Rapid Fire 02-20-12: Chinese State-Owned Entreprises

* France and Great Britain had a summit last Friday where they announced they are tightening their defense and nuclear energy cooperation. The two countries plan to establish a Joint Force headquarters and confirmed their joint UAV plans. * According to The Telegraph the British Ministry of Defence is finally able to balance its books. * Military helicopter orders from Asian countries could amount to 1,000 units and $10B in the next few years, reckons Bloomberg. * In the latest Defense AT&L dedicated to product support: how to estimate and account for operations and support (O&S) costs; Performance Based Logistics (PBL) can and do work [PDFs] * The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) is the first unit in the US Army to receive the M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System (MASS). * The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission had a hearing on Chinese State-Owned Entreprises (SOEs). One of the witnesses said SOEs “could provide foreign governments with direct access to, and information concerning, current and future U.S. infrastructure, energy and defense projects that may be critical to national defense. […] In addition, according to the OECD, companies owned by foreign governments or SOEs can effectively act […]