Military Roundup: Fort Hood Shooter's Execution, Boeing's PAC-3 Seeker Output Boost, and the AI Polygraph Debate

According to the evidence, Nidal Malik Hasan, the former U.S. Army officer who killed 13 people and injured 32 others in the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting, will be executed by U.S. Army firing squad. ^[1]

Boeing has locked in a seven-year agreement to triple PAC-3 MSE seeker production; the deal follows a framework agreement announced in April, and production will be completed at Boeing's Huntsville facility. ^[2][6]

On the question of whether the Pentagon has given up on using AI for polygraph-style analysis of trustworthiness, critics argue that AI-aided scanning of speech patterns, vocal stress or facial expressions to "read minds" lacks scientific backing and will compound errors. ^[3][4]

In historical reminiscences, a Mach 3 U.S. Air Force SR-71 Blackbird once buzzed Sacramento's control tower at low altitude in afterburner; retired SR-71 pilot Maury Rosenberg recalled to Aviation Geek Club that a colonel asked whether any Air Force regulation banned approaches at Sacramento. In 1987, while flying a United 767, Rosenberg met a former Sacramento controller who said people in the terminal hid, thinking the Blackbird would hit the building. ^[5]

It should be noted that the Fort Hood shooting took place in 2009 and the SR-71 Sacramento incident occurred in 1987; both are historical events or historical recollections and should not be presented as news of the day. ^[1][5]