A summary of the latest news and views in the defence industry, locally and overseas. Check out our webpage for daily news updates on the ADM home page and make sure you bookmark/RSS this for a regular visit.

The US Navy is working to keep the Littoral Combat Ship program's cost down, prioritising cost over schedule as the program continues through its 20-ship block buy, the Navy's acquisition chief told the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee last week.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress April 16 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the UK for 500 AGM-114-N4/P4 HELLFIRE missiles.

RPC have taken steps to expand their footprint in South East Asia, by creating two new companies; RPC Technologies Co Ltd of Thailand and RPC International Sdn Bhd (Malaysia).

The US Navy will be ordering marinized version of the M153 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) from Kongsberg Protech Systems to fulfill requirements for its remotely operated Stabilized Small Arm Mount (SSAM) weapon systems program.

The full version of Defence Week Premium no.250 of 26 April 2013 can be downloaded here as a PDF. A separate PDF of the latest Defence tenders can also be downloaded here.

BAE Systems Australia, prime contractor for the Navy's Landing Helicopter Dock ship program opened a state of the art training facility in Sydney on April 24.

The growing dependence on space systems within the ADF, the increasing number of foreign space systems, and the rapidly increasing amount of space debris, constitute a growing vulnerability to operations.

While some pundits have criticised Plan Beersheba's multi-role combat brigades force structure, the Army is undertaking a field trial of the proposed armoured cavalry regiment design and the future concept of employment for the multi-role combat brigades to be adopted by 1 Bde, 3 Bde and 7 Bde.

General Dynamics C4 Systems has announced that two of their AN/PRC-155 Manpack radios have successfully completed secure radio-to-radio voice and data communications tests through the network, as part of a MUOS end-to-end system test.

Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, Warren Snowdon has unveiled a full-scale model of the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter which the Defence Science and Technology Organisation will use to study the effects of electromagnetic compatibility and interference on the aircraft.

Micreo Limited has received the first production order from a leading defence prime contractor for wideband Microwave Optical Links for deployment in an airborne rugged environment.

Defence has signed a $1.1 billion contract with Telstra for the provision of telecommunications services.

Raytheon Australia has secured a limited number of placements on the Raytheon Principles of System Engineering Course.

A summary of the latest news and views in the defence industry, locally and overseas. Check out our webpage for daily news updates on the ADM home page and make sure you bookmark/RSS this for a regular visit.

Austal has recently christened USNS Millinocket at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. USNS Millinocket is the third of ten Joint High Speed Vessels Austal has under contract with the US Navy as part of an overall 10-ship contract worth over $1.6 billion.