___ The Navy expects Egypt to sign a letter of acceptance finalizing a foreign military sale of 10 SH-2G helicopters by next month, according to Capt. Joe Haddock, director of the Navy's H-60 office. Haddock said the SH-2G program team went to Egypt last month to settle negotiations that began more than two years ago. The SH-2 Light Airborne Multi Purpose System (LAMPS) Mark I had its entry into the Navy's fleet in the early 1970s. The SH-2F was the...

___ The Joint Staff is expected to give the full House Committee on National Security a classified operations and intelligence briefing on Wednesday (Jan. 18). According to a Pentagon source, the "Military 101" style briefing will address current Department of Defense operations for the first time to the new committee. The briefing, scheduled to last less than one hour, will specifically discuss the status of U.S. military operations including Operations Deny Flight, Provide Promise, Sharp Guard/Able Sentry, and Provide Hope...

TREATY ___ Seventeen senior House Republicans, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and House National Security Committee Chairman Floyd Spence (R-SC), have written President Clinton asking him to suspend talks with Russia that could potentially result in changes to the 1972 ABM Treaty. "It is our expectation that the new Congress and relevant congressional committees will want, as an early order of business, to examine the wisdom of expanding the ABM Treaty's limitations in the name of `demarcating' strategic and...

___ The signing of a contract between the United States and British Aerospace to test the Advanced Short-Range-Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) under the Pentagon's foreign comparative test program has been on hold since mid-December, Pentagon and congressional sources said. The contract allows the Navy and the Air Force to test the ASRAAM at a testing site in the United States. The services were goaded into testing the missile after the Senate Appropriations Committee ordered that the ASRAAM be considered as a...

___ The Navy is accelerating by two years the initial operational capability for parts of the Battle Force Tactical Training (BFTT) program, Capt. Drew Beasley, the program's manager told an industry group last week. Rear Adm. Philip Coady, the Navy's director of surface warfare, told the group the program is "the bedrock of training in the future." Capt. Drew Beasley told the National Training Systems Association on Jan. 11 that the BFTT system will be installed on the Landing Ship...

___ Defense Agencies * Complaints from services & others that agencies do not get close scrutiny * Looking at eight Agencies within this issue, others covered in other issue teams * Assessing management oversight/resource allocation process for all agencies * Examining organizational options including privatization * Ensuring agencies retain customer focus Procurement Oversight/Auditing * Excessive number of auditors/intrusive methods * Major opportunity for process improvement savings * Need to get control of oversight/auditing Army Central Logistics Support * Study effort...

___ Within less than one month the Naval Air Systems Command expects to begin reviewing contractor proposals for testing a Russian-built anti-ship missile for use as a Navy target and will award a contract by March 1. Paid for under the Defense Department's Foreign Comparative Test program, the Navy effort is unique in that it is relying on Russian technology to solve a vexing problem for Navy surface ships -- defending themselves against anti-ship missiles. In late December the Navy...

___ As it considers what responsibilities active duty forces should have in future military operations, the Commission on Roles and Missions also is determining how significant a role the Naval Reserves should play in future operations other than war. John White, the commission's chairman, told Inside the Navy last week that one issue of concern is "finding the proper mix" between the military reserve forces and the active duty forces. Franklin Raines, a commission member, said that it may result...