LOCATIONS
LAND
19 May 10. Harris Corp is creating a new cyber integration center in the
mid-Atlantic region to provide government and commercial customers an array of services in a trusted environment. Harris, which generates $5bn in annual global communications and information technology revenues, said its 140,000-square-foot facility was outside “the 50-mile risk zone of Washington, D.C.,” and well away from airline flight paths. Harris said the center would offer concrete services and be fully operational by the end of the year, while cyber centers opened by other defense companies in recent months were more like laboratories exploring the emerging cyber domain. (Source: Reuters)
19 May 10. Microtecnica, one of Europe’s leading suppliers of aerospace equipment, has opened its first UK office in Bristol. With its head office in Turin, Italy, Microtecnica supplies and manufactures both actuation and thermal control systems for some of the world’s major aerospace companies. The new office has been set up to specifically research, develop and patent new and innovative technologies in the field of electro-mechanical actuation, an area in which the company is looking to grow and consolidate its reputation as a world-class supplier. Based in Coombe Lodge, Blagdon, the office boasts leading industry specialists in actuation technology with collectively over 50 years of experience.
19 May 10. Suntron Corporation, a leader in the area of integrated Electronics Manufacturing Solutions (EMS) and COTS technology with facilities across the US and in Mexico, announced today the opening of a new northeast facility. Suntron is pleased to announce its Northeast Operations, now located in Manchester and Lawrence will be combining into a new larger facility in Methuen, Massachusetts. Customers will still receive the same quality and value they have come to expect from Suntron with increased capabilities. The larger facility will allow for additional production capacity and the addition of RoHS compliant services. Suntron is relocating the current service offerings of COTS Solutions, Complex System Integration and Express Prototyping to the new location. (Source: Yahoo!)
MARITIME
14 May 10. HMS SCOTT: Back Home. The MoD reported (14 May 10) the return of the survey ship HMS SCOTT to Devonport, after six months in the Southern hemisphere. As well as carrying out her primary role of ocean surveying the ship completed tasks in Antarctica and the Atlantic, steaming 31,275 miles (50,331km) during her deployment.
HMS SCOTT returns to surveying in June 2010, after a visit to Cardiff in commemoration of Captain Scott’s ill-fated journey to the South Pole.
Comment: HMS SCOTT deployed to fulfil, amongst other tasks, the role usually undertaken by the RN’s ice patrol vessel. The damaged HMS ENDURANCE eventually returned to Portsmouth on the back of the lift ship MV Target on 10 Apr 09, but her future still remains in doubt. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/19, 17 May 09)
08 May 10. HMS CLYDE: Mercy Mission. HMS CLYDE, the Falkland Islands Patrol Vessel, rescued a British family in their stricken yacht 1,000 miles (1,600km) East of the Falklands in 8 May 10. The Hollinsclough, an 18-metre Oyster, had been sailing from South Georgia to Cape Town when she hit an unidentified object and started to take on water. HMS CLYDE was tasked for search and rescue on 7 May 10 and made visual contact with the yacht within 18 hours. Although the yacht was lost, the family of four on board was rescued.
Comment: HMS CLYDE is an Offshore Patrol Vessel, the only Batch 2 of the River Class. The ship is permanently deployed to the South Atlantic with a staggered crew rotation. The three Batch 1 River
Class make up the UK Fishery Protection Squadron. All four River Class are leased from the VT Group (but see also Item 6). (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 09/19, 17 May 09)
PLANT CLOSURES, JOB LOSSES AND STRIKES
21 May 10. Pre