NEWS IN BRIEF
EUROPE
01 Mar 08. Iraq: OP TELIC. A member of 903 Expeditionary Air Wing RAF died following a rocket attack on the Contingency Operating Base at Basrah on 29 Feb 08. (MoD, 1 Mar 08.) UK deaths since the start of the Campaign thus rose to 175.
As at 18 Feb 08, there were 4,100 Service personnel in Iraq. (Ministerial Answer (MA), 22 Feb 08.)
British troops are continuing to provide training and mentoring for Iraqi troops, at the Shaibah Divisional Training Centre. (MoD, 25 Feb 08.)
6,500 AK47 assault rifles given to Iraqi Security Forces were bought from a Polish contractor for €760,000 (£580,000). (MA, 25 Feb 08.)
Comment: A former SAS soldier was served (28 Feb 08) with a High Court Order preventing him from making further disclosures about the handling of captured Iraqis (and Afghans). As would be expected, an MoD spokesman declined to comment on Special Forces’ activities. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0810, 03 Mar 08)
22 Feb 08. Afghanistan: OP HERRICK. As at 18 Feb 08, there were 7,100 Service personnel in Afghanistan. (MA, 22 Feb 08.)
Royal Marines from 40 Commando reported “continued signs of progress” in Sangin. (MoD, 25 Feb 08.)
27 Desert Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles operated by UK Forces in Afghanistan have been lost in the past
12 months. (MA, 26 Feb 08.)
An RAF Tornado GR4 pilot, Flt Lt C Ball, is flying an F-15 out of Bagram as an exchange Officer with the US
Air Force. (MoD, 27 Feb 08.)
Royal Marines from 40 Commando destroyed a drugs factory in the Upper Sangin Valley. (MoD, 27 Feb 08.)
The Defence Equipment Minister concluded her first visit to an Operational Theatre and was shown a range of the latest equipment. (MoD, 28 Feb 08.)
Royal Marines from 40 Commando have been training members of the Sangin Police Force. (MoD, 28 Feb 08.)
Comment: News of HRH Prince Henry of Wales’s deployment to Afghanistan was broken on 28 Feb 08 and was followed by a statement from the Chief of the General Staff. The Chief of the Defence Staff decided, on
29 Feb 08, to withdraw Prince Henry from Afghanistan immediately and he was flown back to the UK on
1 Mar 08. Perhaps those deployed on OP HERRICK can now get on with the job in hand. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0810, 03 Mar 08)
03 Mar 08. Defense News published an interesting feature on BAE’s Hägglunds company this week, Putting the Wheels Back On BAE Hopes To Revive SEP Project By Gerard O’Dwyer. A quote from former President Sven Kagevall would explain BAE’s open irritation with BATTLESPACE’s negative press on their OUVS offering and would also explain Mike Turner placing the SEP vehicle as central to the company’s world vehicle aspirations at the 2006 Results. He said, “Since the first delivery of CV90 armored vehicles to Sweden in 1994, BAE Systems Hägglunds has sold SKr20bn [$3.1bn] worth of CV90s on the export market,” Kagevall said. “I am convinced that when we look back at the export figures for SEP, these figures will far exceed those of CV90. SEP will be a very good export business.” With the future of SEP looking bleak and the CV90 Order Book running out, could we be looking at possible expensive redundancies at Hägglunds? In other areas, Balance Sheet watchers would have seen the dramatic drop in cash in hand at the Land Systems business; part of this, BATTLESPACE understands is due to the costs of closures at Northampton, Leeds and Barrow and the costs of building the new CAD/CAM facility at Leicester and the new MRAP factory in the USA.
Mar 08. Mastiff. BATTLESPACE understands that three companies have bid the requirement for IR/II cameras on the U.K.’s Mastiff vehicles to NP Aerospace, Ultra, DRS and Flir.
USA
07 Mar 08. The Boeing Company welcomes the decision by the U.S. Air Force to move up a debriefing to explain why they chose a team of Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) for a contract to provide a replacement aerial refuelling tanker aircr