As Sydney Airport announces a trial of equipment by U.K. company Qinetiq, a financial traill is revealed that runs from the most famous plane crash in history to the runways of New South Wales.

Qinetiq, the privatised arm of the UK Ministry of Defence, have, in a financial arrangement considered as ethically questionable, the international investment firm Carlyle.  Qinetiq's wholly owned-US subsidiary build the Talon War Robot being used by the US Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The firm has been engaged in South Australian trials of its Zephyr 3 Unmanned Air Vehicle.  It also has a 25 year evaluation contract with the UK's MoD worth approximately $A13 billion. (read at the end of here)
 

QInetiq is also imminently scheduled to appear on UK stock exchange in a billion pound "float" that has been trumpeted by media as the most signifigant float since the Dot Com Era.


The new airport security system, based on high resolution millimetre-wave radar allows control tower staff to spot very small debris from up to 1.5 kilometres away. and can detect metal, plastic, glass, wood, fibre-glass and animal remains.

The company has deployed the same technology to scan London commuters for explosives.

 

Of the Tarsier system, Hal Kruth, QinetiQ's Group Managing Director, Security and Dual Use said that"Tarsier is a prime example of QinetiQ's approach to focus on solving customers' important problems. Tarsier has been developed with a very clear and simple purpose in mind - to improve airport safety and ultimately to save lives. We are growing QinetiQ's commercial business by fast tracking advanced technologies like Tarsier and we are confident that this approach will continue to bear fruit in coming years."

The Qinetiq Manager for Dual Use didn't mention the policeaviation.com claims that "In addition to debris location Qinitiq's Tarsier is seen as an area security device suitable for securing such as an isolated operational unit in a rural location.The ability to detect and locate objects on runways using all-weather millimetre wave can be projected to cover surface movement tracking, runway intrusion, perimeter secuurity and bird intrusion"

 
Qinetic have recently launched an experimental spy satellite that gives real-time images to "local" users.

Combining these technologies would give the buyer a radar-scanned, space-monitored, armed-robot-patrolled secure are that a flea wouldn't be able to detonate a fart in!

In addition to debris location QinetiQ's Tarsier is seen as an area security device suitable for securing such as an isolated operational unit in a rural location. The ability to detect and locate objects on runways using all-weather millimetre wave radar can be projected to cover surface movement tracking, runway intrusion, perimeter security and bird detectionIn addition to debris location QinetiQ's Tarsier is seen as an area security device suitable for securing such as an isolated operational unit in a rural location. The ability to detect and locate objects on runways using all-weather millimetre wave radar can be projected to cover surfacemovement tracking, runway intrusion, perimeter security and bird detecIn addition to debris location QinetiQ's Tarsier is seen as an area security device suitable for securing such as an isolated operational unit in a rural location. The ability to detect and locate objects on runways using all-weather millimetre wave radar can be projected to cover surface movement tracking, runway intrusion, perimeter security and bird dete doubt it will be quite handy to detect rocket grenade launchers as well. 

U.S  "family business" Carlyle have ensured a maximised profit by registering their shares in Qinetiq,  from the tax shelter of Guernsey

[excerpt from the U.K. Telegraph]] 

According to filings by Qinetiq,- which is still 56 per cent owned by the [UK] UK MoD- shares controlled by Carlyle, the US private equity firm, are held in Guernsey-domiciled investment vehicles, as are shares in an employee share plan for the benefit of Qinetiq's staff.

The disclosure will cause a political storm, given that Carlyle and Qinetiq's executives are set to make huge gains when the business is floated for around £1.1bn in the autumn.

As disclosed in last week's Sunday Telegraph, Carlyle will emerge with a shareholding worth around £340m, having made an initial outlay of £4.2m for ordinary shares in Qinetiq and £38m in preference shares just over two years ago.

Yesterday, John McFall, the chairman of the influential Treasury Select Committee, said: "This seems a one-way -offshore ticket to unprecedented spoils. The individuals and the companies involved are obviously much smarter than the Government and it seems a textbook example of an unsophisticated business approach, with the taxpayer appearing to come off a poor second best."

 Here's an Australian example of how finance and terrorism can work together:
The day after Halliburton activist Scott Parkin was deported, and immediately following the September 11 Australian Al Qaeda scare, a major supplier of Homeland Security equipment to Australian governments launched itself publically on the Melbourne Stock Exchange

For Australian security, defence and bomb disposal experts   XTEK ,   events promoting the necessity of increased security must have had its directors dancing for joy, (especially the one who helped create the Australian Federal Police's counterterrorism strategy, and the bloke who was chairman of the International Association of bomb technicians).

[excerpt]

The company supplies products and services relating to the protection of national borders from the threat of terrorism and politically motivated violence.

"Homeland security is now an integral part of Australia's defence policy and independent research indicates that demand for better security products and services will continue to grow," Mr French said.

"The government has been supporting the sector, for obvious reasons and the nature of the products they are buying and the infrastructure they are putting in place indicate that it is going to be a long term requirement."

 

90 per cent of Xtek's sales are to the Australian and State governments, defence and law enforcement offices

 The company raised A$14 million for the float by the oversubcribed issue of 28 million shares at a price of 50 cents per share.

By noon of their first day of trading, the shares had risen by  fiorty per cent... not a bad morning's work for "ground-floor" investors.  Anyone buying after that would be disappointed to see their investment slip back to a resting level of around 67 cents per share.

 

Back to Carlyle, here's wikipedia's list of politicians known to have associations with the company::

• Alice Albright, daughter of ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
• James Baker III, former United States Secretary of State under George H. W. Bush, Staff member under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, Carlyle Senior Counselor
• George H. W. Bush, former U.S. President, Senior Advisor to the Carlyle Asia Advisory Board from April 1998 to October 2003.
• George W. Bush, current U.S. President. Was appointed in 1990 to the Board of Directors of one of Carlyle's first acquisitions, an airline food business called Caterair, which Carlyle eventually sold at a loss. George left the board in 1992 to later become Governor of Texas, where he was responsible for appointing several members of the board which controlled the investment of Texas teachers' pension funds. A few years later, the board decided to invest $100m of public money in the Carlyle Group.
• Frank C. Carlucci, former United States Secretary of Defense from 1987 to 1989, chairman emeritus and currently strategic business advisor. Also, former Princeton roommate and wrestling partner of present US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld.
• Richard Darman, former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under George H. W. Bush, Senior Advisor and Managing Director of The Carlyle Group
• William Kennard, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Carlyle's Managing Director in the Telecommunications & Media Group
• Arthur Levitt, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under President Bill Clinton, Carlyle Senior Advisor
• John Major, former British Prime Minister, Chairman, Carlyle Europe until May 2004, and other posts to the present
• Frank McKenna, Canadian ambassador (effective March 1, 2005) to the United States, former member of Carlyle's Canadian advisory board
• Mack McLarty, President of Kissinger McLarty Associates, Carlyle Senior Advisor
• Anand Panyarachun, former premier of Thailand
• Colin Powell, former United States Secretary of State
• Fidel Ramos, former president of the Philippines, Carlyle Asia Advisor Board Member until the board was disbanded in February 2004
• Park Tae Joon, former prime minister of South Korea

Members of the Bin Laden family also had a small (US$ 2million) investment in the group, but withdrew not long after they were flown out of the USA on September  12 2001

Carlyle's co-founder David Rubenstein, in announcing the company's expansion into Australia earlier this year said  that the group had "studied Australia for many years and believe now is the time to establish an office in Sydney. Our studies demonstrate a need for private equity and we will use our Asian buyout and growth capital funds to make investments in Australia.