EUROPE
29 Mar 06.’No public inquiry’ over Deepcut. THE DEAD SOLDIERS: Sean Benton, 20, Hastings, East Sussex, James Collinson, 17, Perth, Scotland, Geoff Gray, 17, Seaham, Co Durham, Cheryl James, 18, Llangollen, North Wales. There should be no public inquiry into the deaths of four recruits at Deepcut army barracks, a report has concluded. But Nicholas Blake QC’s review found a minority of recruits there had suffered “harassment, discrimination and oppressive behaviour”. Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram told MPs the report found that the deaths of at least three of the recruits were probably self-inflicted. (Source: BBC)
22 Mar 06. Budget: Defence Expenditure. In his Budget speech the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that “to support our Armed Forces who serve us in Iraq, Afghanistan and other international commitments, [he was] allocating an additional £800m”. For the promotion of peacekeeping, the Chancellor was “also setting aside an additional £200m”. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0613, 27 Mar 06)
23 Mar 06. British Army to receive 50 Panthers by 2007. BAE Systems Land Systems has confirmed that it will deliver 50 production Panther Command and Liaison Vehicles (CLVs) to the British Army by January 2007, in order to meet the army’s required in-service date (ISD). The ISD requires BAE Systems to supply 50 fully supported Panther CLVs, with trained personnel in position, for one brigade in 3 Division. The UK Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) selected the Panther following
tests involving five competing 4 x 4 vehicles submitted by three contractors, with the £140m ($245.7m) production contract finally being awarded late in 2003. An order for 401 units was subsequently placed with integration of the vehicles to start in mid-2006. Of the 401 vehicles, 326 are Group 2, which are fitted with the Selex Enforcer 7.62 mm remote-controlled weapon station and surveillance and target acquisition (STA) with the remaining 75 fitted for but not with the SDW/STA. Production will average 13 vehicles a month with final deliveries in 2009. (Source: Jane’s)
17 Mar 06. Romania opens talks on fighter procurement. Romania is planning to replace its MiG-21 fighter aircraft, Israel has offered used F-16s. (Source: Jane’s)
29 Mar 06. The success of network-centric warfare (NCW) in recent military operations and the substantial growth in the quantity of information available to military commanders have underlined the critical importance of command and control (C2) systems for all European land forces. Their ability to act as a force multiplier to armed forces looking for ways to project more military power with limited assets has opened up exciting market opportunities. Frost & Sullivan (http://www.defense.frost.com) finds that the European Land-based C2 Markets will be worth $5.43 billion over 2005-2014. A large portion of the market is driven by large, comprehensive and often incremental programmes in the traditionally biggest European military spenders including France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece. Many other smaller European nations, particularly in eastern Europe, have articulated long-term plans for the development of C2 systems, although on a more moderate scale.
23 Mar 06. UK space industry moves from strength to strength. The UK space industry’s turnover boosts from £4.1bn in 2002/3 to £4.8bn in 2004/5, Science Minister Lord Sainsbury announced today. The UK space sector comprises more than 200 companies employing around 16,000 staff and generating a turnover of £4.8 billion. The UK’s priorities in space are new initiatives in space science, Earth observation, satellite navigation and telecommunications, especially those that have an impact on the information-led economy. UK industrial strengths reside in telecommunications, small satellites, software applications, ion propulsion and batteries.
23 mar 06. Interceptor missiles could be placed in the UK as part of