Monday, July 21, 2008

U.S Military Pandemic Prep, Directed Energy Weapons, + News

"Lightning Rescue 2008"

The military takes steps to prepare for a pandemic flu (or to cause one?)http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8702968


NAWILIWILI HARBOR, Kauai (KHNL) - Seven specially designed Army Humvees, trucks and a tractor-trailer loaded with communication equipment were driven onto the Army's, MG Charles P Gross support vessel at Pearl Harbor Saturday morning.
The vessel is headed to Nawiliwili Harbor in Kauai for a joint military and civilian pandemic influenza exercise scheduled to take place July 24, at Pacific Missile Range Facility.
The exercise is a part of Lightning Rescue 2008.
The emergency exercise is being conducted by the 307th Single Battalion soldiers and over 200 military person ell and civilians. Together they will take part in setting up, mobilizing and operating a mock quarantine area to stop a deadly virus from spreading.
The 307th Single Battalion is capable of controlling and commanding communications for military units anywhere in the world.

QinetiQ, Boeing Partner on Long-Endurance UAV
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/QINETIQ072108.xml&headline=QinetiQ,%20Boeing%20Partner%20on%20Long-Endurance%20UAV
FARNBOROUGH — Boeing has selected QinetiQ, the U.K.-based defense technology company, as its key technology partner on Vulture — the ultra-long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) concept proposed by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The $3.8-million first phase of the program will see QinetiQ participating in system definition and analysis as well as a review of system requirements. The challenge? To create a large, load-carrying UAV able to remain aloft for weeks on end (Aerospace DAILY, April 21, 22).
As part of the Boeing team, QinetiQ is expected to apply expertise gained in the development of Zephyr, a high-altitude long-endurance UAV. Launched by hand, Zephyr, is built mainly from lightweight carbon fiber. It flies on solar power by day and draws power from rechargeable lithium sulfur batteries by night.......


Navy to get weapon of light (DEW)
http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?sectionName=&id=37706c5f-bf8a-4906-b11e-3a4d79b4f667&&Headline=Indian+Navy+to+get+weapon+of+light&strParent=strParentID
The laser is emerging out of the realm of sci-fi to debut in combat. For the first time, coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are planning to unleash the technology’s vast potential to combat the threat of insurgent missile and rocket attacks.
Signalling a revolution in military hardware, India too can grab a slice of that technology with the US proposing to equip the navy’s second-largest warship INS Jalashwa with a new generation laser system that would enable it to blast enemy missiles in the sky.
The new weapon can easily be mounted alongside the Jalashwa’s Phalanx close-in weapon system for shooting down incoming targets at the speed of light, claimed US defence firm Raytheon that has found military application for the laser. The Phalanx currently uses advanced radar and computer technology to locate, identify and direct a stream of 20 mm armour-piercing projectiles to the target......


Raytheon: Directed Energy Weapons Set To Go
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3626927&c=LAN&s=TOP

FARNBOROUGH, Britain - Work on laser, infrared and microwave defensive systems has reached a high level of readiness, with the possibility of deployment close at hand, a Raytheon executive said at the Farnborough Airshow.
Development has advanced on products that can protect troops against mortar rounds, guard against shoulder-launched missiles fired at helicopters and airliners taking off at airports, and dissuade without killing - a non-lethal laser weapon for civil security, Michael Booen, Raytheon vice president of directed energy weapons, told journalists at the show....

Flu pandemic may kill 50m worldwide http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/HealthSci/Flu_pandemic_may_kill_50m_worldwide/articleshow/3261264.cms

City hosting physicians’ disaster-training program http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_202201422.html

U.S., Indonesia Hold Naval War Games
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011675157Jakarta, Indonesia (AHN) - The navies of Indonesia and the United States on Monday began a five-day joint exercise dubbed "Naval Engagement Activity or NEA 2008" in the East Java Province.
Indonesia's commander of the Eastern Fleet Command Commodore Slamet Yulistiyono launched the exercise at the Eastern Fleet Command Warship training center in Ujung, Surabaya of East Java.....

SAIC to do nuclear analysis for DOD http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/33183-1.htmlScience Applications International Corp. will provide a broad range of technical and nuclear analysis services for the Defense Department under a five-year contract worth more than $26 million.
The Nuclear Matters Professional Services contract calls for SAIC to complete a variety of nuclear-related technical assessments for the Office of the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters. The office oversees plans for a safe and secure nuclear stockpile that also meet future security needs....

Bio Weapons Monitor System Draws Criticism
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=8701384&nav=168X
Homeland Security experts consider Southern Nevada a high-risk target for terrorist attacks. As such, we are one of 30 major cities nationwide that actually monitor the air for biological weapons. The program is called BioWatch.
BioWatch has drawn criticism since it began five years ago. Just this week, members of a Congressional subcommittee heard it characterized as a "parasite" by the local public health officials tasked with running it.
The early warning system to detect airborne pathogens may look good on paper. The challenge is in the practice.
In a city surveilled by thousands of eyes in the sky, the federal government has harnessed a second sense to sniff out terrorism. The program, known as BioWatch, is designed to screen the air for biological weapons -- agents like anthrax, plague and smallpox. It's like an air monitoring filtration system......

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