Defensiebegrotingen en -problematiek, niet NL

Gestart door Lex, 10/07/2006 | 21:54 uur

hudinie

Wij gaan het nog meemaken dat we zelfs het GEWEER gaan afschaffen en overgaan tot de LONGBOW..kostprijs 440 euro en handgemaakt...en die maakt ook geen lawaai want dan hebben de vogeltjes die broeden er ook geen last van.

Elzenga

Citaat van: Mourning op 27/05/2010 | 13:15 uur
Europa en Defensie ofwel: hoe je jezelf in snel tempo vrijwillig vrijwel irrelevant kunt maken...  :dead:
Amerika zal moeten volgen....of de eigen problemen structureel moeten blijven negeren...maar dan komt de rekening later. Dit soort noodzakelijke bezuinigingen in het Westen zal het verschuiving van de machtsbalans in de wereld mijns inziens gaan versnellen. Ik vrees dat "onze" politici nog teveel vastzitten in oude denkpatronen om daar een effectief antwoord op te formuleren.

Mourning

Europa en Defensie ofwel: hoe je jezelf in snel tempo vrijwillig vrijwel irrelevant kunt maken...  :dead:
"The only thing necessary for Evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"- Edmund Burke
"War is the continuation of politics by all other means", Carl von Clausewitz, Vom Kriege/On War (1830).

Harald

De duitse minister van Defensie Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg heeft gisteren (woensdag) bekend gemaakt dat ze gaan bezuinigen op defensie en wel 1 miljard euro per jaar

Defenseindustrydaily
Rapid Fire: 2010-05-27
26-May-2010 21:30 EDT

•The German defense minister aims to cut EUR 1 billion per year in defense spending, including closing small military facilities. Germany currently spends less than 1.5% of GDP on defense; NATO members' commitment is 2%.



Lex

SYDNEY, Australia - Australia will escape the worst effects of last year's global financial crisis, and the government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has kept its promise to maintain defense spending by increasing Australia's defense budget from 24.4 billion Australian dollars ($22.04 billion) in 2009-10 to 25.7 billion Australian dollars in the next year.

"Of Australia's 18 years of continuous economic expansion, Australians can be proudest of the one just passed," Australia's treasurer, Wayne Swan said May 11, unveiling the federal budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year to the Parliament in Canberra. "Together, Australians have defied global economic gravity, not by accident, but by choice."

However, money is still tight, said Sen. John Faulkner, the country's defense minister. The Strategic Reform Program (SRP) his predecessor Joel Fitzgibbon initiated in 2009 will continue. The SRP is designed to reap an efficiency dividend of some 20.6 billion Australian dollars over the decade to 2019, or about 8.5 percent of the budget.

In 2009-10, the SRP harvested 797 million Australian dollars in savings, Faulkner said; his 2010-11 budget aims to top the billion-dollar mark.

The money saved will be reinvested buying combat equipment set out in his department's Defence Capability Plan (DCP), a 10-year rolling blueprint for Australian defense procurement.

The new budget contains no surprises as far as equipment is concerned. Australia's defense procurement agency, the Defence Materiel Organisation, will spend 6.08 billion Australian dollars on new equipment in 2010-11.

Major procurements scheduled for funding approval this year include:

■ An estimated 3.5 billion Australian dollars for 24 new naval combat helicopters to replace the Navy's 16 aging S-70B Seahawks.

■ A new Tactical UAV system for the Army, for which Faulkner's department has requested two AAI-built Shadow 200 systems under a U.S. federal military sales agreement worth an estimated $218 million.

■ 1.1 billion Australian dollars worth of protective equipment for Australian troops in Afghanistan, to be acquired between 2010 and 2013. The biggest single chunk of this, 437 million Australian dollars, will be spent in the coming fiscal year on a new counter-rocket, artillery and mortar "sense-and-warn" capability, Faulkner announced.

"Australian forces in Afghanistan currently face a very high risk from both insurgent operations and improvised explosive devices [IEDs], and a high risk from indirect fire," Faulkner said.

This billion-dollar investment in force protection capabilities includes direct protection for Australian Defence Force members from small arms, IEDs and indirect fire, he added. Additional measures include improved route-clearance capabilities, enhanced protection and firepower for Protected Mobility Vehicles, new night fighting equipment, improved body armor and improved intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities.

The budget also allocates 1.1 billion Australian dollars to fund ongoing operations in Afghanistan and the wider Middle East (including ships in the Arabian Gulf), Solomon Islands and East Timor, as well as enhanced coastal surveillance to deter or detect people smugglers, terrorists and organized criminals.

The coastal surveillance effort also will be enhanced, with the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service receiving the green light to replace its eight aging 38-meter Bay-class patrol boats with a new fleet of boats under a 1.2 billion Australian dollar boost to coastal protection.

Defense News,
Published: 11 May 2010 12:16

VandeWiel

Kijk, eindelijk eens goed nieuws voor defensie ;)

Het mindere nieuws: overheden hebben allerlei stimuli programma's om de economie draaiend te houden en de werkloosheid laag. (is meer loonbelasting inkomsten en meer bestedingen) Zo nam de VS 25.000 man extra aan. = Beter & goedkoper, dan ze de WW in te laten draaien. Zodra de economie het weer met minder stimuli aan kan zal er zeer zwaar bezuinigd moeten worden om de tekorten terug te brengen en de schulden weer een beetje af te betalen. Daar houdt dit onderzoek blijkbaar geen rekening mee, ze zijn te vroeg...

VandeWiel

#271
Volgens het Internationale Instituut voor Strategische Studies heeft de recessie vrijwel geen invloed gehad op de uitgaven van defensie. In een rapport, dat vandaag werd gepubliceerd, staat dat de uitgaven aan wapens en oorlogen niet zijn aangetast door de wereldwijde malaise.

Volgens het IISS is de wereldwijde begroting wat betreft uitgaven van defensie tussen 2006 en 2008 gestegen. Het bedrag ging van 1,3 triljoen dollar naar 1,55 triljoen dollar. De verwachting is dat stijging is doorgezet in 2009.

Meer geld

Japan, Frankrijk, China en de Verenigde Staten zijn de grootste geldverbrassers op het gebied van defensie. Deze landen hebben hun uitgaven dan ook verhoogd of gelijk gehouden. Dit geldt ook voor de meeste landen in het Midden-Oosten. Rusland heeft daarentegen een minimale bezuiniging doorgevoerd.


http://www.spitsnieuws.nl/archives/buitenland/2010/02/recessie_geen_invloed_op_defen.html

andré herc

Didier Reynders eist aanpassingen hervormingsplan voor Defensie
zaterdag 09 januari 2010Auteur: Peter De Lobel BRUSSEL - De Crem moet zijn hervormingsplan mogelijk aanpassen en tegelijk een paar ruzies smoren.

Minister van Defensie Pieter De Crem (CD&V) moet de komende dagen zwaar weer trotseren met zijn hervormingsplan. Op het kernkabinet is vrijdag beslist dat hij tegen woensdag aanpassingen moet voorstellen aan de opvolgingscommissie. De afgelopen weken verkondigde De Crem nochtans dagelijks dat hij geen letter zou wijzigen aan zijn plan.

Vicepremier Didier Reynders (MR) zet hem nu voor het blok. 'De Crem zegt altijd dat de regering zijn plan heeft goedgekeurd, maar tot nu toe hebben we alleen ons akkoord gegeven over de grote lijnen ervan. Als de gevraagde aanpassingen worden aangenomen, geven we ook ons fiat aan de nieuwe inplantingen die het plan voorziet. Anders heeft hij een probleem.'

'Er is ons gevraagd details opnieuw te bekijken, niet de krachtlijnen', zegt De Crems kabinetschef. Zo zou er sprake van zijn om zowel in Bastenaken als in Aarlen nog een substantiële militaire activiteit te behouden.

De Crem heeft overigens nog andere katten te geselen. Want het zit er bovenarms op tussen hem en de militairen van de 15de Wing in Melsbroek. De minister wil dat Melsbroek tijdens het Belgische EU-voorzitterschap, in de tweede helft van dit jaar, een echte gate to Europe wordt. Veel staats- en regeringsleiders zullen dan gebruik maken van de luchthaven.

'Maar in Melsbroek staat men je nu op te wachten met de handen in de zakken, leunend tegen een muur. Er is daar geen spirit, geen beroepsfierheid', zegt De Crems kabinetschef. Daarom wordt luitenant-kolonel Peter Lepez ingezet 'als crisismanager'. Lepez moet alle processen opnieuw bekijken 'en de boel een injectie geven zodat het daar opnieuw draait'.

De 15de Wing wordt vaak gezien als het terrein van oud-minister André Flahaut (PS). Bij de PS vreest men dan ook dat 'Lepez er met de grove borstel doorheen zal gaan'. 'Er zullen koppen moeten rollen in Melsbroek.'

De komst van de 'crisismanager' kan niet los gezien worden van de heisa die deze week ontstond tussen de 15de Wing en De Crem. Er waren dagelijks berichten over problemen met de geleasde Airbus A330-toestellen van de Portugese maatschappij Hi Fly, onder meer met een stevig kerosinelek als gevolg (DS 8 januari).

De socialistische vakbond beschuldigt De Crem er ook nog van zich misdragen te hebben tijdens een vlucht vanuit Libanon, eind december. Volgens De Morgen schold hij de bemanning (15de Wing) uit voor 'saboteurs' omdat een tussenstop te lang duurde. Dat klopt niet: De Crem werd kwaad omdat 'alles fout liep op die vlucht', zegt zijn woordvoerder

bron, standaard.be
Den Haag stop met afbreken van NL Defensie, en investeer in een eigen C-17.

Lex

Troop training becomes a casualty of war

The Armed Forces missed out on major training exercises this year because of cutbacks that changed the focus of the military to the counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan.

One of the exercises, Bold Avenger 09, was one of the largest of its kind. It was supposed to have included RAF aircraft but Britain withdrew from the programme.

The 11 other Nato powers that took part included the United States, Denmark, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Turkey. A total of 50 aircraft were involved in the exercise, which included live firing at a range in Denmark.

The list of 38 regular forces exercises and 18 Territorial Army exercises cancelled included: Snow Falcon, which was due to have taken place in the Arctic in Norway; Batus Run, which involved live firing at a large military base in Canada; and Sheldrake Spear, in Germany.

After The Times revealed in October that all training for the TA had been stopped for six months to save £20 million, the Government was swamped with complaints, and the decision was reversed.

The release of information about the latest scrapped training exercises came in a written Commons answer to the Conservatives. MPs warned of the long-term damage the cuts would have on the skills and capabilities of the Armed Forces. The Ministry of Defence was unable to say how much money would be saved.

The MoD insisted that none of the cancelled exercises would affect operational training for Afghanistan.

However, Patrick Mercer, the Conservative MP for Newark and a former infantry battalion commanding officer, said: "Any reduction in training means a deterioration of basic skills that will always be necessary for Afghanistan or for whatever lies ahead on the horizon.

"Training is the bedrock of operational success. As it is said, you train hard and fight easy." The TA, in particular, needed to carry out low-level tactical training to consolidate skills, he said.

With the prospect of next year's strategic defence review leading to cuts in the defence budget, the number of training exercises could be reduced further. The MoD has saved money on exercises in previous years. In 2007, 61 were cancelled, of which 16 were due to operational commitments, 36 to changing priorities and the remaining nine for other reasons.

Last year 58, nearly 10 per cent of the planned exercises, were cancelled — four because of operational commitments, 20 due to changing priorities and the remaining 34 for other reasons.

The MoD announced a series of cuts last week to try to balance the current financial year's defence budget. These include the early axing of the RAF's fleet of 11 Nimrod MR2 surveillance aircraft and the disbandment of a Harrier squadron.

Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said: "This list [of cancelled training exercises] shows that cuts were going on before the Secretary of State outlined his programme of cuts.

"The Government must reassure the Armed Forces that these cuts will not have any impact on their readiness for current operations, or to respond to the unexpected."

Bill Rammell, the Armed Forces Minister, said: "To date, 9 per cent of programmed training exercises have been cancelled in 2009. Exercises may be cancelled for a variety of reasons, including effectiveness of delivery, value for money, international policy dimensions and circumstances, operational constraints and focus on current operations."

From The Times
December 24, 2009

ARM-WAP

Cuts made to boost Afghan mission
The government is to buy 22 new Chinook helicopters and other equipment for Afghanistan but is making cuts to fund them, citing "acute cost pressures".
Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said RAF Cottesmore in Rutland would be closed and defence jobs cut, to allow £900m more to be spent on the mission.
Other planned cuts will be brought forward, and some projects delayed.
Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox warned the cuts were the result of "catastrophic economic management".
The money is coming from the Ministry of Defence's existing budget, which is already overspent, and more cuts could yet be made.

" We like to support the British defence industry - but when it comes to the crunch, we have to buy the best equipment that money can buy for our armed services "
Defence Minister Quentin Davies

Mr Fox said the country was in debt and was now "having our national security cut as a consequence".
"Who is paying for [the government's] incompetence? Our brave armed forces," he said.

Mr Ainsworth told the House of Commons that there was no overall cut in the £35.4bn defence budget, but that they needed to make "tough choices" to reprioritise spending.
"Acute cost pressures remain," he said.
Mr Ainsworth said the pressure on public finances meant they had to match the defence programme to available resources. The cuts announced include:

• Closure of RAF Cottesmore in Rutland - the biggest employer in the county - and immediate loss of one squadron of Harrier jets, with the rest moving to RAF Wittering before being phased out earlier than the previously planned withdrawal date of 2018.

• 2,500 job cuts in armed forces personnel the MoD says "are not critical to current operations". To be done by slowing recruitment and preventing extensions to service, rather than redundancies

• Independent review to look into cutting more civilian defence jobs

• Withdrawal of the Nimrod MR2 in March 2010, one year earlier than expected, and the slowing of the introduction of the Nimrod MRA4 to 2012 - which will hit RAF Kinloss in Moray

• Plan to reduce the RAF Tornado and Harrier force by a further one or two squadrons, with final decisions to be taken in the defence review due next year. RAF Lossiemouth, in Moray, is the RAF's largest Tornado GR4s base

• Temporary reduction in some aspects of army training

• Earlier than planned removal from service of one Royal Navy survey ship and one mine-hunter. Navy's Lynx and Merlin Mk1 helicopters also to be "retired" sooner than planned.

Mr Ainsworth said the changes would ensure that "those who put themselves in harm's way on our behalf remain properly supported and resourced".
But BBC political correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti said opposition politicians wanted more detail about exactly where the cuts would come and voiced scepticism about much each would save.

Mr Ainsworth said the new three-year £900m spending plans included:
• Twenty two new Chinook helicopters - the first 10 due to be ready by 2012/13. Takes the total fleet from 48 to 70
• An improved "close combat equipment package" with "state of the art" body armour and night vision goggles being made available to 50% more troops
• More Bowman tactical radios for troops and £80m for special forces communications
• One additional C17 transport aircraft
• The number of Reaper drones - unmanned surveillance aircraft - to be doubled as part of a increased funding to improve intelligence and surveillance
• Improvements to the defensive and support arrangements for the RAF Hercules heavy-lift fleet
Mr Ainsworth said the money announced on Tuesday was on top of £280m coming from the Treasury reserve to increase the number of Husky and Jackal vehicles, and kit to tackle roadside bombs - announced by the prime minister on Monday.
This was separate again to money being spent by the Treasury on urgent operational requirements (UORs), the MoD said.
The defence secretary said the core defence budget had come under pressure from rising fuel and utility prices, pay and pension costs, and the growth in the price of equipment programmes - some of which had doubled in cost since original estimates.
As part of the cuts the Harrier jets based at RAF Cottesmore will move to RAF Wittering before being phased out of service altogether - earlier than the planned withdrawal date of 2018.

The base - which opened in 1938 - holds about 3,000 people and has been home to Harriers since 1999. It currently houses the UK's four operational Harrier squadrons.
Mr Ainsworth's announcement came after months of criticism over the number of helicopters in operation in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

ANALYSIS
By Caroline Wyatt , BBC defence correspondent
The renewed focus on the frontline will be welcomed by those serving in Helmand. However, the first of the new Chinooks won't start coming into service until 2012 at the earliest. That is when British troops could be looking to start a phased withdrawal from Helmand.

Although 22 Chinooks have been ordered, only around a quarter would be likely to go out to Afghanistan, with the rest needed for training in the UK and others in maintenance.
The new C17 transport plane to strengthen the strained air-bridge between the UK and Afghanistan is also much needed, while the counter-IED measures are crucial.
However, the difficulty some will have with the budget re-shuffling is that it prioritises fighting today's war over preparing for tomorrow's. Nor do the cuts appear to result from a carefully-targeted strategy. Cynics might accuse the MoD of again being ready for the last war by the time it's almost over.
Much worse is still to come. The procurement budget is disastrously over-committed, while the squeeze on public spending means more cuts are inevitable. However, those even tougher decisions have been left until after the general election.

The Chinooks will be manufactured in the US by Boeing, but maintenance and repairs will provide "a lot of work" at Vector Aerospace in Gosport, Hampshire, said Defence Minister Quentin Davies.
He was criticised on Tuesday by Defence Select Committee MPs for not giving the full contract to a British firm.
He told them: "We have to buy the best equipment that money can buy for our armed services. We are buying Chinook because Chinook is simply an incomparable aircraft."
Commander Joint Helicopter Command, Rear Admiral Tony Johnstone-Burt, said Chinooks had proved "invaluable" on operations.

Explosive devices
With the recession meaning UK public finances now show a deficit of £178bn, some cost-saving measures have been announced and more huge cuts are expected.
After Chancellor Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report last week the Institute of Fiscal Studies predicted that defence, higher education, transport and housing were most likely to be hit, in order to protect schools and hospitals.

Mr Davies told the BBC decisions always had to be made about what the government wanted and what it could afford.
Asked about the possibility of RAF airbase closures, he said: "If we can get by with fewer bases that will be a very good thing to do. We don't have bases for the sake of having bases; they are not an end in themselves."

Director of the Royal United Services Institute Professor Michael Clarke said the decisions were being made in the absence of a defence review, which had not happened for 12 years and was not due until after the general election.

The announcement came as a report by the National Audit Office accused the MoD of driving up projects' overall budgets through short-term cost-cutting.
On Monday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced £150m would be spent on tackling improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan - which have killed 122 of the 237 British service personnel to have died there.

The body of the soldier who became the 100th British fatality in Afghanistan this year, Lance Corporal Adam Drane, has been returned to the UK.
Meanwhile, the first of 500 extra British troops to be deployed to Afghanistan have arrived in the country.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk_politics/8413135.stm

Published: 2009/12/15 19:17:50 GMT

Lex

Jobs could go to fund Afghan war

The defence secretary is due to outline how he plans to pay for extra equipment for British operations in Afghanistan by making cuts elsewhere.

An RAF base could be shut and thousands of defence jobs lost in Whitehall and also within the armed forces.

Bob Ainsworth is expected to tell MPs more than 20 Chinook helicopters are being ordered over the next 10 years.

It comes as a report accuses the MoD of driving up projects' overall budgets through short-term cost-cutting.
The BBC understands parts of RAF Kinloss, in Moray, could be mothballed as part of the spending cuts.

'Short-sighted'
The government is expected to announce it is buying the Chinooks from Boeing after months of criticism over the number of helicopters in operation in Helmand, in Afghanistan.
An extra C17 transport plane could also be on the cards.

But the money will have to come out of the Ministry of Defence's existing budget, which is already overspent.
Mr Ainsworth is likely to announce cuts to the existing Harrier and Tornado fighter jet fleet, and a cutback of Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft.

Andrew Brookes, a former RAF pilot and director of the Air League, which promotes the cause of British aviation, warned the plan was short-sighted.

He told BBC News: "If you cut back the premier league capability of the UK forces in order to just win a counter insurgency campaign against the Taliban, which has no air force and has no tanks and has no warships, when you finally do pitch up against a state that has those capabilities you could seriously end up losing a conflict that really matters to the UK in future in order to win one in Afghanistan today."

Former Conservative Defence Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said he was "disturbed" by the idea of equipment cuts to fund the war in Afghanistan.

He said the consensus for many years had been that the costs of fighting wars should be met from the government's contingency fund, not from the core defence budget.

"That is deeply dangerous, never happened in the past and has the most ominous implications for the integrity of our armed forces."

The director of the Royal United Services Institute, Professor Michael Clarke, said: "It's a matter of risks. The fact is the current programme is unaffordable, simple as that, so the Ministry of Defence is having to make some calculations as to what it can afford in the next three or four years."

He said decisions were being made without a defence review, which has not happened for 12 years and is not due until after the general election.

"We've got another year or maybe 18 months before we get some political decisions on how much does defence matter to us and what do we want to do in the world."

'Negative picture'
Meanwhile, the spending watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO), has warned of a £36bn deficit over the next 10 years if the defence budget is not increased.

And it criticised the Ministry of Defence for trying to clear the potential deficit with a "save now, pay later" approach.
The NAO cited the example of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier which has been put back to save £450m over four years - but says that will eventually increase costs by £1.12bn.

Its report said the cost of the 15 biggest military projects had increased by £1.2bn in 2008-9 alone, and £733m of that was down to deliberate delays.

Repatriation
Commons public accounts committee chairman Edward Leigh said the MoD was "building up trouble for the future".
Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox added: "This constant failure to contain cost and keep to timetable means that taxpayers' money is being wasted and our armed forces are being denied vital equipment which has meant a reduction in capability. It is shambolic."

Defence minister Quentin Davies said the government was committed to the aircraft carriers, but they would not be needed as quickly as they were being built and delaying them would have no cost for defence capability.

He said the Conservatives were "clearly planning to cancel them if they get into power".

It might cost more to delay projects but it was "an inescapable fact of life" that the defence budget had to be managed from year to year.

On Monday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced £150m would be spent on tackling improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan.

Some 122 of the 237 British service personnel who have died in Afghanistan have been killed by explosives, most of them IEDs.
The body of the soldier who became the 100th British fatality in Afghanistan this year, Lance Corporal Adam Drane, is to be returned to the UK later.

Meanwhile, the first of 500 extra British troops to be deployed to Afghanistan have arrived in the country.
The soldiers from The 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) landed at 0505 local time (0035 GMT).

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2009/12/15 09:46:19 GMT

Lex

Mark, vzke een bronvermelding te plaatsen bij het bericht.

Lex
Alg. Beheerder

Mark H

A boom in prices of agricultural and mineral commodities that Brazil currently produces, and the prospects of a bonanza from the Tupi oil field provide the background for a rapid increase in military spending in Brazil.

The total sum of budgeted procurements during 2008-2011 is scheduled to be US$10bn greater than in previous budgets. Available defence funds to update old infrastructure and equipment will depend on economic growth as a high proportion of the defence budget is scheduled for pensions and personnel, reportedly 80% at the end of 2007. A small, 4% remained for defence investment purposes, at end 2007.

Our current view is that Brazil's defence spending will not actually increase as a percentage of GDP in the coming years, although Defence Minister Jobim has stated that there will be substantial increases. Defence spending in Brazil is currently around 1.5% of GDP and remains one of the lowest in the world.

Despite this, the announcements made by Jobim since his appointment in July 2007, to substantially increase defence spending, mark an important change for the defence industries of Brazil and the security sector throughout Latin America. The administration of President Lula has not favoured large defence budgets, in keeping with previous Brazilian governments' policies. The relationship between the government and the military has been traditionally tense, as a result of Brazil's period of military rule during the 1980s. This has been no better under Lula's Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), and interactions between the two remain terse. Brazil has had a long period of under-investment in defence and security resources. However, the country's fairly recent change in direction mirrors the decisions of other South American nations, such as Venezuela, Chile and (to a lesser extent), Columbia, which have also expanded their military capabilities.

Jobim has raised Brazil's defence procurement budget from US$3.6bn in 2008 to US$5.6bn in 2009. His talks with France and Russia are also significant. The development of a maintenance complex to service Russian military aircraft is one of Jobim's plans under discussion with Russian authorities. Brazil and France continue to decide the terms of an agreement for purchase of a diesel-electric Scorpene class submarine and attendant technology transfer. These discussions are also down to Jobim and his objectives for change. The possible resumption of Brazil's historic plans for developing a nuclear submarine has also been raised by Jobim. Whilst not confirmed as a development project, the Scorpene could be a model used for the project. In another development, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez may be forced to service his aircraft fleet in Brazil, a development which could be very unsettling for Venezuela.

Previously the Chavez administration bought 24 Sukhoi Su-30MK2s and 33 helicopters from Russia, however it was not able to secure a transfer agreement for technology Whilst BMI projections doubt that increased defence spending during 2008-2001 will lift defence as a proportion of GDP, we acknowledge that spending will certainly increase as a percentage of government spending, from the current level of about 6%. In addition BMI has assumed that the manpower of Brazil's armed services will increase by around 2% per annum. The 2008 intake of military personnel is predicted to rise by 100,000.

Brazil's economic outlook in 2008 will be impacted by the softening of more conducive conditions in 2006 and 2007. The inflows of foreign direct investment reached a record level of US$37.4bn in 2007. These funds have been essential to economic growth and they are expected to drop off in 2008. However Brazil has a solid position to withstand such challenges. Our view for GDP growth in 2008 remains a robust 4.7%. GDP growth for 2007 is estimated to have been 5%. We see this decrease as owing mainly to the importance of domestic demand for the next phase of Brazil's expansion, rather than external factors.

The plans by government to boost spending on defence cannot be mentioned without noting the discovery of the extensive Tupi offshore oilfield. The oilfield is massive and should give a boost of more than 50% to Brazil's oil reserves. Given the tightening supply of oil worldwide, the long-term revenue potential of the Tupi reserves for Brazil's government cannot be underestimated. The opportunity presented by this development has been used by Lula's administration to increase defence spending.

Brazil has a more substantial and diverse offering of indigenous armaments companies able to provide equipment to the armed forces. The Brazilian Congress has been asked to change the rules for military purchases by Defence Minister Jobim, thereby permitting the government to 'develop an industrial defence policy.' As such Brazilian companies will not benefit substantially from the increased defence budget. For example the construction of the weaponry, hull, and cybernetic stuffing for the possible nuclear submarine project would be in Brazil, according to the Defence Ministry. Meanwhile, developing countries will continue to take imports from the Brazilian companies as their products carry a reputation of being good value for money.

General elections are to be held in 2010 and municipal elections will take place this October. A reliance on President Lula's personal popularity by his Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) may continue to undermine prospective presidential candidates for the party. This is in evidence at present as tensions are increasing between the PT and Brazil's main opposition parties leading up to the municipal elections.

Internal security problems continue to be a concern for Brazil, especially the Amazon Basin are (where Brazil shares around 12,000km of border with seven other countries), over which the government has a weak hold over the rule of law, or in the Triple Border region (i.e. where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet). The prevalence of drug-smuggling, gun-running, bio-piracy, illegal deforestation and environmental destruction by gold mines will remain key concerns for Brazil, whatever the status of relations between Venezuela and Colombia. As drugs and guns enter Brazil through the borders of various countries, urban gang violence is supported. The problem is compounded in a legal environment where the police and judicial systems are commonly inefficient and/or corrupt.
Turf in je rantsel!!!!

Lex

RAF plans huge cuts in aircraft and stations

AIR FORCE chiefs are preparing to cut 10,000 staff — a quarter of their manpower — and close up to five large air stations.

The plans will reduce the RAF's strength to 31,000 personnel over the next five years, little more than half the level during the recent Iraq conflict and seriously diminishing its capability of fighting another conventional war.

It also intends to retire the majority of its Harrier and Tornado jets early, leaving it with about 80 fewer aircraft by 2025. The cuts are part of a package prepared for the 2010 annual spending round.

They are designed to pre-empt the savage cuts expected as part of the strategic defence review promised by whichever party wins power in next year's general election.

senior RAF officer said the plans were designed to save "significant amounts of money, measured in billions of pounds a year" rather than having them forced on the service by the review.

The RAF has 19 flying stations in the UK, but the reduction in aircraft means up to five are expected to be closed and sold over the next decade.

The stations most at risk include RAF Cottesmore in Rutland and RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, both of which will close when the Harrier fleet is retired.

One of either RAF Marham in Norfolk or RAF Lossiemouth in Morayshire is under threat because of planned cuts to joint strike fighter numbers. So, too, is RAF Kinloss in Morayshire, with the new Nimrod MRA4 expected to move to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.

One plan under consideration would see all RAF fast jet training moving to RAF Valley in Anglesey, leading to the possible closure of RAF Linton-on-Ouse and RAF Leeming, both in North Yorkshire.

Other proposals would see all the RAF's Merlin helicopters move from RAF Benson in Oxfordshire to a joint RAFRoyal Navy station at what is currently Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall.

The proposals were ordered by Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, the new chief of the air staff, and the air force board ahead of the 2010 spending round. It comes with the RAF ordered to find £200m in cuts tand ensure all possible available resources are diverted to Afghanistan.

Short-term cuts will see reductions in the RAF's flying schedule, the grounding of Nimrod MR2 aircraft and Puma helicopters until April, and the mothballing of four of its seven Boeing E-3D Sentry Awacs airborne warning aircraft.

Senior RAF officers believe that whichever party wins the general election it will have to make cuts to defence because of the economic situation.

The Ministry of Defence said: "These are challenging times and, like all government departments, we routinely review spending to ensure that best use is made of the defence budget."

From The Sunday Times
November 15, 2009

Elzenga

Problemen zijn er dus ook elders...en dan staat Noorwegen nog bekend als een rijk land binnen Europa, gezien haar olie en gas-inkomsten...een teken aan de wand.