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Brazil has become the first South American nation to field a fleet of surveillance and intelligence-gathering aircraft that, in addition to monitoring illegal activities and environmental damage, is bringing the government's presence to the most remote area of the Amazon. Moreover, these aircraft are helping to foster international cooperation with Peru, Colombia and Bolivia in a region where border-area lawlessness has, in some cases, reached corporate proportions. A successful joint mission between Peru and Brazil last year is expected to be the template for future multinational operations.

The U.S. Navy has awarded a contract to Boeing to develop the P-8A patrol aircraft while another variant is being designed for signals, communications and intelligence gathering. The patrol aircraft is expected to replace the aging EP-3Es.

The Pentagon's budget for Fiscal 2010 will remain unchanged, with reforms recommended by President Barack Obama's to be included in spending plans for Fiscal 2011. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force's aerial refueler and bomber programs are expected to undergo major changes, including the implementation of a dual-source acquisition strategy.

The U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps are expected to unveil effective weapons such as airborne electronic weapons and UAVs to counter cyberwar situations. But uncertainties remain over who will command and control the technology operationally and strategically, as also the appropriate situations of their employment.

A joint, networked, manned and unmanned organization is being set up in South Korea to oversee the armistice with North Korea and deter military activity.

The main reasons for the Georgian military to collapse and allow the Russians to rule the battlefield are a number of blunders by Georgia. Some of these blunders responsible for the Georgian military collapse are discussed.

The introduction of Global Hawk and the advanced operations center (AOC) will help the U.S. Air Force to develop new paths for intelligence collection, targeting, command and control. The dependence of the U.S. Air Force on net-centric operations makes it vulnerable to exploitation or disruption by unfriendly forces.

The U.S. electronic surveillance from Syria during Israel's attack on it has revealed that Israel is far superior in the high-tech battle as compared to Syria.

The unmanned aircraft X-47B is proposed with stealth features designed on carrier operations and low-observance features.

The formal launch of competition for refueling tankers is followed by questions that are emerging about the capacity of service to adequately adjudicate the massive duel between European designed Airbus A330 and a combination of Boeing 767 and 777 aircraft. The bidders namely Northrop Grumman/EADS North America team versus Boeing is focusing on a fair competition for future tanker.

Italy is in desperate need of a new generation of tankers, multi-role fighters and unmanned aircraft that can both protect the homeland from illegal immigration and smuggling as well as project airpower as part of an international force. However, defense planners must figure out how the Italian air force (ITAF) can start assembling a 21st century, network-centric force on the cheap while ensuring that any system, already under contract, does not eat up a disproportionate part of the defense budget.

The fighting in Lebanon triggered a debate in Israel about the division of missions between its air force and army and revealed classified technology that Tel Aviv kept under wraps prior to the simultaneous conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The continuation of the fighting is inevitable as both the US and Israeli military officials doubt that UN or Lebanese troops could disarm Hezbollah.

Australia's top planners began with the search for a airborne radar that could pick out small targets at great distance, but a vision made a quantum leap into the esoteric world of network-centric warfare with development of the Wedgetail aircraft. Dubbed an airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C), the aircraft when fielded in the next couple of years, the Boeing 737-based platform would become the hub of net-centric operations and conduct a wide range of active and passive surveillance.

New technologies are expected to propel development of miniature electronics for tiny aircrafts that converts radio-frequency (RF) energy to light or digital data, and micro-mechanical devices. The Digital RF Apertures is the direct integration of digital receivers, exciters and transceivers so that basically the interface from the antenna is the digital fiber-optic part that is sending digital signals back to some distributed computer.

The latest electronic warfare weapon (EW) is designed to make up for the defects that complex, integrated air defenses would have. The EW weapons have the ability to shift instantly from deceiving enemy radars about the invading US aircraft range, speed or location to blasting with enough energy to damage enemy's electronic components.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become a staple of military operations. The tale of UAVs can be traced to flying bomb experiments that began in World War I. The future prospects of Eaves and Unmanned Combat Air System (Caves) are appearing to be bright with the planners' shrugging off their reservations about unmanned flights.

The author examines the U.S. Air Force's use of the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle. Topics include use of electro-optical surveillance equipment, electro-optical targeting systems, and infrared imaging.

The U.S. Department of Defense is weighing a plan to attack Iraq with the growing confrontation with North Korea. The U.S., which is working to coordiante war plans with Russia and Turkey through the United Nations Security Council, may be overextended if it must use aircraft carrier groups both in Asia and the Middle East.

Israel's aerospace and defense industries are dependent on export sales, with about 50% of all products sold to users outside the country, so their product development takes international trends and needs into consideration. Products in development are discussed.

The US Operation Anaconda in the war in Afghanistan is discussed. Strike aircraft and a helicopter force were used as US troops pursued Al Qaeda and Taliban forces into the mountains in winter in a tactical surprise.

The US Navy's use of P-3 reconnaissance aircraft in the Afghanistan conflict is discussed. Equipment is discussed along with the overall situation, in which Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are fleeing the area.

The fiscal year 2003 defense budget is increased about $50 billion to $379.3 billion, but only small changes in defense priorities are evident. Procurement rates for aircraft are still below levels needed to replace the aging fleet. Specific programs and their budgets are discussed.

The Pentagon has cut funding for the Joint Sigint Avionics Family (JSAF) program while the U.S. Air Force vows to restore the program's budget. The JSAF program's budget problems have created uncertainty over the future of the Global Hawk remotely piloted vehicle.

US military leaders will launch a real-time strike operation to attack moving targets in Afghanistan within five minutes of identifying them. Equipment and strategy for the operation are discussed along with recent developments in the war.

Russian researchers hope to market antistealth technology to other countries, and surface-to-air system builders Antey Industrial Co. and the Almaz Central Design Bureau are close to making stealth detection designs which work at under 60 miles.

As the Iranian and Iraqi military capabilities grow more menacing with time, the Israeli Air Force increases in statue and importance. Israeli Air Force is undergoing a major modernization program, -- airplane and missile capacity alike.

An overview of the European aerospace industry is presented.

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Pres Clinton's FY 1997 defense budget cuts procurement to $38.9 billion, contrary to his promise earlier that spending would increase. The cuts make it unlikely that the $60 billion budget the Pentagon considers necessary will ever be adopted. And it casts doubts on the US's ability to fight a two-theater war. Pentagon officials remain optimistic that the $60 billion mark is achievable. Overall defense spending in 1997 would come to $242.6 billion.

Retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Buster Glosson, who planned the US air war against Iraq during the Gulf War, says that US air power made the difference in the war, adding that American have come to understand the dominant nature of air power. Speaking on the 5th anniversary of the war, Glosson, now head of Alliance Partners, says that among the several legacies of the Gulf War was the need for such high-tech equipment as an all-weather precision munition.

Foreign governments hope to be able to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles for both civil and military uses. The vehicles have environmental uses, such as surveillance of agricultural use and oil spills as well and use in stealth surveillance. The two vehicles available are the DarkStar and the Predator.

Defense Dept officials with authority over black budget programs acknowledge that 12 aviation-related programs exist, with at least two fixed-wing and helicopter projects in development. One of the fixed-wing programs involves attack aircraft. Other revelations about black budget programs are provided.

The US Air Force and Navy dropped Northrop Grumman's Pampa 2000 aircraft from a list of candidates for the JPATS trainer program because of problems with spin recovery. Beech Aircraft, Cessna, Rockwell Deutsche Aerospace, Tucano and Lockheed Aermacchi remain in the competition.

The US Navy and US Air Force are just starting to conceive of the myriad of functions the Joint Stand Off Weapon can be used for. While it was designed to carry any one of a number of warheads it could also be used to send food and supplies to remote forces.

The article discusses the tendency of classified Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to become faster and slower, and to fly higher as well as lower. Some of the different attributes that are coming on line for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) designs under development are highlighted.

The article discusses the changing role of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) wherein it is moving into the role of providing foreign customers with systems tailored to their specific military needs. Some of the other innovations that IAI is producing are highlighted.

Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) is developing the Arrow 3 exoatmospheric interceptor, with initial operational capability expected in 2013. The Arrow 3 is part of Israel's effort to expand its sensor and interceptor capabilities against a possible ballistic missile attack by Iran.

The need to once again make use of air-launched, missile defense systems appears to be gaining popularity with the Pentagon. Details of the new concept developed by the Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) to kill theater ballistic missiles (TBMs) are highlighted.

The U.S. Navy's (USN's) Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) competition will help tackle the problem of electronic and cyber attack and will make use of advanced technologies such as an active, electronically scanned array (AESA), advanced radars, digitized exciters and techniques generators. ITT Electronic Systems and Boeing are quite optimistic about being selected for the forthcoming maturation phase along with three other competitors, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.

The demand for enhanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in Afghanistan have led to the demand and development of several new, small and sophisticated aircraft designs against the Taliban's tactical flexibility. However, several challenges remain, the main one being that the electronic battlefield in Afghanistan is very different from that in Iraq, due to a lack of infrastructure.

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is planning to use the Air National Guard F-15C Golden Eagles upgraded with advanced, long-range radars to add to the service following the capping on additional F-22 stealth fighters. Some of the different uses that the F-15s will be put to are highlighted.

Intelligence agencies in the U.S. and all over the globe are all focusing their efforts on developing accelerated communications systems. Glimmerglass claims to have developed an optical signal management system using 3D MEMS technology and then system will be of great use to the armed forces of the world.

The article discusses the increasing focus of the Pentagon and the Obama administration on development of cyber warfare capabilities. Some of the challenges facing tactical electronic attack aircraft use and ways in which they can be overcome are highlighted.

The U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates plans to move resources from the higher-end large defense projects to those that are dual-use and can be applied to a range of operations. However, the 2012 budget request will provide funding for the Prompt Global Strike conventional land-attack weapon, the future bomber program as well as other future rotorcraft programs.

The competition to design, build and demonstrate prototypes of the Joint and Allied Threat Awareness System (Jatas) to be of use to protect U.S. Navy (USN) and U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft is reaching decision stage. The two competitors for the Jatas program are Lockheed Martin and the team of Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and BAE Systems.

The increasing threat to U.S. helicopters and pilots during operations in Afghanistan have led to a need for further enhancement of the already in use laser-equipped Atircum (Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures) to defeat any missiles currently in use. However, the biggest challenge that still remains is the use of a lot of low-tech weapons.

The US missile industry is pinning its hopes on SDI-type antimissile defense programs, since many traditional strategic weapons programs have been abandoned as a result of the Cold War's end. The industry is stressing the need to counter threats by nations such as Syria and North Korea.

The U.S. is going all out in its efforts to develop next-generation weapons involving electronic attack, network invasion, information operations and other nonkinetic weaponry. However, many skeptics feel that the U.S. has not been successful in establishing a lead to keep it safe from foreign attacks.

The plans by the Pentagon to integrate intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) into a major Air Force command appear to be fading. The final decision was to maintain the ISR agency as a separate organization with the sole aim of providing global integrated ISR.