LOCATIONS

LAND

25 Mar 10. WFS Technologies, the world’s leading developer of through-water and through-ground wireless communication, navigation and sensing solutions announces the opening of a new WFS Defense office based in Alexandria, Virginia. WFS Defense Inc. was formed in 2008, as a US affiliate of UK-based WFS Technologies, to provide the US Defense, Homeland Security and Government sectors with innovative and cost-effective wireless communication and telemetry solutions. The new office is based in the National Capital Region to allow WFS Defense to better serve the growing United States customer base with a local team of Research & Development, Engineering and Sales support experts. WFS Defense is also proud to announce that Dr. Thomas Nielsen has joined the company to head up the US R&D team. Dr. Nielsen, formerly of Quasar Geophysical Technologies, has considerable experience in the Aerospace and Defense industries in technical development of underwater systems and has been instrumental in the development of electromagnetic sensor technology for a variety of applications.

29 Mar 10. EADS Defence & Security and the Ministry of Interior (MoI) of the State of Qatar have opened a common TETRA competence centre in
Doha established under the leadership of the Minister of State for Interior Affairs H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani. It’s the first of its kind in the Middle East. The MoI uses this competence centre for the training of the engineers of its telecommunication department. The goal is to acquire the capacity to fully operate the Qatar Secure TETRA Radio System (QSTRS).

29 Mar 10. US-based electronic manufacturing services (EMS) company Sanmina-SCI on Sunday inaugurated its new manufacturing facility at Oragadam, near here set up with an investment of Rs 250 crore.
Speaking to reporters, Jura Sola, chairman and chief executive officer,
Sanmina-SCI, said the Oragadam facility was company’s 18th facility globally. (Source: Google)

26 Mar 10. A new air surveillance squadron, which will operate a fleet of modified Gulfstream G550s and be based at Nevatim Air Base, has been launched by The Israeli Air Force (IAF). The Nachshon squadron will operate the Eitam AEW aircraft and the Shavit ELINT aircraft, both modified from the Gulfstream G550 business jet, according to
Flightglobal. The Eitam is equipped with an EL/W-2085 multisensor suite, which includes four conformal L and S-band radars, communication and electronic support measures, and communications intelligence. It also includes the capabilities of the ELINT platform, and identification friend or foe equipment. The surveillance data gathered from Eitam’s multisensor suite is fused and continuously cross-correlated to search for specific targets within 360° coverage. Eitam uses four main active electronically scanned array antennas, mounted on its fuselage, to enable wide-area coverage and instantaneous focus on selected targets of interest. The Eitam can fly above 41,000ft for over nine hours. The ELINT Shavit aircraft carries a comprehensive self-protection system. (Source: airforcetechnology.com)

MARITIME

25 Mar 10. U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus joined Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to announce that the name of the Department of the Navy’s fourth Joint High Speed Vessel will be USNS Fall River (JHSV 4), during a brief ceremony at Heritage State Park on the Fall River waterfront. “The Fall River represents the physical embodiment of the City of Fall River’s patriotic spirit,” said Mabus, “and the dedication of the thousands of young men and women from this city who have worn and continue to wear the uniform of our country all over the world.” USNS Fall River will be the second ship to hold the name of the city. The first, USS Fall River, was a Baltimore-class heavy cruise ship commissioned in 1945 and used largely on training missions. The tip of the bow of the decommissioned cruiser is on di