M1 Abrams Tanks for Iraq

US M1A1s, Tal Afar

Tanks decide battles, unless aircraft are around. Iraq had a lot of unfriendly visits by the USAF from 1991-2003, which left the largest armored force in the region looking to rebuild their armored corps from zero. Early donations and salvage fielded a small set of Soviet-era weapons, but after tangling with the Americans one too many times, the Iraqis knew what they really wanted. They wanted what their opponents had.

On July 31/08, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced Iraq’s formal request to buy M1 Abrams tanks, well as the associated vehicles, equipment and services required to keep them in the field. The tanks will apparently be new-build, not transferred from American stocks. With this purchase, Iraq became the 4th M1 Abrams operator in the region, joining Egypt (M1A1s), Kuwait (M1A2), and Saudi Arabia (M1A2-SEP variant). A similar December 2008 request was confirmed to be additive, and deliveries have now finished on the initial order. So, what’s next?

Raytheon’s Datalink: A New Naval Standard for the Standard?

Dutch HNLMS Tromp

As missile defense imperatives get stronger, and western defense budgets get weaker, one might expect both competition and cooperation to increase within this sector. That should be especially true around naval platforms, where multinational deployments are the normal operating mode. There are early signs that this is coming true.

In September 2011, Raytheon announced successful testing for a prototype dual-band datalink, allowing ships that use either Lockheed Martin’s SPY-1/ AEGIS system, or Thales Nederland’s APAR radars, to employ the full range of long-range Standard Missiles for air defense. That matters, because the SM-x family also includes a number of options with missile defense capabilities…

Rapid Fire March 14, 2013: Afghanistan Drawdown Leads to MRAP JLI Cancellation

• Patty Murray [D-WA], Chairman of the US Senate Budget Committee, introduced the first Senate budget proposal in years with a plan that seeks to replace sequestration with smaller budget cuts mixed with tax increases. This outline professes to save “$240 billion by carefully and responsibly reducing defense spending while giving the Pentagon enough time to plan and align the reductions to time with the drawdown of troops from overseas.”

• But there is significant light between Murray’s outlook and the one earlier introduced in the House by Paul Ryan. That President Obama had a cordial closed-door meeting with Congress Republicans does not seem to make the two parties any closer. Republicans sound rather convincingly ready to live with the sequester rather than yield on taxes.

Lend Me Your Ears: US Military Turns to Contractor Linguists

“Lend me your ears”

The US military has come to rely more and more on contractors to provide linguist services to function effectively in non-English speaking regions. The need for these services is particularly acute in the Middle East and Central Asia where US troops are actively engaged. Technically, there are 2 primary types of linguist services: interpreters and translators. Contractors usually offer both services as part of their contracts.

This DID FOCUS free sample covers US military linguist services contracts and key events.