HOMELAND SECURITY
02 Jun 09. Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team Certified For Guam and the United States Virgin Islands. The Department of Defense (DoD) notified Congress yesterday that the Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams (WMD-CST) of the Guam and U.S. Virgin Islands National Guard are now certified. The 94th WMD-CST of Barrigada, Guam, and the 23rd WMD-CST of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, are fully ready to assist civil authorities in responding to a domestic weapon of mass destruction incident, and possesses the requisite skills, training, and equipment to be proficient in all mission requirements. The teams certified today bring the total number of teams certified by DoD to 55, which completes the 55 authorized by Congress to ensures one team is fielded in every state, territory, and the District of Columbia.
03 Jun 09. The Japan Ground Self Defense Force recently exercised an option on an existing contract with Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] and its trading partner Itochu, of Tokyo, for the delivery of additional Enhanced Biological Aerosol Warning Systems (EBAWS). Lockheed Martin’s EBAWS will be used by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Defense Units of the Japan Ground Self Defense Forces to provide early warning of a biological attack. The EBAWS consists of an array of networked, remote sensors which provide an early warning of the possible presence of a hazardous biological aerosol cloud. The system delivers a high probability of threat detection, while minimizing false alarms, using a sophisticated detection algorithm. The network of sensors eliminates the possibility of a single sensor causing a system-wide alarm. In addition to the biological aerosol detection capability, each remote sensor measures wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, location data and has the capability to collect an air sample for subsequent agent confirmation and identification. Designed for the tactical battlefield, EBAWS is simple to deploy, operate and maintain.