Defense
The Pentagon’s Defense Acquisitions Board (DAB) met Feb. 21 to discuss the tri-service F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, a defense official confirmed. – Defense News
The Navy, as part of its fiscal 2013 budget request released Feb. 13, is asking for another $811 million for “fact-of-life cost increases,” a figure that will drive the [Gerald R. Ford] closer to a congressionally imposed cost cap. – Defense News
The U.S. Defense Department carefully selected the programs it wants to cancel in fiscal 2013 to avoid termination fee negotiations that have plagued the Pentagon in prior years. – Defense News
The Navy’s push to become a more environmentally-friendly fighting force took a beating on Capitol Hill last week. But the tongue lashing delivered by House defense lawmakers has little chance of gaining traction on the Hill or inside the Pentagon, analysts say. – AOL Defense
Arms Control
A lot has changed since 1999. That is the case the Obama administration is making as it pushes for reconsideration of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which the U.S. Congress voted not to ratify in 1999. – Defense News
The War
Since the 9/11 attacks, when virtually no anti-terror intelligence network existed, federal authorities have tapped into a vast network of informants — many of them in the U.S. Muslim community — who have assisted in the arrests of suspects from D.C. to Portland, Ore. – USA Today
Piracy
The number of ships seized in the region by Somali pirates fell last year, industry data shows, but the overall number of attempted attacks continues to rise and the raids have become increasingly violent. – Reuters
