Articles by Richard Mumford, European Editor

Thales-MESL Ltd., a manufacturer of microwave components for the communications and defence industries, has been acquired from Thales Holdings UK plc, a subsidiary of Thales SA, by a combination of industrial investors—Lars McBride, Anthony Smith and William Buist-Wells. In the future, the company will be known as MESL Microwave...

Ericsson and Deutsche Telekom have entered a strategically important six-year managed services partnership, which covers the operation and maintenance of Deutsche Telekom’s microwave network in Germany. Through the transaction, around 200 employees will be transferred from T-Com, along with its microwave assets and related operation activities. The partnership is...

The UK MoD Research Acquisition Organisation (RAO) has awarded QinetiQ an initial three-year enabling contract, which could be worth over £10 M, to lead the UK Energetics (UK-E) consortium. The consortium’s remit is to maintain and refresh UK expertise, facilities and technologies in energetic materials, thereby providing a cornerstone...

Growth in sales is establishing India as a major growth market for Nokia and a target for continued inward investment. The company announced that in the quarter ended June 2007 India became the second largest market for the company in terms of sales, overtaking the United States. Over the...

Link Microtek, the UK’s leading supplier of non-ionising RF safety instrumentation products and services, has been certified by the Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET) as a provider of RF safety training. The company’s training courses are already recognised by UK telecoms operators and broadcasters, and the IET endorsement...

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed an agreement, which strengthens the framework for cooperation between the two organisations in the field of maritime monitoring and surveillance. In particular, EMSA will be supported by ESA on issues relating to the development of...

tbp Electronics B.V. has signed a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Alcatel-Lucent in Belgium to buy its manufacturing activities at Geel, with the agreement expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2007. A new company—tbp Electronics Belgium—will be formed. The terms of the MoU include the...

Commissioned by Alcatel Alenia Space, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has designed and constructed the RF Suitcase satellite testing system for ESA’s Herschel/Planck mission. The purpose of the RF Suitcase is to demonstrate the RF compatibility between spacecraft and ground stations prior to launch and to test the...

C-MAC MicroTechnology, a world leader in high reliability electronic systems, modules and components for the aerospace, automotive, industrial, medical and communications markets, has been selected as a partner in the MEMS Application for Defence (MEAD) consortium, led by QinetiQ. The consortium will develop microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology for the...

The Estonian government has signed the contract for the new Estonian Air Defence System—the Very Short Range Air Defence Missile System (VSHORADMS). Following fierce competition between leading European and US defence companies the contract, valued at around €60 M, was awarded to MBDA and Saab. The VSHORADMS is based...