Small nations like Belgium are earning praise for their participation in NATO's Operation Unified Protector, which officially ends just before the witching hour on Halloween today at 23:59 CET. Since the operation began exactly seven months ago, NATO aircraft flew over 26,000 sorties, more than 9,600 of which were strike sorties.
The last four of six Belgian air force F-16s which participated in the operation returned to their home base of Florennes today. They clocked up 2,560 hours during 614 sorties, dropping 472 laser-guided bombs which hit 96-97 percent of their targets, according to Belgian Defense Minister Pieter De Crem, reportedly without causing any collateral damage.
According to Belgian media reports, Belgian F-16s came close to attacking Muammar Gaddafi's convoy on 20 October as they were patrolling the area half an hour before it was attacked by a French air force Mirage 2000D and a US Predator unmanned aerial vehicle.
A Financial Times blog posted on De Crem's website includes praise for Belgium for taking on dangerous missions (although it starts with a quote about the battle of Waterloo rather than the World War I quote about "plucky little Belgium), pointing out that 40 percent of missions over Libya were conducted by smaller NATO members and Gulf state air forces.
The last four of six Belgian air force F-16s which participated in the operation returned to their home base of Florennes today. They clocked up 2,560 hours during 614 sorties, dropping 472 laser-guided bombs which hit 96-97 percent of their targets, according to Belgian Defense Minister Pieter De Crem, reportedly without causing any collateral damage.
According to Belgian media reports, Belgian F-16s came close to attacking Muammar Gaddafi's convoy on 20 October as they were patrolling the area half an hour before it was attacked by a French air force Mirage 2000D and a US Predator unmanned aerial vehicle.
A Financial Times blog posted on De Crem's website includes praise for Belgium for taking on dangerous missions (although it starts with a quote about the battle of Waterloo rather than the World War I quote about "plucky little Belgium), pointing out that 40 percent of missions over Libya were conducted by smaller NATO members and Gulf state air forces.
Source: Aviation Week
De Europese ruimtevaartorganisatie ESA heeft laten weten dat er in Vlaanderen een Business Innovation/Incubation Center (BIC) komt. Het ESA-centrum, dat in Geel zal gebouwd worden, heeft als doel nieuwe bedrijven en technologie te ondersteunen die geschikt zijn voor de lucht- en ruimtevaartsector. In de regio rond Geel bevinden zich vandaag de dag ook al de Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologische Onderzoek (VITO), het Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie (SCK), incubatiecentra van Innotek en het Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM). Vlaams minister-president Kris Peeters liet weten dat ESA voor de realisatie van dit nieuwe centrum 250 000 euro zal vrijmaken. De oprichting van het centrum zal tot stand komen met steun van de Vlaamse Ruimtevaart Industrie (VRI), IMEC, het Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie (SCK) en het VITO. Volgens Kris Peeters zal het ESA-innovatiecentrum in Geel Vlaanderen verder uitbouwen als kennisregio. De komst van het ESA-centrum past dan ook volledig in het plan 'Vlaanderen in Actie'. Momenteel bevinden er zich in Europa al vijf ESA Business Innovation/Incubation Centers nabij ESA-centra waarvan twee in Duitsland en de overige in Nederland, Italië en het Verenigd Koninkrijk. De komst van het BIC-centrum in Vlaanderen raakte bekend tijdens een ontmoeting tussen Vlaams minister-president Kris Peeters en Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Directeur-Generaal.
