GPS and Other Satellites

[Rainbow Six]

Disclaimer - I do not have any books in front of me - all of this is from memory so I can't quote page numbers etc. Someone that does have the relevant books and cares enough to check can likely verify (or not) the following (Legbreaker?)

Originally Posted by RN7

Is there some reference to French Guyana been nuked?

I think there is a reference to French Guyana in the V2 NATO vehicle guide. IIRC it mentions that there's a large detachment of Foreign Legion troops providing security for the Space Centre. I don't think it specifically says whether or not said Space Centre is intact or not so each individual would need to draw their own conclusions as to whether a large detachment of Foreign Legion troops would be tasked to provide security for either a) an at least semi functional site or b) a pile of radioactive ruins.

I choose to go for A.

Originally Posted by RN7

Chile??? I duno where they would get nukes from, but I don't think French Guyana would be on their list.

From memory it was Brazil and Argentina that had a nuclear exchange, not Brazil and Chile.

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Gateway to the Spanish Main: SSN Corpus Christian
Last sub series: SSN-705 City of Corpus Christi

Similar names granted, but definitely different.

Or a typo.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

I think there is a reference to French Guyana in the V2 NATO vehicle guide. IIRC it mentions that there's a large detachment of Foreign Legion troops providing security for the Space Centre.

Nothing I could find there I'm afraid. Closest units are as follows though:

Latin American Regional Command
Current Location: Caribbean Islands
9th Marine Infantry Battalion (BIMa)
3rd Foreign Legion Infantry regiment (REI)
33rd Marine Infantry Regiment (RIMa)

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

From memory it was Brazil and Argentina that had a nuclear exchange, not Brazil and Chile.

Oops, my mistake. You are correct there.

[Rainbow Six]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Nothing I could find there I'm afraid. Closest units are as follows though:

You made me doubt myself so I booted up my old PC to check.

Not sure where you looked - this is what I found (with page number)

V2.2 NATO Combat Vehicle Handbook, p88
3RD FOREIGN LEGION
INFANTRY REGIMENT (REI)
Subordination: Latin American Regional Command
Current Location: Kourou
Manpower: 350

(Emphasis mine)

Kourou is the location of the Guiana Space Centre

V2.2 NATO Combat Vehicle Handbook, p88
9TH MARINE INFANTRY
BATTALION (BIM)
Subordination: Latin American Regional Command
Current Location: Cayenne
Manpower: 450

(Emphasis mine)

Cayenne is the capital of French Guiana

So there is a large contingent of Foreign Legion troops in the vicinity of the site of the Guiana Space Centre and another large contingent of French troops in the capital of French Guiana..

I was mistaken about their purpose being stated - it's not. I got that from here

http://www.oocities.org/littlegreenm...T2K_France.htm

And then there's this from wikipedia

The 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment of the French Foreign Legion, whose mission is to protect the CSG, has had a base in the Forget neighbourhood since 1973. They clashed with the Creoles in 1985 and 2006.

(CSG is the French acronym for the Guiana Space Centre)

So I'll stick with option A.

[Legbreaker]

Missed on the spelling.
Oh well, we've learnt something.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

3RD FOREIGN LEGION
INFANTRY REGIMENT (REI)
Subordination: Latin American Regional Command
Current Location: Kourou
Manpower: 350

From wikipedia

The regiment is composed of around 675 men organised into 5 companies.

Looks like they've taken about 50% casualties then. That's one hell of a lot for a country not involved in conflict!
The other units in the command also appear to have suffered very heavily.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9th_Ma...antry_Regiment
https://translate.google.com.au/tran...es&prev=search

[Rainbow Six]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

From wikipedia
Looks like they've taken about 50% casualties then. That's one hell of a lot for a country not involved in conflict!
The other units in the command also appear to have suffered very heavily.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9th_Ma...antry_Regiment
https://translate.google.com.au/tran...es&prev=search

I suppose assuming that their losses are down to casualties is one way of looking at it. Equally possible that they have had personnel detached to serve elsewhere because things were so quiet that it was felt that they could maintain order with 50% of their manpower.

So once again, up to each individual to interpret the material as they wish - I am not seeing anything written down in a published source that definitively confirms whether the Guiana Space Center is operational or not.

[Legbreaker]

While it is possible troops were withdrawn, that's still a pretty big reduction. The 33rd for example is down to about 25% and they apparently have the largest area to cover (French speakers/readers please correct me if I'm wrong - google translate is only so good).
I like to look at it more like the launch facility was attacked in some manner and the 3rd was either caught in the blast/fallout, or was downwind and suffered casualties from toxic chemicals when the rocket fuel went up (or something along those lines). Troops from the other two units were reassigned to make up some of the losses.
It's equally possible troops were lost in conventional operations against local forces, desertion, disease, starvation, or any number of other causes.

Regardless of any of the above, it's extremely unlikely the French are going to be allowing anybody else to a) use the facility, no matter what condition it's in, or b) have access to any satellites they may happen to have in operation for any reason.

In post 2000 good communications would be vital to controlling what's left of the worlds resources. Maintaining a monopoly on this would ensure France's leading position in global matters for decades to come.

[Rainbow Six]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Regardless of any of the above, it's extremely unlikely the French are going to be allowing anybody else to a) use the facility, no matter what condition it's in, or b) have access to any satellites they may happen to have in operation for any reason.

In post 2000 good communications would be vital to controlling what's left of the worlds resources. Maintaining a monopoly on this would ensure France's leading position in global matters for decades to come.

Agreed. I've never argued anything to the contrary.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

So there is a large contingent of Foreign Legion troops in the vicinity of the site of the Guiana Space Centre and another large contingent of French troops in the capital of French Guiana.

Hmm, that certainly does suggest that either the space launch facility is intact, or there's enough left that the French think it's worth protecting with a considerable investment of manpower.

[RN7]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

http://www.oocities.org/littlegreenm...T2K_France.htm

I love it when people quote my work.