LOCATIONS

LAND

31 Jan 12. Falkland Islands: Debate. The House of Commons debated the Falkland Islands in Westminster Hall (WH) on 31 Jan 12. The debate is recorded in Hansard for the day, starting in Column 191WH with the summing-up starting in Column 208WH.
Comment: The MoD confirmed (3 Feb 12) that the second Type 45 destroyer is to be deployed to the South Atlantic: “The deployment of HMS DAUNTLESS to the South Atlantic has been long planned, is entirely routine and replaces another ship on patrol”. The ship being replaced is the Type 23 frigate HMS MONTROSE. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 12/06, 06 Feb 12)

03 Feb 12. U.K. Minister for Defence Equipment, Peter Luff MP attended the formal opening at the inauguration of TRaC’s new Southern Labs in Three Legged Cross, Wimborne, Dorset. The test house plans to consolidate and expand its EMC and environmental test services at this single location. TRaC has installed three Chambers (screened rooms) dedicated to EMC testing to a wide range of military and aerospace standards. A further two chambers will carry out mainly commercial testing, whilst a sixth chamber is specially equipped to carry out transient testing. Other test capabilities on the site include lighting, high-intensity radiated fields (HIRF) up to 5000V/m; and environmental stress testing including shock and vibration; temperature, humidity and salt-spray; acoustic noise; and hydraulic fatigue testing. An electromagnetic “shaker” table can apply stresses to loads of up to 2 tonnes. This broad range of capabilities means TRaC Southern Labs offers a range of test capabilities that are not available on any other UK site. (Source: Google)

05 Feb 12. The King’s Troop: On the Move. The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, is on the move from St John’s Wood to Woolwich. The Troop leaves St John’s Wood on 6 Feb 12, prior to staging a 41 Gun Royal Salute at 1200hrs to mark the accession of HM The Queen and the formal start of the Diamond Jubilee year. (The Troop will have formed up at the North end of Hyde Park, before galloping through the Park for the Salute.) On 7 Feb 12, the Troop is to mark its arrival in Woolwich by marching through the Royal Borough of Greenwich before entering its new accommodation in Napier Lines at 10.30hrs.
Comment: The King’s Troop consists of seven Officers, 164 Soldiers and 109 trained horses. The move is the result of the expiry of the lease on the St John’s Wood Barracks where the site is to be redeveloped.
(Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 12/06, 06 Feb 12)

02 Feb 12. Nammo establishes new subsidiary in Australia. Nammo has decided to establish a permanent presence in Australia to better service the Australian Armed Forces, expand sales and strengthen industrial partnering in the region. (Source: ASD Network)

01 Feb 12. Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, Dr Mike Kelly, announced that the Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence has been officially renamed the Australian Civil-Military Centre. The name change was chosen to reflect Australia’s focus on civil-military issues that impact upon responses to conflict and disaster management operations in countries both in the Asia-Pacific region and more globally. Officially opened on 27 November 2008 and based in Queanbeyan, the Australian Civil-Military Centre was tasked with improving Australia’s effectiveness in civil-military collaboration for conflict and disaster management operations overseas. The Centre actively engages with Australian Government departments and agencies to develop and promote best practice on issues of civil-military engagement.

01 Feb 12. Carl Zeiss Semiconductor Metrology Systems (SMS) Division has opened an office in the Bundang province of South Korea. The new location south of Seoul enables Carl Zeiss SMS to provide optimized customer service with faster delivery of spare parts and on-site activities.
“We are significantly improving our customer orien