25 Oct 04. Between 19 Mar 03 and 25 Oct 04, 2,750 UK military personnel were medically evacuated from Iraq. A breakdown between injuries and illnesses was not available. (Written Answer (WA) 25 Oct 04.) A small number of troops from 40 Commando RM are currently performing force protection duties in Baghdad. There are some 8,100 UK troops in Iraq, the majority of whom are deployed for six months. (WA, 28 Oct 04.) A female Staff Sergeant from the Special Investigation Branch, Royal Military Police was found dead from a gunshot wound in Basrah on 31 Oct 04 (MoD) [assumed to be an accident, at this stage]. The roulement between 1 Mechanised Brigade and 4 Armoured Brigade (OP TELIC 4 to OP TELIC 5) is taking place and will be complete by 15 Nov 04. (WA, 1 Nov 04.) 1st Bn The Black Watch (1 BW) Battlegroup began deploying to Camp Dogwood, West of Al Mahmudiyah, on 27 Oct 04 and reached operational capability in the new location on 2 Nov 04. A Private from 1 BW died following a traffic accident on 29 Oct 04. A Sergeant and two Privates from 1 BW were killed by a suicide bomber on 4 Nov 04. (MoD.) The number of UK dead since the start of hostilities has risen to 73 (five natural causes, 33 accidental, six friendly fire and 29 killed in action). Comment: A study published (29 Oct 04) in ‘The Lancet’, a medical journal, suggested that the number of civilians who had been killed in the conflict was considerably higher than previously estimated. To the anger of the journal’s Editor, the Prime Minister (3 Nov 04) and the Defence Secretary (5 Nov 04) rejected the new statistical evidence. The current (6 Nov 04) edition of ‘The Economist’ reviews the situation. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS
Issue 04/42, 8 Nov 04)
11 Nov 04. Raytheon Company has announced the sale of its Raytheon Commercial Infrared (RCI) business to L-3 Communications Corporation. RCI, based in Dallas, Texas, designs, manufactures and sells a wide range of uncooled thermal imaging products primarily serving commercial markets including fire, security, public safety and transportation. Terms were not disclosed. Raytheon will continue to develop and produce state of the art uncooled thermal imaging systems for its military customers.(Source: Raytheon)
11 Nov 04. BAE Systems Avionics and the Raven Alliance have agreed to co-operate in the delivery of Electronic Warfare Support to the BAE Systems’ customer base. The Raven Alliance is a group of leading and niche companies, which includes Cranfield University, with complementary EW capabilities specialising in Education, Training and Support. The Raven Alliance operates an innovative business model enabling, through single point interface, competitive solutions to be provided to enhance capability and customer support. Raven Alliance Chairman, Professor Bill Taylor said, “This agreement is a key milestone in enabling Small Medium Enterprise (SME) companies to work more effectively with the Primes, and for the Primes like BAE Systems to embrace and access the real core capabilities of UK industry.” Leading the way in SME collaboration, the Raven Alliance is a continuing success story demonstrating the potential and enhanced effectiveness of SME groups. Supported by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and Chemring Group Plc in its start up phase, the Raven Alliance was formed in July 2002 and has helped its members with several contracts providing significant additional revenue.
09 Nov 04. NEC became the latest Japanese company to assert its intellectual property rights, saying yesterday that it had taken legal action in the US and Canada against Harris Corporation and its Canadian subsidiary for infringing its patents on digital microwave systems. NEC, which has more than 2,000 US patents related to digital microwave radio (DRM), used in wireless base stations, said it was seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief for the infringement by Harris of seven US patents owned by NEC covering fundame