Russian Navy – Russia is constructing the world’s deepest diving and quietest nuclear submarine.

• The Hindu: Russia builds world’s deepest submarine

US Marines – The Marines get a new helmet.

• Copley News Service: Marines ready to issue new, improved helmets

Background – Training – How the US military is outsourcing some of its training activities to civilian firms today; and how this most likely will increase tremendously in the future.

• Aviation Week: Arizona Co. with Fleet of A-4 Skyhawks Taps Huge Training Market

Background – Information Warfare – The first acknowledgements of how the US undermined Iraq’s military before the war.

• New York Times: U.S. Moved to Undermine Iraqi Military Before War
  

Background – Iraq – Having assumed responsibility for the physical and political reconstruction of an Arab state in the heart of the Middle East, the United States has yet to clearly articulate how this task is to be accomplished. Its success or failure will have wide-ranging strategic implications for Americaís relationship with the Arab/Islamic world, the war on terrorism, WMD proliferation, oil prices, and the political stability of friends and enemies alike. CDI Research Analyst Dr. Michael Donovan argues that the stakes for the United States have never been higher.

• Center for Defense Information: Iraqi Reconstruction Update No. 1: A Rough Start