Atlantic Organization for Security (AOS)

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1102 AOS Feb Brief

AOS Brief is a monthly service featuring some of the most interesting news and articles which highlight transatlantic commonalities in response to Homeland Defense and Security issues, for mutual benefits in sharing approaches, technologies and solutions

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Topics in this Issue

  • Policy and Trends
  • Crisis Managenent
  • Systems and Technologies
  • Piracy – Antipiracy
  • Contracts
  • Cybersecurity
  • Export Control / Contracting Policy

Categories Acquisition – Air Defence – ATC/ATM – ATM – Border Control – Border Security – Comms – C4ISR – company balance – Contracts – Customs and Border Protection – Cybersecurity – Export Control – Homeland Security – piracy / antipiracy – Policy – sensor – site protection – training – VTS / VTM –

Companies / Organizations BAE Systems – BOEING – EU – EDA – DHS – FINMECCANICA GROUP – GENERAL DYNAMICS – LOCKHEED MARTIN – RAYTHEON – SAAB – THALES GROUP – DHS – EUROPEAN UNION – FRANCE – GERMANY – ITA MOD – NATO – TSA – UK – UK MOD – US COAST GUARD – US DOD – USA – BORDER SECURITY – CYBER SECURITY

Policy and Trends

  • Six Moroccan Islamists wanted to punish Pope Benedict XVI – Six Islamic fundamentalists were detained Friday in a probe into anti-Christian incitement including an alleged threat to “punish” Pope Benedict XVI for baptising a noted Egyptian-Italian journalist and member of the European Parliament who converted from Islam to Catholicism. The six Moroccans, members of the Adl Wal Ihsane (Justice and Charity) fundamentalist movement, are accused […]
  • NATO ”Smart Defence” – On 4 February, NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, delivered the keynote speech at the Munich Security Conference on building security in an age of austerity, a challenge he asserted that NATO was ideally situated to tackle. The Secretary General recognised the fiscal challenges faced by government around the world, but warned against the worrying […]
  • Finmeccanica restructuring : Telespazio, Vega, Elsag Datamat – Telespazio has acquired the space activities of Finmeccanica subsidiaries Vega and Elsag Datamat. Telespazio said the acquisition is more of a restructuring of Finmeccanica’s space services and applications business and aims to broadening the parent company’s technological competencies and product portfolio, particularly in Europe. Vega, based in the United Kingdom, was bought by Finmeccanica in […]
  • new EDA Chief Executive: Foreign Affair – Defence 1 – 0 (*) – French diplomat Claude-France Arnould will be the new EDA Chief Executive. […]
  • U.S. Arms Sales: 2002-2009 – to download: (1) U.S. Arms Sales Agreements with and Deliveries to Major Clients, 2002-2009 Report 154160 (2) Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 2002-2009 Report 41403 […]
  • Finmeccanica FY2010 Free Operating Cash Flow Over EUR410 Mln – Finmeccanica SpA expects its free operating cash flow to have been well above previous expectations, between EUR410 million and EUR450 million for 2010. […]
  • NATO Achieves 1st Step on TBMD Capability – NATO’s first ever theatre ballistic missile defence (TBMD) capability has been handed over to NATO’s military commanders. […]
  • Obama ends color-coded threat warnings The Obama administration plans to replace the widely mocked color-coded terror warnings with a simpler, two-tier system: “imminent threat” or “elevated threat,” […]
  • DHS WCO to Strengthen the Security and Resiliency of the Global Supply Chain – … a new partnership with the WCO to enlist other nations, international bodies and the private sector in increasing the security of the global supply chain  […]
  • DOD Report Says Spying Focused on Naval Technology – a new report covering espionage for 2009 said that attempts increased and that foreign governments are focusing their spying efforts on naval and marine technology […]
  • Air Force’s New Tool: ‘We Can See Everything’ – Gorgon may be one of the military’s most valuable new tools. Air Force to deploy to Afghanistan what it says is a revolutionary airborne surveillance system called Gorgon […]

Crisis Managenent

Systems and Technologies

  • Turnkey Airport Taking Shape – Electronic Systems Center officials of the Hanscom AFB intend to call for proposals within the next few months for development and production of a new deployable air traffic control system. Referred to as the Deployable Radar Approach Control the system could be used at forward operating locations, however austere, for warfighting needs or contingency response. The system […]
  • Hi-techface recognition at gates suspended – Manchester Airport’s Terminal One hi-techface recognition gates were suspended after they allowed a man back into the country on his wife’s passport. It is understood an immigration officer double-checking the data on a computer picked up the blunder and the man was stopped before he left Manchester Airport’s Terminal One. The couple are thought to […]
  • TSA to conduct employee threat assessments – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced channeling service provider agreements with three award recipients: American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), L-1 and Telos ID. Through aviation channeling service providers, employee data is collected and submitted to TSA to conduct employee threat assessments necessary to work in an aviation environment. TSA requires threat assessments be conducted […]
  • DC: Urban Areas Security – ‎Integration of thousands of private and public cameras – see also Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI)‎ – The District’s top security chiefs are planning to expand their use of electronic surveillance and to procure new  technology that “allows us some flexibility,” Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said. The chief’s remarks followed an announcement last month from the D.C. Department of Homeland Security and Emergency […]
  • TSA Begins Testing New Advanced Imaging Technology Software – TSA to begin testing new Advanced Imaging Technology Software at select U.S. Airports to further enhance passenger privacy The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin testing new software on its advanced imaging technology (AIT) machines that enhances privacy by eliminating passenger-specific images and instead auto-detects potential threat items and indicates their location on a […]

Piracy – Antipiracy

  • Piracy: Satellites locate seized oil tanker – The Cosmo-SkyMed satellites, operated by the Italian space agency, have acquired the first images of the Italian oil tanker Savina Caylyn since it was hijacked earlier this week by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. According to the satellite radar images, acquired by Italian space agency (ASI) and e-GEOS on Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday morning, […]

  • RAAF Aircraft Disrupts Pirates in the Arabian Sea – An Australian AP-3C Orion aircraft assisted a merchant vessel under attack by pirates in the Arabian Sea. The Orion was conducting a routine surveillance patrol for the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) when it was re-tasked to investigate a pirate attack taking place on the MV New York Star. “The Orion crews operate from a great […]

  • Piracy Challenges Maritime Security Off Somalia – Pirates off the coast of Somalia are using bigger vessels to extend their criminal reach in a move that could prompt U.S. Navy forces in the region to intensify techniques for pursuing the lawbreakers, the top naval officer in the region said today. Kuwait Naval Force Brig. Gen. Jassim al Ansari, left, shakes hands with […]

Cybersecurity

Contracts

  • US DoS: $2.5 Billion to SAIC – Company to Serve as Lead Systems Integrator Supporting Bureau of Information Resource Management Information Technology (IT) Initiatives McLean, Va. – Science Applications International Corporation announced that it was awarded the Vanguard 2, Task Order 2.2.1 by the U.S. Department of State to engineer, design, secure, operate and maintain its critical enterprise-wide IT network infrastructure in support of […]
  • US DHS Awards Contract to AS&E – American Science and Engineering, Inc. (“AS&E”) a leading worldwide supplier of innovative X-ray detection solutions, announced a research and development contract award under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate’s Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program to design and build a prototype to screen general aviation aircraft. This is a […]
  • EADS TRS-3D Radar for U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship – EADS North America has received a contract from Lockheed Martin to supply its TRS-3D radar for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship. As part of a recent Department of Defense award, Lockheed Martin will construct up to 10 Littoral Combat Ships through 2015. Under the terms of its contract, EADS North America will deliver the […]

Export Control / Contracting Policy

  • Eight Recommendations for Improving Transparency in US Arms Transfers – Transparency is essential for effective congressional and public oversight of the arms trade, and the US government is widely (and rightly) praised for its reporting on arms exports. Yet there is also significant room for improvement. Reporting on US arms exports and international arms transfers funded or authorized by the US government is often […]
  • Northrop CEO Says Export Controls Should Be Eased – The government needs to launch new programs and ease export controls to ensure defense contractors remain capable and viable, said Wes Bush, chief executive and president of Northrop Grumman, in a speech to the region’s technology community last week. Bush — known as a young executive rapidly remaking one of the largest of the country’s […]
  • Army Acquisition Evolves – hybrid approaches can afford the Army the opportunity to both fast-track a needed technology and also preserve the process of checks, balances and certifications typically associated with traditional acquisition practices. Maj. Gen. Mark Brown, deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, […]
  • US Ends India Tech Restrictions The United States said it was ending export restrictions for India’s defense and space industries, eyeing trade with a nation shunned for more than a decade over its nuclear weapons program. […]
  • IPR and Design Property: DoD ask for Full Ownership – As the Defense Department focuses on cost savings, it is putting new pressure on contractors to sell the design specifications and intellectual property associated with programs. […]
  • Pentagon Issues Conflict Of Interest Rule For Contractors – New rule on organizational conflicts of interests —such as building a system and then testing it — that instructs contracting officers to promote competition. […]