LOCATIONS
LAND
07 Dec 09. Cobham is significantly enhancing its existing presence in India through the establishment of a wholly owned subsidiary, Cobham India Private Limited. With offices in New Delhi and Bangalore, Cobham India Private Limited will open during the first quarter of 2010. Cobham India Private Limited will provide all Indian customers with a single point of contact resulting in closer working relationships with key customers and partners such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited and the Indian armed forces. Focusing on long-term strategic partnerships that create sustainable value to Indian industry, Cobham is also actively engaged in pursuing technical and business partnerships with private Indian companies and institutions.
04 Dec 09. EADS opened its research and technology branch in Bangalore, its third outside Europe, to take up joint projects in the areas of engineering and information technology. EADS Innovation Works India would manage and broker research and technology projects for the EADS business units and corporate R & T organisation, top company officials told a press conference in Bangalore. Some of the projects to be carried out by EADS Innovation Works India would be performed in collaboration with Indian partners such as the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institutes of Technology, the company said. (Source: Google)
MARITIME
03 Dec 09. HMS DAUNTLESS: Delivered. The second Type 45 destroyer, HMS DAUNTLESS, was handed over to the MoD (3 Dec 09) at Portsmouth Naval Base by BAE Systems. During the ceremony, the BAE Systems Company flag was lowered and the White Ensign raised for the first time.
Comment: First of Class, HMS DARING, is expected to enter RN service formally in February 2010. DAUNTLESS (above) should follow in 2011, DIAMOND and DRAGON in 2012, DEFENDER in 2013 and DUNCAN in 2014. Following media criticism, the MoD confirmed (4 Dec 09) that the Type 45’s Sea Viper air defence systems would not be fully operational until 2011. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 10/46, 07 Dec 09)
Dec 09. HMS NOTTINGHAM: Decommissioning. Navy News (December 2009) noted that HMS NOTTINGHAM is to be decommissioned on 27 Feb 10 in Portsmouth Naval Base.
Comment: The Type 42 destroyer is in a low state of readiness. As NOTTINGHAM leaves the Fleet, DARING is due to join (Item 4) and the number of escorts will remain at 23. From March 2010 the escorts in the Fleet are expected to be: one Type 45, five Type 42, 13 Type 23 and four Type 22. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 10/46, 07 Dec 09)
11 Dec 09. Aircraft carrier weapons handling system achieves milestone. An important milestone has been reached with the delivery of the first component of the Highly Mechanised Weapons Handling System (HMWHS), being designed and built by Babcock for the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers. The first pair of hydraulically operated magazine lift doors, each measuring 12 metres wide by 3 metres high and weighing 6000 kg, have now been delivered for integration. These will be fitted within the deep magazine complex and are designed to operate automatically as part of the HMWHS. Delivery of the doors was required at this early stage in the build programme as their size and location within the ship means that the doors are an integral component of the vessel. The door insert is welded into the bulkhead of the ship. The QE class HMWHS provides mechanical handling facilities for moving palletised munitions around the deep magazine and weapon preparation areas, and a series of weapons lifts to connect the magazines, hangar, weapon preparation area and flight deck. This innovative solution to munitions handling represents the first maritime application of shore-based commercial warehousing processes using automated systems with all-electric control, adapted for safe transport and stowage of munitions in a warship environment. It is estimated to yield a