27/12/2007

Raytheon Video - what it does

Raytheon Patriot dud

Raytheon: Army aware of missile's flaw
Army officials were aware that the Raytheon-built Patriot air-defense system had difficulty distinguishing between friendly and enemy aircraft but deployed the missiles in the Iraq war after deciding the system was needed to protect ...
Democratic Underground Latest... - http://www.democraticunderground.com

Raytheon: Army knew of Patriot missile bug
WALTHAM, Mass. (UPI) -- A Raytheon Co. executive has alleged US Army officials knew that one of the company's Patriot missile designs had a flaw in its targeting capabilities.
News & Features - ArcaMax Publishing - http://www.arcamax.com/newsheadlines


26/12/2007

QinetiQ 007 Gadget maker

Eco town rumours causing concern Green Building Press - Llandysul,Wales, It has already been reported in the Worcester News how Malvern-based technology firm QinetiQ, which owns sections of the site - which was used to bury ...

Booming QinetiQ fuels sell-off anger By webmaster

The under-fire firm, which is said to be the inspiration for James Bond’s gadget-maker Q, delivered a 34.5% rise in first-half profits to 46m and said results for the full year ‘will be at the upper end of expectations’. ...

19/12/2007

St Athan School Job Con


ST ATHAN SLAUGHTER SCHOOL JOB CON
Last January politicians popped champagne outside the
Senedd to celebrate £14 billion of public money being
spent a new military training academy in the tiny village of
St Athan, ‘creating’ 5500 jobs. (see GGAAGGGGEEDD!! #16)
This PFI privatisation deal hands control of all UK military
training to the Metrix Consortium of private companies,
which includes the likes of Raytheon (who make cluster
bombs & depleted uranium weapons) & Qinetiq (ballistic missiles manufacturers). They will be running the base as an international business which will also train the troops of other governments.


After the Welsh Assembly gave LG Electronics £130 million to open a factory in Newport to employ 6000 people but LG only built part of it, gave up & pocketed most of the cash, you'd have thought politicians would be a little bit more cautious. The promise
that the St Athan academy will create 5500 jobs is an empty one. As there are currently 6300 civilian & military trainers employed by the MOD, most employees will be relocated
from other parts of the UK. Local people will be left with short-term construction posts & low-skilled service jobs, or as trainee cannon fodder for government policy.

Check out: nomurderacademyatstathans.com
To mark the one year anniversary of Rhodri’s champagne incident there will be a
demonstration outside the Senedd on January 17th. 1pm

18/12/2007

Keep the private sector out of Military Training!

While PCS call for work to be brought back in house politicans in Wales are welcoming private sector involvement in Military Training - are they crazy? This is not just the private sector - these are arms dealers - Raytheon- QinetiQ - EDS - Serco - would you trust them? How many jobs?? Can you believe them? Keep the privatised military academy out of St Athan!

UNION RESPONDS TO DRIVING STANDARDS AGENCY DATA LOSS

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) called for the government to consider bringing back in-house, work undertaken by private companies in the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) and across government, following the loss of the details of 3 million candidates for driving theory tests by a private contractor in the US.

Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “This latest data loss by a private contractor in the US raises serious questions about the role of the private sector and the security of data. The fear is that in a dash to cut costs, the government are contracting out sensitive work to unaccountable private companies resulting in personal data being held by third parties half way across the globe. The security of personal data should be paramount and not subject to cost cutting, which is why the government should be bringing the work in-house
house and giving the public sector the resources to hold it securely.”

PCS: Union Responds to Interim Report on Child Benefit Loss 18/12/2007 - MEDIA RELEASE Date: 18 December 2007 For immediate use UNION RESPONDS TO INTERIM REPORT ON CHILFull press release ...

16/12/2007

EDS coporate incompetance

EDS is one the Metrix consortium although it has a record of massive incompetence who can't manage to pay the armed services at present or run a computer system that works or run the child support agency! It is given yet another contract!New Labour government jargon for privatising because its 'what works' should be 'What never works' ...Keep EDS out of Military training, St Athan & Wales


The Metrix consortium, consisting of Land Securities Trillium and QinetiQ, with Raytheon, EDS, amongst others, offered the best technical and most cost effective solutions and represents the best overall outcome for Defence. Metrix won each package independently and separately. http://www.edsdefence.com/news/9

What a smart idea it was of the MoD to order their new computerised payroll system from EDS, the company already responsible for such winners as the Child Support Agency and the Inland Revenue's Tax Credits systems.
It should not come as a surprise then that the new £250million (yes, that's right £250million) pay system has been underpaying the UK's frontline troops for up to 5 months forcing many servicemen to seek financial support from regiment hardship funds to make up the shortfall.
There must be hundreds of payroll systems available on the market that the MoD could have bought at a fraction of the cost. But no, the MoD wanted its own bespoke system; after all, it had paid consultants who, surprisingly, had told them so.
It didn't want to spend money on providing decent equipment for the guys in the front line; it didn't want to improve the troops' living conditions. Oh no, it preferred to spend £250million on a new computer system that would mean that the civil servants operating it would have to press less buttons and so be less vulnerable to RSI injury!
Well done MoD: £250million for a system that short changes the guys who are risking their lives on the front line!
The Sunday Times: Soldiers are cheated in pay blunder

MoD says 10-year IT programme back on track15 Nov 2007
Early obstacles overcome in EDS led Atlas project claims military. The Ministry of Defence has admitted its multi-billion pound Defence Information Infrastructure project has faced a “number of obstacles during the early stages of ...
Computerworld UK's News - http://www.computerworlduk.com/news

Electronic Data Systems - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Electronic Data Systems (EDS) (NYSE: EDS, LSE: EDC) is a global business and technology services company headquartered in Plano, Texas that defined the ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Data_Systems - 67k -Cached - Similar pages
EDS drew criticism from the UK National Audit Office for their work on controversial IT systems for the Child Support Agency.[9] The implementation of a cross-service payroll system for the UK MoD has been problematic.[10]

The performance of the system to administer Tax Credits for the UK Inland Revenue (now HM Revenue & Customs) was far lower than expected, resulting in payments failing to arrive for the thousands of low-paid workers and their families who needed these benefits.[11] This failure ultimately resulted in EDS being dropped by HM Revenue and Customs in favour of CapGemini and EDS settling with HM Revenue and Customs for £71 million. EDS argued that they should have been given much more time to test the new system. [12]

  • ^ Private Eye 17 November 2007
  • ^ EDS's RAF pay system struggles to take off, The Register
  • ^ [1], The Register
  • ^ [2], BBC News
  • Tax credit fiasco costs EDS £71m
    Computer keyboard
    The Treasury has spent £24m fixing tax credit computer problems
    Computer services group EDS has agreed to pay the government £71.25m in compensation for the poor performance of its tax credits IT system.

    Raytheon JSOW $245,000 each

    Article from BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/871593.stm

    Amount of cluster bombs used: http://www.cursor.org/stories/steelrain.html

    Also globalsecurity.org is a huge resource for landmine information and cluster bomb info.

    Video of cluster bombs
    An a-10 dropping four cluster bombs. http://www.minedykker.dk/film/klynge.mpeg

    THE DEEP STATE'S CANDIDATE
    20 Oct 2007 by Mizgîn
    Human Rights Watch’s Arms Project revealed in December 1994 that the US government is weighing a Turkish request to buy almost 500 US-made CBU-87 Combined Effects Munitions (CEMs), or cluster bombs. ...
    Rastî - http://rastibini.blogspot.com/

    warprotest @ 2007-09-25T21:27:00

    AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon [JSOW], made by Raytheon, $245,000 each.
    http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/agm-154-pics.htm

    Dodgy deals Raytheon & cluster munitions,

    Dodgy Deals

    BankTrack works with communities and organisations worldwide to monitor 'dodgy' projects and deals. We consider being involved in these projects as incompatible with being a sustainable bank.

    BankTrack is currently revising the system of disclosure of financial information. As this is a work in process, we include the information of banks successively.
    Cluster Munitions producers - - international -


    Although 98% of cluster munitions victims are civilians, cluster munitions producers don’t have any problems attracting capital from financial markets.

    A research by Netwerk Vlaanderen reveals that sixty-nine financial institutions play a role in the financing of at least six of these companies. Together they secured credit facilities for these producers worth a total amount of US$ 12.6 billion (€ 10 billion) during 2004-2007. Investment banking services have also arranged bond issues for two companies worth a total amount of US$ 1.3 billion (€ 1 billion) during the same period. Several financial institutions have also been found to hold significant shareholdings in four cluster munitions producers.

    company / companies involved


    GenCorp (USA): Aerojet, a fully-owned subsidiary of Gencorp, produces the cluster munitions for the ATACMS-missile of Lockheed Martin. Aerojet also produces the solid propellant rocket motor for this rocket. At least until 2004, Aerojet assembled BLU-97 submunitions and integrated them into the AGM-154 A Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW-A).

    Lockheed Martin (USA) produces various missiles which can be categorised as cluster munitions, including the MLRS M26 surface-to-surface missile containing 644 M77 submunitions, and the MLRS XM30 rocket containing 404 DPICM submunitions. The M26 rockets have been used by the US Army in Iraq (2003) and by the Israeli Army in Lebanon (2006).

    Raytheon (USA) produces the AGM154 Joint Standoff weapon (JSOW), an air-delivered bomb with some cluster munition variants. For example the AGM154A, the standard version, contains 145 BLU-97/B sub munitions. Also the Tomahawk cruise missile has amongst its variants a submunition warhead.

    Textron (USA), produces the CBU-105 Sensor Fused Weapon, an air-to-surface cluster bomb. This weapon was used by the US Army during the latest Iraq War.

    Thales (France): TDA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thales, is a European producer of missiles, amongst others some cluster munitions. TDA admitted to the Norwegian Central Bank that it produces a PR Cargo bomb containing 16 dual effect submunitions. In 2006 Forges De Zeebrugge, a fully-owned subsidiary of TDA, admitted that it is working on a 70mm FZ101 rocket containing eight submunitions for the Tiger Helicopter program of the German army.

    These companies are mentioned in the Netwerk Vlaanderen Report ‘Explosive Investments’ (feb 2007). Other companies involved in the production of cluster munitions are:

    Rheinmetall, Aerostar, Aselsan and Singapore Technologies, Israeli Military Industries, Diehl Munition Systeme, Giat industries, FAMAE, Dezamet, Honeywell, ATK, L-3 Communications, General Dynamics, Poongsan, Northrop Grumman, etc.

    financial institution(s) involved / actively interested


    banks
    ABN AMRO
    General corporate finance Thales - January 2005, Rheinmetall - April 2005
    ANZ
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Thales - January 2005, Raytheon - March 2005
    Bank of America
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Textron - April 2006, Rheinmetall - April 2005
    Issuing of bonds provided in March 2005 for Textron
    Barclays
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Textron - April 2006, Thales - January 2005
    BBVA
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Thales - January 2005
    BNP Paribas
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Textron - April 2006, Thales - January 2005
    Issuing of bonds provided in December 2007 for Thales
    Calyon
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Thales - January 2005, Rheinmetall - April 2005
    Issuing of bonds provided in December 2006 for Thales
    Citigroup
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Textron - April 2006, Thales - January 2005
    Crédit Agricole
    General corporate finance Through Calyon: Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Thales - January 2005, Rheinmetall - April 2005
    Issuing of bonds provided in December 2006 for Thales (through Calyon)
    Credit Suisse Group
    General corporate finance Raytheon - March 2005, Textron - April 2006
    Deutsche Bank
    General corporate finance Textron - April 2006, Thales - January 2005, Rheinmetall - April 2005
    Issuing of bonds provided in March 2005 for Textron
    Fortis
    General corporate finance Thales - January 2005
    HSBC Group
    General corporate finance Textron - April 2006, Thales - January 2005, Rheinmetall - April 2005
    Issuing of bonds for Textron - March 2005, for Thales - December 2006
    ING Group
    General corporate finance Thales - January 2005
    Intesa Sanpaolo
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007
    JPMorgan Chase
    General corporate finance Raytheon - March 2005, Textron - April 2006, Thales - January 2005
    Issuing of bonds provided in March 2005 for Textron
    Merrill Lynch
    General corporate finance Textron - April 2006
    General corporate finance Textron - April 2006
    Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Textron - April 2006, Thales - January 2005
    Issuing of bonds provided in March 2005 for Textron
    Mizuho
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005
    Morgan Stanley
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Textron - April 2006
    Royal Bank of Scotland
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Thales - January 2005
    Scotia Bank
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Textron - April 2006
    Société Générale
    General corporate finance Raytheon - March 2005, Textron - April 2006, Thales - January 2005
    Issuing of bonds for Textron - March 2005, for Thales - December 2006
    Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Thales - January 2005
    UBS
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005, Textron - April 2006, Thales - January 2005
    UniCredit
    General corporate finance Thales - January 2005, Rheinmetall - April 2005
    WestLB AG
    General corporate finance Lockheed Martin - June 2007, Raytheon - March 2005

    For more detailed information on how banks are or have been involved in financing cluster munition producing companies, see the reports of Netwerk Vlaanderen and the upcoming report "mind the gap".

    dodgy aspects


    Using cluster munitions is a serious breach of International Humanitarian Law as it is impossible to distinguish between civilian and military targets, and causes disproportionate long-term civilian harm. Therefore cluster munitions stand out as the weapon category most in need of stronger national and international regulation. Cluster munitions pose a serious threat to civilian populations during and after a conflict.

    Cluster munitions are designed to cover a large area where one or more targets are located. Spreading the munitions over this area results in a large chance of civilian casualties during the attack.

    But these weapons also cause civilian casualties after the end of the armed conflict. The sub-munitions contained in cluster bombs or rockets have a certain rate of failure (dud rate). Following a cluster attack there will be many unexploded submunitions left behind over a large area. A mine field is created, with a great risk for civilians, for years after the conflict. At this moment cluster munitions have been used in 23 countries or areas. Recent use has been documented in amongst others former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. In the first world-wide research on cluster munitions victims, Handicap International revealed that nearly all recorded cluster munitions casualties are civilians, putting the figure at 98 percent. Twenty seven percent of these are children.
    Investing as complicity
    Investing in a company is clearly an active and supportive effort to raise the capital that is needed to fulfil the plans this company has made. Any financial service delivered to a company by a FI is in fact an approval and a belief in the plans this company is making. Moreover it is a crucial, important and necessary support to the company and its projects and plans.

    Investing in a cluster munitions producer therefore is a choice to support the production of these civilian-killers, and is clearly choosing sides. On the other hand refusing to invest in cluster munition producers is also a clear choice. FIs that develop a policy to no longer invest in these companies are not willing to take responsibility for these kind of weapons and their use. They do not want to bear any complicity in the killing of innocent civilians.

    Investors in cluster munition production can be considered as being complicit in the unnecessary killing and maiming of innocent civilians by cluster munitions during and after a conflict.

    current status as of 12-Dec-2007


    Credit to cluster munitions producers has been common over the years, and looks set to continue unabated if due attention is not given.

    Commercial banking for cluster munition producers includes all types of corporate loans and credits, i.e. investment loans, working capital facilities, trade credits, et cetera.

    Investment banking services include helping clients to sell shares and bonds to investors (asset managers, insurance companies, et cetera), as well as financial advisory services.

    Asset management means investing in shares and bonds of companies and governments, on behalf of investment funds (which in turn are owned by many private investors), wealthy private clients and financial institutions such as pension funds and insurance companies.

    Legal initiatives against investments in the production of cluster munitions

    Some financial institutions have, under the pressure of campaigns and new legislation, severed their investment policies concerning weapons producers. This is a very positive evolution, but research into the concrete investments reveals that self regulation by the financial sector only leads to rather patchy results. Stemming the capital flow towards the arms industry will therefore need stronger international regulation and national legislation. A government simply cannot allow investments by its resident financial institutions that are in opposition to its principles or policies. During the last years there have been signs that some politicians have taken up this challenge.

    In February 2007 and after years of campaigning by Netwerk Vlaanderen, the Belgian Parliament voted a law forbidding any investment in cluster munition producers by Belgian financial institutions. (“Financing a Belgian or foreign company active in production, usage, repair, offer, sale, delivery, import, export or stocking of submunition in the sense of this law, is also forbidden.”) The law also instructs the Belgian government to produce a list of cluster munition producers. Belgium is the first country banning investments in cluster munitions.

    In July 2005 a European Parliament Resolution “Calls on the EU and its Member States to prohibit through appropriate legislation financial institutions under their jurisdiction or control from investing directly or indirectly in companies involved in production, stockpiling or transfers of anti-personnel mines and other related controversial weapon systems such as cluster sub-munitions.”

    This resolution forms the perfect starting point for national legislation against investments in weapons producers and traders.

    what must happen...


    In short, financial institutions must divest from producers of cluster munitions.

    Development of transparent policies by investors which exclude cluster munitions producers is a priority, and law makers around the globe should also follow Belgium’s lead by outlawing this type of investment.
    contact us
    see documents
    Explosive Investments
    Netwerk Vlaanderen briefing paper on Financial Institutions and Cluster Munitions. The report identifies 68 financial institutions from around the world involved in funding the production of cluster munitions.
    Feb 28 2007 pub
    Netwerk Vlaanderen: Explosive portfolios
    Report released on Sept 14 on investment in cluster munitions by 5 banks.
    Sep 14 2006 pub
    Netwerk Vlaanderen: Banks Disarm(ed)
    Netwerk Vlaanderen report on results of campaign 'My money, clear conscience' on Belgium bank involvement in weapons production and trade
    May 01 2005 pub
    Netwerk Vlaanderen: Cluster bombs, Landmines Nuclear Weapons and Depleted Uranium Weapons
    A Report on the Financial Links between Banks and the Producers of Controversial Weapon Systems.
    Apr 01 2004 pub
    follow links
    Handicap International Handicap International is an international solidarity organisation specialised in the field of disability and supporting the struggle against landmines and cluster munitions. - international -
    KBC Belgium-based bank-insurance group. In 2004 they developed a policy on investments in the weapon industry. They decided to stop investments in anti-personnel mines, chemical weapons, uranium weapons and cluster munitions. Belgium
    Netwerk Vlaanderen Netwerk Vlaanderen promotes an alternative approach to money. Netwerk gives advice on sustainable saving and investment products and runs the campaign "My Money. Clear Conscience?". Belgium
    Amnesty International and Handicap International France AI and HI France cancelled their contracts with the Financial group AXA because of their investments in producers of landmines and cluster munitions. France
    Norwegian Pension Fund In Norway the Government Pension Fund – Global is set up to manage all the state’s oil revenues. In the summer of 2005 the Fund excluded eight companies from its portfolio because they were considered to manufacture key components for cluster bombs. Norway
    Storebrand Norwegian financial holding with three main activities: banking, asset management and insurance. Storebrand Investments excludes producers of cluster munitions from all of their investment portfolios. Norway
    watch video
    Banking Secrets documentary on investments of Dutch banks in arms industry and other dodgy projects.
    The Cluster bomb feeling documentary on investment of Dutch pension fund in arms industry


    statements of banks

    This section is kept up to date by Inez Louwagie. It was last updated on 12-Dec-2007. For any comments please contact here.



    Raytheon banished for invovlement in cluster bombs

    Norway puts its money where its ethics areLos Angeles Times, CA - 19 Nov 2007First to be banished were companies involved in the manufacture of cluster bombs, land mines and nuclear weapons. In addition to Boeing, these included ...
    Rights, corruption and ecological issues factor into choices made by a giant investment fund fed by oil wealth.
    By Tom Hundley, Tribune foreign correspondent November 19, 2007

    OSLO -- Last year, the Church of Norway asked the Norwegian Government Pension Fund to consider divesting the fund's holdings in Caterpillar Inc. The reason: Caterpillar was selling the Israeli army bulldozers used against Palestinian civilians.Given the avalanche of negative publicity that swamped Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

    last summer, when the pension fund dumped its stock in the giant retailer after concluding it was complicit in human rights violations, Caterpillar had reason to be concerned. But the pension fund's council on ethics, which consisted of a philosopher, a human rights lawyer, a product safety expert, an economist and an international law expert, took a long look at Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar and gave the U.S. industrial giant a clean bill of health.

    Another Illinois company was not so lucky. On the advice of the ethics council, the pension fund last year sold off its shares of Chicago-based Boeing because the aerospace giant makes components for nuclear weapons.All of this might seem like a harmless bit of feel-good Scandinavian moralizing were it not for the fact that the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, worth about $350 billion, is one of the largest piles of investment capital in the world. Nearly triple the size of Vanguard's 500 index fund and rapidly closing in on TIAA-CREF's $400-billion-plus College Retirement Equities fund, Norway's pension fund is the biggest owner of stocks in Europe and has quietly emerged as a global financial force.Its money comes from Norway's vast North Sea oil wealth. As the world's third-largest oil exporter -- only Saudi Arabia and Russia sell more -- Norway rakes in about $1 billion a week. But instead of using it to underwrite a lavish lifestyle for its royal family or wielding it as a political weapon, the Norwegians are quietly amassing a nest egg to pass on to future generations.The fund was established in 1990. By late 2004, when its influence in international markets become impossible to ignore, Norway's legislature established the ethics council and spelled out guidelines that prohibited the fund from owning stock in companies responsible for "violations of fundamental humanitarian principles, serious violations of human rights, gross corruption or severe environmental damage." First to be banished were companies involved in the manufacture of cluster bombs, land mines and nuclear weapons. In addition to Boeing, these included General Dynamics Corp., Raytheon Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and a host of other mainly U.S.-based defense contractors.

    13/12/2007

    Qinetiq, Welsh Assembly

    qinetiq Secure £5m Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Contract Azom.com - USA qinetiq's support for the development of the Welsh Assembly Government initiative at parcaberporth in West Wales as a "Centre of Excellence" for Unmanned ...The £800million Watchkeeper project is designed to provide the UK armed forces with a specialised surveillance and reconnaissance capability and will be evaluated within the unique environment that exists in West Wales. The announcement follows 15 months of promotion and planning by a team comprising QinetiQ, West Wales Airport and the Welsh Assembly Government, and culminated in detailed negotiations with the MOD’s Tactical UAV Integrated Project Team (TUAV IPT).

    Spy In The Sky News By Wat Tyler(Wat Tyler) According to his friend from the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RIP- now part of QinetiQ), when the Nimrod MRA4 project was given the go-ahead in 1996, it was against the strong wishes of the RAF and the MOD procurement team. ...Burning our money - http://burningourmoney.blogspot.com/
    See here for a nicely balanced account of BAE's other lobbying activities.
    So whereas we started at £2bn for 21 planes- £95m each- we're currently on £3.5bn for 12 aircraft- £290m each. That's a price increase of 205%

    Qinetiq, Welsh Assembly

    qinetiq Secure £5m Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Contract Azom.com - USA qinetiq's support for the development of the Welsh Assembly Government initiative at parcaberporth in West Wales as a "Centre of Excellence" for Unmanned ...See all stories on this topic

    Spy In The Sky News By Wat Tyler(Wat Tyler) According to his friend from the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RIP- now part of QinetiQ), when the Nimrod MRA4 project was given the go-ahead in 1996, it was against the strong wishes of the RAF and the MOD procurement team. ...Burning our money - http://burningourmoney.blogspot.com/
    See here for a nicely balanced account of BAE's other lobbying activities.
    So whereas we started at £2bn for 21 planes- £95m each- we're currently on £3.5bn for 12 aircraft- £290m each. That's a price increase of 205%

    12/12/2007

    st athan could learn from town that rejected blackwater training camp

    http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=xuJBuLLUjcQMfY11LsL7O9UMY5XEJLFT

    California Town Rejects Blackwater, Fires Council
    Members Who Endorsed Them


    Blackwater wanted to turn an 800-acre former chicken
    farm into a training camp for law enforcement
    officers. Read more »

    Sure didn't give their politicans an award - hey Smithy
    from Vale of Glamorgan!

    Disgrace and Bias ITV awards to John Smith

    The Campaigner of the Year title went to Vale of Glamorgan Labour MP John Smith. Dr Balsom said, “John Smith’s campaign to bring the Defence Academy to St Athan was a major success. ”
    Absolutely disgracful Chairman of the judges Dr Balsom said, “John Smith’s campaign to bring the Defence Academy to St Athan was a major success. Well he would wouldn't he as Welsh Politician of the Year is a competition sponsored by the ITV Wales Yearbook operated by Balsom himself and his PR firm FBA Group PR firm works for Welsh Development Agency
    which is promoting the St athan deal!! Oh how balanced and bias is that!Not to forget that they have a great deal of business from Wales Tourist Board & Welsh Assembly Government
    Welsh Development Agency

    Deputy is Politician of the Yearic Wales, - DEPUTY First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones was last night named Welsh Politician of the Year in a competition sponsored by the ITV Wales Yearbook. ..

    Each winner received a special Mumph cartoon. The awards ceremony will be shown on ITV1 Wales at 11.35pm tomorrow.

    No Date for St Athan decision

    Defence Minister says no date set for St Athan decision
    ic Wales - THE decision over the second stage of a £14bn defence contract awarded to a Welsh armed forces training centre is still to be made, Bob Ainsworth, Minister for the Armed Forces, said yesterday...And he was unable even to give a date when the decision over the second contract would be made, despite the first contract being awarded nearly a year ago.

    Qinetiq: Gordon Brown's privatised defence scandal
    Socialistworker.co.uk - ...The consortium also includes the giant US arms company Raytheon, and, quite obscenely, the Open University...It is intended to take over not just the training of the British armed forces, but to compete in a world market for privatised military training. The proposed St Athan Academy outside Cardiff will, the consortium hope, be a world leader – training soldiers from all over the world, starting with Iraq and Afghanistan.

    10/12/2007

    Will spending taxpayers money on Qinetiq at St Athans for military training be value for money?

    Hasn't this Dame done well?
    By Charlie Pottins(Charlie Pottins)
    Former civil servant Graham Love, now chief executive of QinetiQ, saw his £110000 invested in the firm soar up to nearly £22 million when QinetiQ was floated on the share markets last year. Taxpayers were short changed, according to ...
    The current Private Eye(no.1199) wonders "Why are the Conservatives so reluctant to make political capital out of the QinetiQ scandal?"

    It is referring to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) saying that the public got a raw deal out of the sale of what used to be the government's Defence Evaluation Research Agency(DERA). A third of it went to the US-based Carlyle Group, nicknamed the President's club, in which the Bin Laden family used to be involved, for £42 million. The deal cost the taxpayer more than that in legal fees and consultancies. Then QinetiQ, as the DERA had become, sold off land and assets.

    Privatisation was lubricated by fat salaries and juicy share options for top management. Former civil servant Graham Love, now chief executive of QinetiQ, saw his £110,000 invested in the firm soar up to nearly £22 million when QinetiQ was floated on the share markets last year.

    Taxpayers were short changed, according to Tory MP Edward Leigh, while senior managers had "won the jackpot".

    But while Tories have been making hay with Labour embarrassment over missing files and mystery donors, David Cameron has been muted over this one. You'd think he might have said something about Gordon Brown as Treasury head and then Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon failing to ensure the deal bolstered the Defence budget. Defence chiefs have been saying Labour is not spending enough.

    The Eye says Dame Pauline, the former Foreign and Commonwealth Office political director who took a second career with NatWest Markets, advising Milosevic on how to privatise Serbian telecomms, - a task in which she was joined by her former boss Lord Hurd - and did well for herself then, has been "one of the jackpot winners".

    From 2001 to 2005, on top of her little position at the BBC, Pauline Neville-Jones was part-time non-executive director at QinetiQ. Given the chance to invest in the company she made more than £350,000 from a £60,000 investment.

    Good money. I guess you have got to be there. And it probably helps to have the right friends, whether for sound advice or that ring of confidence when talking to the media.
    RandomPottins - http://randompottins.blogspot.com/

    A Sense Of Shame
    By Wat Tyler(Wat Tyler)
    Last week Tyler attended the Public Accounts Committee hearing on MOD's bungled 2003-06 sale of QinetiQ (transcript here and see previous blogs, including here). BOM readers will be familiar with the huge profits made by the purchaser- ...
    Burning our money - http://burningourmoney.blogspot.com/

    09/12/2007

    Universities anger over links to military firms

    Anger over universities' links to military firms
    Sunday Herald - Glasgow,Scotland,UK
    The two organisations claim that Glasgow University has undertaken 82 projects with companies such as qinetiq, an international defence and security company ...

    08/12/2007

    Rhodri Celebrates More militarisation of Wales with qinetiq

    MOD awards qinetiq contract to deliver part of the major ...
    Epicos.com (press release) - Switzerland
    qinetiq's support for the development of the Welsh Assembly Government initiative at parcaberporth in West Wales as a "Centre of Excellence" for Unmanned ...
    The £800million Watchkeeper project is designed to provide the UK armed forces with a specialised surveillance and reconnaissance capability and will be evaluated within the unique environment that exists in West Wales. The announcement follows 15 months of promotion and planning by a team comprising QinetiQ, West Wales Airport and the Welsh Assembly Government, and culminated in detailed negotiations with the MOD's Tactical UAV Integrated Project Team (TUAV IPT)........
    "MOD's decision to site Watchkeeper test and evaluation in Wales reinforces the role of ParcAberporth as a site of worldwide importance for unmanned system development," stated
    Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of the Welsh Assembly Government. "This is a major coup for Wales, and follows five years of planning, investment and development as part of our long term strategy to create the ParcAberporth centre for unmanned systems. Watchkeeper is a major milestone in putting this strategy into action, and will provide a significant beneficial impact to the regional economy through the local support services needed for the contract. It is believed that this programme will act as a springboard for attracting other UAV and aerospace technology businesses to the area and we look forward to working with such businesses and welcoming them to Wales."

    Qinetiq to test for UK mod's Watchkeeper UAV programme Flight International - USABarbara CockburnThe deal forms part of the Thales UK-led Watchkeeper UAV programme, and means that Qinetiq will carry out a variety of airborne test and .....................

    Technology firm Qinetiq is to provide the UK Ministry of Defence with airborne and ground-based testing work for its unmanned air vehicle operations, in a contract worth £5m ($10.3 million).

    The deal forms part of the Thales UK-led Watchkeeper UAV programme , and means that Qinetiq will carry out a variety of airborne test and evaluation elements at ParcAberporth, Wales , over the next 18 months, also using the MoD's adjoining Aberporth air range.


    Raytheon Weather Weapon

    Weather Warfare: Beware the US military’s experiments with climatic warfare by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

    Selected excerpts of article
    Read complete article on Weather Warfare by Michel Chossudovsky, The Ecologist, December 2007 (pdf)

    Rarely acknowledged in the debate on global climate change, the world’s weather can now be modified as part of a new generation of sophisticated electromagnetic weapons. Both the US and Russia have developed capabilities to manipulate the climate for military use.

    Environmental modification techniques have been applied by the US military for more than half a century. US mathematician John von Neumann, in liaison with the US Department of Defense, started his research on weather modification in the late 1940s at the height of the Cold War and foresaw ‘forms of climatic warfare as yet unimagined’. During the Vietnam war, cloud-seeding techniques were used, starting in 1967 under Project Popeye, the objective of which was to prolong the monsoon season and block enemy supply routes along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

    The US military has developed advanced capabilities that enable it selectively to alter weather patterns. The technology, which is being perfected under the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), is an appendage of the Strategic Defense Initiative – ‘Star Wars’. From a military standpoint, HAARP is a weapon of mass destruction, operating from the outer atmosphere and capable of destabilising agricultural and ecological systems around the world.

    While the substance of the 1977 Convention was reasserted in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) signed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, debate on weather modification for military use has become a scientific taboo.

    Military analysts are mute on the subject. Meteorologists are not investigating the matter and environmentalists are focused on greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. Neither is the possibility of climatic or environmental manipulations as part of a military and intelligence agenda, while tacitly acknowledged, part of the broader debate on climate change under UN auspices.the US Air Force points to the unthinkable: the covert manipulation of weather patterns, communications and electric power systems as a weapon of global warfare, enabling the US to disrupt and dominate entire regions.

    Weather manipulation is the pre-emptive weapon par excellence. It can be directed against enemy countries or ‘friendly nations’ without their knowledge, used to destabilise economies, ecosystems and agriculture. It can also trigger havoc in financial and commodity markets. The disruption in agriculture creates a greater dependency on food aid and imported grain staples from the US and other Western countries.

    HAARP was developed as part of an Anglo-American partnership between Raytheon Corporation, which owns the HAARP patents, and British Aerospace Systems (BAES).

    The HAARP project is one among several collaborative ventures in advanced weapons systems between the two defence giants. The HAARP project was initiated in 1992 by Advanced Power Technologies, Inc. (APTI), a subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield Corporation (ARCO). APTI (including the HAARP patents) was sold by ARCO to E-Systems Inc, in 1994. E-Systems, on contract to the CIA and US Department of Defense, outfitted the ‘Doomsday Plan’, which ‘allows the President to manage a nuclear war’. Subsequently acquired by Raytheon Corporation, it is among the largest intelligence contractors in the World.

    BAES was involved in the development of the advanced stage of the HAARP antenna array under a 2004 contract with the Office of Naval Research. The installation of 132 high frequency transmitters was entrusted by BAES to its US subsidiary, BAE Systems Inc. The project, according to a July report in Defense News, was undertaken by BAES’s Electronic Warfare division. In September it received DARPA’s top award for technical achievement for the design, construction and activation of the HAARP array of antennas.

    BAES was involved in the development of the advanced stage of the HAARP antenna array under a 2004 contract with the Office of Naval Research. The installation of 132 high frequency transmitters was entrusted by BAES to its US subsidiary, BAE Systems Inc.

    The project, according to a July report in Defense News, was undertaken by BAES’s Electronic Warfare division. In September it received DARPA’s top award for technical achievement for the design, construction and activation of the HAARP array of antennas. The HAARP system is fully operational and in many regards dwarfs existing conventional and strategic weapons systems. While there is no firm evidence of its use for military purposes, Air Force documents suggest HAARP is an integral part of the militarisation of space. One would expect the antennas already to have been subjected to routine testing.

    Under the UNFCCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has a mandate ‘to assess scientific, technical and socioeconomic information relevant for the understanding of climate change’. This mandate includes environmental warfare. ‘Geo-engineering’ is acknowledged, but the underlying military applications are neither the object of policy analysis or scientific research in the thousands of pages of IPCC reports and supporting documents, based on the expertise and input of some 2,500 scientists, policymakers and environmentalists. ‘Climatic warfare’ potentially threatens the future of humanity, but has casually been excluded from the reports for which the IPCC received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

    Read complete article on Weather Warfare by Michel Chossudovsky, The Ecologist, December 2007 (pdf)


    Global Research Articles by Michel Chossudovsky

    The CRG grants permission to cross-post original Global Research articles on community internet sites as long as the text & title are not modified. The source and the author’s copyright must be displayed. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: crgeditor@yahoo.com

    www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

    For media inquiries: crgeditor@yahoo.com
    © Copyright Michel Chossudovsky, The Ecologist, December 2007, 2007
    The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7561

    04/12/2007

    Universities take money from Arms Companies

    New report on university funding although it doesn't look at at the Open university which as we know is heavily involved with the Metrix consortium and bestowing respectability and credence to the arms companies Raytheon, Qinetiq

    Cardiff University

    This is how they describe it “The University has signed a major partnership with leading defence security and technology company QinetiQ. The strategic partnership will enable QinetiQ to access University expertise and maintain an active involvement in its latest research innovations. In return QinetiQ, which has a strong UK customer base and is expanding in the USA, will provide expertise on technology transfer..”
    - Cardiff University Website

    Top 3 funders (by no. of projects) 1) QinetiQ 2)MoD 3)Dstl

    A report published today reveals that 26 top UK universities have received contracts for at
    least £725 million over six years from arms companies and public military bodies. The report, Study War No More, is published jointly by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR) and CAAT

    Universities accepting millions from arms companies
    Ekklesia, - By staff writers A report published today (Tuesday) has revealed that 26 top UK universities have received contracts for at least £725 million over six ...

    UNIVERSITIES ACCEPTING MILLIONS OF POUNDS

    FROM ARMS COMPANIES, STUDY SHOWS

    A report published today reveals that 26 top UK universities have received contracts for at least £725 million over six years in sponsorship by arms companies and public military bodies. The report, Study War No More, looks at each university between 2001 and 2006 and uncovers over 1,900 projects funded in this way. It is written by Tim Street and Martha Beale and published jointly by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR) and Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).

    Examples of military projects include a scheme researching unmanned aerial vehicles over ten universities, funded jointly by BAE and public sources, which is run by a university professor and a project manager from BAE. In addition to research projects, arms companies were found to have sponsored numerous courses, bursaries, industrial placements and careers fairs.

    Co-author Martha Beale said: "It was a huge struggle to unearth this information, due to a lack of transparency at many universities and the secretive nature of the arms trade. We were staggered to discover the depth of military involvement in higher education. It raises crucial questions about research funding and academic independence. It is vital that students, university staff and the general public tackle the alarming influence of military money."

    Over two-thirds of identified military projects involved three leading UK arms companies - BAE, Rolls Royce and QinetiQ. The universities conducting the most military projects were (in descending order) Cambridge, Loughborough, Oxford, Southampton and University College London.

    Ends

    Notes to Editors

    1. Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) works for the reduction and ultimate abolition of the international arms trade. The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR) is an international spiritually-based movement of people who commit themselves to active nonviolence as a way of life and as a means of personal, social, economic and political transformation.
    2. The report, Study War No More, is written by Tim Street and Martha Beale and published jointly by FoR and CAAT. The research for the report was conducted by Martha Beale, Tim Street and Jo Wittams with the assistance of staff and volunteers from CAAT and FoR.
    3. Study War No More considers 26 universities between 2001 and 2006. These are Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Cranfield, Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Imperial College London, King's College London, Leeds, Liverpool, Loughborough, London School of Economics, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Queens' University Belfast, Sheffield, Southampton, Swansea, University College London, Warwick and York. This selection includes all members of the Russell Group of elite UK universities, along with six others selected due to particular relevance and/or geographical balance.
    4. Copies of Study War No More are available on request.
    5. Spokespeople for CAAT and FoR are available for interview.

    Media Contact Symon Hill - 020 7281 0297 or 07990 673 232


    [PDF] File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
    FoR’s Martha Beale on military research taking place in ..... Tim Street, one of the. authors of the report, said “Study. War No More will act as a ...


    Military Involvement in UK Universities

    Study war no more report

    Does your university work for the military?

    Military organisations - including arms companies and the Ministry of Defence - annually sponsor hundreds of projects at UK universities.

    The Study War No More report examines military involvement at 26 UK universities in order to highlight the impact military funding has on university departments. The report provides information about the funding of UK universities by military organisations, both governmental and industrial. It also intends to support students concerned about the impact their institutions have on international peace and conflict; and to encourage debate regarding the democratic deficit within academic institutions and the ends and ethics of research and research funding.

    Study War No More: Military Involvement in UK Universities is a joint project between Campaign Against Arms Trade and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The campaign website hosts full details of military involvement at 26 UK universities. You can download the Study War No More report, which exposes the ways in which the military sector is being pushed into UK universities, view in-depth data on each of the 26 universities we researched or find out more information on researching and campaigning in this area.
    Read more

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