Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee and strong shipbuilding advocate, died over the weekend at age 57 from breast cancer. Davis's Newport News district was home to the Northrop Grumman [NOC] the nation's only producer of nuclear-powered ...

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Coast Guard are finalizing test plans for upcoming pilot projects that will use biometric smart card readers to control worker access to secure areas of the nation's ports under the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program, ...

By Ann Roosevelt The 2nd Infantry Division's 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment (Manchu's) soldiers in Iraq asked for and will receive the ability to pinpoint snipers in the next few weeks for their General Dynamics' [GD]-developed Land Warrior systems, a company official said. "The Manchu's are ...

By Ann Roosevelt Key members of the Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) have agreed to discuss another Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) for the National Guard when the House-Senate Conference Committee on the Fiscal Year '08 Defense Appropriations Bill meets to work out differences. Currently ...

By Jen DiMascio The president of Boeing [BA] Integrated Defense Systemslast week sent a letter to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), suggesting comments made about a new plant in Mobile were misinterpreted. On Oct. 3, Shelby sent Boeing President James McNerney a letter asking him to "disavow" offensive ...

By Michael Sirak Lockheed Martin [LMT] continues to pursue enhancements to its Sniper targeting pod as the Air Force and international customers step up to buy more of the combat-proven system, says a company official. These improvements address both hardware components and software, and are being ...

By Jen DiMascio Members of Congress are threatening to oppose the proposed sale of precision-guided missiles to Saudi Arabia unless the Bush administration can guarantee that those weapons will not be turned on the United States or Israel in the future. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Rep. Christopher ...

Sen. Peter Domenici (R-N.M.) last week announced he will not seek another term in office but will stay through the remainder of this Congress. Domenici has been a member of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee and a strong supporter of missile defense and energy issues. He said this week ...

Marco Pistoni has been named Business Management Director for MEADS International (MI) and the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program. The multinational joint venture MI made the announcement Oct. 4. MI consists of MBDA Italia S.p.A., Lenkflugkorpersysteme (LFK) in Germany and Lockheed ...

The Defense Department last week authorized the creation of the Defense Intelligence Operations Coordination Center (DIOCC). DIOCC will strengthen the ability of defense intelligence to synchronize intelligence operations and collection to support the combatant commands, a DIA statement said. The ...