ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

EUROPE COMPASS WEEKLY UPDATE JANUARY 14, 2013   Our Europe Compass weekly email presents analytical insights on the events of the past week and an assessment of the risks to monitor in the next seven days. If you're not already subscribed,  sign up for free . Jury is still out   ECB President Mario Draghi was guardedly optimistic on January 10 in his monthly  press conference . Although he noted much improvement in terms of financial market conditions, he cautioned that " the risks surrounding the economic outlook for the euro-area remain on the downside ", that "the present situation is characterised by high uncertainty", that any recovery is "going to take some time" and that the turnaround in the real economy would start in late 2013. He also made it clear that even though the ECB governing council decided unanimously not to loosen monetary policy, they were not looking to tighten monetary conditions and were "not thinking about

China's Chongqing Helicopter Investment Company (CQHIC) has acquired US company Enstrom: a manufacturer of light helicopters for commercial and military applications. The acquisition, announced on 7 January, is one of the most high profile in a series of transactions in which Chinese companies have purchased US companies involved in the aerospace and defence sector. Statements said that CQHIC's acquisition of Enstrom was concluded on 27 December 2012 when the two companies agreed an equity settlement deal, the value of which was not revealed. CQHIC and Enstrom had earlier signed an equity purchase agreement, under which the Chinese company, based in Chongqing in Southwest China, submitted a bid to acquire a 100% stake in Enstrom. The two companies held an "acquisition closing ceremony" on 4 January, and an Enstrom spokeswoman later confirmed to IHS Jane's that the deal had been approved by US authorities. "CFIUS [the Committee on Foreign Investment in the Uni

The US Army's Rapid Equipping Force (REF) deployed its second mobile expeditionary lab - containing some novel technologies - into theatre on 7 January 2013. Each laboratory is a 20 ft ISO container developed by the Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command and engineering company Exponent. It can be transported to a point of need by truck or helicopter and uses 3-D printers and computer numerical control (CNC) machines to replicate parts from aluminium, plastic, and steel. This enables designers to rapidly prototype items in-theatre using computer-aided design software, aiming to accelerate the design and production process, as well as reduce manufacturing logistics. Front line users can then provide immediate feedback. "We are trying to shorten the amount of time, the flash to bang, of idea to actual implementation," REF spokesperson Alison Sanderson told  IHS Jane's . "We definitely want to increase sustainability for the individual