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The article discusses the marked improvement and sophistication of skills of some of the armed guerrilla and terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan. The presence of a foreign force supporting such groups is apparent from the kind of gear being used by them as well as the advanced skills they are manifesting in operations.

The inspection by the U.S. Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey resulted in two warships being declared totally unfit for sustained combat operations. The volume of discrepancies found on the two ships was astounding and corrosion was rampant.

Silvio Berlusconi's new government is likely to intensify defense spending, focusing on research work that will benefit other fields as well. Berlusconi plans to look closely at the rules of engagement for Italian peacekeeping forces in Lebanon and will be dispatching more troops to Kabul thus satisfying NATO's requests for extra manpower in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the Army have decided to join their efforts for a future tactical intratheater cargo aircraft. The new joint program has been renamed as Joint Future Theater Lift (JFTL).

Opposition seems to be gaining momentum for the awarding of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) aerial tanker deal to Northrop Grumman/EADS instead of Boeing. Boeing and their supporters are planning to stop the deal and are protesting to Congress about unfair treatment.

Australia and U.S. are planning to sign an International Trade in Arms Regulations treaty for building good relationship between them in defense trade.

Gordon England is expected to decide by the August 2007 month end about which services should control the Pentagon's growing fleet of medium- to high-altitude UAVs.

The article discusses about Russia's resurgent geopolitical self-confidence that has reviewed the memories of Cold War aerial challenges and intercepts.

An alternative option for the C-130 Hercules purchase is suggested saving billions of Canadian dollars and still providing the much needed addition.

The incidents of piracy in the straits of Malacca and Singapore have reduced due to the joint efforts by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. This resulted in reduction of piracy from 46 in 2004 to 16 in 2006.

Col. Jeffrey Smith and his team from the US Army's 22nd Signal Brigade moved at the invasion's front edge, setting up wireless network connections for advancing units as American forces charged from Kuwait to Baghdad in 2003. Operation Iraqi Freedom might have provided perfect proof of the US military's network-centric warfare concept if information had passed flawlessly between upper-level commanders and frontline units.

The US Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England is playing a peacemaker to soothe allies by building bridges with the foreign leaders. Since he took over the office, Gordon has sought more casual settings for meetings with foreign leaders and ambassadors, which is going a long way in helping to solve crises.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a lieutenant with al-Qaida in Iraq was killed after a persistent hunt of 3 years. The US and coalition forces conducted a series of raids on insurgents in Iraq until the terror mastermind was let defenseless and alone and was killed.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are targeting Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs), which are involved in the production and trafficking illegal drugs, as being the most organized crime threat in British Columbia. The Hells Angels and a number Vietnamese crime groups are the predominant players in the Canadian marijuana grow operation industry and they are facing increasing competition from rival ethnic organized crime gangs and from other motorcycle clubs.

An objective air gap between intelligence analysts and politicians and a three-tiered approach to analysis is necessary if the intelligence process is to modernize and face security threats since September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US. The reports of various intelligence reform committees have highlighted the need for a new approach to intelligence-gathering.

HIV/AIDS is destabilizing Africa's state and societal structures to the point of collapse in many countries and it is eliminating many skilled and key sector workers from Africa's governance and economic-industrial sectors, further endangering the viability of these states. The impact of HIV/AIDS on Africa's security and military forces, as well as the wider global implications are discussed.

The German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis report on the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has left open the important question of political or criminal motive. The technical evidence is strong, but the report does not factor in the historic web of corruption and business and political alliances within the Syrian intelligence structures in Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia's terrorist cells have lapsed into an operational coma, but this might change when a new generation of experienced jihadists returns from Iraq. The jihadists returning from Iraq are threatening to shake up the well-established patterns of Saudi terrorism, which could lead to a resurgence of less predictable attacks.

A three-month ceasefire, called unilaterally by Maoist insurgents in Nepal in September 2005, has provided enough time for the movement to regroup as it is attempting to enter the decisive phase of conflict with Nepalese security forces. The Maoist People's Liberation Army is facing critical problems of logistics and recruitment, but they will be well placed to exercise commanding influence over the convening of a constituent assembly and interim government, if Nepal's faltering monarchy collapses.

The US Department of Defense (DOD) is planning to implement a raft of reforms to improve the military's ability to conduct stability operations in its 2006 quadrennial defense review (QDR). The impact of the QDR on the US military involvement in two major campaigns, Iraq and Afghanistan, is discussed.

The French political and industrial groups are planning to adopt a 'Buy Europe Act' to help build a European defense industry. Calling it 'economic patriotism', the French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has taken steps aimed at strengthening France's research base and protecting sensitive sectors, largely in response to a negative vote in the French referendum for a European Union (EU) constitution.

On an average 40 IED 'events' occur in Iraq on daily basis that include improvised explosive devices that either explode or are disarmed, often killing American troops. An account of how IED cells operate and is presented based on information derived through the interrogation of captured Iraqi insurgents.

The British Defense Secretary John Reid revealed that the Ministry of Defense was revising its supply system in the United Kingdom and Germany by looking for buying to put toward key front-line equipment programs. The revising of the system, called the Future Defense Supply Chain initiative would save more than 400 million pounds over a decade, improve service, and better cope with surging needs during major conflicts.

Executives would be paid according to their performance with corporate boards setting CEO pay through a complex formula that considers short and long-term performance, company goals and shareholder expectations. The process does not create uniform CEO salaries in the industry, as each company would adopt different approaches towards CEO pay that would depend on the state the company is in, its goals, and how they are achieved.

L-3 Communications would turn into a mid-sized integrator of complex weapons if its $2.65 billion proposal to acquire San Diego based Titan is approved by the U.S government. The L-3 -Titan deal would expand the Pentagon's choice of weapon systems integrators.

The 2006 US defense budget shows lesser spending in several departments. In spite of this, the proposed budget for Pentagon in 2005 is 4.8 % in excess to the previous year, which would be used in the restructuring of the forces.

The French Ministry of Defense is pushing for finalizing a private finance deal for a helicopter training school, its first effort in public-private partnerships since the Finance Ministry blocked a bank loan to buy warships. The success of this project would pave the way for other programs using private funding.

The US Army and Marine Corps would be using the supplemental fund to underwrite service reorganization and procurement plans. The US government officials state that the money is essential for the current military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The successionof the U.S. state secretary from Colin Powell to Condoleezza Rice is not referred as a positive sign since neither Colin succeed in focusing on the issue of reforming export regulations, and the same is expected to continue after his retirement from his post. The concern for the U.S. economy that desires for trade policy reform and worries about exporting critical technology in the charge of the Bush's administration are highlighted.

European Commission, the European Union's (EU) executive branch, would unveil a 12-page document that lays out a framework for discussing approaches to many aspects of defense contracting. An effort by Europe's six leading defense industrial nations to develop common rules governing technology transfers, arms exports and security guarantees to encourage cross-border defense teaming and bidding would be pursued by the EU.

The US Air Force (USAF) has warned lowball bidders against underbidding, after a study showed that the average bid underestimated actual program costs by 36 percent. Marvin Sambur, assistant secretary of Air Force for acquisition, has stated that the new policy is part of the service's effort to speed up its acquisition process.

The United States is planning to sell AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMS) to Jordan and AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARMs) to Egypt, the deals that have made Israel uncomfortable. Israeli attempts to block the sale of AMRAAM to Jordan are deemed to be motivated by politics, whereas its objection to HARM sales to Egypt is to create leverage.

The programs in the areas of procurement and research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) that are part of the 2005 U.S. defense budget proposal are listed along with the spending on each program in millions of dollars.

The author examines market share, company sales and provides forecasts of the top companies in the defense, aerospace and aircraft industries.

The author examines military planning by the Russian Ministry of Defense for its armaments program to be in place by 2015. Topics include types of weapons systems, results of military research and study of future needs, and military budgeting.

The British government has hired management consultants to investigate the failure of the Defence Logistics organization to achieve the savings expected when the agency was created in 2000. The agency was ordered to reduce the costs of providing services to the military by 20% by 2005.

The merger between British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems signaled the end of the idea that one large European defense company would be created to compete with the United States.