FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. IT: where the money is. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “A recent Windows IT Pro survey of tech professionals (68 percent of whom are based in the United States) found that the top paid IT pros work in IT architecture, cloud computing and IT security, with each of these professions commanding more than $100,000. Not surprisingly, respondents noted a skills gap in these of each areas, with projects delayed and work unfulfilled due to a lack of qualified workers in these areas.”
2. Encyclopedia of secrets. Contributor Charles Simmins reports, “In the last decade, the intelligence community and the people who oversee it for the American people have been engaged in a low-level conflict. At the heart of the fight, for all agencies, the Congress and the Administration, is the question ‘Who needs to know which programs and actions are being taken by any given intelligence organization?’”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Russian S-300 (SA-10) to Iran: implications. Defense One contributor Clint Hinote reports, “The S-300 is a mobile surface-to-air missile defense system that couples powerful radars with high-speed, long-range missiles. It is capable of shooting down aircraft over a large area (depending on the variant, the lethal engagement zone could be larger than the state of New Jersey . . . . Russia’s decision to sell the S-300 to Iran is a big deal for three reasons . . . .” See also, “Russia lifts ban on air defense sale to Iran. A game changer?”
2. Navy to Yemen. Reuters reports, “The U.S. Navy has sent an aircraft carrier and a guided-missile cruiser into the waters near Yemen, officials said on Monday, heightening the U.S. maritime security presence as concerns mount over Yemen’s escalating conflict. . . . [Pentagon] denied reports the ships were on a mission to intercept Iranian arms shipments to Yemen. . . . The U.S. Navy said it had increased its presence in the area because of the instability. It said in a statement the purpose was to ‘ensure the vital shipping lanes in the region remain open and safe.’”
3. Iran-Afghanistan accords signed. Afghan Zariza reports, “During President Ashraf Ghani’s just-concluded two-day visit to Iran, the two countries signed two important bilateral cooperation agreements. . . . President Ghani also called on Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, who urged for stronger ties between Afghanistan and Iran. Mr. Khamenei said Afghanistan and Iran have many things in common and there are many areas in which the two neighboring countries could cooperate and work together.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Next Generation Harpoons. The Diplomat’s Franz-Stefan Gady reports, “Last week, Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) announced that it will offer the United States Navy an updated version of the Harpoon RGM-84 Block II anti-ship missile (ASM), called Harpoon Next Generation, for the navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and the modified LCS Frigate program . . . . Boeing will offer both a new missile as well as a kit to upgrade the existing Harpoon inventories of the U.S. Navy and 27 international clients. The principal improvements of the next generation Harpoon ASM, in comparison to the current model in use, will be increased range, a more fuel-efficient engine, and a smaller 300-pound class warhead.”
2. Ohio replacement program funded. DoD Buzz’s Kris Osborn reports, “Congress plans to add money into a special fund established this year for the purpose of paying for the Navy’s next-generation, nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines, the Ohio Replacement Program. The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act established the National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund as an account created specifically to fund the program . . . . In 2012, General Dynamics Electric Boat was awarded a five-year research and development deal for the Ohio Replacement submarines with a value up to $1.85 billion. The contract contains specific incentives for lowering cost and increasing manufacturing efficiency . . . .”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. CYBERSAFE: Navy’s latest cyberwar defense. Breaking Defense’s Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. reports, “Called CYBERSAFE (one word, all caps), the initiative is intended to overhaul information technology in the comprehensive way the SUBSAFE instruction overhauled all submarine safety after the USS Thresher disaster. Fixing up IT procurement, though, is just one step towards a larger cultural revolution: treating military networks not as tech support but as weapons. . . . CYBERSAFE is a triaged approach, not an attempt to fix everything at once. It will create a ‘graduated’ set of security requirements, with the strictest standards for a ‘subset of critical components’ . . . .”
2. The last strike fighter. Venture Beat’s Daniel Terdiman reports, “The beleaguered F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could very well be the last manned strike fighter the Navy or Marines will ever use, signaling an irrevocable move towards unmanned systems. According to U.S. Naval Institute News, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said that the F-35 could be it for the Navy or Marines when it comes to manned strike fighters. ‘Unmanned systems, particularly autonomous ones, have to be the new normal in ever-increasing areas’ . . . . ‘For example, as good as it is, and as much as we need it and look forward to having it in the fleet for many years, the F-35 should be, and almost certainly will be, the last manned strike fighter aircraft the Department of the Navy will ever buy or fly.’”
3. Next generation virus: kills in a day. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “A ‘mysterious’ disease which that kills patients within twenty-four hours of infection has so far claimed at least thirty lives in a south-eastern Nigerian town . . . . the disease, the symptoms of which include headache, weight loss, blurred vision, and loss of consciousness, killed the victims within a day of falling ill. . . . laboratory tests have so far ruled out Ebola or any other virus.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. McCain shock. “Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman John McCain on Monday slammed remarks Gen. Martin Dempsey made about the threatened fall of Ramadi as ‘unbelievable’ and ‘an insult’ to the military who fought there. . . . Ramadi is now on the verge of falling to the Islamic State terrorists. Dempsey, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, downplayed the possible capture of Ramadi. Dempsey said last week that the city is ‘not central to the future of Iraq’ and is ‘not symbolic in any way’ to the success of the campaign to defeat Islamic terrorists. McCain said he disagrees.”
2. McCain mock. “Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) is mocking Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for claiming he is ‘pressing’ for hearings on allowing U.S. troops to carry private firearms on military installations. ‘You know, I was fascinated to hear that because I haven’t heard a thing about it from him.’ . . . ‘Maybe it was through some medium that I’m not familiar with. Maybe bouncing it off the ozone layer, for all I know’ . . . .‘There’s a lot of holes in the ozone layer, so maybe it wasn’t the ozone layer that he bounced it off of. Maybe it was through hand telegraph, maybe sign language, who knows?’”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Rethinking How We Wage the Forever War.” Just Security contributor John Reed argues, “The discussion about how we move ahead in this conflict cannot be secret. It has to be public and messy, as questions of war and peace are some of the most important to a democracy.”
2. “Do Killer Robots Violate Human Rights?” The Atlantic contributor Patrick Lin argues, “What’s at stake is more than just a new category of weapons; autonomous systems are also an important technology with civilian potential and even humanitarian potential in future war.”
3. “Saddam’s secret service and officers are ISIS’ backbone.” Rudaw contributor Judit Neurink argues, “Look at ISIS and its tactics and it is clear the people behind the organization have a huge knowledge of Iraq, its tribal relations and conflicts, its important families and their enemies, the lay of the land and geography. . . . ISIS is much more than just Saddam’s legacy, but members of the past regime do play a huge role in its actions. It takes one to know the enemy, to be able to beat him.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Petaluma??
2. Fire bad.
