Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- January 16, 2013

An Afghan soldier presents the Afghan flag during a security transition ceremony on Camp Sayar in Farah City, Afghanistan, Dec. 12, 2012. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Matthew Stroup

Afghan Army Has Deficiences But It's Getting There, Says Nato General -- The Telegraph

Gen Sir Richard Shirreff, the deputy Nato commander in Europe, has conceded that the Afghan army has “deficiencies and gaps” but said they are now “stepping up to the plate”.

Gen Shirreff admitted soldiers were often 'exasperated' with their Afghan counterparts.

"Yes, there are problems," he said "There is at the same time a degree of exasperation which I wouldn’t in any way want to minimise."

But he said that security is improving and that insider attacks by members of the Afghan security forces are not “deflecting us from our task”.

Gen Shirreff insisted that the Afghans are “increasingly taking on the responsibility” in the country.

“You only have to look back two or three years to see how far they’ve come,” Gen Shirreff told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One. “

Read more ....

MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE NEWS BRIEFS

Forces hunting Kony welcome CAR truce -- Army Times/AP

UN Takes Next Steps in Drawdown of Military Presence in Liberia -- Voice of America

Three Russian military satellites put into orbit -- Voice of Russia

Chinese GPS Open For Business
-- Strategy Page

China’s Military Living in “Parallel Universe” – Ford -- Defense News

Russia 'spies' go on trial in Germany -- BBC

Warplane sale on French agenda in UAE
-- AP

Pentagon Swears It Won’t Sell Killer Drones to Afghanistan, Just Spy Ones -- Danger Room

Partners In The Pacific: Singapore, Australia, & Japan -- Aol Defense

DoD Looks to Expand Cyber, Maritime Partnerships in Europe -- Defense News

Israeli pilots give detailed assessment of V-22 tiltrotor
-- Flight Global

U.S. Admiral Warns Combat Ship Readiness in Downward Spiral -- National Defense

USAF Cost Per Flying Hour Data for 2012 -- Eric Palmer Blog

Budget Woes Could Impact USAF’s KC-46, Experts Warn -- Defense News

Fixing The M4 Has Been Difficult -- Strategy Page

Army displays future of ground-vehicle technologies
-- www.Army.mil

Darpa wants to store drones at the bottom of the sea
-- Wired

McKeon asks OMB why sequester is delaying Pentagon budget -- The Hill

The Army Wants A Massive New Complex For Its Fleet Of Drones -- Business Insider

Laws urged to curb snooping by drones
-- Washington Times

Remember When Drones Were Supposed to Be Simple and Cheap? -- Mark Thompson, Battleland/Time

A Senator's Lonely Crusade to Learn the CIA's Secrets -- The Atlantic

Thankless DOD Inspector General routinely ignored
-- The E-Ring/Foreign Policy

New version of Stolen Valor bill introduced -- Army Times

Staff Sgt. Bales to be arraigned Thursday
-- Army Times/AP

Fatal U.S. Army accidents down in first quarter of 2013
-- www.Army.mil

Inaugural to include military’s past, future -- Army Times/AP

Defense train wreck or reshaping opportunity? -- Robert Maginnis, Human Events

Extended Deterrence -- Retired Gen. John Michael Loh, Defense News

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