ThyssenKrupp Concentrates Shipbuilding on Military Sector

BONN, Germany - ThyssenKrupp AG will concentrate its Marine Systems on military surface ship and submarine building in the future, the company announced Dec. 12, adding that it will sell all its civil shipbuilding activities to British company Star Capital Partners.

The contract, signed with the London-based financial investor company on Dec. 11, includes the large yard builder Blohm + Voss Shipyards, Blohm + Voss Repair, Blohm + Voss Oil Tools and Blohm + Voss Industries, including its subsidiaries. According to ThyssenKrupp, the new investor wants to continue the business at all sites.

"The sale is an essential step to further focus the activities of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems," Hans Christoph Atzpodien, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems AG, said in a news statement. "At the same time, with the new owner, an important course-setting to secure the work places and the future of the shipbuilding at the locations of Blohm + Voss has been taken for the employees."

The deal still has to be approved by oversight committees. ThyssenKrupp expects the deal to be completed at the end of the first quarter of 2012. The transaction reflects its strategic development concept unveiled May 13. It is supposed to improve the Essen-based company's competitive position and offer a sustainable future.

In August, there had been media speculation about a joint venture involving ThyssenKrupp Marine and French ship-building group DCNS. This was strongly denied by the German company at that time, which said that it saw little promise of close cooperation in the submarine or surface naval vessel sector.

Australia Courts 3 Firms for Sub Fleet

SYDNEY - Australia said Dec. 13 it had invited three companies from France, Germany and Spain to submit designs for its new submarine fleet, a project expected to span the next 30 years.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith said Canberra had asked French naval defense firm DCNS, Spain's Navantia and HDW of Germany - a ThyssenKrupp subsidiary - to submit designs for the program, which will see 12 new submarines built.

"The Future Submarine Project is a major national undertaking and is of a scale, complexity and duration never before experienced within (the) Defence (Department)," Smith said, adding that Australia would need a "significant amount of help from overseas."

"The submarines will be constructed over the course of the next three decades."

Jason Clare, minister for defence materiel, said the Future Submarines Project would involve hundreds of companies, thousands of workers and many skills that "do not currently exist in sufficient numbers."

"Some of those skills are available overseas, others will have to be grown here. Now is the time to develop a plan to make sure we have the skills we need when we start designing and building the submarines," he said.

Australia unveiled plans in 2009 to spend more than $70 billion boosting its military capability over the next 20 years.

Rheinmetall, Thales Win Australia Vehicle Deals

SYDNEY, Australia - Germany's Rheinmetall MAN and French company Thales won contracts Dec. 12 worth billions of dollars to supply thousands of new military vehicles for the Australian Defence Force.

Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia will provide up to 2,700 protected and unprotected medium and heavy vehicles, Defence Minister Stephen Smith said.

There will be an option for approximately 1,000 more for training purposes.

"The new vehicles will improve performance and protection, as well as provide commonality across the fleet which will improve Army's training and logistic support requirements," said Smith.

He declined to say what the contract was worth, saying only that it was expected to be more than an original budget estimate from August 2007, when the government targeted about 3 billion Australian dollars for replacement vehicles.

In addition, Thales Australia's Hawkei unit was selected as the preferred supplier for a 1.5 billion-Australian-dollar contract to supply up to 1,300 protected and unprotected light vehicles, Smith added.

No further details were given.

Austria Balks at Selling Old Tanks to Canada

VIENNA - Austria is in talks to sell 40 secondhand Leopard 2A4 tanks back to their German manufacturer after Vienna balked at the Canadian military buying them, a press report said Dec. 12.

Austrian Defence Ministry spokesman Michael Bauer confirmed only that talks with the firm, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, were "going well, although nothing has been signed yet."

The Austrian daily Kronen-Zeitung said the Canadian military had also expressed interest in buying the 15-year-old tanks, which Krauss-Maffei will buy back for 400,000 euros ($532,300) each and then modernize.

"But that would have meant so much red tape, since the Canadians are fighting in Afghanistan, meaning that the sale would not have been approved," the paper cited an unnamed army insider as saying.

This created consternation among some partners in the NATO military alliance, although "as luck would have it" Canada decided it was no longer interested, the daily added.

The paper said Austria bought the tanks for 1.3 million euros each in 1996.

U.S. Vacates Air Base in Pakistan: Officials

QUETTA, Pakistan - The United States vacated a Pakistani airbase following a deadline given by Islamabad in the wake of anger over NATO air strikes last month that killed 24 soldiers, officials said Dec. 11.

A U.S. AIR Force plane carrying U.S. personnel and equipment prepare to take off from Pakistan's Shamsi airbase on Dec. 11. (Inter Services Public Relations via AFP)

Pakistan's military said in a statement that the last flight carrying U.S. personnel and equipment had left Shamsi airbase, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, completing a process that began last week.

Islamabad's fragile alliance with the United States crashed to new lows in the wake of the Nov. 26 NATO air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and which the Pakistan military called a deliberate attack.

The base was widely believed to have been used in covert CIA drone attacks against the Taliban and al-Qaida commanders in northwest Pakistan's tribal areas, which border Afghanistan.

"The control of the base has been taken over by the Army," the statement said.

A senior security official requesting anonymity earlier told AFP: "The Americans have vacated the Shamsi air base and it has been handed over to the Pakistani security forces."

Another official in Baluchistan confirmed that the last batch of U.S. officials left in two flights on Dec. 11.

Following the November air strikes, Pakistan closed two border crossings to Afghanistan to U.S. and NATO supplies and gave American personnel until Dec. 11 to leave Shamsi airbase.

U.S. Ambassador to Islamabad Cameron Munter told a Pakistan television channel last week: "We are complying with the request."

A security official said the U.S. aircraft left the Pakistani airfield around 3:00 pm with the remaining group of 32 U.S. officials and material.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Dec. 4 expressed condolences to Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari for the soldier deaths and said the NATO airstrikes that killed them were not a "deliberate attack."

But the incident has rocked Washington's alliance with its counter terrorism ally Islamabad, though officials say neither country can afford a complete break in relations.

U.S. officials and intelligence analysts have said the covert drone war would not be affected by the closure of the base as Washington could fly Predator and Reaper drones out of air fields in neighboring Afghanistan. But the Shamsi air base was supposed to be particularly useful for flights hampered by poor weather conditions.

Islamabad has tacitly consented to the covert U.S. drone campaign, which many Pakistanis see as a violation of their country's sovereignty.

Nearly half of all cargo bound for NATO-led forces runs through Pakistan. Roughly 140,000 foreign troops, including about 97,000 Americans, rely on supplies from outside Afghanistan for the decade-long war effort.

Pakistan has shut off the border over previous incidents, partly to allay popular outrage, but the latest closure had entered a third week.

Islamabad has so far refused to take part in a U.S. investigation into the deadly November air strikes, and decided to boycott the Bonn Conference on the future of Afghanistan earlier this month.

Berlin to Start Afghan Troop Pull-Out in Februaryger

BERLIN - Germany, which has over 5,000 troops in Afghanistan, will withdraw 200 soldiers at the start of February, a German weekly reported Dec. 11.

Germany plans to whittle its forces in Afghanistan to 4,900 next year against 5,350 at present. The NATO-led forces are due to be pulled out in 2014.

Berlin is drawing up its withdrawal plans, which will start on Feb. 1 and involve 200 troops, Bild am Sonntag said, without naming any sources.

Germany, which has the third-biggest force in Afghanistan behind the United States and Britain, said at the start of the year that it aimed to begin pulling its military forces out, eyeing 2014 for complete withdrawal.

Polls have shown the mission, the first major Bundeswehr deployment outside of Europe since World War II, has been consistently unpopular in the country.

Germany Hands Over Anti-Piracy Mission Command

BONN, Germany - Spain is the new lead nation of maritime task force 465 on an anti-piracy mission in the waters around the Horn of Africa. German flotilla Adm. Thomas Jugel handed the command of the European Union's flotilla Atalanta over on Dec. 6 to Spanish Capt. Jorge Manso.

Jugel had been commanding the task force of six ships and eight helicopters from Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and France for the past four months.

In a report issued by the German military, he spoke about the decline in the number of successful pirate raids from 50 in 2010 to 20 so far in 2011. According to the German admiral, more and more ships are passing the area registered and preferably in a convoys. In addition, the EU warships in May were granted a more offensive mandate to tackle the situation.

German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière, who visited the troops in Djibouti for the occasion, said he regarded the operation so far as a success. However, he warned that the military mission only fights the symptoms. A final solution requires that constitutional structures be established in Somalia, and the pirate masterminds had to be found and their cash flows cut off, he said.

Just a few days before the change in command, the German parliament voted to extend the country's participation in Atalanta for one more year. In the coming month, the German Navy will take part with about 500 troops, one frigate and a P3-C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. The upper limit of the mandate is 1,400 troops.

Afghanistan Needs Continuous Support After 2014: Karzai

BONN, Germany - According to President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan will remain dependent on international assistance for the foreseeable future.

At the opening of the conference on Afghanistan here on Dec. 5, titled "From Transition to Transformation," he asked for further help from the international community for at least 10 years after 2014, when most foreign troops will leave.

More than 1,000 delegates, including U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, met in the former German capital to discuss Afghanistan's future.

"Three key issues will be on the agenda for Bonn: the civilian aspects of transition until 2014, the political process in Afghanistan as well as a long-term commitment to Afghanistan beyond 2014," a German foreign office spokesperson said.

According to Ban, progress has already been made since the invasion in 2001.

"Together, we have supported the return of 4.6 million Afghan refugees," Ban said: "We have enrolled 7.3 million more children in school and helped deliver better health care.

"As Afghanistan assumes full responsibility for its security, the government and its international partners must shift and intensify their focus on the non-military aspects of transition - on development, on governance and on extending effective civilian authority throughout Afghanistan," Ban said.

In addition to delegates from other states and organizations, Ban and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ensured their support. However, both asked the Afghan president and his government to more aggressively fight corruption and drug-trafficking, and demanded greater efforts to promote women rights and national reconciliation.

"We will tackle corruption more effectively," Karzai had promised the delegates earlier. He also announced reforms to government institutions and the civil service. Afghanistan does not want to be a burden on the international community any longer than necessary, he said.

During the conference, many nations and organizations, including the U.S., the European Union and the United Nations, vowed to continue supporting Afghanistan after the troop withdrawal.

"A stable and peaceful Afghanistan which does not pose a threat to the world is in the interest of all of us," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said during his opening remarks.

Among the conference participants were about 60 foreign ministers, but there were no representatives of the Taliban or Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan. The latter boycotted the meeting because of a U.S. airstrike near the Afghan border on Nov. 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi used the meeting to demand the closure of all international military bases in Afghanistan and criticized the International Security Assistance Force.

Jo Nakano, Japanese vice minister of foreign affairs, announced that his country would host a ministerial conference on Afghanistan in Tokyo in July 2012.

"The conference will address, in addition to the coordination of international economic assistance through the transition period, Afghanistan's strategy for sustainable development including regional economic cooperation," he said.

EU May Use Brussels HQ for Horn of Africa Ops

BRUSSELS - EU foreign affairs ministers are considering using a civil-military headquarters in Brussels for small-scale operations off the Horn of Africa.

In conclusions to their meeting here Dec. 1, they say they have agreed "to accelerate planning for the activation of an EU Civil-Military Operations Centre for Horn of Africa operations, at the latest by the next Foreign Affairs Council."

The next EU affairs meeting is scheduled for late January. Currently EU operations have their HQs in individual member states.

According to an EU ministers statement, "When the nature of the operation does not require a national HQ, the Council stands ready to activate on an ad-hoc basis the Operations Centre in accordance with its terms of reference for a specific Common and Security Defence Policy [CSDP] Operation."

The decision appears to signal a U-turn in the U.K.'s stance on the issue. Back in the summer, Catherine Ashton, the EU's high representative for foreign and security policy, proposed an EU HQ for planning and carrying out EU military and civil missions abroad. In July, U.K. Foreign Affairs Minister William Hague said, "the U.K. will block any such move now and in the future."

The EU is currently running two operations in the Horn of Africa - the Atalanta counterpiracy mission and the EU training mission in Somalia. The Brussels' operations center may be used for any new, small-scale contributions to the Horn of Africa, such as building regional maritime capacity, said an official from the EU's Military Staff.

Where the EU has an existing command structure, such as Atalanta at the Northwood HQ in the U.K., an official from the EU Military Staff said "there is no intention of changing a working system on conduct.

"For Atalanta in particular, they are extremely well-placed in Northwood - allowing synergies with the NATO counterpiracy operation - and the scale of the command is far outside of the capacity of the Brussels' operations center," he added.

"We need to help regions [off the Horn of Africa] conduct counterpiracy themselves," Lt. Gen. Ton Van Osch, director-general of the European Union Military Staff, told Defense News in an interview. "A new line of EU action is to help countries develop their own coast guards and navies. Here, the EU military could do the training as part of a civilian mission if the political and security committee decided on a mission."

In the interview, Van Osch gives his views on various issues, including pooling and sharing proposals relating to air-to-air refueling and smart munitions.

On pooling and sharing, ministers recalled "the need to develop cooperation on military capabilities on a longer term and more systematic basis," and stressed the need "to further examine the impact of reduced defense spending on capabilities, including its possible impact on key industrial and technological capacities to be maintained and developed in Europe."

The ministers also encouraged further coordination between the European Defence Agency and the European Commission, "in particular in the field of Research and Technology, in particular regarding the new European Framework Programme for Research and Technology (Horizon 2020)."

They also recalled the commitment of the EU defense chiefs to establish or widen collaborative pooling and sharing projects by mid-2012, urged member states to take on the role of lead nation for concrete projects, and "will assess the progress made in April 2012."

They also stressed "the need to further analyze and address the constraints related to the availability, usability and deployability of existing military capabilities in CSDP operations and missions."

In addition, they bemoaned the fact that, in the first semester of 2012, "only one [EU] battlegroup will be on stand-by" and called for "efforts in order to remedy such shortfalls in the future."

Germany Lends Air-Defense Radar to Israel

TEL AVIV - Germany recently delivered a Patriot air defense radar to Israel as a cost-free loaner pending conclusion of a three- to four-year refurbishment in the United States of Israel's own AN/MPQ-53 radars for its PAC-2 force.

German, U.S. and Israeli sources confirmed the trilateral cooperation, aimed at filling potential gaps in Israeli air defense coverage while Israel Air Force radars are being serviced at Fort Sill, Okla.

The loaner radar provided by the German Bundeswehr arrived here in mid-October, shortly before the first of three Israeli Patriot radar sets was shipped to the United States for servicing. The German delivery marks an expansion of strategic cooperation with Israel, which received two full-up Patriot PAC-2 batteries from Luftwaffe stocks in 2003 in the run-up to the U.S.-led coalition war in Iraq.

Sources said it will take about a year to replace aging components of each radar, extend service life, and improve its ability to interoperate with U.S. European Command's Patriot batteries that participate in biannual U.S.-Israel exercises and could be rushed here for emergency deployment during wartime.

The refurbishment program is estimated at $15 million and will be funded through annual U.S. Foreign Military Financing (FMF) assistance to Israel. Israeli and German officials confirmed that the German loaner radar would remain here until the upgrade program is complete and all Israeli radars are redeployed and integrated with other elements of the Air Force's Air Defense Force.

"Germany has contributed to the air defense system of Israel since 2003 with the loan of two Patriot systems. Additional components are temporarily on loan to maintain the operational capability of the systems," said Lt. Col. Holger Neumann, a German MoD spokesman.

An Israel Air Force officer emphasized that the recently launched Patriot radar upgrade is more logistical in nature and is not aimed at converting Israel's PAC-2 air defense force to the PAC-3 ballistic missile intercepting configuration.

Israel has no plans to procure PAC-3 missile interceptors from Lockheed Martin, he said. Instead, the Air Defense Force is looking to deploy the David's Sling air and missile defense system now in development by Rafael and Raytheon.

Nevertheless, the Air Force officer said Israel "is looking very closely" at a so-called Config-3 program that would render its existing PAC-2 force more capable of operating with PAC-3 intercepting batteries.

No decision has been made on the estimated $60 million Config-3 program with Raytheon, producers of the Patriot radar, engagement control stations, launching units, and improved PAC-2 interceptor missiles.

Still-angry Pakistan Backs Out of Afghan Conference

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan decided Nov. 29 to boycott a key international conference on Afghanistan next month, ramping up its protest over lethal cross-border NATO air strikes that have plunged U.S. ties into deep crisis.

The decision was taken at a Pakistani cabinet meeting in the eastern city of Lahore, days after Islamabad confirmed it was mulling its attendance in the German city of Bonn, where Pakistan's participation was considered vital.

"The cabinet has decided not to attend the Bonn meeting," a government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The prime minister's office said the cabinet agreed that "unilateral action" such as the Nov. 26 strike in the tribal district of Mohmand and the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden near the capital was "unacceptable."

U.S.-led investigators have been given until Dec. 23 to probe the attacks, threatening to prolong significantly Pakistan's blockade on NATO supplies into Afghanistan implemented in retaliation for the killings.

The U.S. military appointed Air Force Brig. Gen. Stephen Clark to lead the investigation into the attack.

The team, set to include a NATO representative, is yet to arrive in Afghanistan but an initial military assessment team went to the border at the weekend after the catastrophic strike that killed 24 Pakistani troops.

The Afghan and Pakistani governments are also being invited to take part.

There was no immediate reaction from Islamabad or Kabul, although some analysts voiced surprise that it will take as long as nearly four weeks.

A Western military official in Kabul said the schedule for the findings being delivered was "way quicker" than initially expected.

U.S.-Pakistani ties have been in free fall since a CIA contractor killed two Pakistanis in January, and the latest attack raises disturbing questions about the extent to which the two allies cooperate with each other.

Islamabad insists that the air strikes were unprovoked, but Afghan and Western officials have reportedly accused Pakistani forces of firing first.

"With the kind of technology available to the U.S. and NATO, it was expected they would be able to do it [the investigation] much earlier, not more than two weeks," Pakistani defence analyst Talat Masood told AFP.

In Pakistan, angry protests over the NATO strikes pushed into a fourth day, with 150 to 200 people demonstrating in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, setting fire to an American flag and an effigy of NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

The crowd carried banners and shouted: "Those who befriend America are traitors" and "We are ready for jihad," an AFP reporter said.

Pakistan has vowed no more "business as usual" with the United States. In addition to shutting its Afghan border, it has ordered Americans to vacate an air base reportedly used by CIA drones and a review of the alliance.

Yet behind the rhetoric, Islamabad has little wriggle room, being dependent on U.S. aid dollars and fearful of the repercussions for regional security as American troops wind down their presence in Afghanistan in the coming years.

In an interview with CNN, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani stopped short of threatening to break the alliance altogether saying: "That can continue on mutual respect and mutual interest."

White House spokesman Jay Carney said U.S. President Barack Obama believed the latest incident was "a tragedy," and said Washington valued what he called an "important cooperative relationship that is also very complicated."

Last time Pakistan closed the border, in September 2010 after up to three soldiers were killed in a similar cross-border raid, it only reopened the route after the United States issued a full apology.

The U.S. military has insisted the war effort in Afghanistan would continue and has sought to minimize the disruption to regular supply lines.

Nearly half of all cargo bound for NATO-led troops runs through Pakistan.

About 140,000 foreign troops, including about 97,000 American forces, rely on supplies from the outside to fight the 10-year-old war in Afghanistan.

Yet so far, officials say there has been no sign that Islamabad would bar the U.S. aircraft from flying over Pakistan.

Russia Activates Missile Warning System Near EU

MOSCOW – Russia on Nov. 29 activated a radar warning system against incoming missiles in its exclave of Kaliningrad on the borders of the EU, in response to Western plans for a U.S. missile shield in Europe.

President Dmitry Medvedev announced that the Voronezh-DM station was moving on to immediate combat readiness, days after threatening to deploy missiles in Kaliningrad amid a growing dispute with the West.

Using rhetoric reminiscent of the Cold War, he added: "If this signal is not heard, we will deploy other methods of protection including the taking of tough countermeasures and the deployment of strike forces.""I expect that this step will be seen by our partners as the first signal of the readiness of our country to make an adequate response to the threats which the (Western) missile shield poses for our strategic nuclear forces," Medvedev said.

Medvedev said last week Russia was prepared to deploy Iskander missiles, which officials say have a range of up to 500 kilometres (310 miles), in the Kaliningrad exclave that borders EU members Poland and Lithuania.

Romania and Poland have agreed to host part of a revamped U.S. missile shield which Washington said is aimed solely at "rogue" states like Iran but Moscow believes would also target its own capability.

NATO member Turkey has decided to host an early warning radar at a military facility near Malatya in the southeast as part of the missile defence system.

Medvedev, who visited Kaliningrad to sign the decree on activating the station, said Russia needed to hear more than promises from the West to resolve the standoff.

"Verbal statements do not guarantee our interests. If other steps are made then of course we are ready to listen," Medvedev added in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies from Kaliningrad.

"We can no longer be content with verbal promises that the (U.S. missile shield) system is not aimed against Russia. These are empty statements and do not guarantee our security."

But he said that the activation of the Kaliningrad station "does not close the door for dialogue" with the United States on missile defense.

Kaliningrad is part of the former German East Prussia region that was annexed by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II and remains one of Moscow's prime territorial strategic assets.

The RIA Novosti news agency quoted Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov as saying that the station could keep track of 500 objects at a range of up to 6,000 kilometers.

The move comes in the run-up to legislative elections on Dec. 4, where Medvedev is leading the list of the ruling United Russia party amid an atmosphere of growing nationalism in Russia.

Medvedev has championed a reset of relations with the United States under President Barack Obama. But Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who traditionally has a more prickly relationship with the West, is set to become president in 2012.

An analyst said the decision to activate the system was important but had to be seen in a domestic context.

"Data from this station will allow Russia's leadership to make a decision about a retaliatory nuclear strike, should such a hypothetical need arise," said Mikhail Khodaryonok, editor of journal "Aerospace Defence."

But he described the announcement as mainly "pre-election rhetoric" given that both the U.S. missile shield and the Russian system are defensive in nature.

"You would really need to have a vivid imagination to link it to the U.S. missile defense system."

India To Develop AIP Technology for Subs

NEW DELHI - Even as the Indian Navy has announced that it is floating a global tender to procure six air independent propulsion (AIP) submarines for $11 billion, Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony told the parliament Nov. 28 that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing such technology itself.
"The DRDO proposes to develop a technology to reduce vulnerability of the submarines available with the Indian Navy. The Naval Material Research Laboratory (NMRL), Ambernath, under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is progressing a technology demonstration project, 'Development of Land-based Prototype for Air Independent Propulsion (AIP),' for submarine propulsion," Antony told the parliament in a written reply, according to an Indian Defence Ministry statement.

The system is likely to be demonstrated by 2015, adds the release.
Last year, the Defence Ministry cleared the plan to procure six conventional submarines with AIP technology, and the request for proposals is likely to be floated by the end of the year or early 2012.
In 2004, India contracted the licensed production of six Scorpene conventional submarines for about $3.9 billion, but the production has been delayed by almost two years.
Under the proposal, six submarines are to be procured, of which three are likely to be built at the state-owned Mazagon Docks in Mumbai; one built at the state-owned Hindustan Shipyard in Visakhapatnam, with the help of a foreign collaborator; and two purchased directly from the overseas vendor.
The six submarines are being procured under the Navy's Project-75, and the subs will be equipped with stealth, land-attack capability and the ability to incorporate future technologies, such as AIP systems, to boost their operational capabilities.
The RfP is likely to be issued to French company DCNS, Germany's HDW and Russia's Amur Design Bureau.

French, Germans Should Team on UAV: German Minister

PARIS - Germany's junior defense minister is calling for France and Germany to cooperate on a common UAV program rather than pursue competing projects, business daily La Tribune reported Nov. 28.
Asked in an interview on what programs France and Germany should collaborate, Stéphane Beelemans said: "Drones, for example. The projects being studied in France and Germany reflect a split from the past.

"And I say it clearly in France and Germany to our companies. I don't believe in two projects of this scale at the European level. And I find it hard to believe there is the political will to realize two competing projects. There is enough political will to do a common project," he said, according to the paper.
There was no sense in having two different kinds of equipment, for reasons of interoperability, maintenance, use and budgets, he said.
The competing projects are the next-generation medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) Talarion advanced UAV, proposed by EADS to France, Germany and Spain; and the Telemos air vehicle from BAE Systems and Dassault, pitched to Britain and France.
EADS seeks a place at the top table in the Telemos project alongside BAE and Dassault, but Dassault will only consider a junior subcontractor role for the pan-European company, retaining leadership firmly in the hands of the Anglo-French team.
France, Germany and Spain paid for a 60 million euro ($79.5 million) risk-reduction study for the advanced UAV, but EADS has been unable to convert that into a development and production contract.
Work on a next-generation MALE drone is seen as vital to maintaining a design engineering capability in Europe's military aircraft sector in the absence of development for a manned jet fighter.
The Anglo-French military cooperation treaty calls for joint work on a new-generation MALE surveillance UAV, and collaboration on an unmanned combat aerial vehicle.

Germany Backs Taliban Talks in Afghanistan

BERLIN - Germany's foreign and defense ministers called for the Taliban to be included in Afghanistan peace talks, ahead of a major international conference for the war-ravaged country next month.
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper on Nov. 27 that negotiations with the Islamist militant group was the only realistic option for lasting peace.

"Reconciliation does not happen among friends but rather between erstwhile opponents," Westerwelle was quoted as saying. "That is what we need to work on instead of speculation about who might not be ready to reconcile."
Germany has the third largest contingent of foreign troops in Afghanistan but had long rejected proposals to include the Taliban in peace negotiations.
Westerwelle, who will host ministers from more than 100 countries in the western city of Bonn on Dec. 5 to discuss the future of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO troops in 2014, said there was no guarantee of success.
"But all agree that it must be tried," he said. The West "cannot simply say, 'You are evil, we won't negotiate with you,'" added de Maiziere.
"We cannot exclude everyone from the inner-Afghan reconciliation process who once had a sword in his hand," he said. Only when "a sufficient number of important groups" take part will the peace process have a chance of working.
Westerwelle said the war in Afghanistan could not be won militarily.
"After 10 years it is obvious that in Afghanistan, there can only be apolitical solution, not a military one," he said.
Taliban fighters frequently attack convoys supplying NATO troops in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, as part of a 10-year insurgency against the Western-backed Kabul government since U.S. troops toppled their regime in 2001.
This month, Afghan elders backed talks with Taliban who renounce violence, despite the assassination in September of peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani which officials blame on insurgents.
De Maiziere said Berlin would keep troops in Afghanistan after the NATO pullout at the end of 2014, to focus on the training of local forces.

Qatar Discusses MEADS Partnership with Germany, Italy

Qatar is in talks to become a risk partner on the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) missile defense program with Germany and Italy, a source knowledgeable of the talks has told Defense News.

Qatar is in talks to become a partner on the MEADS missile defense program with Germany and Italy. (Lockheed Martin)

The gulf state started talks with Italy and Germany after the U.S. announced in February that it would leave the program at the conclusion of the development phase, without procuring the system.

Qatar is interested in the program as it looks to security requirements ahead of 2022 when it is hosting the soccer World Cup, the source said. The growing perception of a missile threat from Iran has also persuaded the gulf state to consider joining MEADS.
It is not clear how Qatar's entry into the program would save it, since 58 percent of the program has been funded by the U.S., with Germany and Italy funding 25 percent and 17 percent respectively. After the U.S. pulls out, Germany said it would not proceed with procurement.
The U.S. has spent $1.5 billion thus far on the $4.2 billion program. Pentagon officials plan to spend another $800 million to complete the design and development phase in 2014.
Lockheed Martin, which is developing the missile defense system, announced it completed its first successful flight test Nov. 17 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The test proved the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement could destroy a simulated target attacking from behind.
"Today's successful flight test is an important validation for the continuing MEADS development," said MEADS International President Dave Berganini in a statement.
"MEADS' advanced capabilities detect, track and intercept tomorrow's threats from farther away and without blind spots. The MEADS digital design ensures high reliability and significantly reduced operational and support costs."
The test comes as the U.S. Congress continues to rip the program and question why a nation struggling to shrink its defense budget would spend nearly another $1 billion on a missile defense system the Army has said it doesn't want. Congress left appropriations out of the defense authorization bill to pay the rest of the contract.
"The committee concluded that the course proposed by the Department is untenable and that the Department should explore all options with our allies before continuing to fund a program which we no longer need," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote in a statement.
President Barack Obama disagreed with the decision to cancel the program, saying he recommended the Pentagon complete the contract. He said it made sense to complete the design and development phase rather than cancel the program and potentially pay more in cancellation fees. Canceling now would also let down our international partners.
"This lack of authorization could also call into question DoD's ability to honor its financial commitments in other binding cooperative MOUs and have adverse consequences for other international cooperative programs," the statement from the Office of Management and Budget reads.

German Navy Christens New High-Tech Sub

BONN - The German Navy on Nov. 15 christened its most modern submarine at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) shipyard in Kiel. The vessel includes improved communication, sensor and combat systems.
The U35 is an updated version of the Navy's four 212A-class submarines, which were put into service between 2005 and 2007. After having bought the four boats, the German military in 2006 placed an order with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems subsidiary HDW for two additional vessels. While staying with the basic design, the U35 and U36 will benefit from recent experiences with the first batch of subs.

With an air-independent propulsion system that combines hydrogen fuel cells and diesel engines, they can remain submerged for weeks.
At about 56 meters, both boats are about 1.2 meters longer than the earlier version. The two submarines have a displacement of about 1,450 tons and are operated by a crew of 27 sailors.
The two new submarines feature a communications system suitable for network-centric warfare, as well as an integrated German sonar, command and weapon control system. The Callisto B submarine communication system, with its towable transmitter buoy, allows each boat to communicate while remaining deeply submerged.
The flank antenna array will be substituted with a superficial lateral antenna. One periscope will be replaced by the Carl Zeiss Optronics OMS 100 Optronic non-hull penetrating mast system. It can be remotely controlled via a multifunctional combat system console.
The mast system offers various automatic functions such as sector scan or quick look-round. The sensor unit consists of a third-generation thermal camera and a high-definition TV camera, and it can be refitted with a laser rangefinder.
The improved boats also feature a special diver lock-out system integrated into the sail to deploy special forces.
U35 is expected to be officially put into service in the summer of 2013. Until then, systems checks and sea trials will be conducted. U 36 is scheduled to be put into service in the winter of 2013.

Norway Should Maintain Submarine Fleet: Study

HELSINKI - Norway's national defense capability would be best served by either extending the life of its submarine fleet or acquiring a next-generation sub, according to a study commissioned by the Ministry of Defense (MoD).
The study, which examined Norway's submarine needs after 2020 when the Navy's Ula-class fleet is due to be renewed, determined that no other military capabilities are suited to replace its submarines. The direct inference is that Norway should replace its submarine fleet with a new-generation of Arctic-class stealth subs.

The study is a collaboration among MoD, the Defense Forces Command and the National Institute of Defense Research. The Ula-class submarines have had midlife upgrades and are due to be phased out after 2020 unless a new investment program is established.
MoD now plans to analyze how the Navy's submarine fleet can be replaced. This investigation will form a central part of a new study to be completed in 2014.
This new study will examine available options, including extending the life of the current Ula-class fleet or acquiring a next-generation submarine after 2020. It is expected that a final recommendation will be submitted to the MoD and parliament in 2017.
The study given to MoD on Nov. 3 considered three primary options before it concluded that maintaining a submarine fleet is in the best interests of national defense and key to the government's High North and Arctic security strategies.
The study contemplated the consequences of halting investment in submarine capability and phasing out the present fleet. The second option considered the impact of a continuation of the submarine fleet. This included the possibility of prolonging the life of the Ula-class subs, a new acquisition program or a combination of the two. A third option explored alternatives to the submarine, such as the expanded use of surveillance technologies, including sensors.
Sweden has had informal discussions on the possibility of selling its next-generation A26 submarine, which is under development, to Norway. Other possible European acquisition options include France's Barracuda-class submarine or the German-designed Type 212 or Type 214 subs.
Norway's submarine capacity was reduced in the late 1990s when the Kobben-class subs were phased out. This left the Navy with six diesel-electric propulsion Ula-class vessels.
The Ula-class boats are primarily active in coastal policing and defense operations, being limited in their diving depth to around 820 feet. All six subs came into active service in 1989-92 and comprise a mix of German, Norwegian and French engineering technologies and weapon control systems, including Kongsberg's MSI-90U torpedo fire-control platforms.