22 Aug 06. Lockheed Martin Signs Deal to Modernize Albania’s Coastal Surveillance System. Lockheed Martin Corp. signed a US$17m (euro13.2m) contract with Albania on Tuesday to install a maritime surveillance system that the government said will help it fight organized crime along its coasts. The U.S.-based company will install command and sensor centers with radars that will collect data for defense and law enforcement officials to identify vessel trafficking and control security along Albania’s Adriatic and Ionian coasts.
21 Aug 06. Japanese-built Hybrid is only Honda Civic sedan sold in UK. Old model was manual only, redesign on sale since April. Honda (UK) has secured Britain’s biggest ever fleet deal for hybrid cars from London’s Metropolitan Police which has ordered 117 Civic Hybrids for its community support officers to use as part of a safer neighbourhoods scheme – an initiative to increase police presence on the streets. Officers will use the cars to travel from their operational bases to the start of their foot patrols. The cars are not patrol cars – those, which make up around 60% of the fleet, are mainly high performance diesel-fuelled models. (Source: just-auto.com editorial team)
21 Aug 06. Airport security staff could have new explosive detection technology at their fingertips within the next two years, according to a Scottish-based optoelectronic applications company. Scientists at Cascade Technologies, the world-leader in the application of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), have achieved ground-breaking performance with a sensor technology that has shown the potential to fingerprint explosives in a few milliseconds. It is envisaged that such a sensor would be capable of detecting explosives like the TATP compound that was reported to have been part of the recent terror plots of London underground and the failed attempt to blow up passenger planes. Early results also predict that home-made highly volatile improvised explosive devices (IEDs) could be detected on cross contaminated materials, making the technology a strong contender to expose people who have recently handled such IED.
23 Aug 06. SI International, Inc has been named a qualified Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) systems service provider by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The GSA approval enables SI International to provide card management and production, enrollment, and integration solutions for HSPD-12 implementations. HSPD-12 is a presidential directive outlining identification card standards for federal employees and contractors. The standards were created to eliminate the wide variations of identification credentials used to gain access to secure Federal facilities where there is a potential for terrorist attacks. HSPD-12 directs the implementation of a smart card identification and credentialing process, which is designed to enhance security; reduce identity fraud, tampering, counterfeiting, and terrorist exploitation; and protect the personal privacy of those issued government identification.