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Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from got geoint? Monday, Monday…isn’t that a Mommas and Poppas tune? Anyhow, we are not sure if a nice melodic tune can help ease your transition back into the working world. However, we do know one thing that will. That is correct. The MMNKO post will do exactly that! We have pulled together all the actionable news you need to kick start your week. So, as we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on!

Women Rising to Upper Echelons of Defense Contractors
As women continue to press against the glass ceiling, more and more are beginning to break through as chief executives, federal officials and even presidential candidates. Now some are rising to the upper echelons of one of the nation’s most male-dominated sectors — the defense industry. Linda Hudson, named president of BAE Systems’ Arlington-based U.S. business last year, is now one of the highest-ranking women in the defense contracting business. Three of four operating divisions at Bethesda-based contracting powerhouse Lockheed Martin are run by women. Phebe N. Novakovic serves as executive vice president for marine systems at General Dynamics of Falls Church. Their rise is attracting notice: All five made Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business list this year, and that group doesn’t include Maryanne R. Lavan, who was named Lockheed’s first female general counsel. Read the full Washington Post story here.

CIA Drones Could be Grounded by Software Suit
A judge’s December ruling in an intellectual property law suit between two software firms in Massachusetts could strip the CIA’s Predator drones of their targeting software, the CEO of one of the companies says. Intelligent Integration Systems (IISi) of Boston, Mass., developer of a sophisticated mapping software that guides CIA drones, has accused its Netezza, its onetime partner in the deal, of stealing its technology after it refused to go along with an expedited production schedule allegedly demanded by the CIA. IISi maintains that its unique software was not ready for use in the Predator system and would cause missiles to miss their targets by up to 40 feet. Read the Washington Post blog post here.

Google Cars Drive Themselves, In Traffic
Google Inc. is road-testing cars that steer, stop and start without a human driver, the company says. The goal is to “help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions” through ride sharing and “the new ‘highway trains of tomorrow,’” project leader Sebastian Thrun wrote Saturday on Google’s corporate blog. The cars are never unmanned, Thrun wrote. He said a backup driver is always behind the wheel to monitor the software. t’s not the first signal that Google wants to change how people get from place to place. In a speech Sept. 29 at the TechCrunch “Disrupt” conference, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said “your car should drive itself. It just makes sense.” Read the full Huffington Post post here.

Google Earth Reveals Syrian Missile Base
A number of (relatively) recent satellite photos displayed on Google Earth indicate that the Syrian army has constructed a Scud missile base near Damascus. According to Avi Scharf of Ha’aretz, the Adra military facility is located in a deep valley and surrounded by 400-meter-high mountains. A series of concrete tunnels lead from the base into the mountains, where the Scuds are apparently stored. It should be noted that Syrian President Bashar Assad is currently arming the Iranian-backed, Lebanese-based Hizballah with Scud missiles, along with the more lethal M-600 projectile (a Fateh-110 variant), which boasts a 300 kilometer range. Read the full story here.

ManTech Completes Acquisition of QinetiQ Security and Intelligence Solutions Unit
ManTech International Corporation, a leading provider of innovative technologies and solutions for mission-critical national security programs, announced today that on Oct. 8, 2010, ManTech completed the acquisition of QinetiQ North America’s Security and Intelligence Solutions (S&IS) business for $60 million in cash. Headquartered in Fairfax, Va., S&IS provides integrated security solutions to the Department of Defense and the intelligence community. S&IS recently won a prime position on the Missile Defense Agency Engineering and Support Services (MiDAESS) contract (Functional Group 6), a five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract with a ceiling of $365 million. The S&IS business will be integrated within ManTech’s Mission, Cyber and Technology Solutions group, led by L. William Varner. Read the full press release here.

Get a Bird’s-Eye View as Projects Unfold
Despite severe limits on funding for road and transit projects, the D.C. area’s transportation landscape is changing rapidly in 2010. Google Maps and Google Earth are treating their users in this region to unusually recent images – dated Aug. 29 – that convey this rapid evolution, as seen from above rather than from the lanes. Check out some of these highlights – before the scene changes again. While this post is more for our DC-based readers, we hope you enjoy this story about how Google Earth is giving us some perspective on major transit projects in the area. Read the full story here.

Happy Monday!

Tags: GEOINT 2010, Google Cars, Google Cars that Drive Themselves, Google Earth Reveals Syrian Missle Base, got geoint?, ManTech, ManTech and QinetiQ acquisition, QinetiQ, USGIF, Women Defense Contractors