For some reason, otherwise sensible people go flappy around the edges about the UK nuclear deterrent. Critics of the force often like to talk about how independent, or otherwise it is. This is a good point: after all, the rockets are leased from the US. But for some reason, from this starting point they rapidly…
Read More How Not to Write About the UK Nuclear DeterrentIf this post worried or angered you, fear not. Our best man is on the case. Defence Procurement Minister Lord Drayson, no less, is heading the negotiations on F-35 technology transfer and RR workshare. That’s the Lord Drayson who gave Labour £100,000 and got a huge government contract, then a peerage, and then gave Labour…
Read More VAACing hell!A Saab Viggen-shaped dinosaur.
Read More Incredible..The comments spammers are backarooni! After the last time I did this they disappeared for several weeks, so maybe time for another dose. The links point to http://2ee.us/shitetheyreadvertising.html, so let’s play WHOIS whack-a-mole! Domain Name: 2EE.USDomain ID: D9234416-USSponsoring Registrar: MONIKER ONLINE SERVICES, LLCDomain Status: clientDeleteProhibitedDomain Status: clientTransferProhibitedDomain Status: clientUpdateProhibitedRegistrant ID: MONIKER190258Registrant Name: DARVA DEGEN DEGENRegistrant…
Read More Moniker Privacy Online ServicesThe European Commission has issued a new blacklist of dubious airlines. You can get the document here (pdf). Notable on it is that a number of frequently-mentioned Viktor Bout-related operators are now on the list. Specifically, Phoenix Aviation, GST Aero, Reem Air and Jetline are all there, as are Butembo and Great Lakes Business Co.…
Read More Firedumped!Whilst checking in on latest Kenyan Armenian Czech Indian mercenary news, I stumbled on this. Italy has a space research and rocket launch site in Kenya. Who knew?
Read More Italians – in SpaceIt’s been reasonably widely reported that the British and US governments have fallen out about the terms of British participation in the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35 or JSF) project. The RAF and Royal Navy are planning to buy a considerable number of the aircraft’s STOVL (Short Take-Off Vertical Landing) variant as the eventual replacement for…
Read More Crown jewels, family silver etcJust been given a copy of Georgina Ferry’s book on LEO, the pioneering family of business computers developed by Lyons in the late 1940s. I was broadly aware that they had been a long way ahead of everyone else, having been the first company to use a computer to do anything useful and also having…
Read More LEO: alternative future historyThe problem that caused some 2005 archives to render in tiny text should now be solved.
Read More Admin: Tiny TextDoes anyone else remember the rigged treason trial of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai? The state’s case turned on tapes prepared by a so-called “political consultant” named Ari Ben-Menashe, who had filmed himself talking about a coup near Tsvangirai and then provided the tapes to the prosecution. It turned out that Ben-Menashe was an egregious…
Read More Strange Parallel in Kenya