P4

Et comme par miracle 850/5=170.

Europe and the Protectionism Trap By Wolfgang Münchau(écrit dans le FT) French President Nicolas Sarkozy's protectionism has enraged the European Union -- and Germany in particular. Ironically, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was on a protectionist tone of her own until recently. The European Union should be speaking with a common voice in the downturn, but France and Germany are doing little to help. Few people can rile Central and Eastern Europeans quite as much as a French president. Jacques Chirac, referring to the pro-American Iraq policies of Bulgaria and other Eastern European countries, once growled: "The Eastern Europeans missed a great opportunity to keep their mouths shut." Last week Sarkozy upped the ante, saying: "We want to stop moving factories abroad, and perhaps we will bring them back. If we are to give financial assistance to the auto industry, we don't want to see another factory being moved to the Czech Republic." Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, who was beside himself with rage, promptly announced a European special summit. Sarkozy's remarks proved, once and for all, that protectionism is alive and well in the EU. Moreover, there is no doubt that protectionism reduces Europe's economic output. As we know, there are no winners in a protectionist race. However, we should not fall into the trap of viewing Sarkozy's anti-liberal position as the root cause of growing protectionism. Germany has reduced non-wage labor costs several times without consulting with the other members of the European currency area. This has led to an immediate cost advantage for German companies. The manner in which the German and French governments bailed out their banks was also not in the spirit of a common European competition policy. Anyone in Germany who wants to complain about French protectionism should try explaining the so-called "VW Law" to a Frenchman. Protectionist Undercurrents We have always had an undercurrent of protectionism in Europe, and the European Commission deserves a great deal of credit for the important successes it has notched up in the fight against it. The German Landesbanken, or state banks, and the French energy policy are two prime examples. But it will be more difficult to cap protectionism in the financial crisis, now that the member states have the upper hand and are using it to their advantage. Sarkozy, with his protectionist remarks, finally demonstrated that he is no great European, and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico did not take long to respond. If Sarkozy were to make good on his threat, Fico said, he would send Gaz de France home. Open protectionism quickly leads to escalation. This would not be a favorable development, especially for Germany, the world's leading exporter. But even though every politician and economist evokes free trade in soapbox speeches and on talk shows, Germany bears a significant share of the responsibility. As long as we react to the global economic and financial crisis in keeping with the motto "everyone makes his own bed," -- as Sarkozy allegedly quoted the German chancellor as saying in October, as cited in the French periodical Le Canard Enchaîné -- one should not be too surprised about protectionism. As long as there is no effective, European plan to combat the crises, countries will devise their own plans. Under these adverse circumstances, Sarkozy truly cannot be blamed for saying: If we pay up €6 billion ($7.8 billion) for the auto industry, we can at least expect the money to remain in the country. If the European Single Market is so important to us as Germans, why did we so vehemently reject a European plan to deal with the crisis? If there were such a plan, we would not have French subsidies for the auto industry nor a German scrapping premium. Instead, perhaps we would boast a European car trade-in premium and symmetrical subsidies. And, in such a case, no one would have threatened to shut down Czech factories or send Gaz de France home. Protectionism Made in Germany The German economic stimulus program is designed to primarily benefit the German auto industry. It just happens to be structured somewhat more cleverly than the French plan. If we had sent the €50 billion ($65 billion) to the people in the form of tax rebate checks, French and Italian exporters would have benefited from our program. But if everyone is intent on making as few concessions to neighbors as possible, it should come as no surprise that these packages are what they are. And no one, including Sarkozy, has sabotaged a common European approach as much as the German chancellor and Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück, a skeptic when it comes to Europe. A similar debate unfolded in the United States recently, when Paul Krugman, the freshly minted winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, announced, to his colleagues' dismay, that protectionism is justified to some extent. His argument is as follows: If stimulus packages are not coordinated, we have a problem, namely that national measures, such as tax cuts, primarily benefit foreign producers. This was almost always the case with American tax cuts in the past. As a result, governments would face the choice of either dispensing with stimulus packages altogether, which would be disastrous in light of the crisis, or to structure them so that domestic producers would derive the most benefit from them. In this case, the protectionist version would be better than nothing. Krugman also sees the relationship between a lack of coordination and protectionism. In this case, one can only hope for legal countermeasures. Perhaps the European Commission will manage to prevent a few excesses. Nevertheless, the fundamental problem of massive French subsidies for the automobile sector remains in place. This will adversely affect other European carmakers. By sharply discounting their prices, Renault, Peugeot and Citroën will be able to gain market share -- and not just in France. This comes at the direct expense of other companies. Economic Games From an overall European standpoint, such actions are economic zero-sum games. The French win, while the Germans lose. It is precisely the other way around with the German cuts in non-wage labor costs. Measures are adopted that cost a lot of money but are ineffective across Europe. It would be better to load the money onto a plane and drop it over Europe. But France, or any other member state, cannot be expected to do this. Only the EU can. When Merkel and Steinbrück refused to agree to an overall European plan for the economy and financial sector, former EU Commissioner Mario Monti wrote in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the chancellor jeopardized what Germany had fought for over decades: the European Single Market. I am convinced that Monti reacts to Sarkozy's remarks with similar disbelief, as do all those people who support the European Single Market. But even if Sarkozy offers a virtually ideal target for attack, it is still wrong to reduce the problem to this eccentric and ultimately somewhat ineffective politican. The root cause of the protectionism emerging in Europe is not Sarkozy. Rather, it is the work of people who, in a monetary union, make policies without consideration for their neighbors. Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

Personne tique Avec un falcon 7X nu à 50 millions de $ la facture atteind déja les 300m$, connaissant le prix des gadgets d'autoprotéction on peu multiplier par deux, pour l"A330 on compte autours de 200/300 millions, j'ai comme l'impréssion que la LPM 2009/2014 va etre amputé de 850million d'euro.

Le deal MRCA semble etre une belle carotte, voila un projet Indien du DRDO(DGA locale) qui pourrait convenir, à moins que ce soit le clone d'un Pak-fa, en tout état de cause l'objéctif de tous ces contrats ajournés/relancés est l'asquisition de téchnologies et d'éxpertises, mine de rien ils sont trés cohérent dans leurs démarches. en grand en grand en grand en grand

Il a fallu qu'Arthuro se coltine les traductions d'un pdf Grécque pour mettre la balle au centre, le Grég est au minimum partial.

Avec ce salon aero India il y a pleins de nouvelles. Airbus propose des A330 MRTT, Airbus releases Indian A330 MRTT images, ils ont pas osé mettre des EF dérrière le tanker. http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getAsset.aspx?ItemID=27485 http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getAsset.aspx?ItemID=27486 Pour ce qui du Kaveri et SNECMA le chemin sera encore long et douloureux, India's LCA unlikely to use Kaveri engine until late next decade The GTRE is also likely to work with French engine manufacturer Snecma on the Kaveri, although the two sides have yet to reach an agreement for joint development and testing, and for the transfer of technology and manufacturing. "Discussions with Snecma have been going on for two years," says Natarajan. "Development and flight-testing of the new engine will take at least five to six years." En attendant c'est GE qui refourgue des F404 pour équiper les premiers Téjas. :-[

EADS Drops Recon Variant of Advanced UAV By pierre tran Published: 12 Feb 11:01 EST (16:01 GMT) PARIS - EADS has decisively shifted its Advanced UAV concept to a long-winged, high-altitude, long-loitering surveillance model, dropping consideration of a faster and short-winged recon variant, said Hervé Guillou, head of the Defense and Security France division. The design change grew out of a 15-month risk-reduction study EADS is preparing under a joint 60 million euro ($77 million) Advanced UAV project funded by France, Germany and Spain. "There's a clear focus," Guillou said in a Feb. 2 interview. "The long wing will be the base model." Dropping the short-wing concept will simplify the work, he said. Germany flies a version of the Tornado strike fighter for low-level reconnaissance, and the main Advanced UAV missions required by France and Germany are surveillance. Advanced UAV is competing against a rival offer from Dassault Aviation, Thales and Indra that uses the Israeli Heron TP medium-altitude, long-endurance drone. Thales is banking on urgent military needs in the Afghan theater to win a sale to France and Spain. Guillou said the competition represents Europe's effort to erase a 10-year capability gap in building UAVs, a business dominated by American and Israeli industry. It was unthinkable that Europe would give up the design, development, production and maintenance of complete UAV systems, he said. "EADS submitted a major risk-reduction delivery on the Advanced UAV in December, which was very well received by the three countries as a sound basis for the full-scale development phase," he said. A final draft is due in April. The risk-reduction work confirms that EADS can "satisfy the requirement in line with the planning and costs proposed," he said. The risk reduction study has allowed the three chiefs of staffs to converge on their operating requirements. Under the EADS proposal, a first flight would be made in 2013, with delivery of a qualified Advanced UAV in 2015. It would be equipped with a mission system comprising new electronically scanned radar, electro-optronics, satellite communications and be capable of flying in civil airspace. The expected budget is 2.2 billion euros, for 10 systems, with a French share of 800 million euros of investment, EADS said. The mission system would weigh more than the platform in cost allocation, EADS said in a statement.

Comme il avait fait une grande campagne anti Rafale il y a un mois sur Key ce serait pas étonnant de le revoir ailleurs poster de nouveaux des articles en Grécque plutot conforme à ses opinions.

Pour l'aspect gros sous MBDA attend beaucoup du sommet de Strasbourg-Kehl pour faire avancer un de ses programmes auprés de l'alliance atlantique comme candidat pour "active layered theatre ballistic missile defense (ALTBMD)" via le soutient politique de la France et de l'Italie, l'Aster Block 2, meme s'il est concurent du THAAD US. MBDA Looks to NATO Summit for Support of Aster.

IAF Picks Thales for Low-Level Radar C'est le modèle 400 de la série Ground Master.

L'article est posté par le Greg de Key?

Sur les VBL revalorisés l'ajout de blindages(voir photo blog de Noel33) devraient bien protéger contre les attaques de flancs style attentat suicide, ce qui a été le cas il y a quinze jours par contre si un IED pète sous le véhicule c'est une autre histoire, dans les deux cas la puissance de la charge étant déterminante. Mais c'est possible que les dcd/bléssé soient le fait de l'embuscade et pas de l'IED, j'avais conclu attivement qu''ils puissent etre dans le meme véhicule. Le matos qui assure la puissance des IED est sur place. Et ceux qui résucite comme Jésus.

Je demandais le niveau du blindage parce que sur cette photo la portière est bien fine, aprés c'est peu etre juste une version de démo sans blindage, sinon le look du Sherpa3 me plait pas mais le volume intérieure à l'air important.

11.02.2009 | 06:53 Sarkozy obère le budget de l’Armée de l’Air Les achats de sept avions destinés à l'Elysée et au gouvernement vont peser à hauteur de près de 170 millions d'euros. LES achats de l’A330 présidentiel et de 6 Falcon 7X destinés à la flotte gouvernementale, notifiés en juillet 2008, n’étaient pas prévus dans le budget de l’Armée de l’Air pour 2009. C’est donc une première tranche de 167,13 millions d'euros qui va obérer d’autant ce budget. L’enveloppe totale pour ces achats devrait de plus être dépassée, du fait des équipements de communications satellites et de protection contre les missiles (systèmes de leurres) qui doivent être installés sur ces appareils.

ça va finir à l'Indienne.

Quel est le prix de la tourelle MPCV? Quel niveau de protéction pour le Sherpa 3A(supérieur au VBL)?

C'est plutot sensible, si une image du véhicule est disponible on aura une idée.

AERO INDIA: French minister defends Rafale's Aero India no-show French minister of state for defence Jean-Marie Bockel has defended the country's failure once again to deploy any Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter aircraft to participate in the Aero India airshow, blaming operational requirements in Afghanistan. The Rafale is in competition with five European, Russian and US fighter types to meet the Indian Air Force's lucrative 126-aircraft medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) requirement. "First of all, Rafale will be on display in Le Bourget [at the 2009 Paris Air Show] and will be available for those who want to test it," says Bockel, speaking at Aero India 2009 in Bangalore. "Number two, all the Rafales that could have been sent to India for this airshow are presently in operation in the fight in Afghanistan," he adds. "I was there personally last week, and they are giving the coalition very efficient and very appreciated support and all the members of the coalition and the Afghan government itself are recognising this fact, because Rafale is a very flexible plane able to carry out several missions." ........................

S'il s'agissait d'un VAB il y aurait sans doute plus de dcd ou de bléssé, le chiffre de 3 corréspond à la capacité du VBL. C'était déja un VBL qui avait été la cible d'un attentat suicide il y a une quinzaine de jours au sud de Kaboul.

Indian Fighters: Expensive, Frustrating and Irresistible Posted by Bill Sweetman at 2/11/2009 7:00 AM CST .................................. .................................... At the same time, nobody's willing to criticise the RFP process in public. I have heard here that one competitor already came close to getting ridden out of town on a rail for that offense. So expect a lot of "industry sources say" in the next few days. Loose lips sink campaigns! A votre avis Il parle de la remarque de JD Levitte?

One of Our Aircraft is Missing Posted by Douglas Barrie at 2/10/2009 5:47 PM CST Four Eurofighter aircraft left Germany to be flown to Bangalore for Aero India 2009 – but only three made it at the first attempt. Show gremlins saw the fourth German air force aircraft snag a technical issue en route which meant it remained at a stop-over location in the Gulf states to await support. The aircraft remained in the United Arab Emirates, at Al Dhafra air base, as a result of a display caution during the pre-flight checks. A German air force technical team was due to be dispatched to return the aircraft to flight-ready status. The three other aircraft, along with the Airbus A310 Multi-Role Tanker Transport, arrived at Yelahanka air base – the show site - on February 5th. The Eurofighter is one of the six contenders for India’s 126-aircraft fighter competition.

C'est ce qui fallait comprendre en filigrane, le VBL n'a pas tenu le choc, paix à eux.

Pour la venue du bataillon Allemand à Strasbourg, j'étais moyennement chaud mais c'est une trés bonne chose pour péréniser Strasbourg comme ville Européenne via la défense et la présence de l'Eurocorps, en plus il sera difficile pour nombre de pays de s'opposer à un pilier Européen de la défense au sein de L'OTAN si celui-ci a déja ses propres structures.

Sarkozy makes unannounced visit to Baghdad After Tuesday's meeting, Maliki said French companies, active in Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein, would not be penalized for previous French policies. "They will not be starting from scratch, because French firms have a long history in Iraq," Maliki was quoted by Reuters as saying. On va pas claironner mais il vaut mieux que ce soit NS plutot que Merkel ou qu'un Tchèque, aprés j'éspère qu'il a fait la promo de l'Aravis.