Washington: The program manager for the Navy’s Fire Scout rotary wing unmanned air system and the admiral responsible for UAVs rejected much of a highly critical review of the drone by the Pentagon’s top operational tester. The director of the Defense Operational Test and Evaluation office said all of the drone’s flights during training took… Keep reading →

U.S. troops will start pulling out of Afghanistan this summer. This raises the basic question — is the Afghan military ready to take over and would it survive the departure of much of the U.S. military. The plan is still to end the “combat mission,” whatever that means, in 2014, leaving behind trainers, advisers and… Keep reading →

Paris: A dozen Haqqani network leaders are meeting with Mullah Omar in a Pakistani safe house provided courtesy of Pakistan’s intelligence service. Outside the walled compound romp a few children, chickens and goats. Women are a few dozen meters away, sitting in the shade of a nearby tree. Under today’s rules of engagement — which… Keep reading →

Washington: This year’s Paris Air Show, the year’s largest gathering of the defense and aerospace businesses, will focus on unmanned systems such as the now-famous Predator since that is one of the few growth areas for the defense sector. The show itself, which starts Monday, promises to be, simply, huge. Some statistics: more than 2,100… Keep reading →