTN News: Russia Lays Down Second Yasen Class Nuclear Submarine

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) SEVERODVINSK, Russia - July 25, 2009: Construction of a second Project 885 Yasen (Graney) class nuclear-powered multipurpose attack submarine started on Friday at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia, the company said. Graney class nuclear submarines combine the ability to launch a variety of long-range cruise missiles (up to 3,100 miles) with nuclear warheads, and effectively engage hostile submarines, surface warships and land-based targets. The Kazan submarine will feature more advanced equipment than the first vessel in the series -the Severodvinsk, which was laid down in 1992 and is scheduled to join the Russian navy in 2010 or early 2011 after a long delay for financial reasons. "The second submarine will have improved electronics and fire-control systems, and will be built exclusively with Russian-made materials and components," Sevmash spokeswoman Anastasia Nikitinskaya said. The submarine's armament will include 24 cruise missiles, including the 3M51 Alfa SLCM, the SS-NX-26 Oniks SLCM or the SS-N-21 Granat/Sampson SLCM. It will also have eight torpedo tubes as well as mines and anti-ship missiles such as SS-N-16 Stallion. Russia's Navy commander, Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky, said in July last year that the construction of new-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile and attack submarines was a top priority for the Russian Navy. Under the Russian State Arms Procurement Program for 2007-2015, the Navy is expected to receive at least five Project 955 Borey nuclear-powered strategic submarines equipped with new Bulava ballistic missiles and two Project 885 Yasen nuclear multipurpose attack submarines.

DTN News: Turkish Navy Frigate Captures 5 Somali Pirates

DTN News: Turkish Navy Frigate Captures 5 Somali Pirates *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) ANKARA, Turkey - July 25, 2009: The Turkish military says its navy commandos aboard the Turkish frigate TCG Gediz, raided a Somali pirates' skiff and captured five of them.

The Turkish navy frigate TCG Gediz has launched an operation against Somali pirates, who were feared to be preparing to seize another ship off the coast of Somalia, capturing five of the pirates.

The Turkish frigate, a part of a UN-led force to prevent pirates from hijacking foreign ships off the coast of Somalia, captured the pirates who were feared to be preparing to seize another ship on Friday.

The Turkish military said a navy helicopter aboard a second Turkish frigate, the TCG Gaziantep, also took part in the operation.

A Turkish ship was seized last week by Somali pirates with 23 crew members aboard. Pirates are still in negotiations with the ship's owners over the ransom.

DTN News: Taliban Destroy 60% Of Schools In Northwest Pakistan

DTN News: Taliban Destroy 60% Of Schools In Northwest Pakistan

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - July 25, 2009: Since the last two years that the Taliban militants have launched a violent insurgency in Pakistan, they have destroyed over 60 percent of schools in the country's restive northwest.

In a campaign against education, especially for girls in the troubled tribal region of northwest Pakistan and the Swat valley, Taliban militants have shut down 4,000 private schools and have either blown-up or set on fire 230 schools, including 112 girls' schools in the region, a Press TV correspondent reported late on Friday.

Moreover, around 87 schools, including 45 girl's schools, have been partially damaged and the total financial damage comes to billions of rupees, the correspondent quoting a government report said.

The report highlighted the fact that approximately 120,000 students have been forced to discontinue their studies due to the ongoing conflict between the Pakistani army and the Taliban militants.

This comes as Pakistani security forces launched an anti-Taliban offensive in the region some four months ago, killing over 1,700 insurgents including some top commanders

DTN News: Iran Plane Slams Into Perimeter Wall Killing 17

DTN News: Iran Plane Slams Into Perimeter Wall Killing 17

*Source: DTN News / AFP

(NSI News Source Info) TEHRAN, Iran - July 25, 2009: An Iranian airliner overshot the runway and slammed into a perimeter wall killing 17 people in the second city of Mashhad on Friday in the country's second air disaster in 10 days, state media said. An image grab taken from Iran's satellite English-language official Press TV station shows the wreckage of a plane. "There was an accident and a fire involving a passenger plane from Tehran to Mashhad that has left 17 people dead and 19 injured," the official IRNA news agency reported, quoting the deputy governor of Khorasan province, Ghahreman Rashid. Rashid identified the plane as a Russian-designed Ilyushin and said it carried 153 passengers. "All the dead and injured people and passengers have been evacuated and the fire has been completely controlled," Rashid said, according to IRNA. A senior transport official said the incoming aircraft had overshot the runway. "Instead of landing at the beginning of the tarmac, the plane landed in the middle of the runway," the ISNA news agency quoted deputy transport minister Ahmad Majidi as saying. "Because the tarmac?s length is short, it has gone off the tarmac and crashed into the opposite wall. "The Ilyushin 62 belonged to the Aria Airline," Majidi added referring to an independent Iranian carrier. The Mehr news agency said the plane crashed through the airport's perimeter wall before hitting power lines and coming to a halt in adjacent farmland. State television said that the accident occurred as the plane was landing at the international airport in Mashhad, a popular Shiite Muslim pilgrimage centre in northeastern Iran. "The plane... had a technical glitch," state television said quoting the director of the public relations department at Mashhad's Hashemi Najad airport, who was identified only by his surname Pirhandeh. The television's website quoted acting state aviation organisation director, Mohammad Ali Ilkhani, as saying that the plane had "swerved off the tarmac at Mashhad airport as it landed, before crashing nose-first into one of the airport?s walls." It was the second reported major incident in the past decade involving the Iranian carrier formerly known as Aria Air Tour. On November 13, 2000, a Russian-designed Yakovlev aircraft linking the southern Iranian cities of Ahvaz and Bandar Abbas was briefly hijacked before elite Revolutionary Guards intervened freeing the passengers at the cost of one crew member and two Guards wounded, according to a report by US carrier American Airlines on criminal acts against civil aviation. Friday's crash was the second deadly accident involving an Iranian airliner since July 15 when a Caspian Airlines plane crashed near the city of Qazvin, northwest of Tehran, killing all 168 on board. That accident occurred shortly after takeoff from Tehran's international Imam Khomeini airport on its way to the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The plane caught fire in mid-air and plunged into farmland outside a village in northwest Iran just 16 minutes after take-off, killing all 153 passengers and 15 crew members on board. Iran, which has been under years of international sanctions hampering its ability to buy modern Boeing or Airbus planes, has suffered a number of aviation disasters over the past decade. Its civil and military fleet is made up of ancient aircraft in very poor condition due to their age and lack of maintenance. In the most deadly previous crash, 117 people on board another Russian-designed aircraft, a Tupolev, were killed when it crashed into snow-covered mountains in western Iran in 2002. The Iranian crash earlier this month marked one of the deadliest series of crashes in many year. It came just two weeks after a Yemenia Airbus A310 crashed in the Indian Ocean off the Comoros with 153 passengers and crew on board, with only one survivor. That incident occurred just 29 days after the crash of an Air France A330, killing 228.

DTN News: IMF Approves 2.6 Billion Dollar Loan For Sri Lanka

DTN News: IMF Approves 2.6 Billion Dollar Loan For Sri Lanka *Source: DTN News / AFP (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - July 25, 2009: The International Monetary Fund on Friday approved a 2.6-billion-dollar loan for Sri Lanka to support its economic reform program and help the country weather the severe global downturn. The IMF executive board approved the loan as the Asian country emerges from a 37-year civil war. The so-called Stand-By Arrangement is in an amount equivalent to 1.65 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), an IMF asset that is based on a basket of currencies -- the dollar, yen, euro and pound -- and calculated daily. The 20-month loan is worth about 2.6 billion dollars, the IMF said. A first installment of about 322.2 million dollars is immediately available to Sri Lanka, while the remainder will be phased in "subject to quarterly reviews," the multilateral institution said. "The key objectives of the authorities' economic reform program supported by the fund are to strengthen the country?s fiscal position while ensuring the availability of resources for much needed post-conflict reconstruction and relief efforts," the IMF said. The IMF said the program also was intended to rebuild international reserves and strengthen Sri Lanka?s domestic financial system, "and to protect the most vulnerable in the country from the burden of the needed economic adjustment." The IMF loan, under negotiation with Sri Lankan authorities since March, comes two months after the end of the civil war with the rebel Tamil Tigers that claimed up to 100,000 lives. Sri Lanka crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels -- who had been fighting since 1972 to carve out a separate state for minority Tamils -- in May. The Sri Lankan government had requested a 1.9-billion-dollar IMF loan in March to help stave off its first balance of payments deficit in four years after foreign currency reserves fell to around six weeks' worth of imports. "The global financial crisis has had a significant impact on Sri Lanka?s economy," said Takatoshi Kato, the IMF deputy managing director and acting chairman of the board. "The government?s ambitious program, supported by the IMF, intends to restore fiscal and external viability and address the significant reconstruction needs of the conflict-affected areas, thereby laying the basis for future higher economic growth," he said. Kato said the government?s program would entail "difficult" economic reform measures. "Nevertheless, the government should take advantage of the opportunity created by the end of the conflict to ensure national reconciliation, restore macroeconomic stability, and promote strong and durable growth," he said.