MANAGEMENT ON THE MOVE
LOCATIONS
08 Jun 09. The US Army has delayed its plans for the inactivation of V Corps headquarters and the transition of the US Army Europe headquarters into a deployable field army headquarters. The Heidelberg unit is the only forward-deployed corps in the US Army and has twice led Multinational Corps-Iraq, the tactical command unit in charge of operations in Iraq. This move, according to Secretary of the Army Pete Geren, would allow the army to evaluate its overall command and control requirements and is part of a larger effort to relieve the demands placed on the army’s corps headquarters. The one-year retention of V Corps headquarters in Germany from July 2009 to July 2010 will not fall under 2005 base closure and realignment commission and will have no effect on the two heavy brigade combat teams currently placed in Europe.V corps headquarters will maintain its current military authorisation of 411 personnel, and US Army Europe headquarters will maintain its current military authorisation of 377 personnel. The priority function of V Corps will be to ensure units that deploy from Europe for operational missions are trained and ready.
22 May 09. Russia to continue using Ukrainian pilot training centre. Ukraine’s defence minister Yury Yekhanurov has said Russia can continue using the Nitka naval pilot training centre. The Nitka centre has been under Ukrainian jurisdiction since the fall of the Soviet Union, with Russian use of the facility dependent on its relations with Kiev. These have been frayed in recent years over gas supplies and the pro-Western tilt of some of Kiev’s policies. (Source: Jane’s, JDW)
LAND
06 Jun 09. Hobson Industries Ltd, the Lincolnshire, U.K -based specialist engineering company, will announce at DVD 2009, the launch of a new specialist ballistic testing house, the Dolphin Gun Company. Hobsons hold Home Office Section 5 Authority and Registered Firearms Dealer Licence No. Lincolnshire 234. Dolphin is a Division of Hobson Industries and holds Registered Firearms Dealer Licence No. Lincolnshire 238. Dolphin will use and expand the ballistic facilities built by Peter Hobson at the Hobson Donington on Bain facility in 2006.
“We built the original ballistic facility to develop and test our own armouring solutions away from the glare of the public and competitors. Over the last year, we have received a number of enquiries from companies wishing to use our facilities for pre-qualification of armouring solutions prior to submission to the MoD. We have appointed Mik Maksimovic as our Managing Partner to run the business. Mik has years of experience in ballistic testing and specialist rifle and ammunition manufacture. Mik is one of the Senior Trustees of the National Rifle Association at Bisley in Surrey and has shot there for many years as well as shooting with Peter in the Great Britain and England teams during the past 7 years.” Peter Hobson, Managing Director of Hobson Industries said.
1. Armour test rigs – steel and ceramic.
2. Muzzle velocity testing.
3. High-speed camera for filming tests.
4. Temperature and Humidity control monitors.
5. Ammunition manufacturing equipment and components and in-theatre ammunition for specific threat testing.
6. A complete range of current and past weapons in theatre up to .338 Lap Mag for testing.
7. Test recording equipment for velocity and muzzle energy.
8. Fully secure encased concrete indoor range.
9. Full range of acoustic protection headsets and PPE.
10. Home Office Section 5 Authority for storage.
Mik Maksimovic, General Manager of Dolphin said, “I am delighted to work with Peter Hobson to develop the ballistic facility. In our first weeks of operations we have had enquiries world wide and have conducted tests on a whole range of ballistic material. Given the current requirements from Iraq and Afghanistan we test all our materials to the levels used by the opposition. With our specialist ammunition facility we