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EUROPE
15 Jun 12. Afghanistan: OP HERRICK. A Lance Corporal from 1st Bn Grenadier Guards was killed by an enemy grenade while on patrol in the Nahr-e Saraj District on 13 Jun 12. A soldier from 1st Bn The Royal Anglian Regiment was killed by enemy action in the Nade-e Ali District on 15 Jun 12. UK deaths since the start of Operations on 7 Oct 01 thus rose to 419, of whom 379 were killed due to hostile action. (MoD, 15 Jun 12.)
From 1 Jan 06 to 31 May 12, 1,923 personnel were Wounded in Action and 5,832 were aeromedically evacuated. (DASA, 14 Jun 12.) For May 2012, the figures were 29 and 114.
Members of 1st Bn The Royal Anglian Regiment handed over control of Patrol Base Silab to the Afghan Forces; the first Check Point to be handed over in Nad-e Ali. A further five locations are due to be handed over by early September 2012. (MoD, 11 Jun 12.)
Members of the Military Stabilisation Support Team have been working with local Afghans to repair roads in Nad-e Ali. (Media Ops, 12 Jun 12.)
“The NATO Summit sends a clear message to the Afghan people that we will not abandon them and to the insurgents that they cannot wait us out.” (Defence Secretary, 12 Jun 12.)
During the first four months of 2012, there were an estimated 512 IED (improvised explosive device) finds and 180 associated explosions in the Task Force Helmand Area of Operations. (Written Answer, 13 Jun 12.)
Comment: The US Defense Secretary was reported (14 Jun 12) as saying that Pakistan’s closure of transit routes was costing the US an extra $100m a month. Pakistan closed ground re-supply routes into Afghanistan after the accidental killing of 24 Pakistani troops on 26 Nov 11. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 12/24, 18 June 12)
12 Jun 12. Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz has rejected the notion that Israel be given access to data designed to protect alliance members against ballistic missile threats from a rogue nation. “Any data or information produced by this system will only be available to the alliance, as in the case for other alliance systems,” Yilmaz said in an email message to Defense News on June 12. “Information-sharing with non-NATO actors is subject to specific arrangements and it is possible only if the allies consensually agree on it.” (Source: Defense News)
07 Jun 12. Bulgarian arms exports reach EUR231m in 2011. Bulgaria’s exports of ammunition and military equipment totalled EUR231m (USD291m) in 2011, it was announced on 31 May. The figures were revealed at the Hemus 2012 defence industry exhibition in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, by Ivelina Bahchevanova, Director for Defence, Economic Cooperation and Internationally Controlled Trade at the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism. (Source: Jane’s Defence Industry)
14 Jun 12. Defence Sales: Target Markets. A Ministerial Answer (14 Jun 12) stated that the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) list of priority markets for 2012/13 is: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe (collectively, to include NATO & EU), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea (RoK), Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, UAE & USA.
Comment: Responsibility for Defence trade promotion was transferred from the MoD to TI DSO on 1 Apr 08 (and has not reverted to the MoD despite a pre-Election pledge to that effect). The above target markets include newcomers Canada, Europe, Indonesia, Qatar and Thailand but exclude Algeria, Brunei, Iraq, Mexico and Pakistan from earlier listings. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 12/24, 18 June 12)
USA
13 Jun 12. Embraer partner protests Pentagon deal. A US company that partnered with Brazil’s Embraer in a competition to provide US air force with attack aircr