Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Russia Updates, Northrop Grumman, QPC Lasers +

Two Russian bombers land in Venezuela: reports

Two Tu-160 Russian strategic bombers landed Wednesday at an airbase in Venezuela to take part in military exercises, Russian news agencies reported, citing the Russian defence ministry


Russia threatens to target US missile shield sites: reports
Russia could point missiles at strategic US targets in central Europe, including planned American missile shield sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, a senior Russian general said Wednesday.
"I can't exclude that if such decisions are taken by our military-political leadership, the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic and other such objects could be chosen as designated targets for some of our inter-continental ballistic missiles," General Nikolai Solovtsov said, quoted by Interfax.
Moscow "is obliged to take corresponding measures that prevent under any circumstances the devaluing of Russia's nuclear deterrent.
"We should be sure that the current and future strategic missile forces... are guaranteed to fulfil the task of strategic deterrence," said Solovtsov, the head of Russia's strategic missile forces.
Solovtsov added that by the end of the year Russia planned to carry out four strategic missile tests, including a test of the new RS-24, capable of carrying a clutch of independently targetable warheads.
The comments came as tensions mounted between Russia and the United States over last month's Russian military surge into Georgia and the fraught question of missile defence.

Fort Carson Hosts Emergency Drill (CO)

The nation has come together as Hurricane Ike makes its way to shore. A massive drill that took place at Fort Carson Wednesday keeps in mind a national disaster can happen anywhere at any time.
Mountain Move 2008 was a statewide practice run for the National Disaster Medical System. The federally supervised team coordinates efforts between emergency military responders, and local authorities, which watch over streets every day...
Kewaunee Nuclear Plant Under Terrorist Siege in Drill (WI)
Terrorists, hostages, and a nuclear power plant. It's a formula for disaster, and Wednesday, on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary, it was the scenario in Kewaunee where agencies gathered for a government-ordered emergency drill.
The security drill a terrorist taking a group of students on a tour of the nuclear power plant hostage.
The call went out, "A security attack is in progress."
Some students were injured. Others had a mysterious white powder on their shirts. A hoax? Or chemical warfare?
QPC Lasers Successfully Completes DoD Contract; Demonstrates World's First High Power Surface Emitting Eye-Safe Laser
SYLMAR, Calif., Sep 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- QPC Lasers, Inc. (QPCI: , a world leader in the development and commercialization of high-brightness, high-power semiconductor chip-based lasers for the consumer electronics, medical, defense and industrial markets, today announced that the company has successfully completed its initial Department of Defense contract to develop and deliver high power eye-safe surface-emitting diode pumps for directed energy weapons applications. This milestone development is of key importance in the future of DoD high energy laser applications because this technology enables the fabrication to be wafer based and extremely cost effective. The Company has been invited to submit a proposal for a much larger follow on contract.
"QPC's is proud to be the first laser company in the world to demonstrate this new laser technology, which marries QPC's unique surface-emitting laser design with our leading capabilities in high power long-wavelength `eye-safe' diode arrays. Battlefield lasers using conventional diode pump technologies are prohibitively expensive and present hazards to the eyes of friendly personnel, severely limiting their utility," said Dr. Jeffrey Ungar, co-founder and CEO of QPC. "QPC's demonstration points the way to a new generation of laser weaponry which combines the low cost of `wafer-scale' manufacturing with beams that are 100,000 to 1,000,000 times less hazardous to our soldiers. Besides directed energy weapons, these chip-based lasers have great promise for other defense applications including rangefinding, covert/active illumination for surveillance, and remote sensing," continued Dr. Ungar
Northrop Grumman to Acquire 3001 International, Inc.
Expands Role in Geospatial Business
LOS ANGELES and FAIRFAX, Va., Sept 10, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC:
and 3001 International, Inc. announced today that they have signed a definitive merger agreement under which Northrop Grumman will acquire 3001. Financial terms of the agreement are not disclosed.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2008. Following the close of the transaction, 3001 will be part of Northrop Grumman's Information Technology (IT) sector. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and approval.
"The addition of 3001 will significantly complement our current core geospatial business," said Linda A. Mills, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman IT. "Its strong geospatial data collection, processing and production capabilities help us further address the critical needs and priorities across civilian, defense, intelligence, homeland security, energy and environmental business areas, from both domestic and international perspectives."
Russia to create electromagnetic super weapon
Defense strategists place their stakes on high-tech weapons. Nearly all superpowers of the world conduct their works in the development of such weapons. It transpired recently that Russian scientists developed a generator, the capacity of which is comparable to that of a nuclear unit. It is a genuine scientific breakthrough, and it is already clear that the defense industry will not be the only field where the new super device is going to be used.

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