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Body armor business booms
Companies such as Ceradyne and Armor Holding post large gains after DoD spends $5 billion in five years to protect troops; smaller companies find niche markets in custom-wear, police
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ITT slapped with $100 million fine for illegally exporting military technology
ITT admits to two felonies for violating the 1976 Arms Export Control Act by illegally shipping night-vision gear to China
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USBX reports heavy merger activity
Explosives detection and video surveillance among segments under consolidation; M&A increased 50 percent overall last year, says research firm
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Investors in Intelligentias convert debt position to stock
The NSA domestic spying brouhaha offered an inkling of the commercial potential of data collection and retention; debt holders of a data retention company agree, converting their debt into equity
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The age of cooperative control of robots nears
Sophisticated robots perform many complex — and dangerous —military and homeland security missions; Dartmouth researchers work on moving beyond one-soldier-per-robot approach to allow one sodier to control several robots
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DHS makes twenty-two small business awards
Winning companies will receive up to $100,000 to refine their ideas; contracts given in WMD detection, ground sensors, mobile biological assays, emergency pre-planning software systems, and simulation training
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Russia, Disney World say nyet to the gas-powered shoe
An inventor bemoans his country’s inhospitality to commercial development; western venture capital firms ignore the country’s inventors, but new technology parks are planned
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Aberdeen Proving Ground at full speed
Experimental tank armor must master the combine; center activity up 87 percent since 9/11
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International Technology Centers face the axe
Just the latest in a series of blows to military research, Army’s technology outposts looked for foreign start-ups to bring into DoD; “buy American” rules stifle innovation, but China is not so concerned
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Patent Office unveils Wiki site to help sort claims
Project with IBM will help weed out junk patents; Microsoft, Oracle, and other software companies volunteer to place their claims under heightened scrutiny; scheme is just the latest in the Wikification of the federal government
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British test metal detecting gloves
$200 robogloves permit clandestine detection; when metal is found, the Kevlar device begins to vibrate
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Chesapeake Innovation Center struggles
Interim director resigns as CIC confronts looming budget problems; calls mount to take the center under private management; new leadership reaches out to Northrop Grumman and others; loss of NSA contract a major blow
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Air Force closes all seven battle labs
With budget pressures mounting, Air Force can no longer afford the investment; Air Force Space Battlelab, Command and Control Battlelab, and Air Warfare Battlelab among those receiving the axe
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Army breaks ground on New Jersey R&D park
Picatinny Arsenal to be transformed into a public-private research and development park; one million square feet of office space planned, including 100,000 for high security work; planners look for companies working on technology with both commercial and military applications
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Lockheed bullish on rise in defense and homeland security spending
The world’s largest defense contractor is confident Congress will respond to an “uncertain security market” by maintaining a robust defense budget, and the company’s CEO points to his company’s increased focus on homeland security and law enforcement work in addition to its core aircraft, ship, and missiles business as a source of increasing revenue
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The long view
Technology Evolves the Tactics: Preparing for the Rise of Terrorist AI Harms
Terrorist groups, like the societies they emerge from, adapt to new technologies. As AI capabilities evolve, so too do the tactics of extremist actors. While the full effects may take years to observe, as the technologies continue to develop, we are starting to see them directly alter extremism tradecraft.
Bookshelf: A Tale of American Lawyers and Chinese Engineers
The U.S. and China have fundamental differences, a new book argues. China would be an “engineering state” whereas the U.S. is a “lawyerly society.” Most Chinese Communist Party leaders have been engineers focused on building mega projects such as highways, bridges, fast trains. and airports. In recent decades the U.S. has become a “lawyerly society” as the country’s elite, dominated by lawyers, focused on procedure and process rather than getting things done.
Europe’s Banks Quietly Mobilize for Economic Warfare
For years, banks treated defense as a reputational issue, as well as an environmental, social and governance risk, often lumping it with tobacco or fossil fuels as something to be managed at arm’s length. That era is ending. Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s coercive trade tactics and the United States’ pressure on Europe to shoulder more of its defense burden have exposed the limits of moralistic restraint. Financial mobilization is the new norm.
A New Generation of Industries Emerges in Texas as Feds Push to Mine More Rare Minerals
The U.S. doesn’t produce the minerals and metals needed for renewable energy, microchips or military technology. Major oil companies are drilling in East Texas again, but not for oil. This time, they’re after lithium for batteries and other rare elements.
U.S. and Australia Deepen Critical-Minerals Engagement to Counter China
Engagement between Australia and the United States on critical minerals has matured from technical cooperation into a strategic partnership, aligning resource security with clean energy and defense priorities.
Bookshelf: Critical Mineral Dilemmas
Whoever controls the production and processing of lithium, copper and other critical minerals could dominate the 21st century economy, much as producers of fossil fuels defined the 20th century, writes Ernest Scheyder in a new book.