Money talks comment
2012 has been an eventful year. Inevitably, problems with the financial services have had a knock-on effect on the defence industry – among military consumers and suppliers. Contracts have been halved or cancelled and the word is out to slim-down requirements with equipment and personnel. The allies’ resources are stretched to their limits with the war in Afghanistan – which does not look like going away – and with their many other commitments at home and elsewhere abroad. In the UK, the Prime Minister
David Cameron has announced that he wants to bring British troops back from Afghanistan by 2013, with the first soldiers expected back by the end of 2012. All the allies have been involved
with training the Afghan military and police as they attempt to get these forces ready for the 2014 take over. But will they be ready? As we have seen, there are rogue elements that have already attacked and killed allied troops, exploiting their supposedly trusted status. These factions are
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few and have been condemned by the Afghan government, but what will happen when there are no peace-keepers to keep the peace? Will the problem escalate again and require international intervention once more? Surely it is time we cut our
losses and left it to the locals to sort their own problems out? There is bound to be unrest somewhere else, and the international peace- keepers will again be required to step in as allied governments mobilise military forces from the comfort of meeting rooms. The list of conflicts grows
daily, but how do we pay for the peacekeeping operations that seek to quell the unrest? Certainly, the budget deficit plans of most European countries and the United States mean that the necessary funds for any future operations on the scale of the war in Afghanistan will be hard to come by. Ultimately, in the coming years, it will be their electorates that decide if these funds will be released.
FRANÇOIS PRINS Editor
ISSN 1460-0617
© Global Media Applications 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used, reproduced, stored in an information retrieval system or transmitted in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Global Media Applications Ltd. This publication has been prepared wholly upon information supplied by the contributors and while the publishers trust that its contents will be of interest to readers, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The publishers are unable to accept, and hereby expressly disclaim any liability for the consequences of any inaccuracies, errors or omissions in such information whether occurring during the processing of such information for publication or otherwise. No representations, whether within the meaning of the Misrepresentation Act 1967 or otherwise, warranties or endorsements of any information contained herein are given or intended and full verification of all information appearing in the publication of the articles contained herein does not necessarily imply that any opinions therein are necessarily those of the publishers.
2012
November 13 Nov - 15 Nov Armed UAS Conference Washington, DC Organisers: Ken Hood Email:
hoodk@ttcus.com >
www.ttcus.com 14 Nov - 15 Nov Social Media within the Military & Defence Copthorne Tara Hotel, London Organisers: SMi >
www.smi-online.co.uk 14 Nov - 15 Nov Military Smart Grids & Microgrids Organisers: Technology Training Corporation Email:
hoodk@ttcus.com >
www.militarysmartgrids.com 21 Nov - 23 Nov Annual OPV & Unmanned Systems Forum TBA, Marseille, France Organisers: Fleming Europe Email:
alex.lipkin@
feconferences.com >
defence.flemingeurope.com 27 Nov - 29 Nov Global MilSatCom Millennium Gloucester Hotel, London, UK Organisers: SMi >
www.smi-online.co.uk 28 Nov - 29 Nov Military Wireless Conference Las Vegas, NV Organisers: Technology Training Corporation Email:
hoodk@ttcus.com >
www.ttcus.com
December 03 Dec - 04 Dec Military Airlift: Rapid Reaction & Tanker Operations 2012 Hilton Florence Metropole, Italy Organisers: SMi >
www.smi-online.co.uk 04 Dec - 05 Dec Counter A2AD Symposium Washington, DC Organisers: Technology Training Corporation Email:
hoodk@ttcus.com >
www.ttcus.com
winter 2012_13 |
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