News
Looming U.S. defense budget cuts lead to uncertainty for deploying members of military
With family members waving from a pier, sailors aboard a Navy destroyer left for an overseas mission with more uncertainty than ever about their homecoming as potentially massive budget cuts reshape military plans.
Business
Airbus studies dropping Li-Ion battery for A350-sources
Europe’s Airbus is considering whether to drop Lithium-Ion batteries and switch back to traditional ones on its new A350 as investigators probe Boeing787 battery problems, several people familiar with the matter said.
White House officials meet with defense contractors about Pentagon cuts
Senior Obama administration officials met Wednesday morning with top defense contracting executives at the White House to discuss how deep spending cuts set to hit the Pentagon would impact their industry.
Veteran’s News
Gulf War Syndrome, other illnesses among veterans may be due to toxic environments
In 1991, as part of Operation Desert Storm, former U.S. Army Spc. Candy Lovett arrived in Kuwait a healthy 29-year-old eager to serve her country. Two decades later, she’s accumulated a stack of medical records over five feet high – none of which relates to injuries inflicted by bullets or shrapnel.
A Second World War hero who lived through both the ‘Miracle of Dunkirk’ evacuation and fought in the D-Day landing at Normandy has finally been awarded his campaign medals – almost 68 years after peace was declared.
Space
Strand-1 ‘phone-sat’ ready for orbit
The world’s first “smartphone-sat” is ready for launch. Known as Strand-1, the British-built spacecraft will be fully controlled by a Google Nexus device during part of its six-month mission in orbit.
International
Almost half of British military kit to be left in Afghanistan
More than 40 per cent of kit will not be repatriated because of the costs and logistics involved in getting it returned. The Ministry of Defence insists no decision has been made on what will be left but sources suggest it could include some weapons and vehicles.
Viewpoint
by Cal Thomas
An unsigned and undated Justice Department white paper, obtained by NBC News, reports The New York Times, “…is the most detailed analysis yet to come into public view regarding the Obama legal team’s views about the lawfulness of killing, without a trial, an American citizen who executive branch officials decide is an operational leader of al Qaeda or one of its allies.”
Drones are gruesome, but would we prefer boots on the ground?
by Con Coughlin, The Telegraph
The art of drone warfare has come a long way in the decade since the first unmanned aerial vehicle made its appearance in Afghanistan in the campaign to overthrow the Taliban in 2001.
