• U.S. to begin offering RFID-equipped passport cards

    Passport card will serve as an alternative to the traditional passport — and reduce the wait at land and sea border checkpoints by using an electronic device that can simultaneously read multiple cards’ radio frequency identification (RFID) signals from a distance, checking travelers against terrorist and criminal watchlists while they wait

  • Business aviation “extremely concerned” over proposed DHS border rules

    Among DHS’s new requirements is the need for private aircraft to transmit notice of arrival information to U.S. border patrol agents via an Internet site no later than an hour before departure; if an Internet connection is not available, the aircraft must land at another location and wait for approval; groups representing private aviation say this and other requirements are too onerous

  • TSA places behavior observation teams in more airports

    TSA behavior observers now operate in more than fifty U.S. airports; since January 2006, behavior-detection officers have referred about 70,000 people for secondary screening; of those, about 600 to 700 were arrested on a variety of charges

  • China shows first domestically developed regional aircraft

    China plans to become a serious competitor to Boeing and Airbus; today it has taken the first step toward that goal by unveiling Xiang Feng, a 90-seat jet

  • Boeing reshuffles SBInet management

    Boeing has stumbled in its handling of Project 28, the first phase of the large SBInet project; now, for the second time in four months, the company has reshuffled its management units and created a new component which will oversee this $30 billion DHS high-tech surveillance system

  • U.S. DoT seeks technology to improve safety, reduce congestion on roadways

    Department of Transportation is looking for commercially available technology applications designed to fight congestion and improve the safety and performance of the nation’s transportation system

  • U.S. grounds 39 Lockheed P-3C surveillance planes

    The U.S. Navy says that structural fatigue has caused the grounding of 39 out of the Navy’s 161 P-3C Orion surveillance planes; Orions used heavily in post-9/11 operations, including in Iraq and Afghanistan

  • A better path to container scanning

    Analyst: The congressionally mandated 100 percent container screening is unworkable; it arouses opposition from U.S. trading partners and industry; a better solution would be the adoption of in-container sensing systems

  • Adding bellyflaps to blended-wing aircraft increase their manoeuvrability

    Blended-wing aircraft generate less drag, are quieter, and use far less fuel; they are also less maneuverable because the aerodynamic surfaces that control an aircraft’s pitch are located closer to the aircraft’s center of gravity than those on a conventional aircraft; the solution, adding bellyflaps

  • Border security chills trade relations

    Canadians complain that U.S. security measures and protectionist sentiments in Congress have a chilling effect on U.S.-Canada trade relations; they also complain that the U.S. does not sufficiently take into account Canadian interests; Canadian International Trade minister: The U.S. attitude and one-sided measures “threaten the special relationship that used to be there”

  • EU court agrees U.K., Ireland cannot adopt certain Schengen measures

    EU’s highest court rules that the European Council was correct not to allow the United Kingdom and Ireland to adopt new Schengen agreement regulations establishing standards for security features and biometrics in passports

  • RUSI-Qatar to stage regional maritime security conference in Middle East

    U.K.-based research organization opens Qatar branch; first activity: Regional maritime security in March 2008, to be held in Doha; countries in region expect to spend $17 billion over next decade on ships and maritime equipment

  • DHS announces Real ID grants

    DHS released grant guidelines to assist states in applying for $35 million to begin implementing Real ID requirements for handling personal information associated with driver’s licenses

  • DHS moves forward on data exchange project; business groups object

    DHS wants to create Global Trade Exchange (GTX) — a data warehouse which would collect large volumes of commercial-transaction data from all parties involved in the production and movement of international shipments; trade groups say sharing confidential business data with foreign governments in the exchange would be a problem not only in terms of protecting U.S. competitiveness but also for national security reasons

  • BAE tests counter-missile system on American Airlines aircraft

    DHS awards BAE $29 million to test laser jamming systems on American passenger planes; test was initially limited to cargo planes, but Congress wants to see whether system is suitable for passenger planes