Author: Aaron Gregg
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For this company, online surveillance leads to profit
In a small office in Ashburn, Va., ensconced among the government contractors that make up the Dulles Technology Corridor, a start-up called Babel Street is bringing government-style surveillance to an entirely new market. The company’s web crawlers, offered under a subscription called Babel X, trawl some 40 online sources, scooping up data from popular sites…
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Defense Department to spend $5.6 billion on 74 more F-35 fighter planes
The Defense Department has announced that it is paying $5.57 billion to expand the U.S. military’s arsenal of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters by 74 planes. The contract action is seen as an early stamp of progress for the next “lot” of planes, which the Defense Department Joint Program Office and Bethesda-based defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin…
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Pentagon moves to shut foreign firms out of its supply chain
The Pentagon is taking initial steps to more closely enforce so-called “Buy American” laws, elevating a series of Depression-era statutes that require manufacturers to rely on U.S. materials when they make guns, equipment, uniforms and food for the nation’s military. A June 30 memo from the Office of Management and Budget provides new guidance on how federal…
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Dept. of Homeland Security frees Emirati airline from laptop ban
Etihad Airways has been exempted from a U.S. ban on laptops and other electronics for flights from Abu Dhabi International Airport, officials said Sunday, the change to a three-month-old Trump administration policy affecting flights to the United States from eight Muslim-majority countries. The other airlines and airports included in the March laptop ban remain affected by it.…
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Lockheed Martin, Pentagon announce F-35 deal that shaves $728M in costs
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin announced on Friday a contract deal for the next batch of 90 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets that shaves $728 million off the total cost of the program and brings the per plane cost of the stealth plane below $95 million for the first time. The contract is “a good…
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Trump says Lockheed Martin has cut $600 million from F-35 program
President Donald Trump said Monday that Lockheed Martin has cut $600 million from its next lot of 90 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter planes, capping weeks of private meetings with Lockheed Martin chief executive Marillyn Hewson, and public criticisms of the program’s cost. He specified that the cost savings would apply to the company’s next lot…
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Mars and Wrigley re-brand to create confectionery giant
Mars, the privately held candymaker responsible for classic chocolate brands like M&M’s, Milky Way and Snickers, is rebranding its candy offerings as Mars Wrigley Confectionery and moving management of its confectionery business to Chicago. Mars bought Wrigley for $23 billion in 2008 but Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which helped fund the deal, retained a 20…