"China is changing the way that espionage is being done," said Carolyn Bartholomew, the chair of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

In its wide-ranging annual report to Congress, the commission reported a steep rise in the disruption and infiltration of websites of the US government and perceived Beijing rivals such as Tibet's exiled leader the Dalai Lama.

Colonel Gary McAlum, a senior military officer, told the commission the US Defense Department detected 54,640 malicious cyber incidents to its systems in 2008, a 20 percent rise from a year earlier. The figure is on track to jump another 60 percent this year.

While the attacks came from around the world, the commission said China was the largest culprit. Some Chinese "patriotic hackers" may not receive official support, but the report said the government likely planned to deploy them in a conflict to disrupt a foreign adversary's computers.

The commission found that China was the most aggressive nation in spying on the United States and was trying to recruit more Americans as spies.

While China historically tried to tap Chinese Americans -- believing, often incorrectly, that they would be sympathetic -- it was now turning to the Soviet model of seeking to bribe informants with cash and gifts, the report said.

It said the Chinese were also expanding "false flag" operations, in which sources are deceived into thinking they are providing information elsewhere.

The commission also found that China has launched an effort to influence US think-tanks and academia by rewarding scholars with access and depriving visas to more critical voices.

"It becomes self-censorship. If you're in graduate school and want to become a China scholar, you need to go to China. And if you criticize the Chinese government on certain things, you won't get in," said Bartholomew, a former top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"What it means is that we have a generation of China analysts who are being created who don't necessarily have the freedom or the ability to think through a broader range of questions," she said.

The commission also criticized China on its trade policy, recommending that the United States press Beijing to make its yuan more flexible and to turn to the World Trade
Organization to fight what it termed predatory trade practices.

"Just look at the sheer statistics," Bartholomew said.

"Two-hundred-and-sixty-eight billion dollars in 2008 was the US trade deficit with China -- you can't say this (trade policy) has been working."

President Barack Obama this week paid his first visit to China, which is now the top holder of the ballooning US debt. His administration has sought cooperation with China on battling the global slowdown and declined to accuse Beijing of manipulating its currency.

The commission paid a field trip to Rochester in upstate New York, where it said core industries such as machine tools, auto parts and optoelectronics were struggling against Chinese competition that often enjoys state support.

"For 20 years we have watched China policy be controlled really by a handful of large multinational corporations. They're the ones who determine the interests," Bartholomew said.

"But there are a lot of constituency interests out there -- particularly small and medium-sized enterprises -- that are being hurt by the current US-China policy," she said.

Louise Slaughter, the Democratic congresswoman representing Rochester, hailed the report as evidence that China "systematically subsidizes their industry" to target foreign markets.

"These predatory trade practices violate international trade law and reinforce my belief that we need to strengthen our trade enforcement efforts and rethink our trade relationship with China," she said.

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"This is essentially the capstone for our Weapons Instructor Course, helping us learn how to plan, schedule and execute large scale operations with not only other units from across the Air Force, but with the Army as well," said Capt. Daniel Hilferty, a weapons school student and student planner for the exercise.

The MAFEX is designed to culminate months of training that the students have received and challenge them to plan and execute a joint forcible entry airborne assault operation, integrating worldwide assets.

This is the fifth time the bi-annual exercise has taken place, with this iteration involving more than 50 aircraft and 1500 servicemembers, including nearly 400 Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne and aircraft ranging from F-15E Strike Eagles and HH-60 Pave Hawks to C-130 Hercules and MQ-9 Reapers.

"We integrate the students with other airframes and services so they have a better understanding of what they will be seeing when they leave here," said Lt. Col. Kevin Oliver, the weapons school deputy commandant and a C-130 pilot. "The integrated lessons learned provided by this event drive Air Force and joint warfighting expertise to the highest level."

This is the second time Capt. John Paul Kilker, a weapons school student, has participated in the MAFEX, first actively flying in the exercise and now as a exercise planner.

"You get a new appreciation for the guys putting the exercise together behind the scenes as opposed to getting your orders and executing after seeing it from both sides," he said.

"The level of coordination is unbelievable," said Captain Hilferty. "We are bringing aircraft that are taking off from across the country to the Nevada Test and Training Range with an arrival time flexible only by a minute, and giving these aircrews a target drop zone of only 100 yards to drop their troops and gear, and from what I have seen so far, we have been on point with everything."

One of the key components to the exercise was the training range, which is maintained by the 98th Range Wing, and serves as the school's training ground.

"The (range) is phenomenal," said Captain Kilker. "It's a great training theater and the threats that they simulated provided an experience that I will not forget."

On the surface the exercise went as planned, but to ensure the students learned from their mistakes, they sat down with their instructors to scrutinize and evaluate the exercise to see exactly what went right and wrong.

"My first impression was that this was very successful," said Captain Hilferty. "We made all of our drops on time and where they needed to be. But now we are going dig down into it and see what we learned. Even if we don't achieve every objective, the learning experience we got from MAFEX was well worth the work."

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Nine helicopters from 230 'Tiger' Squadron left their old base at Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove (formerly known as RAF Aldergrove), located near Belfast, in a diamond formation.

230 Squadron, who have been based in Northern Ireland for over 20 years, are joining 33 Squadron at RAF Benson, meaning the Puma Force is now united in the one location for the first time in over 20 years.

The diamond formation was greeted by Commander Joint Helicopter Command Rear Admiral Tony Johnstone-Burt, Benson's Station Commander and Puma Force Commander Group Captain Jonathan Burr, the 230 Squadron advance party, 33 Squadron personnel, and station support personnel.

Infrastructure work has been undertaken at RAF Benson during 2009 to enable the station to house both squadrons of the Puma Force.

These works included a purpose-built modular headquarters building for 230 Squadron, a re-role of the Operational Conversion Flight to form joint operations, survival equipment and flight planning sections, and a refit of several sections of the 33 Squadron hangar to accommodate the Operational Conversion Flight and Combined Tool Stores.

The colocation of 33 and 230 Squadrons, which saw nine Puma helicopters and around 250 Service personnel, with their families, move to Oxfordshire from Northern Ireland, will establish a coherent Puma Force on a single site and will improve the delivery of Puma Force capability.

Group Captain Jonathan Burr, Station Commander and Puma Force Commander at RAF Benson, commented:

"This is a new chapter for the Puma Force. With the colocation we will be more coherent in the planning, tasking, training and operating of the Puma Force across the squadrons. Oxfordshire has been a very good host to us over the years and we know they will welcome 230 Squadron."

Wing Commander Rich Maddison, Officer Commanding 230 Squadron, added:

"The people of Northern Ireland have been very good to the RAF and sadly this marks the end of an important chapter in the RAF's history.

"This squadron could not have achieved all it has on operations over the past six years without the essential training we have been able to conduct in the province and we shall certainly miss being here."

Squadron Leader Marty Lock, Officer Commanding A flight on 230 Squadron, was met by his wife and three children on arrival at RAF Benson. He said:

"Aldergrove holds a special place to all those who have been there. The squadron have been there for 17 years and the support helicopters have been there significantly longer. That chapter has closed and it's been a special moment for those who have been involved, including the engineers, planners, and aircrew. It's great to be a part of the Puma Force."

Flight Lieutenant Jonnie Bradshaw, a 29-year-old pilot with 230 Squadron and one of the aircrew that brought the nine aircraft to RAF Benson, said:

"Northern Ireland is an interesting place but it's excellent to be here at Benson. It's the nearest I've been to my friends and family for six years.

"The advantages in terms of logistics is that we share a common base with 33 Squadron and the simulator is here so it's now only a walk down the road instead of plane tickets. Again, we're very happy to be here and we arrived in style as 'Tiger 9'."

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“The C-17 Simulator commissioning marks the start of aircrew training in Australia. From January 2010, RAAF C-17 pilots will undertake their training at Amberley instead of travelling to the United States (US),” said Mr Combet.

“The attainment of the C-17 simulator is another successful outcome for the C-17 Heavy Air Lift Project and further testimony to the cooperative relationship between the Department of Defence, the United States Air Force and its contractors.”

The Federal Member for Blair, Shayne Neumann, attended the ceremony accepting the simulator at RAAF Base Amberley.

“We are very proud as locals that the C-17 simulator will provide training outcomes which greatly enhance the support to Australian Defence Force operations and humanitarian relief efforts being provided by the RAAF C-17 fleet,” said Mr Neumann.

“The Simulator is a replica of the C-17 cockpit and provides realistic training conditions for all C-17 missions. Operational conditions can be generated at a wide variety of airfields in Australia and overseas,” said Mr Combet.

The Boeing Company built the Simulator in the US and installed it in the purpose-built facility at RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland, constructed by John Holland Group. The Simulator itself was transported to Amberley using two C-17 aircraft.

The Simulator is the centerpiece of the C-17 Training System. The complete system includes a Maintenance Trainer to be delivered in 2010 and a Cargo Compartment Trainer to be delivered in 2013. Australia is the only foreign C-17 operator to own a Simulator. The other 20 Simulators are owned and operated by the United States Air Force.

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The tests seek to confirm the production readiness of the APKWS rocket and its ability to meet Navy and Marine Corps requirements, including safely launching from a helicopter, and reliably acquiring, tracking, and hitting laser-designated targets.

In the most recent testing, a laser-guided rocket fired from a U.S. Marine Corps Cobra helicopter hit a stationary target. This test firing initiated a sequence of more than 20 firings that will comprise the program's final test phase, to be completed by the end of 2009.

"Shooting APKWS is just like shooting a conventional 2.75-inch rocket, except the APKWS goes exactly where it's told to go," said LCDR John "Doc" Dougherty, Navy APKWS deputy program manager.

With completion of this contractor test flight, BAE Systems and the Navy are preparing for Navy demonstration test flights and full government qualification testing. APKWS will enter production in 2010.

"When we enter production, we expect to be the only fully-qualified laser-guided 2.75-inch rocket in the U.S. inventory," said John Watkins, director of missile and munitions solutions at BAE Systems in Nashua, New Hampshire, where the APKWS guidance section is produced. "We are very proud that APKWS will be in the hands of the warfighters next year."

APKWS has hit its targets 18 times since September 2002, including five shots from helicopters involving several air crews and various mission scenarios.

The low-cost, low-yield precision munition system turns a standard 2.75-inch unguided rocket to a smart, highly precise laser-guided missile. Because it uses standard launchers, the system requires no platform integration or aircraft modifications, and the mid-body design of its guidance section enables use of existing warheads, fuses, and rocket motors.

APKWS can be fired from any helicopter that can launch 2.75-inch rockets, including the AH-1 Cobra, UH-1 Huey, OH-58 Kiowa Warrior, and AH-64 Apache.

The Navy assumed acquisition executive oversight of the program in 2008 and has fully funded it for production. BAE Systems has been the APKWS prime contractor since 2006.

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Meanwhile, the center’s operational arm, the 57th Wing, is helping to train warfighters to take maximum advantage of air assets available to support them, as well as airmen who operate directly with them in the combat theater.

“When you look around the warfare center, it is hard to think of what really isn’t connected to today’s fight in some shape or form,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. Stanley “Ted” Kresge, Air Force Warfare Center commander. “The entire institution is responding to what is going on, and how it can better support the troops on the ground.”

The 561st Joint Tactics Squadron is the most forward edge of that effort. Its members regularly deploy into the combat theater to identify emerging tactics, techniques and procedures, as well as gaps in warfighter support.

“We form teams of experts across mission areas and travel to Iraq and Afghanistan to interview people at war, sit down and have discussions about what’s working, what’s not working, what’s going on, and [asking], ‘What have you learned since you have been here?’” Kresge said. “They’re not only trying to find out what is working, but also what is not working, then to close the book and do something about it with a feedback cycle.”

The teams report their findings back to the schoolhouse to incorporate into its programs, which provide the world's most advanced training in weapons and tactics employment to combat air forces officers.

The warfare center shares these lessons with the Air Force aviation community, as well as Army and Marine Corps leaders, during regular joint forums. But another popular venue, the Web-based “Community of Practice,” reaches out to a broader population with a real-time tactics exchange. The forum is by far the most-viewed network on the Air Force Knowledge Now portal.

“Folks can get on there and prepare their training plan before they go to the [combat theater],” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Russell J. Handy, the 57th Wing commander. “It gives them the opportunity to learn first-hand what is going on over there, and what they need to train for differently.”

Meanwhile, as the warfare center’s operations arm, the 57th Wing supports this effort through tactics development geared to the evolving threat.

For example, the wing helped to identify the best ways for the F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft, designed as a long-range interdiction platform, to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and close-air support missions in the current fight.

Also, training on the massive Nevada Test and Training Range here, it tested tactics used to provide reconnaissance and close-air support in conditions found in the combat zone. The wing came up with techniques for tracking high-value targets riding in fast-moving vehicles, “skipping” bombs deep inside tunnels serving as insurgent hiding grounds, and increasing the precision of strikes in busy urban centers without causing collateral damage.

Currently, the wing is focused heavily on taking better advantage of digital tools such as the remote operated video enhanced receiver, or ROVER, to improve coordination between ground troops and Air Force support elements, Handy said.

“What we found over the years is that there is a lot more efficient and better way to pass information than just jumping on the radio and talking to each other,” he said.

Far better, he explained, is enabling front-line forces to receive streaming video directly from both manned and remotely piloted aircraft. Digitally aided close-air support tools provide the same operational picture to ground commanders, the on-the-ground joint terminal attack controller and aircraft pilot, he explained.

“Every time you hear better or different ways of doing things, we’re on top of it,” Handy said. “It’s all about how to most quickly and efficiently support those troops on the ground.”

As the 57th Wing advances new tactics, techniques and procedures, the Air Force Warfare Center works to get them out to the Air Force community as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, the wing also helps to train ground troops to take maximum advantage of air support available to them.

It provides air support for ground forces about to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq during their mission rehearsal exercises at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., and the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.

A detachment based at the Army Fires Center at Fort Sill, Okla., trains joint fires officers operating at the platoon level to coordinate close-air support, when needed.

In addition, the wing provides advanced training for airmen who working directly with ground troops in the combat theater, with an increasing focus on training more joint terminal attack controllers who typically work at the corps level to coordinate close-air support.

“We are rapidly expanding that program to meet the demands in the area of responsibility, and looking for better and more efficient ways to train,” Handy said.

Ultimately, he said, the mission comes down to increasing the Air Force’s effectiveness in supporting ground troops in harm’s way. “It’s all about being able to find out that there is someone in trouble on the ground, and as quickly and efficiently as possible, help that soldier on the ground,” he said.

The joint effort – ground forces supported by air assets – brings a capability exponentially larger than what either ground or air forces could provide alone, he said. “I’ve never seen the joint relationship any stronger,” he added.

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The Government of Singapore has requested a possible sale of 670 KMU-572B/B Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) Guidance Kits, 670 DSU-38/B Precision Laser Guidance kits for GBU-54(V)1/B (MK-82)670 KMU-572B/B Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) Guidance Kits for GBU-28B(V)1/B (MK-82), 670 DSU-38/B Precision Laser Guidance Kits for GBU-54(V)1/B, support equipment, repair and return, tools and test equipment, spare and repair parts, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor technical and logistics personnel services, and other related elements of logistical and program support.

The estimated cost is $40 million.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that has been and continues to be an important force for economic progress in Southeast Asia.

Singapore needs the JDAM kits to help meet current and future threats of enemy air-to-ground weapons. Singapore will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense. Singapore, which already has JDAM guidance kits in its inventory, will have no difficulty absorbing these additional enhanced kits.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The principal contractor will be The Boeing Company of St. Louis, Missouri. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.

Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government and contractor representatives to Singapore.

There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.

This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded.

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During the U.S. Air Force-sponsored tests at the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, Calif., the Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments (MATRIX), which was developed by Boeing under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory, used a single, high-brightness laser beam to shoot down five UAVs at various ranges. Laser Avenger, a Boeing-funded initiative, also shot down a UAV. Representatives of the Air Force and Army observed the tests.

"The Air Force and Boeing achieved a directed-energy breakthrough with these tests," said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Missile Defense Systems' Directed Energy Systems unit. "MATRIX's performance is especially noteworthy because it demonstrated unprecedented, ultra-precise and lethal acquisition, pointing and tracking at long ranges using relatively low laser power."

Bill Baker, chief scientist of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate, praised his team and Boeing for these successful UAV shootdowns.

"These tests validate the use of directed energy to negate potential hostile threats against the homeland," Baker said. "The team effort of Boeing and the Air Force in developing MATRIX will pay major dividends for the warfighter now and in the years ahead."

As part of the overall counter-UAV demonstration, Boeing also successfully test-fired a lightweight 25mm machine gun from the Laser Avenger platform to potentially further the hybrid directed energy/kinetic energy capability against UAV threats.

Boeing Directed Energy Systems, based in Albuquerque, developed MATRIX, a mobile, trailer-mounted test bed that integrates with existing test-range radar. Directed Energy Systems and Boeing Combat Systems in St. Louis cooperatively developed Laser Avenger, which integrates a directed-energy weapon together with the existing kinetic weapons on the proven Avenger air defense system developed by Combat Systems.

Boeing leads the way in developing laser weapon systems for a variety of U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy applications. These systems include the Airborne Laser, Advanced Tactical Laser, Free Electron Laser, High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator and Tactical Relay Mirror System.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.

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The European Union — through the naval Operation Atalanta — continues to contribute to maritime security in the area, and has decided to extend the mandate until the end of 2010, Anders Liden told the UN Security Council on Wednesday, speaking on behalf of the European Union.

The EU anti-piracy operation, dubbed Atalanta, has been patrolling shipping routes off the Horn of Africa from Somali pirates since December last year. Naval warships and aircraft from the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Greece have been involved in actively escorting commercial ships through the Gulf of Aden. The operation is under the command of the British Navy.

Since December last year, the EU mission protected 50 ships that delivered roughly 300,000 tons of food under the UN World Food Program, Liden said. The aid benefited 1.6 million Somalis directly.

Piracy affected the safe delivery of aid to 3.8 million people in need, Liden added.

Russia's envoy to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, told the session that Russia would continue fighting hijackers off Somalia's cost and will support sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council to prevent piracy.

In a report to the UN Security Council issued on Monday, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said international antipiracy operations off Somalia have led to a decline in the number of successful ship seizures in the region.

A total of 306 incidents of piracy were reported worldwide in 2008, including 136 in the East African region, Ban said in the report. Three hundred incidents were reported between January and September this year, including 160 in East Africa. As of October 27, eight vessels and 178 sailors were being held hostage, the report said.

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Topol-M (SS-27 Stalin) missiles are the mainstay of the ground-based component of Russia's nuclear triad. As of the beginning of 2009, the SMF operated 50 silo-based and six road-mobile Topol-M missile systems.

"We will complete the rearmament of the second missile regiment in the Teikovo division with mobile Topol-M systems," the new SMF commander, Lt. Gen. Andrei Shvaichenko told reporters in Moscow.

The first Topol-M mobile missile regiment has already been put on combat duty with the 54th Strategic Missile Division near the town of Teikovo, about 150 miles (240 km) northeast of Moscow.

Shvaichenko also said that a sixth regiment of silo-based Topol-M systems will be put in service with the Tatishchevo Missile Division near Saratov in southwestern Russia in 2010.

The Topol-M missile, with a range of about 7,000 miles (11,000 km), is said to be immune to any current and future U.S. ABM defense. It is capable of making evasive maneuvers to avoid a kill using terminal phase interceptors, and carries targeting countermeasures and decoys.

It is also shielded against radiation, electromagnetic pulse, nuclear blasts, and is designed to survive a hit from any form of laser technology.

At present, six types of silo-based and mobile ICBM systems are on combat duty with the SMF, including the heavy Voyevoda (SS-18 Satan) capable of carrying 10 warheads, and the Topol-M systems.

Shvaichenko said Russia will continue work to extend the service life of the SS-18 missiles to 31 years and the SS-25 Topol and RS-20B missiles to 23 years.

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