"Triple Canopy requires all employees to maintain the highest professional and ethical standards in every aspect of their work, including in high-threat environments such as Iraq," the statement said.

From these apparently disparate aims would come a single and entirely different aircraft: relatively high-tech, supersonic, and optimised for ground-attack in a high-threat environment.

It can still transmit jamming signals and drop expendables if the towed decoys all get shot down, but the system makes it more survivable in a high-threat environment.

MSD is composed of specially trained Diplomatic Security Service Special Agents that typically operate in high-threat environments with little outside support.

Witnesses are given 24-hour-a-day security while in a high-threat environment.

The U.S. Marshals provide 24-hour protection to all witnesses while they are in a high-threat environment including pretrial conferences, trial testimonials and other court appearances.

As a result, that Pentagon evaluation said the V-22 was suited only for low- and medium-threat environments, and is not "operationally effective" in high-threat environments.

Tulpar was designed for the dual role of providing fire support to friendly main battle tanks and safely transporting troops in a high-threat environment.

The Air Force explanation for this course of events was that the similarity would be helpful to the B-52 crews, who were inexperienced in flying in such high-threat environments.

Units are self-sufficient, 404-person mobile squadrons capable of rapid response and independent operations in remote, high-threat environments worldwide.