An X-37B in the garage. (Credit: Boeing)
Secret Space Plane Set to Launch on Mystery Mission Today -- Danger Room
After a delay of nearly two months owing to a technical glitch, the Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane is set to blast off again from Cape Canaveral, Florida, atop an Atlas rocket on Tuesday.
The launch, if successful, will commence the third mission in three years for the robotic X-37 fleet, assembled in Boeing’s now-shuttered Building 31 in Huntington Beach, California, for an estimated $1 billion apiece. But for all the time spent in orbit by the two school bus-size spacecraft — 693 days in all — it’s no more clear today precisely what the Air Force has been up to with the X-37s.
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MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE NEWS BRIEFS
Secretive X-37B space plane ready for next flight -- CNET
China's New Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Is A Big Deal -- Business Insider
UK Army plans to support Syrian rebels -- The Guardian
Analysis: Mexican navy to hold the fort during shift in drug war -- Reuters
Saudis and allies build cyberwar defenses -- Space Daily/UPI
Moscow to Get Updated Missile Defenses - Deputy Minister -- RIA Novosti
Russia Delivers Three Upgraded MiG-29 Fighter Jets to India -- RIA Novosti
Swiss to pay less than Swedes for Gripen jets -- The Local
What It Really Means If Canada Ditches America's F-35 -- Robert Johnson and Michael Kelley, Business Insider
Price comparisons for Canada's CF-18 replacement are now available -- Eric Palmer Blog
U.S. Proposes Major Precision-Guided Bomb Sale with Israel -- Defense News
US, France at Odds Over Mali Force -- AP
US Wants Out Of Pacific Islands Mess -- Aol Defense
U.S. approves upgrades of Japan's Aegis missile systems -- Reuters
Military brass dealing with an entrenched culture of alcohol use in Asia -- Stars and Stripes
Panetta: U.S. Military To Keep ‘Strong’ Role in Mideast -- Defense News
Pilot Calls F-35 ‘Big Leap’ in Fighter Capability -- US Department of Defense
Is the Pentagon developing a stealth drone? -- io9
U.S. spies see sci-fi world in near future -- Pam Benson, CNN
Hackers release FBI, Pentagon, NASA passwords -- TG Daily
Chuck Hagel, Touted As Next SecDef, Argues For Soft Power, Allies -- Aol Defense
Bill For Pentagon Audit Failures Adds Up -- Aviation Week
Military Faces Years of Spending Cuts, Experts Say -- Military.com/Virginia Pilot
‘Fiscal Cliff’ would challenge Army to maintain readiness -- Defence Talk
Senate moves to block Pentagon plans to increase number of spies overseas -- Washington Post
In ‘Zero Dark Thirty,’ she’s the hero; in real life, CIA agent’s career is more complicated -- Washington Post
Rising number of soldiers being dismissed for failing fitness tests -- Washington ost
VA triples funding for support program to combat homelessness -- Stars and Stripes
A Practical Approach to Military PTSD -- The Atlantic
Syria, Chemical Weapons And The Collapse of Deterrence -- Robbin Laird, Aol Defense
George Will: Is U.S. 'targeting' or 'assassinating' key terrorists? -- George Will, OC Register