‘Fiscal Cliff’ Gets Short Shrift in Presidential Debate?

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The Aerospace Industries Association is unhappy that Tuesday night’s presidential debate did not get into what will dominate the political discussion in Washington once the election is over: the “fiscal cliff” and sequestration cuts, reports The Hill.  Also: Foreign Policy’s Gordon Adams ticks off five reasons why the Pentagon will avoid the pain of sequestration.

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Lockheed Martin marked the completion of the first F-35 Lightning II Full Mission Simulators (FMS) at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS), Yuma, Ariz.  The air station will be home to the first operational Marine Corps F-35 squadrons worldwide. Also: Lockheed Martin’s F-35A Joint Strike Fighter performed its first in-flight weapons release, reports Flightglobal. Conventional take-off and landing test aircraft AF-1 dropped a JDAM bomb over the China Lake, CA, weapons range Oct. 16.

Boeing is consciously taking a departure from its normal design process in coming up with a concept for the forthcoming U.S. Air Force T-38C replacement competition, reports Defense eTech, which suggests this process could help shape the company’s bids for other Pentagon competitions to come — such as the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) and next-generation bomber.

China is considering protecting its defense-related scientific, technological and industrial facilities as military zones, according to a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officer, as reported in China Daily USA. Some key organizations will be zoned as forbidden military areas or restricted military areas. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in comments published on a government web site Wednesday, said his nation’s economy is “quite good,” though economic analysts have downgraded their forecasts for Chinese growth, according to the Financial Times.

Small business owners are overconfident about the safety of their business data, says BYTE. Vulnerabilities include computer and mobile phone security and payment systems.

Companies that have “strategic resilience” have learned how to adapt to broad threats in their business environments, says Bloomberg Businessweek’s Management Blog