*Moog Inc. [MOG.A, MOG.B] acquired video surveillance manufacturer Videoalarm, Inc., for $45 million in cash, marking its first deal that directly positions itself in the video surveillance market space. In addition to integrated cameras, Georgia-based Videoalarm makes vandal resistant protective housings for surveillance systems and networked solutions. The acquisition complements Moog’s 2007 acquisition of QuickSet International, a manufacturer of precision positioning systems and pan and tilt mechanisms. QuickSet’s products are used to position surveillance cameras, thermal imagers, sensors and communication antennae for military, homeland security and commercial applications. Videoalarm had $19.5 million in sales last year.
*President Obama last week directed his national security and homeland security advisors to conduct a 60-day review of the plans, programs and activities ongoing throughout the federal government for cyber security. The review will be led by Melissa Hathaway, who has served as the cyber coordination executive to the Director of National Intelligence. She will serve as acting director for Cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security Councils during the review period. Rich Cooper, a principal at the homeland and national security consulting firm Catalyst Partners, says in a blog for the Adfero Group that putting Hathaway in charge of the review “gives me hope that the Obama Administration is going to move out quickly to address the cyber issue seriously and competently.” The White House says the “review will develop a strategic framework to ensure that the United States government cyber security initiatives are appropriately integrated, resources and coordinated with Congress and the private sector.”
*Congress, in approving the nearly $790 billion economic recovery bill, wants the Department of Homeland Security to develop spending plans within 45 days for over $2 billion of the fiscal stimulus monies being provided to various agencies within the department once the bill is signed. Overall The American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 contains $2.8 billion for DHS. The bill provides $1 billion for the Transportation Security Administration to buy and install checked baggage explosives detection systems and checkpoint explosives detection equipment. The bill does contain a “Buy American” provision that would likely eliminate one vendor, United Kingdom-based Smiths Detection, from supplying its Advanced Technology X-Ray systems for checkpoint screening at U.S. airports. The bill also includes $100 million for the “expedited development and deployment” of border surveillance technology along the southwest U.S. border. Another $60 million is provided for procuring and deploying tactical communications equipment and radios for border security. And Customs and Border Protection will receive $100 million for the purchase of Non-Intrusive Inspection equipment for inspecting vehicles and containers at the nation’s ports of entry.