• Israel's use of UAVs expands

    UAVs are assuming more and more military, intelligence, and homeland security missions; Israel has pioneered the broad-based use of UAVs for all types of missions, and is years ahead of other militaries in incorporating the systems into its operational planning; to know where UAV developments — and deployments — are heading, it would be a good idea to study the Israeli case

  • Airport security challenges // by Lynn Welch

    TSA needs to formulate – and enforce — standards for perimeter defense

  • Aussies worried about security of small planes, regional airports

    In Australia, only planes with thirty seats or more must have impregnable cockpit doors; interest in the security of small planes and of regional airport intensifies as a woman on a nineteen-seater plane in New Zealand stormed the cockpit of a small aircraft on Friday, stabbing two pilots in midflight

  • South Africa to bolster airport security

    South Africa security authorities contend that some of the main gaps in airports security are the result of inconsistent and uneven security standards among air, land, and rail transportation; a private industry-government conference in Johannesburg aims to formulate agreed-upon security terms of reference

  • Congress wants tighter look at passengers claiming to be policemen

    Currently, all one has to do at an airport to prove he or she is a law enforcement officer — and, thus, entitled to bring a weapon on board — is show a photo ID and a letter from the law enforcement agency employing them; both documents can be easily forged

  • Northrop Grumman, L-3 awarded EPX contract

    EPX aims to create a shore-based, manned aircraft which will provide intelligence, surveillance, and targeting (ISRT) support to carrier strike groups

  • Billions spent on airport security, but major security gaps remain

    In the post 9/11 rush to bolster airport security, billions were spent and different technologies and systems were tried, but experts — and government watchdog organizations — say major security gaps remain; Congress, TSA, and the industry are increasingly anxious; the latest hope: Millimeter wave machines, which can see through clothes by analyzing the reflection of radio frequency energy bounced off passengers

  • TSA reacts to blog posting

    Earlier in the week TSA launched a Web blog to which passengers can post comments and suggestions; the agency has already responded to suggestions made by several passengers: It halted a practice at some airports that required travelers to remove all electronic equipment from carry-on luggage during security screenings

  • India's Tata Group, U.S. company to manufacture defense equipment

    India is worried about China’s growing military might; Indian companies see an opportunity here, and more and more of them are looking to enter the defense market — with U.S. companies as partners; the U.S. government, too, is intensifying its defense cooperation with India

  • EU and industry launch Clean Sky technology initiative

    The initiative, a joint EU-industry scheme in which $2.3 billion will be invested between 2008 and 2014, aims to speed up technological breakthrough developments and shorten the time to market for new green aviation solutions

  • NATS selects Era's Squid for Gatwick

    Leading provider of airport navigation and traffic management services selects a vehicle-mounted surveillance and monitoring solution for its Gatwick operations: Era’s Squid monitors ground traffic at busy airports (and Gatwick claims it is “the world’s busiest single runway airport”)

  • Wind farms "a threat to [U.K.] national security"

    The U.K. has an ambitious plan calling for producing a third of Britain’s energy needs from offshore wind farms; there is a problem, though: The Ministry of Defense says that both onshore and offshore wind turbines create gaps in radar coverage of the coast line, allowing a sneak aerial attack on the country

  • LAX implements game theory insights for better security

    Game theory algorithm, developed by USC graduate student, improves security by putting police on unpredictable schedules and in unpredictable locations, making it more difficult for terrorists to plan an attack which would exploit observable weaknesses in security routines

  • Trial for mandatory biometrics at Heathrow Terminal 5

    BAA is testing fingerprint security system on passengers at Terminal 1; system will be implemented in Terminal 5 when it opens; T5 will have one lounge for both domestic and international passengers, and new system aims to allow security authorities to have better monitoring of passengers in the lounge

  • EDI to use Xyratex to manage Beijing Airport security

    EDI Technology, a Chinese storage integrator, will use Xyratex F5412E RAID system from Xyratex, a U.K.-based enterprise data storage subsystems and storage process technology provider, for online and archive storage of video surveillance at Beijing Capital International Airport