• DHS to spend $400 million to bolster U.S. ports security

    DHS offers 14 different grant programs to help bolster security at U.S. ports; port security grant funding has increased in 2008 budget by $76 million, now totaling almost $390 million

  • Israel begins radiation detection at Haifa Port

    More ports join the U.S.-led effort to check for radiological materials; the idea is to have U.S.-bound cargo containers scanned for radiation before they arrive in U.S. ports; the latest port to be added to the list is Haifa, Israel

  • As TWIC is implemented in more ports, hurdles emerge

    Port managers worry that there are still some unresolved issues with TWIC, the port employee credentialing system; one example: Will the card typically be used as a flash pass or will the readers need to be used? If readers have to be used, just think of this: A truck has long mirrors on the outside of the cab, preventing the driver from getting close enough to a reader to submit a fingerprint; moreover, truckers often have dirty hands, which may make it difficult to read the fingerprints; there are other issues

  • GAO: Uneven progress on Container Security Initiative, but

    GAO says that Customs and Border Protection made important steps forward toward the effective implementation and operation of CSI, DHS’s major container security initiatives — for example, CSI is now operating in 58 foreign seaports, thus having 86 percent of all U.S.-bound cargo containers pass through CSI seaports – but much remains to be done

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  • GAO: More federal efforts needed to thwart threats to oil tankers

    GAO publishes a detailed report on terrorist threats to tankers carrying crude oil, liquefied gases, and refined products to the U.S.; these threats pose a major challenge, since the U.S. imports 55 percent of the nation’s crude oil supply

  • General Dynamics wins $100 million passport card contract

    The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) will allow U.S. residents to travel by land and sea to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda using a passport card rather than a traditional passport (travel by air, and travel to other countries, would still require a passport); General Dynamics wins contract to produce the cards

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  • Thales to develop autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)

    Thales, in collaboration with seven partners, will develop a fully autonomous underwater vehicle dedicated to maritime surveillance and security; specifications call for high levels of energy and decision-making autonomy

  • Coast Guard demands $96.1 million Deepwater refund

    The Deepwater program, aiming to replace aging vessels, is the Coast Guard’s largest acquisition program; Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin were awarded to contract, but the agency now charge the two companies with delivering defective boats that do not meet requirements; it wants some of of its money back

  • Breakthrough: Acoustic cloak theoretically possible

    Invisibility cloak — deflecting microwaves around a cloaked object and restoring them on the other side, as if they had passed through empty space — has already been demonstrated; Duke researcher now shows that an acoustic cloak is theoretically feasible: Sound waves would travel seamlessly around the cloaked object and emerge on the other side without distortion; submarines could be hidden from sonar

  • U.S. grounds 39 Lockheed P-3C surveillance planes

    The U.S. Navy says that structural fatigue has caused the grounding of 39 out of the Navy’s 161 P-3C Orion surveillance planes; Orions used heavily in post-9/11 operations, including in Iraq and Afghanistan

  • A better path to container scanning

    Analyst: The congressionally mandated 100 percent container screening is unworkable; it arouses opposition from U.S. trading partners and industry; a better solution would be the adoption of in-container sensing systems

  • RUSI-Qatar to stage regional maritime security conference in Middle East

    U.K.-based research organization opens Qatar branch; first activity: Regional maritime security in March 2008, to be held in Doha; countries in region expect to spend $17 billion over next decade on ships and maritime equipment

  • DHS moves forward on data exchange project; business groups object

    DHS wants to create Global Trade Exchange (GTX) — a data warehouse which would collect large volumes of commercial-transaction data from all parties involved in the production and movement of international shipments; trade groups say sharing confidential business data with foreign governments in the exchange would be a problem not only in terms of protecting U.S. competitiveness but also for national security reasons

  • Philippine government buys hovercrafts for coastal security

    As law enforcement authorities look for versatile machines to help them deal with changing threat environment, hovercraft manufacturers may be rewarded

  • Somali pirates demand $1 million ransom for Japanese tanker

    One way to make money in Somalia — perhaps the only way — is old-fashion piracy; in the latest episode, pirates demand $1 million for a Japanese tanker, threatening to kill the crew unless their demands are met