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Military - in brief (12)

01 January 2005

UK: Block the Aldermaston Builders. Block the Builders is a new campaign which aims to nonviolently prevent the building of a new laser facility ("Orion") at AWE Aldermaston. Since April 2001 Aldermaston, which is owned by the Ministry of Defence, has been managed by AWE Management Limited, a consortium of three companies: British Nuclear Fuels Ltd, US arms producers Lockheed Martin and the facilities management company, Serco. The new laser facility will replace the existing HELEN laser and enable the testing of nuclear materials under simulated test conditions. The campaign is concerned that the laser facility, combined with a new hydrodynamics facility, laboratories and supercomputers, will perfect technology allowing a new generation of nuclear weapon to be produced. The campaign plans to nonviolently prevent building through a blockade of the site later this year. For more information: Block the Builders, bib@aldermaston.net

Europe: French military can use Galileo. A senior French defence official has spoken for the first time about the military applications of Galileo, Europe's planned network of navigation satellites. In a speech broadcast in French Guyana marking the launch of the Helios 2A military reconnaissance satellite in December 18, French defence minister Michele Alliot?Marie said Galileo "will be available to the armed forces". EU officials normally stress that Galileo is a civil program but France had in the past always held the position that Galileo should be available to the Gendarmerie, the French paramilitary police that answers to the ministry of Defence. Andrew Brooks, an aerospace analyst at London International Institute for Strategic Studies said on 22 December: "One of the justifications for Galileo is that it will allow any new Euro defence force to have access to the same space assistance as is provided to US forces by GPS." Brookes said that Galileo could be used for pinpointing the location of weapons and troops on the ground. The first two of 30 satellites that will make up the Galileo constellation are scheduled for launch later this year. Defensenews.com 30.12.04