Rogue Forces

“LASER GUN’S FIRST BLAST,” WIRED, DANGER ROOM, 13 AUGUST 2008:

 Boeing announced today the first ever test firing of a real-life ray gun that could become U.S. Special Forces’ way to carry out covert strikes with “plausible deniability.”

In tests earlier this month at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Boeing’s Advanced Tactical Laser—a modified C-130H aircraft—“fired its high-energy chemical laser through its beam control system. The beam control system acquired a ground target and guided the laser beam to the target, as directed by ATL’s battle management system…”

“RECORD NUMBER OF U.S. CONTRACTORS IN IRAQ,” CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, PETER GRIER, 18 AUGUST 2008:

 Washington—The American military has depended on private contractors since sutlers sold paper, bacon, sugar, and other small luxuries to Continental Army troops during the Revolutionary War.

But the scale of the use of contractors in Iraq is unprecedented in US history, according to a new congressional report that may be the most thorough official account yet of the practice. As of early 2008, at least 190,000 private personnel were working on US-funded projects in the Iraq theater, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) survey found. That means that for each uniformed member of the US military in the region, there was also a contract employee—a ratio of 1 to 1.

…Critics of military outsourcing say the real problem is flexibility and command-and-control over private workers…

“ANKARA’S S-300 CURIOSITY,” STRATEGIC FORECASTING INC., 26 AUGUST 2008:

…Turkey is in the process of acquiring several variants of the Russian S-300 air defense system, Turkish daily Today’s Zaman reported August 25…

…Should Turkey succeed in this acquisition, Ankara’s subsequent work would take two important approaches. The first is reverse engineering, where key components are disassembled and their inner workings closely examined. The second is training in electronic warfare against actual systems…