HOLIDAY RULING: The sanctions committee of the French stock market regulator, the AMF, is expected to issue its ruling on alleged insider trading charges against before the end of the year. Last week saw formal hearings into the accusations that EADS executives at the time sold shares knowing of A380 problems that later depressed the company’s share price once they came to light. The AMF’s case investigator exonerated EADS shareholders Lagardere and Daimler, as well as ten executives, including Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
DAMAGE CONTROL: Chinese Gen. Xu Qiliang’s recent remarks on the “inevitability” of military competition in space (Aerospace DAILY, Nov. 9) don’t sit well with the mandarins at China’s foreign ministry. “I want to point out China has all along upheld the peaceful uses of outer space,” says Ma Zhaoxu, the ministry spokesman.
An apparent blockage in the system that vents waste water from a tank below the middeck of the space shuttle Atlantis shouldn’t be a problem if the orbiter lands on Nov. 27 as expected. The normal waste-water venting after Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) early Nov. 25 didn’t go as quickly as expected — a problem noted on earlier missions — and controllers in Houston directed the crew to check the vents to see if they were frozen.
MOSCOW Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has approved a plan to restart production of an upgraded version of the giant An-124-100 freighter at the Ulyanovsk Aviastar-SP plant, although the funding of the effort is still in question. United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) is prepared to build at least 70 An-124s through 2014-2015 if the government will invest $500 million in the plant for re-tooling and manufacturing restoration.
COIN — Defense Department shorthand for counterinsurgency operations — is once again in vogue with military leaders as they battle “irregular” forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the focus on COIN is far from a new one. The resurrection of COIN has occurred every time U.S. forces have faced an unconventional enemy over the past eight decades. The reason for the resurrection — or at least the need for it — is because the military establishment refuses to take COIN seriously over the long term.
For small wars, military officers need to go back to basics. The U.S. Marine Corps’ Small Wars Manual, first issued in 1935, is considered to be the bible for irregular warfare. While it offers an array of techniques and tactics for fighting insurgents, what sets the manual apart from DOD’s current counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy is the philosophical approach to such conflicts.
AVENGER APPEAL: Boeing and General Dynamics are asking the Supreme Court to review the longstanding case between them and the Pentagon over cancellation of the U.S. Navy’s A-12 stealthy attack aircraft in 1991. The saga has focused on whether the Pentagon had the right to cancel the program for cause. This year, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the government and last week refused to reopen the case. The verdict would force Boeing and General Dynamics pay the government $2.8 billion and interest, which has become a huge bill in the intervening time.
MERCURY MISSION: The European Space Agency’s (ESA) manned spaceflight and exploration directorate program board is moving forward with a restructured plan for the BepiColombo mission to Mercury that should make it possible to meet mission objectives without unacceptable budget risk. BepiColombo will be launched in 2014 in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Nov. 30 - Dec, 1 — Military Airlift & Rapid Reaction Operations 2009, Hilton Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany. For more information go to www.smi-online.co.uk Dec. 1 - 2 — Aerosolutions’ Business Convention for Aeronautics, Space and Defense, Palais de Congress, Bordeaux, France. For more information go to www.aerosolutions-bordeaux.com
AIM HIGH: The U.S. Air Force’s Real Property Agency will begin negotiations with Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, a solar power producer, to develop 3,288 acres of Air Force property on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. San Antonio-based officials say that once negotiations are finalized and the enhanced use lease signed, the crystalline photovoltaic solar development will be the largest in both the Defense Dept. and North America. Edwards eventually would be able to deliver enough energy to power nearly 89,000 homes, they say.
CIVIL WAR: Washington watchdogs Taxpayers for Common Sense claim a recent move by the Obama administration may add proverbial teeth to countering war profiteering. The U.S. Attorney’s Atlanta office this month handed down an indictment against Public Warehousing Co. (PWC) for allegedly defrauding the United States. But the Justice Dept. further said it would join a civil suit filed against PWC by the same whistleblower behind the criminal case.
EXPLOSIVE ISSUE: The Obama administration is retaining U.S. land mine policy last set under the George W. Bush administration. A State Dept. spokesman made the comment last week while announcing the U.S. will “observe” the Second Review Conference of the Ottawa Convention in Cartagena, Columbia. “We made our policy review and we determined that we would not be able to meet our national defense needs, nor our security commitments to our friends and allies, if we sign this convention,” Ian Kelly says. He did not provide more information on when the review took place.
PAYING BILLS: Several leading Democratic congressmen are promoting a bill to pay for Afghanistan operations through tax increases, especially on wealthy Americans. The Share the Sacrifice Act of 2010 is not expected to pass, but it is forcing more explicit White House attention on the budget side of the war issue as President Barack Obama unveils his long-awaited plans in early December — reportedly including the addition of tens of thousands of additional ground troops, each costing the equivalent of about $1 million per year under federal bookkeeping.
LONDON Defense technology company Qinetiq is reflecting uncertainty in its two key markets, the U.K. and the U.S., warning it is now unlikely to meet its financial expectations for the year. Announcing its first-half results, Qinetiq cautions that its “main geographic markets are experiencing short term uncertainties in specific areas. In the U.K., political and economic factors are delaying the letting of contracts; in the U.S., the finalization of policy for Afghanistan continues to impact Government decision-making.”
HIGH YIELD: The U.S. Army 20th Support Command, a relatively new unit, will conduct a capabilities exercise Dec. 1 to demonstrate several of the unit’s chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive capabilities. The demonstration, which will be held at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., will showcase the unit’s capabilities including sensitive site exploitation, explosive ordnance response, analytical laboratory confirmation, nuclear disablement operations and coordination element integration.
PARIS The Australian government has decided to buy 14 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) now and not review its larger commitment for operational squadrons for another few years. After weeks of discussions, Canberra says it will put A$3.2 billion ($3 billion) into the U.S.-based Lockheed Martin program to start receiving aircraft in 2014 for testing and training. The aircraft will operate in the U.S. The spending also will buy infrastructure and support.
EURO MILSATS: French defense officials say France and Italy will sign off on contracts for two new military communications satellites by year’s end. A go-ahead for the satellites — the Sicral 2 secure satcom and Athena-Fidus dual-use broadband spacecraft — has been held up for over a year because of discussion over technical requirements and other issues. Thales Alenia Space is expected to be prime contractor for the two satellites.
LONDON With observers on both sides of the Atlantic anticipating an announcement from President Obama next week on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, the British secretary of state for defense says that if the U.S. commits more troops, then the partner nations will follow suit. London expects the U.S. to announce a “substantial uplift” in personnel numbers. Some U.S. reports peg the number at 34,000 additional troops.
MORE ISR: The U.S. will send 50 additional MC-12 Liberty surveillance aircraft to Afghanistan in January, according to Pentagon spokesperson Geoff Morrell. “We’re going to want to dedicate some of these additional airframes to making sure our routes are clear,” Morrell says. The U.S. Air Force MC-12s provide “persistent eyes in the sky” against the emplacement of improvised explosive devices. “The whole point of them is that we can build them cheaply and quickly and make sure we can get more of them,” Morrell adds.
PARIS — There were few surprises in the latest national audit of major Australian defense programs, but the newly released report nevertheless puts the spotlight on several projects that are running behind schedule and are still at risk.
SPEAKING GERMAN: “What is now still exceptional — German military deployments — needs to become more common and needs to become thus more widely accepted,” says the German defense minister. In an address to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, H.E. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg says he is trying to speak to his countrymen in blunter terms about the needs and resources for future deployments. Not only can events in far away places like Afghanistan eventually touch Germany, but Europe and the U.S.
