Bulgaria To Sell Off Defense Firm VMZ Sopot

SOFIA, Bulgaria - The Bulgarian government on Jan. 27 said it had agreed to a strategy for the full privatization of defense giant VMZ Sopot.
According to a statement, there will be a public tender of 100 percent of VMZ's capital, with potential buyers required to have previous experience in defense production and management.

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They must also present a three-year business plan for the firm's development under the sale proposal, which still has to be approved by parliament.
Bulgaria's biggest defense firm and the last of the country's communist-era defense giants to have remained state-owned, VMZ Sopot produces a large range of missiles and artillery ammunition, as well as civil-use machinery and household appliances.
A lack of strategic investors in previous defense company tenders has led other state-owned firms to morph into joint-stock companies, owned primarily by their managers and staff.
Bulgaria's defense industry exports stood at 145 million euros ($200 million) in 2009, according to economy ministry data.

German Move Does Not Hurt A400M Program: French MoD

PARIS - The German parliament's decision to back a purchase of 53 A400M aircraft but sell 13 units into the export market keeps the military aircraft program on track but needs to be confirmed by the government, the French Ministry of Defense spokesman said Jan. 27.
"For the time being, this is an internal parliamentary process," spokesman Laurent Teisseire told journalists here. "This is a step, but we are waiting for the formalization by the German executive," he said.

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"What seems very clear is that whatever the expression of the final requirement by the Bundeswehr, seemingly a reduction, the Federal Republic maintains a volume of orders that is coherent, compatible with the volumes agreed with Airbus in the agreement reached last year," Teisseire said.
The German parliamentary budget committee agreed Jan. 26 the government should buy the 53 A400M units, keep 40 and sell on 13 to third parties. This would ease strain on the defense budget and better reflected the real needs of the Bundeswehr armed forces, said Juergen Koppelin, budget expert for the Free Democrat (FDP) junior coalition partners to Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Britain has used a similar approach to buy Eurofighter Typhoon fighters and sell those no longer required by the Royal Air Force.
The German order of 53 aircraft is "important for the existence of the program" as it maintains the total A400M orders at 180 units, with a margin of 10 cancellations, Teisseire said.
That was the framework deal reached in March by Airbus and the seven anchor clients - Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey.
Asked whether there was concern over the sale of the 13 German aircraft into export markets, Teisseire referred to the welcome given by Airbus to the parliamentary decision.
Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said Jan. 26, "The decisive point for us is that Germany has agreed on an order of 53 planes, and therefore will take on the additional financing costs of 3.5 billion euros," Reuters reported.
Teisseire also referred to the estimated export market of 400 A400M units cited by the EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois. EADS is the parent company of Airbus, which builds the A400M.
Thirteen aircraft "does not undermine the fundamentals of the market," Teisseire said, pointing to the long-term prospects for foreign sales.
French Defense Minister Alain Juppé fully supports the A400M program, just as his predecessor Hervé Morin did, Teisseire said. France maintains its order for 50 units, he said.
The A400M is of structural importance to French forces, an industrial project which federates European capacity and provides the capability to project power, Teisseire said. France is one of the first customers of the airlifter.
Germany had previously ordered 60 A400M units but cut that to 53 in November due to costs.
The March agreement, worth 3.5 billion euros ($4.8 billion), was needed because the A400M is three years late and Airbus demanded extra funds to cover the 5.25 billion euros of overrun.
The A400M, dubbed Grizzly, is in test flight, with four prototypes flying. First delivery is due in the first half of 2013. The plane is intended to contest the market for military transport planes held by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Estonian MoD Proposes Cyber Defense Unit

HELSINKI - Estonia's Ministry of Defense (MoD) has proposed presented a new proposal to establishing a national cyber defense unit (NCDU) of computer experts drawn mostly from the ranks of the Baltic country's electronics and computer communities.
The NCDU will operate as part of the Total Defense League, the all-volunteer paramilitary force that operates as part of Estonia's national defense infrastructure and which is partly financed by the MoD.

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"The Total Defense League is tasked with bringing together specialists in cyber defense who work in the private sector, as well as in different government agencies. The new unit will conduct regular exercises and engage in activities and projects to better prepare this country for possible cyber contingencies," said Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo.
The initiative is one of a number of improvements to the government's national cyber defense strategy, Phase 1 of which was implemented after a wave of cyber attacks - orchestrated by unknown groups in Russia - disabled key segments of the country's government administration, defense, banking and media infrastructure in 2007.
The Estonian economy, in contrast to other European Union nations, is seen as particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks because most standard services offered to the public by government agencies, banks and others are primarily accessed online.
NATO, responding to an Estonian government request for help, agreed to fund and organize the establishment of the Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCD-COE), Europe's first dedicated cyber defense center. The CCD-COE opened in Tallinn in May 2008. NATO uses the center to enhance its own cyber defense capability while providing support to Estonia's cyber defense agencies and systems.
Primary funding for the CCD-COE is provided by Estonia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia and Italy. These countries also supply the center with most of its specialist cyber defense staff. The new NCDU initiative will see the Total Defense League form a special liaison group to correlate its activities and intelligence with the CCD-COE.

Scrapping Nimrod Planes 'Puts Britain At Risk'

LONDON - Former British military chiefs said Jan. 27 the scrapping of a fleet of Nimrod surveillance aircraft will create a "massive security gap" and leave Britain's Trident nuclear submarines vulnerable.
In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, they said the decision to shelve the program for nine MRA4 Nimrods to save money is "perverse" and could inflict serious long-term damage to Britain's interests.

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Ministers took the decision last year to scrap the 4 billion pound ($6.4 billion, 4.6 billion euro) fleet of planes, the latest version of the veteran sub-hunter, as part of deep defense cuts.
The Nimrods can detect and sink submarines and play a key role in drug-smuggling and counter-terrorism operations.
The ex-military chiefs said: "Machine tools have been destroyed; several millions of pounds have been saved but a massive gap in British security has opened.
"Vulnerability of sea lanes, unpredictable overseas crises and traditional surface and submarine opposition will continue to demand versatile responsive aircraft.
"Nimrod would have continued to provide long-range maritime and overland reconnaissance - including over the UK - anti-submarine surveillance, air-sea rescue coordination, and perhaps most importantly, reconnaissance support to the Navy's Trident submarines."
The signatories of the letter included David Craig, a former chief of the defense staff who now sits in the House of Lords, and Major General Patrick Cordingley, the commander of the Desert Rats in the Gulf War.
Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman denied that scrapping Nimrod undermined Britain's defenses.
The spokesman said: "The role of maritime patrol will continue to be carried out and we will use a range of other military assets to do that."
He said the defense cuts were made against the backdrop of Britain's record budget deficit and "a significant black hole" in the defense ministry's budget.
"This particular project was overspent, it had been delayed and none of the aircraft were actually operational," he added.
Gen. David Richards, the current chief of the defense staff, said in a statement that "severe financial pressures" led to the decision to ax Nimrod.
"This project was delayed and overspent; canceling it will save £2 billion over 10 years. None of these nine aircraft were operational; only one was built, and it had not passed flight tests," he said.

U.S. Pledges Help For Philippine Navy

MANILA - The United States said Jan. 27 it would help boost the Philippines' capacity to patrol its waters as part of a larger goal of keeping vital Asian sea lanes open amid the rise of China.
The pledge came from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell on the first day of an inaugural security dialogue between the two allies.

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"One of the subjects for discussions tomorrow will be the bilateral steps that (we) can take to increase the Philippines' maritime capacity," Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said.
This would enhance the Philippine navy's capacity to police its waters, he told a joint news conference.
"We think this is a critical component of our partnership. Much of this work is already underway, and we seek to intensify it in the months and years ahead," he said without giving details.
The U.S. had key air and naval bases in the Philippines until 1992, when the Philippine senate rejected a new treaty.
The U.S. ruled the Philippines as colonial power from 1901 to 1946 and the two countries remain linked by a 1951 mutual defense pact.
In recent years, as China's economic influence grew in the region, its new-found political assertiveness saw it come in dispute with its neighbors over claims to areas of the South China Sea.
China, Taiwan and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam all claim the potentially oil-rich Spratly chain of islands in the South China Sea.
The area is also one of the world's most important shipping lanes.
"I think there's a broad recognition that this is a critical waterway, and its criticality will likely increase in the times ahead," Campbell said.
While China has asserted that the disputes must be settled directly between itself and rival claimants, Campbell repeated the U.S. position that a broader framework was better.
"We think maritime issues should be addressed in larger settings as well, and we think that's important in order to develop confidence on these issues and the larger Asia-Pacific region," he said.

Airbus: FSTA Tests Succeed, Boom Tests on Hold

LONDON - Airbus Military said it successfully tested the final hose-and-drogue system destined for Britain's Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program by refueling two Spanish Air Force F/A-18 fighter jets while in flight on Jan. 21.
A company spokeswoman also confirmed that Airbus has, for the time being, ceased test flying using its new flight refueling system. Part of the equipment broke off during contact with a Portuguese Air Force F-16 during Jan. 19 tests on an aerial refueling plane built for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

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On Jan. 21, the Cobham-designed fuselage-hose-and-drogue refueling unit was tested in a series of "wet contacts" with the F/A-18s during a three-plus-hour sortie by the A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft, Airbus said.
Situated on the fuselage, the system is similar to the Cobham units fitted under the wings of the British-bound refueling plane, but with a higher rate of fuel transfer. The wing systems have already been tested.
Airbus parent EADS is leading a consortium to supply 14 A330 tanker planes for use by the U.K. Royal Air Force as part of a private finance initiative.
The first aircraft is to be handed over at year's end.
Meanwhile, investigations continue into the loss of part of the new Airbus-designed aerial refueling boom system during testing on the A330 destined for the RAAF.
The spokeswoman said Airbus could not give any details of the incident at this time. She said it was not unusual for aircraft equipped with boom flight refueling systems to suffer a break.
The first of the RAAF jets is earmarked for handing over next month, and discussions are underway between Airbus and its customer as to whether the delivery will go-ahead on schedule.
Australia has purchased five A330 MRTT planes and will become the first operator of the airliner-based system, which also has been sold to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the U.K.
The A330 and boom system is currently embroiled in a competition with Boeing to supply the U.S. Air Force with a new tanker plane.

Canada Signs Deal For New Radar Systems

OTTAWA - Canada on Jan. 25 announced a C$55.6 million ($55.7 million) contract to modernize two military radar systems said to play a major role in defending North American airspace.
The deal, announced by Defense Minister Peter MacKay, is part of a major effort by Canada to upgrade its Air Force, a drive that includes the acquisition of new F-35 fighter jets.

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The radars will replace aging systems in Alberta and Quebec, providing "long-range air surveillance and aerospace control capability" in support of military operations in Canada and abroad, a statement said.
They will be delivered starting in February 2013.
MacKay also announced the purchase of 14 aircraft cargo loaders for C$5.6 million ($5.6 million) from TLD America.