Transportation

Australia considers sole-source Global Hawk purchase
UAVs are increasingly popular among militaries, homeland security agencies, and law enforcements units; the Australian government is on the verge of making a major UAV purchasing decision, and there are four companies competing for the contract and three options on how to buy the drones
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New container security standard organization created
As cargo container security moves to center stage, there is a need for standards to govern the technology and its implementation; a new consortium of industry heavy-weights aims to do just that
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Unisys joins Boeing’s team for SBInet bid
Defense contractors continue to pay increasing attention to homeland security contracts, and IT solution big hitter joining defense giant’s team to bid on lucrative border security contract
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Kvichak/ Manitowoc partnership in $600 million contract to build new Coast Guard boats
A partnership of two ship builders win a coveted $600 million contract to replace the aging fleet of the U.S. Coast Guard (240 of its boats entered service more than 30 years ago); the new boat design — by a Scottish design company — will allow the boats both to withstand stormy seas and give chase at 50 mph
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Hot debate over proper technology slows progress on border-crossing ID
Political pressures from states bordering Canada persuaded DHS to relax its demand that U.S. and Canadian citizens crossing the border back and forth for shopping carry passports; instead, a biometric ID card would be issued; trouble is, there is an acrimonious debate over what technology to use in the card
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BlastGard raises $1.2 million; expands activities to unit loading device market
A developer of blast mitigation trash cans and other blast-resistant gear receives funding and expands its reach into the airplane-loading market
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Analysis: Growing opposition to administration’s plan to relax foreign ownership rule of U.S. airlines
The administration wants to relax the rules prohibiting foreign ownership of U.S. airlines; critics argue that the administration’s agile word parsing with regard to the term “actual control” of airlines short-changes U.S. national security
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Oshkosh Trucks acquires AK Specialty Vehicles
A maker of specialty vehicles for law enforcement and homeland security acquires a specialist in medical and command and control trucks to augment its offering
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URS to design container inspection facility at Port of L.A.
San Francisco company is heading down the PCH to build a container inspection facility on site of the former United States Customs Building on Terminal Island at the Port of Los Angeles; the project may cost upwards of $90 million
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Aussie company, GE to market quadruple resonance shoe-scanning device
An innovative Australian company is licensing its technology to GE to build and market shoe-scanning devices; passengers fumbling with their footwear at airport checkpoints have been a source of logjams and delays, and the TSA is looking for a solution
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Florida to require 2 IDs to enter state ports
Florida is tired of waiting for TWIC to get going, so it has initiated its own port employee security program in the state’s 14 ports; but now it appears that employees will have to equip themselves with two pieces of ID, costing them nearly $250
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TWIC hobbeled by politics-as-usual in Congress
Pork-barrel politics is as old as politics; still, the length to which one Kentucky congressman went to make sure that his home district and donors to his political campaigns benefit from an important DHS program, ,ay appear excessive; to say nothing of the damage the “bring home the bacon” approach did to the program, and to U.S. port security
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U.S. Air Force to experiment with chepaer synthetic fueld for planes
The U.S. Air Force consumes more than half of all the fuel consumed by the U.S. government; the service’s 2005 bill for jet fuel exceeded $4.7 billion; now the Air Force has decided to do something about (the Army is participating)
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Tupelo airport joins SPP
TSA has established the Screening Partnership Program (SPP) o allow airports to use private contractors for screening; Tupelo has joined five other airports already in the system, contracting a Virgnia company to run screening operations
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Industry wins initial skirmishes in battle over 100% cargo inspection
Security experts agree on two things: A terorist WMD will likely arrive in the U.S. inside a freight container, and the only solution is 100% container inspection; shipping industry says 100% inspection would hobble commerce, and its friends in Congress have so far managed to prevent inserting this requirement into shipping safety legislation
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