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Daily News
by Gail Helmer
Jane's News Briefs
Monday, August 20, 2001Jane's Defence Weekly
QDR aims to transform US forces
The Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) of US military strategy, force structure and composition is nearing a critical decision point, and it appears increasingly likely that the review will place the US Department of Defense on a path to slow transformation.
Romania, UK discuss frigate sale
Romania is in talks with the UK over the acquisition of two ex-Royal Navy Type 22 Batch 2 frigates under a government-to-government deal, Jane's Defence Weekly has learned.
Portugal faces funding cuts
Portuguese Defence Minister Rui Pena announced on 11 August that he is to establish a parliamentary working group to review the funding of the Portuguese armed forces. Outside of UN and EU missions and the prospective submarine purchase, heavy cuts are expected to the defence budget.
Panha hovers between repair and manufacturing
Amir Nasser Akhavan, managing director of Iran's primary helicopter company Panha, has denied that it is manufacturing helicopters, saying it is only overhauling and upgrading the country's large US-built fleet. However, there are indications the company may be building new helicopters from components sourced internationally.
Seoul may warm to F-15K fighter
Boeing's bid to win the Republic of Korea's F-X fighter aircraft competition received a boost last week following US Department of Defense approval to export to Seoul the Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) for Boeing's F-15K aircraft.
China to test air-defence radar
China National Electronics Import & Export Corp is developing a SkyWave over-the-horizon backscatter (OTH-B) radar, and has one system at the testing stage, according to a source from the company.
Jane's Foreign Report
Rumsfeld on the rocks?
Might there be a change at the Pentagon?
AN INTRIGUING but unconfirmed report has reached FOREIGN REPORT about the status of the American secretary of defence, Donald Rumsfeld. Could he leave the Bush administration - or be pushed out - in the next few months?
What Poland needs
THIS is turning out to be an annus horribilis for Poland. The country has suffered disastrous floods. Unemployment is rising, the economy is failing and with elections slated for September 23rd, national disillusionment with politics is running higher than the floodwater. Polls even show that enthusiasm for joining the European Union is fading; Poles are beginning to realise what will happen to their living standards when agriculture and industry are exposed to the full force of European competition. Poland has in recent years acquired a good 'track record' for sound economic and political management. Will inept leaders destroy it? What should the Poles do?
Inside Tunisia
THERE is nothing that Tunisia's dictator, General Ben Ali, likes more than power. He has held power since seizing it from his unsuspecting mentor and friend, President Habib Bourguiba, in 1987. Now, he is busily trying to renew his presidential 'mandate' for the fourth time. To make sure there are no slip-ups, he has begun manoeuvring three and a half years before his third term expires in 2004. Why the hurry?
Israel pushes European arms sales
MIGHT Israel sell military equipment to the countries of the European Union? Maybe. The Israeli are making a serious bid to sell missiles and reconnaissance aircraft to the EU's fledgling Rapid Reaction Force (RRF). In early summer an Israeli team met in Brussels with senior aides of Javier Solana, the former Nato secretary-general who in 1999 became the EU's first High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The Israeli delegation was led by the Israeli embassy in Brussels. There was an official from the Berlin embassy who oversees arms sales in Europe, and also a retired general who came out from Tel Aviv.
Animal rights threat grows
MILITANT animal rights activists are now regarded by the British government as a bigger threat to public order than the IRA, in its current relatively peaceful mode, or any other such organisation. There are fears in Whitehall that their sustained campaign will deter research and investment in Britain by multinationals that have been targeted because they test their products on animals. However, there is a steely determination - both by government and industry - not to let the militants win.
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