US seeks to modernize NATO, deepen partnerships

The United States will push to modernize NATO, deepen alliance partnerships and hammer out details of the Afghanistan withdrawal at an upcoming summit, White House officials said Thursday.

"The alliance needs to be more deployable and more adaptable and we're taking those lessons learned from Afghanistan and integrating them into our planning going forward," said Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, the National Security Council's director of European affairs.

NATO is pursuing a number of "smart defense" initiatives that will ensure that in an era of constrained military budgets, the transatlantic military alliance acts as a "force multiplier" that avoids "duplication or wasted expenditure," she said.

Baltic members are working to enhance their contributions and Sherwood-Randall said she anticipates that "substantial announcements" on air defense will be made as part of a "big package of capabilities" that will be presented at the summit.

US to pull 9,000 Marines from southern Japan

The United States said Friday it would pull 9,000 Marines out of Japan as it seeks to ease a long-running standoff over the future of its huge military presence in one of its top Asian allies.

The redeployment will see the troops sent to Guam, Hawaii and Australia.

Withdrawing troops was originally part of plans to move a busy US airbase on Okinawa to another area of the southern island chain but US officials decided to separate the two issues due to ongoing opposition to the base relocation.

In a joint statement issued in Washington and Tokyo, the two sides said they remained committed to move the Futenma base from its present urban site to a coastal spot.

Iran 'mobilizing' for cyberwar with West

Cyber Defense

Iran is busy acquiring the technical know-how to launch a potentially crippling cyber-attack on the United States and its allies, experts told a congressional hearing on Thursday, urging the US to step up its defensive measures.

"Over the past three years, the Iranian regime has invested heavily in both defensive and offensive capabilities in cyberspace," said Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council.

"Equally significant, its leaders now increasingly appear to view cyber-warfare as a potential avenue of action against the United States," he told a House Homeland Security subcommittee.

Patrick Meehan, Republican chairman of the committee, also sounded an alarm over the cyber-security threat posed by Iran to western nations.

US House passes controversial cybersecurity bill

Cyber Defense

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation protecting US businesses and agencies from cyber-attacks, a measure that critics say erodes civil liberties by allowing firms to onpass private data.

The Republican-controlled chamber defied a veto threat by the White House to pass the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) in a 248-162 vote.

Its fate is less assured in the Democratically controlled Senate, but supporters like House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers said it was vital to shore up computer systems woefully vulnerable to outside attack.

"We can't stand by and do nothing as US companies are hemorrhaging from the cyber-looting coming from nation states like China and Russia," Rogers said.

Reagan envoy found Pakistan 'superb liar' on nukes: US memos

US officials concluded in the 1980s that Pakistan was lying about its nuclear program but muted criticism due to Islamabad's support against the Soviets in Afghanistan, declassified documents showed.

The memos to be released Thursday reveal some of the behind-the-scenes drama between the United States and Pakistan during Ronald Reagan's presidency, foreshadowing current-day debates in the uneasy war partnership.

The documents included an account of a secret mission in June 1982 by a US envoy who confronted Pakistani military ruler Mohammed Zia ul-Haq with a letter from Reagan and said the United States had "incontrovertible" proof that Pakistan was seeking nuclear weapons.

USAF Minuteman Missile Test Launch

Northrop Grumman recently supported the successful reliability testing of the United States Air Force's Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) weapons system. The Northrop Grumman led ICBM prime team includes Boeing, Lockheed Martin, ATK and more than 20 other subcontractors.

The ICBM team is responsible for overall sustainment of the weapon system including development, production, deployment and system modifications.

The operational test was designated Glory Trip 203GM. The test launch proceeded as planned with the missile traveling roughly 4,800 miles in 30 minutes.

The Minuteman III carried a single Mk21 re-entry vehicle specially instrumented to measure operational performance parameters such as in-flight reliability and accuracy.

The re-entry vehicle landed on target in a pre-designated area within the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site near Kwajalein Atoll in the western chain of the Marshall Islands.

Brazil-U.S. arms talks break new ground?

Brazilian-U.S. talks on sharing defense technologies may prove central to the Obama administration's plans to reopen Latin America and the Caribbean region to exports by advanced aviation and defense manufacturers in search of new markets, industry analysts said.

Brazilian Defense Minister Celso Amorim scheduled talks with visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on a possible review by Washington of restrictive terms governing aviation and defense sales, specifically advanced technology transfers as part of future sales.

The talks followed Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's meetings in Washington with U.S. President Barack Obama.

Amorim and Panetta talked in the framework of a new Defense Cooperation Dialogue agreed to between Obama and Rousseff in Washington