• Questions raised about Iron Dome success

    MIT professor Ted Postol is at it again: in 1992 he successfully challenged the claims made by the United States, Israel, and Raytheon about the effectiveness of the Patriot missiles in intercepting Iraqi SCUD missiles fired at Israel, and now he is raising similar questions about the accuracy of claims made about the effectiveness of Israel’s Iron Dome anti-rocket system during the 10-day Israel-Hamas war last November, a war code-named Pillar of Defense.

  • Gun manufacturers take action against states which passed tough gun laws

    Gun manufacturers are starting to push back against strict gun laws in some states by refusing to sell their products to law enforcement agencies in these states, or to employees of these agencies. So far, more than 110 specialty manufacturers of firearms have joined the movement, which calls itself the Firearm Equality Movement.

  • Proposed Utah law would bar the feds from regulating guns in the state

    Responding to post-Sandy Hook initiatives to tighten gun regulations, lawmakers in twenty-five states are pushing bills which would give their states the sole right to regulate firearms within the state. Utah has now joined this group of states.

  • ACLU looks into the use of military technology by local law-enforcement

    Affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union in twenty-three difference states have filed more than 255 requests for public records in order to determine how many local police departments are using federally subsidized military technology and tactics – technology and tactics which have that have traditionally been used on battlefields overseas such as, most recently, in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

  • U.S. arms sales, security partnerships to suffer as a result of sequestration cuts

    One area where sequestration-mandated budget cuts will be felt sooner rather than later is U.S. support for foreign militaries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Training and security partnership engagements with allies will likely decline as well as the Defense Department must now operate with a $46 billion cut in its budget for fiscal 2013.

  • NIST offers forensic science education and training Webcasts

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is offering three upcoming educational and skills-building events — two workshops followed by a conference — for forensic science professionals. All of the events will be free to attend and viewable via live Webcasts.

  • U.S. military “unprepared” for cyberattacks by “top-tier,” cyber-capable adversary: Pentagon

    A new Pentagon study concludes that the U.S. military is unprepared for a full-scale cyber-conflict with a top-tier, cyber-capable adversary. The report says the United States must increase its offensive cyberwarfare capabilities, and that the U.S. intelligence agencies must invest more resources in obtaining information about other countries’ cyberwar capabilities and plans. The report says that the United States must maintain the threat of a nuclear strike as a deterrent to a major cyberattack by other countries. The report warns that the Pentagon cannot be confident its military computer systems and communication networks are not compromised because many of the components of these systems and networks are made in countries which pose the main cyberthreat to U.S. national security.

  • Stopping vehicle in their tracks -- remotely

    The need to stop vehicles remotely was identified by the law enforcement community. In 2010, the characteristics of a squid’s sticky tendrils were combined with the concept of Spiderman’s super-strong webbing to create a prototype of the first remote device to stop vehicles in their tracks: the Safe, Quick, Undercarriage Immobilization Device (SQUID).

  • Bipartisan proposal makes gun-trafficking a federal crime for the first time

    Lawmakers yesterday introduced a proposal to toughen federal penalties for people who illegally purchase firearms for someone else. The bill would make gun trafficking a federal crime for the first time, with penalties of up to twenty years for “straw purchasers.” The bipartisan proposal is an indication that Democrats and Republicans are exploring areas of agreement to reduce gun violence in the United States.

  • DHS acquires 2,700 MRAPs

    The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles were first deployed to the field in 2007 as a way to protect U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan from ever-more-powerful improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by insurgents. DHS has acquired over 2,700 MARPs to be used on missions inside United States.

  • Enabling small ships to launch and retrieve long-endurance UAVs

    About 98 percent of the world’s land area lies within 900 nautical miles of ocean coastlines. Enabling small ships to launch and retrieve long-endurance UAVs on demand would greatly expand the U.S. military’s situational awareness and ability quickly and flexibly to engage in hotspots over land or water. DARPA is seeking companies to develop these systems.

  • Corpus Christi police wants new recruits to be Army Strong

    The Corpus Christi Police Department wants to make it known that if you are an Army veteran coming home, they have a job waiting for you.

  • The impact of sea-level rise on coastal military installations

    The Pentagon says that climate-related effects are already being observed at Department of Defense (DoD) installations in every region of the United States and its coastal waters. The effects of climate change will adversely impact military readiness and DoD natural and built infrastructure unless these risks are considered in DoD decisions. A new white paper developed by the Pentagon’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) identifies key climate-related policy questions that need to be addressed.

  • Police budget cuts a boon to private security picks

    In cities across the United State, local  law enforcement, facing deep budget cuts,  has had to do more police work with fewer officers.  New Jersey alone lost 4,200 officers between 2008 and 2011. The reduction in police force has been a boon to the U.S. private security industry, which is expected to earn more than $19 billion by 2016.

  • Developing the next-generation of VTOL aircraft

    One of the greatest challenges of the past half century for aerodynamics engineers has been how to increase the top speeds of aircraft that take off and land vertically without compromising the aircraft’s lift to power in hover or its efficiency during long-range flight. DARPA’s new VTOL X-Plane project aims to achieve higher speeds, increased efficiency, and elegant design.