The State Department’s latest Country Report on Terrorism (formerly called Patterns of Global Terrorism) confirms that the rate of terrorist incidents increased by nearly 22 percent from 2005 to 2006. This is the first year, the department has had matching data, since it shifted to a “much broader definition of terrorism,” Russ Travers, deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said at a press briefing April 30. Most of the increase stems from incidents in Iraq. (Currently, State offers only a text version of the report.)
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.