Academy Returns Celestial Navigation Classes
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The Naval Academy reinstates celestial navigation lessons, deemed outdated nearly 20 years ago, but now seen as a tool impervious to cyber attack, reports Military Times.
Military Times reports on a DoD policy waiving the requirement that environmental factors be included in military health records, denying benefits for respiratory, cancer and other related ailments claim service members.
The teleconference between the top Chinese and US admirals regarding navigational rights in the South China Sea, prompted belligerent statements from China The US responded by referencing a 2014 agreement of protocols that would be followed “to keep the chances for misunderstanding and any kind of provocation from occurring.” Over the weekend China released photos of its naval jets training over China’s man-made islands in the contested waters, reports International Business Times.
President Obama signs the budget deal, ending the budget wrangling for the remainder of his presidency, reports USA Today. It’s a big win for the Pentagon, reports Defense One, the deal gets DoD budgets through the worst of the spending caps.
The Marines have ordered 581 of the Modi II, portable, backpack-able electronic warfare systems to block IED signals and conduct offensive operations against enemy communications, reports Defense Systems. The systems can be configured to be used in backpacks, in vehicles, at fixed sites, and in aircraft. Sierra Nevada Corp. won a $73.2 million contract to build them.
A fuel additive could reduce the severity of secondary explosions from planes and vehicles, including those caused by IED attacks, reports Defense Tech.
Retired Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Frank Kelley named Navy’s deputy assistant secretary for unmanned systems, joins RADM Robert Girrier, the first director of unmanned warfare systems and the new N99 directorate, reports Defense Systems.
Senators look for ways to make federal employees pay their taxes and assure those with poor performance records do not get bonuses, reports GovExec.
El Faro ship owners file preemptive court action to block lawsuits from families of the 33 crew members who perished when the cargo ship went down in Hurricane Joaquin, reports CNN.
Robin Wright, reporting in The New Yorker, presents a back story on hardliners in Iran, as yet another US hostage is taken.
Chaos helps to keep US utilities safe from cyberattacks, suggests a report by Defense One, on what it take to knock out the power grid. Hacking alone won’t do it. Some of the power grid was built as far back as 1920, and operations have evolved irregularly across the nation. So taking everything out in one swift hack, not so likely.
Cuba’s International Trade Fair runs this week outside Havana and is the first one since the US and Cuba re-established diplomatic relations after a 50-year freeze, reports USA Today.
