European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 1, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes saturday March 1, 1986 ., nato allies agree on joint research projects old today Brussels Belgium a the United states and its nato allies agreed thursday to launch six joint re search projects aimed at building advanced military equip ment a senior nato official said. The Accord among National arms planners marked an important step in the Alliance s Campaign to reduce the Cost of new nato armaments by combining National research efforts. This has taken on added importance in recent months As it became Clear that some nato nations including the United states and Britain faced the likelihood of a major slowdown in defense spending. Statements of intent were signed by several nato countries at the meeting of the Alliance s conference of National armaments directors said Robin Beard a nato executive who chaired the session. Beard in a Brief statement issued at the close of the meeting identified Only the United states among the participating countries. All 16 nato nations were represented in the meeting at the Alliance s Headquarters. The statement outlined the projects As 9 an electronics system to enable fighter pilots to avoid radar detection while locating and zeroing in on enemy targets. A Friend or foe identification system that would reduce the chances of Allied air defences shooting Down nato planes in wartime. � an advanced communications system. Precision guided 155mm munitions. Unspecified actions to enhance the development of a nato computer language. Standardized weapons that can be fired outside the Range of enemy forces. No further details were Given on the projects. Beard s statement said full details would be made available Friday. Partial financing for the projects would be qualified under the so called Nunn fund in which the Pentagon earmarked $200 million for cooperative nato arms projects. The Money would go to  Defense contractors who Are involved in an arms project with companies from at least one Allied nation. The Nunn fund was established by the  Congress last year in an amendment to the 1986 defense authorization Bill sponsored by sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia. A com Panion Bill earmarked another $50 million for comparative testing of new  And Allied conventional arms. Nunn has spearheaded a congressional drive to Force nato to make better use of its Money. Although the Alliance has sought for decades to standardize its War equipment and work together to develop new weapons the member countries continue to duplicate Many efforts. David Abshire the  Ambassador to nato has accused the organization of shameful waste through duplication. He recently said that seven nato countries were developing and deploying six new tactical communications systems none of which can communicate with the others. Other Allied leaders have sounded the same theme con tending that the soviet bloc has been Able to increase its Lead Over nato in weapons deployment by saving Money through centralizing its research and development. Safe firefighters get Advance look for at protective suit of fhe future by Jean Albright Pitburg Bureau b1tburg a Germany air Force firefighters within two years will have protective gear resistant to both fire and chemicals officials said. Safe fire chiefs and firefighters saw the fire Protection suit of the future during a visit this week by researchers and planners from the air Force Engi Neering and services Center at Tyndall fab Fla. The air Force currently does not have a suit resistant to both fire and chemical agents said Wade Grimm project manager of the new design. Based on the latest threat analysis air Force sys tems come and major commands had requested a suit resistant to both he said. A suit with Asbestos in its construction offered limited resistance to chemicals but the 1979 ban on Asbestos by the occupational safety and health administration ended its use. In the new suit resistance to Gas chemical agents is provided by an undergarment made of two layers of charcoal impregnated Cotton. The fabric keeps Gas out but allows body heat to escape. It can be worn Comfort ably for 12 hours. The knitted aluminized exterior fabric provides Protection from liquid agents and from heat. The fabric is about i/16th of an Inch thick and is similar to material used to make bulletproof vests. It can reflect 95 percent of 2,000-degree Radiant heat for three minutes Grimm said. Internal temperature of the suit will remain about 100  the total ensemble including breathing apparatus and helmet weighs Only 28 pounds As compared to the 65-Pound interim suit it will replace. The breathing apparatus on the Back has a 4-Inch profile and weighs 18 pounds As compared to the 7 inches and 35 pounds of the breathing apparatus now in use. It also increases the amount of time a firefighter can work from 14 minutes to two hours. The suit also provides radio communication from within the helmet. Firefighters have had to carry radios in their hands and lift their visors to use them. The new suit will last about five years Grimm said. The old Asbestos garment was serviceable for Only four to six months because reflective surfaces flaked off Dur ing that time. The interim suit resists Wear and tear for about 18 months. Replacement of the old Asbestos suit used to Cost $550 every six months. Replacement of a new suit will be $350 every five years he said. The new suits will replace those now in use and in storage As they Wear out he said. Is photo by Jean Albright Wade Grimm. Models new protective gear scottish poet Norman Mccaig awarded Queen s Gold medal London a Norman Mccaig regarded As Scotland s leading living poet has been awarded the Queen s Gold medal for poetry Buckingham Palace announced. A statement said Queen Elizabeth ii had approved the recommendation of a committee of literary figures headed by Ted Hughes the poet laureate. The medal is an award for excellence and has been conferred 24 times since it was instituted in 1933 by the Queen s Grandfather King George v. Other recipients in clude Hughes Stephen spender Stevie Smith Robert Graves Siegfried Sassoon and . Auden. Mccaig 75, a retired schoolmaster who has lived in Edinburgh Scotland All his life was awarded the medal for his collected poems published last year containing poetry from 13 earlier books and 100 previously unpublished poems. Greece s foreign Trade deficit tops $3 billion for first time Athens Greece a Greece s current account deficit jumped by More then 50 percent last year and topped $3 billion for the first time according to Bank of Greece figures. Exports and invisible earnings declined in 1985, while imports went up the figures showed. The record current account deficit totalled $3.29 billion a 54.4 percent Rise Over the 1984 total of $2.13 billion. 2 arrested e. German students freed after 3 weeks sources say Berlin a communist East German authorities have released two 14-year-old High school students who were kept under arrest for three weeks after proposing a real socialist party protestant Church sources in West Berlin said. The sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said the two students made the proposal in their school saying they wanted to improve several aspects of Rule in East Germany. East Germany is ruled by the communist party which tightly controls any form of dissent. Like other communist nations in the soviet bloc East Germany describes itself As a socialist country. The two students whose names were not released were arrested during a class in their school in the Pankow District of East Berlin after proposing a political party that would improve socialism in their country. They were kept in investigative custody for three weeks the sources said. Italian air Force no accused of passing secrets to Libya Catania Sicily up an italian air Force ser Geant major stationed at Sicily s Comiso nuclear missile base and a civilian have been arrested and accused of passing classified documents to a libyan secret service agent police said. Police identified the two men As sgt. Maj. Giuseppe Franchi 35, and Paolo Riggio 39. Both were arrested in the act of handing classified material to a libyan secret service agent police said. They were accused of complicity in continuous pilfering of written material and passing on  fire damages Small hotel near Shakespeare s Birthplace Stratford on Avon England a a fire heavily damaged a Small hotel near Stratford on Avon the Birthplace of English Bard William Shakespeare but no one was injured police said. Warwickshire county police said More than 80 firefight ers tackled the Blaze at the Billesley Manor hotel which gutted the roof but left the main Structure intact. Who favors new vaccine to combat influenza viruses Geneva Switzerland a the world health organization has recommended a new vaccine to fight influenza in 1986-87, saying viruses have developed Resis Tance to the 2-year-old vaccine. The organization s weekly report said the vaccine had lost effectiveness against the influenza b viruses blamed for epidemics in the United states and influenza a viruses which caused outbreaks in North America the Southern Hemi sphere and Europe during the past two years. The report said experts from who collaborating Cen ters on influenza who met in Geneva in mid february designed a new vaccine that would produce antibodies against the new virus forms