U.S. military aims to overcome GPS' weaknesses
Washington (UPI) Jul 25, 2013 -
The U.S. military is exploring five new location technologies for use in areas when GPS is unavailable.
The technology programs are the brainchild of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Pentagon's scientific think thank and technology incubator.
"It is difficult to imagine the modern world without the Global Positioning System, which provides real-time positio ...
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Iraq's Mosul counts the cost of insurgent rule
Mosul, Iraq (AFP) July 27, 2014 -
When Islamic State fighters first seized Iraq's city of Mosul, life improved for many residents. But some now say the economic and cultural cost of jihadist rule is beginning to bite.
The bomb attacks, shootings and kidnappings that kept many residents of Iraq's second city in a constant state of fear all but stopped when IS took control six weeks ago.
The many streets closed off by Iraq ...
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K-MAX unmanned cargo helo finishes Afghan deployment
Owego, N.Y. (UPI) Jul 25, 2013 -
K-MAX, the unmanned cargo aircraft of Lockheed Martin and Kaman Aerospace, has returned to the United States following extended deployment to Afghanistan.
The unmanned helicopter lifted more than 4.5 million pounds of cargo for the U.S. Marine Corps during nearly three years in Afghanistan in thousands of missions, reducing the number of truck resupply convoys, which would have been vul ...
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Stronger rules needed on flight paths: Malaysia Airlines official
London (AFP) July 27, 2014 -
The commercial director of Malaysia Airlines on Sunday called for a complete overhaul of the way flight paths are deemed safe following the downing of flight MH17 by a suspected missile over rebel-held eastern Ukraine.
Writing in Britain's Sunday Telegraph, Hugh Dunleavy said the disaster would have "an unprecedented impact on the aviation industry", claiming that airlines can no longer depe ...
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N. Korea defies UN censure to fire missile into sea
Seoul (AFP) July 27, 2014 -
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un guided the military's latest rocket-firing drill, state media said Sunday, confirming the missile launch which was conducted in defiance of UN censure.
Saturday's launch was the first since the UN Security Council on July 17 officially condemned Pyongyang for its recent series of ballistic missile tests, in violation of UN resolutions.
The North's state ...
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Army helicopters train on ship landing
Uss Peleliu, Hawaii (UPI) Jul 28, 2013 -
AH-64E helicopters of the U.S. Army have conducted deck landing qualifications aboard the USS Peleliu, the first E variants to do so.
The U.S. Army said the landing qualifications were performed by helicopters from the 1st Armed Reconnaissance Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division during a Navy exercise.
The qualification and rela ...
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8 children among 10 dead as rockets hit Gaza refugee camp
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
At least eight children were among 10 people killed at a Gaza City refugee camp, medics said, with witnesses saying several missiles were fired from an F16.
But the Israeli army categorically denied any attack on the camp, accusing Palestinian militants of firing rockets at Israel which apparently misfired.
Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said 10 people had been killed, amo ...
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Emirates airline says will not fly over Iraq after MH17
London (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
Emirates will stop flying over Iraq due to concerns over jihadist missile attacks following the MH17 air disaster in Ukraine, the airline's president Tim Clark told The Times on Monday.
Almost 300 people aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 died when it came down in eastern Ukraine nearly two weeks ago, with Washington and Europe claiming it was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air mis ...
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Continued Northrop logistic services for Army's NTC
Herndon, Va. (UPI) Jul 28, 2013 -
Logistics services to the U.S. Army's Fort Irwin's National Training Center are to continue to be provided by Northrop Grumman.
The contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee arrangement with a potential value of $205 million, the company said. It has a base performance period of one year and two one-year options.
"Our demonstrated superior performance on this contract has provided our va ...
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Raytheon, TELDAT announce air defense teaming deal
Tewksbury, Mass. (UPI) Jul 28, 2013 -
Raytheon and Polish data communications company TELDAT are teaming for air defense architecture opportunities in Poland and abroad.
The cooperation under a letter of intent will be in the areas of IP-based networking solutions, software and devices; militarized communications equipment; command-and-control software; and system integration, verification and validation testing.
"TE ...
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Iraq army kills 17 in anti-jihadist raid
Hilla, Iraq (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
An Iraqi government raid on jihadist targets in a flashpoint town southwest of Baghdad killed 17 people on Monday, including at least three civilians, medical and tribal sources said.
"Bombardment targeted the Fadhiyya district at 1:00 am," Sheikh Mohammad al-Janabi, a tribal chief from Jurf al-Sakhr, a town 60 kilometres (40 miles) from Baghdad, told AFP.
Janabi said two women and a ch ...
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France says ready to facilitate asylum for Iraq's Christians
Paris (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
France said Monday it was ready to help facilitate asylum for Christians in Iraq displaced by a jihadist onslaught, saying it was "outraged" by their persecution.
"We are ready, if they so desire, to help facilitate asylum on our territory," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a joint statement.
Thousands of Christians and other minorities have ...
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France says ready to facilitate asylum for Iraq's Christians
Paris (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
France said Monday it was ready to help facilitate asylum for Christians in Iraq displaced by a jihadist onslaught, saying it was "outraged" by their persecution.
"We are ready, if they so desire, to help facilitate asylum on our territory," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a joint statement.
Thousands of Christians and other minorities have ...
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Gaza's Christians bury their first casualty of the war
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
Jalila Ayyad's widower George still had a black eye and bloodstains on his shirt as he processed ahead of her coffin, hours after the air strike that destroyed their home.
Jalila, 60, was the first Christian casualty of a bloody Gaza war.
She is also survived by two sons, but one could not be at her funeral because he is in hospital with serious wounds suffered in Sunday afternoon's Isra ...
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US weapons for Afghans may end up with Taliban: audit
Washington (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
Washington and Kabul have failed to keep track of hundreds of thousands of weapons provided to Afghanistan, raising the risk that some could end up in the hands of insurgents, a US audit said Monday.
The United States also had delivered more weapons than Afghan forces now needed, partly because Kabul officials had revised their requests over time, the report said.
Since 2004, the Americ ...
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Libya issues plea for outside help as violence escalates
Tripoli, Libya (UPI) Jul 28, 2013 -
The Libyan government said Monday it needed outside help to control new clashes in the capital, near where several oil storage tankers were hit by rocket fire.
The severity of new clashes in Libya prompted the U.S. State Department to suspend diplomatic activities at its embassy in the Libyan capital. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the precautionary move was made in response to ...
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No show for North Korean defector artist in China
Beijing (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
An art exhibition in China by a North Korean defector has been cancelled, gallery staff said Monday, with reports saying the show had been dismantled on official orders.
Sun Mu, who slipped out of North Korea in 1998 and uses a pseudonym because of concerns for his safety, paints satirical imitations of Pyongyang's propaganda imagery.
An exhibition of his works had been due to open at th ...
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Britain plans major exercises in Poland amid Ukraine crisis
Warsaw (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
Britain on Monday announced major joint manoeuvres in Poland in October, part of a string of NATO exercises in the region aimed at reassuring eastern Europe members jittery over a resurgent Russia.
"I can announce today exercise Black Eagle, which will be a significant Polish and UK armoured exercise with over 350 British armoured and other vehicles and some 1,350 British personnel," Britis ...
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Ex-military attache at Taiwan US mission under scrutiny
Taipei (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
A senior Taiwanese military officer who served at the island's de facto US embassy has been placed under investigation after failing a lie detector test, the defence ministry said Monday.
From late 2012, all Taiwan's defence attaches serving abroad have had to take a lie detector test, a move designed to stem a wave of military espionage cases, usually involving arch-rival China.
"He fai ...
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Ukraine army wrests control of part of MH17 crash site: rebels
Donetsk, Ukraine (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
The Ukrainian army has seized control of part of the vast crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in the east of the country, pro-Russia rebels said on Monday.
"The Ukrainians have taken over a part of the crash site," said Vladimir Antyufeev, self-styled first deputy prime minister of the "Donetsk People's Republic".
Ukraine's military said its troops are battling separatist fighter ...
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RF detector for law enforcement, intel purposes in the wings
Arlington, Va. (UPI) Jul 28, 2013 -
A real-time radio frequency signal detector and analysis capability is being launched by information solutions firm CACI International Inc.
The STC Portable Spectrum Analyzer will enhance situational awareness for law enforcement and intelligence community users, the company said, and will be shown at next week's National Technical Investigators' Association Annual Training Conference a ...
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SES Awarded Hosted Payload Solutions ID/IQ Contract
Mclean VA (SPX) Jul 28, 2014 -
Global satellite solutions provider SES Government Solutions (SES GS) is one of fourteen awardees granted a share of a contract worth in total a maximum of $494,900,000 under the Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS) Program.
This indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract will provide a streamlined method for the U.S. Government to host government payloads on SES spacecraft.
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Beyond GPS: 5 Next-Generation Technologies
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 25, 2014 -
It is difficult to imagine the modern world without the Global Positioning System (GPS), which provides real-time positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) data for countless military and civilian uses. Thanks in part to early investments that DARPA made to miniaturize GPS technology, GPS today is ubiquitous.
It's in cars, boats, planes, trains, smartphones and wristwatches, and has enabled ...
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China's Xi approaches Mao in state media mentions: study
Beijing (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
Chinese President Xi Jinping's name has graced the pages of the Communist Party's flagship newspaper more frequently than any other leader since founding father Mao Zedong, according to researchers.
The report by the University of Hong Kong's China Media Project comes amid a much-publicised anti-graft crackdown which some analysts say Xi has used to root out political enemies and solidify hi ...
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N. Korea threatens nuclear strike on White House
Seoul (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
A top-ranking North Korean military official has threatened a nuclear strike on the White House and Pentagon after accusing Washington of raising military tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The threat came from Hwang Pyong-So, director of the military's General Political Bureau, during a speech to a large military rally in Pyongyang Sunday on the anniversary of the armistice that ended the 19 ...
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