Rapid Fire Dec. 20, 2013: Drawdown Cost/Benefit; UK Troop Levels

Dec 20, 2012 10:00 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff

“Because the services have not consistently performed and documented analyses to support decision making concerning the return of excess major end items from Afghanistan, there is a risk that the costs of returning excess items may outweigh the benefits of returning them.

  • Canada still has 400 containers in Kandahar of low priority, but still worth shipping back, according to 45eNord.ca [in French]. But keeping them there incurs exposure to rental costs and theft risk.
  • Prime Minister Cameron told Parliament that the UK will lower its forces in Afghanistan to about 5,200 by the end of 2013, down from 9,000 now.
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  • Max G. Manwaring at the US Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute describes Hugo Chávez’ Venezuela as an “exporter of 4th generation warfare instability.” A fair description, but it is uncertain whether Chávez will have recovered from post-surgery complications in time to be sworn in for a third term next month, let alone serve its full six years. Failing that, it is unclear how long would Vice President Nicolás Maduro stay in power, and if/when new elections would occur.

  • On that topic, and Brazil’s defense posture, see also (or rather listen to) DID’s own Joe Katzman in an interview with the Center for Security Studies in Zurich, Switzerland.

  • Thales named Jean-Bernard Lévy as its new Chairman and CEO. Luc Vigneron lost support from its main shareholders – the French state and Dassault Aviation – and was entangled in a fight with trade unions. Lévy, 57, has a profile and career fairly typical of French top execs. He recently left Vivendi after heading the conglomerate for 10 years but is not entirely new to aerospace/defense after having worked on satellites at Matra in the 80s and 90s.

  • Speaking of exec announcements, we failed to report last week that Craig Perciavalle is the new President at Austal USA. He’s been at the company since 2007.

  • The US Army is testing the Shadow Class Infrared Spectral Sensor-Ground (SCISSOR-G) prototype developed by CERDEC NVESD for threat detection on dirt roads.

  • The AFPM military trade union in the Netherlands claims that Dutch Army troops to be sent to Turkey to man Patriot systems lack the necessary training. The Ministry of Defense disagrees. AFMP [in Dutch] | Reuters.

  • Navistar reported a $2.8B loss for its 4th quarter. At $3.3B, quarterly revenue was 24% lower than a year ago.

    • Categories: Americas - Other, Asia - Central, Canada, Corporate Financials, Daily Rapid Fire, Europe - Other, Logistics, Mines & Countermine-IED, Navistar, Official Reports, People, Thales, Turkey, USA

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