• GAO hammers US-VISIT program

    Government Accountability Office criticizes DHS for failing to strengthen exit procedures at land crossings, inability to resolve redundancies with WHTI and other programs; Congress dinged for oversight failures

  • UAVs struggle to access civilian airspace

    Civilian air authorities demand collision-avoidance systems before permitting flight; high rates of operator error worry other pilots; American and European authorities meet to develop technical standards for such a system; industry mourns NASA’s Access Five program

  • Florida police challenge FAA over UAV regulatory authority

    Palm Bay attempts to launch a Cyberbug to help with patrols, but FAA and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association object; police say FAA lacks authority to regulate what they call a model airplane; Cyber Defense Systems waits for a ruling

  • IED conference scheduled for April

    Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization to hold a three-day conference in Leesburg, Virginia; event open to industry and academia, but attendees must possess secret clearances; Ike Skelton to give the keynote address

  • Industry heavyweights come out for NAIS briefing

    Nationwide Automatic Identification System contract may eventually be worth as much as $165 million, but executives suspect that the project will lead into work on the Command 2010 project; Boeing, L-3, SAIC, and others attend a briefing

  • Navy to deploy dolphins and sea lions to Washington naval base

    Puget Sound gets ready to accept a flotilla of marine mammals; dolphins use sonar to swiftly locate maritime intruders; versitile sea lions capture them with a rope; military hopes to eventually replace them with machines

  • Iran announces deployment of new UAV fleet

    Unverified claims come as Iran prepares for a showdown with the United States; Iran says new drone cannot be detected by radar; new model may be based on the Ababil first seen in 1997

  • "Speed bump" IEDs continue to plague forces in Iraq

    With EFPs suddenly in the limelight, it is important to keep in mind other IED threats; speed bump IEDs are simple to manufacture, easy to conceal, and require no Iranian assistance; V-shaped hulls and mine rollers among established defensive techniques, but more are needed

  • Senate to clash with House over container 100% inspection provision

    The House voted to mandate 100% inspection of U.S.-bound frieght containers; a Senate panel agrees with the Bush administration that the measure would be too costly

  • MIT puts final touches on a micro turbine engine

    Millimeters in diameter machines could power miniature batteries or serve as engines in micro air vehicles; possible energy per weight unit estimated at 1200-1500 whr/kg; U.S. Army foots the bill

  • Insect avionics to keep aircraft from crashing

    Bees use optical flow to measure speed and height while landing; a similar digital feedback loop attached to aircraft could save lives; researchers at the University of the Mediterranean solicit interest from helicopter manufacturers

  • Deepwater under continued fire

    Henry Waxman charges Coast Guard with misleading DHS auditors and vows to get to the bottom of it; an independent DoD assessment finds the Deepwater project in trouble and wonders in Lockheed and Northrop should be stripped of their favored position; opportunities beckon for others

  • Boeing wins $11 million UUV refurbishment and testing contract

    Industry heavyweight will give the AN/BLQ-11 Long-term Mine Reconnaissance System a thorough going-over; system capable of twelve hours of autonomous reconnaissance before docking itself through the torpedo tube; testing to begin at Puget Sound and Bahamas

  • Irate passenger removes shoes, pants

    No Z Backscatters needed as German tourist in the Philippines tries to expose the naked truth about airport security; charged with lewd behavior, he may spend six years in jail

  • IBT challenges Boeing's TWIC contract

    Integrated Biometric Technology says TSA misread its proposal and asks for a review; appeal unlikely to derail the $70 million Boeing project; Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition comes under criticism