The United States administration announced the "Cloud First Initiative" in 2011. That was just two years after Gartner formally considered cloud computing a leading IT trend, and five years following the first large-scale commercial cloud offering, by Amazon (the Elastic Compute Cloud). The United States government, which is considered highly bureaucratic, hesitant towards trends and late to employ new technologies, became a pioneer of cloud services adoption.

The Russian policy in the Middle East generally and in Syria in particular is derived from Russia's global policy. The primary characteristic of Russia's global policy is the ever-intensifying conflict with the USA. This conflict is not just diplomatic, but one that attains a more and more military nature. The turning point in the Russian situation appraisal occurred as far back as 2003, when the USA developed the Prompt Global Strike (PGS) doctrine. Russia estimated that PGS constituted a radical change in the global military strategy of the USA.

Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor met on Tuesday with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, to discuss military cooperation, as well as aspects regarding the international security situation, investingromania reported.

Orbit Communications Systems, a provider of precision tracking-based communications solutions and airborne communications management systems, will display at the Satellite 2018 show its OceanTRx 7 Multiband, the world's first and only 2.2-meter multiband maritime satellite communications terminal capable of connecting ships everywhere and at all times.

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have developed a new Light Invariant Video Imaging (LIVI) software technology that can significantly improve picture clarity of cameras in sub-optimal lighting, thus enhancing object recognition. The new software app can be added to any existing smart camera system for various applications, including facial recognition for security use, as well as augmented reality.

Satellite images taken by the Israeli company ImageSat International (ISI) show what is believed to be a new Iranian base, located 12 km northwest of Damascus and operated by the Quds Force – the special operations arm of the IRGC.

The Egyptian and French navies conducted the joint exercise "Cleopatra 2018" in the Red Sea on February 20-23, 2018. In a statement, Egypt's Armed Forces spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said the exercise is part of the annual framework of joint drills.

The exercise involved drills using Mistral-class helicopter carriers, frigates, and special marine units. It also witnessed the participation of members of the air forces, air defense forces and the southern command, along with units from the French navy using helicopter carriers, frigates, and special units.

The Israeli company CAA has recently unveiled the new generation of the MICRO-RONI pistol conversion system (4th-generation). The system was first presented in January at the Shot-Show exhibition (Las Vegas, USA), and in early February, it was exposed to the Israeli market at a closed-door event that took place at the Rehovot shooting range, where representatives of various defense and security bodies were present. The system currently accommodates various models of Glock, and in the near future, there will be models suitable for CZ, Smith & Wesson, Beretta, and more.

Plasan, an Israeli manufacturer of armor protection solutions for vehicles, has signed a contract with BAE Systems, for the armoring of Type 26 Global Combat Ships for the UK Royal Navy. Armor production for the first three ships is expected to begin in 2018. The ships will be built at BAE Systems facilities in Glasgow, Scotland, considered the most advanced of their type in the world.

According to a report on the eghtesadnews website, the Iranian security services arrest