Prequel 1: #2046: Marine Links Serco Body-Snatch Tags to Cameron-White’s Spot-Fix Bags and MH17 Murder of Banker Hoare
Are you really so obvious? - Sherlock BBC
Body Bags At MH17 Crash Site
Abel Danger 7-21-2014 Session 2
The fourth Skynet 5 UK military communications satellite (Skynet 5D) was launched at 21:49 GMT on 19 December 2012, from Kourou in French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket.
Body Bags At MH17 Crash Site
Abel Danger 7-21-2014 Session 2
"MH17: Black box reveals Malaysia Airlines suffered "massive explosive decompression"
As details of last seconds of MH17 are revealed rebel military chief says he does not have weapons which could have shot down plane
By Tom Parfitt, in Zuhres and Damien McElroy
6:36PM BST 28 Jul 2014
Data from the black box flight recorders of Flight MH17 show it was destroyed by shrapnel from a missile strike that caused a "massive explosive decompression", a Ukrainian official said yesterday.
Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine's Security Council, told a news conference in Kiev the information came from experts analysing the recorders from the plane that came down in rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on July 17.
British air accident specialists have been tasked with downloading the data from two black boxes recovered from the Malaysia Airlines crash site and handing that information over to an investigation led by the Dutch Safety Board.
Dutch and Australian investigators were once again prevented from reaching the site of the disaster yesterday as fighting swirled nearby and the rebels' military chief denied any link to the tragedy.
Ukrainian forces advanced on Donetsk, the pro-Russian separatist capital, from the east and there was fighting close to the site near the town of Torez.
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For the second day running a team of 45 Australian and Dutch forensic specialists was unable to get to the area where debris and bodies landed, despite being given assurances from both sides of a ceasefire to allow them to work. They returned disappointed to their hotel in Donetsk.
Later in the day, Igor Girkin, the rebels' military chief, gave a hastily called six-minute press conference at the fortified former headquarters of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) in the city.
Wearing a camouflage T-shirt and trousers, he told reporters his troops did not have a Buk surface-to-air missile. "Therefore, I could not have given an order to use one," said Mr Girkin, also known as Strelkov.
Ukraine, Britain and the United States allege that pro-Russian rebels knocked down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 with a Russian-made Buk missile, probably by mistake. All 298 people on board died.
Earlier, the team of specialists was forced to turn back from the edge of Shakhtarsk, about 12 miles short of the crash site near the village of Hrabovo, after hearing heavy shelling nearby and deciding it was too dangerous to go further.
"We were told we had assurances from the top leadership on both sides of a safe passage but it was not possible to continue safely," said Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which sent a team to escort the investigators.
"We find this unacceptable. We are sick and tired of being delayed. This is a huge waste of time and resources."
Mr Bociurkiw said there were still human remains, personal items and other debris scattered over the crash site, which covers a large area.
"There is a lot of work to be done," he added. "The site is vulnerable to man-made and natural factors." The investigative team will make a third attempt to reach the site on Tuesday.
In Donetsk, Vladimir Antyufeyev, a separatist leader, said that Alexander Borodai, the prime minister of the "Donetsk People's Republic", had left for Russia. The official reason was to examine how Russia deals with refugee issues but it was unclear if he would return.
Smoke was visible over Shakhtarsk in the early afternoon today and journalists were turned back from a checkpoint just short of the town where a sniper was testing his sights and other rebels faced east from behind cinder blocks which had numerous grenade launchers stacked against them.
On the edge of Zuhres, a few miles back towards Donetsk, what appeared to be a Grad rocket launcher covered in branches faced toward Ukrainian positions from a copse beside the road.
Outside a shop, in a dusty car park, a group of taxi drivers said they were unable to return home to villages to the south and east because of the fighting. Vitya, a security guard from Shakhtarsk with a tattoo of a tiger on his arm, said there had been shelling there when he left in the morning.
"The Ukrainians are attacking from the edge of the town," he said."
"Skynet 4[edit]
Skynet 4 satellites have few similarities to the earlier generations. The cylindrical body of Skynet 1 and 2 was replaced by a large square body housing antennas with deployable solar-cell arrays.
This marks the technological improvement from spin-stabilisation, used in earlier cylindrical satellites, to three-axis stabilisation usingmomentum wheels and reaction wheels controlling the satellite gyroscopically.
This marks the technological improvement from spin-stabilisation, used in earlier cylindrical satellites, to three-axis stabilisation usingmomentum wheels and reaction wheels controlling the satellite gyroscopically.
Skynet 4 were the first purely British built satellites, manufacture of 4A, 4B and 4C being carried out by British Aerospace Dynamics (BAe Dynamics). NATO adapted the design for the NATO IVA and IVB communication satellites, also manufactured by BAe Dynamics. Skynet 4A and 4C were launched in 1990.[11][12]
The improved Stage 2 satellites (4D, 4E and 4F) were built by Matra Marconi Space and Astrium to replace the earlier versions. Improvements included increased power and resistance to electronic jamming. Skynet 4D was launched in 1998, 4E in 1999 and 4F in 2001.[13]
Skynet 5[edit]
Skynet 5 is the next generation of satellites, replacing the existing Skynet 4 Stage 2 system. It has been contracted via PFI to a partnership between Paradigm Secure Communications and EADS Astrium, a European spacecraft manufacturer. EADS Astrium were responsible for the build and delivery of Skynet 5 satellites in orbit, whilst subsidiary company Paradigm will be responsible for provision of service to the MoD. Paradigm have also been contracted to provide communications services to NATO using spare capacity on the satellites.
The Skynet 5 satellite is based on the Eurostar E3000 bus design, weighs about 4700 kilograms, has two solar panels each about fifteen metres long, and has a power budget of five kilowatts. It has four steerable transmission dishes, and a phased-array receiver designed to allow jamming signals to be cancelled out. They will also resist attempts to disrupt them with high-powered lasers.[15]
The first of the constellation of Skynet 5 vehicles (Skynet 5A) was launched by an Ariane 5 rocket at 22:03 GMTon 11 March 2007, in a launch shared with the Indian INSAT 4B civil communications satellite, and entered full service on 10 May 2007.[16] The launch was delayed from 10 March due to malfunction of a launch pad deluge system.[17] Skynet 5A successfully separated from its launch vehicle and Telemetry was acquired by its dedicated Control Centre approximately 40 minutes after launch.
The second Skynet 5 UK military communications satellite (Skynet 5B) was launched at 22:06 GMT on 14 November 2007, from Kourou in French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket.
This launch was delayed from 9 November due to problems with the electronics on one of the Solid Rocket Boosters, and 12 November due to a fueling problem with the launch pad. At time of launch the Ariane 5 ECA launcher set a new record on this mission, deploying a total payload of more than 8,700 kg.[18]
The third Skynet 5 UK military communications satellite (Skynet 5C) was launched at 22:05 GMT on 12 June 2008, from Kourou in French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket.[19] The launch had been delayed twice. Originally scheduled for 23 May, more checks were carried out on the launch vehicle and the launch was rescheduled for 30 May.[20] A problem with the launch software during pre-launch checks led Arianespace to reschedule the launch for a second time to 12 June.[21][22]
The fourth Skynet 5 UK military communications satellite (Skynet 5D) was launched at 21:49 GMT on 19 December 2012, from Kourou in French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket.
The programme marks a change of approach in the UK from traditional defence procurement methods to a services-based contract which also includes provision of leased ground terminals, Reacher vehicles, the Satellite Communications Onboard Terminal (SCOT) for ships, and the associated baseband equipment.
Initially two Skynet 5 satellites were to be built, with insurance covering any launch loss; the MoD later decided to have a third satellite built in advance, and later still to have the third satellite launched to serve as an on-orbit spare.[24]"
"NEWS RELEASE Serco Group, as part of Paradigm, selected for Skynet 5
- Serco contract worth £220 million
The UK Ministry of Defence ("MoD") has today announced the selection of Paradigm Secure Communications ("Paradigm") as its preferred bidder for the Skynet 5 contract. Under this new arrangement, Paradigm will deliver secure global military satellite communications to the UK armed forces, within a Private Finance Initiative ("PFI").
As part of the team, Serco Group ("Serco") will play an important role in this key government programme. The contract is worth around £2 billion over fifteen years to the team as a whole, and in the region of £220 million to Serco, in the same period. The contract is expected to be signed in the latter part of 2002 with service delivery beginning in March 2003.
Serco, which has been an integral part of the Paradigm team for Skynet 5 since the award of the PFI Study Contract, is working alongside the industry leaders in its field to deliver this secure global military satellite communications service. As part of this long-term contract Serco will provide network and facilities management services, including spacecraft and network operations, network maintenance, training, supply management and through-life buildings and facilities maintenance.
By choosing this highly flexible and cost effective service provision solution, the MoD will retain guaranteed, secure communications whenever and wherever required, eliminating the risks of managing the space system and benefiting from evolving technologies and increasing capacity.
Commenting on the award, Kevin Beeston - Serco's Chief Executive said: "By making Paradigm preferred bidder for this very important and ground breaking service provision contract the MoD are acknowledging the quality and technical excellence in one of the strongest teams that can ever have come together for a project of this nature. Involvement in Skynet 5 further adds to Serco's expanding range of services with the UK and overseas governments and specifically with the Ministry of Defence in critical and complex systems. This contract award will contribute significantly to Serco's already highly visible order book."
- Ends -
For further information please contact Serco Group plc: T +44 (0) 1932 755900
Kevin Beeston Chief Executive Ben Woodford Corporate Communications Director"
"'We must make war more acceptable': MOD urged to make repatriation ceremonies low-key and use more drones, SAS and mercenaries to reduce 'body bag syndrome'
Report says images of flag-draped coffins reduces support for military action
It adds special forces and mercenary deaths don't hit public as hard
MOD says document is to foster 'debate' and is not policy
By EMILY DAVIES
PUBLISHED: 01:51 GMT, 27 September 2013 | UPDATED: 11:16 GMT, 27 September 2013
The document suggests that the MoD should ¿reduce the profile of the repatriation ceremonies¿ as they reduce support for war
Repatriation ceremonies for the remains of dead soldiers should have a lower profile in order to make war more palatable to the British public, according to a report for the Ministry of Defence.
It examines how to sway 'casualty averse' public opinion, a situation commonly known as 'body bag syndrome', and was published by the MoD's strategy formulation unit.
The document suggests that the MoD should 'reduce the profile of the repatriation ceremonies' where coffins carrying deceased soldiers are brought back to UK bases such as RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
It discusses ways to 'reduce public sensitivity' and methods of explaining that 'risks are knowingly and willingly undertaken' by armed forces personnel.
Suggestions included making greater use of the SAS and other special forces, as well as mercenaries, because it claims losses sustained by the elite soldiers and hired guns do not have the same impact on the public and press.
'Neither the media nor the public in the west appear to identify with contractors in the way that they do with their military personnel. Thus casualties from within the contractorised force are more acceptable in pursuit of military ends than those from among our own forces.'
It added: 'The public appear to have a more robust attitude to SF [special forces] losses.'
Reassurances are made in the paper that the British public may not be as 'risk-averse' as they appear, and suggests this is 'based on recent, post-2000 experience'.
More...
'Historically, once the public are convinced that they have a stake in the conflict they are prepared to endorse military risks and will accept casualties as the necessary consequence of the use of military force,' it says.
The report adds: 'The public have become better informed and our opponents more sophisticated in the exploitation of the sources of information with the net result that convincing the nation of the need to run military risks has become more difficult but no less essential.'
The report also recommends the increased us of drones to reduce casualties
The report, written in 2012 and released under the Freedom of Information Act, has been met with criticism by relatives of soldiers killed while serving their country.
Deborah Allbutt, whose husband Stephen was killed in a friendly fire incident in Iraq in 2003, described the proposals for repatriation ceremonies as 'brushing the deaths under the carpet'.
She told The Guardian: 'They are fighting and giving their lives. Why should they be hidden away? It would be absolutely disgraceful.'
Allbutt, with others, gained a landmark ruling this year that relatives of killed or injured soldiers can seek damages under human rights legislation.
An MoD spokesman said: 'It is entirely right that we publicly honour those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and there are no plans to change the way in which repatriation ceremonies are conducted.
'A key purpose of the development, concepts and doctrine centre is to produce research which tests and challenges established doctrine and its papers are designed to stimulate internal debate, not outline government policy or positions. To represent this paper as policy or a potential shift of policy is misleading.'"
February 26, 2011NK33 comments
It is quite startling to realise that a special room had been set up to receive the dead of the July 7thbombings in a temporary morgue built on army land, the contract for which (see [1] below) arrived on the contractor's desk on July 6th, the day before the massacres.
All the bodies of the dead were taken and placed in cold-storage there.
Not until the Inquest, five years later, did startled lawyers acting on behalf of the victim-families get to hear, that NO POST MORTEMS had been performed on the dead.
....
Military site for the [7/7] Bodies
It is also quite startling to realise that a special room had been set up to receive the dead – starting work on July 6th, the day before the 7/7 massacres.
Here is a statement about what happened on that day, and where the bodies went:
Based in Northamptonshire in the UK, the company [De Boer] had already completed several contracts for the Metropolitan Police ...The De Boer team spent months visiting permanent mortuaries and attending meetings with London Resilience to suggest a suitable structure and interior design... Six months later on July 6, 2005, a document arrived at De Boer's UK headquarters finalising what had been agreed for a future crisis response. Within 24 hours the plan was being realised .and implemented with the creation of a temporary mortuary in the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company near Moorgate Underground Station in central London.' (source, 'London's Response to 7/7' David Donegan Office of the Strategic Health Authorities at NHS, in www.crisisresponsejournal.com no longer online, held in J7 archives: and quoted here)
Good timing or what? Thus an 'emergency mortuary' was established on a Military site in the City of London – its contract for the work received on the day before the catastrophe. Not only did this military site receive all of the bodies (and it claimed to start receiving them on the morning of 8th July), but it set up ancillary sites adjacent to the four blast sites on the morning of July 7th: 'Outside of the mortuary De Boer also provided structures and furniture at each of the Underground Stations affected, and refrigeration facilities at the site of the bus bombing.'
The De Boer company managed it so well that, in recognition, its project manager was invited to meet Tony Blair at Downing Street. It was felt that, at such very short notice – after all, they only got the job on July 6th – they had done a fine job. Concerning the swift freezing of the bus bomb victim bodies: while researching 'Terror On The Tube' . I could only see two or three corpses lying around in all of the photographs of that bus wreck, so I guess the De Boer team must have removed them swiftly.
We are also reminded of the big FEMA vans that arrived to clear up the damage in New York at Ground Zero on 9/11 (Federal Emergency Management Agency): they were proud of how quickly they arrived, in fact they arrived (by a similar sinister precognition) on Monday evening, the day before the very surprising 9/11 event.
.............................................................................
* The 'fluoroscopy' method was described as 'a limited form of X-ray,' which showed embedded bits of metal etc. Thus, 'Primary surveys of whole bodies in unopened body-bags were undertaken using fluoroscopy by teams of two radiographers and a pathologist. The aim of the primary survey was to establish the nature of the contents of the bag,..' (Forensic Radiography: Response to the London Suicide Bombings on 7th July 2005, Mark D. Viner)"
Yours sincerely,
Field McConnell, United States Naval Academy, 1971; Forensic Economist; 30 year airline and 22 year military pilot; 23,000 hours of safety; Tel: 715 307 8222
David Hawkins Tel: 604 542-0891 Forensic Economist; former leader of oil-well blow-out teams; now sponsors Grand Juries in CSI Crime and Safety Investigation
Field McConnell, United States Naval Academy, 1971; Forensic Economist; 30 year airline and 22 year military pilot; 23,000 hours of safety; Tel: 715 307 8222
David Hawkins Tel: 604 542-0891 Forensic Economist; former leader of oil-well blow-out teams; now sponsors Grand Juries in CSI Crime and Safety Investigation
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