Waspie_Dwarf Posted December 19, 2012 #1 Share Posted December 19, 2012 UK's Skynet military satellite set for launch The UK military is about to get a powerful new telecommunications satellite, Skynet-5D. The nearly five-tonne platform will complement three others already in orbit, enabling British forces to stay connected over most of the globe. It will launch on an Ariane rocket from French Guiana late on Wednesday. The Skynet system, which includes the radio equipment deployed on ships, on vehicles and in the hands of troops, is the UK's single biggest space project. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted December 19, 2012 #2 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Thats fine, we can afford it................................oh wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted December 19, 2012 Author #3 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Thats fine, we can afford it................................oh wait! Actually we can afford it. If we are going to have a military they have to be able to communicate. This is not a luxury, it is a necessity, unless you want to see even more of our troops returning home in body bags. Britain leads the world in the field of communications satellites. The space industry contributed over £9.1 billion to the British economy last year and is one of the fastest expanding industries in the UK, despite the contraction in so many other industries. But hey, don't let the facts get in the way of a pointless comment will you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted December 19, 2012 #4 Share Posted December 19, 2012 The defence cuts will see the number reduced further. Nick Hopkins writes: By the end of it, the army will have been cut by one-fifth to 82,000. The RAF and the Royal Navy will have shrunk too, with each service seeking 5,000 job cuts between now and 2015, and no guarantee of no further losses before 2020. And that does not take into account the 32,000 civilians jobs that are being axed. ============================================ Nick Hopkins writes today that With the army needing to axe 20,000 posts because of budget cuts, commanders are pushing to downsize as quickly as possible rather than prolong the process. This means the next two tranches of redundancy will be huge – and are likely to coincide with the draw-down from Afghanistan, leaving the army to start afresh in 2015. ========================================================= "The space industry contributed over £9.1 billion to the British economy"....................................did not go to the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted December 19, 2012 #5 Share Posted December 19, 2012 well here is a coincidence, on the BBC news right now, the troops are going to be cut , so maybe the money could be used on more worth while things like education and improving the quality of lives....can no one see the irony of this? we are "protecting" ourselves because the world has gone mad! This is just the military big boys doing what they do best.........spend as much as they can on defence because they where the ones who contributed to the problems in the first place!! You may notice I am ANTI WAR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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