Bokha's defence

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

U.S., Vietnam Start Military Relationship

WASHINGTON - The United States and Vietnam on Aug. 1 opened their first formal military relationship since their war, another sign of growing cooperation amid high tensions between Hanoi and China.
The U.S. and Vietnamese militaries signed an agreement in Hanoi setting up cooperation in health, setting the stage for exchanges and research collaboration in military medicine, a U.S. Navy statement said.
The former war foes have been steadily building ties and last month held a joint naval drill. But Aug. 1's agreement marks the first formal military cooperation since the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1995, the navy said.
Vice Adm. Adam M. Robinson Jr., the Navy's surgeon general, said that the agreement was not about politics and that the United States hoped for more collaboration on health issues around the region.
"Medicine and medical research are universal languages that all countries and cultures understand. Diseases affect us all in the same way," Robinson said in the statement.
"By working together in areas such as infectious disease research, we not only help each other, we help the world meet these global health challenges," he said.
Despite memories of war, Vietnam has been eager for broader ties with the United States amid a flare-up in its historically tense relationship with China.
Both Vietnam and the Philippines have accused China in recent months of provocations in the South China Sea, where Beijing has a number of territorial disputes.
The United States has stood behind the Southeast Asian nations, repeatedly urging freedom of navigation. However, the United States described last week's exercises off Vietnam's central coast as non-combat, saying they focused on areas such as navigation and maintenance.
The United States is expanding military cooperation despite concern over Vietnam's human rights record. The United States last week demanded the release of Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest and democracy advocate who was re-arrested despite concerns over his health.
A number of U.S. lawmakers have urged President Barack Obama's administration to make better relations with Vietnam contingent on improvements in human rights.

Norway Withdraws Jets from Libya Ops: Military

OSLO - Norway on Aug. 1 withdrew as planned its final four F-16 fighter jets that have been taking part in the NATO-led mission over Libya, the Norwegian military said.
The Norwegian planes, which landed at their bases in Bodoe in the north of Norway and in Oerland in the central west of the country, carried out 583 missions, out of a total of 6,493 flown by NATO since March 31, and dropped 569 bombs, military spokesman Petter Lindqvist told AFP.
On June 10, the center-left government, split over Norway's prolonged participation in the bombing, announced it would gradually withdraw its six F-16 fighter jets stationed at the Souda base on the Greek island of Crete.
The government explained that its small air force could not sustain a large air contribution for a long period of time.
Only eight of NATO's 28 member states have flown bombing missions since the alliance took command of the operation on March 31: Norway, Britain, France, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and the United States.
London has increased its contribution by adding four Tornado jets, effectively making up for the loss of the Norwegian planes.
NATO officials say Norway's departure will not affect the tempo of air operations, which have averaged more than 100 sorties per day including around 50 missions aimed at hitting targets.
The Scandinavian country, shocked by a bombing and shooting spree committed by a far-right extremist, will continue its involvement in the operation with 10 officers posted at the Libya air command centre based in Italy.

Monday, August 1, 2011

EU Envoy to Meet Serbian Officials Over Unrest: Media

BELGRADE - EU mediator Robert Cooper was to meet with Serbian officials Aug. 1 to discuss the recent unrest in Serb-majority nothern Kosovo, local media reported.
Cooper would meet Serbia's Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic and Belgrade's top negotiator Borko Stefanovic in Raska, a few miles from the border with Kosovo, the Beta news agency said, quoting well-informed sources.
The European Union already urged both sides last week to "show maximum restraint" to avoid further escalation after NATO troops stepped in when a border post in Kosovo was set on fire and bulldozed, apparently by ethnic Serbs.
Cooper is also set to meet Kosovo officials but it was not clear if that meeting would also be on Aug. 1.
On the ground, NATO forces reported Aug. 1 that they had removed three road blocks in northern Kosovo to allow access to one of the two border crossings that are at the center of a trade dispute.
Angry Kosovo Serbs had been blocking the roads leading to the crossing for several days.
"The operation was conducted swiftly and successfully. There was no resistance," the NATO-led KFOR mission said in a press release.
"The present situation in the North of Kosovo is calm but tense," KFOR added, but said its peacekeepers were "still deployed at the main gates".
Cars and buses are allowed to pass after rigorous security checks but heavy vehicles are still stopped at the border, it said.
"There is still the threat that radicals attack the crossing points like they did," KFOR warned.
Meanwhile in Pristina, the Kosovo security council chaired by prime minister Hashim Thaci ordered the police and other security services to be on the alert, a press release said.
"The Kosovo security council requested security agencies to keep a higher level of readiness for a possible intervention with all means available in case the state sovereignty and constitutional order are endangered," the government said in the press release.
Last week the Kosovo government ordered police to seize control of the two border crossings to enforce a ban on imports from Serbia, fearing it was not being respected by ethnic Serb members of Kosovo's border police.
The move provoked an angry response, with one Kosovar police officer killed and four others hurt in clashes with Serbs before the arson attack by masked men.
On July 28, troops from KFOR took control of both border posts to prevent large-scale violence.
Serbia banned imports from Kosovo immediately after it had declared independence from Belgrade in 2008. Pristina's decision to retaliate caught many by surprise.
More than 90 percent of Kosovo's imported food comes from Serbia, one of its main suppliers with goods totalling 260 million euros ($370 million) a year.
Belgrade and Kosovo's ethnic Serb minority have never recognized the government in Pristina.

EADS' Astrium to Buy Satcom Provider Vizada

PARIS - EADS has agreed to a $960 million deal by its space subsidiary, Astrium, to buy satellite communications provider Vizada as part of its drive to diversify into business services and expand in the U.S. market, the European aerospace and defense company said Aug. 1.
"Astrium, an EADS subsidiary, has entered into an agreement to acquire Vizada from Apax France, a French private equity fund and the majority shareholder, for $960 million," EADS said in a statement.
Vizada provides global communication services by packaging telecommunications capacity from commercial satellite operators for use by industry, government and nongovernmental organizations.
"The acquisition further balances the group's platform and services business and provides Astrium with an opportunity to develop new services," EADS said.
Vizada "has built up sizeable business with the U.S. government," according to the EADS statement.
The value of the U.S. government business was not available, an EADS spokesman said.
The U.S. activities include a contract to provide access to mobile satellite services for the U.S. government and military customers, EADS said. Other government clients include the French and German armed forces.
The maritime sector is seen as a source of growth, according to EADS.
"The growing demand for maritime services is a perfect cornerstone for Astrium to develop its commercial satellite communications (satcom) business," the company said.
Vizada expects to make $95 million in earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization, on sales of $660 million for 2011. The company employs 700 staff.
"This is clearly an accretive transaction for EADS shareholders and will generate significant synergies," said Marwan Lahoud, EADS chief strategy and marketing officer.
As part of EADS' Vision 2020 corporate strategy, the company seeks to reduce reliance on the Airbus airliner business, by boosting sales from services and defense.
The current and expected slashing of military expenditure in the home European markets of EADS has made it tougher to lift the defense side. U.S. competition has increased in world markets as American companies seek export contracts to offset planned domestic budget cuts.

Turkish Army Opens Key Meet After Mass Resignations

ISTANBUL - Turkey's Supreme Military Council began a crucial annual meeting Aug. 1 days after the shock mass resignation of the top brass in a clash with the government over promotions.
The meeting, which reviews the promotion prospects of senior officers, opened under the direction of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan but, for the first time ever, without the country's four top generals in attendance.
Armed forces chief Isik Kosaner and the separate heads of the army, navy and air force all dramatically resigned July 29 in a row with Ankara over the promotion of dozens of officers held in a probe of alleged plots to oust the government.
After the mass resignations, Erdogan named as acting forces chief Gen. Necdet Ozel, who was the head of the military police. Ozel, who was also tapped to head the army on an emergency basis, is co-chairing the promotions meeting.
Tensions between Turkey's fiercely secularist military and the government led by the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been building for years.
About one-tenth of the army's generals are in custody over an alleged 2003 coup plot that AKP officials say was hatched shortly after the party took power in 2002.
The suspects face 15 years to 20 years in jail, though the case has been marred by serious doubts over the authenticity of some implicating documents.
The government on July 29 nevertheless announced six new charges against the implicated generals, relating to additional coup plots and the creation of websites filled with anti-government propaganda.
Kosaner had several recent meetings with Erdogan to lobby on behalf of the officers, insisting that they still benefit from promotions despite the pending charges, local media has reported.
Analysts say the feud over promotions is part of a ruling party strategy to ensure its fiercest opponents within the military do not rise to key posts.
Huseyin Celik, the AKP vice president, insisted the executive branch will no longer adhere to the tradition of rubber stamping candidates fronted by the army chief.
"In your capacity (as army chief), you can propose names, but you can't impose," Celik was quoted as saying in the Milliyet newspaper on July 31.
Appointing Ozel as permanent army chief is unlikely to cause further confrontation, media analysts said.
But the government could provoke another round of mass resignations if it by-passes senior military officers seen as hostile to the ruling party when it picks the new heads of the air, land and sea forces.
President Abdullah Gul, a close Erdogan ally whose 2007 election was met with fierce opposition from the military, is set to disclose the council's decisions on July 28.
Since 1960, the military, which views itself as the defender of secularism in the country, has ousted four Turkish governments, including that of Ergodan's mentor Necmettin Erbakan in 1997.

U.S. Army Cancels MULE Unmanned Ground Vehicle

The U.S. Army has decided to cancel the Multi-Mission Unmanned Ground Vehicle, one of the few systems still remaining from the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program.
The 3.5-ton vehicle, which has been in development for years, is more commonly known by its FCS name, the Multi-Function Utility/Logistics and Equipment Vehicle (MULE).
Although a July 29 Acquisition Decision Memorandum formalized the decision, the Army determined it no longer needed the vehicle during a 2011 unmanned ground vehicle portfolio review.
"The Warfighter's requirements in the area of dismounted Soldier equipment transport have shifted to a vehicle with an expanded air assault capability," a July 29 letter to Congress says.
The original FCS MULE program had three different vehicle variants: transport, countermine and the Armed Robotic Vehicle.
In January 2010, the Army canceled the transport and countermine variants but said work would continue on the Armed Robotic Vehicle-Assault Light, being developed by Lockheed Martin.
At the time, the company said the Armed Robotic Vehicle consumed the bulk of MULE funding. Lockheed Martin first won the contract to develop the MULE program in 2003.
Now, the Army has concluded, "the system's Counter-Improvised Explosive Device focus and weight limited the platform's mobility.
The Army's decision formally halts development of the Autonomous Navigation System (ANS) and Common Mobility Platform (CMP), the vehicle's two major components.
The Army said it conducted a comparative assessment of existing autonomous navigation system technologies and determined that "ANS development progress did not warrant continued investment," according to the congressional letter.
All work on the program must stop by Sept. 30.
The MULE was one of the few FCS programs still kicking.
Since April 2009, a series of decisions from former Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Army have led to the cancellation of the bulk of the program.
First, Gates made the most dramatic cut by canceling the manned ground vehicle portion of the program, which effectively brought an end to the FCS program as a whole.
However, several technologies were allowed to continue, including a handful of unmanned vehicles.
In January 2010, the Army canceled the Class IV UAV and the transport and countermine variants of the MULE. Later, it canceled the Non-Line of Sight Launch System.
Earlier this year, the Army canceled the Class I UAV and halted work on the unmanned ground sensors.
A recent internal Army study revealed exactly how much the Army has been spending on canceled programs over the past decade.
"The FCS termination casts an enormous shadow over any debate about challenges in the Army acquisition system," the report released in June said. But the Army's problems predate FCS.
Every year since 1996, before FCS was off and running, the Army spent more than $1 billion annually on programs that were ultimately canceled.
Since 2004, including FCS, the Army spent $3.3 billion to $3.8 billion on programs that were eventually canceled. This equates to 35 to 42 percent per year of Army Development Test and Evaluation funding being lost on canceled programs.