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Page 1 Daily News
by Gail Helmer
Friday, March 23, 2001
Jane's News Briefs
Jane's Defence Weekly
Lockheed's JSF carrier variant completes test flights
Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter X-35C carrier variant concept demonstrator completed its flight test programme on 11 March after a total of 73 flights and 58 flying hours. Company officials said the X-35C performed "extremely well".
Germany to develop Schützenpanzer 3 IFV
The German Army is formulating its requirements for Schützenpanzer 3, a new infantry fighting vehicle to replace the Rheinmetall Landsysteme Marder 1 that entered service in 1971.
Myanmar stocks up on ammunition
Myanmar is obtaining through international dealers a significant quantity of 82mm smoothbore mortar ammunition, apparently intending to replenish its supplies in the face of continuing border tension with Thailand.
Jordan receives Belgian Spartans
The Belgian Ministry of Defence has delivered the first 50 of 100 ex-Belgian Army Spartan armoured personnel carrier variants of the Alvis tracked combat reconnaissance vehicle family assigned for the Jordanian Armed Forces.
Italy confirms US F-16 lease
The Italian Air Force on 15 March confirmed an agreement that will see the service operate 34 surplus US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16A/B fighters from mid-2003.
Vickers changes bid for UK Future Command and Liaison Vehicle
Vickers Defence Systems has changed its bid for the British Army's Future Command and Liaison Vehicle requirement for between 500 and 600 4 x 4 armoured vehicles to replace the Alvis Vehicles Spartan.
Albion LPD launched
HMS Albion, the first of a class of two new landing platform dock replacement ships for the UK Royal Navy was launched at the Barrow-in-Furness yard of BAE Systems Marine on 9 March.
Indian programmes under threat
Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes has resigned following allegations of widespread corruption in his ministry, a move that will adversely affect major military purchases.
Czech MoD seeks financing for modernised T-72
The Czech Ministry of Defence is negotiating with the Ministry of Finance to secure Kcs20 billion ($537.75 million) for the modernisation of 140 T-72 main battle tanks to the T-72 M40CZ configuration.
Three more pull out of Dutch army truck contest
Renault, Volvo and Western Star of Canada have pulled out of a $240 million competition to provide a new generation of trucks for the Royal Netherlands Army
Jane's Foreign Report
Russia's sphere of influence
ONCE upon a time, the Russians were the world's second superpower. Their leaders liked the position as well as the awe they inspired. They were angry when Mikhail Gorbachev and Edward Shevardnadze seemed to let their empire disintegrate, the economy to collapse and Russia's world role to vanish. Now the generation after Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin is busily rebuilding Russia. It is enjoying some success in re-establishing its regional influence. Should we worry? FOREIGN REPORT finds out.
A new Yugoslavia
AFTER 10 years of ex-President Slobodan Milosevic's depredations, the rump Yugoslav Federation is close to collapse, despite western calls for it to stay together. Reassessing its future role and drafting a new constitution accounting for the other members' desires are big jobs. A Belgrade-based western ambassador says: "Like it or not, this is going to absorb a lot of the government's energy and time this year, when ideally it should be concentrating on other matters."
Corruption in the Kremlin?
RUSSIA's minister for atomic energy, Yevgeny Adamov, has been accused of corrupt practices in an unconfirmed report by the anti-corruption committee of the lower house of parliament (State Duma). The report was commissioned by the Duma following allegations in the Novaya Gazeta newspaper. It recommends that the Prosecutor General's Office and the Federal Security Service should now launch a formal probe into Adamov's activities. He is accused of illegally continuing to engage in business after becoming agovernment minister in March 1998, and using his post to appoint business associates to key positions. Copies of the report have been sent to President Vladimir Putin and the prime minister, Mikhail Kasyanov.
It's still 'jobs for the boys'
Although the new American secretary of state, Colin Powell, has pledged to take ambassadorial appointments out of politics and place more career foreign service officers in top diplomatic slots, the White House appears to have different ideas.
Jane's Intelligence Watch Report and Jane's Terrorism Watch Report
IWR
Bulgaria - National Security Service (NSS)
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nadezhda Mihailova on 18 March said that Bulgaria told Russia to recall three Russian diplomats, whom Bulgaria suspects of involvement in a spying scandal, on 17 March. Bulgarian officials have told Russia that the three Russian diplomats must leave Bulgaria within the week or risk Bulgaria declaring them personae non grata. The move came a week after the National Security Service (NSS) arrested Col. Yani Yanev, a retired Bulgarian army officer, and Lilyana Gesheva, the chief of a Defense Ministry secret archive, on charges of delivering Bulgarian military secrets to a foreign embassy in Sofia. Local news reports said that authorities arrested Yanev as he was trying to hand over a Bulgarian intelligence report to a Russian diplomat through the fence of the embassy.
United States - Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- A US intelligence source told CNN on 19 March that Russian embassy press attache Vladimir Frolov, whom Russia unexpectedly permanently recalled to Moscow, was the intelligence handler of accused spy Robert Hanssen. Frolov suddenly cut short his tour in the US at the Russian embassy to return to Russia, ostensibly to work for the Izvestia news agency. The intelligence source could not say why Frolov was recalled, nor did the FBI have any comment with regard to Frolov. However, the move came as the US is considering a widespread order for Russia to withdraw Russian diplomats whom the US suspects of being intelligence agents. The intelligence source said that the intelligence community now believes, contrary to its position in recent years, that such a move would be beneficial. Law enforcement officials say that the numbers of Russian diplomats the US believes are intelligence agents has risen to Cold War levels, and US agents are hard-pressed to track all of them adequately. The US last ordered a widespread withdrawal of Russian diplomats from US territory during the Reagan administration. In "Operation Famish," the US ordered the withdrawal of 100 Soviet diplomats from the US. (See IWR of 19 March 2001)
TWR
Burundi - Tutsis and Hutus
- Six political parties representing the Tutsi minority in Burundi have accused President Pierre Buyoya of planning to declare a state of emergency in order to delay the implementation of a power-sharing agreement with the majority Hutus aimed at ending the eight-year-long civil war, BBC reported on 20 March. The accusation comes at a time when all signatories to the peace accord are meeting in Arusha in neighboring Tanzania. The two main Hutu rebel groups have refused to sign a ceasefire and the Burundian government has reiterated that it does not want to hand over power to an interim administration until the rebels do so.
India - Hindus and Muslims
- Riot police reinforcements were sent to the city of Kanpur in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on 19 March to quell riots between majority Hindus and minority Muslims who were protesting the burning of the Muslim holy Koran by Hindu extremists in the capital New Delhi on 16 March, BBC reported on 19 March. At least 15 people have died since clashes broke out on 16 March between police and Muslim protesters. Police also fired in the air to disperse a Hindu mob trying to damage a Muslim mosque on 18 March. The Hindu extremists burned the Koran to protest the destruction of Buddhist statues by the Taliban in Afghanistan. (see TWR of 19 March)
Kuwait
- An Interior Ministry spokesman said that a number of shots fired from a car killed a veteran Kuwaiti woman journalist as she was driving to work in Kuwait City, BBC reported on 20 March. Hedaya Sultan al-Salem, who was in her mid-60s, was one of the first women journalists in Kuwait. She was the editor and owner of a weekly magazine al-Majales and had been active in the campaign for full political rights for women in Kuwait.
Liberia
- The Liberian government has announced the closure of its border with Sierra Leone, a day after ordering the expulsion of the ambassadors from Sierra Leone and Guinea, BBC reported on 20 March. Both Liberia and Sierra Leone have accused each other of harboring and assisting dissidents who are prolonging a border conflict that has created a regional refugee crisis.
Jane's World Airlines
AVIANCA TAKES DELIVERY OF MD-83 AIRCRAFT
Aerovias Nacionales De Colombia, Avianca SA, has taken delivery of one MD-83 aircraft on lease from CIT Aerospace. P&W JT8D-219 engines power the aircraft.
FRONTIER AIRLINES ANNOUNCES NEW SERVICE TO HOUSTON'S BUSH INTERCONTINENTAL
AIRPORT
The airline will operate three daily non-stop flights between IAH and Denver International Airport (DIA), effective 16 May 2001.
KLM RESHUFFLES EXECUTIVES
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has announced a reshuffle of its executives which includes the following changes; effective 1 April 2001 Cees J Koster becomes Corporate Information Officer, Michael Counans becomes Senior Vice President, Operations Control Centre, succeeding Koster, Jan H Meurer becomes Executive Vice President Cabin Crew Division, succeeding Lucas J Asjes, who has been appointed Area Manager Central and South America. A further change includes Simone H Wickenhagen becoming Vice President Services, Passenger Division, also effective from 1 April.
ROYAL AIRWAYS ACQUIRES FIRST OF A NUMBER OF B737-400S
The New Delhi based airline, Royal Airways, has acquired, under operating lease, the first of a number of B737-400 aircraft. Royal Airways will commence scheduled services using the operating certificate of Modiluft. With a new management team, sourced through Speedwing, a British Airways division, Royal Airways is the new banner title replacing Modiluft. Speedwing is also contracted to provide a number of services to Royal Airways, which plans to start services with two B737-400 increasing to four within a few weeks.
SKYTEAM ALLIANCE EXPANDS
In conjunction with Korean Air, the SkyTeam Alliance has announced a new Asian hub at Incheon International Airport in Seoul. The members of the SkyTeam Alliance include Aeromexico, Air France, Delta Air Lines, Korean Air and from 25 March, CSA Czech Airlines which will provide expanded access to Central and Eastern Europe. The members will be co-located in the same terminal. Delta Air Lines and Air France have announced their intentions to reinstate codeshare service with Korean Air on Korean-operated flights, subject to the successful completion of the operational review process and appropriate government approvals. SkyTeam operates to 472 destinations in 112 countries.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES ANNOUNCES SUCCESSION TRANSITION PLAN
Herb Kelleher, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of SouthWest Airlines has announced a succession transition plan. On 19 June 2001, James F Parker, currently Vice President General Counsel, will become Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Colleen C Barrett, currently Executive Vice President Customers and Corporate Secretary will become President and Chief Operating Officer, both will be joining the airline's board. Kelleher will continue as Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Executive Committee. Further announcements included the appointment of Gary Kelly, currently Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer becoming Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Debby Ackerman will become the Vice President General Counsel.
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