BATTLESPACE UPDATE Vol.20 ISSUE 10

BATTLESPACE UPDATE Vol.20 ISSUE 10

 

05 March 2018

 

NEWS

 

NEWS IN BRIEF – EUROPE

 

Snow Relief: Military Support

Troop Deployments: Numbers

Type 26: Third City Class Named

The Fleet: Running Costs

Airseeker: Operational Capability

F-35 Lightning: Delivery Plans

A400M Atlas Aircraft: UK Fleet Size

Air Defence: Remote Radar Head

Demo Satellite: Carbonite-2

Helicopters: Survival Training

Airbus, Brexit unclear

Thyssenkrupp Blocked from Tender

Continued UK membership of ESA

GKN faces fight of its life

Poland buys Leonardo trainers

Spend more on armed forces

EU foreign policy decisions

Jet expertise in Europe

MoD will get cash

Call to end failed EDA

Scotland ruled out for bids?

U.S. involvement in EU pact

Latvia to acquire equipment

German Readiness questioned

Influence in Balkans region

Austria investigates Darabos

UK addresses F-35 concerns

Bulgaria modernises armed forces

UK mental health services

 

NEWS IN BRIEF – USA

 

Growing mission for IAMD

Big SOCOM Budget Boost

U.S. Stay Out Of Iran

Trump imposes steel tariffs

Bill to improve USN readiness

F-35 April faceoff with A-10

Strategic Deterrence Mission

Special Ops Must Be More Lethal

Rapid Equipping Force preps

Bipartisan Budget Act

Centcom Undertaking Realignment

Boeing deal for Air Force One

Military Force Structure

War-gaming under-resourced

KC-46 withstands EMP

Nuclear Posture Review

 

NEWS IN BRIEF – REST OF THE WORLD

 

Russia not in breach of arms control

Russian warnings against allies

Ukraine/US era of cooperation

Russian Nuclear-Powered Missile

China to build aircraft carriers

Aus projects offering false hope

India prepares industrial corridor

South Africa cuts defence budget

Australia calls for Two Army Policy

China’s military flexes muscles

Boeing-Embraer joint venture

 

BUSINESS NEWS Part I

 

Microchip Buys Microsemi

GKN in talks with Dana

Cubic acquires MotionDSP

Cobham sticks to 2018 outlook

Naval Group 2017 results

Melrose’s bid opposed

Rheinmetall figures for 2017

Saint-Gobain Acquires HyComp

IAI Joins Starburst

Embraer talks with Boeing

Patria reorganizes sales division

Houlihan Lokey Advises SENTEL

TMD acquires G2

Kaman Reports 2017 Results

Applied Composites Buys SDC

Humatics buys 5D Robotics

 

BUSINESS NEWS Part II

 

SBIR buys Sensor Technology

By Light Merges with Axom Tech

DoD reviews GD-CSRA merger

US drives growth for Austal

GKN Annual Results

GKN announced new strategy

GKN – worth a punt

Meggitt reports Results

Meggitt gains from currency

Safran profit beats forecasts

FFP buys stake in Safran

GTT buys Interoute

Qualcomm open to Broadcom bid

Orbital ATK financial results

KBR buys Stinger Ghaffarian

KBR fourth quarter results

 

MILITARY VEHICLE NEWS

 

RTD upgrades governance

LaserDYNE selected by Saab

Germany participates in Altay?

 

NEW TECHNOLOGIES, NETWORKS AND COMMUNICATIONS

 

Roboteam AI-CU UAS Software

Garmin® introduces GDL 50

DARPA in Ukraine?

DARPA’s Future Technologies

DoD migrates to Windows 10

USMC networks on ships

Cobham launches RT-7000

Australian defence info campaign

AFSOC searches for virtual reality

Maritime industry goes digital

Domo launches SRR

RoK investment in 4IR tech

New $64m USAF fund

 

SATELLITE SYSTEMS, SATCOM AND SPACE SYSTEMS UPDATE

 

UK MoD launches satellite

GOES-16 weather satellite

Kratos solution for GSCCE prog

Space-Based Midcourse Tracking

RF over Fiber Link Launched

Japan launches satellite

Radiant Solutions Partners NGA

LM Gateway Center construction

LEO Satellites and Drones?

Proton Reinvents Itself

Formation of new space economy

Re-Organized Sea Launch

Anticipate GPS interference

Baylin integrates RF units

Certus Broadband Connectivity

Goonhilly Earth Station investment

 

RADAR, EO/IR, NIGHT VISION AND SURVEILLANCE UPDATE

 

CEA and DST R&D agreement

Peak Nano Optics with L3

HENSOLDT Surveillance Radar

RCN acquires AV Puma™ II AE

G/ATOR IOC in 2018

Wingtra Photogrammetry UAV

Leonardo Radar on Saab Globaleye

Rollout of Elite GlobalEye

Sightmark LoPro Combos Facelift

GlobalEye for NATO E-3A replacement

Tectonica visual and audio tech

 

MISSILE, BALLISTICS AND SOLDIER SYSTEMS UPDATE

 

Laser Weapons for German Corvettes

US Invincible Hypersonic Weapons

Stryker-based SHORAD solution

Lockheed USN laser contract

HMAS Canberra tests Nulka upgrades

Putin unveils nuclear weapons

AQS-24B series minehunter

Romania 1st European HIMARS customer

LM LGB teaming with Wahaj

New ATK Void-Sensing Fuze

Turkey to develop armed UAV

USN clears underwater explosives

Reaper releases PGMs

Japan missile unit to Okinawa

USSOCOM SOPGM RFI

Clouds don’t sideline lasers

USMC investment in HIMARS

US seeks new C-UAV missile

Dhanush Test-Fired

Anbar weapons cache recovered

HJ-11 ATGW with PLAGF

 

UNMANNED SYSTEMS UPDATE

 

Indian Calls for 400 More UAS

Global Hawk 20th Anniversary

Development Centre at UAS Denmark

ECA mid-size AUV A18-M

Kratos UAS export opportunity

UAV Turbines Agreement with US

India flight-tests Rustom-2 UAV

US ARL private cloud options

3-D printed drone is nice

Indonesia gets ScanEagle UAVs

 

CYBER, EW, AI, CLOUD COMPUTING AND HOMELAND SECURITY UPDATE

 

Cyber attacks come with a cost

Canadian cybersecurity center

Cloud Acquisition Industry Day

Indonesia selects VERA-NG

Launch of New Intel Program

Falcon Epicure contract

WMD early-warning system

DOD cloud management system

Cyber Command’s new authorities

US spy chiefs look to UK

German computers secure

DoD Releases MIP Request

Evolving Cyber Threats

How do you teach common sense?

Banking tech protects SMEs

Cyber Talent Wanted

 

INTERNATIONAL PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES

 

UNITED KINGDOM AND NATO

 

ITN for Type 31e frigate

Conflict sensitivity

Maritime Platform Systems

Unmanned Combat Air System

Collapsible Pillow Tanks

Development of warships

 

EUROPE

 

Naval Group pitch to Italy

 

USA

 

USCG heavy icebreaker RFP

LM Not Cooperating On F-35

F-35 program head blasts LM

Future vertical-lift slow-rolled

Cloud-based management system

 

REST OF THE WORLD

 

Saab highlights Indian industry

India Buys Four Russian Frigates

Aus rivalry for Defence work

India to fast-track procurement?

India scraps single-engine fighter

 

CONTRACT NEWS IN BRIEF

 

UNITED KINGDOM

 

LAND

 

Avon Protection contract

 

SEA

 

Lockheed MK 41 contract

 

EUROPE

 

LAND

 

FN FCU German contract

HK 416A5 for the Dutch

MRAV Boxer for Slovenia

 

SEA

 

Saab Swedish Trackfire order

 

AIR

 

Belgium MRTT order

InShield for Spain’s A400M

 

USA

 

LAND

 

AM General contract

 

SEA

 

Lockheed laser contract

 

AIR

 

Boeing F/A-18 contract

L-3 Hawklink contract

Northrop SSL contract

Raytheon SBD II contract

Raytheon AN/DAS-4 contract

 

TECHNOLOGY

 

Tauri ECBC contract

Northrop DHS contract

 

REST OF THE WORLD

 

LAND

 

Heuch Rheinmetall contract

Javelin to Ukraine

 

SEA

 

Damen South African contract

Saab ANZAC contract

 

AIR

 

Indonesia buys Wing Loong I

FAdeA Argentine contract

MDA Schiebel deal

Thales Australian contract

 

TECHNOLOGY

 

Aus Innovation Hub contracts

 

MANAGEMENT ON THE MOVE

 

TopEngineer.com Job Of the Week!

 

Optical Design Engineer

 

LOCATIONS

 

LAND

 

Thales opens headquarters

US Army biometric facility

Arktis opens UK office

 

MARITIME

 

Warship named HMS Cardiff

Australian MCM project

Indonesia launches KCR-60M

Indian Navy recovery system

 

AIR

 

ConnectJets delivers Avanti EVO

Brazil boosts helicopter force

JASDF F-35A at Misawa Air Base

Saras completes second flight

 

MILITARY AND GOVERNMENT

 

PERSONNEL

 

German NATO Transport Support

New  NSPA Logistics Directorates

US Space Corps launch in 3 years?

Saudi king replaces commanders

DIUx searching for replacement

 

U.S. APPOINTMENTS

 

MG Albert M. Elton II appointed

MG Barre R. Seguin appointed

MG Mark E. Weatherington appointed

BG Charles S. Corcoran selected

BG Stephen L. Davis selected

BG Lee E. Payne selected

BG Angela M. Cadwell appointed

BG Christopher D. Hill appointed

BG Tom D. Miller appointed

Col. Thomas K. Hensley selected

Col. Robert K. Lyman selected

Col. David B. Lyons selected

Col. Robert J. Marks selected

USAF LG Timothy M. Ray appointment

USAF MG D.D. Thompson appointment

Rear Adm. Timothy White nominated

Rear Adm. John V. Fuller assigned

Rear Adm. Shane G. Gahagan assigned

Rear Adm. Kevin M. Jones assigned

Rear Adm. Karl O. Thomas assigned

Vice Adm. C.W. Grady appointment

Vice Adm. C.A. Richard appointment

Rear Adm. M.T. Moran appointment

Capt. David A. Welch nominated

 

INDUSTRY

 

INDUSTRY TEAMINGS

 

LM, Taqnia Aeronautics JV

 

PERSONNEL

 

Suitable Airbus French Pick

 

EUROPE APPOINTMENTS

 

Airbus appointments

James Banham joins ConnectJets

1. Haslacher joins Frequentis

John Rigby appoints A. Ambrose

 

U.S. APPOINTMENTS

 

Boeing names Tim Keating

GE nominates directors

 

REST OF THE WORLD APPOINTMENTS

 

NG appoints Mike Gallagher

 

EXHIBITIONS AND CONFERENCES

 

Owning The Night 2018

 

 

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS

 

Modernising Defence Programme

 

House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers

 

Type 26 Frigates

Kuwait: Armed Forces

 

FEATURES

 

Of Thales, Cobham, GKN, Siemens and Jaguar Land Rover

By Howard Wheeldon, FRAeS, Wheeldon Strategic Advisory Ltd.

 

Trump’s 2019 Missile Defense Budget: Choosing Capacity over Capability

By Thomas Karako and Wes Rumbaugh

 

Military Force Structure: Trade-offs, Trade-offs, Trade-offs

By Mark F. Cancian

 

GKN Readies for Final Round In Melrose Bid Battle

By Howard Wheeldon, FRAeS, Wheeldon Strategic Advisory Ltd.

 

Meggitt Sees More Growth

By Howard Wheeldon, FRAeS, Wheeldon Strategic Advisory Ltd.

 

Defense Outlook 2018

By Kathleen H. Hicks

 

Combat Air Strategy Revived

By Howard Wheeldon, FRAeS, Wheeldon Strategic Advisory Ltd.

 

TAILPIECE

 

An act of remembrance is to be held at Stirling Castle for Shetland Pony Lance Corporal Cruachan III, retired mascot of The Royal Regiment of Scotland, who has died at the age of 30. (Army website, 27 Feb 18.)

(Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/09, 05 Mar 18)

 

CONTACT DETAILS

 

Julian Nettlefold

BATTLESPACE Publications

8 Sinclair Gardens

London W14 0AT

Tel/Fax: +44 (0)207 6105520

Mobile:  +44 077689 54766

e-mail

————————————————————————-NEWS IN BRIEF – EUROPE

 

Web Page sponsored by Harris Corporation

 

http://www.harrisforcemodernization.com

 

————————————————————————-

02 Mar 18. Snow Relief: Military Support. The MoD reported (3 Mar 18) that over 100 Service personnel have been involved in assisting the emergency

services, local authorities and the National Health Service (NHS) during the recent adverse weather conditions. Assistance has included deploying 4×4 vehicles for transporting NHS staff to hospitals, helping stranded

motorists and clearing main roads.

Comment: The Defence Secretary met (2 Mar 18) soldiers from 1 Royal Irish who were involved with transporting health workers in the Shropshire area. Military assistance will continue so long as necessary. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/09, 05 Mar 18)

 

01 Mar 18. Troop Deployments: Numbers. The Armed Forces’ Minister provided (1 Mar 18) details of troop deployments to Estonia, Poland and the Ukraine. As part of OP CABRIT (Estonia and Poland) 380 UK personnel were deployed in 2016-17 and 2,539 in 2017-18. This included two rotations of the UK Battlegroup in Estonia and Squadron in Poland, as well as short-term surges in support of training and exercises. At any given time, there are around 800 troops in Estonia and 150 in Poland.

As part of OP ORBITAL (Ukraine) 712 UK military instructors were deployed in 2015-16, 610 in 2016-17 and 312 in 2017-18. (Figures include some individual instructors deployed on multiple occasions.) In addition, 12-14 personnel were deployed to the Operation’s Headquarters during the relevant period.

Comment: The Armed Forces’ Minister hosted (27 Feb 18) the Polish Under Secretary of State during a two-day visit to the UK to discuss Defence relations between the two Countries. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/09, 05 Mar 18)

 

01 Mar 18. Type 26 Frigates: Third City Class Named. The Defence Secretary announced the name of the third of eight City Class anti-submarine warfare frigates on St David’s Day (1 Mar 18). HMS CARDIFF is to provide advanced protection for the UK’s nuclear deterrent and the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers.

Comment: The RN’s Type 26 frigates are being built at the Clyde shipyards, where 20 years of work were

announced in 2017. Two other ships in the Class have already been named: HMS GLASGOW and HMS BELFAST. HMS CARDIFF is the third Type 26 to be named but will be the second in production. The name of a new ship (or Class) is proposed by the RN’s Ships Name and Badges Committee before being passed to the Navy Board and the Defence Secretary. The final submission of a new name is made to HM The Queen. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/09, 05 Mar 18)

 

26 Feb 18. The Fleet: Running Costs. The Defence Procurement Minister said (26 Feb 18) that the average annual running cost for a Type 23 frigate is approximately £11.0m and for a Type 45 destroyer £13.5m (rounded figures). The Minister said that it would be “premature” to release a figure for Type 31e running costs. The costs quoted include those items directly attributable to the ship such as personnel costs, fuel and port visits but do not include items such as maintenance and training.

Comment: In June 2014 BAE Systems was awarded a £70m contract to manage the support and upgrade of the Type 45 destroyers. Type 23 frigates are expected to pay off at one a year from 2023 (HMS ARGYLL) until 2035 (HMS ST ALBANS). (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/09, 05 Mar 18)

 

06 Feb 18. Airseeker: Full Operational Capability. The RAF confirmed (6 Feb 18) Full Operational Capability for the RC-135 Airseeker/Rivet Joint aircraft and ground-based analysis unit. The three Rivet Joint aircraft, based at RAF Waddington, have already provided support for Operations against Daesh terrorists in the Middle East and can now be deployed globally as part of

the RAF’s wider ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) force.

Comment: In March 2010 the MoD signed a bilateral agreement with the US Government to procure three Rivet Joint aircraft and associated training and ground systems, to replace the Nimrod R1 aircraft. The third Rivet Joint aircraft was delivered in June 2017. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/09, 05 Mar 18)

 

26 Feb 18. F-35 Lightning Aircraft: Delivery Plans. The Defence Procurement Minister said (26 Feb 18) that the UK owns 14 F-35B Lightning aircraft, which are all currently based in the US. A further three aircraft are due for delivery in 2018. During the Summer (2018) 617 Squadron will ‘stand up’ in the UK with nine front-line operational aircraft and the MoD plans to declare an Initial Operating Capability from land bases in December 2018. The current fleet of 14 F-35B Lightning aircraft has amassed a total of some 2,140 flying hours; with a range of 12 to 555 flying hours per aircraft.

The Government Response to the Defence Committee’s F-35 publication (HC 326), together with the Lockheed Martin Response, was published on 26 Feb 18. The Response makes clear that only the first 48 F-35s are contractually committed to and budgeted for in the MoD’s 10-year Equipment Plan. The timing of investment and choice of variant of the remaining 90 F-35s has not yet been determined.

Comment: The intended total aircraft procurement is: US – 2,456; UK – 138; Australia – 100; Turkey – 100; Italy – 90; Canada – 65; Norway – 52; Netherlands – 37 and Denmark – 27. The Government Response mentioned above was published as HC 845, with the title: ‘Unclear for take-off?

F-35 Procurement: Responses to the Committee’s Second Report.’ (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/09, 05 Mar 18)

 

27 Feb 18. A400M Atlas Aircraft: UK Fleet Size. In a House of Lords Written Answer (27 Feb 18) the forecast UK acquisition cost of the A400M Atlas transport aircraft programme was given as £2,600m. The current UK fleet size is 18 aircraft; of which 15 are operational and three are being modified in Spain. 22 A400M have been ordered by the UK, with the final delivery expected in 2022.

Comment: Airbus has confirmed that 19 A400M aircraft were delivered (to various Air Forces) in 2017 and the company plans to deliver 15 in 2018 and 11 in 2019. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/09, 05 Mar 18)

 

27 Feb 18. Air Defence: Remote Radar Head. The Defence Procurement Minister said (27 Feb 18) that work on the Remote Radar Head at Saxa Vord began in mid-2017 and reached Initial Operational Capability at the end of January 2018. Full Operational Capability is expected to be achieved by the end of 2018.

Comment: The new £10m facility on Saxa Vord will extend UK/NATO surveillance of airspace across the Norwegian Sea. The radar system will boost the UK’s surveillance capability and help to track any aircraft

closing in on NATO controlled airspace. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/09, 05 Mar 18)

 

01 Mar 18. Demonstrator Satellite: Carbonite-2. The Chief of the Air Staff confirmed (1 Mar 18) that the RAF has been working with the MoD’s Chief Scientific Adviser, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and Industry on the Carbonite-2 demonstrator satellite programme to deliver high-quality imagery and 3D video footage from space for the RAF. The satellite, launched in January 2018 from Sriharikhota in India, is now supplying detailed imagery and footage.

Comment: The MoD has invested £4.5m with Surrey Satellite Technology which developed the demonstrator satellite. The 100kg spacecraft (about the size of a household washing machine) carries an off-the-shelf

telescope and HD video camera, both of which have been adapted for a space environment. The imaging system is designed to deliver high-resolution images and colour HD video clips with a swath width of 5km.

(Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/09, 05 Mar 18)

 

27 Feb 18. Helicopter Incidents: Survival Training. The RN announced (27 Feb 18) the opening of a new facility at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton to provide survival training in the event of a helicopter incident or accident over water. The new Royal Navy School of Maritime SERE (Survive, Evade, Resist, Extract) and Underwater Escape Training Unit (UETU) allows for all aspects of training to be undertaken in one place, whereas previously the various elements of training were conducted at different locations. These elements include procedures to follow when an aircraft hits the water and sinks below the surface, how to exit the aircraft safely while it is submerged and how to ‘make safe’ in personal life rafts while awaiting rescue.

Comment: The facility at RNAS Yeovilton includes the Environmental Pool Trainer which is capable of simulating full climatic conditions (wind, rain, waves, darkness) to ensure that training is fully representative of

conditions that might be faced in a real situation. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/09, 05 Mar 18)

 

02 Mar 18. Airbus says Brexit still unclear as it faces extra costs.

Airbus (AIR.PA) urged Britain on Friday to provide more clarity on post-Brexit customs rules as it faces an imminent rise in spending to start preparing for possible delays in the movement of aircraft parts.

The European planemaker gave a cautious response to a speech by Prime Minister Theresa May setting out her vision for future trade relations between the European Union and Britain, where Airbus makes all wings for its passenger jets.

May has said Britain will not join a customs union with the EU after Brexit, delighting some Brexit supporters who say staying in a customs union would prevent other trade deals, but worrying businesses like Airbus with cross-border supply chains.

May on Friday proposed having either a customs partnership, where Britain would implement EU tariffs on its border for goods intended for the EU, but could set different ones for goods going elsewhere or a streamlined customs arrangement, where jointly implemented measures would minimise frictions to trade.

Addressing other reported concerns from the aviation industry and U.S. regulators, May also said Britain would explore how it could remain a member of a handful of specialist institutions like the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

“Things are moving in the right direction, and we’re pleased to see the comments on EASA,” Airbus UK senior vice president Katherine Bennett said by email.

“But there’s still a lack of clarity we urgently need on what will happen on other important matters such as customs regulation.”

IMMINENT SPENDING DECISION

Tom Williams, chief operating officer of the Airbus planemaking arm, earlier warned the“the clock’s running pretty fast” on the need for certainty over the way borders will operate.

Due to long lead times, Airbus faces immediate decisions on whether to spend more on parts in order to build up an extra buffer stock to cope with potential disruption when Britain leaves the European Union on March 29, 2019, he told staff.

“If we think there is going to be a kind of gumming up of the docks and the airports, certainly in March of next year and during a transition period, then clearly from our point of view we are going to have to start ordering additional components now, because it is less than 12 months away. And that is at a time when all of our suppliers are already pretty busy”.

Under a 1980 agreement among 32 members of the World Trade Organization, civil aerospace parts are not subject to duties. But the aerospace industry is concerned that extra paperwork caused by new customs borders may introduce costly delays.

ADS, a UK trade association for the aerospace, defence, security and space sectors, has welcomed opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s backing for a customs union with the EU, saying firms will otherwise face 1.5bn pounds of costs per year.

But UK trade minister Liam Fox, a pro-Brexit Conservative, has attacked Labour’s proposal to remain in a customs union, calling it a betrayal of the millions of people who voted for Brexit.

(Source: Reuters)

 

02 Mar 18. Thyssenkrupp Blocked from Warship Tender. Already suffering from allegations of bribery and cost overruns on several naval orders, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems has now been barred from bidding to build Germany’s next generation of battleships.  An ancestor of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems built many of the U-boats and battlecruisers that wreaked havoc around the globe during the first and second World Wars, and in recent years the firm has continued to supply the German military with warships.  So, it will have come as a shock to the country’s largest shipbuilder that it has been barred from the race to supply the next generation of German battleships. Faced with a program plagued by manufacturing problems, including a new warship that listed, the German defense ministry has taken the unprecedented step of excluding a consortium led by the company, part of the ThyssenKrupp industrial conglomerate, from the bidding process.  The decision was disclosed in a notice sent to the firm’s shipyards by the ministry’s purchasing agency. The letter said the government did not trust ThyssenKrupp and its partner, Lürrsen shipyards, to build the new Multi-role Combat Ship 180 (MKS 180 for short), which is designed to operate anywhere in the world, including in polar seas.  The agency also said the consortium’s proposed price of €4bn ($4.9bn) for four warships was too high.  The decision was a stunning blow to ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, although perhaps not a huge surprise to outsiders. The firm has been forced in recent months to pay multiple fines for cost overruns and late deliveries on other contracts, and has been swept up in a major bribery investigation in Israel, its largest customer, which has ensnared close associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Handelsblatt)

 

02 Mar 18. Today’s speech by the Prime Minister committing the Government to seek continued UK membership of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and other important regulators like the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will be welcomed in the UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space industries. ADS Chief Economist Jeegar Kakkad said, “Today’s proposal from the Prime Minister to seek continued UK membership of EU agencies that regulate aerospace and chemicals offers welcome reassurance to our industries over the Government’s plans for Brexit. We need arrangements that protect our deeply integrated supply chains, ensure passenger safety, and avoid creating new regulatory or customs barriers to trade with the EU, our largest export market. Continued membership of agencies like EASA and the ECHA is key to achieving these ambitions, and both UK and EU negotiators must take the opportunity to agree practical solutions, including on judicial oversight. There is now a limited amount of time remaining to reach agreement on these complex and important issues. Industry will look to political leaders in the UK and Europe to make rapid progress on reaching comprehensive agreements that protect jobs and prosperity.”

 

02 Mar 18. GKN faces fight of its life in hostile bid battle. Mis-steps at one of UK’s oldest industrial groups left it exposed to raider Melrose. In 1905 there were just three industrial groups big enough to rank in the top 15 British companies. Only one of those is still around today, and it is facing the fight of its life. The hostile £7bn bid by Melrose Industries for GKN, founded 259 years ago in the Welsh valleys as an iron works and now a world-leading automotive and aerospace supplier, has sparked protest from across the political divide. Even the prime minister has indicated her government is watching the outcome “closely”. On Tuesday the political storm will come to a head when MPs summon management from Melrose and GKN to Westminster for a grilling on their plans. Many lawmakers are concerned that both sides want to break up GKN. Management has said it aims to demerge the aerospace and automotive divisions, potentially creating two FTSE quoted companies, unless a better offer comes along. On Friday GKN said it was in talks with Dana about a “combination” of its automotive business with the US company. Recommended Industrials GKN in talks with Dana over sale of automotive arm 2 HOURS AGO But what has particularly outraged politicians and unions is that, at a time when Britain aims to revive its shrunken industrial base, ownership of GKN could be transferred to Melrose, whose business model is to improve acquired companies and then sell them on to the highest bidder. Many critics fear that will spell the end of GKN in the UK.  “To stop this Melrose juggernaut crashing through one of the UK’s oldest engineering companies, we will need the government to get off the fence,” said Tony Burke of Unite, the union, recently. “This is a test of the government’s commitment to make a success of its industrial strategy.” Yet Melrose’s assault on the UK engineering company has not come out of the blue. It has been made possible by the company’s own mis-steps, as well as the fact that the market is ill-equipped to value GKN’s very different businesses. With no comparable peer against which to benchmark GKN, the company’s shares have been weighed down by a so-called conglomerate discount.  But that discount — and management’s longstanding refusal to yield to shareholder pressure for a demerger — had been the source of investor unhappiness for years and still no bidder had been bold enough to go hostile. In 2003, US private equity group Carlyle was sent packing and a few years later engineering group Tomkins was given short shrift. Even Melrose had backed down after previous overtures were rebuffed.  The difference in 2018 is that many investors appear to have lost faith after a dire year in which the company discovered mountains of overvalued stock in its North American aerospace division. This not only left it nursing a £112m hit to 2017 profits, but also embarrassingly resulted in the head of aerospace being dropped as the board’s chosen successor to outgoing chief executive Nigel Stein.  Share this graphic But those setbacks might have been forgiven were it not for the fact that profitability appeared to have gone into reverse in the two core businesses.  Between 2011 and 2014, aerospace operating margins rose from 11.4 per cent to 12.4 per cent. But from 2015, they began to fall even as the sector boomed. Some of that decline could be attributed to the dilutive acquisition of Dutch aerospace supplier Fokker Technologies. However, for the next two years there were also disappointing trading, pricing pressure and the North American problems.  Automotive tells a similar story. Margins progressed between 2011 and 2014. But by 2015 they were depressed by the need to invest in electric power-train systems and in a troublesome US four-wheel drive programme.  According to the financial database S&P Capital IQ, there were even signs before 2015 that action needed to be taken to boost profitability. Its estimate of gross margins shows them to have been unusually high for an industrial company over the past seven years, while operating margins appear to have been low at well below 10 per cent. The gap was widest from 2015 to 2017. “That tells you this is not an especially efficient company,” says one leading British industrialist. Share this graphic GKN rejects S&P Capital’s estimates as inaccurate. However, it refused to quantify the actual numbers, saying it does not publish gross margins. Those who know the company well point to management’s failure to integrate the aerospace acquisitions that over a decade had propelled the division’s sales from £690m to more than £3.6bn — roughly a third of group sales.  According to Anne Stevens, the new chief executive, GKN was more focused on growth than margins and cash. Another GKN expert confirms that while there was a genuine desire to grow in the higher value aerospace sector, there was also an incentive to expand to address the company’s persistently hefty pension fund deficit. It was hoped that expansion — in effect outgrowing the deficit — might avert a pension crisis, the expert said.  Other data raise the question of whether management, in its drive for growth, had for a time stinted on investing in innovation.  The number of patents filed by GKN internationally dropped sharply between 2010 and 2014, according to the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization. They rebounded from 2015, the year that margins began to slide.  Share this graphic The data on patents would appear to contradict the image of GKN as a great industrial innovator. Even the company’s own authorised history, written by Andrew Lorenz, former business editor of the Sunday Times and now an adviser to GKN, does not make that argument. In GKN: The Making of a Business, Mr Lorenz writes that GKN “was never a great innovator”. But, he adds, it had always been “technologically astute and quick to react”, such as after the financial crisis which had severely hit its Driveline business. Today that division’s market share, with parts and systems on roughly half the world’s passenger cars, is higher than before the crisis.  GKN’s customers agree that in the recent past its reputation has been more about reliability and consistency than cutting edge innovation. “By mass it is important,” said one big customer. “But there is nothing in their portfolio that I would say if it disappeared tomorrow I couldn’t replace.”  Based on simple numbers, the claims that GKN is vital to UK industry also appear overdone. Just 6,000 of the group’s 58,000 employees are in the UK. Its automotive business is based in Germany and until recently very little R&D for that division was done in Britain. “For the UK, it is not really a significant player,” says one former executive.  Yet others in the automotive and aerospace industry disagree.  Recommended Lombard: GKN seeks A-C grade after answering £7bn takeover questions Inside London: Hostile bid for GKN shows folly of board musical chairs FT View: Blocking takeovers is not an industrial strategy Its importance lies not just in its history, but in its investment in future technologies in both automotive and aerospace, say government officials and industry lobbyists. It has successfully pioneered composite structures for the wings of Airbus’s A350 twin-aisle and the A400M military transport aircraft. In automotive, a growing proportion of its research into electric power train is also now being done in the UK.  Not only will Britain’s industrial success rely on such investment, but as Britain’s last FTSE 100-ranked automotive supplier and the UK’s only prime supplier to the world’s big aircraft and engine makers, GKN is a vital link to the country’s industrial supply chain, defenders argue. With Britain facing a potentially traumatic exit from the EU, preserving that bridge to big global manufacturers is all-important.  “If we take out one of our biggest tier one suppliers in both the automotive and aerospace sectors, it will be much harder to win that growth for the UK,” says Paul Everitt, head of ADS, the aerospace lobby group. “Once this is gone, the job we have as a sector and a country only gets harder.” (Source: FT.com)

 

01 Mar 18. Poland to buy Leonardo jet trainers. The Polish Ministry of Defence plans to order up to eight M-346 Master jet trainers from Italy’s Leonardo to provide the Polish Air Force with sufficient training capacities.

“We expect to complete the negotiations and sign an agreement by the end of March,” Col. Waldemar Boguslawski, the deputy head of the ministry’s Armament Inspectorate, told Polish lawmakers Feb. 27. The information on the program was presented by ministry and military officials at a meeting of the parliament’s National Defence Committee.

The potential procurement could double Poland’s fleet of M-346s.

In February 2014, Poland signed a contract worth 1.167bn zloty (U.S. $341m), excluding the value-added tax, to purchase eight jet trainers along with related logistical support, a training program for pilots and engineers, and a ground-based training system.

Deliveries of the eight aircraft were initially scheduled to be completed by November 2017, but last March, the ministry announced that the delivered aircraft are unable to simulate certain weapons’ effects.

Under a revised schedule, deliveries and training activities for the Polish military are to be completed on the turn of the third and fourth quarter of this year, according to Boguslawski. (Source: Defense News)

 

01 Mar 18. Spend more on armed forces or risk defeat to Russia or North Korea, military chief warns. Britain must spend more on the armed forces or risk defeat in a future confrontation, a serving military chief has warned in a rare intervention.

General Sir Gordon Messenger, vice-chief of the defence staff, said the country must be prepared for a “deterioration in the international arena” within 10 to 15 years. The Royal Marines officer said that extra investment was needed to counter the growing range of weapons and technologies being developed by states including Russia.

General Messenger is among the frontrunners to take over as head of the military from Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach this summer.

Becoming the first senior military figure in a generation to explicitly call for more funding, he told The Times: “Defence affordability is not something we should shy away from . . . We should be making the case for a bigger defence budget in order to respond to those types of threats that are changing all of the time.”

He added: “What I am not suggesting is that we are about to descend into world war any moment now, but I do think there are activities going on that need to be countered.”

General Messenger revealed:

• Russia is conducting reconnaissance of critical national infrastructure and launching aggressive cyberattacks, which must be countered and deterred.
• Contingency planning is under way for what Britain could offer the US and South Korea in a conflict with North Korea. General Messenger described the nuclear ambitions of Kim Jong-un as a “global security issue”.
• Winning the “information war” will be crucial in the next big fight. Commanders must realise that exploiting data to make decisions on the battlefield is as important as having the most powerful tanks, or more so.

Certain countries and terrorist groups are blurring what was once a clearly defined line between peace and war, General Messenger, 55, said. They pose a challenge to the rules-based system that has kept global peace since the end of the Second World War. “There is a duty for us, as a key influential nation . . . to have capabilities that counter it, deter against it and from a national perspective defend ourselves and our allies against it,” he said.

The Ministry of Defence cannot develop the full range of weapons and technologies required to keep Britain and its allies safe without more money, he signalled.

The shortfall in the armed forces budget is thought to be £20bn to £30bn over the next decade. Some of this gap must be filled by the MoD making more efficiency savings.

General Sir Nick Carter, the head of the army, has warned about Britain’s vulnerability to a Russian attack. Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary who is pushing for more funds from the Treasury, said last month that Moscow could cause “thousands and thousands and thousands” of deaths. Asked why the public should support new money for defence, General Messenger signalled that people needed to understand that their security was not guaranteed. “There are capabilities being produced by those states that don’t see the world in the way that we do, that could do us harm,” he said. (Source: The Times)

 

28 Feb 18. EU considering majority voting on foreign affairs decisions – Germany. The European Union is considering making foreign policy decisions subject to majority votes, rather than requiring the unanimous agreement of all members states as at present, German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

“We are thinking about perhaps moving towards a majority vote in diplomacy and foreign affairs so that we can respond rapidly to crises and speak with one voice, one European voice,” von der Leyen said at a London School of Economics German Symposium event.

“And so you cannot be blocked by the one country who doesn’t want you to utter anything in the direction (that) Europe wants to speak.”

Turning to Germany military spending which was sharply curtailed after the end of the Cold War but ramped up again after Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region in 2014, Von der Leyen said it would take years to bring the armed forces up to standard.

“The whole modernisation process will have to go on over years in Germany – and many, many other countries too. That is what we are debating.”

A German defence ministry report earlier this week found that less than half of submarines, warplanes and some key weapons were ready for use.

Asked about German media reports on a cyber attack launched by Russian hacker group APT28, von der Leyen declined to comment.

The reports said the group, which had already attacked the German parliament in 2015, managed to steal data from the foreign and defence ministries in the latest hack.

Germany has confirmed it is investigating a cyber attack that affected government computer networks, but said the incident had been brought under control. (Source: Reuters)

 

28 Feb 18. German ministry sees benefit in keeping fighter jet expertise in Europe. Germany’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that its plan to give priority to the European fighter jet over U.S. competitors in a competition to replace aging Tornado jets would retain aircraft expertise in Europe and continue use of a proven system.

The German Defence Ministry, in a letter to a Greens lawmaker, acknowledged that the German air force’s strategy recommended parallel use of two different fighter jet models, but said that was “not a binding guideline.”

The ministry said in December that the Eurofighter Typhoon was the leading candidate to replace its Tornado jets beginning in 2025. It said it did not share the view of German air force chief Georg Muellner, who had indicated he preferred Lockheed Martin Corp’s stealthy F-35 fighter jet.

Its latest comments came after Greens lawmaker Tobias Lindner asked the ministry to explain that position, and how it jarred with the air force’s strategy to operate two different models of fighter jets, aimed at ensuring the ability to continue operations in the event of fleet-wide grounding.

Deputy Defence Minister Ralf Brauksiepe told Lindner a final decision on the Tornado replacement would be made only after a comprehensive assessment of data provided by the aircraft manufacturers.

He said the ministry intended to buy a combat aircraft that was already available on the market, and would look primarily at the Eurofighter, as well as the Lockheed F-35 and the F-15E and F/A-18E/F fighter jets built by Boeing Co.

“A possible purchase of the Eurofighter would ensure the retention of military aircraft expertise in Germany and Europe, and value creation in our own country,” he said in the letter. “The weapons system has already been introduced to the Bundeswehr (armed forces) and is being successfully used.”

Those factors, he said, would have to be “considered” in the assessment of the different aircraft.

Lindner said the ministry’s preferential treatment of the Eurofighter underscored the problem affecting many large procurement programs. “There is a tendency to give preference to domestically developed (weapons) and value creation at home over options that are already available on the market and therefore likely less risky,” he said.

Lindner said recent German procurement programs showed that focusing too much on industrial policy factors could lead to poorly performing contracts.

The multination European A400M program, for instance, has faced huge cost overruns and technical challenges.

Brauksiepe’s letter comes shortly after the U.S. government told European Union nations that it and other non-EU countries should play a “robust” role in European defence integration, including access to future procurement contracts.

U.S. officials have provided classified briefings on the Lockheed and Boeing jets to German military officials as they prepare to launch a competition to replace the current fleet of around 90 Tornado jets – a deal that will be worth billions of euros to the winning bidder. (Source: Reuters)

 

28 Feb 18. Philip Hammond hints that MoD will get cash to avoid defence cuts. Philip Hammond offered the first signal yesterday that he was ready to give the armed forces an increase in money to fill a hole of at least £2bn in the defence budget. The Ministry of Defence could have to cut capability before the results of an internal review of the military are known unless the Treasury steps in with cash to balance the books for the coming financial year. Johnny Mercer, a Conservative MP and former army officer, asked the chancellor for confirmation that there would be no further cuts to the armed forces while the modernising defence programme, which is due to be concluded in the summer, is carried out. He added: “And the money required to do that — in the region of £2bn — will be forthcoming?”

Mr Hammond, who was defence secretary for almost three years until 2014 when he was made foreign secretary, said that he “yields to no one in my admiration for the work that our armed forces do”.

He also said during Treasury questions in the Commons yesterday that he understood how challenging it was to manage the £36bn defence budget. “The prime minister and myself are working very closely with our right honourable friend, the defence secretary, as he carries out the modernisation review,” Mr Hammond said. “We will ensure defence has the funding it needs to continue to defend this country appropriately.”

The comments came after Tobias Ellwood, a defence minister, with the support of Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, declared in the Commons yesterday that spending 2 per cent of GDP on Britain’s military was not enough in an increasingly dangerous world.

The intervention marked a significant departure from the government’s previous line, which was focused on meeting the minimum threshold for defence expenditure required by the Nato alliance. Mr Ellwood said that increased investment was required to guarantee security after Brexit, to combat terrorism and to retain Britain’s role as an influential player on the world stage. (Source: The Times)

 

27 Feb 18. German lawmaker calls for end to ‘failed’ European Defense Agency. The European Defence Agency has failed and should be scrapped, according to a member of the European Parliament.

The Brussels-based EDA was set up in 2004 and has just seen an increase to its budget. However, the European Greens say the organization has failed to fulfill its mandate.

“Until today, the EDA has not been able to increase member states’ cooperation on defense research, development and procurement projects ― most are still exclusively national,” said Reinhard Bütikofer, a spokesman for security policy and shadow rapporteur for the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament.

“A more efficient cooperation mechanism must be set up to finally address the structural problems of the defense sector,” the German MEP added. “The agency has failed ― it has not been able to deliver on the capabilities, cooperation or the market. It should [be] phased out.”

The Greens-EFA is the political group in the European Parliament containing Green, regional and left-wing nationalist political parties.

The attack comes as the EDA ― until now a relatively obscure defense agency ― is to play an increasingly key role in an effort for greater military cooperation among European Union members. That move has been largely driven by the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called on Europeans to pay more for their own defense, casting doubt on America’s long-term commitment to NATO.

The EDA, which is an EU agency, has a relatively small budget, a staff of just 143 and is currently run by a diplomat. Its chief executive, Jorge Domecq, a Spanish diplomat, reports to Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief.

The EU has raised the EDA’s annual budget to €32.5m (U.S. $40m) for 2018, a 5 percent increase on 2017. It is the first increase for the agency since 2010, but still an amount that pales compared to the Pentagon’s budget of more than €540bn.

In a 2017 interview, Domecq said the budget reflected his agency’s job, which is not to supplant national militaries but rather coordinate the efforts of EU countries to improve security and leverage scarce resources.

Some see the agency as a version of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, but say there was never sufficient financial investment to make the EDA a serious player.

Even so, Häly Laasme, a policy analyst from Estonia, said that with the push to increase military cooperation, the EDA is expected to gain new relevance and acquire a central role in boosting the efficiency and the capability of European defense systems.

“When the EDA was established, some wondered whether another security bureaucracy was needed. They asked whether it might have been more efficient to use NATO for realizing the EU’s strategic objectives,” Laasme said.

“But NATO and the EDA have managed to develop a joined-up approach in several areas. For example, in protecting against CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) threats ― where the agency concentrates more on biological threats and NATO more on chemical threats.

“If these two organizations accomplish longer-term synergy, they might become a great example of constructively shared public resources.”

An EDA spokesman said the agency was unable to comment, but a source pointed to the EU Global Strategy, which calls for “full use to be made of the EDA’s potential.”

“The EDA is currently at the heart of several key initiatives,” the source noted.

These include CDP (Capability Development Plan), CARD (Coordinated Annual Review on Defence) and PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation). (Source: Defense News)

 

28 Feb 18. Scotland unable to compete for Royal Navy warship orders if independent confirms Ministry of Defence. Recent claims from politicians that Scotland would be eligible to compete for Royal Navy warship contracts if the country left the UK have been rejected by the Ministry of Defence and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, Guto Bebb.

Guto Bebb, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, recently confirmed this policy in response to a written parliamentary question:

“The National Shipbuilding Strategy (paragraph 92) was clear that for reasons of national security, the UK prioritises the need to retain the ability to design, build and integrate warships.”

According to the ‘National Shipbuilding Strategy’ document, there are three tenets regarding UK shipbuilding policy that impact on the build location of contracts:

1. For reasons of national security, all Royal Navy warships (destroyers, frigates and aircraft carriers) will continue to have a UK-owned design, and, will be built and integrated in the UK. Warship build will be via competition between UK shipyards. But international partners will be encouraged to work with UK shipyards and other providers to produce the best possible commercial solution.
2. All other naval ships should be subject to open competition (provided that there are no compelling national security reasons to constrain a particular procurement to national providers). Integration of sensitive UK-specific systems will be done in the UK, where possible after competition between UK providers.
3. Defence will take account of wider factors (including the impact on UK prosperity) when making these procurement decisions.

Many politicians in Scotland had been criticised on social media for suggesting that Britain’s new Type 31e frigates would be built in Scotland if the campaign for independence was successful.

First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon had claimed at the time of the referendum that the only option for BAE on the event of independence was to continue to build the ships in Glasgow, this however was denied by a GMB convener at the Scotstoun yard in Glasgow:

“She was saying that the Clyde is the only game in town. I’m afraid it is not. There’s shipbuilders in Cammell Laird in Liverpool. You have got the A&P Group on the Tyne, who are shipbuilders, and you have got Barrow in Furness. So to say if Scotland goes independent we will still be building frigates… listen, I assure you that if we go for independence we will not be building. We have been told quite clearly by the UK government and I have been told quite clearly that will not happen.”

The issue of UK naval contracts on the Clyde had become controversial after the 2014 Independence Referendum and even more so recently when several groups indicated that the work would not go to an independent Scotland. Shipbuilding trade union leaders had previously told Ms Sturgeon to stop “using” them by claiming that British warships would continue to be built on the Clyde in the event of independence as they know that not to be the case.

Nicola Sturgeon had earlier insisted that it would be a “betrayal” to go back on its promise to build the frigate fleet on the Clyde. Sturgeon said:

“Promises were made about orders to these yards and promises were made about jobs at these yards, and I think it is absolutely vital now these contracts are delivered.

These yards have been through some really difficult times with a reduction in the workforce, and they thought that that was all part of the process of getting themselves into shape for the Type 26 and securing a level of employment here.

This is about jobs and securing jobs in an industry. It would be a complete betrayal of these yards if there was any U-turn or going back on on promises made.”

Doesn’t the UK build ships overseas anyway?

Many have misconstrued the building of a naval tanker in South Korea for the RFA as a break in this policy, that is not the case. Support vessels like this are eligible to be constructed outside the UK as only ‘complex warship’ construction (such as destroyers and frigates as outlined above) must stay within UK borders. Besides, no UK yard bid for the work.

RFA Tidespring

Other than procurement activity undertaken during the World Wars, the UK has not had a complex warship built outside of the UK since the start of the 20th century at least. All of the Royal Navy’s new complex warships are being built in UK shipyards and the UK Government says it remains committed to utilising the strengths of UK industry in this specialist and complex area.

There is the matter that companies based in an independent Scottish state would no longer be eligible for contracts that the UK chose to place or compete domestically for national security reasons as this would be protected under Article 346 of the treaty on the functioning of the European Union which allows states to declare contracts related to defence or national security exempt from external tendering. Where they could continue to compete, they would be pitching for business in an international market dominated by major economic powers.

There’s also the matter of contracts using US technology, defence contractors that work with items or technology of US origin are also covered by undertakings given in accordance with the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), under which any change to an existing US export licence requires US State Department approval. An independent Scottish state would be a third-party country, not covered by existing UK-US ITAR agreements.

UK companies would not have authority to transfer items and information that is subject to ITAR licence to their subsidiaries or other companies in an independent Scottish state or to a Scottish national, without US approval, anymore than it could transfer such material to organisations or individuals in other foreign states. Every licence held by companies in Scotland working on ITAR-controlled items would have to be re-approved if Scotland became independent.

Isn’t Scotland the only location in the UK capable of building warships?

Claims at the time of the referendum that the only option for BAE on the event of independence was to continue to build the ships in Glasgow were refuted at the time by John Dolan, GMB convener at the Scotstoun yard in Glasgow:

“She was saying that the Clyde is the only game in town. I’m afraid it is not. There’s shipbuilders in Cammell Laird in Liverpool. You have got the A&P Group on the Tyne, who are shipbuilders, and you have got Barrow in Furness.

So to say if Scotland goes independent we will still be building Type 26 frigates… listen, I assure you that if we go for independence we will not be building.

We have been told quite clearly by the UK government and I have been told quite clearly that will not happen.”

Irish patrol vessel LE Samuel Beckett in build in the Appledore yard in Devon. Modern shipbuilding makes considerable use of prefabricated sections. Entire multi-deck segments of the hull may be built elsewhere around the UK, transported to the building dock or slipway, then lifted into place and assembled into one ship. This is known as block construction and is far more cost effective.

Yards pre-install equipment, pipes, electrical cables and any other components within the blocks, to minimise the effort needed to assemble or install components deep within the hull once it is welded together.

(Source: News Now/UK Defence Journal)

 

27 Feb 18. U.S. seeks “robust involvement” in EU defence pact – sources. The U.S government has told EU states that it and other non-EU NATO allies should play a key role in a European defence pact, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

The message, sent to defence and foreign ministries, was meant to underscore Washington’s worries that the pact could duplicate NATO efforts and possibly shut out U.S. arms makers from future European defence contracts, the sources told Reuters.

Twenty-five EU governments launched the agreement in December to fund, develop and deploy armed forces together, ending the squandering of billions of euros by splintered defence policies and reducing Europe’s heavy reliance on Washington.

The message, sent in a diplomatic cable earlier this month, said Washington supported the plan, but expected the “robust involvement” of NATO and particularly non-EU members of the trans-Atlantic defence alliance, the sources said.

“The two main concerns are that there’s no duplication with NATO and that non-EU allies are not cut out of competitions for future weapons,” one of the sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

“If the EU countries are joining forces to make acquisitions that are ultimately going to be used in the NATO context, there should be fair and open competitions,” the source added.

France and Germany have already announced plans to develop a next-generation European fighter jet and Germany is leading an effort to develop a new European drone.

“IRONIC”

One European official said the U.S. concern about being shut out was “a bit ironic,” given U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy, and the problems that European firms have historically had breaking into the U.S. weapons market.

The U.S. message echoed remarks made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month in which he highlighted the importance of non-EU allies in paying for European defences.

Once Britain leaves the EU, he said, 80 percent of NATO defence spending will come from non-EU allies.

The sources said Washington also told EU states in a separate cable that it planned to boost funding for increased U.S. military exercises and training in Europe by $1.7bn to $6.5bn in the fiscal 2019 year beginning on Oct. 1.

The initiative, initially known as the European Reassurance Initiative, was launched in 2014 by then U.S. President Barack Obama in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region. It has since been renamed the European Deterrence Initiative, or EDI.

The cable, sent out late last week and early this week, said the U.S. was living up to its obligations to ensure the defence of all NATO members in what one of the sources called “a subtle prod to other allies to increase their own funding.”

Trump has been pressing European countries to increase their defence spending and honour agreements to move towards spending 2 percent of economic output on the military by 2024. NATO expects eight of NATO’s 29 members to meet the target in 2018, growing to at least 15 in 2024. (Source: Reuters)

 

27 Feb 18. Latvian Government plans €234m investment to acquire defence equipment. The Latvian Government has revealed plans to provide €234m of funding in defence procurement this year. The majority of the investment is expected to be used in purchasing military vehicles, ammunition, weapons and personal equipment for the armed forces. A total of 28% of the funding allocated for the acquisition of equipment will be used towards military vehicles. In addition, 15% of the equipment funding will be used to buy ammunition, 13% for weapons and 8% on personal equipment.

However, 70% of the allocated defence procurement funding is expected to be spent on implementing existing contracts.

The government has allotted €28m to complete contracts that were signed in recent years, while another €12m will be spent on new personal equipment purchase contracts concluded this year. This year’s defence budget will be laid down on three primary lines, which include investment at 43%, maintenance at 24%, and personnel costs at 33%.

Most of the expenditure will be used to support defence projects, such as infrastructure development, air control and defence capabilities, mechanisation of Land Force Mechanized Infantry Brigade.

Combat and response capabilities of the Latvian National Armed Forces and the National Guard will also be modernised.

The Latvian Ministry of Defence has also planned to fund €50m for the development of military infrastructure between this year and 2021.

Local companies can participate in the supply and delivery of equipment, promoting the security of supply and ability to tackle mobility tasks, as well as ensuring the delivery of supplies to the armed forces in case of an emergency. The total defence expenditure this year will amount to €576.34m, with an increase of €126.8m compared to last year. The allocation for centralised defence procurement spending this year is 46% higher compared to that of 2017. (Source: army-technology.com)

 

27 Feb 18. Limited Number of Weapons In German Military Ready for Action: Report German lawmakers are set to hear about how Germany’s military, the Bundeswehr, has access to less than 50 percent of many major weapons systems. The findings are the latest to underscore problems in the armed forces. Many primary weapons systems in the Bundeswehr are not available for training exercises or deployment, according to a new Defense Ministry study. The “Report on the Operational Readiness of the Bundeswehr’s Primary Weapons Systems 2017,” which has been seen by the Reuters news agency and the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland media group, is set to be presented to Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, on Wednesday.

Number of weapon systems ready for action:

— Eurofighter jet airplanes: 39 of 128

— Tornado jet airplanes: 26 of 93

— CH-53 transport helicopters: 16 of 72

— NH-90 transport helicopters: 13 of 58

— Tiger helicopters: 12 of 62

— A400M transport planes: 3 of 15

— Leopard 2 tanks: 105 of 224

— Navy frigates: 5 of 13

“Ukraine effect”

The Defense Ministry said a higher number of training missions and deployments since Russia’s intervention in eastern Ukraine in 2014 had caused existing equipment to wear down quicker than it had previously. The report also did not calculate readiness for each type of weapons system based on the total number of weapons. Instead, it referenced the total number minus weapons under long-term maintenance, modernization or testing. This calculation resulted in a total of 81 deployable Eurofighters rather than 128, leading to a higher ratio of airplanes available for deployment.

Some improvement

The report found however that the readiness for most weapon types had improved. Around 550 more weapons were available in 2017 for deployment compared to 2014.  Readiness for weapons used in active foreign missions was also higher than average, the Ministry said. Based on these figures, it said that Germany could fulfill its obligations to the NATO alliance, including the rapid deployment force Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF).

Defense Minister defends record

Defense Minister von der Leyen of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) defended the Bundeswehr’s progress in an interview with the Bavarian daily newspaper Passauer Neue Presse on Tuesday.

“We cannot make up for the years of reductions and cuts over 25 years,” she said, adding that the Bundeswehr’s €200bn ($250bn) modernization program had been “a long and arduous path,” but that the government would remain committed to it.  Merkel’s conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) agreed to set aside €10bn for the Bundeswehr in a coalition deal, which is still pending approval. The pact also accords the military “priority” along with international development if more money becomes available in the federal budget in the future.

Greens see red

The budgetary and defense spokesman for the Greens, Tobias Lindner, accused Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen of failing to remedy a serious problem.

“A lot of engagements and training exercises understandably put strain on the Bundeswehr, but the military must react proactively and not just look on helplessly at how its equipment breaks down,” he said.

The Defense Ministry’s report comes after the Bundestag’s military commissioner, Hans-Peter Bartels, complained about “large holes in personnel and equipment” in the Bundeswehr in a separate paper published in mid-February.  (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Deutsche Welle German Radio)

 

25 Feb 18. EU and Russia vie for influence in volatile Balkans region. For years, Russia has worked to gain influence in Southeast Europe, using Serbia as a foothold to establish a friendly pocket on a hostile continent. The European Union finally is pushing back. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is embarking on a seven-nation Balkans tour Sunday to promote the EU’s new eastward expansion strategy.

Russia mainly wants to discourage the Western Balkan countries — Albania, Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia — from joining NATO. But Moscow also is trying to deter them from joining the EU.

The EU sees the prospect of membership as an incentive for reform in the volatile Balkans region, which was torn apart by war in the 1990s. Its expansion strategy puts Serbia and Montenegro in position to join should the bloc open its doors to more members, tentatively by 2025.

Serbia is a major target of Moscow’s anti-Western activities in Europe because the two Slavic and predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christian nations share deep cultural and historical ties. Their bonds also have experienced lows and highs, especially since the former Yugoslavia refused to join the Soviet bloc in 1948.

The Kremlin is so concerned about losing its ally that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov repeatedly argued while in Serbia last week that EU membership isn’t all it’s cut out to be.

Lavrov also gave a warning; the EU’s repeated calls for Serbia to align its foreign policies with the bloc as a precursor to membership and to impose sanctions on Russia, he said, are the same “mistake” the West made by pressuring war-torn Ukraine to choose between it and Russia.

Lavrov told Russia’s Rossiya 1 TV on Saturday that both Serbia and Russia are “the object of the West’s overt pressure” to turn Serbia against Russia.

“We love our countries, and the Serbs love Russia, and the Russians love Serbia,” he said.

Serbian political analyst Bosko Jaksic thinks the “Russians are getting increasingly nervous as they lose allies one by one in the Balkans.”

“It’s not clear how far they are willing to go to preserve their interests here, but judging from what they did in Ukraine, they are willing to go far,” Jaksic said, referring to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Lavrov also said that “Europe is facing an unhealthy situation” because of NATO’s eastward expansion. Montenegro joined the Western military organization last year despite Moscow’s strong opposition. He praised Belgrade for maintaining military neutrality and refusing to join NATO.

“We are convinced that this status is one of the main factors ensuring stability in the Balkans and the European continent in general,” Lavrov said.

There have been mounting fears in the West that Russia is using Serbia to foment tensions in the Balkans by arming its ally with warplanes and tanks while working to destabilize neighboring Bosnia, Montenegro and Macedonia.

The European Union’s foreign and security policies grew out of Europe’s failure to respond to the wars in the Balkans that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia. The bloc remains wary that some of the ethnic cleavages that sparked the conflicts of the 1990s persist.

Three countries have become EU members: Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, and Croatia in 2013. The rest either are candidates for membership or potential candidates.

Although Serbia formally has declared its interest in joining the EU, the right-leaning leadership now running the country repeatedly has expressed anti-Western sentiments.

“Investing in the stability and prosperity of the Western Balkans means investing in the security and future of our Union,” Juncker said ahead of the trip.

Juncker’s tour of the Balkans, which starts in Macedonia on Sunday and ends with an EU summit in Bulgaria on March 1, is seen as the EU’s belated attempt to counter Russia’s reach.

“Paradoxically, the Russians and their policies in the Balkans have triggered alarm bells that woke up the European Union into action,” Jaksic, the analyst, said. (Source: Defense News)

BATTLESPACE Comment: Now that the UK has been engineered out of Europe, the EU can march forward with its wish to expand Eastwards, sniping at Russian interests in the area. The UK’s objection to a European Army stymied this wish to be a true world power. It will be interesting to track Jaen-Claude Juncker’s tour of the Balkans and the reception he receives.

 

26 Feb 18. Austria investigates former minister over Eurofighter deal. Vienna prosecutors are broadening their probe into a $2bn Eurofighter jet purchase by Austria and are investigating former defense minister Norbert Darabos for breach of trust, a spokeswoman said on Monday.

The prosecutors launched investigations against Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium in February 2017 after the defense ministry said it believed they had misled Austria about the price, deliverability and equipment of the 2003 deal.

Their investigations involve individuals including Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders. The consortium and Enders have denied the accusations.

Darabos, who agreed a settlement with Eurofighter in 2007 to reduce the order, is the first known former cabinet member to formally be targeted by prosecutors.

“I can confirm that Mr (Norbert) Darabos is under investigation for alleged breach of trust,” a spokeswoman for the Vienna prosecutors said, confirming earlier reports by Austrian dailies Kurier and Kronen Zeitung but not elaborating any further.Darabos was not immediately available for comment. Now member of the Burgenland regional government, he told Austrian daily Kurier that he had been questioned by prosecutors several months ago.

Austria’s 2003 purchase of 18 Eurofighter jets, approved by the then-conservative-far right coalition government, linked to bribery accusations from the outset. A parliamentary inquiry, set up under a Social Democratic-led government in 2006, explicitly sought reasons to cancel the contract.

But in 2007, Defence Minister Darabos, also a Social Democrat, agreed a settlement with the Eurofighter consortium to reduce the order to 15 jets from 18 and the volume of side deals to 3.5bn euros from 4bn euros.

Those so-called offset deals are common in large arms deals and meant to let local businesses benefit.

A second parliamentary inquiry examined the settlement last year.

While it found no indications of bribery or that Airbus and its partners illegally influenced Austrian politicians, the committee’s final report assessed that Darabos did not liaise sufficiently with other ministries and agencies while negotiating the settlement and was not transparent enough to allow a court audit of the deal. (Source: glstrade.com/Reuters)

 

26 Feb 18. UK government addresses F-35 concerns, states continued commitment to programme. The UK government has responded to a parliamentary report that was highly critical of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme, saying that it remains committed to delivering the capability on time and within budget. In its response to the December 2017 report titled Unclear for take-off? F-35 Procurement, the government on 26 February clarified a number of the concerns raised with the aircraft’s next-generation Multifunctional Advanced Data Link (MADL); the capacity of the internet broadband fitted to the Queen Elizabeth-class (QEC) aircraft carriers; the reported cyber vulnerabilities of the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS); a lack of information on the current or the final costs of the programme; as well as software and hardware development problems. In the original report published on 10 December 2017, the Parliamentary Defence Committee noted a lack of transparency in the F-35 programme in general and inadequate responses to a critical article published in The Times earlier in the year in particular, both of which could risk undermining public confidence in the project that is critical to the future of the UK defence. The government said MADL is just one of a number of solutions that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is actively pursuing as it looks to improve the interoperability between defence and security systems across the air, land, sea, and cyber domains, and for the F-35 to share data covertly across the battlespace in particular. “The MoD has undertaken a series of trials of communication nodes between the Link 16 format and the MADL format using F-35 and [Eurofighter] Typhoon aircraft [.…] The MoD, alongside the US services and industry partners will continue to explore the value of exchanging data through the classified series of Babel Fish trials,” the government said. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

24 Feb 18. Bulgaria modernises armed forces. By the end of March, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Sofia will present the Council of Ministers investment projects worth more than BGN3.5bn (USD2.2bn) for the acquisition of new armoured vehicles, patrol boats, and jet fighters, the defence minister has said. Bulgaria is procuring new armoured vehicles for the first time, but Krasimir Karakachanov focused on the two other projects in an interview with the BNT-1 national TV station on 21 February. He said the upcoming reopening of the tender for a new jet fighter to replace Bulgaria’s MiG-29s will focus on collecting offers for newly produced and second-hand Saab JAS-39 Gripen, Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, and Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft, while offers for other types, including the Dassault Rafale, may also be requested.

(Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

25 Feb 18. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has today (25 February) pledged to increase funding for Armed Forces mental health services to £220m over the next decade and launched the new 24/7 Military Mental Health Helpline. The new number – 0800 323 4444 – will be open and ready to take calls from midday today (Sunday). It will be backed up by a major internal communications campaign on mental fitness across the services.

The Armed Forces mental health services will also be boosted by an extra £2m a year, it was announced today.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said, “Every hour of every day our safety, security and way of life are protected by our courageous Armed Forces personnel. They are always there for us – often risking life and limb and making huge personal sacrifices – and we must be there for them in their own time of need. Mental illnesses caused by life on the battlefield can have a devastating impact on our brave heroes and their families. It is our moral and professional duty to ensure that we do all we can for our world class troops. I will personally be working with all the service chiefs to make sure there isn’t a single person in the forces who doesn’t know where to turn in times of trouble”.

0800 323 4444 will be targeted at serving personnel and their families – allowing them to access the help, advice and support they need anywhere, anytime.

Surgeon General of the British Armed Forces Major General Martin Bricknell said, “This number will complement the range of mental health services, including our Departments of Community Mental Health, which we provide for our serving personnel. It is important to deliver a holistic service to ensure our Armed Forces have every opportunity to access the help and care they need and deserve. We must do all we can to provide easy access to the support available.”

0800 323 4444 will act as a memorable and accessible gateway to mental health services for service personnel and their families.

Combat Stress – the leading veterans mental health charity – has been commissioned to run the new helpline service for serving troops 24 hours a day. The new line will be backed up by a deeper partnership between the MOD and the charity and run by a team of specially-trained professionals. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) will provide additional funds to enhance Combat Stress’ existing service – predominantly aimed at veterans – and are working together to develop information sharing processes with the military to ensure any serving service personnel in crisis are provided with the appropriate support tailored for their needs.

Chief Executive of Combat Stress Sue Freeth said, “We welcome the opportunity to work with the MOD to provide mental health support to serving personnel. A significant minority of servicemen and women develop mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. We know they can delay seeking treatment while in the Armed Forces, with some preferring to come forward for help after they have left the military. Left untreated, mental health problems can become more complex and have a devastating impact on those with the condition, as well as their loved ones. It’s vital that people seek help as soon as they notice a change in their mental health. Combat Stress has delivered a 24-hour Helpline service since 2011. With almost a century’s experience of supporting veterans with mental health issues, we have the knowledge, expertise and understanding to assist serving personnel.”

The Combat Stress helpline is the only service in the country, tailored towards the Armed Forces community, which talks to callers whilst simultaneously providing practical help by calling the emergency services if needed.

Alongside this announcement, the Defence Secretary has also agreed to spend an extra £2m a year for the next ten years to improve mental health services in the Armed Forces on top of the £20-million per year that is currently committed. The additional money, which brings the total planned spending to £220m over the next decade, will be put towards an increase in mental health specialists and bolstering existing provision.

Minister for Defence People and Veterans Tobias Ellwood said, “Wellbeing is not just about physical fitness but mental fitness too. Perhaps as we can’t see it, and are less inclined to step forward, mental fitness has not received the attention it deserves. The brain is just another muscle we must look after. By choosing to work with Combat Stress, we are deliberately choosing to work with the leading organisation in the country for providing this specialist mental health service. We are changing the stigma associated with mental health. It’s a complex science and there is always room for improvement. Therefore we will be building a stronger and deeper partnership with Combat Stress to deliver the best possible service for our people.”

The MOD currently has a network of 20 ‘hub and spoke’ mental health centres, comprising of 11 hubs and a further nine teams. Regular visiting clinics are also held at other military centres across the country.

Last year the MOD launched its Defence People Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy focusing on preventative measures to protect our personnel. MOD also partnered with the Royal Foundation, a charity setup by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, to improve training and education alongside the strategy to promote mental fitness.

There are a range of services provided by partners working with MOD and through the Armed Forces Covenant, including the NHS, other Government departments and charities which serving personnel, veterans, and their families can access. (Source: U.K. MoD)

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02 Mar 18. Growing mission for future Army battle command system accounts for delays. The brains of the U.S. Army’s future Integrated Air and Missile Defense system — the linchpin of a major overhaul of the service’s AMD capability — has seen schedule slips to reach initial operational capability by several years.

And it’s unlikely the Army will be able to accelerate the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System, or IBCS, program to get back to an earlier IOC date, despite recent successful soldier evaluations.

But that’s OK, according to the Army’s program executive officer for missiles and space, because the mission for IBCS has expanded far beyond what the service initially intended for the system.

The Army originally planned for IBCS to be the command-and-control system for its future Integrated Air and Missile Defense, or IAMD, architecture. It would serve as the brains of the system, tying a radar, a launcher and its shooters together. The Army’s IAMD system will replace its legacy, Raytheon-manufactured Patriot systems.

Now the Army plans to use IBCS to tie together other vital air and missile defense systems on the battlefield, including the Army’s Indirect Fire Protection Capability, which is designed to defend against rockets, mortars and artillery as well as cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft systems.

The Army is “harnessing all the sensor information we can get together on an integrated fire-control network that has the speed of service to actually work against air threats whether those are ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, air-to-surface missiles, whatever those things are in the air, [unmanned aircraft systems], that are potentially hostile,” Barry Pike said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s missile defense forum Feb. 28.

“IBCS really is the heart and soul of Army air and missile defense modernization,” he said, noting that it will be integrated with joint IAMD, the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps as well as the Missile Defense Agency’s Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications system.

Defense News first reported last year that IBCS was showing a substantial delay after reviewing previous years’ budget documents compared to the fiscal 2018 request. The documents showed the initial operational capability for the Army program was delayed by four years and would need an additional half-billion dollars across a five-year span beyond previous budget requests.

While IBCS was originally supposed to reach IOC in FY18, Pike confirmed IBCS is now scheduled to reach that milestone in FY22 “where we bring out Patriot sensors, launchers, missiles, along with Sentinel radars, some other sensors and the Indirect Fire Protection Capability all together in one integrated architecture.”

Pike said the Army will continue with testing to achieve that milestone, adding that the program has come a long way since a 2016 Limited User Test, or LUT, identified software deficiencies.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in correcting those deficiencies, demonstrating those with soldiers operating the system, repeating a portion of the LUT that we did back in 2016 to demonstrate that we resolved those software issues,” Pike said. “We’ve also recently done some more live joint air operations with the Marine Corps and the Navy; we have more of that planned for later this year for the Air Force and other partners.”

Resolving the software deficiencies hasn’t been the only issue in throwing IBCS off track and preventing it from shoring up its elongated schedule. Pike acknowledged IBCS, while still in development, has to go through a variety of updates. IBCS appears to be another victim of a program wading slowly through the thick, viscous process of Defense Department acquisition and failing to keep pace with constantly evolving software upgrades.

Pike explained the Army has demonstrated the system’s ability to work with Patriot post-deployment build version 7 software, which existed at the time of IBCS’ test program. But at the same time, the service has been fielding version 8.

“There are unique capabilities in the latest version of Patriot software that we want to be able to take advantage of inside of IBCS, so integrating the latest version of the Patriot software, integrating the latest version of the Sentinel software, because we continue to make improvements over time in that software,” Pike said.

The Army is also still operating off of the original hardware that it bought in 2010 when it began the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the program, Pike added. “So all our servers, routers, switches, all those kind of things are in intensive need of upgrade, so we have begun to do that hardware purchase to refresh the hardware and to get it in a production representative set of hardware that we will then take through another limited user test,” and through other developmental testing as well as a production-phase initial operational test and evaluation.

The Army has looked at how it could possibly buy back time on the IBCS program, according to Pike. “One of the things we looked at is obviously restructuring the program. There were several different factors in that,” he said.

Integrating the Indirect Fire Protection Capability into the IBCS network was a big factor in the Army deciding to push out the IOC of IBCS, he said.

The service has also looked at opportunities to accelerate or shorten the test schedule, Pike said.

“Best-case world, we do the finalization of our software development program, get it out there, test it, it works perfectly the first time,” Pike said. “You have a great opportunity to accelerate the program” because the Army has built in extra time to correct possible failures that may occur in testing, he said.

Pike added that the budget isn’t a factor in holding back the schedule, but if there are opportunities to speed up the program, the service may have to shift funding to make sure there are production dollars early enough to get the hardware in place to field on an accelerated basis.

(Source: Defense News)

 

01 Mar 18. Big SOCOM Budget Boost Goes To People, AI — & More. The generals and admirals in charge of equipping and fielding the nation’s special operations forces are about to get some help in the form of an 11 percent budget increase. Just as the Trump administration has pledged to pump billions more into the defense budget, the Special Operations Command will also add about 1,700 personnel to its perpetually growing 71,200 force size.

That money will boost the command’s budget to a record $13.6bn ($9.1bn in base funding and another $4.6bn OCO), which will help pay for resetting old equipment and bankrolling new forays into Artificial Intelligence (AI) and software development that leaders say will help them meet Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ directive to become more “lethal.”

At a panel discussion Thursday just blocks from the Pentagon, the four generals who lead the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Navy’s commando wings laid out the basics of what they’re looking for – precision guided weapons, better ways to communicate between services, advances in AI and technologies that would allow their operators in the field to identify threats more quickly – and hit them with precision.

But more tech doesn’t mean that, in the end, there won’t be grunts directing it.

“I have a hard time looking forward to the future where that human contact and connection is removed from the equation,” said Lt. Gen. Kenneth Tovo, head of Army Special Operations Command. War is still a human activity, that requires moral judgments and decisions that can’t be left to software algorithms alone, he said. “We’ve got a lot of kinetic lethal capability, but it comes down to how to you sort through all of the data, and apply all that lethal capability…. We’re still talking about a human endeavor.”

But introducing more and more AI to the battlefield, and fielding smarter, learning software programs does present the possibility of changing what warfighting looks like, and who is qualified to do it. Rear Adm. Timothy Szymanski, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, said in the future his teams “might look like a fat guy with glasses,” because advanced weaponry and artificial intelligence can carry more of the battlefield burden.

That day is still far off, but the groundwork is already being laid down.

The generals on the panel all affirmed they generally support initiatives like the Ash Carter-era DIUX program, which is trying to marry the Silicon Valley tech industry with suitors at the Pentagon. The smaller SOFWERX, based in Tampa, Fla., is doing the same thing on a different scale for SOCOM. The ultimate success of both programs remains an open question, as small tech firms remain wary of getting into bed with the Pentagon for a variety of reasons, including angering mega-consumer China (who’s already stolen much of the information) to having to divulge their intellectual property secrets to Pentagon bureaucrats.

Patrick Flood, the senior national security policy advisor for Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said the Hill is very focused on speeding up acquisition for SOCOM after years of sequestration had ripple effects across the armed forces that requires quick and sustained action to counteract.

But Taylor Andreae, legislative director for Rep. Joe Wilson, the GOP chairman of the HASC readiness subcommittee, added that the Hill has “been supportive of, but wary of DIUX,” since it has yet to prove itself.

Andreae said that while SOCOM’s OCO budget is roughly half of the command’s base ask, the commanders he has spoken with are eager to move those program lines into the base budget. He said his office is open to sitting down with OMB Director Mick Mulvaney — who when he was a congressman often railed against OCO budgets — to move OCO into the base.

In the near-term, however, the advances that special operations commanders are somewhat more modest. Maj. Gen. Carl Mundy, head of MARSOC, said that while AI is great, he’s currently focused on fielding new ground-launched precision strike weapons, which he wants to link up with drones as small as ScanEagles or Ravens. The idea, as simple and as old as warfare itself, is to allow his Marine Raiders to quickly peek over the next hill and eliminate the threat, without ever being seen. (Source: Breaking Defense.com)

 

02 Mar 18. Why the U.S. Military Should Stay Out Of Iran.

It’s not that often that a major in the US military — albeit now a reservist — points the finger at the Defense Secretary and says, sir, you’re wrong, and does it in writing and in public. Here you have it. Army Maj. Danny Sjursen, expressing his own opinions while a fellow at the think tank Defense Priorities, says Iran is Jim Mattis’ blind spot and that his boss is wrong in his assessments of the country. Why? Read on, Dear Reader! The Editor.

Last week, after Israel reportedly shot down an Iranian drone and Prime Minister Netanyahu proudly displayed a hunk of twisted metal as a war trophy, Americans were treated to fresh calls for regime change from some prominent neoconservatives.

Granted, Iran is no friend to the U.S. and might even qualify as a modest adversary. Its nuclear ambitions should continue to be thwarted, as most reports indicate they are. Still, what Washington desperately needs right now is some perspective and an honest conversation about the realities of the Middle East. Not alarmism. The last thing the overstretched U.S. military needs is another hot war. It’s already pretty busy. President Obama bombed seven countries in 2016, and President Trump has continued apace.

There’s reason to worry. Trump, who ran on an eminently reasonable platform of disengagement from “dumb” wars in the region, quickly pivoted to a hawkish stance on the Islamic Republic. In December, when protestors hit the streets of Tehran based on mostly economic motives, Trump immediately rallied in support and not-so-subtlety tweeted “Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever.” Except, that is, for Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other illiberal authoritarian regimes we support.

Perhaps Trump simply meant the people of Iran would topple the ayatollahs, but if the recently released National Defense Strategy is any indicator — it lists Iran as one of four core threats —U.S.-imposed regime change is certainly on the table.

It shouldn’t be. At present, Iran does not present a clear and present vital threat to American national security. Statements from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, however, indicate he disagrees.

Mattis’ Blind Spot

The secretary is the boss, my boss, but his focus on the Iranian regime qualifies as his blind spot, a veritable Iran obsession.

Since at least 2011, Mattis has overstated the Iranian threat and hinted at toppling the regime in Tehran. And he’s only doubling down. This past May, Mattis told “Face the Nation,” that “what we find is, wherever there are challenges, wherever there is chaos, wherever there is violence, whether it be in Lebanon, in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen, the attempts to unsettle Bahrain. We always find Iran and the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] at it.” He also once told then-President Obama that the top three threats in the Middle East were “Iran, Iran, Iran.” That sounds excessive.

Iran spends about as much on defense annually as the U.S. does on a single aircraft carrier. A simple comparison is instructive: Iran’s GDP was about $427bn, and it spent some $11.5bn on defense in 2016. U.S. allies, like Saudi Arabia (GDP: $678bn; defense spending: $66.7bn) and Israel (GDP: $348bn; defense spending: $19.6bn) can more than hold their own. And remember, standing behind them is the real behemoth, the U.S., which plans to spend $716bn on defense in 2019—that’s $300bn more than Iran’s entire GDP. The numbers speak for themselves. Conclusion: some perspective is in order.

While Iran definitely is engaged in the Mid-East, its own neighborhood, it’s rarely behind much of anything and doesn’t have nearly the power or influence to pull all the various regional strings. Yemeni and Bahraini unrest were homegrown. Conflict in Syria and Lebanon preceded Iranian deployments there. And Iraq, well, the U.S. handed Baghdad to Iran on a silver platter after that ill-fated invasion. Iran use regional proxies, rather than its own military, precisely because it is weak and fearful.

Furthermore, though he’s recently backed off some of his most bellicose threats, Mattis regularly draws distinctions between the supposedly disenfranchised people of Iran and an ostensibly separate revolutionary regime. There’s something to this, but in Mattis’ statements, it sounds like he’s calling for the fall of the regime. “It’s not the Iranian people,” Mattis added. “We are convinced it’s a regime that is conducting itself in order to stay in power in Tehran as a revolutionary regime, not as a proper nation-state. They are not looking out for the best interests of their own people.”

Maybe that’s true enough, but surely dozens of governments fail to represent their populace the world over. That doesn’t necessitate regime change, does it? Such rhetoric raises tensions and threatens to stoke nationalist tendencies in Iran which work to the advantage of relative hardliners.

The View from Tehran

After all, try and view the last decade of U.S. military actions from Tehran. Washington toppled and seemingly permanently occupied Iran’s neighbors on its western (Iraq) and eastern (Afghanistan) flanks, encircled the country with its military bases, and intervened in just about every country in its neighborhood.

I remember way back in August 2002, and even then the rhetoric was chilling: “Everyone wants to go to Baghdad. Real men want to go to Tehran,” a British official close to the President Bush team told Newsweek in the lead up to the Iraq War. Who could rationally blame Iran’s leaders for fearing they were next? And who would be surprised to see them turn to Shia militias to trap the U.S. military in a Baghdad quagmire? That’s basic survival instincts. While not excusing their tactics, it’s undeniable that their approach enhanced their standing vis-à-vis Iraq and the region—an unintended consequence of ousting Saddam Hussein.

Iranians also have a long memory. The CIA helped overthrow a democratically elected government in Tehran in 1953. Then, throughout the 1980s, the U.S. backed Saddam Hussein in Iraq’s brutal invasion of Iran. Heck, President Reagan even sent one Donald Rumsfeld (remember him?) to make nice with Saddam.

None of this sordid history obviates Iran from acting responsibly in the region—but this must serve as a reality check for Washington’s triumphalism and an unfathomable commitment to strategic overreach. Walking the proverbial mile in an adversary’s shoes isn’t “soft,” it’s smart. Only by understanding the motives of other countries can we correctly predict and counter actions that undermine America’s interests.

Military Action: A Bad Idea

Iran’s military is far from the imposing behemoth threat of hawkish imagination. In fact, Saudi Arabia is much better armed and could likely handle Iran by itself—remember, it spends more than five times much on its military than Iran.

Nonetheless, Iran is spatially large and mountainous with an enormous, fiercely nationalist population. Make no mistake, U.S. military occupation of the Islamic Republic would make the Iraq War, for once, actually look like the “cakewalk” it was billed to be.

America’s armed forces are currently spread thin in a dozen simultaneous operations and deployed in nearly 70 percent of the world’s countries. The Army alone is rotating brigades to deter Russia in Eastern Europe; manning the DMZ in South Korea; training and advising across Africa; conducting raids in Somalia, Yemen, and Niger; and actively fighting in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

So where are the troops available to topple Tehran? They don’t exist. The U.S. military is already running at full throttle, and the American people won’t be flocking to recruiters to stave off an overhyped, distant Iranian threat. The polling data is clear: Americans don’t want another war.

Ubiquitous, over-the-top proclamations aside, Iran’s various regional interventions have been more cost than benefit for Tehran and largely defensive in nature—look no further than recent protests throughout Iran for proof. Iran isn’t seeking a New Persia any more, or less, than our purported Turkish (NATO) ally’s dream of a revamped Ottoman Empire. That’s rhetoric, not reality. And these days, with Turkish tanks just miles from U.S. forces in Syria and openly threatening Washington, guess who the greater threat is?

Indeed, it might be time for Washington to swallow its pride and admit to some common interests with Iran in the region—the defeat of ISIS, suppression on Sunni Islamists, and a stable, non-threatening Afghanistan—rather than harping on the exaggerated negatives.

Look, I don’t take any of this lightly. Iranian-supplied bombs killed two of my soldiers on January 25, 2007. Still, it’s important to remember, no Iranians have attacked the homeland since 9/11 (not something that can be said of our many autocratic “allies” in the region). The proper role of the U.S. military is to prevent enemies killing Americans, not to keep rival Mid-East factions from killing each other.

Forget a new war. Iran isn’t worth it. Not now, probably not ever. The U.S. military is busy, thank you very much. And any trouble it causes can easily be countered by our partners and allies in the region.

Washington should ditch the alarmism and get real in the complex Middle East.

Danny Sjursen is a fellow at Defense Priorities. He served combat tours with U.S. Army reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan and later taught history at his alma mater, West Point. He is the author of a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War, Ghostriders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge. Follow him on Twitter at @SkepticalVet.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Defense Department, or the U.S. government. (Source: Breaking Defense.com)

 

01 Mar 18. Trump to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum. Determined to protect vital American industries, President Donald Trump declared Thursday that he will impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, a move likely to rankle American defense and aerospace firms that rely on metal imports.

The announcement roiled financial markets and stoked fears on Wall Street that other countries could retaliate with trade barriers of their own. At one point Thursday afternoon, the Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 500 points, or about 2 percent. The decision also disappointed Republican lawmakers, who warned that it would hurt a range of industries.

Trump summoned steel and aluminum executives to the White House and told them that next week he would levy penalties of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports. Those tariffs, he said, will remain for “a long period of time.” But it was not immediately clear if the tariffs would exempt certain trading partners.

“What’s been allowed to go on for decades is disgraceful. It’s disgraceful,” Trump said in the Cabinet Room. “You will have protection for the first time in a long while and you’re going to regrow your industries.”

While the tariffs represent another step toward the protectionist policies that Trump touted as a presidential candidate, U.S. aerospace and defense firms warned they would be hurt by the penalties.

“Anything that is going to disrupt the global supply chain that our industry accesses and potentially raise costs creates a great deal of concern,” Remy Nathan, vice president of international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association, said in a statement.

Increased foreign production, especially by China, has driven down prices and hurt U.S. producers, creating a situation the U.S. Commerce Department calls a national security threat.

Any action to impose tariffs is likely to escalate simmering tensions with China and other U.S. trading partners. Critics of such a move fear that other countries will retaliate or use national security as a pretext to impose trade penalties of their own. They also argue that sanctions on imports will drive up prices and hurt U.S. automakers and other companies that use steel or aluminum.

Plans for Trump to make an announcement were thrown into doubt earlier because of internal wrangling over the decision. Some White House officials, including chief of staff John Kelly, were not fully briefed on the Commerce Department’s plans, according to a senior administration official familiar with the process. This official was not authorized to discuss the internal deliberations publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The possibility of an announcement, on an issue overseen by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, caught some top White House officials off guard and left several aides scrambling for details.

Key Senate offices also did not receive notice that Trump was expected to announce a decision before April deadlines.

Trump met more than a dozen executives, including representatives from U.S. Steel Corp., Arcelor Mittal, Nucor, JW Aluminum and Century Aluminum. The industry leaders urged Trump to act, saying they had been unfairly hurt by a glut of imports and foreign countries circumventing trade rules.

“We are not protectionist. We want a level playing field,” said Dave Burritt, president and CEO at U.S. Steel. “It’s for our employees, to support our customers, and when we get this right it will be great for the United States of America. We have to get this done.”

The 1st district of Arkansas is the 2nd most steel producing district in the nation, and my constituents should be able to compete fairly in the global market place. I applaud President Trump for his sensitivity to the way trade agreements can affect rural communities. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/969183644756660224 …

But the announcement was received warily in Congress, with lawmakers raising concern it could launch a trade war that could hurt other industries.

“Every time you do this, you get a retaliation, and agriculture is the No. 1 target,” said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. “I think this is terribly counterproductive for the ag economy.”

Said Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah: “I just don’t think that’s the way to go.”

Trump tweeted earlier Thursday that many U.S industries, including steel and aluminum, “have been decimated by decades of unfair trade and bad policy with countries from around the world. We must not let our country, companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer. We want free, fair and SMART TRADE!”

The president had until April 11 to make a decision on steel and until April 19 to decide about aluminum.

The Commerce Department had recommended tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, higher tariffs on imports from specific countries, or a quota on imports.

Ross last month offered the president three options:

• Tariffs of 24 percent on all steel and 7.7 percent on aluminum imports from all countries.
• Tariffs of 53 percent on steel imports from 12 countries, including Brazil, China and Russia, and tariffs of 23.6 percent on aluminum imports from China, Hong Kong, Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam. Under this option, the United States would also impose a quota limiting all other countries to the aluminum and steel they exported to the United States last year.
• A quota on steel and aluminum imports from everywhere, limiting each country to 63 percent of the steel and 86.7 percent of the aluminum they shipped to the U.S. last year.

The Trump administration earlier raised duties on Chinese-made washing machines, solar modules, and some aluminum and steel products to offset what it said were improper subsidies.

Trump last year ordered an investigation into whether aluminum and steel imports posed a threat to national defense. Ross said last month that the imports “threaten to impair our national security,” noting, for example, that only one U.S. company now produces a high-quality aluminum alloy needed for military aircraft.

Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 gives the president authority to restrict imports and impose unlimited tariffs if a Commerce Department investigation finds a national security threat. (Source: Defense News)

 

01 Mar 18. US Senators introduce bill to improve US Navy’s surface force readiness. US Senate Seapower Subcommittee chairman Roger Wicker and Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain have jointly introduced legislation to enable the US Navy to restore its surface force readiness.

The new Surface Warfare Enhancement Act of 2018 is intended to help address some of the major causes of declining force readiness.

The causes of the decline were previously outlined by the US Navy and military officials in the Strategic Readiness Review and Comprehensive Review. McCain noted that accidents involving the USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain vessels have reduced the navy fleet’s capabilities and cost hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.

Furthermore, McCain said that it is necessary that Congress provides sufficient funding and oversight in order to keep the military safe and effective in combat.

Wicker said: “In the wake of the tragic accidents involving the USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain, our commanders and sailors have been calling for meaningful reform.

“Over-extended and undermanned ships, overworked crews, fewer officers with naval mastery and confusing chains of command have contributed to a decline in our naval power.”

The measures outlined to improve the US Navy’s force readiness include requiring the navy to carry out a ‘clean sheet’ review of its organisation and chains-of-command, as well as appointing a senior, Senate-confirmed navy civilian to oversee ship maintenance,

The legislation is also intended to allow the navy more time and flexibility when spending maintenance funds.

In addition, the bill requires the US Navy to provide realistic baseline projections of sailors’ workloads and ship maintenance operations.

It also mandates that the navy maintain records regarding watch standing and training activities completed by surface warfare officers, among others. (Source: naval-technology.com)

 

28 Feb 18. The F-35 may be heading into its faceoff with the A-10 this April. Before moving into operational testing, the joint strike fighter will have to prove its mettle as a close-air support plane to the Pentagon’s independent testers, the F-35 program head said Wednesday.

This April, the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation will scrutinize the F-35’s close-air support and reconnaissance capabilities during a series of flights at Edwards Air Force Base and the Point Mugu Sea Range in California, said Vice Adm. Mat Winter, who leads the F-35 Joint Program Office.

Winter said he isn’t sure whether the close-air support assessment In April — the second increment of tests ahead of this September’s initial operational test and evaluation, or IOT&E — would include the much-hyped F-35 versus A-10 flyoff. But it’s coming soon.

“I have not seen the scope of increment two, so I cannot go on record to say that it’s in increment two,” he told reporters during a roundtable Wednesday. “It will be in either increment two or in the formal [IOT&E], and it will be executed.”

As part of the fiscal year 2017 Defense Authorization Act, Congress included language that mandated comparison tests between the F-35 and A-10 Warthog. That assessment is to be overseen by the Pentagon’s independent weapons testing arm, known as the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation or DOT&E, and will evaluate the F-35’s aptitude in the close-air support, combat search and rescue, and forward air controller airborne missions.

The provision was championed by Warthog supporters on Capitol Hill who said a flyoff would prove the F-35 is not able to fully replace the A-10, which was purpose built for the close-air support mission and has been in use since the 1970s.

Meanwhile, proponents of the F-35 program assert that the Warthog — with its notoriously huge 30 mm GAU-8 Avenger Gatling gun and ability to fly slow and low over the ground — simply accomplishes the close-air support mission differently than the F-35, and that there will be environments where the F-35 is a better fit.

“Just like every other fourth- or four-plus generation fighter, [the A-10] would not likely survive a single mission flown against the anti-access/area denial threats of today. That is where the F-35 was designed to operate,” John Venable, a former F-16 pilot and defense expert at the Heritage Foundation, wrote in an op-ed for National Defense Magazine last year.

The prospect of an F-35 versus A-10 flyoff has been built up over the past several years, however, it’s possible the assessment results in less commotion than expected. Much has changed since fiscal 2017, when the Air Force still wanted to retire the A-10 and was forbidden from doing so by Congress. In fiscal 2018, the service opted to retain the A-10 and is now in the process of rewinging the fleet, putting the future of the Warthog into a much safer position.

The full “increment two” test plan has not yet been approved by Robert Behler, the Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation. However, Winter said the scope of the assessment will include weapons drops, engagement with forward air controllers who call in air strikes and armed reconnaissance missions.

The DOT&E Office has already wrapped up the first increment of pre-IOT&E tests, which looked at the F-35’s performance in cold weather environments. It evaluated “the suitability and effectiveness” of a series of F-35 alert launches that took place in late January through early February at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.

After the close-air support assessment has wrapped up, the data from both increments of tests will be formally reviewed by DOT&E before the aircraft moves into operational tests this fall. Winter expects IOT&E to wrap up in May 2019. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)

 

28 Feb 18. Stratcom Commander Discusses Strategic Deterrence Mission. Adversaries are evolving, and the United States needs to stay ahead of these threats to ensure it never enters a “fair fight,” the commander of U.S. Strategic Command said here today.

Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten said the top priority of his command is deterring the use of nuclear weapons, preventing the use of those weapons against the United States and its allies, and preventing a catastrophic space or cyberspace activity.

In a keynote address at the Association of the United States Army’s discussion on Army air and missile defense, Hyten commended the men and women of Stratcom who serve every day to defend the nation against threats.

“Our first priority: above all else, we will provide a strategic deterrent,” Hyten said. “If you are in a command that has all the global nuclear capabilities of our nation, that better be priority No. 1. But that is not the only thing that provides our strategic deterrent.”

If deterrence fails, the general said, Stratcom will provide “a decisive response — and decisive in every way that word can mean.” That, he added, will be accomplished with a “combat-ready force trained, equipped and resilient to any threat that they face.”

He highlighted the elements of deterrence as “the ability to deny benefit to an adversary, impose cost on an adversary, and communicate that credibly to the adversary.”

NPR: Dealing With Threat-Based Problem

Hyten said the recently released Nuclear Posture Review addresses the nuclear threat “exactly right.” The general, who had a significant part in writing the document, said the posture is threat-based planning and threat-based answers to a threat-based problem.

“It has very specific recommendations based on the threat,” he said. “As a combatant commander, I can’t look at the world the way I wish it was. I have to look at the world the way it is and deal with that threat that is out there, and the Nuclear Posture Review does just that.”

Adversaries Are Watching

Hyten said adversaries of the United States have been watching and are increasing their capabilities.

“Today we are still the most powerful, dominant military force on the planet, and there is no doubt that in any conflict today we would be superior in that conflict,” Hyten said. “But everybody in this room should be worried about 10 years from now. Will we still be in that place?”

He recommended finding ways to better integrate global capabilities, and said missile defense priorities include improved sensors, kill vehicles and capabilities. In addition, he called for speedier processes related to the budget and integrating new weapons systems.

“We take forever to do anything anymore — and our adversaries are not suffering the same problem,” he said. He warned that if the nation fails to figure out “how to go fast again,” the adversaries will catch up.

“We should never get into a place where we’re in an even fight, we’re in a fair fight,” he said. “We should always be in a dominant position, because that allows us and our nation to reach out to our allies and do the things that we need to do in this world.” (Follow Lisa Ferdinando on Twitter: @FerdinandoDoD)

 

28 Feb 18. Special Ops Must Be More Lethal, Effective, Efficient, DoD Official Says. The special operations enterprise must become more lethal, effective and efficient, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict said today.

Mark E. Mitchell kicked off the National Defense Industrial Association’s 29th annual SOLIC Symposium here, saying the community is at an inflection point.

“I think [Defense] Secretary [James N.] Mattis has thrown down the gauntlet in the National Defense Strategy, challenging not only the department, but our industry partners to find technological solutions that support [U.S. Special Operations Command’s] missions, including counterproliferation and counternetwork,” he said.

Times have changed, Mitchell said. After spending the better part of the last two decades concentrating on the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism missions, he explained, there is a return of great power confrontation. “The threat from terrorists is not going to go away, but we think we’ve become pretty adept at limiting the threat from the terrorist organizations,” he said.

Combating the terrorists will require constant attention, but the special operations enterprise “is going to have to rediscover and reinvent ourselves to deal with these near-peer competitors,” Mitchell said.

Advantage No Longer Assured

Mitchell, who entered the Army in 1987, said that during his whole career the U.S. military always enjoyed dominance over any foe or potential foe. “We’ve always enjoyed significant technological advantages over the enemy,” he said. “But we can no longer assume that we will enjoy this advantage, especially in the new competition with other great powers.”

This is not a return to the Cold War, he said, as Russia is not the Soviet Union, China is not the China of the 1980s, and both nations are much more integrated into the security architecture and economic systems, even as they try to undermine them.

The National Defense Strategy notes that much of the great-power competition will take place short of actual conflict, Mitchell said. “We’ve seen how good our adversaries are at employing ambiguous, deniable or even unwitting proxies to wage information warfare, cyberwarfare, industrial espionage, sabotage and subversion,” he said.

DoD leaders want to ensure the U.S. military can fight and win a high-intensity conflict, but the best solution is to compete at the level of the adversaries and win there before actual combat occurs, he said. “This is where the [special operations forces] enterprise can, and must, play a significant role,” he added.

Technology Drives the Threat

The special operations community needs new technology, but technology is also driving the threat, Mitchell said. Terror organizations, transnational criminal networks, and even individuals can get technologies that pose a threat to the United States, he pointed out, citing advanced computing, the ability to crunch big data and artificial intelligence among technologies available to them “at the retail level.” he said.

“We face an intelligent, adaptive and determined adversary seeking to deploy these technologies in new ways,” he said. “We must be able to do the same.”

The enemy uses social media. The U.S. military must be able to respond “at the speed of relevance,” Mitchell said.

“The technological edge that we’ve enjoyed for three decades, and which are essential for us to fight and win these wars, still exists, but by no means are assured,” he said. “As Americans, freedom is our birthright. But a perpetual technology advantage is not assured, and both must be vigorously defended.” (Follow Jim Garamone on Twitter: @GaramoneDoDNews)

 

27 Feb 18. Battlefield tech demands: Rapid Equipping Force preps for surge with new Army brigades. The Rapid Equipping Force, established to meet urgent needs from soldiers using commercial off-the-shelf and government on-the-shelf options, will likely see a surge in work, according to the REF’s retiring director.

The surge will come as the Army ramps up deployments of its new adviser brigades. The first Security Force Assistance Brigade out of Fort Benning, Georgia, is now arriving in Afghanistan for its first deployment. The Army created the new brigades in its fiscal 2018 budget with a plan to stand up two that year. The FY19 budget request provides funding to establish an additional three brigades.

And Col. Lanier Ward, the REF’s director, is anticipating an uptick in requests from theater from the newly forged unit designed specifically to train, advise, assist and enable foreign militaries and police forces, especially as it gets its bearings for the first time.

“I think I am going to see an increase with the SFAB organization as it arrives in and executes a little bit different mission set,” Ward told reporters during a Feb. 27 roundtable at the outfit’s headquarters on his last day on the job.

The REF has already played a small role in providing the first SFAB with a few items it needed ahead of its deployment. Ward said those items were communications gear as well as an item that assists the unit with indirect fires.

Since it’s the SFAB’s maiden voyage, it will arrive in theater with its standard equipment and operational plans, but will likely come upon problems not encountered by previous units and that may not be solved through an adjustment in tactics, techniques and procedures or through a change to the organization, according to Ward.

That is where the REF comes in, he said, to find ways to a fill a gap through materiel solutions available now, which can be rapidly fielded on a small scale.

In FY18, the majority of requirements have so far been related to intelligence warfighting functions. The majority of requests for solutions, called 10-liners, are categorized as intelligence capability, followed by protection then movement and maneuver. Fewer requests are related to sustainment and mission command, according to statistics held by the REF. The majority of requirements this fiscal year have been received from the U.S. Central Command theater.

Over time, Ward said, the REF has seen the number of requirements ebb and flow depending on operations. He noted the number has “dropped drastically” as conditions are changing in Iraq following the liberation of Mosul from Islamic State militants.

“I’m seeing requirements drop because soldiers are more [Forward Operating Base]-based to some degree,” he said. “Whereas now, with the SFAB moving to Afghanistan, I think we will see an increase in requirements from the SFABs.”

Still in demand

The REF remains busy, particularly with fielding electronic warfare capabilities, such as an EW tactical vehicle, to units in need. The organization is also assisting the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning in efforts related to operating in subterranean environments, and providing counter-unmanned aircraft systems particularly for the dismounted soldier.

For counter-UAS capability, the REF had to look to industry to find the right solution quickly, but Ward noted that often he can find the capability needed sitting on a shelf in a program office.

“A lot of what I do is I go [with] government on-the-shelf,” he said. “Because a product manager or a program manager in many cases have put all the hard work and effort behind something and in many cases already has the solution, but he is not ‘POM’ed’ for it for several years in the future.” POM is short for Program Objective Memorandum which refers to a five-year future funding plan.

The REF, for instance, was able to find micro tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance UAS developed by Norway’s Prox Dynamics and field them to a small unit of soldiers in need of tactical ISR.

[FLIR-owned Prox Dynamics brings night vision to tiny drone]

As a result, the REF was able to help the program manager bring the program online earlier than its scheduled fielding in 2022. The capability will now be fielded more widely among units this year.

“That is sort of a win-win for everybody,” Ward said. “What we do with a lot of items is try to pull that forward for the program managers if we can because it sort of leads into that longer-term problem set for the Army.”

Because of the REF’s unique ability to rapidly field solutions to the field in far less than two years, Ward said he doesn’t see the organization going anywhere anytime soon, even with the advent of the Rapid Capabilities Office which has a goal of providing solutions in one to five years.

While the Army looks at how a variety of organizations may need to change — from Training and Doctrine Command to Army Materiel Command — as it stands up its Futures Command, the REF is likely to stay as it is, Ward noted.

“You will see the organization continue with this mission set,” Ward said. “Why? Because it works. … For a fairly low cost, the Army can get an organization that can answer to the soldier for the immediate problems they have on the ground, so whatever the Futures Command or whatever the organization becomes can worry about the Army’s bigger problems and those that are emerging.” (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)

 

28 Feb 18. Bipartisan Budget Act puts US DoD on track to modernise military. Pentagon chief spokesperson Dana W White has said that the Bipartisan Budget Act would enable the US Department of Defense (DoD) to rebuild, restore and upgrade the military capabilities of the country.

The measure removes the spending caps for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, enabling the defence department to provide the funding needed to overhaul the force.

In a statement, White said the US DoD intends to maximise the value of every taxpayer dollar.

Currently, the appropriations committees need to generate either individual bills for the departments or an omnibus bill that would involve the operations of the entire government.

“The DoD has welcomed two senior officials who will be responsible for ensuring that the department spends its funds on appropriate and necessary investments.”

The deadline to produce the bills is 23 March this year. If passed, the US DoD will still have the required time to obligate the fiscal year 2018 funds by the end of the fiscal year in September.

In addition, the DoD has welcomed two senior officials who will be responsible for ensuring that the department spends its funds on appropriate and necessary investments.

The officials are DoD first chief management officer Jay Gibson, and Defence Research and Engineering undersecretary Mike Griffin.

White said: “Their arrival marks the largest reorganisation of the department since the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act, a key step in our reform efforts.”

Furthermore, White has said that US Defense Secretary James N Mattis will make his recommendations to the country’s President Donald J Trump to focus on transgender service members. (Source: army-technology.com)

 

27 Feb 18. Centcom Undertaking Realignment to Meet Future Concerns. Based on military progress in the campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, U.S. Central Command is undertaking an operational alignment and rebalancing effort to achieve three specific goals, Centcom commander, Army Gen. Joseph L. Votel told the House Armed Services Committee today.

However, the commander said, “We remain very cleareyed regarding both the permanence of that progress and the challenges that we face in the future.”

The first goal, he outlined, is to complete major combat operations in Iraq and Syria and bring the campaign to defeat ISIS to a responsible close. Military success in the campaign up to this point presents Centcom with an opportunity to reposition some of its resources from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan, he said, “in a manner that keeps the pressure on ISIS but also sets us up to break the stalemate in Afghanistan.”

“We retain sufficient capability to continue our efforts against ISIS,” he emphasized, “despite the increasingly complex situation across Syria and especially in the northwest province of Afrin.”

Afghanistan Strategy

The second goal is to prioritize the implementation of the South Asia strategy in Afghanistan, Votel said. This strategy reaffirms the U.S. government’s enduring commitment to Afghanistan by reinforcing the two complementary military missions: the NATO-led train, advise and assist mission, and the U.S. counterterrorism mission.

“We are making sure that with our support, the Afghan national defense and security forces are well-postured to begin operations to seize the initiative, expand population control and secure credible elections,” the Centcom commander said. “Part and parcel of this effort is our regionalized approach to engage all countries with a stake in Afghanistan’s stability, especially Pakistan.”

The third goal is to ensure that Centcom has aligned its military efforts with its broader interagency and international efforts to neutralize, counterbalance and shape the destabilizing impact that Iran has across the region, Votel said.

“Make no mistake: While we continue to confront the scourge of terrorism, Iran’s malign activities across the region pose the long-term threat to stability in this part of the world,” he said. “We view ourselves — the military — as supporting the many other and more effective resources and capabilities of the U.S. government and its partners in this endeavor.”

National Defense Strategy

Votel emphasized that the recently published National Defense Strategy “rightly identifies” the resurgence of great power competition as the United States’ principal national security challenge.

“And we at Centcom see the effects of that competition throughout the region,” he added. “Russia’s support of the [Syrian President Bashar Assad] regime has not only propped them up, but it’s also added complexity to the defeat-ISIS campaign.”

As for big-power competitions, China is pursuing a long-term, steady economic growth in the region through its “one-belt, one-road policy,” Votel said, adding, “but it is also improving its military posture by connecting ports such as Gwadar in Pakistan with its first overseas military base in Djibouti, adjacent to the critical Bab el-Mandeb.”

And while Beijing claims both locations support peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, the new military base and port bolsters China’s force projection into the region, the general testified.

Further, “both Russia and China are cultivating multidimensional ties to Iran,” Votel pointed out. “The lifting of U.N. sanctions under the joint comprehensive plan of action open the path for Iran to resume membership application to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.”

Postured For Purpose

“Our strategic approach of preparing the environment, pursuing opportunities and working to prevail wherever we can is working. We are postured for purpose, proactive in pursuing opportunities and resolve to win,” he said.

The general told HASC members there are three dynamics that Centcom assesses as central to prevailing in its region.

First, in the conduct of Centcom campaigns in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan and its operations in places such as Yemen, Lebanon and Egypt, the combatant command has adopted a “by, with and through” approach that places a heavy reliance on indigenous partner nation forces, he said.

“This approach is not [without] risk, as we are seeing unfold in Syria today, but in general, it is proving very effective and will likely pay significant dividends going forward,” Votel noted.

Second, successful pursuit of U.S. objectives in the Centcom region only comes from an integrated approach aligned with interorganizational partners, he said.

Defense ‘A Team Sport’

“Defense of the nation is a team sport,” Votel said. “This applies not just within the command, but with our fellow combatant commands, our component commands, our established combined and joint task forces, the central regions, 18 country teams and other departments, agencies and organizations of the U.S. government [that] have provided unwavering support over almost two decades of a persistent conflict.”

Centcom’s allies in the region and the wider international community are equally critical to supporting the command’s mission, he added.

Third, the support of Congress and the American people are vital to Centcom’s mission, the commander said.

“Your support will remain important as we contend with what potentially are generational struggles to defend our homeland from the threats outlined in our national defense strategy,” Votel said. “U.S. government commitment to the Centcom area of responsibility is more important now than ever.” (Follow Terri Moon Cronk @MoonCronkDoD)

 

27 Feb 18. White House reaches informal deal with Boeing for Air Force One. U.S. President Donald Trump has reached an agreement with the Boeing Co (BA.N) to provide two Air Force One planes for $3.9bn, the White House said on Tuesday.

“President Trump has reached an informal deal with Boeing on a fixed-price contract for the new Air Force One Program,” Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley told Reuters. He said the contract will save taxpayers more than $1.4bn, but those savings could not be independently confirmed.

Trump has said Boeing’s costs to build replacements for Air Force One aircraft – one of the most visible symbols of the U.S. presidency – were too high and urged the federal government in a tweet to “Cancel order!”

The Boeing 747-8s are designed to be an airborne White House able to fly in worst-case security scenarios, such as nuclear war, and are modified with military avionics, advanced communications and a self-defense system.

“President Trump negotiated a good deal on behalf of the American people,” Boeing said in a news release.

U.S. aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia said the White House was engaging in “political theater.”

“There’s no evidence of a discount,” said Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at Teal Group.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon released Air Force budget documents for fiscal year 2019 disclosing the $3.9bn cost for the two-aircraft program. The same 2018 budget document, not adjusted for inflation, showed the price at $3.6bn. Boeing would only have so much room to offer discounts given the high proportion of supplier content on Air Force One, from refrigerators to missile warning systems, Aboulafia said by phone.

The big U.S. defense contractor said the deal includes work to develop and build two planes, including unique items such as a communications package, internal and external stairs, large galleys and other equipment.

The “informal deal” will need to be codified in a formal contract with comprehensive, complex terms and conditions said Franklin Turner, a partner specializing in government contracts at law firm McCarter & English, suggesting a final deal was still a ways off. Boeing stock was up 1.4 percent at $368.54, trading at an all-time high. (Source: Reuters)

 

27 Feb 18. Military Force Structure: Trade-Offs, Trade-Offs, Trade-Offs.

Mark Cancian, a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, knows budgets. He used to help build the defense budget at the Office of Management and Budget, the largely unheralded center of federal fiscal power. So when he picks apart the budget deal Congress recently approved (or any other one) you should pay attention. He’s doing it right here in this op-ed written for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, so read on! The Editor

The budget deal’s large defense increase in fiscal 2019 allows the Department of Defense (DOD) to do a lot more than it was doing before, but not everything. A major trade-off is with force structure. The forces proposed are more than what Secretary of Defense James Mattis had originally signaled but less than what President Donald Trump’s rhetoric had implied. Other trade-offs appear in modernization — focusing on existing programs rather than starting expensive new programs, and on force mix — continuing development of some less expensive, lower-end capabilities rather than focusing completely on high-end capabilities.

At the macro level, the defense budget is a trade-off between readiness (the ability of forces to do what they were designed to do), capacity (the size of the force), and capability (the ability of forces or equipment to achieve a desired effect)—the “iron triangle of painful tradeoffs” as CSIS’s Kathleen Hicks termed it. Secretary Mattis was emphatic that the new administration would fix readiness first because of the many deficiencies he found there.

Although some problems had been long-standing, many had been exacerbated when the Obama administration changed strategy in 2014 by beginning a long air war in Iraq and Syria and instituting the European Reassurance Initiative to deter Russia. Both efforts were successful but put unplanned stress on the force, which defense budgets, constrained by the Budget Control Act and the administration’s other priorities, were inadequate to remedy.

The Trump administration’s fiscal 2017 and 2018 budgets did indeed put additional resources toward readiness—maintenance and spare parts especially. The FY 2019 budget maintains the increase and enhances it in places. However, the budget’s major focus shifts to modernization. This shift signals a recognition that readiness is not infinitely valuable. Readiness is very expensive, and the department will buy what it needs but then focus on other priorities. Increasing force size (capacity) might have been one of these other priorities, but the administration has clearly been conflicted about this. In September 2016, then-candidate Trump proposed an Army of 540,000 regular soldiers, a Navy of 350 ships, and an Air Force of 1,200 fighters. This force was derived from work that the Heritage Foundation had done and which had received considerable attention in conservative circles. However, Secretary Mattis signaled many times in the past year that his focus would be on capability (“lethality” as he likes to call it), and he pointedly left force expansion out of his lists of priorities. General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was blunter: “I don’t see, in the near term, our ability to really grow the force.” This emphasis on capability is consistent with the National Defense Strategy (NDS) focus on “long-term great power competition” with Russia and China. The tension played out in drafts of the National Defense Strategy (unclassified summary).

Early drafts omitted discussion of force size, but the White House and National Security Council reportedly pushed back. Consequently, the final document includes: “The size of our force matters.” Thus, the budget contains a compromise: some force expansion, but not nearly what had been suggested earlier.

Consistent with the strategy, modernization (capability)—buying new equipment for the forces—receives a large increase. Between the FY 2018 President’s Budget (PB) and the president’s FY 2019 proposal, DOD procurement increases $19bn, and research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) increases $18bn. However, there are no new major acquisition programs but, instead, a focus on continuing production of existing systems. This was another trade-off.

While the strategy might imply the need for additional, advanced technology weapons systems, beginning new multibillion-dollar programs is a bet that the budget will remain high for many years in order to accommodate the increased resource demands. However, continuing budget uncertainty makes this bet iffy and hedging seems prudent—i.e., buy what is available now while the budget window is open.

It may be that new acquisition programs emerge in the future from the primordial soup of ongoing research and development. Hypersonics/conventional prompt strike, advanced aircraft, directed energy, and robotics are candidates. Time will tell.

The most striking modernization change is the large increase in munitions procurement of all kinds—air-to-air and air-to-ground; precision and nonprecision ground-to-ground; long range and short range; missile defense; and antiship. This indicates both a preparation for high-end conflicts with other great powers and the need to replenish inventories for conflicts against regional powers such as Korea or against insurgent groups in the Middle East. With these broad themes in mind, let’s take a look at the individual services.

Army. There are two major takeaways about Army plans: the force will increase to 487,500 regular soldiers in FY 2019 with an ultimate goal of 495,000; and, consistent with the broader theme, modernization focuses on production of existing systems rather than starting new programs. The force expansion is something of a surprise because the NDS would seem to emphasize naval and air capabilities. The Pacific theater is mainly ocean and long distances, and European geography in the most pressing scenario, defense of the Baltic states, makes deployment of large ground forces difficult. It is a tribute to the Army leadership that they convinced policymakers of the need for expansion. Despite the manpower increase, the Army will not build more brigade combat teams, but instead will fill out manning in its existing units and add some new capabilities. The former is an important enhancement to readiness and deployability. When units are undermanned and need to deploy, they pull personnel from other units (called “cross leveling”), which engenders a cascading disruption of units. The latter—new units for cyber, advising and assisting allies and partners, and air defense—leverages emerging technologies and responds to the new strategy. Interestingly, force expansion in the reserve components is modest: in FY 2019, 500 for the Army National Guard and 500 for the Army Reserve. That means that 87 percent of Army force expansion is in the active component. Normally, this would engender some grumbling from the politically powerful reserves, but the Army leadership has apparently worked closely with them. The budget implements the agreement from the 2016 National Commission on the Future of the Army, particularly the maintenance of Apache helicopters in the Guard. Guard rotations at the combat training centers also increase from two to four. In modernization, some programs increase (M-1 tanks, Joint Light Tactical Vehicle trucks, Armored Multipurpose Vehicles); others stay about the same (helicopters, M-2 Bradleys). There are no new acquisition programs. Development continues on the next-generation fighting vehicle and future vertical lift aircraft, both Army priorities, but they are not proposed as programs of record for procurement. This picture might change in the next year as the Army’s new modernization command takes shape and the recently established cross-functional teams produce results. Nevertheless, the Army’s incremental modernization strategy seems deeply embedded and likely to continue.

Navy. Like the Army, the Navy expands forces and increases procurement of existing programs but starts no major new programs. Active-duty manpower increases from 327,900 in the FY 2018 PB to 335,400 in the FY 2019 proposal, with an ultimate goal of 344,800. This increase will build crews for new construction ships and fill manning gaps on existing ships. A theme that has come out of recent accident investigations is that low crew manning, both by design and by policy, hurts operations.

In shipbuilding, the Navy proposes buying 10 ships, an increase of one from PB FY 2018. Compared to last year’s request, construction of DDG-51 Arleigh Burke destroyers (Flight III ships equipped with the Advanced Missile Defense Radar) would increase from two to three, while the number of the Littoral Combat Ships would decrease from two to one awaiting the follow-on frigate program. Total shipbuilding funding increases from $20.4bn in the FY 2018 PB to $21.9bn in FY 2019.

The modest increase highlights the challenge in building a larger fleet. Fleet size will increase to 299 ships in FY 2019 as previously funded ships are delivered, but, according to the Navy’s long-term shipbuilding plan, fleet size peaks at 342 in FY 2039 and never reaches the 355 ship goal.

In aircraft procurement, the Navy continues to hedge its bets, funding both fifth-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (29) and fourth-plus generation F-18E/F fighters (24). The Navy’s ambivalence to unmanned aircraft continues. It puts $719m toward development of the unmanned MQ-25 Stingray tanker, a big jump from the $222bn in the FY 2018 PB, but the fielding date has been delayed to 2026, and it is not yet an official program of record. Further, the Navy does not propose any unmanned combat aircraft.

The future frigate program and continued procurement of the F-18—in effect, a high-low mix for ships and aircraft—show a hedging strategy. Although these systems are not well-suited for great power conflicts, their lower cost allows some expansion of the force structure to meet day-to-day demands for presence and crisis response, and they are suitable for conflicts against regional adversaries.

Marine Corps. Unexpectedly for such a manpower intensive service, the Marine Corps increases active-duty manpower by only 1,100, from 185,000 in FY 2018 PB to 186,100 in the FY 2019 proposal, with an ultimate goal of 186,400. The increase goes mostly to what the Marine Corps calls a “fifth generation force”—cyber, security cooperation, information warfare, and special operations—rather than traditional Marine Corps areas such as ground combat units.

A national strategy focusing on great power competition produces tensions in the Marine Corps, which describes itself as a “middle weight force” and has traditionally had few high-end capabilities. It finds itself in the situation of the late 1970s, when DOD’s attention focused on NATO after a decade of combat in Vietnam, and the Marine Corps struggled to find a place in that strategy.

In procurement, the Marine Corps buys more early production Amphibious Combat Vehicles—an advanced, eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier—as part of its 30-year effort to replace existing ship-to-shore amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs). Nevertheless, the Marine Corps continues to upgrade its existing AAV as a hedge.

Air Force. Continuing a theme, the Air Force grows its force modestly and procures existing systems. Active-duty end strength increases by 4,000, from 325,100 in the FY 2018 PB to 329,100 proposed for FY 2019. This fills shortfalls in existing units and expands some high-end capabilities such as cyber and intelligence. It may also mark the end of the Air Force’s attempt to trade personnel and size for modernization. Although its need for modernization has been great, the global demand for existing units and the strategic demand for new kinds of units has continually overwhelmed Air Force attempts to shift resources.

Reserve end strength also increases but much less, 700 total. As with the Army, reserve component acceptance of this disparity indicates a restoration of confidence as a result of a force structure agreement, the 2014 National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force in the case of the Air Force.

Procurement includes F-35 production at 48 per year, a slight increase from the 46 proposed in FY 2018 but not at the level of 60 per year that the Air Force desires. The Air Force also procures 15 of the new KC-46 tankers, 7 M/HC-130s, mainly for special operations, and the first 10 of the long-delayed replacement for aging combat search and rescue helicopters.

Two aircraft proposals indicate force structure trade-offs. The B-52s will continue flying far into the future, even as the newer B-1s and B-2s retire when the B-21 enters the force in the 2020s. The B-52 is relatively easy to operate and has been so useful in recent conflicts that its life span has been extended yet again. The last B-52 pilot has not yet been born. The Air Force also continues its commitment to a light attack aircraft program for conflicts in relatively benign air environments. Both proposals implement a high-low mix and, as with the Navy, indicate a desire to maintain enough force structure to meet the demands of day-to-day commitments and conflicts with regional adversaries within constrained resources.

The Air Force proposes buying 29 MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs), using both base and war funding. This seems low, given the retirement this year of 150 Predators that have been a major part of the Air Force’s recent combat operations. Further, Predators and Reapers, while extremely valuable in environments without strong air defenses, are highly vulnerable in great power conflicts. This may indicate that additional RPA programs lie in the black (secret) world and have not yet been revealed publicly. It would be regrettable, however, if instead the FY 2019 budget represents a reversal of progress in expanding use of unmanned technologies.

The Air Force’s big push is in R&D, which increases by nearly $5bn. This supports further development of nuclear modernization, an administration priority—B-21, intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) follow on (called the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent), and the Long-Range Standoff Missile. There is additional effort in space, perhaps in reaction to criticism that the Air Force has not paid sufficient attention to space and to head off the suggestion that a separate space corps be established. Finally, there’s development of a replacement for Air Force One (called the Presidential Aircraft Replacement).

Future challenges. The challenges will be twofold. The first is actually getting the money to execute all these expanded plans. There is bipartisan support for a defense buildup, and the administration forecasts continued high defense budgets. However, pressure from interest payments, expanding entitlement programs, and domestic priorities, coupled with an uncertain balance of power in future Congresses may derail these plans. The second challenge is whether the strategy of focusing on great power competition can survive the demands of day-to-day operations. Administrations often desire to cut back on the high level of ongoing operations in order to ease stress on the force and focus funding elsewhere, but the claimants—regional headquarters, allies and partners, commanders of ongoing conflicts—make this hard to implement.

Mark Cancian is a senior adviser with the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Commentary is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s). (Source: Breaking Defense.com)

 

26 Feb 18. US Army’s war-gaming is under-resourced, three-star says. The U.S. Army will likely rely heavily on experimenting with concepts in order to better define future weapons systems requirements for a force that will be expected to operate across multiple domains against peer adversaries.

And Lt. Gen. Michael Lundy, the director of the Army’s Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, told Army Under Secretary Ryan McCarthy during a trip to the Kansas installation last week that the service is “way under-sourced” when it comes conceptual experimentation.

Part of the CAC’s role is to war-game concepts to help Training and Doctrine Command shape and write requirements that will lead to materiel solutions. The Mission Command Battle Lab within the CAC is designed to experiment with emerging concepts and technologies to mitigate risk to the force.

Lundy stressed it is important to wear concepts out to better define requirements so that program managers can build better solutions. “I need battle labs to get good requirements,” he said.

Without the experimentation process, requirements can spiral out of control or be unrealistic.

For example, Lundy said the process allowed the Army to realize it didn’t need a future helicopter to go 300 knots. By extensively experimenting with a variety of concepts based on anticipated operations and anticipated capabilities of adversaries, the service realized it only needed something that could fly at 220 knots.

If the Army hadn’t done that experimentation, it could have potentially proceeded down a road to develop a faster helicopter, which could have required technology that doesn’t exist, is too costly or is far from ready for prime time — elements that contribute to program delays, cost overruns or cancellations.

As the Army looks to prioritize six major modernization efforts in the near term, concept experimentation will be a vital part of the process at the outset and down the road.

The six modernization priorities are Long-Range Precision Fires, Next-Generation Combat Vehicle, Future Vertical Lift, the network, air-and-missile defense, and soldier lethality.

The Army is standing up what it’s calling the Futures Command to move those modernization efforts through the acquisition process, from beginning to end, to address the reality that the service will be expected to operate in contested environments, something to which the force is not accustomed, having spent 15 years in counterinsurgency operations in the Middle East.

The CAC will also be vital in ensuring efforts across the board align with the Army’s Multi-Domain Battle concept now driving the service’s doctrine, technology development and acquisition priorities, training, logistics, and sustainment.

McCarthy told Defense News on the trip to Fort Leavenworth that there has been an increase in fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2019 funding for experimentation when it comes to prototyping — a materiel standpoint. But he said he “absolutely” planned to go back and look at what is needed for experimenting specifically with concepts after meeting with Lundy.

The Army will consider resourcing conceptual analysis and experimentation as part of the FY20 five-year funding plan now being created, McCarthy said. The FY19 five-year plan was released earlier this month.

McCarthy added it might be necessary to work with Congress to reprogram dollars to ensure what is needed is synchronized across the five-year period.

Funding the experimentation is important, he said, “because if you get the concept right, you can work out the technological trade-offs as you go downstream in weapons development.”

McCarthy noted that the discussion with Lundy about the need for more resources to conduct robust conceptual experimentation was “one of the most profound things” they talked about on the trip and was something he intended to “work on personally.” (Source: Defense News)

 

26 Feb 18. Air Force: KC-46 testing showed tanker could withstand electromagnetic pulses. The Air Force is working with the Pentagon’s operational test and evaluation office to reconcile concerns raised in a January report about the KC-46 Pegasus, but the service isn’t planning to change the tanker program or test timelines. The Director of Operational Test and Evaluation said the KC-46 refueling tanker may not have met the office’s standards for electromagnetic pulse testing because not all of the systems were online during the tests. The goal was to assess whether the aircraft could safely operate when confronted by electromagnetic fields generated by equipment like radar. The test showed that the tanker’s flight-critical and boom-refueling systems could withstand a 6-decibel electromagnetic pulse, but certain systems were uninstalled or deactivated before testing, according to the report.

“The configuration of the KC-46A used for EMP testing was intended to test the mission-critical functions of the aircraft to ensure it can continue to operate in an EMP environment,” Air Force Materiel Command officials told Air Force Times.

The mission-critical functions include safe taxi, takeoff, flight, landing, control of the aircraft, life support, refueling operations (using the boom and centerline drogue system only), and voice communications.

“The systems that were uninstalled or deactivated were not flight critical or required for aerial refueling operations,” the command said.

After the KC-46 was exposed to electromagnetic pulses, the results showed that these critical systems retained their functionality, according to AFMC.

“During a post-test functional flight, the boom operated successfully throughout its operating range (full telescope and movement) while the pumps filled the boom with fuel,” the command said. “The [refueling system] was also successfully trailed to full trail, filled with fuel, and fully rewound. The wing-mounted refueling pods were installed on the aircraft during the EMP test but were not tested during the post-test functional flight.”

The electromagnetic testing took place in July at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and Edwards Air Force Base, California.

AFMC said that as of now, there are no additional EMP tests scheduled for the KC-46.

One of the next steps is to assess how the tanker performs during nuclear threat-related tests. This includes an inherent hardness assessment and base escape study.

The inherent hardness assessment considers the KC-46’s inherent hardness to nuclear weapon effects, AFMC said. A test of the aircraft’s thermal curtains, which protect aircrew from some of these effects, will be assessed.

The base escape study is an analysis of the time required for a KC-46 to launch and fly a safe distance from a simulated nuclear attack.

The IHA and BES tests are scheduled for the second half of fiscal 2018.

Gen. Carlton Everhart, head of Air Mobility Command, told Air Force Times in January that the KC-46 is almost done with tests needed for the tanker’s second — and final — Federal Aviation Administration certification.

In December, the FAA certified the 767-2C, which is the modified 767 commercial plane that forms the basis of the KC-46.

This Amended Type Certificate verifies that the fundamental design of the tanker is safe, and it’s one of two FAA certifications required for the tanker program. The Supplemental Type Certificate focuses on the military-specific equipment that’s installed on the 767-2C aircraft to make it a tanker.

In addition to the two FAA certifications, the KC-46 requires an Air Force-issued Military Type Certification that validates the airworthiness and safety of the military systems and equipment installed on the new tanker, AMC officials said. The Air Force plans to buy 179 of the aircraft, and Boeing is contractually obligated to deliver the first 18 certified tankers by October. McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas and Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma will be the first to receive the KC-46, which will replace the KC-135 Stratotankers. (Source: Defense News)

 

26 Feb 18. Nuclear Posture Review Looks to Deter War, Policy Chief Says. The goal of the Nuclear Posture Review, unveiled earlier this month, is to deter war, David J. Trachtenberg, deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, said at the Heritage Foundation here today.

“If nuclear weapons are used in war, it is because deterrence failed,” he said. “The goal of the 2018 NPR is to make sure deterrence will not fail.”

Trachtenberg stressed that the review is not a break with the past, but rather a continuation of long-held nuclear doctrine.

Situations have changed since the last nuclear posture review in 2010. At that time, U.S. officials thought they could work with Russian and Chinese leaders to bring them into the comity of nations. Engagement would continue progress along the path to ultimate nuclear disarmament, and the officials made recommendations concurrent with that baseline.

Operating Outside International Norms

But Russia and China have since proven they are not following international norms. Russia annexed Crimea and fomented war in eastern Ukraine. They have modernized their nuclear arsenal and almost all aspects of their military. Russia’s support for the Bashar al Assad regime in Syria, its interference with its neighbors, and even its cyber campaign to influence elections, show that it is working against accepted international standards.

China has also shown it is working against the accepted rules-based international order, which has done so much to advance the economic well-being in Asia. China has also modernized its nuclear arsenal and modernized many aspects of its army. China is building islands in the South China Sea in an attempt to cut off freedom of navigation.

This is a return to great power competition, Trachtenberg said, and the U.S. “must field a more modern, ready and flexible force, which reverses the erosion of our military advantages.”

And the heart of American defense is the nuclear arsenal. The 2018 review lays out the path to ensure America’s nuclear deterrent is modern, robust, flexible, resilient, ready and tailored to deter 21st century threats and reassure allies, he said.

Not an Arms Race

The review is not a new arms race, nor is it a return to the Cold War. Rather, it is a hard-eyed view of the world as it is, Trachtenberg said.

Nuclear threats also emanate from rogue states such as North Korea, which has made repeated threats against the United States, South Korea and Japan.

Iran’s nuclear future remains uncertain, Trachtenberg said. The regime is still testing ballistic missiles, still engaging in malign activities throughout the Middle East and still trying to gain hegemony in the Persian Gulf, he said.

All this means the United States must increase deterrence efforts. Modernizing the American nuclear triad — intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-capable bombers and submarine-launched missiles — must happen, he said. So, too, must improvements in the command and control system.

Strengthening Deterrence

The posture review spells out how the United States views nuclear weapons and follows the long-held doctrine on the use of them, Trachtenberg said. The aim is to strengthen deterrence and lessen the chances that adversaries may miscalculate.

The review does call for the United States to develop a sea-launched nuclear cruise missile and modification of a small number of submarine-launched ballistic missiles to include a small-yield option, he said, noting that both can be done within current treaties.

These capabilities will help tailor U.S. deterrence strategy to contemporary requirements, he said. “Effective deterrence must shape potential adversaries calculations to ensure they do not see employment of nuclear weapons as a useful option in any circumstances,” he said. “If an adversary believes he can achieve his objectives through the limited use of nuclear weapons, then we risk deterrence failure.” (Source: US DoD)

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02 Mar 18. Kremlin rejects U.S. charge Russia in breach of arms control treaties. The Kremlin on Friday rejected a U.S. allegation that Russia had been developing destabilising weapons systems for over a decade in direct violations of its treaty obligations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is seen before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual state of the nation address to the Federal Assembly in Moscow, Russia March 1, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders made the allegation on Thursday after President Vladimir Putin announced an array of new nuclear weapons, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and evade a U.S.-built missile shield.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call on Friday that Russia categorically denied it was in breach of any international arms control pacts.

Peskov also rejected an assertion that Putin’s speech, one of his most bellicose in years, would deepen Russia’s international isolation and said it did not herald the start of a new arms race.

“Russia does not plan to get dragged into any arms race,” said Peskov.

(Source: Reuters)

 

02 Mar 18.  NATO says Russian warnings against allies ‘unacceptable.’ President Vladimir Putin’s warnings to NATO allies are“unacceptable” and do not help efforts to calm tensions, the alliance said on Friday, a day after the Russian leader announced an array of new nuclear weapons.

Already angry at NATO’s expansion eastwards into its old Soviet sphere of influence, Putin said in a speech on Thursday that any attack on Moscow’s allies would be regarded as an attack on Russia itself and draw an immediate response.

While it was unclear which ally Putin had in mind, the U.S.-led NATO said the speech, one of the Russian leader’s most bellicose in years, did not help calm tensions that have surged since Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimea four years ago.

“Russian statements threatening to target allies are unacceptable and counterproductive,” NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said in a statement.

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The Crimea crisis has given NATO a new sense of purpose, but the alliance insists its new deterrents in the Baltics and Poland are defensive.

“We do not want a new Cold War or a new arms race,” Lungescu said.“All allies support arms control agreements which build trust and confidence, for everyone’s benefit.”

One particular sore point for Moscow is NATO’s U.S.-built missile defence umbrella across Spain, Poland and Romania, which the alliance says is designed to shoot down Iranian rockets.

Putin, speaking ahead of an election on March 18 that polls indicate he should win easily, said in his speech that new Russian technology would render such defences “ineffective”.

But NATO said it was Russia that has a “continued military build-up from the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean.”

“As we have repeatedly made clear, the alliance’s missile defence is neither designed nor directed against Russia. Our system defends against ballistic missiles from outside the Euro-Atlantic area,” Lungescu said, in reference to the Middle East and further afield.

The NATO-Russia Council, which was briefly broken off in June 2014 after the Crimea crisis, is the forum in which Russian and NATO diplomats seek to air their grievances, although the West and Moscow remain at odds over eastern Ukraine.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in separatist fighting that NATO accuses Moscow of directly backing.

“NATO is pursuing a twin-track approach to Russia: strong deterrence and defence, combined with meaningful dialogue. We are committed to delivering on both tracks,” Lungescu said. (Source: Reuters)

 

02 Mar 18. Ukraine says weapons decision heralds new era of cooperation with U.S.. Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak on Friday said the decision by the United States to approve the supply of anti-tank missiles opened the door for closer military cooperation in the face of Russian aggression. On Thursday, the Pentagon announced that the sale of Javelin missiles and launch units to Ukraine had been approved – a move the United States has been mulling since early 2015 to help Ukraine in its standoff with Russia-backed separatists.

“Unfortunately the issue of giving lethal weapons was under consideration for a long time,” Poltorak said in an interview with Reuters.“But we received it (the decision) when we received it.”

“We have all possibilities to cooperate with the United States and to increase our cooperation including in the defence sector,” he said. He didn’t give further details.

The United States has been one of Kiev’s staunchest supporters since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent outbreak of fighting in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region that has killed more than 10,000 people.

But the decision to provide lethal aid is sensitive. The Kremlin has repeatedly said supplying weapons to Ukraine would further destabilise the situation by encouraging Kiev to use force.

Russia denies accusations from Kiev and NATO that it supports the rebels with troops and weapons. Clashes between government troops and the rebels continue despite a notional ceasefire and diplomatic peace efforts.

Speaking in a ministerial room decorated with photos of troops on the eastern front line, Poltorak said the weapons would help the Ukrainian military respond to attacks that he said Russia was responsible for coordinating.

“Its policy was aggressive and remains so. That’s why the decision by the United States to supply lethal weapons is important for us,” he said.

“Putin primarily uses the Donbass not only as a training ground to train servicemen for deployment in other hotspots, including Syria, and not only to test new weapons, equipment and other instruments. But he also uses it to prevent Ukraine from developing quickly,” he said.

It is not clear when the first supplies of anti-tank missiles will be delivered to Ukraine, but Poltorak said preparations were already underway in terms of selecting personnel and safe storage for an expected delivery this year.

According to the Pentagon, Ukraine has asked to buy 210 Javelin missiles and 37 Javelin Command Launch Units. The prime contractor will be a joint venture of Raytheon Co and Lockheed Martin Corp. (Source: Reuters)

 

01 Mar 18. Putin Declares Creation of Unstoppable Nuclear-Powered Missile. Russia has created a small-size super-powerful nuclear power plant that can be installed on a cruise missile, which will ensure an unlimited flight range and invulnerability to missile and air defense systems, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly on Thursday.

“We’ve started the development of new types of strategic weapons that do not use ballistic flight paths on the way to the target. This means that the missile defense systems are useless as a counter-means and just senseless,” Putin said that these cutting-edge weapon systems were based on the latest unique achievements of Russian scientists, designers and engineers.

“One of them is creation of a small-size highly powerful nuclear power plant that can be planted inside the hull of a cruise missile identical to our air-launched X-101 or the United States’ Tomahawk, but at the same time is capable of guaranteeing a flight range that is dozens of times greater, which is practically unlimited,” Putin said.

“A low-flying, low-visibility cruise missile armed with a nuclear warhead and possessing a practically unlimited range, unpredictable flight path and the capability to impregnate practically all interception lines is invulnerable to all existing and future anti-missile and air defense weapons,” Putin said.

At the end of 2017 Russia successfully launched the newest nuclear-powered cruise missile at the central proving ground, he went on.

“During the flight the power plant achieved the design capacity and thrust. The launch of the missile and the tests on the ground allow for starting work to create a fundamentally new type of weapon – a strategic nuclear missile equipped with a nuclear power plant,” Putin said.

On a large screen he showed a video modelling the flight of a nuclear power plant-equipped cruise missile circumventing missile defenses. In the video a cruise missile was flying at a low altitude over rugged terrain and water surface.

“This shows the way it will be coping with defense lines,” Putin said about the missile’s maneuvers.

“The range is unlimited, so the maneuvering can go on indefinitely,” he explained.

“As you may have guessed, no other country in the world has anything like that. Possibly, something similar will appear someday, but our guys will come up with something else by then,” Putin said to draw applause. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/TASS)

 

 

02 Mar 18. China ready to build larger aircraft carriers, paper says. China is ready to build larger aircraft carriers having mastered the technical ability to do so, a major state-run newspaper said on Friday ahead of the release of the country’s annual defence budget.

President Xi Jinping pledged in October to turn China’s military into a world-class fighting force by 2050 and has made new technology development a key policy plank, investing in stealth fighters, aircraft carriers and missiles.

China already has one operational carrier, the second-hand Soviet-era Liaoning bought from Ukraine in 1998, and is carrying out tests on its first indigenously built carrier, launched last year and expected to enter service in 2020.

Liu Zheng, chairman of Dalian Shipbuilding Industry in Liaoning province, said his company and its parent, China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, the world’s largest shipbuilder, could design and build carriers.

“We have complete ownership of the expertise, in terms of design, technology, technique, manufacturing and project management, that is needed to make an advanced carrier,” Liu told the official China Daily ahead of Monday’s opening of the annual session of parliament.

“We are ready to build larger ones,” he said.

China Shipbuilding said earlier this week they were developing technologies to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

Little is known about China’s aircraft carrier programme, which is a state secret.

State media has quoted experts as saying that China needs at least six carriers, an endeavour expected to take decades. The United States operates 10 and plans to build two more.

China’s navy has been taking an increasingly prominent role over the past year, with its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and new Chinese warships popping up in far-flung places.

China unveils its 2018 defence budget when parliament opens next week, a closely watched figure around the region and in Washington for signs of China’s strategic intentions. (Source: Reuters)

 

01 Mar 18. Major projects offering ‘false hope’ to states: Raytheon Australia. The fixation on job creation through Defence projects is “crowding out” much-needed discussion around cost, risk and schedule, head of public affairs for Raytheon Australia Gerard Wheeler has told a parliamentary hearing.

Speaking at the inquiry into the benefits and risks of a Bipartisan Australian Defence Agreement, Wheeler strongly encouraged individual members and senators to take advantage of defence Senate estimates and parliamentary inquiries to better inform themselves about Australia’s defence capability needs. Wheeler lamented the current discussions are solely focusing on economic activity for individual states looking to become the base site for major acquisition projects.

“I think the current discussion about the Future Submarine, the Future Frigate and LAND 400 are examples where members of Parliament should be openly having a public discussion about capability, cost, risk and schedule,” he said.

“Instead, the only discussion is about economic activity. That may be very important, and it is, but that is crowding out the public discussion about what sort of defence capability the ADF is going to get. I think that is a very bad thing.”

Wheeler said the discussion being driven by politicians and the media is generating unrealistic expectations for job growth and economic improvements, particularly in the case of LAND 400, where Queensland and Victoria are furiously lobbying to secure the project, and is severely lacking in critical discussion around protection for ADF personnel.

“What it’s led to is peddling in false hope – that Defence projects will generate thousands and thousands of new jobs. I think we have to be realistic about the number of jobs that some of these projects will be creating. LAND 400 is a very good example,” Wheeler said.

“You have one state saying that it will generate 450 jobs and a billion dollars worth of economic activity. Another state is saying it will generate thousands of jobs and $5bn worth of economic activity. For the same project, generating the same number of 225 combat reconnaissance vehicles, how does that work? I just don’t think there’s a proper examination of these issues and there certainly isn’t a proper public discussion about the capabilities that the ADF is going to get through that project. The protection of our service men and women are the sorts of issues that we should be talking about rather than how many jobs a certain project is going to create.”

The LAND 400 Phase 2 project, estimated to be worth up to $5bn, has heated up in the last few weeks, with accusations rife that the project will come down to pork-barrelling in marginal seats.

Federal ministers Alan Tudge, Tim Wilson, Chris Crewther, Michael Sukkar, Kevin Andrews and senator Jane Hume converged on RUAG Australia’s office at Bayswater for the announcement that, should BAE Systems secure the project, RUAG Australia will produce world-leading ballistic armour for the 225 Australian Army combat reconnaissance vehicles.

A new campaign by the state’s Labor government was also launched recently, which includes billboards throughout Canberra aiming to promote the strengths of Victoria’s defence industry and record in manufacturing military vehicles.

Defence’s discussion of job creation in media releases from the defence and defence industry ministers has been put under the microscope recently at Senate estimates, with Australian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson calling for documentation and evidence of jobs set to be created with defence companies under the new Defence Export Strategy. (Source: Defence Connect)

 

28 Feb 18. India prepares first industrial corridor. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in New Delhi has started to prepare for the establishment of India’s first defence industrial corridor in the country’s southernmost state of Tamil Nadu. The MoD said on 27 February that “work for preparing the detailed project report (DPR) for the Tamil Nadu defence quadrilateral has been initiated. [The MoD’s Department of Defence Production] will engage a top consultancy firm to draw up the DPR.” The MoD said that in preparing for the Tamil Nadu corridor, it is holding industry briefings in the region between state-owned prime contractors such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) and locally based private-sector companies. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

27 Feb 18. South Africa cuts defence budget. The South African budget announced on 21 February included the first nominal cut for defence spending since the massive reductions of the early 1990s, with a 1.4% decrease from ZAR48.6bn in the 2017/2018 financial year (FY) to ZAR47.9bn (USD4.1bn). This represents a 5.5% reduction on the previous budget’s plan to spend ZAR50.7bn on defence in FY 2018/19. The new budget stated that this figure will now be reached in FY 2019/20 and increase to ZAR54.0bn in 2020/21. The discrepancy between the 2018/19 spending plan announced last year and the budget announced this year leaves the army with 5.25% less money than it was expecting, the air force with 10.2% less, and the navy down 9.6%.(Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

28 Feb 18. Australian Senator calls for Two Army Policy. A West Australian Liberal senator is calling on the government to adopt a Two Army Policy that emulates the Two Ocean Navy Policy put into effect in 1987. Senator Dean Smith will push the government for the policy, after obtaining research that shows only 864 full-time regular Army soldiers, out of the nearly 30,000 personnel nationwide, are based in WA.

Senator Smith said he was surprised to learn that South Australia has 70 per cent more personnel than WA, despite its smaller coastline and its situation on the southern part of the continent.

“The research shows that Western Australia has the second-lowest permanent Army force, compared to Queensland with 12,394 and South Australia with 1,476,” Senator Smith said.

“The only state or territory with less of an Army presence than WA is Tasmania, which has less than 70 personnel. This is despite the fact that 56 per cent of Australia’s coastline is astride to the Indian Ocean compared to just 27 per cent for the Pacific Ocean and 17 per cent for the Southern Ocean.”

The senator said the strategic significance of having more personnel is emphasised not only by its geographical location, but also by the state’s abundance of natural resources.

“WA accounts for 78 per cent of Australia’s crude oil, 92 per cent of natural gas, 49 per cent of global iron ore production and some of the world’s largest reserves of lithium,” he said.

“It is an unfortunate fact that over the past four decades, the regular Army presence in WA has been greatly diminished.”

The senator will call for an inquiry into the merits of a two-armies policy, noting that an unofficial Two Army Policy was implemented during World War II and by December 1942, of 23 brigades deployed throughout Australia, six were based near Perth, which amounted to 26 per cent of Australia’s combat forces.

“In 2018, it is my intention to call for a Senate inquiry to establish a Two Army Policy where a significant proportion of regular Army personnel are stationed in Western Australia as well as the east coast,” Senator Smith said.

“Such an inquiry is timely given the volatility in the Indian Ocean region and the potential challenges that our nation may face in the future.”

The senator said he also understood the WA-based reserve unit, 13th Brigade, was now commanded by an Adelaide-based Army Reserve brigadier who will visit WA on a fly-in, fly-out basis for at least one year.

“The scaling back of the regular Army presence in WA has occurred at a time when much of the global economic and political instability is taking place in the Indian Ocean region where our personnel have been regularly deployed in recent years to locations such as Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.

A review of the Australian Defence Force’s structure of military units was previously undertaken under the Gillard government by then defence minister Stephen Smith, also of WA.

Upon completion of the review, the Department of Defence committed to a major exercise in WA’s north each year, flying in elements of east coast army units to show the military could mobilise quickly to meet any threat to the west coast. (Source: Defence Connect)

 

28 Feb 18. China’s military flexes muscles for domestic objective – more funding. With stealth jets entering service, leaked pictures of new high-tech naval artillery and proud reports of manoeuvres that “dare to shine the sword,” China’s armed forces are putting on a show of power as they lobby for greater defence spending.

Although it is the world’s largest military, the People’s Liberation Army has been privately unhappy that it got less than double-digit funding increases the past two years. It has recently been making the case that it needs more money to deal with increased global uncertainty, diplomats and several sources with ties to the armed forces say.

In the run-up to the defence budget’s release at the annual meeting of China’s parliament next week, state media outlets have been filled with coverage of military drills, advanced new equipment and thrilling tales of derring-do in a new film very loosely based on China’s evacuating people from Yemen’s civil war in 2015.

The overall message is clear: China faces serious challenges, from U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of force against nuclear-armed North Korea to an increasingly tense border dispute with India and what Beijing sees as efforts by self-ruled Taiwan to assert its sovereignty.

Confronting those challenges requires cash, a point the military is now trying to drive home.

“If you keep telling your people China is facing all these threats, you have to be able to back it up to show you are spending enough,” said a senior Beijing-based Western diplomat.

President Xi Jinping promised in his keynote speech to the Communist Party Congress in October to make China’s armed forces world-class by the middle of the century. The military has deployed an increasingly sophisticated propaganda machine to make sure that promise stays top of mind.

A professionally shot air force video released to celebrate the Lunar New Year this month entitled “New fighters of the great power to safeguard the new era” led with footage of the latest fighter to enter service, the J-20 stealth jet, designed as a counterpart to the radar-evading the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.

“It looks like they are making the case for a large rise in defence spending,” said an Asian diplomat, speaking of the recent uptick in

NERVOUS NEIGHBOURS

China’s defence spending is only about one-quarter that of the United States, if official figures are accurate. China has repeatedly said that it has no hostile intent, that its military is for defensive missions, and that defence spending is transparent.

Many of the country’s neighbours beg to differ, calling out what they see as Chinese sabre-rattling as it ramps up drills in the region.

Vietnam, one of the most vocal opponents of China’s South China Sea claims, has tightened its military relationship with the United States. Taiwan has pledged to grow defence spending, and wants to buy new, advanced U.S. equipment.

The official People’s Liberation Army Daily said this month that although China was committed to a defensive military policy, it had to “dare to shine the sword” with air patrols far from China’s coast, whether close to Taiwan or over uninhabited islets disputed with Japan in the East China Sea.

Such flights, it said, protected China’s “bottom line” on strategic issues.

One source with ties to the military said another pressing area for more spending was salaries, which have not kept up with those of private-sector workers.

“Simply relying on ‘the great Xi to lead us to victory’ won’t cut it,” the source said, referring to efforts to recruit the best and the brightest into the military by appealing to national pride.

BETWEEN THE LINES

The defence budget will only disclose a top-line number, with a percentage comparison to the previous year. No breakdown on spending is provided.

Last year, China’s parliament did not initially release the figure, sparking questions over transparency. But when it did, the budget increase was 7 percent, the smallest in more than a decade.

The budgeted increase of 7.6 percent for 2016 was the lowest in six years and the first single-digit rise since 2010, following a nearly unbroken two-decade run of double-digit increases.

Experts say the true figure is likely much higher than what is officially reported, with money for some military projects included in ostensibly non-military spending.

“Particularly given China’s civil-military integration, it is difficult to know where defence spending ends” and civilian research and development begins, said another Western diplomat, who analyses China’s military.

Some defence experts say that China is eroding the United States’ military technology dominance and that the People’s Liberation Army could surpass the U.S. military in artificial intelligence capabilities, which have become a spending priority for Beijing.

But in the absence of transparency about new technologies, such as an experimental electromagnetic railgun state media suggested this year was being tested aboard a Chinese warship, there is scepticism about their combat readiness.

China has not fought a war since 1979, a brief invasion of Vietnam that ended badly for China.

China’s Defence Ministry declined to comment ahead of the figure being released by parliament. The general percentage rise is typically given the day before parliament opens, and the raw figure the next day. Parliament opens March 5. (Source: Reuters)

 

27 Feb 18. Brazil president weighing Boeing-Embraer joint venture: spokesman. Brazilian President Michel Temer is weighing whether to support a proposal for a joint commercial aviation company between Boeing Co (BA.N) and Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer (EMBR3.SA), a presidential spokesman said on Tuesday.

Because Brazil’s government has opposed an outright takeover of Embraer, which the government regards as a strategic company, the proposal involves creating a third corporation. The new corporation would include the passenger plane unit of Embraer, the world’s top maker of regional jets, while excluding Embraer’s defense operations.

The Brazilian government, which holds a “golden share” in Embraer that gives it veto power over strategic decisions, must ultimately approve any deal.

“Nothing has been decided on the partnership between the two companies,” Temer’s top spokesman, Marcio de Freitas, told Reuters.

“The Defense Ministry received the proposal and sent it to the president, but it still has to be studied and there are still some doubts about the matter,” he added, without providing further details.

An industry source familiar with the talks said progress was being made by Boeing and Embraer.

“They are getting very close,” the source said, but noted that the two sides had seemed close to a deal before, only to see their progress blocked.

Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said this month the company has been working on a deal for years, but added it was not essential.

A Boeing spokesman reaffirmed that stance in an email on Tuesday, calling a combination with Embraer “a win-win for all.”

Embraer, the world’s third-largest planemaker, said in a securities filing that no details of the talks have been set in stone. That was echoed by Temer’s office.

Questions remain about the size of each company’s stake. Brazilian business newspaper Valor, citing sources close to Temer, reported Embraer would take a 49 percent of the new company. But people familiar with the negotiations told Reuters Boeing was unlikely to agree to a joint venture in which it held less than 80-90 percent to have full operational control. The potential deal has snagged on concerns in Brasilia that Washington would get final say over Brazilian defense programs and use of technology developed in the country, including satellite and air-traffic control systems. The Brazilian government’s golden share in Embraer gives it veto power over strategic decisions involving military programs and any change in controlling interest.

Boeing has worked to overcome the Brazilian military’s objections with alternatives that would preserve the government’s strategic veto rights and ensure safeguards for its defense programs, sources have told Reuters. The partnership would give Boeing a leading share of the 70- to 130-seat market and create stiffer competition for the CSeries program designed by Canada’s Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO) and run by European rival Airbus SE (AIR.PA) since last year. (Source: Reuters)

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About Harris Corporation

 

Harris Corporation is a leading technology innovator, solving customers’ toughest mission-critical challenges by providing solutions that connect, inform and protect. Harris supports government and commercial customers in more than 100 countries and has approximately $6 billion in annual revenue. The company is organized into three business segments: Communication Systems, Space and Intelligence Systems and Electronic Systems. Learn more at harris.com.

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BUSINESS NEWS Part I

 

Web Page sponsored by Odyssey Corporate Finance

 

Contact: Tom McCarthy, Director, Odyssey Corporate Finance

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02 Mar 18. Microchip buys Microsemi for $10bn. Microchip is to buy Microsemi in a deal which values the latter at about $10bn. The move follows a period of speculation about Microsemi being an acquisition target.

“We are delighted to welcome Microsemi to become part of the Microchip team and look forward to closing the transaction and working together to realise the benefits of a combined team pursuing a unified strategy,” said Steve Sanghi, pictured, Microchip’s chairman and CEO.

“Joining forces and combining our complementary product portfolios and end market exposure will offer our customers a richer set of solution options to enable innovative and competitive products for the markets they serve,” Ganesh Moorthy, Microchip’s president and COO, added.

Microchip has been building its portfolio for some time, with one of its most recent acquisitions being Atmel. Acquiring Microsemi is likely to create further opportunities in the data centre, communications, defence and aerospace markets. It also brings access to FPGA technology.

“Microchip continues to view accretive acquisitions as a key strategy to deliver incremental growth and stockholder value,” Sanghi noted. “The Microsemi acquisition is the latest chapter of this strategy.” The deal is expected to be completed by the middle of 2018. (Source: Google/New Electronics)

 

01 Mar 18. GKN says in talks with U.S.-based Dana over auto unit sale. British engineering company GKN said it was in talks with Dana Incorporated regarding the sale of its auto-parts Driveline unit as part of a deal which would be effected mainly in equity.

GKN, whose board opposes a cash and shares approach made by turnaround specialist Melrose, already has a plan to demerge its main aerospace and automotive businesses in mid-2019. The company said on Friday that the potential deal with Dana could provide greater value to shareholders than the demerger plan and it would therefore continue to explore it as an option. U.S.-based Dana makes axles, driveshafts and other parts for cars. (Source: Reuters)

 

28 Feb 18. Cubic acquires MotionDSP. Cubic Corporation has acquired MotionDSP, a supplier of advanced image processing software for public safety, security and government applications.

MotionDSP will enhance Cubic Mission Solutions’ (CMS) capabilities in real-time video processing. MotionDSP’s solutions include a full suite of software processing capabilities for video and redaction that supports both desktop and cloud deployments.

The company’s software offers advanced detection, tracking and geospatial processing capabilities and improves visual fidelity and automation of tasks with computer vision algorithms.

Bradley Feldmann, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Cubic, said: ‘We are pleased to welcome MotionDSP and its employees to our growing Cubic family. MotionDSP will be a synergistic addition to our CMS business as we continue to build on our strategy through business acquisitions for maximum growth and return to our shareholders.’

This acquisition will strengthen Cubic’s C4ISR capabilities. (Source: Shephard)

 

01 Mar 18. Cobham sticks to 2018 outlook. British aerospace and defence electronics group Cobham said it posted annual profit slightly ahead of expectations, and was sticking to its 2018 outlook, but cautioned that risks and challenges remained. Cobham, which is a year into a turnaround plan, posted annual underlying operating profit of 210.3m pounds, 6.5 percent lower than it made last year.

“I have seen early signs of progress against our operational priorities, while risks and challenges remain. I continue to have confidence in our medium term prospects,” Cobham chief executive David Lockwood said in a statement on Thursday. (Source: Reuters)

 

01 Mar 18. Naval Group 2017 results: for the third year running, Naval Group improves its operating profitability

• Sales of €3.7bn (+16% vs 2016), of which 35% on international markets
• Orders intake of €4bn
• EBITA of €172.7m, 1.5-point increase in operating profit to 4.7%
• Promising perspectives for 2018

Naval Group’s Board of Directors held a meeting on February 28th 2018 to finalise the accounts for the 2017 reporting period, which closed on December 31st.

Hervé Guillou, Chairman and CEO of Naval Group, commented the results: “After several years of collective effort, Naval Group confirms its growth objectives, capitalising on the capacity of its teams to relentlessly strengthen the operational control of its programs and offers, its new European and international strategy and the construction of a long-term industrial and social pact.”

Frank Le Rebeller, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President in charge of Legal and Purchasing, adds: “The results for the 2017 reporting period show, for the third year running, an increase in our revenues and an improvement of our net margin and operating profitability. These results allow us to increase our investments and strengthen our competitiveness, which are essential conditions for our development and the service to the French Navy and to our international clients.”

Orders intake: €4bn, Book-to-Bill ratio of 1.08

Orders taken over the 2017 reporting period represent €4,001m. The competitiveness of the offers has contributed to the average order-book margin rate, whose total stood at €11,912m at the end of 2017.

The orders taken in France and on international markets over the 2017 reporting period have benefitted all sectors, from new-build programs to services and equipment. The main contract awards relate to the intermediate-size frigates program (FTI), the PROSUB submarine program for the Brazilian Navy, the renovation of La Fayette-class frigates, the nuclear attack submarine program and the Australian submarine program.

Measured across the three years 2015 to 2017, the Book-to-Bill ratio (orders taken over sales), which is a measure of the order-book renewal rate, accounts for 1.02 (1.08 for 2017 alone).

Activity: increase in revenues of close to 16%, 35% for international sales

The consolidated sales are €3,698m, of which 35% earned on the international markets. The increase of 15.9% with respect to 2016 was supported by the major French new-build (principally FREMM multi-mission frigates and Barracuda nuclear attack submarines) and service programs, including the mid-life modernisation of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, as well as the maintenance programs for the nuclear attack submarines and nuclear ballistic missile submarines.

On international markets, Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Australia were powerful growth drivers for the activity of the group.

Profitability: significant increase in EBITA and operating profit

EBITA (earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation) is €172.7m. Its significant increase, greater than that for revenues, translates into a further improvement of operating margin, which increased from 3.2% in 2016 to 4.7% in 2017.

This solid progression, which has been ongoing for three years now, is the result of the operational improvement of all naval programs and the effectiveness of the actions undertaken in the frame of the industrial and social pact. These results were nevertheless constrained by the impairment of the asset value of our subsidiary, Naval Energies, faced with delays and operational difficulties throughout 2017.

Consolidated net income, group share accounts for €142.2m, thereby increasing of almost €50m compared to 2016.

Perspectives: an increase in recruitment and investments; continuation of cost-control efforts

The gains achieved through the industrial and social pact allow Naval Group to invest, which is the prerequisite for the growth of the group. In 2017, Naval Group recruited over 1,000 new employees and this trend is set to continue, particularly thanks to Naval Campus initiatives in terms of vocational training for workers and technicians.

Furthermore, Naval Group accelerates its investments in self-financing research and development, information systems, infrastructures and industrial and research tools and equipment. Throughout 2018, Naval Group will pursue its continuous competitiveness improvement for its domestic and international offers and ongoing programs, which are subjected to deadlines and cost control. The improvement in operating profitability is expected to continue in 2018 while the consolidated net income – group share should be increasing by 10%.

 

28 Feb 18. Melrose’s $10bn GKN bid opposed by investor adviser PIRC. Investor adviser PIRC has told shareholders in Melrose Industries (MRON.L) to oppose its 7bn pound ($10bn) bid for engineering group GKN GKN.L., putting it at odds with two other proxy voting firms.

Melrose shareholders are due to vote at a March 8 meeting on the potential acquisition and the turnaround specialist’s plan to issue shares to help to finance the GKN bid.

But PIRC, which advises institutional investors, warned Melrose shareholders in a Feb. 27 report that “various issues” mean they should oppose the proposed takeover of GKN.

This conflicts with recommendations issued last week by fellow advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, which have both backed the deal.

The board of GKN, a mainstay of the British engineering sector and manufacturer of parts for the Eurofighter Typhoon and Black Hawk helicopters among others, spurned the cash-and-paper bid last month, prompting Melrose to turn hostile and take its offer directly to GKN investors.

This has prompted a war of words between the two and some lawmakers have raised national security concerns.

Melrose typically breaks up companies once it has improved their performance and some British lawmakers are worried that parts of GKN involved in defense programs could be sold on to a foreign buyer.

PIRC has highlighted to investors that Melrose’s decision to go hostile means that it “has not benefited from the co-operation of the GKN board”.

The adviser also said that “significant political and other considerations, including security concerns” have been raised and that Melrose has reported annual losses two years running.

This is in contrast to the views of ISS and Glass Lewis.

“Given the sensible strategic rationale, (Melrose‘s) turnaround track record and reasonable valuation, approval of the acquisition is warranted,” ISS said in a note to clients.

Glass Lewis said that even though GKN was bigger and more complex than other takeovers that Melrose has attempted, the turnaround specialist’s previous successes “affords management and the board the benefit of the doubt.”

“Melrose has always been highly focused on engaging with its shareholders to secure their ongoing support, including in relation to its offer for GKN,” a spokeswoman for Melrose said. (Source: Reuters)

 

28 Feb 18. Rheinmetall presents preliminary figures for fiscal 2017. The technology group continues to grow and increases profits.

– Consolidated sales grow 5% to €5,896m

– Operating result rises 13% to €400m

– Operating free cash flow improves significantly to €276m

– Automotive generates an operating result of €249m and raises operating margin to 8.7%

– Defence increases the operating result to €174m – operating margin climbs to 5.7%

The Düsseldorf technology group Rheinmetall generated consolidated sales of €5,896m in fiscal 2017, an increase of €294m or 5% compared to the previous year’s figure of €5,602m. Both sectors again contributed to the Group’s growth in sales.

Operating result rose by €47m or 13% to €400m in fiscal 2017 after €353m in the previous year. Including special items of €-15m, EBIT amounted to €385m. Special items included restructuring costs at two locations (€-24m) and income from a property sale (€9m) in connection with the former production site in Hamburg. The improvement in the operating result is owed to the solid business performance of both sectors. Rheinmetall therefore increased its consolidated operating margin to 6.8% in 2017 after 6.3% in the previous year. The company’s most recent guidance of an operating margin of slightly more than 6.5% will therefore be achieved in full.

Operating free cash flow has increased as well. It amounted to €276m for the Group in 2017, significantly higher than the previous year’s figure of €161m.

Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall AG, said: “Our technology group is still on track for healthy growth. Both our sales and earnings rose further in fiscal 2017. There was also a further substantial improvement in cash flow. In terms of our focus on mobility and security, we feel we are excellently positioned for success on global growth markets and to further expand our business volume. Our goal is not just to set technologically important trends and expand market positions, but also to further increase earnings and cash flow in particular.”

Automotive reports record sales

The Automotive sector continued to develop positively in fiscal 2017, and outperformed the previous year on all key figures. The sector’s sales grew by 8% and income rose to a new high of €2,861m (previous year: €2,656m).

A strong growth contribution was again made by the Mechatronics division in 2017, which saw an increase in sales of €130m or 9% year-on-year with its products for reducing consumption and emissions.

The sales figure for Automotive does not include the contributions from the joint ventures in China. Income there climbed by €20m to €845m (previous year: €825m). Adjusted for currency effects, sales growth in China amounted to 9%. The wholly owned Rheinmetall Automotive subsidiaries in China increased their sales by 17% from €109m in the previous year to €127m in 2017.

The Automotive sector’s EBIT before special items reached a new high of €249m in fiscal 2017 (previous year: €223m). Including the costs of €22m for the closure of a production location in France, the sector’s EBIT amounted to €227m.

The operating margin rose to 8.7% in 2017 after 8.4% in the previous year.

Defence posts growth and significant earnings improvement

The Defence sector generated sales of €3,036m in 2017, an increase of 3% or €90m compared to the previous year’s figure of €2,946m.

The division reported incoming orders of €2,963m in the past fiscal year, only slightly below the previous year’s level (€3,050m). The Defence sector’s sales and order intake in the fourth quarter of 2017 were influenced by pending export decisions by the German government, which have not yet been made on account of the delayed formation of a government, and the postponement of individual projects until fiscal 2018.

Rheinmetall Defence’s order backlog was down slightly in light of extensive deliveries at €6,416m as of the end of 2017 (December 31, 2016: €6,656m). The sector’s earnings rose at a faster rate than its sales growth in 2017. EBIT before special items amounted to €174m in the reporting year, bettering the figure for the previous year by €27m or 18%. After deducting non-recurring expenses of €2m for the capacity adjustment of a site in the Netherlands, the sector’s EBIT amounted to €172m. Rheinmetall Defence’s operating margin rose to 5.7% in fiscal 2017 after 5.0% in the previous year.

Rheinmetall will publish its final figures and its outlook for fiscal 2018 on March 15, 2018.

 

01 Mar 18. Saint-Gobain Acquires HyComp. Saint-Gobain’s Performance Plastics business has acquired HyComp LLC, an Ohio-based manufacturer of advanced proprietary components for the aerospace and industrial markets.

Founded in 1986, HyComp operates from a single location in the Cleveland area where it has approximately 120 employees. The company is a leading supplier of composite components made with proprietary carbon fibers and thermoplastic materials, used in applications such as actuation and electric systems on aircraft, as well as wear rings and air rotary valves for the canning and rolling mills markets.

“HyComp’s joining Saint-Gobain gives us the opportunity to broaden our portfolio of critical parts for high-temperature and long-life applications in aerospace and industrial applications,” says Jean Angus, General Manager of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics’ Seals Division. “The HyComp management team’s years of experience will help us to continue to make a material difference for our customers. The operation’s design, engineering and quality control processes, coupled with pioneering, advanced thermoplastic and thermoset manufacturing capabilities, have provided customers with unique, complex parts critical for demanding applications over the years. It’s a perfect fit for Saint-Gobain.”

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics is the world’s leading producer of engineered, high-performance polymer products, and serves virtually every major industry across the globe, with 58 manufacturing facilities and 6,500 employees in 21 countries throughout the world. The business is part of Saint-Gobain, the world’s largest building materials company, which has more than 179,000 employees and operations in 67 countries, and global sales of $46.1bn in 2017. In the United States and Canada, Saint-Gobain has approximately 150 locations and more than 15,000 employees, and reported sales of approximately $6.1bn in 2017. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

 

01 Mar 18. IAI Joins Global Aerospace Accelerator Starburst. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has joined forces with Starburst, a global accelerator focused on Aerospace & Defense sectors.

This innovative collaboration is expected to be the first step in realizing IAI’s objectives to become a significant technological player and strategic partner for startups in the Aerospace & Defense fields, by offering technological and business expertise, technology validation, mentoring and access to such startups’ potential markets.

With presence in three continents, Starburst comprises 300 startup companies and 26 companies in the accelerator, including GE Aviation, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Thales, Airbus and more.

IAI will participate in the election of startups to the accelerator the meets IAI’s criteria, and in addition, overseas startups that already participate in the accelerator will present technologies selected by IAI according to pre-determined criteria. The model will enable IAI to identify innovative technologies that can contribute to its current and future growth engines and technological roadmap and maintain its position as a technological spearhead, through technical collaboration and equity investments in the forefront of aerospace technology.

Zvi Maayan, IAI VP of business development and subsidiaries, said, “The collaboration with Starburst and startups has become an engine that makes breakthrough and disruptive technologies accessible. Operating in a dynamic business environment that experiences rapidly changing paradigms, practices and trends, IAI has resolved to lead the technological forefront through collaboration with innovative, out-of-the-box, platform that nurtures creativity and broader horizons, while entering into the startup disruptive and highly innovative arena. The collaboration with Starburst will give us visibility and access to startups in IAI’s areas of activity and open up new horizons.”

Starburst CEO, Francois Chopard, said, “Starburst is excited to partner with IAI. This is an important signal for aerospace entrepreneurs and innovators in the ‘startup nation’ and those abroad looking to partner with one of the world’s leading aerospace companies.” (Source: UAS VISION)

 

28 Feb 18. Embraer CEO expects talks with Boeing to be concluded in 1st half. The chief executive officer of Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA (EMBR3.SA), Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, said on Wednesday that he expects tie-up talks with Boeing (BA.N) to be finalized in the first half of this year.

Silva told reporters at the company’s headquarters in Sao José dos Campos that the talks with Boeing would not be affected by Brazil’s presidential campaign and October election, nor because an Army reserve general was named as the new defence minister this week. The military is leery of any Embraer deal with Boeing, given Embraer’s importance to the defence industry. (Source: Reuters)

 

28 Feb 18. Patria reorganizes sales division following consultant’s death in Uganda. Patria Group has moved to overhaul its core global marketing and sales functions in the wake of the death, under suspicious circumstances, of a business consultant authorized by the state defense company to negotiate new business in Uganda.

Finland’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Mika Lintilä, has instructed Patria’s management to present a report on the death, in Kampala, of Finnish business consultant Tuomas Teräsvuori.

The event has already resulted in the resignation of three executives, including two senior managers at Patria Land Systems, Patria’s land business division.

Group CEO Olli Isotalo said management was unaware that Teräsvuori was in Uganda to represent Patria in sales talks.

“A letter, written in very general terms, was issued by a low-level sales executive to the consultant. Discussions with Uganda would have been rejected from the very start had the matter been known by senior management,” Isotalo said.

The letter from Patria’s sales and marketing division had authorized Teräsvuori to represent the company in arms sales talks both in Uganda and Mozambique.

Why is the death suspicious?

The consultant’s body was found in his hotel room in the Pearl of Africa Hotel on Feb. 6. Three women, all Ugandan nationals, have been arrested by police in connection with Teräsvuori’s death.

Teräsvuori had traveled to Uganda to discuss a possible weapons contract with government and military officials. He was scheduled to meet with Col. Frank Kaka Bagyenda, the director general of the Internal Security Organisation, Uganda’s counterintelligence agency. (Source: Defense News)

 

28 Feb 18. Houlihan Lokey Advises SENTEL Corporation. Houlihan Lokey announced that SENTEL Corporation (SENTEL) has been acquired by Vectrus Inc. (NYSE:VEC). The transaction closed on January 23, 2018.

This represents the first transaction from the newly acquired Bluestone Capital Partners team that has integrated into Houlihan Lokey’s Aerospace, Defense & Government Services Group.

Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and founded in 1986, SENTEL has more than 600 employees operating in three core business areas: engineering and advanced solutions, logistics and supply chain management, and intelligence mission support. SENTEL supports a diversified base of customers across the defense and intelligence communities as well as civilian agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the Internal Revenue Service.

SENTEL is a recognized leader in developing information solutions designed for spectrum management systems, sensor networks, border surveillance systems, perimeter surveillance systems, and various other detection systems. The company also provides comprehensive global logistics support and has a track record of successfully managing clients’ major facilities, supply chains, and assets worth in excess of $5bn. SENTEL provides multidisciplinary mission support for various intelligence community clients and recently secured a prime contract to provide worldwide logistics management support services.

Formed in 2014 as a result of a spin-off from Exelis Inc., Vectrus provides facility and logistics services as well as information technology and network communication services to U.S. government customers around the world. Vectrus is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and includes about 5,600 employees spanning 143 locations in 18 countries. In 2016, Vectrus generated sales of $1.2bn. The acquisition of SENTEL expands Vectrus’ capabilities and accelerates the company’s transformation into a technology-enabled, differentiated platform. In particular, SENTEL’s expertise in advanced technology, engineering, sensor integration, and surveillance aligns with Vectrus’ strategy of becoming a leader in the converging physical and digital infrastructure environment. SENTEL also brings immediate access to additional customers across the defense and intelligence communities while broadening Vectrus’ logistics and mission support capabilities. The acquisition represents Vectrus’ first acquisition since its spin-off from Exelis in 2014 and is expected to be accretive to Vectrus’ 2018 GAAP diluted earnings per share.

If you would like more information about Houlihan Lokey or have any questions regarding the acquisition of SENTEL, please contact one of the Aerospace, Defense & Government Services team members listed.

* Selected transactions were executed by Houlihan Lokey professionals while at other firms acquired by Houlihan Lokey, or by professionals from a Houlihan Lokey joint venture company.

Deal Team Contacts

Aerospace, Defense & Government Services

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) is a global investment bank with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructuring, valuation, and strategic consulting. The firm serves corporations, institutions, and governments worldwide with offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia‑Pacific region. Independent advice and intellectual rigor are hallmarks of the firm’s commitment to client success across its advisory services. Houlihan Lokey is ranked as the No. 1 M&A advisor for all U.S. transactions, the No. 1 global restructuring advisor, and the No. 1 global M&A fairness opinion advisor over the past 20 years, according to Thomson Reuters.

 

28 Feb 18. TMD acquires small hi-tech, specialist microwave manufacturing company. TMD Technologies Limited (TMD) has announced the acquisition of G2 Engineering Limited, a small, specialist hi-tech microwave design and manufacturing company currently based in nearby Greenford, West London. Established some 18 years ago, G2 Engineering is engaged in the design and manufacture of a range of radar transponders and support equipment for applications that include UAVs, missiles, and manned aircraft. Prominent existing customers of G2 Engineering include MBDA and QinetiQ. Said Dave Brown, TMD’s Managing Director: ”G2 Engineering is respected within its specialist area of the microwave and RF industry, and was well known to us because they supply to many of the same customers as we do. This acquisition will benefit all – and offer increased potential for new business opportunities!”

TMD’s product ranges are fully complementary with many radar, EW and comms systems requiring both TMD and G2 Engineering products – enabling TMD to offer an expanded, high value package to its customers, with all the advantages of more seamless integration and enhanced service. TMD’s new acquisition company will initially trade as ‘G2 Engineering, a TMD Technologies Company’, and is scheduled to move into TMD’s premises in Hayes, West London in the next few weeks.

 

27 Feb 18. Kaman Reports 2017 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results.

Fourth Quarter Highlights:

• Net sales increased 9.4% to $473.9m
• Net earnings of $13.8m, 8.8% decrease from the prior year
• Adjusted EBITDA* increased 40.3% to $54.0m, 11.4% of net sales
• Distribution operating margin of 4.4%, a 220 basis point increase from the prior year
• Aerospace operating margin of 21.4%, a 230 basis point increase from the prior year

Kaman Corp. (NYSE:KAMN) today reported financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter and full year ended December 31, 2017.

Neal J. Keating, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Performance for the fourth quarter and full year demonstrates the strong execution on our key Aerospace programs and the ability to drive operating profit growth at Distribution. Net earnings for the quarter were lower than the prior year, primarily due to a $9.7m charge resulting from tax reform and $1.1m of pre-tax restructuring and severance costs; however, Adjusted EBITDA* increased 40.3% to $54.0m, 11.4% of Net Sales.

Distribution sales in the fourth quarter were up 2.2%, or 0.6% on a sales per sales day* basis, with operating margins up 220 basis points, to 4.4%. For the year, sales declined 2.3% to $1.081bn; however, operating profit increased 25.4% to $52.5m. Sales per Sales Day* turned positive in November, a trend which has continued into 2018, where year-to-date Sales per Sales Day* are up more than 5.0% through February. Additionally, we have been successful in securing a number of national accounts, the largest of which was signed in the first quarter of 2018. We have begun the process of transitioning these accounts and expect the contribution to our top line performance to increase as we move through the year. These trends give us confidence in our ability to achieve our outlook as we enter 2018.

Aerospace performance in the quarter was highlighted by a continued sequential sales increase for our specialty bearings products, as well as the delivery of more than 13,000 joint programmable fuzes, leading to almost 36,000 fuze deliveries in the year. Our Aerospace team delivered operating margin performance of 21.4%, or 21.5% adjusted*, an increase of 230 bps over the fourth quarter of 2016.

Entering 2018, prospects for both segments remain strong. At Distribution, the team is working to drive sales growth across the platforms, while maintaining the improvements we have made in operating profit performance. At Aerospace, growth for our specialty bearings products will continue into 2018 and we have recently received initial orders for the Combat Rescue Helicopter, a continuation of our long standing relationship with Sikorsky. In addition, we have secured more than $425m in JPF orders, led by the $324m DCS award announced in January, creating record backlog for this program. We anticipate additional orders from the USG on Option 14, and look forward to the opportunity to continue our relationship with the USG under Options 15 and 16. The opportunities for this program remain strong and we are encouraged by its longer term prospects.”

Chief Financial Officer, Robert D. Starr, commented, “The sequential improvements we anticipated in 2017 continued into the fourth quarter, where we delivered diluted earnings per share of $0.49, or $0.86 adjusted. Earnings for the quarter were driven by a 9.9% increase in gross profit to $148.8m, resulting in a record gross margin of 31.4%. The passage of the tax reform in late 2017 required us to revalue our deferred tax positions resulting in a reduction to our net deferred tax asset position of approximately $9.7m, or $0.35 per diluted share. While we incurred a charge in 2017, we anticipate future benefits from tax reform due to the reduction in our corporate tax rate, which for 2018 is anticipated to be in the range of 25.5% to 26.5%, inclusive of state and local taxes.

Moving to our outlook for 2018, we expect Aerospace sales to be up 4.0% to 8.0%, with operating margins in the range of 15.5% to 16.0%, or 16.2% to 16.7% when adjusted* for restructuring and transition costs. Operating margin performance is expected to be lower in 2018 due in part to the mix of JPF deliveries and the shift of restructuring costs out of 2017 into 2018. At Distribution, we expect sales growth of 2.0% to 6.0%, with operating margins in the range of 5.1% to 5.4%.

Previously we have discussed the actions we took to freeze our pension plan, and, over time, these actions have resulted in lower pension expense. For 2018, we anticipate a net benefit of $6.6m associated with our pension plan compared to a net pension expense of $1.0m in 2017. Prior to 2018, this benefit would have been included in the calculation of operating income; however, due to the adoption of a new accounting standard, we are required to reclassify a portion of this benefit below operating income. As a result, $4.9m of pension expense will be included in calculation of operating income, while an $11.5m pension benefit will be reclassified below operating income. It is important to note that had the treatment of this benefit been consistent with the prior year presentation, we would have expected our outlook for Aerospace and Distribution operating margins to increase by 90 basis points and 30 basis points, respectively.

In addition, with the adoption of the new revenue recognition standard on January 1, 2018, we have evaluated the anticipated impact on our outlook for the year. Based on our analysis, the adoption of the new standard will shift the timing of recognition of revenue for certain programs from the point of delivery to a cost-to-cost basis; while other programs will change from cost-to-cost recognition to the point of delivery. The most significant program level changes resulting from the adoption are associated with our K-MAX® Commercial Helicopter program, Joint Programmable Fuze USG program and UH-60 and AH-1Z structures programs. In 2018, the net impact of the new revenue standard for Aerospace is a sales increase in the range of $15.0m to $25.0m and an operating income increase in the range of $7.0m to $9.0m.

Despite the changes in timing for the recognition of revenue, the new standard does not change the timing of cash receipts or payments. In 2017 we generated cash flows from operations of $79.9m, leading to Free Cash Flow* for the year of $52.3m. During the fourth quarter a number of deliveries occurred later than we had previously anticipated, shifting cash receipts into 2018. With the shift of these cash receipts, the receipt of advances on our JPF DCS contract, and improved performance in the underlying business, we anticipate cash flows from operations of $185.0m to $210.0m, or Free Cash Flow* of $150.0m to $175.0m for 2018.”

(Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

 

27 Feb 18. Applied Composites, an AE Industrial Partners Portfolio Company, Acquires San Diego Composites. Applied Composites Holdings, LLC (“Applied Composites”), announced today that it has acquired San Diego Composites, Inc. (“SDC”). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Applied Composites, formerly known as AC&A Holdings, is a leading aerospace and defense composites supplier comprised of AC&A Enterprises, LLC (“AC&A”), Applied Composites Engineering, Inc. (“ACE”), and Applied Composite Structures, Inc. (“ACS”, formerly known as EnCore Composite Structures). SDC is Applied Composites’ third acquisition in the past four months. Applied Composites is a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners, LP (“AEI”), a private equity investor specializing in aerospace, power generation, and specialty industrial companies.

SDC is a highly accomplished composites supplier dedicated to the design, engineering, development and production of composite hardware and systems for the aerospace, space, and defense industries. Located in a 70,000 square foot facility in San Diego, CA, SDC produces large complex composite structures on mission critical programs ranging from NASA’s Orion spacecraft to missile systems for Raytheon.

“The addition of SDC to our composites platform adds significant engineering talent and unique capabilities in the design and production of large composite structures,” said Bill Boisture, Chairman of the Board of Applied Composites and Operating Partner of AEI. “Applied Composites has the scale, capacity, and capabilities to provide our customers an integrated solution from design and engineering through tooling manufacturing, component production, and complex assembly. We are pleased to welcome SDC to the exceptional composites platform we are building.”

“Joining Applied Composites is an ideal strategic fit and natural next step in the progression and growth of our business,” said Rob Kolozs, co-founder and CEO of SDC. “Having worked with AC&A for years as trusted partners, we are excited to formalize that partnership by joining the Applied Composites team. This platform company brings together a powerful portfolio of people and capabilities that will allow us to deliver even greater value to our customers.”

Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor and Berkeley Research Group, LLC served as financial advisor to AEI. Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP served as legal advisor to SDC. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

 

27 Feb 18. Humatics Accelerates Microlocation Innovation with Acquisition of 5D Robotics and Time Domain. Humatics Corporation, the company developing breakthrough microlocation products, today announced the acquisition of 5D Robotics and its subsidiary, Time Domain. Humatics is developing radio-frequency (RF) sensors that measure the positions of objects in three-dimensional space with unprecedented, millimeter-scale precision at up to 30-meter ranges. 5D Robotics and Time Domain make RF systems that locate objects with centimeter-scale precision at up to 500-meter ranges. Together, the combined company will offer products that measure position with precisions that will transform industrial automation, next-generation construction, autonomous vehicles, and smart cities.

Location matters. To interact safely and seamlessly with people and their environments, autonomous systems such as drones, vehicles, and robots need to know precisely where they are at all times. GPS lacks the required accuracy, and doesn’t work indoors. Cameras and lasers help, but they rely on data-intensive maps and fail in dusty, rainy, foggy, or snowy conditions. Only RF technologies are able to overcome all these challenges.

5D Robotics and Time Domain are providing proven centimeter-scale sensors to the industrial automation and manufacturing markets. Humatics’ breakthrough Spatial Intelligence Platform™ captures and calculates even more precise 3D positions, indoors and out. Together, the technologies greatly expand Humatics’ new product category – microlocation — for improved safety, efficiency and productivity.

The acquisition also consolidates a considerable patent portfolio, making Humatics the only industry player offering a comprehensive technology stack capable of addressing the microlocation challenge.

“Time Domain has been the leader in precision positioning for many years, taking the technology to chip-scale solutions deployed at scale in challenging, critical environments,” said Ray Stata, founder and Chairman of Analog Devices, Series A investor and board member at Humatics. “I’m delighted to see the 5D Robotics and Time Domain products join Humatics’ technology portfolio. The synthesis of these technologies will make robust, precise positioning – and all the applications it unlocks – a reality.”

“Since we led the Series A last April, Humatics has exceeded the many milestones set by the board,” said Chris Cheever, co-founder and partner at Fontinalis Partners, a venture capital firm focused on next-generation mobility technologies. “That includes demonstrating successful pilots with brand-name customers, attracting world-class technology and business leaders, growing the team to nearly 50 employees, and most recently, completing this very strategic and timely acquisition. It’s transformed Humatics from a development-stage startup into a fully integrated, solutions-driven company capable of unlocking and creating value for next-generation mobility and countless other industries starved for exact location intelligence.”

Gabe Klein, co-founder of smart cities advisory services firm CityFi and a Special Venture Partner at Fontinalis, said, “As former head of the D.C. and Chicago Departments of Transportation, I’m acutely attuned to the challenges of keeping people safe as we create the cities of the future. The newly expanded Humatics team has foundational technology that’s poised to augment or replace GPS and better manage interactions between people and moving objects like cars and drones.”

“We have a passion for precision. We’ve always been the state-of-the-art RF solution, providing our customers with centimeter-scale accuracy,” said Rachel Reinhardt, a senior leader at 5D Robotics and Time Domain who now joins the Humatics management team. “But Humatics takes that to the next level—we’re now millimeter scale. The team is thrilled with this acquisition, and we’re already hard at work advancing the combined technology,” she said.

In 2017 Humatics closed an $18 million series A financing round and was recognized as one of Built in Boston’s top start-ups to watch. With the added technology and talent brought by the 5D Robotics and Time Domain acquisition, the company is in an even stronger position to provide the “location layer” that will be crucial for smooth, safe collaboration between people and machines in connected environments.

“At Humatics we’ve been focusing our development work on industrial automation applications,” said David Mindell, co-founder and chief executive officer of Humatics. “With the acquisition, we’re now positioned as a key enabler for next-generation construction, autonomous vehicles, and smart cities. With Humatics products, people, robots, and infrastructure can locate, navigate, and collaborate – with robust precision – to create extraordinary value in the connected world.”

Availability

Humatics’ centimeter-scale microlocation sensors and software solutions are shipping today. Millimeter-scale capabilities will be piloted in 2018 and launched in 2019. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

 

BUSINESS NEWS Part II

 

27 Feb 18. HEICO Corporation Acquires Radiation Detection Leader. HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) (NYSE:HEI.A) announced today that its Santa Barbara Infrared, Inc. (“SBIR”) subsidiary acquired 85% of the business and assets of Sensor Technology Engineering, Inc. (“Sensor Tech”) in an all cash transaction. SBIR is part of HEICO’s Electronic Technologies Group. HEICO stated that it expects the acquisition to be accretive to its earnings within a year following the purchase. Further financial terms and details were not disclosed. Sensor Tech, which was founded in 1996 and is located in Goleta, CA, a neighboring city of Santa Barbara, is the leading designer and manufacturer of sophisticated nuclear radiation detectors for law enforcement, homeland security and military applications. Sensor Tech is well known for its highly sensitive, reliable and easy-to-use detectors, including its critically acclaimed Radiation Pager, which is the most sensitive radiation detector for its size commercially available and is hundreds of times more sensitive than Geiger-Muller (GM) detectors of similar size.

Sensor Tech’s two founders own the remaining 15% of the business and will continue to manage it in their existing roles. HEICO stated that it does not expect any staff turnover to result from the acquisition.

SBIR’s President & Co-Founder, Steve McHugh, stated, “We have known the Sensor Tech team for decades and are enthusiastic about adding this talented group, along with their important products to our Company.”

Laurans A. Mendelson, HEICO’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, and Victor H. Mendelson, HEICO’s Co-President and CEO of its Electronic Technologies Group, jointly noted, “Known for its high quality and excellent service, Sensor Tech is considered the radiation detection standard by several US Government agencies and this is precisely the kind of mission-critical, high-reliability business HEICO values most. We welcome the Sensor Tech team to the HEICO family.”

Located in Santa Barbara, CA, SBIR designs and manufactures the world’s most technologically advanced test instrumentation used to test, calibrate and validate the performance of Visible, Near Infrared (NIR), SWIR, MWIR, LWIR, Laser and Electro-Optical (E-O) sensor components and systems. More information can be found at www.sbir.com. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

 

27 Feb 18. By Light Merges with Axom Technologies, Expanding Business Focus on Intelligence Community. By Light Professional IT Services LLC (By Light) announced today it is merging with Axom Technologies, as Axom becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of By Light and will operate as a separate division. Axom was created with a mission to serve the nation by delivering secure, state of the art information technology, cyber solutions, and engineering services. As the leading Internal Service Provider (ISP) deploying, maintaining, and securing networks that provide connectivity and interoperability, Axom has a strong understanding of the needs surrounding the intelligence community. By Light provides comprehensive hardware and software systems engineering solutions for the design and implementation of both classified and unclassified government networks. Together, By Light and Axom can offer an expanded range of scalable, cost effective enterprise-wide services to both existing and new customers, while also increasing the competitiveness of the combined company for highly sought-after work in the Defense and Intelligence communities.

“Our merger with Axom represents a significant milestone in the achievement of our vision to strengthen our services offerings, expand our client base, and provide additional professional growth opportunities for our employees,” said Bob Donahue Jr., CEO and Founder of By Light. “With the skills and experience of Axom, By Light is better positioned to support customer needs now and in the future.”

By Light is backed by Sagewind Capital, a private equity firm based in New York City that provides capital and financial resources to help promising companies achieve success faster. Sagewind’s philosophy of investing in companies with strong management teams in the government/defense, business and healthcare services sectors is made successful by providing additional strategic, operating and financial support. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

 

27 Feb 18. DoD to review General Dynamics-CSRA merger. An official from the U.S. Defense Department told reporters Monday the department will be reviewing General Dynamic’s proposed acquisition of CSRA due to concerns over competition in the federal IT market.

“Any defense-related mergers and acquisition would be examined by the Department of Defense,” said Jerry McGinn, the principal deputy director of DoD’s office of manufacturing and industrial base policy. “I don’t know if they’ve filed yet … but I can say that is one of the cases — we are going to review that case, for competition [concerns].”

The $9.6bn merger would make GDIT-CSRA among the largest players in the federal IT industry, along with market giant Leidos. Part of GDIT’s rationale for acquiring CSRA was its belief the federal IT market is a consolidating market, and in order to effectively compete for larger contracts it needed to expand.

In that sense, the biggest influence on General Dynamics portfolio will be among civilian agencies, particularly State and Justice departments and the Homeland Security Department, according to data company Govini. That said, CSRA will expand the past performance of General Dynamics’ technology services within the DoD by 93.3 percent, according to the Govini report.

In a conference call announcing the acquisition, General Dynamic’s CEO and Chairman Phebe Novakovic said, “In a consolidating market it makes an awful lot of sense to combine to better address the larger packaging opportunities from a contracting point of view … Stasis is death.”

(Source: glstrade.com/Defense News)

 

27 Feb 18. US operations drive growth for Austal. Austal’s first-half results for 2017-18 have shown increases in net profit and across the order book, but the company cautioned that any contract signings relating to the Offshore Patrol Vessel project could be “several months” away.

In its results announcement, Austal reported a revenue of $653m, up on the FY2017 H1 revenue of $649.2m, and a 174 per cent increase in net profit after tax of $25.6m, compared with the $9.3m it reported in FY2017 H1.

Austal chief executive David Singleton pointed to the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program in the US as a success for the company, noting the project has “entered a reliable and consistent period of production with our sixth vessel now delivered and a further nine vessels in the pipeline”.

“Austal won its 15th LCS trimaran (LCS 30) in October 2017 following LCS 28, which was awarded in June 2017 adding over $1.5bn to the order book. Both vessels were priced at a level that reflects our now well understood cost base and will therefore be delivered at a reasonable margin for a vessel of this complexity,” Singleton said.

The FY2018 H1 results also showed Austal currently has its largest commercial ferry order book in a decade, which the company said will “underpin significant growth” at its Philippines shipyard.

On the Australian side of the business, Austal was impressed with its 20 per cent productivity gain in production hours over the last two years, but touched on the contentious OPV program, telling investors that its role in the project is still in negotiation and may take several months. This is despite Deputy Secretary of the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group Kim Gillis telling December’s Senate estimates hearing a contract would be signed by February due to time constraints.

“Austal was disappointed that it did not win the Royal Australian Navy’s Offshore Patrol Vessel program outright, but the government’s indication that it wishes Austal to be involved in the program has the potential to provide a backbone of work for the Henderson shipyard over the next 15-20 years,” the FY2018 H1 report said.

“This outcome would ensure that the export of commercial ships from Henderson can continue, thereby providing that hundreds of jobs in Western Australia are maintained in addition to those employed directly on the OPV program. When awarding the contract in November 2017, the federal government indicated that the prime contractor Lürssen would include Austal in building the 10 OPV in Henderson, subject to satisfactory commercial negotiations.”

Austal was initially in partnership with designer Fassmer for the contract but the government selected Lürssen. Austal was introduced to the project under a new arrangement that will see ASC build two of the 12 vessels in Adeladie before the project moves to WA. Negotiations are underway to determine Austal and Civmec’s role in building the remaining 10 in the Henderson precinct.

The Department of Defence has maintained there has been no change to Lürssen’s tendered offer when the German company was only partnered with ASC and Civmec.

“The final agreed contract value with Lürssen Australia matches Lürssen’s tendered offer,” a spokesperson for the department told Defence Connect.

Questions around the project continue to arise, with industry experts questioning how the government was able to recently sign a contract with Lürssen when the final costings of the 12 vessels and arrangements remain undecided between Austal and Lürssen.

The OPVs will have an important role protecting Australia’s borders and will provide greater range and endurance for the Navy than the existing patrol boat fleet. (Source: Defence Connect)

 

27 Feb 18. GKN Annual Results for the year ended 31 December 2017. GKN plc Results Announcement for the year ended 31 December 2017

Group Highlights(a)

Results in line with previous guidance

o  Management sales up 11% (organic sales up 6%), exceeding £10bn for the first time;

o  Excluding £112m North American Aerospace balance sheet review adjustments:

• Operating profit (management basis) of £774m (2016: £773m);
• Earnings per share up 2% to 31.7 pence (2016: 31.0 pence);

o Reported profit before tax £658m (2016: £292m), a rise of 125%(c);

o Pensions progress – UK defined benefit scheme closed to future accrual, £250m lump sum paid to reduce the deficit and the level of future deficit recovery payments;

o Free cash flow of £207m (2016: £201m). Technology investments continue to deliver business results

o Strong technology pipeline; innovation recognised by customer and industry awards;

o Order book on electrified drivelines reaches more than £2bn;

o Ramp up of new engine deliveries to increase significantly;

o Breakthrough contracts in place in GKN Powder Metallurgy additive manufacturing for major auto OEMs; selling product profitably today. New product segment strategy and Project Boost announced and being implemented

o Expected to generate £340m p.a. of recurring cash benefit from end of 20201;

o Targeting up to £2.5bn cash return to shareholders over the next three years2;

o New core segment trading margin targets for 20203: GKN Aerospace at least 14%, GKN Driveline at least 9.5%, Group 11%;

o Aim to formally separate GKN Aerospace and GKN Driveline into two listed companies via a demerger in the middle of 2019.

Commenting on the results, Anne Stevens, Chief Executive of GKN said, “GKN has fantastic businesses which have grown organically above our key markets, demonstrating once again our strong positions and leading technology. However as I set out two weeks ago, we now need to change our emphasis and ensure that those orders deliver world class financial performance with a renewed focus on strong margins and cash generation. With Project Boost, I have laid out how we plan to achieve this, through detailed product segment strategies and an emphasis on manufacturing and functional excellence. We are excited about delivering these plans.”

Highlights

Group

• Strong sales growth continued, up 6% organically;
• Accounting deficit for UK pension reduced by 44% to £675m, with deficit recovery payments falling to £36 m p.a. from 2018;
• Trading margin reduced to 7.4% (2016: 8.2%, including £39m restructuring costs), excluding the £112m North American Aerospace balance sheet review adjustments, of which £4m are included in corporate costs.

GKN Aerospace

• Headline sales growth of 6%; 2% organic growth was ahead of the market;
• Around $4bn of new and replacement work packages won over contract lives;
• China JV MOU signed with Comac and AVIC;
• Additive manufacturing (AM) partnerships with US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Saab;
• Trading margin of 7.8% (2016: 9.9%), excluding the £108m balance sheet review adjustment. The most significant factor was the performance of the US Standard Aerostructures business which reported a trading loss for the year.

GKN Driveline

• Organic sales growth of 9%, significantly ahead of global auto production, helped by our broad geographic footprint and strong positions on high growth global platforms;
• eDrive order book extended to over £2bn;
• PACE Innovation Award for the integrated co-axial eAxle on the Volvo XC90 T8 twin engine;
• Electrified driveline programmes launched in China JV (SDS);
• Trading margin of 7.1% (2016: 7.2%, restated), with a good performance in Europe offset by reduced profitability in the North American AWD business, increased eDrive R&D investment to drive future growth, warranty claims and raw material headwind.

GKN Powder Metallurgy

• Organic sales growth of 5%;
• Acquisition of Tozmetal in Turkey;
• Titanium powder production for AM started with partner TLS Technik;
• Launched InstAMetal, digitized metal AM quoting, design and prototyping experience;
• Trading margin of 10.6% (2016: 11.4%), principally reflecting higher raw material surcharge and investment in high-end powder capability in China.

New strategy and “Project Boost”

As set out in our announcement of 14 February 2018, the Board of GKN has concluded a wide-ranging strategic and operational review, which started in 2017. This review focused on both capital allocation discipline and a transformation programme aimed at improving cash flow and margin (“Project Boost”).

This new strategy differentiates core product segments into improve, grow and develop, with each strategy having different capital expenditure targets and different expectations for growth, margin improvement, cash generation and return on investment. Core division margin targets for 2020 have been set, at least 14% for GKN Aerospace, at least 9.5% for GKN Driveline and 11% for the Group3. The Project Boost transformation plan is expected to deliver recurring annual cash benefits of £340 m from the end of 20201.

The new strategy has a clear framework that is expected to result in significant cash returns to GKN shareholders. The strategy includes a plan to sell Powder Metallurgy, as well as a number of other non-core businesses. GKN’s progressive dividend policy will be to target an average payout of 50% of free cash flow over the period of 2018 to 2020. In addition, GKN expects to distribute surplus cash to shareholders, subject to maintaining an investment grade credit rating. In total, GKN is targeting returns of up to £2.5bn to shareholders over the next three years, with a significant part expected to come from divestments executed within the first 12 to 18 months, including the sale of Powder Metallurgy.

Outlook

The Group’s revenue expectations in the short term are unchanged.

GKN Aerospace’s underlying trading margin is expected to show a slight improvement in 2018, despite some further contractual price downs and increased investment in new engine programmes. In 2019, the trading margin is expected to reach around 10% for the Division, on the way to the 2020 target of at least 12% for the Division and 14% for the core aerospace segment, together with strong cash conversion.

In GKN Driveline, solid trading margin progression is expected in both 2018 and 2019 as the Division works towards achieving its core segment trading margin target of at least 9.5% in 2020. Cash conversion is expected to improve significantly during 2018 and thereafter.

GKN Powder Metallurgy’s trading margin is expected to show steady progression in 2018 and 2019 as it works towards achieving its 2020 target of at least 11%. Its future is expected to be very strong with great prospects in China, Brazil and India in addition to the good opportunities on high end technology business in Europe and North America. Operating cash flow is expected to remain strong.

Separation

GKN is today providing further information on its plans to separate its Aerospace and Driveline businesses. GKN is in the process of separating operationally and the Board has determined to formally separate GKN Aerospace and GKN Driveline into two listed companies via a demerger.  The aim is to complete the demerger in the middle of 2019, creating two strong companies with investment grade balance sheets that can support their share of the Group’s pension liabilities. The basis on which to progress these discussions has been agreed with the UK Pension Trustees. A demerger represents GKN’s base case separation structure for a number of reasons, including that the timetable is within GKN’s control, it allows GKN to allocate liabilities appropriately and it is tax efficient.

[1] This statement includes a quantified financial benefits statement which has been reported on for the purposes of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (“City Code”) (see Appendix 2 to the announcement entitled “Moving GKN to world class performance” dated 14 February 2018 available at www.gkn.com). This does not take account of one-off associated incentive payments, which are estimated to be in the region of £70m (to be satisfied in GKN ordinary shares) and which have not been reported on for the purposes of the City Code. Excludes any impact of potential disposals.

2 A significant part expected to come from divestments executed within the first 12 to 18 months.

3 The trading margin targets for 2020 should not be construed as a profit forecast or interpreted as such. (Source: ShareCast)

GKN strategy, Edison view: “GKN continues to outperform its auto markets and aerospace growth looks set to recover from this year. In our view the share price of GKN has never fully reflected its performance.”

Andy Chambers, analyst at Edison Investment Research, said: “GKN developed its new strategy further alongside preliminary results that contained few surprises given recent announcements. The separation of Aerospace and Automotive into two distinct listed companies has been confirmed as the expectation for mid-2019, with separation starting operationally to achieve this goal. Record sales of £10.4bn in 2017 delivered only flat adjusted operating profit progression (£774m v£773m in FY16) before the £112m charge for the balance sheet review in North American Aerospace. With management having already announced Project Boost to significantly enhance cash performance from 2020, in addition to a £2.5bn cash return to shareholders over the next 3 years, GKN’S defence against the Melrose bid is now clear. Shareholders need to decide whether the expectation of improved performance on an ongoing basis are exceeded by the proposition from Melrose. GKN continues to outperform its auto markets and aerospace growth looks set to recover from this year. In our view the share price of GKN has never fully reflected its performance. At least the takeover is highlighting a value gap for shareholders.”

 

27 Feb 18. On 14 February 2018, GKN announced details of its new strategy and transformation plan along with its cash improvement initiative (“Project Boost”) and financial performance targets to the end of the financial year ending 31 December 2020.

Today, immediately following the presentation of GKN’s results for the year ended 31 December 2017, the GKN Aerospace team will be presenting further details on the scale of the upside opportunity for GKN Aerospace, including its ability to deliver higher margins and cash flows through Project Boost. They will also be presenting on the attractive long-term cash flow profile of GKN’s Aero Engine risk and revenue sharing partnerships (“RRSPs”).

Boost for Aerospace

Boost for Aerospace is expected to deliver £160m of recurring annual cash benefit from the end of 2020 by focusing on manufacturing excellence, functional excellence, direct procurement cost savings and indirect procurement cost savings.

The GKN Aerospace team will be providing further details regarding the implementation of Boost during today’s presentation, including explaining how Boost is underpinned by the adoption of an integrated Global Operating Model across the Aerospace business. In addition, they will update on the plan to improve performance at various US sites and will provide examples of the initiatives being undertaken to deliver procurement savings.

Aero Engine RRSP portfolio

GKN Aerospace is a global leader in the Aero Engines market. This position is built on GKN’s technology leadership and balanced portfolio across civil, military and space end markets.

Approximately 60% of GKN Aero Engines revenue comes from its RRSP positions. GKN has positions on over 20 engine RRSP programmes. These positions have been built up over many years and reflect significant levels of historical investment. GKN’s RRSP positions are expected to generate $146m of derived net cash inflow3 in 2018.

GKN’s RRSP positions are positioned to deliver substantially increased cash flows for decades to come. All RRSP programmes in the current portfolio are expected to generate positive net cash flow by 2022 and in the period from 2018 to 2055, GKN expects its RRSP portfolio to generate $13.5bn of derived net cash flow. (Source: ShareCast)

 

27 Feb 18. GKN – worth a punt. Hostile takeover bids – once a way of life in London’s stock market – are now a rarity, a quaint throwback to an earlier era. Where once James Hanson and Sir Owen Green prowled, now there are prissy statements from private-equity houses who say they will only make an offer if, first, they get the consent of the target company’s board.

So it’s fitting, now that London actually has a hostile bid worth the name, that the target company should be synonymous with the time when Britain’s manufacturing base was so steeply in decline that Hanson, Green and others could find easy prey to pick upon and then to pick apart. GKN (GKN) – the target in question – seems as much a part of that past as, say, Tube Industries, Joseph Lucas or Dunlop, who all succumbed.

The difference is that GKN remained independent. Even if it never quite prospered, its production of stuff such as car axles for BMW and casings for the Rolls-Royce Trent aero engines meant it got by. However, maybe not for much longer as it’s on the end of a £7.2bn bid from Melrose (MRO), a company whose boss, Chris Miller, appropriately enough learnt his trade crunching numbers for Lord Hanson.

True, Melrose’s business model is more considered than Hanson’s slash-and-burn approach. Then again, we live in a different era from the 1980s and not just because a mobile phone is no longer the size of a brick. Nowadays a hostile takeover bid stretches the bounds of acceptability – the high testosterone way once common in boardrooms just does not work any more, not least because it offends jittery politicians. So it is possible that Melrose’s cash-but-mostly-shares offer will be scuppered by politicians anxious to show their caring side.

In fact, that does not seem too likely. Thirty years ago GKN employed 69,000 workers in the UK, so its impending dismemberment would terrify any politician. Today, it employs fewer than a tenth of that total in the UK, so there is every chance the bid will run its course. In which case, GKN’s shareholders must eventually decide what to do and outsiders can consider whether there is anything still worth punting on.

At Melrose’s current price – 227p – the offer values GKN at 419p per share compared with its market price of 428p. That implies the market reckons – albeit tentatively – that Melrose will raise its offer. That seems a decent assumption. In its opening play Melrose is stingy with the cash element – 80 per cent of the offer is in new Melrose shares. Meanwhile, the cash element – 81p per GKN share – will cost almost £1.4bn in extra debt. Yet neither Melrose nor GKN carries much debt – just over £1bn between them. Add in the effect of the cash component of the bid and the enlarged group would still carry only about £2.5bn of net debt compared with a market value for its equity of around £11bn.

In that context, Melrose’s bosses could afford to add, say, another 40p per share in cash, bringing the total offer to around 460p, or 10 per cent more than what’s on offer now. That would make it tempting. What seems less likely is that Melrose will want to add to the equity component. Already the plan is to more than double Melrose’s issued shares from 1.7bn to 4.5bn. There is a limit to how much more Melrose paper the market could soak up.

Besides, what would be the point? From the perspective of institutional shareholders the bid is really about which top management team should run GKN’s assets – the unknown quantity at GKN where there is a temporary chief executive and a new finance director, or the team at Melrose which is well established and has a great track record even if they only know GKN from the outside.

That both management sets have a similar plan does not make the decision easier. Both intend to sell the Powder Metallurgy division – the smallest of GKN’s big-three divisions, which makes components for the auto industry – and return the proceeds to shareholders. The only difference is in the timing. GKN’s bosses plan a quick disposal. Melrose will attempt to apply the company motto – ‘Buy, Improve, Sell’ – to the division then ditch it.

Beyond that it is all about raising GKN’s profit margins, which have been disappointing for many years. In the past 10 years GKN’s revenues have grown at about 9 per cent a year, but none of that has fed through to growth in earnings per share, which peaked at 29p in 2012 and should have finally made it back to that level in 2017. Static profit margins and dilutive share issues have been behind this. In 2016, group-wide operating margins were 6.7 per cent. This was the fourth year running that they were lower – having peaked at 7.6 per cent in 2012 – and compared with an average of 6.3 per cent for the past 10 years.

Clearly, adding a percentage point or two of margin onto GKN’s £9bn or so of revenue would transform earnings. Easier said than done, although both sets of bosses claim they are the guys to deliver it. At this stage it probably does not matter which set is more likely. All that really matters is that there is a plausible scenario for improvement, a contested takeover bid and egos are at stake. Seems like a good situation on which to take a punt. (Source: Investors Chronicle)

 

27 Feb 18. Meggitt reports full-year EPS more than doubles, free cash flow jumps. Meggitt saw earnings per share more than double in 2017, with the engineer continuing to execute against its targets for improved cash and margins over the medium-term and helped by recently enacted tax cuts in the States and a tailwind from FX.

“2017 trading was in line with our expectations with the stronger second half contributing to good organic growth across the Group […] we have made further progress on our operational improvement priorities which underpin our medium term targets for cash and margin improvement,” group chief Tony Wood said in a statement.

For the twelve months ending on 31 December, Meggitt posted a 42% jump in free cash flows to £186m, which it credited to an increased focus on managing its inventory, which allowed it to release £16m of cash, alongside a 34% increase in statutory profits to £262.4m, with EPS rocketing 105% to 45.2p.

However, in underlying terms, the company’s EPS was higher by a more pedestrian 1% to 35.3p a share and PBT by 2% to £357.9m, as sales edged ahead by the same measure to £2.03bn.

In fact, in underlying terms, organic profits before tax were 1% lower, at £357.9m.

Offsetting that, the company recorded an exceptional £123m gain as its deferred US tax net liabilities gained in value following the recent approval of corporate tax cuts in the States.

Meggitt’s bottom line also benefited from marking-to-market some of its financial instruments, mainly currency hedges, and from asset sales, offset by the costs associated with the cancellation of Dassault’s Falcon 5X.

Top line growth was muted overall, with organic sales (including exceptionals and at current exchange rates) up 2% to £2.027bn, with an increase of 4% in revenues on on the civil aerospace part of the business and a 1% rise in military sales offset by weakness in its energy arm.

The company’s net debt position on the other hand improved, declining 18% to £964.8m, while the company’s full-year payout was increased 5% to 15.85p.

On the back of its recent moves to rationalise its manufacturing base, divestments in the pipeline, and recent contract wins, the company said growth was set to accelerate over the medium-term – hence its raised dividend. (Source: ShareCast)

 

27 Feb 18. Meggitt gains from currency movements. Tip Update: Buy at 511p. Meggitt (MGGT) experienced a mixed first half, with good organic revenue growth seen by its civil aerospace division, flat sales for its military division and “expected” weakness in energy. Overall, these contributors led to flat organic growth for the group, while the reported top line saw a double-digit rise principally on sterling depreciation against the US dollar. The small hit to Meggitt’s operating margin, taking it from 18.5 per cent to 18 per cent, was anticipated; for chief executive Stephen Young, Meggitt is “always bigger in the second half” – particularly in relation to defence and air traffic revenue.

Despite a lack of growth, management is confident about the military division’s prospects in the US under President Trump, particularly as military budgets are expected to rise by 4 per cent. Mr Young notes that Meggitt could supply the additional parts needed by military aircraft which are “parked up but unable to fly”.

Energy suffered because of a 45 per cent organic revenue decline at Heatric, the printed circuit heat exchanger business. However, this business has started to see “an up-tick in small orders”. Generally speaking, Meggitt is focusing on inventory management and is aiming to achieve “an incremental £200m of cash from improved inventory turns by 2021”.

IBES consensus forecasts give EPS of 35.5p for the December year-end, rising to 37.4p in 2018.

IC View: Management reconfirmed their target for the FY2017 operating margin, guiding towards 19.1 to 19.4 per cent. They anticipate revenue growth of 2 to 4 per cent. Meggitt achieved reasonable growth excluding the impacts of foreign exchange, acquisitions and disposals. The outlook for the military division is promising. Trading on an estimated forward multiple of 14 times forecast, Meggitt’s shares are effectively at a discount to other aerospace businesses such as Rolls-Royce. Last IC View: Buy, 444p, 23 Mar 2017. (Source: Investors Chronicle)

 

27 Feb 18. France’s Safran 2017 profit beats forecasts, sees further growth. France’s Safran predicted 7-10 percent growth in core income this year as it unveiled higher-than-expected 2017 sales and profits, with strong demand for aircraft equipment offsetting a dip in engine profits.

The maker of engines, landing gear and optronics also said on Tuesday that its board had extended Philippe Petitcolin’s mandate as chief executive by two years to the spring of 2020 as it prepares to absorb Zodiac Aerospace and hike output of its new LEAP jet engine.

Safran, which partners General Electric in producing engines for Boeing and Airbus medium-haul jets, said a financial headwind from the transition to the new LEAP generation of jet engines peaked at 342m euros (302.2m pounds) in 2017.

Safran, which along with GE faced calls from Airbus this month to eradicate delays in LEAP deliveries during 2018, said it was executing a “strong action plan” to cut costs and achieve a gross breakeven on the fuel-saving engine by end-decade.

Overall, Safran made a recurring operating profit of 2.47bn euros in 2017 on adjusted revenues that rose 4.7 percent to 16.521bn euros. It raised the dividend 5.3 percent.

Analysts were on average expecting flat operating income of 2.403bn euros on revenues of 16.272bn euros, according to an Inquiry Financial poll conducted for Reuters.

Safran said its widely watched civil aftermarket services revenue grew 11.2 percent in dollar terms in 2017 and predicted 2018 growth in the high single digits. GE said last month that its own aviation services revenue had grown 13 percent in 2017. (Source: Reuters)

 

27 Feb 18. Peugeot shareholder FFP buys stake in Safran. French investment company FFP, one of the leading shareholders in Peugeot, has acquired a stake in French aerospace and technology group Safran with a view to having a say on how Safran is governed and managed.

The FFP said in a statement on Tuesday that following Safran’s takeover of Zodiac Aerospace and after a further purchase of Safran shares on the market, it now held around 3.2m Safran shares.

It added it aimed to take part in the governance of Safran via the creation of a new joint company, which would be called F&P and would be represented by Robert Peugeot. Safran shareholders would be able to vote to formally approve that company’s role at Safran’s annual shareholder meeting in May.

“Having actively contributed to the merger between Zodiac Aerospace and Safran, we are delighted to become shareholders of one of the main French players in the global aviation industry, whose medium-term prospects are attractive,” Robert Peugeot said in a statement.

“We look forward to making a contribution to the development of the new group on Safran’s board of directors,” he added. (Source: Reuters)

 

26 Feb 18. GTT shares jump as it buys Interoute for $2.3bn. US-based GTT Communications shares reached a record high after it announced a $2.3bn (€1.9bn) deal to buy Interoute, the European operator of fibre and cloud networking platforms. Shares of the MacLean, Virginia-based company were up just over 9 per cent in midday trading on Monday to $52.50, after briefly touching an all-time high of $52.60, according to Thomson Reuters data. GTT — which bills itself as a leading global cloud networking provider — had announced earlier on Monday that it would buy Interoute in the cash deal that will give GTT one of the most extensive fibre networks in Europe, the company said. Rick Calder, GTT chief executive and president, said: “This combination creates a disruptive market leader with substantial scale, unique network assets and award-winning product capabilities to fulfil our clients’ growing demand for distributed cloud networking in Europe, the US and across the globe. Following our successful, proven acquisition model, we expect to complete this integration within three to four quarters post-close and achieve a post-synergy multiple of seven to eight times Adjusted EBITDA or better on a pro forma basis.” Interoute chief executive Gareth Williams added: “The combined assets and strengths of our two companies create a powerful portfolio of high-capacity, low-latency connectivity, and innovative cloud and edge infrastructure services to support our customers in the global digital economy.” (Source: FT.com)

 

26 Feb 18. Qualcomm open to Broadcom bid but seeks $160bn price tag. Change in chipmaker’s stance marks major shift in negotiations over biggest tech deal. The takeover is now in the hands of Hock Tan, Broadcom’s deal-hungry chief executive, who must decide whether to raise his offer price. Qualcomm has dropped its objections to being acquired by Singapore’s Broadcom and is willing to agree a deal with its rival chipmaker if it raises its takeover offer to $160bn including debt, according to people involved in the negotiations.  The shift in stance marks a significant change for Qualcomm executives, who had been objecting to the deal on antitrust grounds. People close to Qualcomm said Broadcom has recently made enough progress in addressing the competition issues to allow the talks to shift to reaching an agreed price.  Qualcomm is insisting that Broadcom raises its offer by at least 15 per cent to above $90 per share, up from its current $79 per share bid, to reach what would be the biggest tech deal ever struck, people involved in the talks said. The total $160bn price tag would include Broadcom assuming $25bn in Qualcomm debt. Several people close to Qualcomm’s senior management said the company is now willing to closing the deal, but the takeover was in the hands of Hock Tan, Broadcom’s deal-hungry chief executive. He must decide whether to reverse course and raise his offer price.  The narrowing of differences between the two chipmaking giants comes as Qualcomm agreed on Monday to open its books to Broadcom in an attempt to bring the two closer together on agreeing a price. It publicly reiterated that the existing $79 per share offer undervalued the company.  Recommended Broadcom raises Qualcomm bid to $146bn Qualcomm bolsters bid defence with Samsung 5G tie-up Qualcomm’s Chinese partners speak out against Broadcom bid Paul Jacobs, chairman of Qualcomm, said in a letter to Mr Tan, made public on Monday, that his team was interested in pursuing a non-disclosure agreement that would allow the two sides to begin due diligence. Mr Jacobs also proposed that the chipmakers arrange a meeting “as soon as mutually convenient” to negotiate a price.  However, Broadcom dismissed the move as “engagement theatre”. In a statement, the company said: “Broadcom does not believe that the process outlined by Qualcomm today is designed to lead to a prompt agreement”. However, it added that it was prepared to negotiate on terms that were “realistic for both parties”.  Earlier this month Broadcom offered as much as $146bn, including debt, in a “best and final” offer, a figure that was rebuffed by Qualcomm’s board of directors. Broadcom later cut that price to $142bn after Qualcomm agreed to acquire NXP Semiconductor for $44bn. In the midst of the takeover battle, Qualcomm has sought to show it is still operating as normal in areas such as 5G, striking deals in China for the next-generation wireless technology. It also pressed ahead with a deal for NXP, a Dutch group that specialises in providing chips for automobiles. On Monday, Mr Jacobs said that a meeting between the two companies, held on Friday, had led to “further progress” on a deal that would likely face significant regulatory hurdles. The San Diego-based company sought an increase in the termination fee to 9 per cent of the transaction’s enterprise value, payable by Broadcom if a deal were to be blocked by regulators. At the existing offer of $142bn, that would represent roughly $13bn. Broadcom had previously proposed a breakage fee of $8bn. Qualcomm also said it would not require Broadcom to sign a “hell or high water” clause. This would have forced the buyer to commit to closing the deal no matter what remedies are demanded from regulators. “The path forward . . . provides the appropriate level of protection to Qualcomm stockholders commensurate with the high degree of regulatory risk associated with this potential transaction,” Mr Jacobs wrote. “If acceptable to Broadcom, this would resolve all issues between the two companies other than price.”  After Mr Jacobs published his letter, Qualcomm shares rose more than 4 per cent to $65.88. Mr Jacobs’s letter comes days before Qualcomm shareholders will vote on a slate of new directors nominated by Broadcom for the US chipmaker’s board. (Source: FT.com)

 

23 Feb 18. Orbital ATK, Inc. (NYSE:OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2017. Orbital ATK reported revenues of $1,348m in the fourth quarter of 2017, up 6.0% from $1,272m in the fourth quarter of 2016. Income from operations(2) and operating margin were $140.4m and 10.4%, respectively, compared to $113.1m and 8.9%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2016. The company reported fourth quarter 2017 earnings per diluted share of $1.06 compared to $1.11 in the comparable quarter in 2016. Fourth quarter and full-year 2017 net earnings were reduced by higher tax expense resulting from the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017 Tax Act) which reduced net earnings by approximately $39m, or $0.67 per share, in both periods, primarily related to the write-down of deferred tax assets in the fourth quarter. Free cash flow(1), which is a non-GAAP measure defined as GAAP cash flow from operating activities ($362.9 m) minus capital expenditures ($106.6m), was $256.3m in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to $330.6m in the fourth quarter of 2016.

(1)Free cash flow and adjusted financial results contained in this press release are non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to the reconciliation tables contained in the Appendix- “Disclosure of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” of this press release for more details.

(2)Income from operations (or operating income) is income before interest, income taxes and non-controlling interest.

For the fourth quarter of 2017, non-GAAP(2) adjusted operating income and operating margin, which exclude certain acquisition and restatement expenses, were $145.0m and 10.8%, respectively, compared to $129.8m and 10.2%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2016. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.10and $1.31 in the fourth quarters of 2017 and 2016, respectively. Fourth quarter and full-year 2017 adjusted net earnings were reduced by higher tax expense resulting from the enactment of the 2017 Tax Act which reduced net earnings by approximately $41m, or $0.71 per share, in both periods. Adjusted free cash flow, which excludes certain acquisition and restatement-related cash expenses totaling $9.6m, was $265.9m in the fourth quarter of 2017. For the full year 2017, Orbital ATK reported revenues of $4,764m, an increase of 6.9% compared to $4,455m in 2016. Operating income was $529.3m, or 11.1% operating margin, in 2017 compared to $472.1m, or 10.6% operating margin, in 2016. The company reported GAAP earnings per diluted share of $5.34 in 2017 compared to $5.01 in 2016. Free cash flow was $275.8 m in 2017, which included a pension pre-payment of $90m, compared to $331.7m in 2016. The company also reported the following non-GAAP adjusted results for the full year 2017. Adjusted operating income and profit margin were $552.3m and 11.6%, respectively, in 2017, compared to $516.4m and 11.6%, respectively, in 2016. Adjusted diluted earnings per share in 2017 were $5.61 compared to $5.55 in 2016. Adjusted free cash flow, which excludes certain acquisition and restatement-related cash expenses totaling $24.0m, was $299.8m in 2017 after the $90m pension payment, compared to $361.6m in 2016.

“Orbital ATK reported excellent fourth quarter and full-year financial results, reflecting strong revenues and profit along with robust free cash flow and new business wins,” said David W. Thompson, Orbital ATK’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Operationally, the company carried out more than 50 successful space and strategic defense missions in 2017, and delivered record quantities of tactical missiles, precision weapons, aerospace structures and related systems to government and commercial customers. We also continued to make good progress on several major new product initiatives that should propel long-term growth,” he added.

Consolidated Financial Highlights

Revenues increased $76m, or 6.0%, in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to the fourth quarter of 2016 with increased sales in Flight Systems Group (FSG) and Defense Systems Group (DSG) partially offset by decreased sales in the Space Systems Group (SSG). Adjusted operating income increased $15.2m, or 11.7%, in 2017 compared to 2016, due to increases in DSG and SSG income partly offset by slightly lower FSG income. Revenues increased $309m, or 6.9%, in 2017 compared to 2016, due to increases in all operating segments, partially offset by higher corporate eliminations. Adjusted operating income increased $35.9m in 2017 compared to 2016, driven by improvements in all operating segments as well as corporate due to favorable FAS/CAS pension adjustments in 2017.

Adjusted net income and earnings per share reflected an income tax rate of 50.8% and 32.8% in the fourth quarters of 2017 and 2016, respectively, and 33.0% and 27.5% in the full years 2017 and 2016, respectively. Fourth quarter and full-year 2017 net earnings were reduced by an adjusted effective tax increase of about $41m or $0.71 per share, resulting from the enactment of the 2017 Tax Act and associated write-down of deferred tax assets as mentioned above. Adjusted net income and earnings per share reflect the same tax rates as the GAAP numbers.

“Orbital ATK reported very strong financial results both in the fourth quarter and for the full year, driven by substantial revenue and operating profit growth as well as robust free cash flow generation,” said Garrett E. Pierce, Orbital ATK’s Chief Financial Officer. “Looking back over the past three years since the Orbital-ATKmerger, we are happy to report that the company exceeded our 15% compound annual earnings growth and $1bn cumulative free cash flow targets that were established in early 2015,” he added.

Capital Allocation Activities

During the fourth quarter of 2017, Orbital ATK returned approximately $18m to shareholders through dividends. The company halted its share repurchase program in connection with the signing of the Northrop Grumman acquisition transaction in September. The company also invested about $144m in R&D and capital equipment in the quarter. For the full year, Orbital ATK returned about $97 m to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases and invested about $360 m in R&D and capital equipment.

New Business Summary

In the fourth quarter, Orbital ATK received new firm and option orders of approximately $1,570m and existing option exercises of $685m, for a total of $2,255m in quarterly new business volume. These new awards increased firm contract backlog to approximately $10.2bn and total backlog to about $16.0bn, representing new record levels with increases of 9% and 12%, respectively, compared to this time last year. The company’s Space Systems Group accounted for $1,070m, or 47%, of the fourth quarter’s new business volume, Defense Systems Group accounted for $630m, or 28%, and Flight Systems Group accounted for $570m, or 25%. The fourth quarter’s firm book-to-bill ratio was 141%.

For the full-year 2017, the company’s new firm and option orders were $5,840m and existing option exercises were $1,715m, for a total of $7,555m in new business volume. Defense Systems Group received $3,730m, or 49%, of the full year total, with Flight Systems Group booking $2,200m, or 29%, and Space Systems Group winning $1,670m, or 22%, of the total volume. Orbital ATK’s full year firm book-to-bill ratio was 123%.

Operational Highlights

Orbital ATK’s strong operational execution led to the achievement of numerous milestones in the fourth quarter of 2017. These included the following important events:

• Orbital ATK’s Flight Systems Group successfully launched an Antares rocket, which carried the company’s Cygnus spacecraft with essential supplies to the International Space Station, as well as a Taurus rocket that deployed 10 satellites for Planet. In addition, the company launched a target vehicle for missile defense testing, supported an Atlas V launch with company-produced composite structures, and supported a Delta II launch with composite structures and solid rocket motors. The company also continued on-schedule production of the large-class solid rocket boosters for NASA’s Space Launch System and achieved composite structure milestones on both high-rate production and new development programs for commercial and military customers.
• In the Defense Systems Group, the company produced approximately 315m rounds of small-, medium- and large-caliber ammunition in the fourth quarter. Orbital ATK also delivered the 100,000th high-performance rocket motor for the Hellfire II missile, produced 5,000 precision-guided artillery and mortar rounds, and conducted several important product demonstrations for counter-drone, advanced ammunition and precision weapon development programs during the fourth quarter.
• In the Space Systems Group, fourth quarter operational highlights included the completion of the ninth Cygnus cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station for NASA, setting new records for the amount of disposal material removed from the station and the number of micro-satellites deployed on a secondary mission. Other highlights in the quarter included the delivery and successful launch of 20 Iridium NEXT satellites that the company assembled, integrated and tested, as well as the shipment to the launch site of the company’s first GEOStar-3 commercial satellite, which was launched in late January.

 

23 Feb 18. KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, Inc. (SGT) a leading provider of technology solutions, engineering services, mission operations, scientific and IT software solutions in the Government Services market.

SGT has a distinguished heritage delivering technology solutions and services to the U.S. government for space programs, national security and civilian operations. The addition of SGT solidifies KBRwyle’s position as an established leader in human space exploration and opens up significant new opportunities in both civil and military space. The acquisition will also strengthen KBR’s support for strategic clients and enhance our position for opportunities in the national security and commercial space markets.

NASA’s recent budget requests prioritizing growth in deep space exploration, science, low earth orbit and spaceflight operations and its emerging strategy to potentially utilize public-private partnerships or other commercialization to support the International Space Station (ISS), provides validation for KBR’s strategy across NASA which is directly supported by the acquisition of SGT.

This strategic acquisition of SGT builds on previous acquisitions of Wyle and HTSI and will be an important accelerator to KBR’s strategy to increase technology and mission capabilities. SGT is only the 2nd company in the United States and the 22nd in the world to hold the CMMI Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)® Level 5 for Development and Services.

“SGT is a great company with very talented people and is the right fit for us as we continue to grow our Government Services portfolio and position ourselves to expand into new areas in line with our strategy,” said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO. “With our combined best in class capabilities and shared position for innovation and performance, we can capitalize on revenue synergies in a market with strong fundamentals.

“We are excited to bring SGT into the KBRwyle family,” Bradie said. “This is a strong cultural fit. Like KBR, SGT is a people company that operates with integrity and delivers strong results by putting customers and employees at the forefront of everything they do.”

KBR expects SGT to become a business unit within KBRwyle and will maintain SGT’s current management structure in order to preserve a continuity of services to customer during transition.

“This transaction creates an exciting future,” said Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, President and CEO of SGT. “As a combined entity, we will be able to bring powerful capabilities and solutions to the marketplace and broaden our service offerings for our existing customers. The alignment of the strong employee focused cultures and the combined business synergies makes this an ideal situation.”

The transaction is expected to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in the first full year after closing, excluding non-recurring transaction costs. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the KBR Board of Directors and is subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

 

23 Feb 18. KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) today announced strong fourth quarter and fiscal 2017 financial results. KBR, a global provider of differentiated, professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the government services and hydrocarbons industries, has posted positive earnings results in every quarter of 2017, continuing to build on consistent profit momentum and positioning the company for stable and predictable long-term growth.

“We continue to make progress on our strategy to establish KBR as a global leader in differentiated professional services and technologies and to position the company for strong long-term growth with reduced risk and increased financial flexibility,” said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO. “We delivered consistently positive results throughout this year in terms of earnings and improved cash flow, meeting or exceeding what we set out to achieve at the beginning of the year for all our key metrics.”

KBR trended positively in bookings in the second half of 2017, with an overall book-to-bill of 1.2 in Q4 which also was a record quarter of bookings and margins in our Technology and Consulting (T&C) business. T&C achieved a 2.6 book-to-bill in the quarter, and our Government Services (GS) business delivered 1.3.

“These results signal improving fundamentals in our core markets and fuel positive momentum as we enter 2018,” said Bradie.

KBR also announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SGT, a leading provider of technology solutions, engineering services, mission operations and scientific and IT software solutions. Upon completion of the transaction, KBR’s global Government Services business, KBRwyle, will be positioned as one of the top tier service providers at NASA, across multiple space centers and delivers enhanced life-cycle capabilities to support our customers’ needs in current and evolving markets for NASA, military, and commercial space. KBR has also assumed operational management of the Aspire Defence project joint venture in the U.K., which will further add to its government services base with a long term, predictable profit and cash flow stream. This joint venture has been performing services for the Ministry of Defence since 2006.

“Acquiring SGT and our greater role on Aspire will enhance our growth in the Government Services business segment,” said Bradie.

Summary Fourth Quarter Results:

Consolidated revenue in the fourth quarter of 2017 was $937m compared to $1.2bn in the fourth quarter of 2016. The 6% organic revenue growth in both our GS and T&C segments was offset by completion or substantial completion on various projects in our Engineering and Construction (E&C) segment and the completion of the execution phase of our last domestic EPC power project in the Non-strategic Business (NSB) segment.

Gross profit improved to $65m compared to gross profit of $6m in the prior year quarter. Consistent project delivery across all segments and strong margin performance in our T&C segment were key contributors in the quarter. Equity in earnings were $8 m compared to $10m in the prior year. The write down related to a shareholder loan receivable from our joint venture partner, Carillion plc, in our GS segment was partially offset by increased earnings on our industrial services joint venture in the E&C segment.

Net income attributable to KBR was $275m, or $1.94 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to net loss of $(87)m, or $(0.61) per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2016. Net income for 2017 includes a net tax benefit of $241m, which reflects a reduction in our tax valuation allowance of $223m as well as net benefits from new tax reform legislation. The reduction in the tax valuation allowance was triggered by the restoration of profitability at KBR, including coming out of a three year cumulative loss position and having a more predictable and stable long-term profit outlook resulting from portfolio improvements and de-risking actions taken over the past three years. The $18m tax benefit attributed to the “Tax Act” of 2017 resulted from revaluation of deferred tax liabilities to the new lower Federal tax rate. There was no effect from the new repatriation tax as the Company was able to use available foreign tax credits to mitigate its impact. Net income attributable to KBR excluding these tax benefits was $34m in the fourth quarter, compared to the $87m loss in the prior year quarter. This increase was due to organic growth, solid project execution and strong margins in our GS and T&C segments.

Q4 Fiscal 2017 Segment Business Results (All comparisons are fourth quarter 2017 versus fourth quarter 2016 unless otherwise noted.)

Government Services (GS) Results

GS revenue was $553m, an increase of $34m, or 7%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. The revenue increase was driven by organic growth and expansion of task orders on existing U.S. Government contracts and growth on existing program management projects in the U.K.

GS gross profit was $42m (7.6% of revenues), a decrease of $1m from fourth quarter 2016. The fourth quarter of 2016 benefited from a non-recurring gain from an Iraqi tax benefit.

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates was $2m, a decrease of $8m from the prior year, with the variance attributed to a write down of a shareholder loan receivable from our joint venture partner, Carillion plc, in our Aspire joint venture in the U.K.

Technology & Consulting (T&C) Results

T&C’s revenue was $90m, an increase of $5m, or 6%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. The increase was due primarily to continued demand for our technologies and organic growth in consulting services for upstream projects.

T&C’s gross profit was $28m (31% of revenues), up $4m from the fourth quarter of 2016, due to a favorable mix of technology fees and stronger consulting performance plus overall benefits of efficiency.

Engineering & Construction (E&C) Results

E&C’s revenue was $293m, a decrease of $237 m from the fourth quarter of 2016, primarily due to completion or near completion of several projects across the segment.

E&C’s gross loss was $5m (-1.7% of revenues), an improvement of $53m compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. The improvement from prior year can be attributed to solid project execution and losses associated with a downstream legacy lump-sum EPC project during the fourth quarter of 2016 that did not recur in 2017. The gross loss in the quarter was driven by labor and overhead utilization inefficiencies associated with the completion of several projects while new projects have not yet materialized.

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates was $6m, an increase of $6m from the prior year due to improved earnings on our industrial services joint venture in the Americas as well as our joint ventures in Europe. These increases were partially offset by dilution on the Ichthys LNG joint venture, driven by increased estimates to complete resulting in lower progress for the quarter. We expect the dilution in percentage completion will be recovered during 2018 and early 2019.

Non-strategic Business (NSB) Results

NSB revenue was $1m, a decrease of $55m from the prior year, primarily due to the completion of the execution phases of our EPC power projects as we exit this business.

NSB gross profit was $0m, compared to a gross loss of $3m in the fourth quarter of 2016, due to non-recurring cost increases on a power project in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Summary Fiscal 2017 Results (All comparisons fiscal 2017 versus fiscal 2016)

Revenues were $4.2bn for 2017 compared to $4.3bn for 2016. Excluding our NSB, revenues increased by $75m to $4.1bn. The revenue increases were driven by full-year impact of acquisitions and growth within our GS segment, partially offset by completion or substantial completion on several projects in our E&C segment. We have completed our last remaining EPC power project in the NSB segment.

Gross profit for 2017 improved to $342m compared gross profit of $112m in 2016. The increase in gross profit was driven by growth within our GS and T&C segments, favorable settlement of PEMEX litigation and non-recurrence of unfavorable changes in project estimates and loss provisions in our E&C segment and in our NSB segment. Equity in earnings were $72m compared to $91m in the prior year. Increased earnings in our U.K. joint ventures within our GS segment were offset with dilution on the Ichthys LNG joint venture due to increases in estimate at completion. We expect the dilution in percentage completion will be recovered during 2018 and early 2019.

Net income attributable to KBR for 2017 was $434m or $3.06 per diluted share compared to net loss of $(61)m or $(0.43) per diluted share in 2016. Net income for 2017 includes a net tax benefit of $241m, which reflects a reduction in our tax valuation allowance of $223m and a revaluation of deferred tax liabilities to the new lower Federal tax rate.

Summary 2017 Segment Business Results (All comparisons are fiscal 2017 versus fiscal 2016)

Government Services (GS) Results

GS revenue was $2.2bn in 2017, an increase of $834m, or 61% compared to 2016. This increase was primarily driven by the Wyle and HTSI acquisitions being included for the full year in 2017, and continued expansion under existing U.S. government services contracts. Partially offsetting the increase was a favorable settlement with the U.S. government regarding reimbursement of expensed legal fees related to the sodium dichromate case in 2016.

GS gross profit was $15m (7.1% of revenues), an increase of $18m compared to 2016. This increase was primarily attributable to the same factors affecting revenues per above. Partially offsetting the increase was a favorable settlement with the U.S. government regarding reimbursement of expensed legal fees related to the sodium dichromate case in 2016. Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates was $43m, an increase of $4m, or 10% compared to 2016. The increased activity in our Aspire U.K. joint venture and ramp up of the contract within our Affinity joint venture associated with the U.K. Military Flight Training School project was partially offset with a write down of a shareholder loan receivable from our joint venture partner, Carillion plc.

Technology & Consulting (T&C) Results

T&C’s revenue was $326m, a decrease of $21m, or 6%, compared to 2016. Increases in catalyst project revenues and consulting revenues were offset by decreases in proprietary equipment sales due to timing of project activity.

T&C’s gross profit was $79m (24.2% of revenues), up $6m compared to 2016, driven by a favorable mix of license fees on new awards, stronger consulting performance and overall benefits of efficiency.

Engineering & Construction (E&C) Results

E&C’s revenue was $1.6bn, a decrease of $738m, or 31%, compared to 2016, primarily due to completion or near completion of several projects across the segment.

E&C’s gross profit was $108m (6.7% of revenues), an improvement of $101m compared to 2016. The improvement from the prior year can be attributed to better project execution, a favorable settlement with PEMEX as well as the non-recurrence of unfavorable changes in estimates on two legacy lump-sum EPC projects that occurred in 2016.

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates was $29m, a decrease of $23m compared to 2016. Increased earnings on our industrial services joint venture in the Americas as well as our joint ventures in Europe were offset by dilution on the Ichthys LNG joint venture. The dilution was driven by increased estimates to complete resulting in lower progress and is expected to be recovered during 2018 and early 2019.

Non-strategic Business (NSB) Results

NSB revenue was $38m, a decrease of $172m from 2016, primarily due to the completion of our EPC power projects as we exited this business.

NSB gross profit was $0m, compared to a gross loss of $105m in 2016, due to completion of projects as well as non-recurring cost increases on a power project in 2016.

Cash Flow and Liquidity

Cash flows generated from operating activities totaled $193m for fiscal 2017, compared to$61m in 2016. Operating cash flows were favorably impacted by significantly improved overall profitability during the 2017. Fiscal 2017 cash flows also benefited from the collection from the PEMEX settlement in Q2, which was offset by cash costs to complete several large projects which had benefited from advance payments from customers in earlier years.

Cash flows used in investing activities totaled $12m for fiscal 2017, representing modest capital expenditures and minor M&A follow-on activity.

Cash flows used in financing activities totaled $290m for fiscal 2017, reflecting $189 mused to reduce debt, $53m used to buy back stock, and $45m used for regular dividends.

Cash and equivalents at December 31, 2017 totaled $439m. As of December 31, 2017, our $1bn revolving credit agreement had an outstanding balance of $470m.

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Odyssey is an independent corporate finance firm which advises on acquisitions, business sales, management buy-outs and raising finance, typically in the £5m to £100m range.  We have extensive experience in the niche manufacturing sector with our most recent completed deal being the sale of MacNeillie to Babcock Plc. Details can be seen at:  http://www.odysseycf.com/case-study-macneillie/

 

As a result of this and related projects we have developed relationships with buyers and funders looking to acquire or invest in the sector.  We would be happy to share further insights into the sector and to carry out reviews of businesses whose shareholders are considering an exit, acquisition or fundraise.

The review will include:

* Valuation

* Market review

* Comparative deals and structures

* Initial thoughts on buyers/ investors/ targets

* MBO viability

* Feasibility review and identification of any issues to be addressed pre-deal

There is no charge for this review.

If this is of interest we would be happy to meet at your convenience.

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MILITARY VEHICLE NEWS

 

Web Page sponsored by MILLBROOK

 

Tel: +44 (0) 1525 408408

 

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01 Mar 18. Renault Trucks Defense is upgrading its governance. As a century-old company in the land defense sector, Renault Trucks Defense (RTD) is launching a new strategy and reorganizing its governance structure. After a record year in terms of orders with contracts signed worth 1.9bn euros and firm orders for over 600m euros, RTD, a Volvo Group subsidiary, is renewing its strategy to continue its growth. RTD has confirmed its position as a specialist in light and medium range land defense platforms. RTD is expanding its range of services beyond through-life support (TLS) and developing its systems operations, e.g. the small caliber remotely-operated turrets sector.  In addition to preparing innovative products for future major programs, RTD aims to continue with its international expansion based on its own products or by establishing partnerships. The allocated roles of four structural cornerstones will be reinforced and expanded in order to effectively implement this new strategy:

Christian Cusset is in charge of Strategy and the Product plan in addition to his roles as Chief Financial Officer and IT Director of RTD. Mr Cusset has been part of the group since 1995 and graduated from the Ecole Centrale de Lyon.

Frédéric Gratien has been appointed Director of Operations. Mr Gratien is responsible for managing programs and contracts, purchasing, R&D, production, quality and planning. He was previously in charge of strategy and products, and R&D and launched various products such as the Sherpa and the Mark III armored carrier. He joined the group in 1990 after graduating from ENI (Metz) engineer.

Jean-François Martin, Sales Director, oversees the commercial development of RTD on all markets. He joined RTD in 2017, graduated from INSA (Rennes) and can boast extensive experience in managing sales and marketing operations in the aeronautical and defense sectors.

The Division General (Ret), Pascal Vandenbussche, Director of customer support and services, is responsible for implementing many innovative projects in the fields of service and Through-Life Support. He joined RTD in 2013.

 

27 Feb 18. Queensland’s LaserDYNE Technologies has been selected by Saab Australia as a supplier for a key subsystem offered as part of BAE Systems’ AMV35 vehicle for LAND 400 Phase 2. Under the partnership, LaserDYNE will supply its RangePRO laser transceiver within the Saab Universal Sight and Fire-Control System (UTAAS). UTAAS is a sight and fire-control system for tanks and combat vehicles that provides high hit probability against all ground targets, helicopters and fast-moving aircraft. It is currently in service in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Denmark, all with BAE Systems’ Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90). (Source: Defence Connect)

 

23 Feb 18. Turkey wants Germany to participate in Altay MBT production. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has stated that he wants Germany to participate in the production of Turkey’s Altay main battle tank (MBT) as Berlin gives mixed signals about whether it will lift the freeze on arms exports to its fellow NATO member country. In an interview with German news agency dpa on 18 February on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Yildirim said, “Such co-operation [on Altay production] with Germany will benefit both sides,” Turkey’s state-run Anatolia news agency reported. “In fact, Altay production will be more beneficial for Germany since the machines [to build the MBTs] come from Germany, important parts also come from Germany. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

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Millbrook, based in Bedfordshire, UK, makes a significant contribution to the quality and performance of military vehicles worldwide. Its specialist expertise is focussed in two distinct areas: test programmes to help armed services and their suppliers ensure that their vehicles and systems work as the specification requires; and design and build work to upgrade new or existing vehicles, evaluate vehicle capability and investigate in-service failures. Complementing these is driver and service training and a hospitality business that allows customers to use selected areas of Millbrook’s remarkable facilities for demonstrations and exhibitions.

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Web Page sponsor Oxley Developments

 

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01 Mar 18.  Roboteam Announces Artificial Intelligence Control Unit (AI-CU) Software for Unmanned Systems. Roboteam, Inc., the leading global provider of tactical ground robotic systems and controllers for defense, law enforcement and public safety missions, today announced their intuitive Artificial Intelligence Control Unit(AI-CU pronounced “IQ”) software. The software will provide intuitive control and operation of unmanned systems and payloads to include unique features such as autonomous navigation, facial recognition and other artificial intelligence-enabled capabilities for operators of unmanned systems.

“The AI-CU will revolutionize the way soldiers are able to execute their mission objectives safely and successfully,” said Shahar Abuhazira, CEO of Roboteam, Inc. “This software provides users with the next generation of unmanned software control by enhancing the level of situational awareness and intuitive operation. The AI-CU provides military quality speech and facial recognition technology that will forever change the way soldiers leverage robotics on the battlefield.”

Capable of acting as a universal control unit, the AI-CU allows operators to control numerous platforms and payloads simultaneously, based on MOCU compliant, open source software. Through the use of AI, an operator can control semi-autonomous platforms with voice commands while receiving real-time facial recognition data in the field. AI-CU leverages universal sensors that can be integrated with GPS location, pre-defined payload configurations, and mission objectives for autonomous and intuitive operation.

The use of machine learning will allow platforms to recognize individual operators and learn how each user utilizes system features and performance. During operation, control and usability features automatically adjust, allowing AI-CU to provide a tailored interaction with the platform to better meet an operator’s needs. AI-CU is easily modified to meet any mission objective, whether it is controlling UGVs or UAVs, and leverages an obstacle alert system for superior situational awareness.

In addition to operability, the software provides a supreme level of security for users in the battlefield. Sensitive material stored on the AI-CU or robotic platform can be remotely deleted in situations where a platform may have been compromised.

To learn more about the AI-CU, please visit: http://www.robo-team.com/products/ai-cu/. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

 

01 Mar 18. Garmin® introduces the GDL 50 portable ADS-B traffic and weather receiver. Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today announced the GDL 50, a portable device capable of receiving Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) traffic and weather, GPS and aircraft attitude1 information for display on select portables and mobile devices. A remote-mount version of the GDL 50, the GDL 50R, is also available. Exclusive features such as TargetTrend™ and TerminalTraffic™ further enhance the ADS-B traffic picture and are unique to Garmin products. Wireless and hardwired compatibility of the GDL 50/50R includes the G3X™ Touch glass flight display, the aera® 660 and aera 795/796 aviation portables, as well as wireless connectivity with the Garmin Pilot™ app on Apple and Android mobile devices.

“The GDL series is yet another example of how we’re committed to delivering a variety of ADS-B and SiriusXM solutions that provide unique benefits and capabilities beyond what is available on the market today,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “With the GDL series, we’re excited to bring modern, all-inclusive portable solutions that have superior battery life and exceptional features so pilots can easily access the benefits of ADS-B traffic and weather.”

A successor to the GDL 39 3D, the GDL 50 combines dual-link ADS-B traffic, a wide range of Flight Information Service-Broadcast (FIS-B) weather products, GPS and back-up aircraft attitude1 information that displays on compatible Connext® products via Bluetooth® wireless technology or hardwired connections. FIS-B weather products received by the GDL 50 include NEXRAD imagery, METARs, TAFs, wind and temperatures aloft, PIREPs, NOTAMs and more. Additionally, pilots also have access to the most recent data as the GDL 50 continually downloads traffic and weather information in the background – even while the display is sleeping.

In addition to comprehensive weather data, pilots utilizing the GDL 50 can receive ADS-B traffic information and audible alerts to easily identify potential traffic conflicts while in-flight. Dual-link technology allows the GDL 50 to receive ADS-B In traffic on both 978 MHz and 1090 MHz frequencies, offering the most complete traffic picture and superior situational awareness. For aircraft that are properly equipped to meet ADS-B Out with a certified solution, the portable GDL 50 ADS-B In receiver provides an even better traffic picture by also receiving TIS-B traffic data from ground stations.

Exclusive to Garmin products, patented TargetTrend provides pilots with a more intuitive method of judging target trajectories and closure rates, particularly in airspace with high volumes of traffic so pilots can more easily discern traffic targets that pose the greatest threat. TerminalTraffic displays a comprehensive picture of ADS-B-equipped aircraft and ground vehicles throughout the airport environment on the moving map and SafeTaxi® airport diagram. ADS-B traffic can be overlaid on the dedicated traffic page, the moving map, as well as IFR/VFR charts on compatible devices.

Boasting superior battery life, a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery allows the GDL 50 to receive ADS-B traffic, FIS-B weather, GPS and back-up aircraft attitude information for up to 8 hours on a single charge. On applicable devices, back-up attitude1 information can be displayed within the synthetic vision (SVX) or the aircraft panel pages for use in VFR conditions. Capable of wirelessly streaming data to two devices and making hardwired connections to two additional devices simultaneously, the GDL 50 offers quick and convenient access to essential information throughout the cockpit.

In addition to the GDL 50/50R, both the GDL 52/52R and GDL 51/51R portable receivers are available and shipping. The GDL 51/51R is a portable SiriusXM receiver while the GDL 52/52R combines both SiriusXM and ADS-B receive capabilities. The introduction of the new GDL series completes the industry’s most comprehensive line-up of portable ADS-B In and SiriusXM aviation receivers. The GDL 50 and GDL 50R are available immediately for a street price of $849. For additional information and offer details, visit: www.garmin.com/aviation.

Garmin’s aviation business segment is a leading provider of solutions to OEM, aftermarket, military and government customers. Garmin’s portfolio includes navigation, communication, flight control, hazard avoidance, an expansive suite of ADS-B solutions and other products and services that are known for innovation, reliability, and value. For more information about Garmin’s full line of avionics, go to www.garmin.com/aviation.

For decades, Garmin has pioneered new GPS navigation and wireless devices and applications that are designed for people who live an active lifestyle. Garmin serves five primary business units, including automotive, aviation, fitness, marine, and outdoor recreation. For more information, visit Garmin’s virtual pressroom at garmin.com/newsroom, contact the Media Relations department at 913-397-8200, or follow us at facebook.com/garmin, twitter.com/garmin, or youtube.com/garmin.

1. The attitude information provided by the GDL 50 is not intended to be used as a source of attitude information for flight in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and should not be used under these conditions. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

 

01 Mar 18. What is DARPA doing in Ukraine? DARPA, the Pentagon’s high-tech office, is working with the government of Ukraine to develop capabilities to help Kiev in its hybrid warfare challenge.

DARPA director Steven Walker, who recently took over that job after five years as the agency’s deputy, told reporters that he had personally visited the country in 2016 for talks with Ukrainian military, intel and industry leaders.

“We did have a good visit to the Ukraine,” Walker said Thursday at a breakfast hosted by the Defense Writer’s Group. “Yes, we have followed up with them, and through the U.S. European Command, we have started several projects with the Ukraine, mostly in the information space.”

“Not providing them weapons or anything like that, but looking at how to help them with information,” Walker added, before declining to go into further detail.

Ukraine has become a testing ground for hybrid warfare techniques from Russia and Russian-backed militant groups ever Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory in 2014, including disinformation campaigns. While that has allowed Moscow to test out new capabilities and techniques, it also provides an opportunity to develop counter techniques — which may benefit the U.S. and its allies in the long term.

“I think we’ve got to get better, as a country, in information warfare and how we approach info warfare,” Walker said. “I think there are capabilities there that we need to improve upon, and DAPRA is working in some of those areas.”

This is not the first tie between DARPA and Kiev. The Ukrainian government has hired Tony Tether, who led DARPA for the entirety of the George. W. Bush administration, to help lead a reorganization of their science and technology efforts, something Tether in a LinkedIn post said was necessary in part because so much of Ukraine’s S&T facilities were in the territory seized by Russia.

The former DARPA head has also consulted for the Ukroboronprom group, Ukraine’s largest defense contractor, and just a few weeks ago was added to the group’s supervisory board in a move that Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko called a “symbol of effective cooperation between Ukrainian and American partners.”

Tether is expected to try and recreate some of what make DARPA so successful in Ukraine, but Walker notes that many countries have tried to do that — and failed, in large part due to a cultural fear of giving workers the freedom to fail they need.

“When I talk to others about DARPA and why it works, many other cultures say ‘this couldn’t happen,’” Walker noted.

More broadly, Walker said part of what he wants to see at DARPA during his tenure is looking at increasing counterinsurgency capabilities.

“I think as more populations across the world move to larger and larger cities, we need to understand the three dimensionality of cites and how to operate in those very crowded, very three-dimensional spaces,” Walker said, noting DARPA is working on ways to sense and map underground tunnels and infrastructure. (Source: Defense News)

 

01 Mar 18. DARPA Chief Describes Promising Future Technologies. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will employ enhanced funding to discover technologies used to defend the homeland, bolster deterrence and aid service members engaged in counterterror and counterinsurgency fights, the agency’s director said here today.

Speaking with the Defense Writers’ Group, Steven H. Walker said his agency is working on artificial intelligence projects, hypersonic technologies, promising biological technologies and advanced electronics, among other technologies.

“We understand we are in competition with countries like Russia and China,” he said.

Competition With Russia, China

Russia and China are investing heavily in hypersonic technologies involving aircraft that travel between Mach 4 (about 3,070 mph) and Mach 8 (about 6,100 mph) and the two countries also worked on the capability to increase the range of their missiles and decrease the chance that they could be shot down.

DARPA, the Air Force and NASA have been working together for years on the technology. At the beginning of the administration, Walker approached Defense leaders with the need for a national initiative to develop hypersonics.

“We did push for a comprehensive initiative in the budget process this fall,” he said. “We did receive a budget increase at DARPA and some of the services to do more in hypersonics. I don’t think we got all we wanted, but it was a good first step.”

Walker looks forward to working with Mike Griffin, the new undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and former NASA administrator. “He understands this problem very well and I’ve been told by Mike personally that this will be one of his top priorities,” Walker said.

DARPA has supported experiments with hypersonic capabilities and the boost in funding will allow the agency to assess what can be done with the systems, how effective they are and how affordable they will be.

He expects test flights next year.

Laser Technology

DARPA has also pushed the area of solid state lasers being tested at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Service members may use directed-energy weapons in a tactical environment, soon. “These are not the size of a [Star Wars] light saber, but they can drive it around,” Walker said.

In space systems, the agency is looking at the feasibility of very capable low-Earth-orbit satellites to handle a variety of needs from command and control to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to tactical warfighting.

“We’ve been talking about this for a while,” Walker said. “The difference today, is the technology has moved along to allow you to think about having some pretty capable small satellites that you can put in at (low-Earth orbit) and in larger constellations. We are starting a program called Blackjack, … which is looking at how we leverage the commercial sector and what they want to do at [low-Earth orbit].”

This would be naturally resilient because it would force an adversary to target a large number of satellites. They would be in low-Earth orbit and relatively cheap to place — current satellites are in geosynchronous orbit more than 22,300 miles above the Earth.

Artificial Intelligence

The director believes the United States is not falling behind Russia and China in artificial intelligence. AI has been on DARPA’s plate since the 1960s, he said, and he makes a distinction between “autonomy at rest” and “autonomy in motion” when he discussed AI. Autonomy at rest are applications that use judgment to help humans make decisions or to search an area or to collate data.

Autonomy in motion deals with AI systems operating on their own, and while there is a place for these it stops short of the lethal force decision. Walker said the United States will not allow a machine to make that judgment.

Walker believes there needs to be more research in biological fields. He said DARPA is looking at developing flu vaccines in days rather than months or years. He want the agency to look at ways to protect the nation from biological attack. He wants to look at the issue of gene editing that China, for example, is pushing ahead with. “Biology is a fast-paced field and certainly you can see China is making a big investment in DNA sequencing and their DNA database,” he said.

The United States also needs to invest in advanced electronics, Walker said. China is looking to bring all electronics manufacturing on shore.

“We’re looking at the electronics resurgence initiative,” he said. “This is $150 million to look at new designs and manufacturing techniques to bridge the gap between our global multinational companies in this country that are at the forefront of electronics in this country and the defense industrial base.”

DARPA at its heart is a risk-taking organization, Walker said. World-class scientists are there for between three and five years and then move on.

“We get a lot of support from the White House, the Congress, the Pentagon — apolitical support — to do the right thing, to take risks,” the director said. “They give us a lot of freedom to make decisions and to think differently and to start and stop our own programs. If you want an organization to produce out-of-the-box ideas and projects, to continue to disrupt the status quo and to question, then you want that organization to have some autonomy and flexibility.” (Follow Jim Garamone on Twitter: @GaramoneDoDNews)

 

27 Feb 18. DoD is migrating to Windows 10 and it will probably stick around forever. An army marches on its stomach, but it plans those marches — and the subsequent PowerPoints about those marches — in Microsoft. The bureaucracy of war, the teeming thousands hunched over computers inside offices and campuses and an eponymous five-sided funhouse runs, like the rest of modernity, on software. This makes cybersecurity an everyday part of military work, and it means a big shift. Think about the Air Force’s migration to Windows 10 which is expected by the end of March.

An announcement about the news from the Air Force’s Public Affairs department reads like ad copy: “In cyberspace … every Airman is an operator. They need to be aware of cyber threat and do their part by being prepared for the Win10 migration,” said Bill Marion, deputy chief, information dominance and deputy chief information officer. “The long term benefit is not just about defending the Air Force against the cyber threat, but having a reliable and capable computer to accomplish the mission.”

And if there’s a sense of urgency in the announcement, it might come from the fact that the original switch to Windows 10 was planned in 2015, with the expectation that deployment through all combatant commands, services, agencies and field activities would be complete by January 2017.

Whoops.

This is hardly the first time the Pentagon’s adopted a new operating system, only to find it still in use well after the mandated switch-over date. To get a glimpse of how the later-stages of the Windows 10 switch-over will play out, we need only go to the recent past, when the Pentagon tried to phase Windows XP, an operating system released in 2001.

From the Washington Post in 2014:

Federal officials have known for more than six years that Microsoft will withdraw its free support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014. Despite a recent rush to complete upgrades, an estimated 10 percent of government computers — out of several million — will still be running the operating system on that date, company officials said.

That includes thousands of computers on classified military and diplomatic networks, U.S. officials said. Such networks have stronger defenses generally but hold more sensitive material, raising the stakes for breaches if they occur.

Even after the deadline, the Department of Defense continued to order support for Windows XP, with the Navy purchasing more XP support well into 2016, a year after the switchover to WIndows 10 was announced.

Invariably, the computers running pre-Windows 10 operating systems will dwindle, and the switchover will proceed to a satisfactory degree of accomplishment, even among the holdovers. But I wouldn’t expect older system to die entirely, and whenever the Pentagon switches to the post-10 operating system, expect to see Windows 10 kicking around on backwater computers. After all, this is the same Pentagon that still operates Windows 3.1. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)

 

27 Feb 18. How ship design can improve the Marine Corps’ networks. The Marine Corps is a fighting force built on digital networks: This means networks for intel and command and control and networks for tactical organization and fires control. The smooth operation of these networks is a frontline concern.

“From an operational perspective, it is absolutely critical for us to be able to push our traffic securely across our networks,” said Col. Rob Bailey, Commanding Officer, Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity (MCTSSA). “These networks have to be trained, manned and equipped properly to meet that need for command and control in whatever battlespace we need to operate in.”

To that end, the Marine Corps has begun to roll out a “planning yard,” a new management methodology meant to ensure seamless operations within the Marine Corps Enterprise Network (MCEN).

The notion of a planning yard comes from Navy parlance: It typically refers in the methodology for managing configuration of a ship, a means of applying consistent rules to the design of specifications around critical systems.

Marine Corps planners want to take that same systemic approaching and apply it to the diverse networks presently tied together under MCEN. “We can think of our networks as the hull or physical integrity of a ship,” Bailey said. “The planning yard is involved in anything that changes or impacts that physical configuration.”

Engineers have been steadily incorporating Marine Corps networks under the planning yard philosophy since August. Additional rollouts are planned for the coming months, with all major networks expected to be under management of the planning yard by 2020.

A Herculean task

Today, Marine Corps networks coexist under a common framework, MCEN, but many are configured and managed locally. “You have various regions around the planet with pieces of the MCEN, each developing unique solutions to solve common problems,” said Paul Tice, technical director at MCTSSA.

Instead, it would be ideal to have common solutions to issues such as WiFi access, security, bandwidth utilization and quality of service. “Without that, you can introduce a new system that has an order-of-magnitude increase in the bandwidth demand, [and] no one is looking out for the impact of that on other services,” Tice said.

Early results from the planning yard effort suggest this is just the kind of problem that could be remedied through a consolidated approach to network management, Marine Corps leaders said.

Bailey describes a recent incident in which a logistics program had to be shifted across multiple networks. Engineers made the move go smoothly, but failed to realize that their efforts would have a significant impact on other, unrelated network traffic. The planning yard was able to catch that.

“We are able to really get under the hood of these systems and see how they operate and how they interoperate with other systems and other networks,” Tice said. “We can identify the parameters and enable smooth operation depending on who is on the network. It’s about bringing the right people together who are informed on all the different aspects of what makes a network come together.”

The planning yard has had an impact on cybersecurity as well. In early testing, “we have found a number of ‘zero day’ vulnerabilities, previously unknown and unmitigated vulnerabilities. We identified those, reported the impact back to the program offices and they in turn have developed solutions to those vulnerabilities,” Tice said.

In spite of early wins, planners say it will require a significant effort to bring all major Marine Corps networks under the common management regimen. An early evaluation of just six systems over a course of six weeks required the talents of about a third of the available cyber workforce. “It’s a Herculean task,” Bailey said. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)

 

27 Feb 18. Cobham Announces Successful RT-7000 Launch. Cobham Aerospace Communications has announced that the 2017 launch of their RT-7000 airborne tactical radio has surpassed expectations and sales forecasts.

Said John Payne, Cobham Aerospace Communications’ General Manager: “Enthusiasm for and sales of the RT-7000 far exceeded our projections in 2017, and the start to 2018 is just as promising for this ground-breaking tactical radio.  We look forward to demonstrating its capabilities to audiences at Heli-Expo, the Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit, and other events around the world in the months ahead.”

2017 sales of the RT-7000 originated in North and South America, Europe, and Asia from across the aviation spectrum: fixed wing aircraft and helicopters; leading law enforcement, ISR, fire suppression, utility, and HEMS operators; flagship municipal, state, and federal government agencies; and international airborne military forces.

Cobham’s RT-7000 is a software-defined radio, with modules that may be upgraded as an operator’s requirements and mission evolve, so the aircraft will remain current with AM/FM and P25 today, and TETRA, LTE, SATCOM, HD video, and more in the future.  Recipients of the RT-7000 have noted satisfaction with the radio’s unique features and capabilities, including:

• 29.7 – 960 MHz AM/FM P25 Phase 1 & 2
• Tactile and touchscreen interface
• Connectivity for 2 external handheld radios
• Up to 3 embedded internal transceivers
• Panel-mount or remote-mount variants
• Embedded relay, simulcast, and relay/simulcast
• Best-in-class NVIS Green B-compliant, multi-color touchscreen display

Cobham’s RT-7000 is manufactured in Prescott, Arizona. (Source: ASD Network)

 

27 Feb 18. Australia launches second phase of defence information campaign. Australia has launched the second phase of the industry information campaign, ‘The Workforce Behind the Defence Force’, to encourage more small businesses to take up opportunities in expanding the country’s defence industry.

The Australian Government has invested $200bn to improve defence capabilities over the next ten years with an aim to secure the nation and boost the economy.

Australian Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said: “This important campaign is helping raise awareness about future opportunities in the defence industry sector for those running a business, those looking to transfer or upgrade their skills, and those young Australians exploring what to study.”

“It is a key component of the continued development of the businesses and the skilled workforces which are essential to delivering our modernised defence capabilities.

“The demand will increase the need for Australian workers with trade, engineering, science and technical skills to support the delivery of the government’s investment.”

Opportunities for several small to medium scale enterprises across the country are demonstrated in the campaign. Examples of long-term careers in the defence industry ranging from trades in aerospace and advanced manufacturing to high-tech engineering are also provided.

The current campaign would help the government to fulfil its commitments as demonstrated in the 2016 white papers, ‘The Defence Industry Policy Statement’ and ‘The Integrated Investment Program’.

It will also help Australian businesses to enter the export market as stated in the Defence Export Strategy. (Source: army-technology.com)

 

26 Feb 18. AFSOC searches for virtual reality, autonomous learning solutions. The US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) is seeking new technologies to help the command evaluate and find the best candidates for fields such as para-rescuers, combat controllers, or gunners. The command is looking at ways to use technologies such as autonomous learning to solve those types of challenges, AFSOC Command Chief Master Sergeant Gregory Smith told Jane’s on 22 February. CCM Sgt Smith said he often evaluates pools of candidates and would like a solution that would tell him which candidates have the best probability for success. Autonomous learning is one of the many efforts the USAF is highlighting in its science and technology (S&T) investments for fiscal year 2019. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

26 Feb 18. The maritime industry finally joins the digital age.

We’re used to always being connected online – the average person touches their smart phone 2,617 times a day. We rely on it for collecting and sharing data, connecting automated systems, instantly accessing information and keeping in close contact with family and friends.

But on board ship, things have always been very different. As many as two thirds of vessels don’t have any form of internet access and only 12% have access for the crew. Those fortunate enough to have connectivity are forced to rely on expensive Maritime VSAT which lacks in speed and bandwidth. All seafarers are familiar with the long delays caused by unstable connections, bandwidth restrictions and coverage restraints.

Now, at last, there’s a viable alternative. SeaCell is a robust and reliable system that uses 4G technology to provide 20Mbps high speed internet for up to 20km at sea, even when the vessel is moving. Its airtime costs are massively cheaper than VSAT and the system connects to existing communications so that it can be retro-fitted in under four hours.

It’s already having a big impact. Captain Nick Allen of Rix Shipping called it: ‘The best internet system I’ve seen on a ship’ and the potential it offers for operations are huge. As well as making monitoring, security and inventory systems more reliable, it can also transmit live footage in hazardous situations and help to alleviate some of the metal health issues that are becoming an increasing problem with today’s isolated and multi-national crews.

This must-have new technology comes from Martek Marine, the Rotherham based global marine innovators. It brings the idea of smart ships – vessels where all systems are linked and potentially automated – that much closer to reality.

 

26 Feb 18. Domo Tactical Communications (DTC), the wireless communications specialist, is launching its new Special Role Radio (SRR) at Security and Policing 2018. The SRR is designed to meet the requirements of Tactical and Special Operations applications where robust encrypted, tactical mobile communication links are needed to provide enhanced situational awareness.  The SRR utilises the DTC COFDM waveform to provide High Bandwidth data, video and audio in challenging, dynamic, Non-Line of Site (NLOS) environments where our users operate.

The Special Role Radio joins DTC’s versatile family of IP Mesh and point-to-point (P2P) COFDM radios designed to meet the requirements of a diverse range of surveillance and battlefield applications. It combines a familiar “Personal Role Radio” physical form factor, robust construction and simplified user interface with the ability to use industry standard battery packs, chargers and webbing pouches.

Based-on DTC’s game-changing SOL8 Software Defined Radio (SDR), the SRR is equally at home operating as a Tactical Mobile Adhoc Network (MANET) IP Mesh node, a P2P COFDM Transmitter or a P2P receiver streaming video to a tablet PC.  The SRR also offers dual on-board HD-capable video encoders and support for a variety of different camera interfaces, including HDMI, to stream live video in an operational environment.   The radio also features an “open mic” full duplex audio channel, in-built GPS receiver and on board SD card as well as 2W of output power providing extended range and penetration in RF hostile environments.

The SRR radio and our other security and surveillance products will be on Stand D32 during Security & Policing 2018.

 

26 Feb 18. South Korea to increase investment in 4IR technologies. The South Korean government has outlined a commitment to increase investment in civilian-military technology co-operation in a bid to support indigenous advancement in 4th industrial revolution (4IR) capabilities.

The country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) said in a statement on 23 February that under its 4IR plan it will boost related research and development (R&D) funding from KRW134.3bn (USD125m) in 2017 to around KRW200bn by 2020.

MOTIE said the decision to increase the funding, which was made by its Council on Science and Technology, is intended to contribute to “strengthening industrial competitiveness and defence capability” in South Korea. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

23 Feb 18. New $64m fund will give US Air Force squadrons chance to spearhead tech projects. U.S. Air Force squadrons will get a collective $64m that will allow squadron commanders and their airmen to design and kick-start new projects to boost lethality and readiness, the service’s top general announced Friday.

The new “Squadron Innovation Fund” will dole out about $10,000 to $30,000 per squadron. The hope, Gen. David Goldfein said, was to give squadrons the power to problem solve and make incremental, cutting-edge technological improvements without the having to rely on often slow approval from leadership at the Pentagon.

“This money is designed to let the commanders on point who know what their units need best to test, to experiment, to rely on the best tactical ideas. This is about trusting and empowering commanders and your airmen, because the nation relies on us to be incredibly innovative as we look to increase our lethality and our readiness in this increasingly contested world,” he said.

“Wing commanders, you’ve got an email from me in your inbox waiting for you, pushed out an hour ago, explaining the details,” he added.

The initiative was born after Goldfein visited Beale Air Force Base, California, in November. Defense News, which accompanied Goldfein on the trip, watched as U-2 pilots and combat system officers from the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron briefed the chief on how they had cut costs and worked with base-level contracting officials to partner with commercial industry to test and buy new products.

“Gen. Goldfein has told me as a commander to get ready for the fight. I cannot succeed at the mission that he’s laid out for me if I wait on the Air Force to give me the answers,” Lt. Col. Matt Nussbaum, commander of the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron, told Defense News in a Nov. 30 interview.

So the 99th took matters into its own hands, using squadron funds to purchase Garmin watches and tablets for U-2 pilots, as well as new computing equipment for mission planners.

“When you work with the Pentagon or the Air Force, it’s very cumbersome if you’re a business partner, and it sucks. But if you’re Amazon, you work directly with your customer,” Nussbaum said. “Well, the Air Force squadrons are the end customer.”

As squadrons push forward with projects, they will be able to rely on AFwerX — a new Air Force organization formed to help it network with academia and innovative tech companies outside of the defense contracting norm, the service said in a news release.

“We cannot afford to go slow. It’s time to push up the throttles,” Goldfein said. (Source: Defense News)

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Oxley Group Ltd

 

Oxley specialises in the design and manufacture of advanced electronic and electro-optic components and systems for air, land and sea applications within the military sector. Established in 1942, Oxley has manufacturing facilities in the UK and USA and enjoys representation worldwide.  The company’s products include night vision and LED lighting, data capture systems and electronic components. Oxley has pioneered the development of night vision compatible lighting.  It offers a total package incorporating optical filters, equipment modification, cockpit and external lighting along with fleet wide upgrade services including engineering, installation, support, maintenance and training. The company’s long experience of manufacturing night vision lighting and LED indicators, coupled with advances in LED technology, has enabled it to develop LED solutions to replace incandescent and fluorescent lighting in existing applications as well as becoming the lighting option of choice in new applications such as portable military hospitals, UAV control stations and communication shelters.

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SATELLITE SYSTEMS, SATCOM AND SPACE SYSTEMS UPDATE

 

Web Page sponsor Viasat

 

www.viasat.com/gov-uk

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01 Mar 18. The UK MoD has spent £4.5m on launching a new satellite into space which will provide full motion HD colour footage of opposing armies to Britain’s military A space satellite capable of beaming 3D colour video of enemy manoeuvres back to RAF commanders has been launched into space. The cube-shaped Carbonite-2 — a 100kg spacecraft the size of a washing machine — was fired into orbit by a rocket from a space station in India and it has already started successfully transmitting footage back to earth. It is the first time the RAF will have full-motion colour video from orbit and could one day beam enemy action directly into fighter pilots’ cockpits. The MoD has poured £4.5m into the project – with the RAF leading the satellite’s development for the whole Armed Forces.

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier made the announcement at Surrey Satellite Technology Limited, Guildford, the company behind the technology.

He said: “It’s entirely fitting that we have launched this highly capable satellite in the centenary year of the Royal Air Force.

“We have always been at the leading edge of technology, constantly innovating and expanding our horizons.

“This satellite will not only expand further the RAF’s growing Air and Space capabilities, it will I hope also be an inspiration to those young people looking towards technology as a way to realise their potential.”

The spacecraft carries cameras which scan a 5km window over earth as it orbits the planet.

It is a demonstrator – meaning it is trialling new technology – with a view to create a permanent spacecraft capable of

The tech could one day gift commanders the ability to watch armies, tanks, and other enemy hardware, in real time.

Defence Minister Guto Bebb said: “The success of this satellite shows we are looking far beyond the skies when it comes to defending our country.

“We live in an increasingly dangerous world and satellite technology like this give our Armed Forces the extra advantage of quick video surveillance to keep us safe from a range of future threats, whether that’s an airborne terror attack or a troop of tanks closing in on a foreign border.

RAF boffins hold ambitions to one day have an “international constellation” of satellites above the earth providing battle-winning coverage. Boffins hope the satellites will give Britain and its allies the winning edge in future battles. Officials said the network – operated with allies – would have the potential to support humanitarian crises and combat global threats. (Source: The Sun)

 

02 Mar 18. A satellite launched today will augment the GOES-16 weather satellite and provide broad coverage with powerful new weather monitoring technology for meteorologists to provide life and property-saving forecasts. Today, at 5:02 p.m. ET, NOAA’s GOES-S weather satellite, built by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), was launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket and has successfully established communications.  NOAA’s next weather satellite in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – R Series, GOES-S, which will be renamed GOES-17 upon reaching geostationary orbit, will be positioned to boost forecast accuracy for the West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii. With data from GOES-17, and the already operational GOES-16, the two satellites will observe most of the Western Hemisphere. These satellites will continue to deliver dazzling weather data that has captivated forecasters such as first-of-its-kind lightning mapping and high-definition views of weather systems. This sophisticated information will support short-term weather forecasts and severe storm warnings, maritime forecasts, and space weather predictions. Additionally, the technology will improve hurricane tracking and intensity forecasts, increase thunderstorm and tornado warning lead time and improve wildfire detection.

“GOES-S increases the coverage of our nation and will contribute to the quality and timeliness of weather data – but it is also more than that.” said Tim Gasparrini, GOES-R vice president and program manager at Lockheed Martin Space. “As is evident with the performance of GOES-16 on orbit, we are gaining insight into our weather like never before. The extended application of this data is expected to have a large impact on industries like shipping and logistics, aviation, transportation and more.”

Lockheed Martin designed, built and tested the satellite and is responsible for spacecraft launch processing. In addition to all four GOES-R Series satellites (R, S, T and U), Lockheed Martin also designed and built the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) and the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instruments that will fly aboard each spacecraft.

NOAA funds, manages and plans to operate the GOES-R Series satellites. NASA oversees the acquisition and development of the GOES-R Series spacecraft, instruments and launch vehicle for NOAA. NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center is responsible for launch management. The program is co-located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

 

01 Mar 18. Kratos delivers virtual solution for Boeing’s GSCCE programme. Kratos RT Logic has delivered a virtual machine software satellite ground communications solution to replace the traditional command and control technology for Boeing’s Global SATCOM Configuration Control Element (GSCCE) evolution programme. The virtual solution commands the payload of the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellites. Under the terms of the deal, Kratos RT Logic has delivered virtual machine software versions of the company’s Front End Processor (vFEP) and Gateway (vGTW) systems.

The two systems are installed and run on virtual machines (VMs) on customer-supplied classified and unclassified commercial rack-mounted blade servers.

Kratos RT Logic Business Development vice-president Frank Backes said: “The move to a virtual machine-based architecture is part of Kratos’ strategy to deliver resilient, cost-effective ground architectures that are more robust.

“It will support the Air Force’s Space Enterprise Vision (SEV) with native compatibility for Enterprise Ground Services (EGS) and the Air Force’s Enterprise Space Battle Management Command and Control system (BMC2) now being developed.”

As part of the project, Kratos has delivered 40 vFEPs and 40 vGTW installations that allows for the control of a fleet of up to 14 satellites from five different operation centres that support 28 varied command and control missions.

Using the virtual machine software products, the company is leveraging its information assurance (IA) hardening service to provide an integrated security solution that would help address the demanding requirements of the US Department of Defense (DoD) mission systems. (Source: airforce-technology.com)

 

28 Feb 18. STRATCOM Wants Space-Based Midcourse Tracking Vs. Missiles: Hyten. After 30 years of trying, the head of Strategic Command believes the time and technology are finally ripe for satellites to track both ballistic missiles and emerging threats such as hypersonics.

“I’ll talk about it with Congress over the next couple of weeks,” Gen. John Hytentold reporters here at AUSA’s annual missile defense conference. “I’ll advocate for that mid-course element of a surveillance architecture” alongside existing early warning radars — which spot the initial launch — and surface-based radars — which are best suited to tracking the latter phases of a missile’s flight.

Mid-course tracking satellites are still a concept under study, not a funded program, but Hyten wants to move ahead much faster: “We ought to build those sensors, and I think we can do it affordably.”

“There’s a lot of (skepticism) about the technical feasibility and the cost …and those are valid concerns,” Hyten admitted. “But I think we’re ready now. I believe General Greaves, the director at MDA (Missile Defense Agency), thinks we’re ready.”

Hyten is a four-star general now, but as a young Air Force captain in 1989, he worked on sensors for what was called the Strategic Defense Initiative. Even then, he was convinced that ground-based radars couldn’t see far enough: The horizon generally gets in the way until the incoming warhead is in the final phase of its flight. Conversely, infrared sensors in very high geosynchronous orbits, the Defense Support Program satellites, can spot the heat of a ballistic missile launch anywhere on earth and provide early warning — but when the rocket booster shuts off and fell away, they can’t track where the warhead went. The only way to track the “reentry vehicle” in between launch and final approach, during the mid-course of its flight, was a new kind of satellite, the young Hyten and his colleagues decided.

“You can’t put (terrestrial) radars close enough to see things early on, you can only see that from space,” Hyten told reporters. Space-based sensors have worked for early warning for 50 years, so “we have an architecture today that sees every launch until burnout,” he said. “We can build sensors now that can see the rest of the trajectory.”

Yes, space-based mid-course tracking will be expensive, Hyten admitted — but less expensive, he argued, than the billions we’ve spent on ground- and sea-based radars for a system that still suffers significant gaps in coverage. Those radars will always be an essential part of the missile defense system, he emphasized, covering the final approach, but we’ve been asking them to do something they’re not suited for, namely mid-course tracking. “There aren’t enough ships, there’s not enough islands in the Pacific” to put radars on to cover the potential flight paths, he told the AUSA conference. If you try, he said, you end up spending even more money than space-based sensors would cost and getting much worse coverage.

“I think we can do this affordably. The technology is there,” Hyten told reporters. “We have to make sure we control the requirements (the official wishlist of what a new system must do). We have to keep them simple. But…I can sit down with three smart guys and come up with the requirements right now and be done and get on with it — and I think it’s time to get on with it.” Running requirements through service and joint staffs for approval can take three years, Hyten said, but Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Paul Selva can cut that to three months.

That kind of speed needs to become routine, rather than a special exception, Hyten said, as the military struggles to keep up with advancing technology and inventive adversaries. Once, the military empowered mid-grade officers to innovate and take risks, Hyten said, with the nation’s first spy satellite program (for example) suffering 13 failures in a row before its epochal success. Now, between congressional oversight and Pentagon bureaucracy, the system has become risk averse and sluggish.

“My biggest concern…is that in so many places, we’ve kind of lost the ability to go fast,” Hyten said. “Oh my gosh, we take forever to do anything any more, and our adversaries are not suffering the same problem.” (Source: Breaking Defense.com)

 

01 Mar 18. New Hyper-Wide Dynamic Range RF over Fiber Link Launched. High Throughput Satellites (HTS) are capable of transmitting data over a hundred times faster than conventional Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) satellites and this higher throughput needs more dynamic range within the ground segment. Addressing this need, RF over fiber experts, ViaLite Communications have launched the new L-Band HTS – HWDR RF over fiber link. Boasting a Hyper-Wide Dynamic Range (HWDR) of 114 dB/Hz 2/3, the link is ideal for the demanding applications associated with HTS and defense. The link is based on ViaLite’s Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology and is suitable for 500, 800 and full 1500 MHz bandwidths. It covers transmission distances of 0-50 km and can also be used with a regular L-Band HTS Receiver.

High throughput satellites achieve their performance with high level frequency re-use and spot beam technology, allowing for multiple narrowly-focused spot beams – typically 100s of kilometers wide – utilizing a much greater bandwidth. In contrast, traditional satellite technology uses a broad single beam – usually 1000s of kilometers wide – covering large regions and sometimes whole continents, plus narrow 36 or 72 MHz transponders.

“We have had requests from Governmental organizations and industry-leading Satellite Operators for more dynamic range, so they can detect a wider range of signals and the Operators can improve their services,” said Gary Wade, ViaLite Product Manager.

“The new link meets this extended dynamic range, keeping ViaLite at the forefront of dynamic range capabilities.”

The new link is available in OEM module or rack chassis card format.

ViaLite also recently launched the Horizons SNMP Controller (HRC-3), which can be used to fully monitor and control ViaLiteHD RF over fiber systems. Horizons, an upgrade of ViaLite’s previous SNMP (HRC-1), allows for inter-facility control and can be multiplexed using CWDM, or used over extreme distances with DWDM. The new software and controller can also be used to extend existing Ethernet networks from point-to-point, such as from a control room to the antenna in a satellite earth station, and optionally from point-to-multipoint.

 

28 Feb 18. Japan launches another reconnaissance satellite. Japan has launched an H-2A rocket carrying an intelligence-gathering satellite from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) launch site at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, raising the number of such satellites placed into orbit by the East Asian country to seven. The Japanese government is expected to use the IGS Optical 6 reconnaissance satellite, which was launched on 27 February by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), to monitor disaster-hit areas as well as ongoing developments at North Korean missile launch facilities, among other things. The Japanese government now operates three optical-imaging satellites and four radar-imaging satellites, and plans to add three more to the constellation. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

27 Feb 18. Maxar Technologies’ Radiant Solutions Partners with NGA to Accelerate Innovation in Machine Learning Technologies Applied to Satellite Imagery. Radiant Solutions, a Maxar Technologies Ltd. company (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.) (NYSE and TSX: MAXR), today announced a contract with the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to provide more than 1 million labeled objects within high-resolution satellite images that will be used to accelerate the development of machine learning algorithms that can extract valuable information from imagery at scale.

NGA is partnering with Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) to launch the 2018 DIUx xView Detection Challenge to spur innovation that will ultimately support national security and humanitarian missions. With the challenge, individuals, global academic, commercial and research organizations will use the world’s highest resolution 30 cm commercial satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe to train algorithms to automatically identify dozens of objects that are relevant to pressing global challenges, such as stopping the spread of disease and improving infrastructure in the developing world.

The DIUx Detection Challenge follows in the footsteps of earlier training datasets Radiant Solutions released under the SpaceNet and IARPA Functional map of the World (FMoW) challenges, for which participants applied machine learning to satellite imagery to address a range of important applications. The xView dataset is licensed to NGA under a Creative Commons Non Commercial License and contains more than 1 million labeled objects across 60 object classifications — such as damaged buildings, construction equipment and tents — that can only be positively identified using the highest resolution satellite imagery.

“Overhead imagery has characteristics distinct from datasets that have been used in previous machine learning research,” said Buzz Roberts, NGA Director, Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Augmentation. “We are excited to harness the talent, creativity and ingenuity of the worldwide research community to develop cutting-edge solutions for these challenges.”

“Access to satellite imagery at increasingly high spatial and temporal resolutions, coupled with rapid advances in machine learning algorithms for object detection, has created a disruptive opportunity for NGA and other agency customers to see, understand and anticipate humanitarian and defense activities at a global scale,” said Tony Frazier, President of Radiant Solutions. “Our vision is that xView becomes a trusted resource for accelerating open innovation in machine learning.”

Additional information on the 2018 DIUx xView Detection Challenge can be found here: www.xviewdataset.org. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

 

27 Feb 18. The foundation for Lockheed Martin’s (NYSE: LMT) satellite production factory of the future has been completed. The Gateway Center construction is making rapid progress and is on track for its completion in 2020. The project recently reached a significant milestone, when the construction team began installing vertical structural steel. The $350m, 266,000 square foot building will incorporate multiple features under one roof, and is designed to streamline satellite production and increase cost savings for both government and commercial customers. The building will house an ISO Class 8 high bay cleanroom, an anechoic chamber, and a large thermal vacuum chamber to conduct dynamic endurance tests on the satellites.

“The transformation of this site in just a few short months has been remarkable,” said Bill Breeden, vice president of Assembly, Test, Launch and Operations at Lockheed Martin Space. “The basement level has been excavated, the concrete foundation is laid, and we’re already raising the steel beams that make up the backbone of the structure. We’re well on our way to a 2020 grand opening, when this new facility will be primed and ready to manufacture a wide range of state-of-the-art satellites with agility, precision and efficiency,” noted Breeden.

The Gateway Center will be capable of producing multiple satellites at the same time. Embedded functions of the building will reduce satellite production processes from days to mere hours. The building is value engineered and will integrate industry best practices for satellite manufacturing.

In the months since the groundbreaking, over 100,000 cubic yards of soil have been moved to make way for the project. This equals enough dirt to cover an entire football field with a mound 60 feet high. To prepare for the foundation construction, over 500 caissons and support beams have been drilled and installed in holes up to 30 feet deep. Upon completion, the Gateway Center project will have used hundreds of structural steel beams weighing nearly 2,200 tons.

Lockheed Martin has undertaken considerable initiatives to maximize the energy efficiency of the building, and conserve the native landscape. The project is also producing jobs for the local economy. Over 1500 skilled contractors are expected to work on the Gateway Center during the construction phase.

 

27 Feb 18. Is SB-SAT Poised to Revolutionize Use of LEO Satellites and Drones? SB-SAT technology is still at its early stages of adoption and could spread massively to Low-Earth-Orbit satellites. The technology could also find widespread applications in military-grade drones. Lars Christensen, Chief Architect at satcom test leader GateHouse Telecom looks at the possibilities of SB-SAT technology and how an already proven Protocol Stack could open up many new opportunities and applications for the satellite industry.

The use of SmallSats and CubeSats in Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) have for many years been limited by the short ground station overpass time (around ten minutes per overpass). The use of LEO satellites for real-time applications have therefore been restricted.

Delayed data may be acceptable in some cases, but in others the delay invalidates the use and relevance of transmitted data. The limited overpass time causes satellites to store and prioritize large amounts of data until they can be transferred to a ground station and then on to the user.

However, both the issue of time-sensitivity and amounts of data to be transmitted can be addressed by enabling longer or more frequent overpass times and increases the opportunity for satellites to ‘dump’ collected data. If higher connectivity was to be obtained by establishing more ground stations, this would be an overwhelming investment. So, how can you increase connectivity purely with software within the boundaries of an existing physical network?

What is SB-SAT?

With SwiftBroadband for Satellite (SB-SAT), LEO satellites gain data connectivity via L-band frequencies on the Inmarsat I4 satellite constellation in Geostationary-Earth-Orbit (GEO). The Inmarsat I4 satellites relay data through Inmarsat ground stations to users or operators making full use of Inmarsat’s mobile broadband system infrastructure.

SB-SAT technology enables new use cases for LEO satellite missions by providing connectivity in all of Inmarsat’s I4 near-global coverage. Smaller and cheaper LEO programmes can leverage satellites that stay in frequent communications contact without the cost of building an extensive ground station infrastructure around the globe. By significantly increasing connectivity, the use of LEO satellites will undeniably increase both in terms of volume and variety.

How does SB-SAT work?

SB-SAT is an on-board satellite modem based on the SwiftBroadband satellite connectivity solution by Inmarsat for aeronautical use. A variant of the SwiftBroadband specification has been built as a joint effort between Inmarsat and partners that enable use in low-earth-orbit. The satellite modem provides IP data connectivity when the satellite is under coverage of one of the currently four Inmarsat I4 satellites.

The terminal uses a steerable antenna and GPS data to point to the visible I4 satellites, logs on and activates a data connection. Now the terminal is on-line and can provide IP data connectivity up to 492 kbps. The terminal seamlessly handles handover between the 200 narrow spot beams of each Inmarsat I4 satellite. Since the relative velocity of a LEO satellite is much higher than the normal aeronautical use case for Inmarsat terminals, the terminal intelligently predicts when the handover is required and initiates negation with the ground station ahead of time such that the handover is done successfully before the signal of the previous spot beam is lost.

When the terminal enters coverage of a new GEO satellite, a repointing is required. This again is a predictive process, but will take a few seconds while the antenna is rotated, signal re-acquired and terminal logs on to the new satellite and ground station.

While the existing Inmarsat SwiftBroadband terminal already has provisions for handling Doppler shift and precise burst timing, conditions are relatively much more challenging in LEO. The SB-SAT terminal has been built and extensively tested under worst-case conditions of Doppler shifts up to 50 kHz and burst clock timing shift rates of 54 microseconds per second. Under these conditions, the satellite terminal requires special predictive handling of Doppler compensation and burst link timing, compared to an aeronautical terminal.

How can SB-SAT create value?

In an earth imaging mission with a limited number of ground links, a traditional LEO mission will have only ground connectivity for 10-15 minutes each time a ground station is passed. This can happen as rarely as only a few times a day with at least 90 minutes between each pass in the best case if just one single ground station is available. This limits the ability to react to new data from the satellite and best utilize the limited on-board storage capacity and downlink capacity.

With real-time access to the satellite provided by SB-SAT, low resolution data can be downloaded continuously via the SB-SAT link. A ground operator can decide which data is the most interesting and command the satellite to take high-resolution imagery of an area of specific interest. This could be downloaded via the high-speed dedicated ground link when the ground station is passed. This completely changes the reaction time window and ability to best utilize a satellite’s orbit and storage capacity, enabling entirely new use cases that were previously not possible.

Addressing New Opportunities in SB-SAT

Over the years, GateHouse Telecom has been a significant contributor to the development and realization of SB-SAT technology through its BGAN Protocol Stack. Today, over 80,000 BGAN terminals use GateHouse software. By using its widely used BGAN Protocol Stack, the satellite industry can address new opportunities and applications in space. SB-SAT technology enabled by the GateHouse Protocol Stack will provide unprecedented connectivity for LEO satellites and drones faster, at much less cost and with less risk compared with developing a custom communications solutions from scratch.

About GateHouse Telecom A/S

GateHouse Telecom A/S is a wholly owned subsidiary of the GateHouse Holding Group. For more than a decade, we have provided the satellite communications industry with a range of market-leading testing and software products for commercial, government and military use. Our deep knowledge and understanding of global communications infrastructures and platforms enables GateHouse Telecom to offer consultancy services for software, hardware and system integration, as well as for the preparation and evaluation of international tenders. Visit https://gatehouse.dk/telecom/

 

26 Feb 18. ILS’s Pysher: Proton Continues to Reinvent Itself to Compete. The top executive with the U.S. firm that markets Russia’s Proton rocket blasted what he characterized as a recent slew of misinformation surrounding the vehicle, saying it enjoys the full support of the Russian government and that the culmination of a three-year quality control program instituted by its manufacturer is restoring the reliability for which the vehicle has long been known.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Kirk Pysher, president of International Launch Services (ILS), said of erroneous press reports concerning a slow-down in orders for the venerable Proton.

Contrary to reports of a bare-bones Proton manifest for 2018, Pysher, citing manufacturer Khrunichev Space Center, said the vehicle has as many as five missions scheduled for the year. These include four Russian government missions, beginning with a communications satellite launch in spring, and one for ILS carrying two commercial satellites.

ILS has 12 missions on its manifest through 2021, Pysher said, including multi-launch deals with the world’s top satellite operators, and is actively engaged with several prospective customers for its vehicles, including the heavy-lift Proton Breeze M, the recently introduced Proton Medium, and the Angara 1.2. Most of the interest is in the Proton Medium, an optimized two-stage version of the standard Proton Breeze M geared towards a market that in recent years has shifted toward lighter-weight geostationary satellites and low-Earth orbiting constellations.

“The right sizing of the Proton Medium is an example of refining a proven vehicle, to remain highly competitive in more segments of a rapidly evolving market,” Pysher continued. The approach is beginning to pay dividends. As an example, Pysher said one major operator currently is soliciting offers for a five-launch contract involving satellites weighing 3.5 to 5.5 metric tons, the sweet-spot of Proton Medium’s target market. Currently ILS has one announced order for the Proton Medium, though Pysher said, “Proton Medium is available for our current manifested customers, if that provides the optimal launch solution for them.”

Meanwhile, Moscow-based Khrunichev is entering the fourth year of a quality control initiative that already is showing results: 12 successes in Proton’s last 12 missions dating back to 2015. Of those missions, eight were commercial launches conducted on behalf of ILS.

The initiative to improve overall Proton quality and reliability was instituted in 2015 following a string of Proton mishaps that eroded confidence in the vehicle, which has been a reliable and versatile workhorse – it has launched everything from communications satellites to International Space Station modules to Mars missions – for more than 50 years. Mission assurance has become a top priority at both Roscosmos and Khrunichev, as evidenced by a late 2016 decision to halt Proton flights due to a potential soldering issue within a batch of engines that was identified during a standard quality inspection of an engine that had just successfully completed a test firing.

“Since the engine passed the test firing without issue, the decision could have been made to continue to fly, and the vehicle most likely would have performed without issue,” Pysher said. However, Khrunichev and Roscosmos decided to stand-down and replace all potentially affected parts. “This was not an easy decision but it clearly demonstrates the dedication to ensuring mission success,” he said.

Pysher attributed the renewed focus on quality to new management at Khrunichev, beginning with Andrey Kalinovsky, who instituted the quality control and other modernization activities upon coming to the organization from Russia’s Sukhoi Civil Aircraft company in 2014. Kalinovsky is now with Roscosmos State Corporation, which oversees Russia’s space industry, where he serves as executive director in charge of quality and reliability.

Kalinovsky’s replacement as Khrunichev director general is Aleksey Varochko, who took the reins of the company last year with the same zeal for quality control.

“Our task at Khrunichev is to ensure that reliable hardware is produced and delivered on time for all planned and future Proton and Angara missions,” Varochko said. “Our commitment to ensuring quality in our product lines is the highest priority. We are now beginning our fourth year into the extensive reform of our business and all phases of the program have been successfully conducted. However, we are certainly not finished with our work. We are dedicated to continual improvement of our processes, our people and our product for now, and well into the future.”

Pysher said the Proton flight hiatus, imposed amidst a string of successful missions, demonstrates that the new system is working. “There hasn’t been another time in history when the Proton was down for a year to investigate quality issues,” Pysher said. “That was a paradigm shift; it’s what the market has been asking for.”

The vehicle returned to flight in June 2017, performing four successful missions, including three Protons launched over a six-week period.

Nonetheless, insurance rates for Proton missions remain above the market average, Pysher acknowledged. He said the reliability issues did not happen overnight and restoring the underwriters’ confidence in Proton will not happen overnight either.

“The insurance market is really looking for Proton to demonstrate that it is not a 1-failure-every-10-launches system,” Pysher said. “We are seeing the rates drop but not to the extent we would like them to. Based on discussions with the underwriting market, we expect to see the capacity start to come back to Proton after 15 successful missions and be fully engaged by 20.”

Pysher did not deny that competition was fierce in 2017, with the launch service providers battling over only 11 commercial geostationary satellite launch orders for the year. However, he said, both established and new operators have made it clear that they want ILS in the market, and appreciate having ILS and Proton as one of the mainstay providers to launch their satellites on time, whether it is dedicated, a dual launch or multi-satellite constellation.

“ILS is considered one of the most successful post Cold-War U.S.-Russian partnerships and we have endured the test of time. We have weathered the highs and lows in the marketplace over a 25-year period with 96 commercial launches to date. We have responded to market demand time and time again and have right-sized the Proton launch vehicle and our product offerings accordingly,” Pysher noted.

Geostationary satellite operators clearly are struggling with how best to compete with terrestrial systems, with no consensus as to which design approach is most advantageous in that regard. But there is consensus on the need for launch services that cost far less and are flexible enough to accommodate whatever approach the operators choose, be that large, high-throughput satellites, medium-class satellites featuring electric propulsion, or lighter-weight satellites that can be launched in pairs or in bunches.

“ILS and Khrunichev have strategically developed a family of Proton variants that provide the necessary flexibility at an attractive price and you won’t have to settle for used hardware,” Pysher said. “ILS is listening to where our customers want to go and we are focused on finding ways to reduce the cost of the entire launch service, across the board.”

Proton Medium is derived from the Proton M by simply removing the third stage of the heritage vehicle and replacing it with an interstage structure, thus maintaining the flight qualified systems while minimizing the need for new ground infrastructure.

“Other major providers are introducing brand new vehicles beginning in 2020,” Pysher continued. “We have Arianespace’s parent company ArianeGroup moving ahead with Ariane 6 to replace the existing Ariane 5, ULA is introducing the Vulcan to replace Atlas V, Mitsubishi is introducing the H3 to replace H2A, SpaceX announced a new heavy-lifter called the BFR and Blue Origin introduced New Glenn. Come the 2020-2022 timeframe, the only heritage launch vehicle that will be flying is Proton and that is where commercial operators will find stability, proven reliability, and schedule assurance for their critical programs. Proton is not going anywhere and will remain a force to be reckoned with in the commercial market.” (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

 

26 Feb 18. Asgardia, the first space nation, seeks innovative proposals for formation of the new space economy.

• Asgardia launches the Future of Finance & Economics Competition 2018, seeking proposals for the future economic and financial systems of the first space nation
• Global competition offers winner(s) a $10,000 prize and the chance to work for Asgardia’s NGO
• Finalists will be invited to discuss their proposals and to answer questions posed by the Asgardian community

(Vienna) Asgardia has launched the Future of Finance & Economics Competition 2018, a global competition calling on both Asgardians and non-Asgardians alike to submit bold and creative proposals for the future economic and financial systems of the first space nation.

Participants are welcome to submit proposals with economic consideration of: open source software, decentralized systems, fault-tolerant and secure architecture, sustainability and the environment, as well as financial consideration of: a payment instrument for services and goods, savings functions, and liquidity of the national currency (via an open-loop system).

Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, Asgardia’s Head of Nation said:

“It is history in the making, everyone has an opportunity to help create the Asgardian economy.”

“The future development of humanity off-planet is now in the hands of the most creative and forward-thinking people of this world.”

About the Future of Finance & Economics Competition 2018

Participants can take part in the competition as individuals or as teams of up to five people. The proposals themselves can be submitted in the form of a text document with a max of 20,000 words, an animation, a video with a max size of 20GB, or an infographic. After the competition closes, the proposals will be judged by a panel from across the global finance, economics, and digital technology sectors to determine the winner or winning team.

The assessment will involve two rounds—the panel will select the best 25 submissions in the first round, based on the quality of their argued practicability, ingenuity, and comprehensiveness. These submissions will then progress to the second round where they will be publicly presented via the Asgardia.space competition portal to help generate feedback from the Asgardian citizen community on how the proposals could be improved.

In April 2018, Asgardia will invite those who submitted the top-rated proposals to an in-person roundtable discussion where participants will have a chance to answer questions posed by the Asgardian community about their ideas. The incumbent Asgardian administration will then announce the winner(s) of the competition, who will receive a $10,000 USD prize.

The proposal will then be put before the newly formed Asgardian Parliament for a vote. If Parliament votes in favour of adopting the measures outlined in the selected proposal, the winner will also be offered employment with the Asgardia NGO to oversee the implementation of their ideas.

 

26 Feb 18. CSAF Predicts War In Space ‘In A Matter Of Years.’ It is only “a matter of years” before the US fights “from space,” the Air Force’s top uniformed leader said here. With that stark prediction, Chief of Staff David Goldfein went on to press the famously plane-focused service “to embrace space superiority with the same passion and sense of ownership as we apply to air superiority today.”

Senior Air Force leaders have been saying for several years that space is central to the Air Force and must be taken seriously. But that rhetoric has ramped up considerably since Rep. Mike Rogers of the House strategic forces subcommittee raised the specter of a separate Space Corps, threatening the service’s dominance of the Pentagon’s space budget and personnel.

What has that driven the head of the Air Force to do here at the Air Force Association’s winter conference? Say things like this: “We are the service that must lead joint war fighting in this new contested domain. This is what the nation demands.”

Well, the nation may demand we fight effectively in and from space, but Congress can decide it doesn’t have to be the Air Force that does it. I found Goldfein’s comments especially intriguing because I pressed him in my interview at AFA to describe what the service would do to address Congress’ concerns and he offered few specifics.

The service is offering the appearance of acting on space issues. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said in her Thursday keynote here that she’s considering a reorganization of the legendarily stovepiped Space and Missile Systems Center, the folks who manage development and procurement of Air Force space systems. “We have to figure out how do we move more quickly, how do we spin on from commercial space?” she said.

But SMC has endured more than a decade of criticism since the period when space acquisition was, inarguably, broken. (Sorry, Gen. Lance Lord. It was broken when you said it wasn’t, and it’s a bit wobbly again.) Space acquisition improved considerably in execution, but there weren’t many new programs started (at least not that we knew about). Now we face a resurgence of space weapon acquisition, with new missile launch detection satellites likely, the still nascent move from buying rockets to buying launch services, increased numbers of satellites that appear designed for space situational awareness, and, of course, the whole move to smaller satellites.

Will these Air Force declarations be enough to fend off an increasingly likely move by Congress to fundamentally change who does what in space for the military? They’ve already told the Deputy Defense Secretary to recommend who should oversee space acquisition, embodied in Major Force Program (MFP) 12. The NDAA Conference Report bars both the Air Force Secretary and the Pentagon’s head of intelligence, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, from that role.

In addition to all that change, the NDAA charges a Federally Funded Research and Development Corporation (FFRDC) “affiliated with the Air Force” with analyzing the benefits and drawbacks of creating the Space Corps. So expect Congress to watch like a hawk every utterance and action by Wilson, Goldfein and Gen. Jay Raymond — head of Air Force Space Command and now the four-star Joint Force Space Component Commander — as they shape the 2019 NDAA. (Source: Breaking Defense.com)

 

23 Feb 18. First Launch for the Re-Organized Sea Launch Should be Expected to Occur in 2019. A Zenit carrier rocket may be manufactured for the first launch under the restarted Sea Launch project in 2019, co-owner of S7 Group Natalia Filyova said on the sidelines of the Russian investment forum in Sochi on Friday — S7 signed a contract with Sea Launch Group in 2016 on the project’s acquisition.

Filyova said, in response to a question about when the Zenit carrier rocket might be ready for the first blastoff under the Sea Launch project, the year 2019 is the target timeframe for the launch.

Ukraine’s Yuzhmash, the producer of Zenit launchers, earlier reported they would deliver the first two carrier rockets for the Sea Launch project in 2018. According to Filyova, the first launch will take place as soon as a Zenit carrier is manufactured and delivered. She added that the carrier rocket was being produced by Ukraine with Russia’s assistance while the rocket’s final assembly would take place in the United States.

The Russian investment forum runs in Sochi on February 15-16 and is a traditional venue for the presentation of Russia’s investment and economic potential. Last year, 377 deals worth 490bn rubles ($8.7bn) were struck at the forum. The forum was organized by the Roscongress Fund. TASS is the forum’s general information partner and photo-hosting agency.

The Sea Launch is an international commercial project of the seaborne rocket and space complex. Sea Launch Company was established in 1995 for the project’s implementation. Its founders included Boeing, Energiya Corporation, the Norwegian shipyard Kvaerner (currently Aker Solutions), Ukraine’s Yuzhnoye design bureau and the Ukrainian Yuzhmash rocket and space enterprise. Sea Launch Company declared bankruptcy in the summer of 2009 and, after its reorganization in 2010, Russia’s Energiya Corporation gained the leading role in the project. Space launches were suspended in 2014.

In late September of 2016, S7 signed a contract with Sea Launch Group on the project’s acquisition. The purchase items comprised the Odyssey floating platform, the Sea Launch Commander ship, the ground-based equipment at Long Beach port (California), and also the Sea Launch trademark. Launches from the floating seaport are scheduled to restart in 2019. A total of 10 to 12 launches are planned under the project during the first five years.

CEO of S7 Space Transport Systems Sergei Sopov earlier told TASS that S7 might close the deal for the purchase of the Sea Launch project before the end of February 2018. He also said that S7 would not give up Ukrainian-made Zenit rocket rockets in the Sea Launch until Russia’s Energiya Rocket and Space produced a new carrier for the project. The company plans to sign a memorandum with Energiya Rocket and Space Corporation for the manufacture of 85 Soyuz-5 rockets (50 plus an option for 35 carriers) for launches from the floating sea platform. Sopov added that the Ukrainian side was contracted to deliver 12 Zenit rockets by 2022. Investments in the project to resume the Sea Launch program totaled $220m is being reported. (Source: Satnews)

 

24 Feb 18. United States – Anticipate GPS interference due to military systems testing from 25 February – 6 March. The US military will be conducting GPS interference testing activity; which may result in unreliable or unavailable GPS signal, in multiple states across the country at specific time periods daily from 25 February through 6 March. US FAA safety notices indicate the GPS interference testing will reportedly impact a large portion of the airspace over the continental US, including areas in: California, Delaware, Nebraska, Virginia, Arizona, North Dakota, Colorado, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Louisiana, Montana, Texas and Missouri. Aviation operators should monitor airport/airspace-specific NOTAMs, bulletins, circulars, advisories, prohibitions and restrictions prior to departure to avoid flight schedule disruption.

Analysis

GPS interference from military activity represents a notable civil aviation safety of flight concern. Re-routing of civil aviation over the continental US remains a latent but credible risk through 6 March. As a precaution, conduct operational risk-based identification of divert and alternate airports for schedules with routing in the airspace over the over the continental US. Operators are advised to ensure flight plans are correctly filed, attain proper special approvals for flight operations to sensitive locations and obtain relevant overflight permits prior to departure. In addition, ensure crews scheduled to operate to or over the continental US in the near term are fully aware of the latest airspace safety situation. (Source: Osprey)

 

20 Feb 18. Advantech Wireless RF and Microwave Divisions to be Integrated into the Baylin Technologies Group of Companies. Effective as of January 17, 2018, Advantech Wireless Technologies Inc. has joined the Baylin Technologies Group of companies, according to Cristi Damian, the VP of Business Development at Advantech Wireless. This Baylin Technologies acquisition of Advantech Wireless Technologies Inc, will allow the company to extend the firm’s product line as well as address additional markets. Cristi reiterated Advantech Wireless will continue their full commitment to develop and manufacture state of the art SATCOM products, including SSPAs, Frequency Converters, Transceivers, Antenna Controllers as well as Point to Point Microwave Radios.

As part of the plan with this acquisition, Advantech Wireless intends to expand their manufacturing plant and increase production capability in order to match the growing demand of our products.

Baylin Technologies is a publicly traded company on the Toronto Stock exchange (BYL). According to the company’s CEO, Randy Dewey, the addition of Advantech’s RF and Microwave Divisions will allow the company to immediately accelerate growth in their wireless infrastructure segment by broadening product offerings providing the firm access to new verticals and geographies.

David Gelerman, the founder of Advantech Wireless, has retained the VSAT portion of the business and has signed a two year consulting agreement to support Baylin with the RF and MW business, as needed. Baylin is working with the Advantech team to separate the two businesses, while ensuring customer and supplier satisfaction remains at the forefront of all decisions. (Source: Satnews)

 

19 Feb 18. Iridium Entrusts COMSAT to Provide Iridium’s Certus Satellite Broadband Connectivity to the DoD. When delivering broadband connectivity for mobile voice and data services to the Department of Defense security is of the utmost importance. Iridium’s decision to enlist COMSAT Inc. as the service provider for Iridium Certus’ SM smaller terminals results in offering dramatic improvements to other satellite companies current L-band services, and ensures safety critical in unpredictable environments on land, at sea, in the air, and does it without landing or passing through non-U.S. territories. COMSAT, Inc., has signed an agreement with Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) to become the Iridium Certus’ service provider for U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) users creating a long-term agreement that will allow COMSAT Inc. to provide Iridium’s secure global satellite broadband connectivity for mobile voice and data services to the Department of Defense (DoD) beginning in mid-2018.  COMSAT, Inc.’s secure delivery combines with the advantages of the Iridium® network’s global, on-the-move L-band connectivity. COMSAT will be able to deliver enhanced capabilities that meet Communications Security (ComSec) requirements for the DoD and warfighter. These capabilities include, but are not limited to, real-time usage statistics, telematics data, voice calling, personnel tracking applications, and real-time environmental assessments. Positive elements of Iridium Certus terminals is that they are smaller and capable of maintaining broadband connectivity in fast-paced, unpredictable environments on land, at sea, in the air—and can do it without landing or passing through non-U.S. territories. The service will debut at speeds of 352 Kbps, with terminals upgradable to 704 Kbps through a future firmware update.

David Greenhill, president of COMSAT commented that this is a new generation of technology that will keep users connected on-the-move, combining the robustness and reliability of the Iridium network with the value-added services and years of experience provided by COMSAT. U.S. government users will experience a new level of mission-critical mobile capabilities thanks to this partnership. They’re excited to bring this new service to them.

Iridium’s network provides satellite communications that keeps users connected when it’s needed most, whether in high-risk combat zones or during inclement weather events. Through the service, U.S. government users will be able to securely connect remote assets to respective command and control centers on U.S. soil in a cost-effective and secure manner, from anywhere on the planet including Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium added that Iridium and the DoD have maintained a longstanding and collaborative partnership through their Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) contract, and they believe Iridium Certus complements this perfectly by bringing never-before-possible, mission-critical broadband capabilities to the warfighter. They are excited to partner with COMSAT, who brings innovation and a broad portfolio of capabilities to the table, and they look forward to working together for many years to come. Iridium Certus is planned for commercial availability in mid-2018. Iridium NEXT is the Company’s next-generation satellite constellation, which will replace its existing network. To date, there have been four successful Iridium NEXT launches, deploying more than half of the new constellation. Four additional launches are planned for 2018.

(Source: Satnews)

 

23 Feb 18. Major Investment Announced for the UK’s Goonhilly Earth Station. An £8.4m (9.5m euros) investment in Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall, South West England, will help create the world’s first commercial deep-space communications station, capable of tracking future missions to the Moon and Mars.

Under a new project announced today by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Goonhilly will be upgraded to enable it to provide deep-space tracking and satellite communication services on a commercial basis. This will be the first time the UK has had the capability to communicate directly with deep-space missions. In the future, Goonhilly will complement the capability of the European Space Agency (ESA)’s worldwide ground station network, which today comprises seven core stations supporting more than 20 earth, observatory, planetary and exploration spacecraft as well as European launchers.

The contract is being funded through the LEP’s Growth Deal with the UK Government, via ESA. The investment will see ESA working with Goonhilly to upgrade one of its largest antennas, the 32 meter in diameter GHY-6 antenna that was built in 1985 to meet the high-end performance and technology requirements needed by ESA, NASA and private space exploration companies for deep-space communications, including high bit-rate data links. The investment will provide a huge boost to Cornwall’s space ambitions.

Once the upgrade work is complete, Goonhilly will have the ability to track and control forthcoming robotic and human missions to the Moon and Mars, making a significant technical and economic contribution to European efforts in global space exploration. During the approximately two-year work to upgrade the antenna — which carried the 1985 Live Aid concert around the world shortly after it was built — qualifying tests will be carried out under ESA’s oversight to include tracking of several of the Agency’s deep-space missions, including the Mars Express spacecraft which has been in orbit around the Red Planet since 2003.

As well as taking on 18 new staff, the team at Goonhilly are expecting a significant upsurge in interest in the space sector in Cornwall. A number of companies are now looking at the growing capability both at Goonhilly and Cornwall Airport Newquay, which are both part of the Aerohub Enterprise Zone offering 100 percent business rate relief. The LEP’s contribution comes from the Government’s Local Growth Fund, which is investing over £70m through the ‘Growth Deal’ program to improve infrastructure and grow the economy of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Separately, the LEP has plans to develop a commercial spaceport at Cornwall Airport Newquay. Small satellite launch and sub-orbital flight from UK spaceports could capture a share of a £10bn global launch opportunity over the next ten years. With new spaceflight laws and grant funding announcements expected in the next few months, Cornwall is well prepared to make the most of this opportunity. According to the UK Space Agency, the global market for space is expected to increase from £155bn per annum to £400bn per annum by 2030. The UK Government has set a target of securing 1 percent of this global space economy, £40bn per annum, by 2030. (Source: Satnews)

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At Viasat, we’re driven to connect every warfighter, platform, and node on the battlefield.  As a global communications company, we power millions of fast, resilient connections for military forces around the world – connections that have the capacity to revolutionize the mission – in the air, on the ground, and at sea.  Our customers depend on us for connectivity that brings greater operational capabilities, whether we’re securing the U.S. Government’s networks, delivering satellite and wireless communications to the remote edges of the battlefield, or providing senior leaders with the ability to perform mission-critical communications while in flight.  We’re a team of fearless innovators, driven to redefine what’s possible.  And we’re not done – we’re just beginning.

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RADAR, EO/IR, NIGHT VISION AND SURVEILLANCE UPDATE

 

Web Page sponsored by Blighter Surveillance Systems

 

www.blighter.com

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01 Mar 18. Agreement signed to develop advanced radar research. CEA Technologies and the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group have signed a five-year research and development agreement to develop new solutions for Defence’s future requirements in radar, communications and electronic warfare.

The agreement includes collaboration with a significant focus on robust and resilient capabilities in complex environments. CEA Technologies already produces world-leading fourth generation active phased array radar technology, in use on Australia’s Anzac Class frigates and mandated for the Future Frigates, and this partnership is expected to contribute to its development of a next-generation radar.

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said the developments under the program will go towards future acquisition projects across the aerospace, maritime and land domains.

“I welcome this great partnership which brings together our Defence scientists’ signal processing, electronic protection, tracking and data fusion capabilities with CEA Technologies’ active array and radar expertise,” Minister Pyne said.

“DST Group and CEA Technologies will bring complementary strengths to the collaboration on advances in array capabilities.

“I congratulate the company and Defence on this strategic partnership, which endeavours to produce more game-changing capabilities for the Australian Defence Force.”

The research agreement was signed in Canberra by the Chief Defence Scientist Dr Alex Zelinsky and Merv Davis, chief executive of CEA Technologies. (Source: Defence Connect)

 

28 Feb 18. Peak Nano Optics Closes Minority Investment with L3 Technologies. Peak Nano Optics closed a significant minority investment on February 6, with the signing of an equity and development package with L3 Technologies (NYSE:LLL) as part of a broader expansion plan and program. Details and terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The L3 Technologies investment will accelerate breakthroughs for military and commercial optics applications, with the potential for new product launches as early as 2019. Overall, this latest round of investments will enable Peak Nano Optics to significantly expand its manufacturing efforts.

“We’re thrilled to have L3 as both an equity and development partner,” said Jim Welsh, Chief Executive Officer for Peak Nano. “L3 operates as an industry leader in many of the markets where our lens technology makes a tremendous impact on system-level performance, which creates new opportunities for our technology. This transaction allows us to dramatically accelerate our efforts in much larger adjacent markets, such as virtual reality, where we expect to shape the next generation of optical platform solutions.”

“L3’s business culture is to target, acquire, and partner with discriminating technologies and capabilities that revolutionize our customers’ products and solutions while making our world a safer place,” said Jeff Miller, L3’s Senior Vice President and President of its Sensor Systems business segment. “In Peak Nano Optics, we quickly saw the potential for GRIN lens technology, not only in our current markets, but also in its ability to be transformative in a broad range of emerging systems, such as virtual and augmented realities, and the commercial space.”

For Peak Nano, the Series B funding is a validation of the company’s process.

“This is the first step in the Peak Nano process, which begins with the identification of commercial opportunities for emerging nanotechnologies and culminates in a real-world consumer product,” said Chad Lewis, President and Chief Operating Officer for Peak Nano. “Taking innovation from the point of discovery and scaling it up to meet the demands of the consuming public is at our core.”

The company has spent the last year designing an advanced automated line with integrated robotics that will come on line this summer, greatly expanding production scalability. This round of funding will also enable Peak Nano to advance its offerings in virtual and augmented realities as well as make new advancements in biomedical technology.

Based in Coppell, Texas, Peak Nano Optics has developed commercial scale nanolayered gradient index (GRIN) lens technology that is poised to change the optics world. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)

 

28 Feb 18. HENSOLDT Brings New Airborne Surveillance Radar onto Market. HENSOLDT, the leading independent sensor house, is developing an innovative airborne multi-mission surveillance radar which will provide armed forces and border protection authorities with unprecedented situational awareness and extremely short reaction times. The software-defined radar named PrecISRTM (derived from ‘precise’, pronunciation: ‘pri’saiser’) translates latest achievements in active array and digital receiver technology into a scaleable high-performance sensor which can be installed aboard helicopters, UAVs and fixed-wing mission aircraft. Its superior precision and target accuracy make it the sensor of choice for surveillance of large sea and coastal areas against piracy, trafficking or illicit intrusion.

“HENSOLDT capitalizes on decades of experience in airborne and space radar”, explains HENSOLDT CEO Thomas Müller. “Thus we are able to translate our unique radar capabilities into an innovative product which gives defence and security forces more and better information to counter threats to their citizens’ safety and well-being.”

Due to its software-defined radar modes and electronic beam steering, PrecISR can fulfil different tasks virtually at the same time. It is able to detect, track and classify thousands of objects and thus literally find the ‘needle in a haystack’. Because of its compact design and the fact that all power consuming parts are located outside of the airframe, the airborne platform integration of PrecISR is simplified significantly compared to other radars. PrecISR is in the full-scale development phase. A fully functional flying demonstrator is expected to exist in about one year’s time and a series product in 2020. (Source: ASD Network)

 

28 Feb 18. AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for both defense and commercial applications, and MDA, a Maxar Technologies company, announced the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) has acquired the AeroVironment Puma™ II AE, maritime mini unmanned aircraft system, for fielding aboard RCN Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (MCDV).  The Puma II AE systems will include the Mantis i45 sensor and a 360-degree antenna system.  MDA partnered with AeroVironment to satisfy the requirement of the Department of National Defence of Canada for the Maritime Miniature Unmanned Aircraft System (MMUAS).

“The addition of our Mantis i45 sensor and 360-degree antenna system expands the capability of Puma II AE to support maritime operations.  This solution also builds on AeroVironment’s extensive operational experience with small UAS to provide the Royal Canadian Navy with a low-cost, hand-launched capability that is optimized for contested environments,” said Kirk Flittie, vice president and general manager of AeroVironment’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems business segment.  “AeroVironment’s small UAS have helped transform the way U.S. and allied forces plan, train, equip and operate.  Fielding Puma II AE to the Canadian Navy allows interoperability with NATO forces and supports coalition mission integration,” said Flittie.

Canada previously acquired AeroVironment’s Raven® UAS and its defense forces have employed Raven systems extensively. RCN’s adoption of the Puma II AE marks another step in the growing need and fielding of MMUAS for the international surface combatant and coastal craft market.  With the Family of Systems (FOS) concept, customers can add other AeroVironment UAS that will augment capabilities and utilize the same ground control station and software for added simplicity and efficiency.

AeroVironment developed the Puma AE system to win a 2008 United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) competitive program of record and subsequently supplied the system to the U.S. Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Coastal Riverine Forces, the US Army for convoy and ground troop support and the US Marine Corps.  The Navy procured Puma AE systems for use aboard Patrol Craft and also deployed them on a U.S. Navy Expeditionary Fast Transport (T-EPF) ship in support of counter organized crime operations in the Caribbean.  The Puma AE is also being deployed by multiple international partners.

The United States Department of Defense established the designation RQ-20B for the block 2 Puma AE small UAS.  The block 2 Puma AE system includes a more powerful and lighter propulsion system, lighter and stronger airframe, long-endurance battery, precision inertial navigation system and an improved user interface.  The all- environment Mantis i45 gimbal sensor suite for Puma AE delivers a dramatic leap in small UAS image resolution and ISR capability.

 

28 Feb 18. Completion of Lots 1 and 2 deliveries will enable the Marine Corps to achieve G/ATOR Initial Operational Capability in 2018. The Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) has been approved for early fielding by the United States Marine Corps. This milestone follows the delivery of the final Lot 1 and Lot 2 Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) G/ATOR system to the Marines. The USMC will field their first two systems by delivering them to Marine Air Control Squadrons 1 and 2 for operational use.

Early fielding, also known as Initial Operational Capability (IOC), is a significant milestone that indicates that a system is ready for operational deployment. It is achieved when production systems, spares, logistic support items and documentation have been tested and validated through a rigorous process. As the developer and system integrator, Northrop Grumman has taken G/ATOR from concept through to production.

Northrop Grumman has delivered six G/ATOR systems with Gallium Arsenide technology to the Marine Corps in Lots 1 and 2. Beginning with Lot 3 deliveries and including all Full Rate Production systems, G/ATOR will incorporate high power, high efficiency Gallium Nitride (GaN) antenna technology that can further enhance operational capabilities.

“Through our close partnership with the Marine Corps, we have been able to achieve this important early fielding milestone,” said Roshan Roeder, vice president, land & avionics C4ISR division, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems. “We are looking ahead to full rate production and getting G/ATOR’s unprecedented capabilities to the Marines in the field.”

Under a separate contract, Northrop Grumman will provide logistics support to the Marine Corps for G/ATOR systems.

For more information about G/ATOR, including downloadable photos, videos and more, visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/GATOR/.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.

 

28 Feb 18. Wingtra Launches High-Precision Photogrammetry UAV.

Swiss UAV manufacturer Wingtra has announced the launch of WingtraOne PPK (Post-Processed Kinematics) UAV. With the help of partners – photogrammetry software provider Pix4D, and the GNSS board and PPK provider Septentrio – WingtraOne PPK is now able to deliver orthomosaic maps and 3D models with an absolute accuracy down to 1cm (0.4in).

“With the latest upgrade, our drone WingtraOne PPK can offer something that has never been seen before in drone photogrammetry – broad coverage and high resolution at ultra precise accuracy. For example, in a single one-hour flight, the WingtraOne can cover 130 ha (320 ac), which is equal to 240 football fields and deliver maps at GSDs below 1cm/px (0.4in/px) with absolute accuracy down to 1 cm (0.4 in)”, explains the CTO of Wingtra Armin Ambühl.

These results are new to the industry – professionals could never reach such precision with any of the broad-coverage drones. Till now drone mapping world was mainly dominated by two types of drones: fixed wings and multirotors. Fixed wings can cover vast areas but cannot deliver extremely precise data. On the other hand, multirotors can deliver high accuracy but they only map small areas.

“Wingtra’s advantage is twofold – VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) and the latest PPK technology,” adds Ambühl. “VTOL combines the best of both worlds: multirotors and fixed-wings. Vertical take-off and landing means hands-free operation and a smoother ride for the on-board sensors. Secondly, efficient flying in fixed-wing mode means far greater coverage than any comparable multirotor.”

Post-Processed Kinematics — PPK — allows the WingtraOne to reach new level of accuracy. PPK computes ultra-precise geolocations for each image by combining the GNSS data with correction data from a nearby reference receiver.

“We are truly excited to reach such unprecedented accuracy results. WingtraOne’s high payload capacity makes it possible to integrate the highest quality sensors: the Sony RX1RII and state-of-the-art Septentrio PPK system. An RMS error of 1.3 cm (0.5 in) horizontally and 2.3 cm (0.9 in) vertically without any ground control points is a significant leap forward in efficient aerial mapping, saving hours on the field”, says Ambühl. “We are very happy to offer such high resolution and high accuracy WingtraOne system for the demanding surveying industry.”

After the aerial data collection, Pix4D post-processing software steps in as a powerful tool to generate orthophotos and 3D models from the geotagged images. Ambühl comments that “after post-processing the data, results become visual — the orthomosaics and 3D models are extremely detailed and enable very precise calculations”.

Wingtra team expects WingtraOne PPK to become the most desired drone in surveying and mapping applications. Maximilian Boosfeld, the COO of Wingtra adds:

“Our unique VTOL technology has already helped us establish a firm ground in the market with applications ranging from cadastral surveying of Africa’s largest Uranium mine to digital elevation modelling of Alpine locations. With the combination of VTOL capability and the PPK, we see a clear advantage over the current aerial surveying solutions. I believe that WingtraOne will generally replace fixed-wings in large coverage mapping missions in the near future as we have just set the new industry benchmark in drone photogrammetry.” (Source: UAS VISION)

 

27 Feb 18. Leonardo AESA Surveillance Radar Technology Will Be On-Board New Saab Globaleye. Leonardo has announced that its AESA radar technology will be on-board the new Saab GlobalEye Swing Role Surveilance System (SRSS), which was unveiled last week in a ceremony in Linköping, Sweden. The radar, a Leonardo Seaspray, will allow the SRSS to conduct surveillance using a variety of advanced modes, enhancing the platform’s ability to detect targets.

Seaspray is an AESA radar (standing for Active Electronically Scanned Array, also known as ‘E-Scan’), which means that instead of the radar physically pointing its antenna at a target, a matrix of miniature radar modules are used to steer the beam electronically. Because of the Company’s high level of expertise in this technology area, its Seaspray and Osprey families of surveillance radars are able to combine high performance with ultra-competitive levels of reliability and cost-of-ownership, as well as being easy to install and operate. The radars can also perform multiple tasks simultaneously, for example carrying out maritime surveillance while at the same time monitoring the weather on the aircraft’s flight path.

Leonardo’s multi-mode AESA surveillance radars are a worldwide success, having been sold to 30 countries. The Seaspray 7500E has seen service with the US Coast Guard, while the Seaspray 7000E equips the UK Armed Forces’ AW159 Wildcat helicopters, the Seaspray 7300E equips the Italian Air Force’s ATR-72s and the Seaspray 5000E was recently selected for the Bangladeshi Navy to conduct anti-smuggling and anti-pollution missions. The Company’s Osprey AESA radar is on-board Norway’s new Leonardo AW101 search and rescue helicopters, which have now started to be delivered, and was also recently selected by the US Navy to equip its new MQ-9C Fire Scout unmanned helicopters. Leonardo’s AESA surveillance radars offer air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities with a variety of advanced modes including the company’s patented small target detection capability.

(Source: ASD Network)

 

27 Feb 18. Rollout of Elite GlobalEye Surveillance Solution Solidifies the Bombardier Global 6000 Aircraft as the Platform of Choice for Special Missions. The latest missionized incarnation of Bombardier’s versatile Global 6000 aircraft has been unveiled in Sweden by Saab, a world-class supplier of complex systems for national defense and security. Saab’s GlobalEye, a multi-role Airborne Early Warning and Control system, mounts next-generation surveillance technology on this sophisticated aircraft.

Bombardier business jets are ideal for critical special missions. Modern-day intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems are lighter and more compact, no longer requiring commercial aircraft proportions. The Global 6000 aircraft is a better fit, delivering performance and leading-edge technology in a more efficient package.

“The next-generation GlobalEye program demonstrates the versatility of the Global 6000 aircraft, a sophisticated platform that can be outfitted into an elite surveillance tool,” said David Coleal, President, Bombardier Business Aircraft. “Its advanced and flexible wing, for example, features leading-edge slats for excellent handling, and delivers a smooth ride that can minimize crew fatigue and extend the life of mission equipment.”

Missionized versions of Bombardier Global aircraft are already in service with elite military clientele, having completed thousands of missions over the last decade, and demonstrating excellent dispatch reliability. Global aircraft are especially attractive for military use because of their speed, agility, endurance and low operating costs compared to other aircraft in their class.

The Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft offers the most available electrical power in its category in its standard configuration via four variable frequency generators and an auxiliary power unit for ultimate reliability on long missions. The Bombardier Vision flight deck offers a head-up display with both Enhanced and Synthetic Vision.

“We carefully selected the robust and sophisticated Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft for our airborne surveillance solutions. It brings a perfect balance of technology, operational performance and cost, and is ideally suited to demanding, multi-level operations,” said Lars Tossman, Vice President and Head of Surveillance Systems, Saab.

The United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Defense has ordered three GlobalEye aircraft from Saab.

Bombardier boasts more than 1,000 specialized aircraft in service around the world. From its Learjet, Challenger and Global fleet of business aircraft to its versatile Q400 multi-role aircraft, Bombardier offers a wide variety of platforms for government missions, from surveillance and reconnaissance to medical evacuations and VIP transport. (Source: ASD Network)

 

27 Feb 18. Sightmark LoPro Combos Receive Facelift for 2018. Redesigned and improved for 2018, the latest LoPro Combo units from Sightmark are ideal for your tactical, home defense and hunting needs. Three revamped models ensure you’ll stay on target, including the LoPro Mini Combo (SM25012), LoPro Combo Flashlight and Green Laser Sight (SM25013) and LoPro Mini (SM25016). Hinted at by their name, all LoPro accessories boast a low profile design that allow them to be mounted in front of optics without obstructing the shooter’s view. Replacing previous LoPro models, the new LoPro Mini Combo adds improvements including aluminum housing, protected windage/elevation adjustments, thread-on and rotating pressure pad and variable LED brightness for flashlight modes. A streamlined, solid metal construction and single-piece integrated mount assure your LoPro stays firm and holds zero in the face of extreme conditions and harsh use. Similar to the LoPro Mini Combo, the upgraded LoPro Combo is a full-sized flashlight/laser combo that adds a useful IR illuminator to be used in conjunction with night vision units. A high-intesity, variable brightness LED flashlight gives shooters the perfect amount of light for their current shooting scenario. Ideal for a variety of day and nighttime situations, the LoPro Combo’s screw-in pressure pad securely attaches to the unit and stays in place during severe field use. Lastly, for those wanting the most compact and lightweight setup possible, the LoPro Mini is second to none. Weighing a mere 6.7 oz., this IPX5 water resistant laser/flashlight is light on your wallet, too, but packs a big punch. Featuring hand adjustable windage/elevation, tool-less adjustments can be made at the drop of a hat. All LoPro Combo models include a pressure pad and a single CR123A battery.

 

26 Feb 18. Saab touts GlobalEye as future E-3A replacement for NATO. Saab is pitching its GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform as a possible future successor to the Boeing E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) currently fielded by NATO.

Speaking at the public unveiling of the first GlobalEye in Linkoping on 23 February, the Head of Airborne Surveillance Systems and Vice-President at Saab, Lars Tossman, said discussions with NATO are in their early stages as the alliance looks for options to replace its E-3A fleet in the 2035 timeframe.

“The NATO fleet needs to be renewed in about 2035, so what will they choose?” Tossman asked, adding, “We want to tell NATO about our solution – we have already sold our [earlier generation] Erieye system to Greece, and that has been successfully integrated into the NATO [air defence] system, so we could definitely do that with the GlobalEye too”.

The E-3A has been in NATO service since 1982, and with 15 aircraft currently in its fleet (that number is set to be reduced to 14 in the coming months), the alliance launched a study in February 2017 to look at its future AEW&C requirements and options after it retires the type in about 20 years’ time.

Saab’s conversations with NATO form part of an initial concept-study stage, and while Tossman said it was too early to quantify the level of interest in the GlobalEye he did note that alliance officials were “really impressed” with the aircraft’s Erieye Extended Range (ER) radar. Housed in the same dorsal plank fairing as the previous generation Erieye, the Erieye ER is an S-Band system (2 to 4 GHz) that achieves a doubling of the previous radar’s power efficiency through the use of Gallium Nitride (GaN) and other technologies. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

26 Feb 18. Melbourne to manufacture lifesaving technology for army vehicles. West Melbourne’s Tectonica Australia has designed and developed visual and audio technology that will protect soldiers in combat and be exported through the Rheinmetall Defence global supply chain, the two companies announced on today. Tectonica has developed the technology and successfully integrated it during two programs – the LAND 400 Phase 2 trials with the Australian Army and the German Army’s demonstrator Boxer project. The local situational awareness system (LSAS) is called ALTERA and acts as the eyes and ears for soldiers in combat and is designed to increase awareness and protection. ALTERA uses visual and audio technologies to provide vehicle crews and operators with improved situational awareness by enabling them to hear and see their surrounding environment, while remaining protected under armour. ALTERA was trialled by Rheinmetall and demonstrated to the German Bundeswehr to assess the improvement to situational awareness it delivers.

Crews can record reconnaissance missions and conduct after action reviews while instructors can supervise trainee crews and safety officers can monitor gunnery training from the comfort and safety of the passenger compartment. The imagery can also be made available to the battle management system.

Managing director of Rheinmetall Defence Australia Gary Stewart said the LSAS capability demonstrated the opportunities created through a national military vehicle industry focused on export opportunities to defence programs worldwide.

“Tectonica is a proven leader in the Australian defence industry that employs highly skilled engineers and manufacturing workers, invests significantly in research and development and exports its products globally,” Stewart said.

“Tectonica’s partnership with Rheinmetall commenced with the joint funding of the LSAS project, and today’s important milestone will enable defence forces using Rheinmetall military vehicles to better protect their soldiers.”

Tectonica Australia managing director David Levy said LSAS brought together a number of critical vehicle functions into a single system by applying the principles of open architecture.

“We are pleased to have this opportunity to provide a vital situational awareness capability to the ADF in partnership with a world leader in armoured vehicles,” Levy said.

“Our partnership with Rheinmetall continues to demonstrate the company’s commitment to supporting Australian SMEs by providing a platform whereby innovative local technology can be exported to defence force programs around the world.”

Rheinmetall, which has offered its Boxer CRV for the LAND 400 Phase 2 project, is up against BAE Systems, which has offered the AMV-35.

Under the German company’s bid for the project, which is worth up to $5bn, 225 combat reconnaissance vehicles for the Australian Army will be built in Queensland if Rheinmetall is successful.

Rheinmetall has partnered with several Australian SMEs for the project, including Melbourne-based Cablex, Burnie-based Direct Edge, Brisbane-based G&O Kert, Melbourne/Brisbane-based Hilton Manufacturing, Perth-based Hoffman Engineering, Melbourne-based Nezkot Precision Tooling and Engineering, Adelaide-based Plasteel and Adelaide-based Redarc.

Rheinmetall has also partnered with BlueScope, which would see the Port Kembla steelworks company deliver thousands of tonnes of feedstock for the LAND 400 Phase 2 project.

The company has also committed to establishing a Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE), which will be the global manufacturing base for the Boxer CRV, the company’s new LYNX Infantry Fighting Vehicle and range of LANCE turrets under its LAND 400 offering to Australia.

The government will make a decision on the LAND 400 Phase 2 project in the first half of this year, with the national security committee expected to make a decision on the project as early as this week.

(Source: Defence Connect)

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Blighter® Surveillance Systems (BSS) is a UK-based electronic-scanning radar and sensor solution provider delivering an integrated multi-sensor package to systems integrators comprising the Blighter electronic-scanning radars, cameras, thermal imagers, trackers and software solutions. Blighter radars combine patented solid-state Passive Electronic Scanning Array (PESA) technology with advanced Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) and Doppler processing to provide a robust and persistent surveillance capability. Blighter Surveillance Systems is a Plextek Group company, a leading British design house and technology innovator, and is based at Great Chesterford on the outskirts of Cambridge, England.

 

The Blighter electronic-scanning (e-scan) FMCW Doppler ground surveillance radar (GSR) is a unique patented product that provides robust intruder detection capabilities under the most difficult terrain and weather conditions. With no mechanical moving parts and 100% solid-state design, the Blighter radar family of products are extremely reliable and robust and require no routine maintenance for five years. The Blighter radar can operate over land and water rapidly searching for intruders as small a crawling person, kayaks and even low-flying objects. In its long-range modes the Blighter radar can rapidly scan an area in excess of 3,000 km² to ensure that intruders are detected, identified and intercepted before they reach critical areas.

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MISSILE, BALLISTICS AND SOLDIER SYSTEMS UPDATE

 

Sponsored by Control Solutions LLC.

 

http://www.controls.com/product-cat/systems/

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01 Mar 18. Laser Weapons for German Corvettes. Germany is considering to equip some of their corvettes with laser weapons. Research on such systems – funded by the German procurement authority BAAINBw – was successfully completed almost two years ago. At the time, BAAINBw had commissioned two companies to produce prototypes in order to evaluate the feasibility and possible applications. Both MBDA Germany and Rheinmetall were able to present a functional and usable laser weapon.  Laser beams transfer energy over long distances effectively to a target in almost no time. The laser-typical collimated beam produces a high energy density on a small region of space. The scalable beam destroys structures with precise accuracy to the extent required to force the adversary to abandon his mission.

The spectrum for laser weapons includes primarily small, hardly detectable near-ground targets with low radar cross section (low, slow, small, LSS) such as e.g. artillery shells, highly agile micro-drones (also in swarms) as well as rubber boats. Ships are especially suited to carry laser weapons, since storage place is short while there is almost unlimited electric power. (Source: ESD Spotlight)

 

01 Mar 18. The United States is Accelerating Development In Its Own ‘Invincible’ Hypersonic Weapons. Russia isn’t the only country looking to build invincible hypersonic weapons. Here’s the latest on the U.S. efforts to send missiles and even aircraft five times faster than sound. Last spring, representatives from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, went into the office of then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work and laid out some hard truths about U.S. development of hypersonic weapons — those capable of reaching speeds greater than five times the speed of sound. The message from the military scientists: U.S. hypersonics aren’t keeping up with Russia and China.

Early on Thursday, national-security professionals across Washington, D.C. awoke to news that Russian President Vladimir Putin was claiming to have created an air-defense-beating, “invincible” hypersonic missile (without offering any real proof of the claim). Shortly after, newly named DARPA director Steven Walker told defense reporters that he could not comment on Putin’s assertion but that military scientists were moving as quickly as possible to test a hypersonic missile before 2020 – and that they needed more help to do it.

“Most of our programs at DARPA [related to hypersonic research] are testing at one facility,” Walker said, referring to the NASALangley Research Center in Virginia. Research and testing is happening around the clock, He says he needs more testing infrastructure. The United States is not keeping up.

“If you look at some of our peer competitors, China being one, the number of facilities that they’ve built to do hypersonics… surpasses the number we have in this country. It’s quickly surpassing it by 2 or 3 times. It is very clear that China has made this one of their national priorities. We need to do the same,” he said.

DARPA and the U.S. Air Force are currently working on two different hypersonic weapon concepts. One is the Tactical Boost Glide weapon. It uses a rocket to accelerate the craft to very high speeds and altitudes before the rocket glides back to earth. The other is the hypersonic air-breathing weapon concept, or HAWC, which uses a scramjet engine to compress air that the engine takes in at supersonic speeds and then pushes through a nozzle out the back.

The military is requesting a lot more money for hypersonic research following some technological breakthroughs within the last few years. The trend began in 2010 with the achievement of 200 seconds of supersonic combustion in the air, on the X-51 Waverider experimental aircraft.

Current efforts, Walker said, were keenly focused not just on achieving new research breakthroughs, but on transitioning those into weapons and figuring out how much those weapons will cost.

“Things are moving… This is becoming not just [a science and technology] thing. The services are interested in moving forward with real capabilities,” he assures.

The military will increase spending for testing and for secondary (or “follow-on”) programs as part of its FY 19 budget request, which includes some $14.3m for the Tactical Boost Glide effort.

Walker announced on Thursday that the fruits of the research will also further the development of long-range precision weapons for the Army. The military is requesting $53 million for that, part of a program called Operational Fires. And it’s requesting another $50 million to demonstrate a ground-launched hypersonic system that incorporates tech from the Tactical Boost Glide program.

There’s growing support and interest from the leadership as well, said Walker, who reported that Michael Griffin, the new undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and a former NASA administrator, was making hypersonics one of his “top priorities.”

The Air Force program for the boost-glide system is focused on “an operational prototype in the 2022 period,” Walker said. There’s also work on a $140 million program to create a hypersonic craft capable of multiple flights, using tech that has come out of the HAWC.

“We have a program we are working with NASA … called the advanced full range engine. It’s basically developing thecombined cycle propulsion system you would need for a reusable platform. We’re making good progress on that. We expect to test the engine in [2019] or [2020] on the ground” at a NASA facility that boasts a 100-square-foot wind tunnel. “Whether we actually go to a flight demo, that’s not part of the program right now,” he said.

The goal is to get a conventional turbine engine that can get up to Mach 2 and then transition seamlessly to a scramjet engine to transition to higher speeds. “You can actually take off like an airplane, fly up to Mach 6, do your mission, and come back down,” said Walker.

In hypersonics, optimism and disappointment are in a constant push and pull, just like the physical forces that act on airplanes flying faster than sound. It’s nearly impossible to predict how a bunch of interconnected metal and electronica are going to behave moving at those speeds. The laws of physics still apply, but at that point, you start getting into the laws’ very fine print.

Why Designing Hypersonic Aircraft Is So Hard

“The tricky thing about hypersonics is that equilibrium flows become non-equilibrium,” said Walker, referring to the effects of air pressure on the physical structure of solid objects at high speeds.

“Lots of friction [and] separation, potentially in the flows [of air, energy and physical materials]” happen in such a way that very good calculations about the material effects become “more guesses than actual reality,” he said.

Different mathematical tools and techniques can make that guesswork easier, such as the Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes, or RAND, formula, which allows you to predict what will happen as air moves across object surfaces.

Nicholas Bisek, a research aerospace engineer at the hypersonic sciences branch of the Air Force Research Lab’s Aerospace Systems Directorate, says that Navier Stokes is one of many different mathematical models you can use to figure out solid material interaction at high speeds. But when you apply those formulas to something as big as an aircraft, you have to do it again and again, chewing over the problem millimeter by millimeter to better calculate the effects of air, pressure, and other phenomenon at the most minute level.

“We have to move away from even RAND to particle-based methods that allow us to model individual particles as opposed to fluid treated as a continuum,” he says.

The Air Force is looking toward supercomputers to help with those tiny but numerically herculean math problems. In February, it awarded some $57m to Hewlett Packard Enterprise, or HPE.

It’s a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle with highly complex equations. Getting everything to fit together is beyond what humans can do with Sharpies and blackboards, according to Kevin Newmeyer, chief of staff for the high-performance computing modernization program for defense at HPE. “Instead of modeling a single aircraft, you have to model the surface and air in blocks as small as centimeters, millimeters. You join these calculations together in a cascading set of calculations,” he said.

But even here, at the cutting edge of big data and big computing, you still get a very small and very brief window into how air and solid surface are interacting. “One of these calculations may take days or even up to a couple of weeks to model,” Newmeyer said. That model will run 15 to 20 seconds, “if it goes that long.”

Supercomputers are useful; but physical testing facilities are essential, said Walker.

“Another complicating factor in hypersonics is you can only simulate so much on the ground. It’s hard to get the velocity, the temperature, the Mach number all correct as the vehicle would experience [them] in the air. We do component testing on the ground. We’ll do this engine testing on the ground. With hypersonics, you really have to fly,”

Fly they will. In 2019, he says, expect “lots of tests.” (Source: News Now/Blue 24)

 

01 Mar 18. Interim short-range air defense solution to be Stryker-based. The U.S. Army will likely use Stryker combat vehicles paired with sensors and shooters for its interim Manuever-Short-Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) solution, the program executive officer for missiles and space confirmed.

The service is looking to make decisions on what might be integrated onto a Stryker platform for such a solution later this year, Barry Pike told Defense News at an Association of the U.S. Army missile defense forum Feb. 28.

It’s been well over a year since U.S. Army Europe sounded the alarm over a glaring SHORAD capability gap. The service did not have the appropriate capability to go up against small drones observed on the Ukrainian border by the Russian military, nor would it continue to enjoy the air dominance it’s had against adversaries in the last 15 years of war.

[US Army Grapples With Short-Range Air Defense Gap in Europe]

The service let its SHORAD capability atrophy as it prioritized a different kind of fight in the Middle East.

Taking heed of warnings coming from theater, the Army has moved full speed ahead to fill the gap, rapidly deploying a rotational Army National Guard Avenger battery to Europe and fielding man-portable air defense systems with Stinger missiles to units.

Temporary SHORAD

To buy more time as the service builds a lasting solution down the road, it is looking for an interim solution, so using Stryker as the base platform for SHORAD makes sense, although the Army could expand out to other platforms.

“At this point it’s going to be Stryker-based,” Pike said. “Strykers are kind of across the Army in a lot of different formations. Europe in particular tends to be a Stryker-focused formation.”

The European theater is home to the permanently forward-stationed 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which is a Stryker-based unit. The Stryker has proved itself for many years in theater as an appropriate and effective combat vehicle in the region.

The Army expects to have its first Stryker-based SHORAD battery within two year’s time, reaching an initial capability in fiscal 2020, according to Pike.

When it comes to solutions for the SHORAD Stryker, there are many. Vendors have come out of the woodwork in the past year with ideas on how to rapidly bring about an interim SHORAD system.

The Army hosted four vendors at a demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, in September 2017. Two international companies brought solutions: Israel‘s Rafael demonstrated Iron Dome, an South Korea’s Hanwha showcased its Biho Flying Tiger air-defense system.

The other solutions at the demonstration were integrated onto Strykers. General Dynamics — Stryker’s maker — and Boeing brought an Avenger launcher mounted on a Stryker and also fired Lockheed Martin’s Longbow Hellfire missiles.

Orbital ATK demonstrated its Tactical-Robotic Exterminator — a combination of Liteye’s counter-drone defense system, a nonlethal electronic-attack radio-frequency jammer and a gun with guided and air-burst munitions mounted on a Stryker.

Orbital is no stranger to Stryker integration efforts, having just provided the 30mm cannon for up-gunned Strykers that have recently arrived in Europe.

Other companies came forward at the annual AUSA conference in October with ideas to get after the SHORAD gap.

BAE Systems pitched an early version of its Bradley fighting vehicle with an air defense history — the Linebacker variant — with search and fire-control radars, a jammer, and a 30mm cannon with an air-burst munition for kinetic kills.

Oshkosh integrated a SHORAD capability onto its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, and Lockheed showcased the utility of its Q-53 counter-fire radar for the mission.

Raytheon, in a separate test, fired Stinger missiles from Stryker to demonstrate a SHORAD capability at White Sands last fall.

The Army is leveraging the information garnered from the demonstration at White Sands as well as other efforts within air and missile defense program offices and the new cross-functional team, or CFT, in charge of such a program.

The service recently established these CFTs to help rapidly advance its top six modernization priorities through its new Futures Command expected to stand up in the summer.

“The effectors and sensors that go on [Stryker], we probably still have some time to figure out exactly what that configuration will be, but we are assuming there will be some mix of electronic warfare, guns, missiles and potentially lasers over time,” Pike said.

The Army’s FY19 budget request states the service is going to assess the possibility of putting a 50-kilowatt laser onto its SHORAD in less than five years.

Pike added the Army will look to take advantage of the massive amount of development on the counter-unmanned aircraft systems realm, too.

Much of the solutions are being developed in a fast battle-rhythm in response to joint urgent operational needs statements for a counter-UAS feature capability integrated onto mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles.

Orbital has actually fielded a tripod-mounted version of its system to the U.S. Central Command area of operation and planned to mount it onto an MRAP all-terrain vehicle for added mobility.

“My belief is a lot of those same sensors and shooters could be applied to M-SHORAD, just on a different vehicle,” Pike said.

Getting SHORAD now

Meanwhile, a massive effort is underway to revive mothballed Avenger systems.

“Army Materiel Command is providing outstanding support in this effort by inspecting and overhauling legacy Avenger systems that were literally in a field in Letterkenny, Pennsylvania, set for disposal in order to create 72 fully functional Avenger sets in order to support [U.S. European Command] mission requirements,” Lt. Gen. James Dickinson, the head of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said at the AUSA missile defense event.

He added the Army is ahead of schedule to deliver two Avenger battalion-equipping sets to Europe this year in support of the European Deterrence Initiative. Personnel and infrastructure to establish an active component Avenger battalion will fall in next year.

And the National Guard’s Avenger batteries will continue to operate on a rotational deployment schedule.

Brig. Gen. Timothy Sheriff, the National Guard’s 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command chief, told the same audience at AUSA that his outfit moved fast to put a battery back in Europe, but is also thinking ahead on the impact of the Army’s effort to rebuild a SHORAD capability.

The Army will establish seven battalions with Indirect Fire Protection Capability in the 2024 time frame, with essentially four battalions around 2021 or 2022. That will bring counter-rocket, artillery and mortar as well as counter-UAS and counter-cruise missile capabilities to the service.

“What does that mean for the Guard?” Sheriff asked. “As we are talking SHORAD, we are going to need another battalion just to keep up with what we have on the plate in the next five years, and so we are going to advocate for that through these processes of talks.” (Source: Defense News)

 

01 Mar 18. The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a $150m contract, with options worth up to $942.8m, for the development, manufacture and delivery of two high power laser weapon systems, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and counter-Unmanned Aerial System (counter-UAS) capabilities, by fiscal year 2020. With the High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance (HELIOS) system, Lockheed Martin will help the Navy take a major step forward in its goal to field laser weapon systems aboard surface ships.

“The HELIOS program is the first of its kind, and brings together laser weapon, long-range ISR and counter-UAS capabilities, dramatically increasing the situational awareness and layered defense options available to the U.S. Navy,” said Michele Evans, vice president and general manager of Integrated Warfare Systems and Sensors. “This is a true system of capabilities, and we’re honored the Navy trusted Lockheed Martin to be a part of fielding these robust systems to the fleet.”

HELIOS combines three key capabilities, brought together for the first time in one weapon system:

• A high-energy laser system: The high-energy fiber laser will be designed to counter unmanned aerial systems and small boats. The energy and thermal management system will leverage Lockheed Martin experience on Department of Defense programs, and the cooling system will be designed for maximum adaptability onboard ships. In addition, Lockheed Martin will bring decades of shipboard integration experience, reducing risk and increasing reliability.
• A long-range ISR capability: HELIOS sensors will be part of an integrated weapon system, designed to provide decision-makers with maximum access to information. HELIOS data will be available on the Lockheed Martin-led Aegis Combat System.
• A counter-UAS dazzler capability: The HELIOS dazzler will be designed to obscure adversarial UAS-based ISR capabilities.

In this first increment of the U.S. Navy’s Surface Navy Laser Weapon System program, Lockheed Martin will deliver two units for test by fiscal year 2020. One unit will be delivered for shipboard integration on an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and one unit will be used for land testing at White Sands Missile Range.

“Lockheed Martin’s spectral beam combined fiber lasers bring flexibility and adaptability to defensive and offensive missions,” said Dr. Rob Afzal, senior fellow of laser weapon systems. “Our design is scalable, and we can optimize it to meet requirements for future increments.”

 

01 Mar 18. Australian Navy ship HMAS Canberra tests Nulka upgrades. The Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) amphibious ship HMAS Canberra has tested upgrades to the Nulka anti-ship missile decoy system off the south coast of New South Wales.

RAN Weapons electrical engineering officer lieutenant commander Mark Williams said that the Nulka is a hovering rocket decoy system that is primarily used against anti-ship missiles.

Williams added: “It forms a part of our layered defensive capability in the maritime environment.

“During the testing of new components, we aimed to increase the tactical effectiveness of the Nulka against anti-ship missiles.”

The trials were conducted in order to demonstrate the RAN’s ability to fight and win during sea-based conflicts.

RAN’s missile defence capabilities were tested using a civilian aircraft and included an under-slung Nulka payload carried by helicopter, as well as a Learjet aircraft that simulated an incoming anti-ship missile.

The Nulka enhancements have been trialled in collaboration with Australia’s defence industry partners as part of this year’s Ocean Explorer exercise, which represents one of the RAN’s largest fleet training activities.

Williams further added: “We used fast jets fitted with missile simulators, and helicopters carrying a Nulka payload to generate a realistic missile engagement scenario.

“The more effective Nulka is, the more enhanced will be the defence of our largest ships, the Landing Helicopter Docks.”

RAN collaborated with the Defence Science and Technology Group, Air Affairs Australia and Kestrel Australia in order to carry out the tests.

The Nulka active missile decoy has been developed by the US in cooperation with Australia.

BAE Systems Australia is acting as the prime contractor and system design agent for the initiative, while Lockheed Martin is the design agent for the electronic warfare payload.

Aerojet was responsible for the manufacture of the system’s rocket motor.

The Nulka system features advanced flight vehicle guidance and control techniques, in addition to upgraded radio frequency (RF) electronic technologies. (Source: naval-technology.com)

 

01 Mar 18. Russia’s Putin unveils ‘invincible’ nuclear weapons. Russia has developed a new array of nuclear weapons that are invincible, according to President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Putin made the claims as he laid out his key policies for a fourth presidential term, ahead of an election he is expected to win in 17 days’ time.

The weapons he boasted of included a cruise missile that he said could “reach anywhere in the world”.

He said of the West: “They need to take account of a new reality and understand … [this]… is not a bluff.”

Giving his annual state of the nation speech, Mr Putin used video presentations to showcase the development of two new nuclear delivery systems that he said could evade detection.

One included a “low-flying, difficult-to-spot cruise missile… with a practically unlimited range and an unpredictable flight path, which can bypass lines of interception and is invincible in the face of all existing and future systems of both missile defence and air defence”.

Another weapon he discussed was a submarine-launched, long-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. During the two-hour televised speech to a joint sitting of both houses of parliament, he encouraged Russians to suggest names for the two systems. He argued that Russia had reacted after years of pleading with the US not to break away from anti-missile treaties. (Source: BBC)

 

01 Mar 18. The Northrop Grumman AQS-24B, the only deployed and operationally proven, high-speed mine hunting system in the world, with operational speeds of up to 18 knots, will be exhibited at the 2018 Undersea Defence & Security Conference in Portsmouth, U.K., March 20-22. It uses a high-resolution, side scan sonar for real time detection, localization and classification of mines at high coverage rates and a laser line scanner to provide precision optical identification. The AQS series minehunter is used both domestically and abroad and has logged thousands of hours of operation. At the recent Expeditionary Warfare Conference in Annapolis, Maryland, representatives of the U.S. Navy praised the AQS-24B minehunting system for its performance in exercises in the Arabian Gulf and in South Korea. The AQS-24B completed fleet introduction as an upgrade to the already operational AQS-24A in the spring of 2017. The upgrade added a state-of-the-art High Speed Synthetic Aperture Sonar capability, developed and built by Northrop Grumman, which significantly increased the system’s sonar resolution for mine detection, localization and classification.

U.S. Navy Commodore Mike Egan, Commander Task Force 52 (CTF-52), based in Bahrain, commented during a panel on mine warfare at the conference that, “The AQS-24B is performing extremely well in theater and exceeding the expectations of the fleet operators.”

The AQS-24B is a platform independent mine warfare sensor.

The AQS-24B is operated from both the MH-53E heavy lift helicopters from Helicopter Mine countermeasures Squadron 15 (HM-15) and from the Mine Hunting Unmanned Surface Vessels (MHU) in the Arabian Gulf. The MHU with the AQS-24 has been deployed and operated from both U.S. Navy ships, such as the recently decommissioned USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15) and the USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3), as well as United Kingdom Royal Navy ships, such as the RFA Cardigan Bay (L3009).

Since being introduced into the Navy’s Airborne Mine Countermeasures Squadrons this past spring, the AQS-24B has successfully completed three operational exercises, including two in the Arabian Gulf by HM-15 and a third exercise in South Korea, where the system is operated by the Helicopter Mine countermeasures Squadron 14 (HM-14).

1. S. Navy Captain Hans Lynch, the Mine Warfare Branch Head, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations staff (N952) said, “We are very pleased with the way the AQS-24B systems have performed in their initial exercises.”

“We are extremely proud to hear from our nation’s warfighters that the AQS-24B is performing exceptionally well in theater,” said Alan Lytle, vice president, undersea systems, Northrop Grumman. “We look forward to future opportunities to demonstrate the true state-of-the-art technology that the AQS-24B represents for both the U.S. Navy and our allies.”

 

28 Feb 18. Romania signs off on US deal to become first European HIMARS customer. Romania signed a letter of agreement with the U.S. government this week to buy both the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS), making it the first European HIMARS customer.

The Romanian Secretary of State Mircea Dusa and the country’s defense chief, Gen. Nicolae Ciuca finalized the deal at the Ministry of National Defense headquarters Feb. 26, according to several reports from Romanian news outlets.

The State Department cleared the HIMARS deal in August 2017 shortly after Romania played a central role in the U.S. Army’s annual exercise Saber Guardian, hosting a wide variety of events in country and also having a chance to operate alongside HIMARS units at a combined live-fire exercise in Cincu, Romania. While the State Department estimated the total price tag to be $1.25bn, Romanian reports on the deal this week indicate the program will cost $1.5bn. Romania requested 54 Lockheed Martin-made HIMARS launchers for a total of three systems and 81 unitary GMLRS.

Also included in the request was 54 Army Tactical Missile Systems and 24 Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data Systems, which is the fire-control system for HIMARS, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The deal would also include 15 M1151A1 armored utility Humvees and 15 M1151A1 armor-ready, two-man Humvees along with spares and a wealth of other supporting equipment.

The Romanians have said the desire to procure HIMARS came down to the system being NATO interoperable and its range of up to 300 kilometers, far surpassing current capability.

The country announced in the summer of 2017 that it planned to buy HIMARS as well as 36 F-16 fighter jets by 2022, part of a larger plan to spend roughly $11.6bn on military procurements in the years 2017 through 2026.

Romania has also minted a deal to buy Patriot air-and-missile defense systems and intends to purchase Bell combat helicopters. Lt. Gen. Ben. Hodges, the then-U.S. Army Europe commander, predicted the Romanian defense spending spree at Saber Guardian noting that he believed the country would meet its NATO promise to spend 2 percent of its GDP on defense. Romania, like other European countries on the eastern flank, are scrambling to beef up its defense and security to deter an aggressive Russia. Currently no other European country has procured HIMARS, but Poland has taken steps to buy the system although that deal seems to be on ice as the country focuses on finalizing a complicated agreement to buy a medium-range air-and-missile defense system, which is, in this case, also the Raytheon-made Patriot.

Singapore and the United Arab Emirates are the only foreign customers of HIMARS while Qatar has been authorized to buy the system.

Lockheed Martin told Defense News almost two years ago that it was restarting its HIMARS production line in order to build new launcher for the UAE. Restarting the line has proved to be more lucrative for the company as customers are now rapidly stretching beyond the Arab country.

 

28 Feb 18. Lockheed Martin signed a teaming agreement on Wednesday with Riyadh-based Wahaj (Sipchem’s subsidiary) to develop the company’s in-country production capability to co-manufacture the Air Foil Group (tailkits) for Paveway II Plus Laser Guided Bombs (LGBs) in Saudi Arabia. The agreement was signed at the Armed Forces Exhibition for Diversity of Requirements and Capabilities annual conference at the Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center.

“Today marks an important day for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as we make progress in the localization essential to a strong defense industry. The team at Wahaj look forward to securing the best local talent to help us meet capacity of future Paveway II Plus LGB manufacturing,” said Abdulrahman A. Al Saif, Chairman of Wahaj.

Paveway II Plus LGB from Lockheed Martin integrates an advanced guidance system to convert conventional gravity bombs into precision guided munitions and includes an enhanced guidance package that improves accuracy over legacy LGBs. The three configurations of the Air Foil Group (GBU-10 [MK-84 2,000-lb/907.18-kg], GBU-12 [MK-82 500-lb/336.79-kg] and GBU-16 [MK-83 1,000lb/453.59-kg]) include extending wings that provide lift and stability. Paveway II Plus LGBs are cleared for use on US Air Force, US Navy and international aircraft authorized to carry and release LGBs such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s F-15s, F-16s and the Tornado.

“We are dedicated to supporting the Kingdom’s national security objectives defined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 development plan,” said Alan Chinoda, Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin Saudi Arabia. “By the time production ramps to full operational capability, we envision localization to be upwards of 70 percent.”

Lockheed Martin has been a qualified supplier of Paveway II LGB kits since 2001 and has delivered more than 100,000 kits to customers. (Source: News Now/Saudi Gazette)

 

28 Feb 18. Moves Ahead with Void-Sensing Fuze. A new fuze from Orbital ATK will soon be installed on block-penetrating bombs used by the Air Force and Navy. The Dulles, Virginia-based aerospace and defense technology company recently announced it received a $23m Air Force contract to move ahead with full-rate production of its FMU 167/B hard target void-sensing fuze, or HTVSF. The HTVSF is all-electronic, cockpit-programmable and capable of destroying deeply buried and hard targets, said Dave Fine, vice president of fuzing and warheads for Orbital ATK Defense Systems. It provides multiple delay arming and detonation times, as well as a void-sensing capability, which allows for precision activation of the fuze.

The innovative technology “takes the guesswork out of understanding the timing required to reach the target,” Fine said. “It’s a very, very survivable, robust fuze in terms of being able to survive going through these very hard, buried targets, but it also can detect very minute changes in its environment” to perceive the strike location, he added.

Orbital incorporated advanced signal processing and algorithms to analyze the targets and built robust packaging to allow the munition to penetrate deeply, he noted.

“You might just have a deeply buried facility protected by earth and concrete,” he said. “You might have a multi-layered target … [such as] a complex facility buried underground that has 10 stories, and you might decide the critical mission space is in the fifth story. So the fuze can be programed to detect when it reaches the fifth story.”

It could also be used for situations when a target is buried in a mountain side or other hidden spots, he added.

The fuze is qualified for the BLU-109 2000-pound and the BLU-113 5000-pound block-penetrating bombs used by the Air Force and the Navy, respectively, Fine said. As the Air Force begins to develop the next generation of penetrating weapons, “the intention is that this fuze will continue to be the fuze of choice for future systems,” he added.

The full-rate production contract will include just over 2,000 units. Deliveries will begin later this year and are expected to be complete in 2019, Fine said.

The contract follows low-rate initial production contracts initially awarded in 2015, Fine said. The full program value, including the engineering, manufacturing and development phase, two LRIP phases and the full-rate production, is approximately $95m, according to the company.  Orbital has begun discussions with international allies to export the fuze, but any final export decisions would be up to the Air Force, Fine noted. (Source: glstrade.com/National Defense)

 

28 Feb 18. Turkey to develop heavy armed UAV. Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli has provided details of a new 4.5-tonne armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) called Akinci, able to carry four missiles.

In an interview with the Yeni Safak daily on 24 February, Canikli said the Akinci would pave the way for Turkey to develop unmanned combat aircraft starting in 2027 based on the technology acquired.

He also disclosed that a Turkish Defence Industries Executive Committee meeting in January selected local company Baykar Makina to develop the Akinci based on the Bayrak armed UAV. A contract with Baykar Makina would be signed soon, with Akinci deliveries beginning in 2021, he said.

(Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

27 Feb 18. US Navy to ‘take the man out of the minefield’ in clearing underwater explosives. The Navy has a plan to find and destroy underwater enemy mines from a safe distance — and it’s building a Ghost Fleet of drones to do it. Naval Sea Systems Command is developing mine-neutralization technologies and sonar mine-hunting payloads for its new Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Surface Vehicle, or MCM USV, which will be operated from larger manned surface host ships, such as the Littoral Combat Ship, according to Warrior Maven.

“MCM USV will ‘take the man out of the minefield’ when it comes to Navy mine countermeasures operations,” Alan Baribeau, spokesman for Naval Sea Systems Command, told Warrior Maven.

The Navy is working with Textron Systems to add sonar technologies to the MCM USV, and is considering integrating the Barracuda Mine Neutralisation System, which would deploy from an LCS to destroy detected mines.

The Navy and the Pentagon have been developing this Ghost Fleet — a system of interconnected unmanned vessels able to perform missions in a synchronized fashion — to perform air, sea, land and undersea operations.

The fleet can also swarm and attack enemies, deliver supplies and conduct intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions.

The unmanned surface vehicles will be operational in 2019, according to Warrior Maven. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)

 

28 Feb 18. MQ-9 Reaper Performs Multirole Mission in Afghanistan.

A U.S. MQ-9 Reaper performed a historic multirole mission in the deliberate air campaign against Taliban revenue sources, releasing four 500 pound precision guided munitions from a single Reaper, effectively destroying a Taliban narcotics facility in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, Feb 22. In a new approach, MQ-9s are being tasked in a multirole capacity, to include executing deliberate strikes, armed over watch or close air support missions, and then flex to an ISR tasking – all in a single mission. This approach offers planners greater flexibility in choosing the optimal strike capability from a variety of manned and unmanned aircraft supporting operations, including F-16s, B-52s, A-10s and MQ-9s.  (Source: UAS VISION/USAF)

 

27 Feb 18. Japan considers deploying anti-ship missile unit to Okinawa Island, say reports. Japan’s government is considering deploying an anti-ship missile unit to the main island of Okinawa Prefecture to enhance the country’s defences amid China’s growing maritime assertiveness in the area, local media reported on 27 February. Tokyo has been proceeding with a plan to install an anti-ship missile unit on Okinawa’s Miyako Island to enhance its defence against threats to its remote islands in the southwest, reported the Kyodo news agency, adding that the government now believes that Okinawa Island should also have a unit as Chinese warships have frequently passed between the two islands in the East China Sea. Through this deployment Japan is aiming to keep the movements of Chinese naval vessels in check from both sides of the strategically important Miyako Strait, The Asahi Shimbun newspaper also reported on 27 February, citing unnamed government sources. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

27 Feb 18. USSOCOM seeks powered stand-off precision-guided munition for gunships and other aircraft. The US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has issued a request for information (RFI) for the procurement of a powered stand-off precision-guided munition (SOPGM) for employment aboard gunship variants of the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules and Cessna Grand Caravan, as well as for other undisclosed air platforms.

The RFI, which was issued in 26 February, calls for a SOPGM to be carried aboard Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) AC-130W Dragon Spear/Stinger II and AC-130J Ghostrider gunships, allied-operated AC-208 Combat Caravan light strike platforms, as well as other manned and unmanned special operations forces (SOF) aircraft.

As noted in the RFI, the SOPGM should be a 50 lb-class munition (including the weight of the Common Launch Tube [CLT] from which it should be fired); can be carrier internally or externally; it should be lethal against static and manoeuvring people and non-armoured vehicles (at speeds exceeding 60 mph [97 km/h] for the latter); it should be equipped with an operator-selected fuze mode for air burst or contact detonation; and it should have a modular warhead that can be removed and replaced without modification to other munition components in non-factory environments.

The munition must be Technology & Integration Readiness Levels 9 (a system that has already been proven through real-world operations) and 5 (fairly advanced control between the technologies necessary for the integration), respectively; and must have demonstrated reliability greater than 90% and accuracy of less than 2 m with 90% Circular Error Probable (supported by 100 or more operationally relevant employments).

(Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

26 Feb 18. Cloudy and a chance of rain need not sideline high-energy lasers. Warfighters need to know that the weapons at their disposal will function as expected, when needed. As newer and more advanced kinetic and non-kinetic weapons are matured for introduction into the warfighters’ arsenal, it is essential to understand how and when those weapons can and should be used to achieve the needed effect. We do not get to choose when the enemy engages or when we are required to respond.

Which brings us to a key question for decision-makers considering deployment of directed energy weapons: Are high-energy lasers (HELs) only “fair-weather” weapons?

The potential advantages of HELs are well-documented. HELs have speed-of-light engagement, a deep shot magazine, and low cost per shot compared to kinetic weapons. They can operate as both sensors and weapons, with an individual system often able to deliver a broad range of “scalable effects.” HELs can sense, track, damage and/or destroy many difficult targets, e.g.: fast-moving small boats; rockets, artillery and mortars; unmanned air vehicles/drones. HELs also offer the potential for boost phase intercept of intercontinental ballistic missiles and to engage hypersonic glide vehicles. To be effective, the HEL must deliver the required amount of laser power on the target for the time needed to achieve the desired result. Target irradiance, measured as kW/cm2, not laser output power, is the key concept when thinking about laser lethality and laser weapon effectiveness.

But what if there’s less than ideal weather? How does it affect the target irradiance of an HEL? What specific weather and atmospheric phenomena impact irradiance and how is technology being used to compensate for those effects and maintain HEL effectiveness?

The primary weather/atmospheric impacts on irradiance are:

– extinction (combination of absorption and scattering by atmospheric gaseous molecules, aerosols, and water droplets);

– turbulence (result of convective air motion, vertical temperature differences, and wind shear); and

– thermal blooming (result of absorption heating of the atmosphere that causes a corresponding reduction in the local index of refraction). If uncorrected, turbulence will tend to break up the beam profile and result in the beam spreading out, the creation of hot spots (also called scintillation), and a decrease in the average irradiance on the target. Extinction reduces the overall peak irradiance of the laser as photons are either absorbed or scattered out of the beam.

Some HEL systems now include the technology needed to mitigate many of the effects referenced above, e.g., the use of adaptive optics to compensate atmospheric turbulence. That said, under the most adverse conditions (heavy rain, very thick fog, or dense smoke) the warfighter may not want to rely on HELs at all – depending on engagement range and needed target effects. The good news is that the decision on whether to use a laser weapon is not binary; HELs are complementary to the kinetic arsenal and offer a range of capabilities as sensors (detect, discern, discriminate, designate) and scalable weapons (dazzle, disrupt, damage, destroy). As such, while certain effects of a laser weapon are negatively impacted by less-than-ideal atmospheric conditions, an HEL is still a highly-effective weapon in the inventory providing unique and necessary capabilities including in challenging weather.

The Navy’s LaWS HEL deployed on the USS Ponce was used continuously as a Cassegrain reflecting telescope with an infrared camera providing ISR at distances greater than 10 kilometers and penetrating smoke, haze, and light fog.

Mark Twain is sometimes attributed with saying that everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it. Fortunately, when it comes to HELs, the researchers and HEL system developers have made progress about the impact of weather. With modern technology and weaponeering tools, HELs are not just fair-weather weapons.  (Source: C4ISR & Networks)

 

26 Feb 18. US Marines double investment in HIMARS artillery systems. The Marine Corps plans to double its investment in the precision rocket artillery system known as HIMARS and needs dozens of armored resupply vehicles to support that expansion. A $134m budget request this year from the Corps for HIMARS represents an increase of about $68m from the past year. That investment is slated to grow the Corps’ HIMARS capabilities to include the reactivation of an old unit. That means the Corps will also need new vehicles to support the effort. To meet the demand, the Corps wants to modify 40 existing Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacements, or MTVRs, to serve as HIMARS resupply trucks, according to Emanuel Pacheco, a spokesman for Program Executive Officer Land Systems Marine Corps.

“By maintaining the same configuration as currently fielded, it allows the Marine Corps to reduce costs by taking advantage of the current HIMARS spare parts packages, training and other support items currently available in the fleet,” he said.

The development is part of a push by the Corps to plug capability gaps in its long-range artillery and rocket systems as major adversaries like Russia and China continue to make new developments that threaten global U.S. military supremacy.

To meet that threat in an age of tight budgets, the Corps has been testing new methods of employing systems it currently fields in lieu of heavy investment in new research and development or purchasing new commercial products.

The HIMARS, formally known as the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System, was designed for use on land, but the Marines are thinking about using it at sea too. Last fall, the Corps successfully destroyed a target 70 km away with a HIMARS shot off the deck of the Anchorage amphibious transport ship.

The precision rocket system is traditionally a land based all-weather artillery system, which has seen high use in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Marines.

But as the Corps worries about future access to enemy littorals in the age of a great power competition the Marines are looking for unique ways to aid its force in fighting its way ashore.

That means the Corps needs longer range precision systems that can be mobile on floating platforms at sea, not just on land.

It’s an oft repeated remark by Gen. Robert B. Neller, the Marine Commandant, that the Corps will need to “fight to get to the fight,” in a future conflict.

And the Corps is putting its money where its mouth is. The new fiscal year 2019 budget request includes investments in technologies one would associate with a Cold War adversary, and not the counterinsurgency conflicts the Marines have been embroiled in for the past 16 years.

On top of reactivating the 5th Battalion, 10th Marines as a HIMARS unit, the Marines are also sinking money into mobile ground based air defense systems and mobile networking communications systems.

Tech that has not been generally needed in the permissive environments of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Much of the Corps’ increased investments into HIMARS is directed at the reactivation of the Marine HIMARS unit and the new modified MTVRs will support that effort as well. The Corps currently has 101 HIMARS resupply vehicles. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Marine Times)

 

24 Feb 18. US Army seeks new missile to counter drones, rockets and more. The U.S. Army wants a new surface-to-air missile to provide capability to counter rockets, artillery and mortars, as well as provide residual cruise missile defense and defend against drones, according to the service and fiscal 2019 budget request documents. The missile the Army is calling the Expanded Mission Area Missile, or EMAM, will be the second interceptor qualified for the Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2 program, or IFPC Inc. 2, which has been in development to counter threats from rockets, artillery and mortars for years.

The service has had to shift priorities to deal with rapidly proliferating drone and cruise missile threats. The drone threat in particular runs rampant, and the cheap and easily accessible systems have been employed by terrorist groups, peer adversaries and in between in conflicts from the Middle East to Eastern Europe.

The Army has existing air defense systems — such as Avenger and the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System — but they are not designed to handle the threats IFPC will be able to address, particularly unmanned aircraft systems.

The service has already chosen one interceptor for the system — the AIM-9X Sidewinder missile. But since IFPC will feature a multimission launcher, or MML, the Army wants to qualify a variety of interceptors for the system over time.

Lots of options for other interceptors are on the table. The service has fired a wide variety of interceptors in tests with its MML such as the Hellfire Longbow, Stinger, miniature hit-to-kill missiles and the Israeli Tamir interceptor. The Army will also try out directed energy against UAS targets as part of the program.

The Army plans to spend $519.7m from FY18 through FY23 using a block acquisition approach to bring IFPC Inc. 2 capability online.

The first block consists of an existing interceptor and sensor, as well as development of fire-control software and the MML to defeat UAS and cruise missile threats. The second block will be compatible with the Army’s future Integrated Air-and-Missile Defense command-and-control system, and this block will get a second interceptor, according to the FY19 budget request documents.

A total of $51m will fund the integration of the new EMAM interceptor into the MML, the budget documents state.

The Army initiated a competitive solicitation in March 2017 using special transaction authorities. Based on evaluation of whitepapers, the Army chose three vendors to be eligible for a contract award, the service said in a statement sent to Defense News.

The vendors, while not named, have been notified of their selection and have been asked for full cost proposals, the Army said.

“The EMAM Product Office plans to award funds for the integration and testing of the second interceptor utilizing a two-phased approach with a demonstration of interceptors from multiple vendors during phase one with a down-select to a single vendor for phase two,” the budget request documents read. “Phase two will consist of activities to finalize design and integration of the interceptor and conduct developmental testing.”

In early FY19, the Army will select the “best value” solution to proceed to a preliminary design review stage, the service said in the statement.

The Army plans to make an engineering and manufacturing development, or EMD, decision in the first quarter of FY20. The EMD phase will run through to the first quarter of FY23.

A production decision is due in FY23 with low-rate initial production running through FY24. The service expects to reach an initial operational capability in the fourth quarter of FY23, the budget documents show.

IFPC Inc. 2 Block 1 will see a limited user test in the fourth quarter of FY19. Then there will be a production decision in the second quarter of FY20 and an initial operational test and evaluation starting in the second quarter of FY21, and ending in the third quarter. The first block will reach initial operational capability in the third quarter of FY21.

(Source: Defense News)

 

23 Feb 18. Dhanush Nuclear-Capable Short-Range Ballistic Naval Missile Successfully Test-Fired. The Indian military successfully test-fired the Dhanush missile from a warship off the coast of Odisha on Friday morning. The Dhanush missile is also known as the Prithvi-III, and is a short-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads.  Dhanush is the naval variant of the surface-to-surface Prithvi missile platform. It can be used for both ship-to-ship and ship-to-surface strikes. The missile has a declared strike range of 350km, and is capable of carrying a warhead up to 500 kg in weight. The missile may also be fitted with conventional warheads.

Officials told news agency PTI that Friday’s test of the Dhanush was a “complete success” and that all the mission objectives had been achieved. All flight parameters were monitored and verified by the telemetry and radar facilities of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which developed the Dhanush missile. The missile test was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command, the tri-services military command that controls all of India’s nuclear weapons and their associated delivery systems. The Dhanush missile made its first test flight in 2000, with the first fully operational test conducted in 2004. It has been test-fired a total of seven times so far. The last time the Dhanush was test fired was in November 2015. The design of the Dhanush missile features customisations to the Prithvi platform to make it suitable for launch from a ship. These design modifications would include a stabilisation platform. The Dhanush/Prithvi-III is part of the five missile platforms that have been developed by the DRDO since 1983, as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). The other families of missiles developed under the IGMPD are Agni, Trishul, Akash and Nag.  (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Zee News)

 

25 Feb 18. Anbar: Security forces recover weapons cache containing anti-tank guided missiles, RPG-27. On 23 February, security forces in al-Qaim in western Anbar Province along the border with Syria recovered an extremist Islamic State (IS) group weapons cache containing three Russian-made 9M113 Konkurs (AT-5 SPANDREL) anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) tubes and five Russian-made 9M133 Kornet (AT-14 SPRIGGAN) ATGM tubes. In addition, security forces recovered an advanced Russian-made RPG-27 disposable rocket launcher and a US-made M72 LAW anti-tank weapon (ATW). Such weapons along with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and low-caliber anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) are capable of engaging air assets below FL100.

Analysis

EASA along with the US, UK, French and German civil aviation authorities have each issued guidance to operators easing restrictions on flights in Iraqi airspace since 6 December 2017. The primary threats posed to civil aviation activity over Iraq stem from manportble air defence systems (MANPADS), ATGMs, ATWs, AAA and advanced RPGs in possession of militant groups. According to the US FAA, the most capable variants of MANPADS can pose a threat to aircraft at altitudes below 25,000 feet AGL. Security forces in Iraq have recovered five separate weapons caches containing MANPADS during raids against militant groups since the start of September 2017. Most recently, security forces in the city of Hawija in Kirkuk Province released a video of a large IS group weapons cache containing over 20 Russian-made 9K32 Strela-2 (SA-7 GRAIL) MANPADS tubes and associated components on 17 January. We continue to assess Iraqi airspace to be a high risk airspace operating environment below FL260. (Source: Osprey)

 

23 Feb 18. Norinco’s HJ-11 ATGW looks to have entered service with PLAGF. The Red Arrow 11 (Hongjian-11 or HJ-11) anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) produced by the China North Industries Corporation (Norinco) may have entered service with the People’s Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF), images released by the state-owned broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) suggest. The network recently released video footage showing what appears to be an HJ-11, which has also been referred to as the AFT-11, being deployed during PLAGF exercises at an undisclosed location. An illustration of the ATGW had been seen on a commemorative coin in early 2011, but the first photographs of the HJ-11 only emerged in August 2017 in Chinese online forums. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

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02 Mar 18. Indian Defence Roadmap Calls for 400 More UAS. With stress on aerial surveillance and reconnaissance to get real time picture of the battlefield, the Indian armed forces want at least 400 drones besides submarine launched remotely piloted aircraft. Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs), including high energy lasers and high-powered microwaves with the ability to destroy enemy target and satellites, are also projected needs to boost offensive and defensive military capabilities. These capability enhancement requirements are part of the modernisation plan up to the late 2020s and figured prominently in the recently released Defence Ministry’s document “Technology Perspective and Capability-Roadmap.” These future projects enable the Indian industry both private and public to improve their design and manufacturing capacities to cater to the needs of the armed forces.

“This roadmap may guide the industry in planning or initiating technology development, partnerships and production arrangements. While pursuing any development or collaboration, the Indian industry should accord due importance to the Government’s thrust towards ‘Make in India’,” the 82-page document said.

It also mentioned the Navy’s requirement for another aircraft carrier to boost maritime prowess. At present, the Navy has only one aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.  Another ship INS Vikrant is in the last stages of manufacturing at Cochin Shipyard and will soon embark on sea trials.  The proposed aircraft carrier mentioned in the roadmap document says the ship will serve the Navy for at least 40 years. Highlighting the urgency to equip the armed forces with next generation unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones both for surveillance and hitting enemy targets, the document said the new drones will have longer period of staying in air, fly greater distance and take out targets.  The armed forces, at present, have about 200 drones which act as major force-multipliers in modern-day warfare. As regards remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) launched from submarines, the document noted the Army and Navy need at least 30 such platforms and said “the medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) combat RPA should have the capability to fly up to 30,000-feet altitude, with extended satellite communication ranges and endurance of more than 24 hours.”  The drones should be capable of firing missiles at land and maritime targets from over 20-km away, it added. Besides this requirement, the two Services also require 100-150 spy drones, with the Army also needing 55-70 stealth, 50 short-range and 30 hybrid RPAs. The Navy also wants 50 high-altitude, long endurance(HALE) drones that can be launched vertically from warships as well as 10 submarine-launched RPAs. About Directed Energy Weapons (DEWS), the paper said the Army and IAF need at least 20 “tactical high-energy laser systems” with the capability to destroy small aerial targets, electronic warfare and radars systems at a range of six -eight km in Phase-I.  The next phase will see the laser systems should have a range of over 20-km to take on “soft-skinned” vehicles and troops, satellites from ground and aerial platforms.  (Source: UAS VISION/The Pioneer)

 

28 Feb 18. NGC Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Global Hawk’s 1st Flight. Today, Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) celebrates the 20th anniversary of the first flight of its autonomous Global Hawk high altitude long endurance aircraft. The Global Hawk System remains on duty around the world and is one of the premier providers of persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information supporting the United States and its allies.

The first Global Hawk aircraft, named Air Vehicle 1, or AV-1, was built by Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical at the Ryan factory near San Diego’s Lindbergh Field. Northrop Grumman would acquire Teledyne Ryan in 1999.

On a clear and calm morning, Feb. 28, 1998, AV-1 taxied itself to its take-off position at Edwards Air Force Base in California.  The aircraft was all white, except for its U.S. Air Force markings and sported a unicorn-like mast out of the front of its nose. Ryan pilot Mike Munski, in the ground control station nearby, clicked the take-off button on his control console and AV-1 took off into the desert sky. After a 56 minute flight, the first Global Hawk landed safely and stopped itself on the runway, just six inches off the painted centerline.

The first Global Hawk aircraft were in the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  DARPA is responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.

“Those of us in the Global Hawk program today owe a great deal of gratitude to those who developed the first Global Hawk and helped create this weapons system that is so vital to serving our nation and its allies,” said Lauren Stevens, vice president and program manager, Global Hawk program, Northrop Grumman. “AV-1 and the Global Hawk Program have shaped aviation history and some of those Ryan employees who worked on AV-1 are still on the program today working to increase the system’s capabilities and continue to defy expectations.”

The Global Hawk system is building on its heritage of innovation, modernizing its current capabilities by integrating new technologies that enhance capabilities, performance and reliability.  In active operation with the U.S. Air Force since 2001, Global Hawk has amassed more than 250,000 flight hours with missions flown in support of military and humanitarian operations. Able to fly at high altitudes for greater than 30 hours, Global Hawk is designed to gather near-real-time, high-resolution imagery of large areas of land in all types of weather – day or night. (Source: ASD Network)

 

28 Feb 18. Danish Defence Establishes Development Centre at UAS Denmark. As part of a new defence agreement, the Danish Defence will establish cooperation with the UAS Denmark. With it, the development of Denmark’s drone competences across sectors will be strengthened benefiting both parties. In 2014 the Danish Defence and Hans Christian Andersen Airport in Odense, Denmark, signed a Letter of Intent regarding cooperation with UAS Denmark. In the defence agreement announced on Sunday 28 January 2018, Denmark further strengthened the Defence commitment to the continued development of Denmark’s drone industry.

The news about The Danish Defence’s commitment to support drone development have been positively received by UAS Denmark’s Commercial Director, Michael Larsen. In May 2017, UAS Denmark at Hans Christian Andersen Airport launched a new widespread drone airspace for long-range drones (BVLOS = Beyond Visual Line of Sight), which comprises 867 square kilometres of drone testing airspace in a new strategic cooperation with SDU UAS Center, led by test center director Brad Beach. The cooperation with the test center at Hans Christian Andersen Airport will make a strong foundation for the national drone cluster, another key activity of UAS Denmark.

“We are looking forward to the cooperation with The Danish Defence. I am convinced that we will be able to pull on each of our strengths and together, we will create an even stronger foundation for the companies, which are connected to the Danish drone industry”, says Michael Larsen.

DANISH DEFENCE WILL TEST AND SHARE KNOWLEDGE

Concretely, the defence agreement states that The Danish Defence during the agreement period will establish a presence in the drone center, apply its capacities within testing to a relevant extent, ensure knowledge sharing and participate with a representative in the forthcoming Advisory Board for UAS Denmark’s Drone Center.

SDU’s UAS Center Director and UAS Denmark Test Center Manager, Brad Beach, sees additional potential for cooperation:

“In our facilities at Hans Christian Andersen Airport, we are installing a hi-tech composites and systems integration laboratories for research and support to a number of drone companies. We look forward to welcoming the Danish Defence as part of the rapidly growing drone cluster based at Hans Christian Andersen Airport.”

OPTIMISM IN THE INDUSTRY

The drone community is encouraged the agreement will further advance the industry.

“I am pleased to learn the Danish Defence has agreed to be part of and to strengthen the establishment of an internationally acknowledged drone center at Hans Christian Andersen Airport” Soeren Petersen, Vice President, Military Sales from Scandinavian Avionics states and goes on: “The Danish Defence’s involvement in a new test and development center will give Scandinavian Avionics greater opportunities for collaboration with the Danish Defence’s drone units about development and test of systems and components for drones, just as it presents an opportunity to cooperate within operations and maintenance, testing and certification of drones and drone equipment. It will also strengthen the industry that The Danish Defence will join UAS Denmark through knowledge sharing about the development of drones in NATO and other international fora”, Soeren Petersen from Scandinavian Avionics says.

The cooperation with The Danish Defence concerning drone technology even spills over to other technologies, where Denmark has strong competencies and now finds new synergies in the drone center in Odense, Denmark:

“We are far ahead in the field of radar technology in Denmark, and we experience great international demands for Weibel’s radar technology for drone monitoring and tests.” Peder R. Pedersen, CEO of Weibel Scientific says and goes on: ”Investments in the Danish drone test center is paramount if we want to win the race of being the first with new drone technology and drone surveillance technology. Just as important is it to develop Danish technology, which can protect Danish interests against hostile drones in close collaboration with the Danish Defence. Thus, I am pleased about The Danish Defence’s decision to collaborate with UAS Denmark”, Peder R. Pedersen, CEO, Weibel Scientific says. (Source: UAS VISION)

 

27 Feb 18. ECA Group unveils its new generation mid-size AUV A18-M for underwater mine warfare. On 16th February ECA Group presented its latest mid-size AUV A18-M dedicated to mine counter measures. With its compactness and its unequaled high-quality imagery this new generation underwater drone becomes the reference in the category of autonomous underwater vehicles dedicated to mine hunting.  A live demonstration in Toulon area has been conducted in order to show some of the amazing performances of this new maritime drone that is completing ECA Group’s AUV family.

AUV A18-M: compact, modular, connected and enduring

A18-M is the new generation of autonomous underwater vehicle developed by ECA Group for efficient mine detection and classification in all water depths up to 300m. Like the A9-M and A27-M, the AUV A18-M is specifically designed to operate in the close vicinity of the smartest mines without triggering them.

“This mid-size AUV is the top trade-off between, size, weight and long endurance. Its payload capacity makes it able to host high performance sonar, such as synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) providing unprecedented detection and classification performances.” says Léonie Delacou, AUVs product manager at ECA Group.

More compact than previous generation of MCM AUV, A18-M is easy to deploy even from small naval platforms such as new generation of Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV). Thanks to its high stability, and the fact that it is less affected by waves than a surface ship or a towed system, a very high image quality is obtained.

In addition, the AUV A18-M can also adapt its operating depth to the environmental conditions, avoiding blind zones due to sound speed stratification.

Advanced embedded processing allows to process in real time the sonar image raw data and extract a list of contacts which are relayed back to the command center using an advanced communication network, with an unmanned surface vessel (USV) or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) acting as gateway. These contacts are then reviewed by sonar operators onboard a mothership or onshore, in order to launch identification and disposal.

An unequaled performance gains with a Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) onboard A18-M

More generally, the AUV is able also to detect any kind of hazard such as improvised explosive devices (IED), pollutants, as well as to provide very accurate maps of the seabed which allow the environment to be assessed with high fidelity.

The AUV A18-M integrates the Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) and has very high area coverage rate, of the order of 2km2/hr which represents between 5 and 10 times more than that of a conventional side-looking sonar on an AUV. This optimal configuration enables to cover very large areas – of the order 20-40km2 (depending on transit distance) in a fraction of the time of legacy assets, with far superior image quality, and with reduced risk to personnel.

“The performance gain is due to the very high resolution in both range and cross-range offered by a wideband SAS, of the order of 2.5cm x 3cm constant up to the edges of the swath, which is unachievable, at any practical range, by any other type of sonar on any type of platform. With the only possible exception of buried or concealed mines, all known mines can be detected and high quality classification cues can be extracted from the highlight and shadow structure.” says Dr. Marc Pinto Program Director for Systems of Robots and sonar expert at ECA Group.

A18-M joins the UMIS team: simultaneity & interoperability optimize operations at sea

AUV A18-M can be integrated within a larger unmanned system, such as ECA Group’s UMIS (Unmanned Maritime Integrated System) and benefit from common interfaces, communication network as well as data processing system.

“The A18-M joins now the ECA Group MCM robotic ‘team’ which is composed of the Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) INSPECTOR MK2, the identification ROV SEASCAN and the expendable mine disposal vehicle, also called minekiller, the K-STER C.  All of these robots can work together in order to accomplish tasks simultaneously or for INSPECTOR USV, to be used a communication relay to send gathered a preprocessed information (ATD – automatic target detection) to a command and control system on a mothership or on shore to deploy the identification and disposal vehicle.  This is the first comprehensive unmanned maritime system that includes all types of naval robots: USVs, AUVs, ROVs and EMDS.“ says Daniel Scourzic, UMIS (Umanned Maritime Integrated Systems) Marketing Manager at ECA Group.

Operating in parallel several unmanned devices, the UMIS system allows the user to have higher efficiency and clearance rate, enabling to achieve typical operations in at least 3 times shorter period compared to conventional systems without any risks for the ship and the operators who stay out of danger zones.

 

26 Feb 18. Kratos eyes export opportunity for tactical UAS. The unmanned systems business of US technology and services group Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has hinted that it is close to securing a significant export contract for the production of an advanced jet-powered unmanned aircraft system (UAS).

In a release announcing recent flight testing of a “high performance unmanned aerial drone system aircraft”, the company’s president and CEO, Eric DeMarco, stated that Kratos was “currently working towards a large production contract with a new international customer, which we hope to receive in the next several months”. No further details were released.

While Kratos did not disclose the type of air vehicle, it is most likely to be the company’s UTAP-22 Mako high-performance tactical UAS. Derived from the company’s BQM-167A sub-scale target, the jet-powered Mako has been designed to serve as an affordable force multiplier to augment and support manned strike aircraft.

The UTAP-22 Mako first flew in late 2015, and was the subject of three successful flight tests on a US Navy range. These included a demonstration of ‘loyal/trusted wingman’ flight operations with multiple systems.

In 2016 the US Defense Innovation Unit – Experimental funded Kratos for a UTAP-22 Mako multi-UAS demonstration mission as part of a larger military exercise conducted in 2017. According to the company, capabilities demonstrated included “manned/unmanned collaborative operations and the latest mission payload set capability to introduce the operational utility of the Mako into a larger-scale exercise”.

Subsequently, Kratos has completed further Mako UAS flight testing with integrated mission systems “typically employed on manned aircraft”. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

27 Feb 18. UAV Turbines Signs $19m Technology Investment Agreement with US Army. Locust USA, Inc, through its wholly-owned subsidiary UAV Turbines, Inc. (“UAVT”), a developer of advanced heavy-fuel microturbine propulsion systems, announced that it has entered into a $19m Technology Investment Agreement (“TIA”) with the U.S. Army to collaborate in development of an efficient and reliable/durable small turboprop gas turbine engine for propulsion in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) arena.

The development goals encompass engine capabilities beneficial to both military and commercial markets. This initiative is part of the Army’s “Reliable Advanced Small Power Systems (RASPS) Technology Demonstration” program whose overall objective is to design, manufacture and test a 200shp class advanced technology engine to technical readiness level (TRL) 6.

“As the demand for UAV missions increases, a reliable heavy-fuel propulsion system that also produces sufficient electrical power is the key to a successful program,” said Dan Mikkelson, UAVT’s Chief Design Engineer. “This effort is a potential solution to providing this vital capability with significant advantages over the presently available systems.”

The fundamental technology for development of the more advanced 200 shp class turbine engine that RASPS will develop over the next 5 years has been demonstrated in UAVT’s UTP50R propulsion system, a 50hp class turbine engine with a recuperator, high-speed gearbox, variable-pitch propeller, and Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC).

Mikkelson further noted that, “the planned advanced technology RASPS engine demonstrator system will increase power to the 200 shp class (with 5kW or more of electric power) and provide even further advances in performance over the UTP50R in a high reliability, long life engine system.  The RASPS program is targeting performance goals that include higher power-to-weight ratio and lower Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC), using advanced concepts, materials, and system optimization.  A special focus will be on technology that greatly improves reliability over conventional engine systems.”

“We’re honored to have been selected to participate with the Army in the effort to create more effective UAV propulsion systems,” stated Kirk M. Warshaw, CEO of UAVT. “We share the Army’s recognition that the propulsion system is the key enabling technology for future UAV’s and the foundation on which other technologies will depend.”

“This RASPS development project will demonstrate clear advantages in our technology for military as well as commercial and industrial customers,” commented Fred Frigerio, UAVT’s Senior VP.  “It is a unique and very challenging technology to develop, but given our successful 10hp and 50hp turbine systems, we are confident that we can meet the Army’s goals.  We look forward to collaborating with our counterparts at AMRDEC’s ADD on a regular basis to ensure that we end up with the best possible solution in the shortest time-frame.” (Source: UAS VISION)

 

26 Feb 18. India flight-tests Rustom-2 UAV in user configuration. India’s state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested its indigenously designed Rustom-2 medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in user configuration on 25 February.

The platform took off from the DRDO’s Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) at Chalakere in Chitradurga using a “high power engine”, the government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in a statement.

The 9.5m-long UAV, which has a wingspan of 20.6m, can carry an assortment of payloads to conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. These include medium- and long-range electrooptic systems, a synthetic aperture radar, electronic and communication intelligence systems,

Developed by the Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Establishment in conjunction with the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited, the Rustom-2 is an advanced version of earlier Indian UAVs such as the Rustom-1 and Rustom-H. Indian private company Zephyr Aerospace built the airframe for the Rustom-2, while the DRDO’s Defence Electronics Applications Laboratory developed its data link system. The PIB did not specify whether the UAV was flight-tested using a new, more powerful engine. So far the Rustom-2 is known to have been powered by two Saturn 36T turboprop engines. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

23 Feb 18. US ARL exploring private cloud options. The US Army Research Laboratory wants to modernize the way its 3,500 researchers and support staff complete their everyday tasks.

ARL issued a request for information on Feb. 20 to solicit industry feedback on how the agency can move into a cloud environment and still support the massive processing, storage and memory needs that researchers require. Currently, the lab runs three data centers that support five major sites in addition to many smaller locations. That architecture creates performance issues during peak utilization time periods.

As storage area networks become saturated, it has become harder for researchers to replicate and backup their data to other sites, according to the RFI. The underlying network architecture is not able to meet ARL’s rapidly changing research requirements, so the agency is looking to move into a new computing and storage environment that provides more flexibility and provides better services at a lower cost.

Any new cloud solution “needs to ensure system administration, patching/upgrading, system and data security and backups can be accomplished more easily, as well as remotely and/or automatically where possible,” the RFI states. “The new approach should provide flexible capabilities to build and modify logical networks and their connected capabilities to quickly respond to changing research requirements.”

Specifically, the agency is interested in creating a scalable “private cloud” that can meet mission needs, establishing an environment to utilize virtual machines and containers in data centers and using virtual desktop infrastructure to increase end-user flexibility and ease client support burdens. ARL also is looking to get input how to create full lifecycle asset management and the use of a hybrid public or private cloud. (Source: Defense Systems)

 

24 Feb 18. For the Army, a 3-D printed drone is nice. A customized, 3-D printed drone is better. Why carry around drones when they can be printed on the spot?

Army researchers say they can do just that: 3D print a quadcopter airframe. Better yet, they are developing a system to allow soldiers to customize their drones to meet specific mission needs.

“A soldier can input certain specifications – things like range and endurance and necessary payload carrying – and the software tool will tailor a vehicle based on those mission needs, based on what parts are available,” said John Gerbes, a mechanical engineer at Army Research Lab (ARL).

ARL has been coordinating with the Marine Corps as the likely end-user of such a system. Early research led to a 2016 demonstration at U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s annual Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment, or AEWE, at Fort Benning, Georgia, and a second demonstration in fall 2017 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

That 2016 trial sent engineers back to the lab to fine-tune their offerings. While their system could deliver a 3D-printed drone, developers discovered potential end users wanted some specific features.

“One surprise was in the sophistication of information they desired. They wanted a much deeper breakdown of system tradeoffs: ‘If I do this, performance does that,’” Gerbes said. “So we created a dashboard where they can actually drag stuff around, where they can adjust range and endurance and payload in one vehicle versus another.”

The Army is not alone in offering up a vision for a 3D-printed drone. Hobbyists can download instructions for build-it-yourself copters and can even buy ready-made printable drone kits on Amazon. YouTube offers video tutorials.

The military-grade project looks to go beyond these commercials offerings, by making available the widest possible range of vehicles. “Our emphasis is on inherent flexibility,” Gerbes said. “It’s not just about providing a 3D-printed UAV but about providing a suite of tool to meet mission-specific needs.”

Toolkit for flight

Army planners say they envision a portable set of interchangeable components that could be used to build a wide assortment of drones. Ideally, a 3-D printer would churn out the frame, while a selection of motors, sensors, cameras and other apparatus could be selected from a standing inventory.

“It’s an integrated system model that allows you to match the mission to the components,” said Eric Spero, a team lead within ARL’s vehicle technology directorate. “If I know what mission I need to accomplish, I want to be able to select the most appropriate electronics and combine that with a pre-defined structure.”

As envisioned, the system will apply sophisticated software protocols to determine the optimal design for a given mission. Users would input needs such as size, weight and endurance, “and the software can filter the catalog around those criteria to get the best matched solutions,” Spero said.

The use of 3D printing, or additive technology, makes it possible to create these ad hoc solutions to meet a broad range of requirements. Rather than carry parts and pieces for every possible configuration, soldiers will be able to manufacture on the fly those components that best suit the need.

“If you can scale the arms longer or shorter, that links to the motor, which links to the battery, which links to the control systems. When you can do that, that is when you really leveraging the power of additive technology,” Spero said.

This vision of a custom-tailored ISR asset isn’t a stand-alone idea, but rather part of Army’s broader effort to leverage 3D printing as a means to create a range of mission-specific tools.

“This is one step toward giving soldiers the right tools they need when they need them,” said Larry “L.J.” Holmes, Lead, Additive Manufacturing-Hybrid Operations Team (AM-HOT) at RDECOM, the Research, Development and Engineering Command.

He described UAVs as the “low-hanging fruit,” a point of interest across Army and Marine Corps user groups. But he suggested that this capability might be just a starting point as the Army seeks other areas in which 3D printing could fulfill mission-specific needs on the fly.

There’s no set timeline for the 3D printed drones to go operational, as ARL continues to fine-tune the technology and explore the needs of potential user groups. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)

 

23 Feb 18. US DOD seeks cloud-based task management system. Defense Department human resource officials are considering a cloud-based enterprise-wide task management system. In a new sources sought notice, the Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA) expects to award a five-year contract that uses a software as a service model. The system must provide interoperability with the Correspondence and Task Management System (CATMS). Officials are looking for a system that streamlines cross-organizational task management systems and can handle as many as 5,250 users. They are also focusing on disaster recovery and continuance of operations, and services such as system administration and maintenance, adoption services, and training and technical support. The effort is a response to a 2015 DOD memo regarding CATMS. DHRA released its notice Feb. 22. Responses are due by March 9. (Source: Defense Systems)

 

23 Feb 18. Indonesian Navy to receive four ScanEagle UAVs in 2018. Key Points:

• The Indonesian Navy will receive four ScanEagle UAVs in mid-2018
• Equipment is provided under a grant from the US government, which seeks to build maritime surveillance capabilities of Southeast Asian countries

The Indonesian Navy (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Laut: TNI-AL) is currently anticipating the delivery of four Insitu ScanEagle surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from the US government, a source from the service’s headquarters told Jane’s on 23 February. The UAV system and its associated equipment and launchers are provided under a grant by the US government under a capacity building programme for Southeast Asian navies known as the Maritime Security Initiative (MSI). The MSI was first announced by then US secretary of defense Ashton Carter at the 2015 iteration of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. The initiative seeks to improve maritime capabilities of partner countries in the region, namely Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Specifically, for Indonesia, the MSI seeks to improve the country’s maritime patrol capabilities, ISR integration, and equipment maintenance capacity. The aim is to ensure that Indonesia has the capacity to adequately safeguard its maritime territories and economic resources, and contribute to regional security and stability, according to a note on the programme from the US government’s website. Besides the TNI-AL, other Indonesian beneficiaries of the MSI programme include the country’s coastguard, which will receive assistance in organisational development and technical skill training from the US government. The ScanEagle UAV can be equipped with a range of payload types including electro-optical imagers, long-wave infrared sensors, and X-band radars. Information on the type of sensors that will come along with the Indonesian UAVs is currently not available. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

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01 Mar 18. Cyber Command nominee: attacks must come with a cost. Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, the nominee to be the next commander of Cyber Command and director of the NSA, said in prepared remarks before the Senate Armed Services Committee March 1 that the organization must be prepared to “impose costs” on adversaries for cyberattacks.

While the U.S. has increased its capabilities and worked to integrate cyber operations into traditional military plans so too have adversaries. Nakasone points to exponential growth in cyber threats to the nation.

To combat these growing threats, Nakasone said in prepared remarks for his confirmation hearing that the U.S. needs to impose costs on adversaries to “ensure mission success by persistent delivery of cyberspace effects in defense of our Nation and in support of our combat forces.” Current and previous administrations have been heavily criticized by Congress for a lack of deterrence in cyberspace.

Outgoing Cyber Command and NSA chief Adm. Michael Rogers testified before the same committee this week that Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has “come to the conclusion that there’s little price to pay and that therefore, ‘I can continue this activity,’”

Both Rogers and Nakasone, in his written remarks, noted that cyber does not occur in a vacuum and a whole of nation approach – to include government, military, industry and academia – is critical to success in deterring action in cyberspace.

Naksonse told senators during his hearing that while adversaries don’t fear the United States he offered three ways to change the calculus:

– a strategy and doctrine for how the U.S. operates, which will also send a message to adversaries;

– establishing norms so adversaries and bad actors can’t fill the international void and lastly; and

– not to think of cyber as only a cyber response.

Nakasone said cyber readiness would be his top priority if confirmed and that he must be able to assess the ability of cyber teams to perform their mission.

In addition to his role as the head of the military’s preeminent cyber warfighting organization, Cyber Command will also take the reins of the NSA, the nation’s premier signals intelligence organization, under what is known as the dual-hat arrangement.

Some believed with Rogers’s retirement, the Trump administration might take the opportunity to sever the dual hat and name separate leaders. It appears, for now, the dual hat arrangement will endure, at least for the near term.

“I don’t have a predisposed option on this,” Nakasone said when asked what his option on keeping or splitting the dual hat is. He said it’s best to begin with what’s best for the nation? Is it best for NSA and CYBERCOM to stay together under one leader or be two separate organizations. If confirmed, he said, one of the early things he’d do is make and assessment within 90 days to the Director of National Intelligence and Secretary of Defense.

He said in response to pre-hearing questions that a decision to split should be conditions based, outlining some of the concerns involved in both pre-mature separation and keeping the status quo.

“For the past ten years, I have had the privilege to lead, plan, and execute Joint and Army cyberspace operations supporting national, Combatant Command, and Service missions. In this decade I have seen incredible growth in cyber capacity and capabilities within the Department of Defense,” he wrote. “When I first started working cyber, operations were often just concepts, and when conducted, performed ad-hoc by technical specialists on loan from other organizations. Today that is not the case. Now, a mature and highly-capable Cyber force is built and in the fight, aggressively defending our network, conducting daily operations against adversaries, and strengthening the combat power and lethality of U.S. forces around the world.”

NSA is a critical partner to Cyber Command, as well as global military commanders serving as a combatant command support agency, as it provides cyber warriors critical intelligence and mapping of networks it penetrates for espionage purposes. (Source: Fifth Domain)

 

01 Mar 18. Canada adds new cybersecurity center, hikes funding for electronic spy agency. The Canadian government will significantly improve its cyber security capabilities with funding increases to the Department of National Defence’s electronic spy agency and with the creation of a new cyber security center.

Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau outlined the plans to spend CA$500m (U.S. $391m) on cybersecurity initiatives over the next five years in his 2018 federal government budget released Tuesday. After that initial period, the government will set aside CA$108 million a year for continuing cyber security initiatives. For comparison, the United States spends $15bn a year on cybersecurity.

Morneau noted the government will establish Canada’s first comprehensive cybersecurity plan. “Cyber-attacks are becoming more pervasive, increasingly sophisticated and ever more effective,” the 2018 federal budget document stated. “Successful cyber-attacks have the potential to expose the private information of Canadians, cost Canadian businesses millions of dollars, and potentially put Canada’s critical infrastructure networks at risk.”

Like many nations Canada has faced cyberattacks. Last year an attack forced the Canada Revenue Agency to go offline temporarily as Canadians were trying to file their taxes to that department.

Of the new funding, CA$155m will go to the Defence department’s Communications Security Establishment so it can create a new Canadian Center for Cyber Security. “By consolidating operational cyber expertise from across the federal government under one roof, the new Canadian Centre for Cyber Security will establish a single, unified Government of Canada source of unique expert advice, guidance, services and support on cyber security operational matters,” Morneau’s budget document noted.

To bolster Canada’s ability to fight cybercrime, the government will spend CA$116 m to create a new National Cybercrime Coordination Unit to be operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The unit will be a coordination hub for cybercrime investigations in Canada and will work with international partners on battling cybercrime, government officials said.

Another CA$236 m will be budgeted to develop and support a new National Cyber Security Strategy. The strategy will focus on securing computer systems, developing threat assessments and keeping critical infrastructure safe. It would also work with the financial and energy sectors on improving their cyber security, according to the Canadian government. (Source: glstrade.com/Fifth Domain)

 

01 Mar 18. DoD to Hold Cloud Acquisition Industry Day. The Defense Department will host an industry day for the ongoing cloud acquisition effort, March 7, in Arlington, Virginia, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White announced today.

She said industry day reinforces the commitment to attaining the best value for the American people by emphasizing importance of fair trade and open competition.

“For years, Congress urged the department to streamline the way we buy, sustain, and invest in capabilities. Under this administration, we are making that reform a reality,” White said. “We achieve this by leveraging the innovation and ingenuity of the private industry.”

Benefits of Cloud Computing

During a symposium hosted by the Defense Information Systems Agency in December, Army Lt. Gen. Alan R. Lynn, a former DISA director, listed the benefits to cloud-based computing.

“You build a lake of information that you can pull from, and that’s a big benefit that helps with warfighting,” he said. “If we need [a certain amount] of logistics to go here, and an amount of ammunition to go there, we’re now able to correlate all those different pieces at one time, which is very powerful for the warfighter.”

Other benefits include fiscal savings by using virtual equipment and hiring contractors to do the computing at a cheaper, at-scale rate, Lynn said, and information can be moved around the network, making it harder to be attacked.

Industry days are events held by DoD program management offices to present plans for current or future acquisition to industry representatives as an opportunity for the government to expresses its goals, schedule and solicit feedback. (Source: US DoD)

 

28 Feb 18. Indonesia selects VERA-NG passive surveillance system for Natuna airbase. Key Points:

• The Indonesian Armed Forces has selected a passive ESM tracker from the Czech Republic
• System will improve early warning and defence capabilities of an airbase in the South China Sea

The Indonesian Armed Forces has selected the VERA-NG passive electronic support measure tracker from Czech Republic equipment manufacturer ERA Corporation to strengthen defences around its Ranai airbase.

The system was selected after a selection process that was completed in 2017, while delivery, setup, and verifications are expected to complete in 2018, according to the Ministry of Defence’s procurement office.

Jane’s first reported in 2016 that the service was evaluating five different proposals from China, Czech Republic, Iran, Italy, and Ukraine respectively for a passive surveillance system that can improve early warning capabilities of the Ranai airbase, which is located on the biggest island in the Natuna Islands cluster in the South China Sea.

Among proposals being evaluated at that time include the Kolchuga passive electronic support system from Ukraine’s State Joint Stock Holding Company Topaz. The VERA-NG’s functionality is based on triangulation principles, and the time difference of arrival technique, which compares electromagnetic (EM) emissions received by the four synchronised receiver stations to detect and calculate the location of potential targets.

The system’s central processing station will then compare these emissions against a library that can store up to 10,000 EM signatures, and identify the type of targets detected. These targets can then be presented against the backdrop of visual environmental data to provide commanders with a three-dimensional and geolocated monitoring of potential adversaries.

Each receiver station can be deployed on site via a four-legged frame, or on a 25m mast. Both setups can be containerised to facilitate faster transportation and field deployment operations. The VERA-NG system is said to be resistant to jamming, and operates on a frequency range of between 50MHz and 18GHz. It can detect airborne targets from as far as 400km when deployed on the 25m mast. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

28 Feb 18. Universal Electronic Warfare Capability – CUGE: Launch of New Intelligence Aircraft Program. On February 28, Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces, convened a Ministerial Investment Committee which decided to launch development of the Strategic Intelligence Aircraft Program “Universal Electronic Warfare Capacity” (CUGE). This new program will provide a new sensor to the French forces, allowing simultaneous interception of radio and radar emissions. Benefiting from almost 10 years of studies on advanced technologies, this new sensor developed by Thales will be integrated on a Falcon business aircraft built by Dassault Aviation. Endowed with an ambitious, innovative and comprehensive mission system, three CUGE strategic intelligence aircraft, instead of two as initially planned, will replace from 2025 the two Transall C-160 Gabriel currently in service, as decided by the Armed Forces Minister during the preparatory work for the 2019-2025 military program law (LPM). They will reinforce existing electromagnetic intelligence capabilities, and contribute to the particular effort on the “knowledge and anticipation” function of the French forces. A guarantee of France’s decision-making autonomy, and its superiority during operations, the reinforcement of our intelligence capabilities – which will be programmed by the LPM 2019-2025 – is one of the priorities of the defense strategy defined by the President. For France to remain a credible player, it must have a complete and balanced armed forces model, capable of fulfilling its missions through a dual ambition:

— What is indispensable today: to give back to the armies, and in priority to the women and men who make them live and act, the means to fulfill their missions in a sustainable way.

— What is needed tomorrow: to prepare the future of France’s defense by 2030 and help build the defense of Europe. The launch of the “CUGE” program is part of this requirement. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/French Armed Forces Ministry)(Issued in French only; unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com)

Thales  Comment: Thales embarks on France’s new strategic intelligence aircraft programme. Thales welcomes the decision by the Ministry of the Armed Forces to award a contract to integrate Thales’s Universal Electronic Warfare Capability (CUGE) on board three Falcon Epicure jets. This new programme will strengthen electronic intelligence capabilities and thereby help the French Armed Forces to perform their strategic information gathering functions to better anticipate eventualities. The growing importance of digital technologies is a tremendous opportunity for Thales to boost its capacity for innovation through advanced systems that leverage the power of big data, autonomous systems and immersive user experiences. With its expertise in the four key digital technologies – platform connectivity, big data, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity – Thales has a key role to play in these developments. This expertise underpins Thales’s capacity to develop the future sensors that will equip Dassault Aviation’s Falcon Epicure aircraft. The Universal Electronic Warfare Capability payload will intercept radio and radar signals simultaneously.

 

01 Mar 18. The Falcon Epicure to Serve the French Air Force. The French Ministry of the Armed Forces announced its decision to award Dassault Aviation the contract for the integration, on three Falcons, of the Universal Electronic Warfare Capability developed by Thales (Epicure program). Dassault Aviation and the dozens of French companies associated with the Falcon programs wish to thank the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) and the French Air Force for their confidence. The required level of performance of the Epicure Falcons necessitates highly complex integration work, something that is at the core of Dassault Aviation know-how, of its role as industrial architect and of its partnership with Thales.

“I am very proud and happy with the decision of the Ministry of the Armed Forces. The Falcon Epicure will serve the French forces in the same way as the Falcons 10, 200, 50, 2000, 900 and 7X are already doing it,” declared Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation. “The military Falcons provide the perfect illustration of the dual competences of Dassault Aviation: our civil aircraft benefit from the cutting-edge technologies developed for our combat aircraft, which in return benefit from the industrial processes deployed for the highly competitive production of the Falcon aircraft.”

Exported to more than 90 countries, the Falcon aircraft are flexible and economic to fly. Their handling qualities, aerodynamics and versatility render them capable of fulfilling missions that go beyond civil aviation standards. They are designed by the design office that also develops the Mirage, Rafale and nEUROn combat aircraft.  Over the last 50 years, Dassault Aviation has customized many Falcons for purposes such as medical evacuation, cargo transport, maritime surveillance, etc. These multirole aircraft represent about 10% of the Falcon fleet in service across the world.  With over 10,000 military and civil aircraft delivered in more than 90 countries over the last century, Dassault Aviation has built up expertise recognized worldwide in the design, development, sale and support of all types of aircraft, ranging from the Rafale fighter, to the high-end Falcon family of business jets and military drones. In 2016, Dassault Aviation reported revenues of €3.6bn. The company has 12,000 employees. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Dassault Aviation)

 

27 Feb 18. An early-warning system for WMDs. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency wants to create a real-time detection system to sniff out “minute traces” of chemical, biological, nuclear or other potential threats, according to an agency announcement.

DARPA expects rapid advancements in sensing technology and analytical abilities will help make the effort, called SIGMA+, a reality, according to Vincent Tang, the project’s program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office.

“The goal of SIGMA+ is to develop and demonstrate a real-time, persistent CBRNE early detection system by leveraging advances in sensing, data fusion, analytics, and social and behavioral modeling to address a spectrum of threats,” Tang said in a statement. CBRNE stands for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives threats.

The program would work on the development of the sensors needed to make this a reality, but also leverage insights gained from its parent program, SIGMA, which studies ways to improve detection and deterrence of nuclear terrorism.

The sensors developed in SIGMA+ are envisioned as being “long-range” capable of “identify bomb-making safe houses in large urban areas, for example,” DARPA explained. It could also help in the detection of pandemics.

A Broad Agency Announcement is expected to be released for phase one of the program in March. DARPA will host an industry event to discuss the initiative on March 7 in Arlington, Va. (Source: Defense Systems)

 

23 Feb 18. US DOD seeks cloud-based task management system. Defense Department human resource officials are considering a cloud-based enterprise-wide task management system. In a new sources sought notice, the Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA) expects to award a five-year contract that uses a software as a service model. The system must provide interoperability with the Correspondence and Task Management System (CATMS). Officials are looking for a system that streamlines cross-organizational task management systems and can handle as many as 5,250 users. They are also focusing on disaster recovery and continuance of operations, and services such as system administration and maintenance, adoption services, and training and technical support. The effort is a response to a 2015 DOD memo regarding CATMS. DHRA released its notice Feb. 22. Responses are due by March 9. (Source: Defense Systems)

 

28 Feb 18. Cyber Command granted new, expanded authorities. Under a new plan put in place late last year, the head of U.S. Cyber Command received expanded authorities, but Fifth Domain has learned Congress and the Department of Defense have considered further extending those powers.

The discussion, which included members of the Joint Staff, comes as Cyber Command is expected to become a full combatant command.

While Cyber Command is often thought of as replicating the constructs of Special Operations Command, the commander of USCYBERCOM — unlike the commander of SOCOM — did not possess the authority to move cyber forces around the globe.

Instead, the commander of SOCOM can move special operations forces around the world based on demands and particular theaters. With its global reach and small staff cells located at each geographic combatant command, SOCOM can be much more flexible to respond to threats around the world.

One of the advantages of these cells — theater special operations commands (TSOC) — is they are small and tend to have a strong understanding of what’s going on from a global and transregional level, Peter Haynes, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment, told Fifth Domain. With this understanding, they can act as a connective tissue between seams in geographic regions and anticipate which threats may need more resources.

Leaders in Congress and at the Pentagon have examined replicating this authority for Cyber Command.

“It’s definitely in the dialogue,” a House aide said. The aide added that there’s a conversation occurring within the Joint Staff as far as incorporating these authorities within the boundaries of the national defense strategy. It is not immediately clear if those authorities already have been approved.

Adm. Michael Rogers, commander of Cyber Command, in both written and oral testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee Feb. 27, made reference to new authorities as part of the updated unified command plan. That plan, which was approved by the president in November, defines scopes and authorities of the geographic and functional combatant commands as well as investments in manpower.

This new plan “gave USCYBERCOM new duties in keeping with Congress’ intent to make it something of a hybrid Command along the general lines of U.S. Special Operations Command.” It also made USCYBERCOM responsible for the planning and execution of global cyberspace operations.

“In supporting Joint Force commanders, USCYBERCOM is working to synchronize the planning and operations of cyber forces as ‘high-demand/low density’ assets. Two secretaries of defense have now endorsed this change in how our cyberspace assets are managed,” Rogers wrote in prepared testimony.

The construct provides USCYBERCOM authority to balance risk across the joint force and focusing resources where they are needed. It also enables the force to deter and preempt cyber threats, Rogers wrote, adding they are building these concepts in to USCYBERCOM’s operational and contingency plans.

A DoD spokeswoman wrote to Fifth Domain in an email that the elevation of USCYBERCOM consolidates the mission to direct, synchronize and coordinate cyber planning and operations under a single commander, establishing a direct path between the command and secretary of defense for “inherently time-sensitive cyber operations.”

The House aide noted that while DoD has been looking at this, it’s a very complex dialogue with lots of dynamics. “You still have all the cyber mission force, all these different other capabilities that are being developed at the same time as those larger construct conversations are being had,” they said.

Cyber Command’s cyber forces are also assigned to the regional — as well as functional — combatant commands and thus once there, fall under the command of the geographic combatant commander.

“We put a new process in place … and was granted authority to re-allocate some of our capability against” threats and challenges, Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “That didn’t exist a year ago … it wasn’t envisioned. The thought was the cyber forces we created would be permanently aligned; I argue it’s not going to get us where we need to be.”

This approach is also something the Government Accountability Office is examining as it tries to help DoD work through command and control and authorities issues as Cyber Command matures.

“It’s related to a lot of the recommendations we made about clarifying command and control responsibilities,” Joseph Kirschbaum, the director of defense capabilities and management at GAO, told Fifth Domain. He pointed to GAO recommendations to Congress that DoD determine clear roles and responsibilities for who’s supposed to do what, command and control constructs, under what conditions cyber forces would be used and who would command them.

There’s a value of a command such as USCYBERCOM to prioritize how to use their forces against different threats, Katherine Charlet, who formerly served as the acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy, told Fifth Domain.

On the other hand, she said, regional combatant commands are protective of their areas of responsibility and have a level of control over how they use their forces toward their priorities planning for the availability of these teams.

If a team is aligned to one combatant command and six months later is put somewhere else, this can be destabilizing from a planning perspective and may slow the initiative to integrate cyber in to regional efforts, she said.

Benefits

The benefits of such an authority, according to a House aide, is there could be a need to move forces against a particular threat.

If a state sponsor is operating in multiple geographic combatant commands, a single informed, authorized combatant commander that can move forces across military, allied or private-sector networks as needed could create a significant advantage, the aide said.

Cyber Command recently begun standing up planning cells locally at the combatant commands around the world to help better coordinate offensive and defensive cyber effects. Some have equated this model to the TSOCs at the combatant commands, noting that they were stood up to help the combatant commands better integrate cyber into their plans.

The other argument against this approach is that there are also very robust regional combatant commander command and control constructs in place and these four-star commanders already know how to employ forces regardless of domain, the aide added, indicating that regional combatant commander should take the lead. Congress will be using the upcoming posture hearings to examine these issues further, they added. (Source: Fifth Domain)

 

01 Mar 18. US spy chiefs look to UK for guidance in cyber security battle. Intelligence officials eye Britain’s unified strategy as a model for tackling threat. American spymasters are concerned over the vulnerability of US companies to cyber attack and are turning to the UK for guidance on how to boost protection in the face of a growing threat from hostile state hackers. A US intelligence official told the Financial Times that US intelligence is braced for the cyber threat to “get worse”, likening the US to a city at the bottom of a dam that is fast developing cracks.  “Something horrible has to happen to fix it,” said Rick Ledgett, former deputy director of the NSA who left the agency last year after four decades. “The US should follow the UK model.” One possible solution being weighed by US intelligence officials is to replicate the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, the public-facing division of Britain’s digital eavesdropping agency GCHQ. Admiral Michael Rogers, head of the NSA and US Cyber Command, which tackle cyber defence and offence respectively, visited the NCSC’s London headquarters this year, in a sign of the close links between the American and British services. “The UK example is interesting,” said the US intelligence official, adding America has not been able to address the cyber threat. The official cited the UK’s effort to develop a national cyber strategy and house its own cyber security protection regime within each of the intelligence agencies, adding the US has “not yet done any of this”. The official said that countries such as the UK also had more of a tradition of interference in the private sector that probably “wouldn’t be tolerated as much” in the US. We have to create this culture — everybody’s a sentinel, they’re on watch Patrick Shanahan, US deputy defence secretary “The problem is the US is bigger and more complex and there isn’t a unity of focus,” said Mr Ledgett. Set up in 2016, the NCSC works closely with companies to manage incidents, protect critical services from attack and provide guidelines for tackling the cyber threat.  “Every country is grappling with this and trying to work out how to do this coherently,” explained Robert Hannigan, a former director of GCHQ who was instrumental in establishing the NCSC. “There are often too many players in cyber and a lack of clarity over who is responsible for what.” Although the US boasts some of the world’s most advanced and best resourced cyber capabilities inside government bodies such as the National Security Agency and the Department for Homeland Security, senior American officials are divided over the best way to organise and co-ordinate sprawling cyber defence programmes. Responsibility for defending the US private sector from cyber attack rests with the Department for Homeland Security. But US cyber defence operations also sit with the NSA, the FBI, the Department of Defense, the National Guard and the CIA. Fears over US vulnerability come amid growing evidence of cyber hostility from Russia, North Korea and China. US intelligence chiefs describe continuing efforts from Moscow to subvert US democratic institutions, amid allegations that Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Kremlin to secure his election as president. Foreign hackers have also previously stolen classified plans from defence contractors, including for high-tech weapons such as the flagship stealth F35 fighter jet. Recommended AI experts warn of new types of threats How Putin mastered the cyber disinformation war Electricity industry on alert for ‘cyber sabotage’ The private sector’s lack of enthusiasm for engaging more directly with US spying agencies is partly based on a lingering paranoia among company executives after the 2013 leaks from Edward Snowden revealed the extent of NSA surveillance. “Government has an important role in cyber but can’t do everything and shouldn’t try,” added Mr Hannigan. “It has to enable industry to tackle the vulnerabilities out in the wider economy”. In testimony to Congress in his capacity as cyber command chief this week, Admiral Rogers laid bare system weakness and argued for greater integration. “How do we better work the [defence department] role in the defence industrial base and the . . . defence contractors?” he said. “We’ve got to get a different dynamic here.” But in a sign the US defence establishment is keen to raise cyber security standards among private-sector contractors, deputy defence secretary Patrick Shanahan said this month that the Pentagon could condition contract awards on how committed companies are to what he described as “good [cyber] hygiene”. “We have to create this culture — everybody’s a sentinel, they’re on watch — so that should be, for the CEOs, at the top of their list: ‘OK, are we safe? Are we secure? Are we protecting our secrets?’ And then have the mechanisms and the culture internally to make sure those safeguards are in place,” he told the FT at a defence industry conference in San Diego. (Source: FT.com)

 

28 Feb 18. Germany says its government computers secure after “isolated” hack. Germany said on Wednesday hackers had breached its government computer network with an isolated attack that had been brought under control and which security officials were investigating.

A spokesman for the German Interior Ministry said the affected government agencies had taken appropriate measures to investigate the incident and protect data.

He did not comment on German media reports that the attack was launched by Russian hacker group APT28, which had already attacked the German parliament in 2015, and resulted in the loss of data from the defence and foreign ministries.

“The attack was isolated and brought under control within the federal administration,” which manages government computer networks, the spokesman said in a statement.

He said authorities were addressing the incident “with high priority and significant resources”. The spokesman said he could give no further details immediately due to security and analysis measures that were still under way.

German opposition lawmakers demanded government officials provide a detailed accounting of the incident, angry that they had learned of it through media accounts.

Dieter Janacek, a Greens lawmaker and head of the parliamentary committee on digital affairs, told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper the latest incident amounted to “a form of warfare against Germany” and raised serious concerns about the security of government networks.

German security sources said authorities had been aware of the incident for some time, but denied media reports that the defence ministry and the German military were affected.

POLITICAL RISK

Both the German parliamentary committee that oversees the intelligence agencies, and the digital committee scheduled extraordinary meetings to discuss the attack on Thursday, according to parliamentary sources.

Von der Leyen declined to comment about the reports during an appearance in London.

News of the attack on German government computers comes after repeated warnings by German intelligence officials about possible meddling by Russia in last year’s federal election.

The head of the German domestic intelligence agency last year said such attacks had not occurred, but the risk of interference remained until a new government is in place.

Germany’s Social Democrats are voting by postal ballot on an agreement to form another “grand coalition” with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, with the results to be made public on Sunday. If they reject the tie-up, Germany could face new elections or the formation of a minority government for the first time in its post-war history.

Western governments and security experts have linked the hacker group known as APT28 or Fancy Bear to a Russian spy agency, and have blamed it for an attack on the Democratic National Committee ahead of the 2016 U.S. elections.

German officials have also blamed APT28 for the May 2015 hack of the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, and other cyber attacks aimed at political groups, Merkel and other individuals, and other institutions.

Moscow has previously denied in any way having been involved in cyber attacks on the German political establishment.

Top German intelligence officials have urged lawmakers to give them greater legal authority to “hack back” in the event of cyber attacks from foreign powers. (Source: Reuters)

 

27 Feb 18. DoD Releases Military Intelligence Program (MIP) Request for Fiscal Year 2019. The Department of Defense released today the Military Intelligence Program (MIP) top line budget request for Fiscal Year 2019.  The total, which includes both the base budget and Overseas Contingency Operations funding, is $21.2bn.  The department determined that releasing this top line figure does not jeopardize any classified activities within the MIP.  No other MIP budget figures or program details will be released, as they remain classified for national security reasons. (Source: US DoD)

 

27 Feb 18. Cybercom Commander Discusses Evolving Cyber Threats. Although competitors such as China and Russia remain the greatest threat to U.S. security, rogue regimes such as Iran and North Korea have increased in capabilities and have begun using aggressive methods to conduct malicious cyberspace activities, the military’s top cyber officer told Congress today.

Navy Adm. Michael S. Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, commander of U.S. Cyber Command and chief of the Central Security Service, testified at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

“Our adversaries have grown more emboldened, conducting increasingly aggressive activities to extend their influence without fear of significant consequence,” Rogers said. “We must change our approaches and responses here if we are to change this dynamic.”

But as the cyber domain has evolved, Rogers told the senators, Cybercom’s three major mission areas endure: protecting the Department of Defense Information Network; enabling other joint force commanders by delivering effects in and through cyberspace; and defending the nation against cyber threats through support to the Department of Homeland Security and others when directed to do so by the president or secretary of defense.

Cybercom Milestones

Rogers highlighted milestones in Cybercom’s growth.

Joint Force Headquarters DODIN, the subordinate headquarters responsible for securing, operating and defending the Defense Department’s complex information technology infrastructure, has achieved full operational capability, he said.

Joint Task Force Ares, created to lead the fight in cyber against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has successfully integrated cyberspace operations into broader military campaigns, has achieved some “excellent results,” and will continue to pursue ISIS in support of the nation’s objectives, the admiral told the Senate panel.

Cybercom also has significantly enhanced training in cyber operation platforms to prepare the battlespace against key adversaries, he said.

Milestones expected to be achieved this year include Cyber Command’s elevation to a combatant command responsible for providing mission-ready cyberspace operations forces to other combatant commanders, Rogers said.

New Facility

In addition, the admiral said, Cybercom will be moving into a state-of-the-art integrated cyber center and joint operations facility at Fort Meade, Maryland, enhancing the coordination and planning of operations against cyber threats.

“Without cyberspace superiority in today’s battlefield, risk to mission increases across all domains and endangers our security,” Rogers said.

Cybercom’s focus on innovation and rapid tech development has extended all the way to small businesses and working with the private sector while maintaining cybersecurity, Rogers told the committee.

“We intend in the coming year to create an unclassified collaboration venue where businesses and academia can help us tackle tough problems without needing to jump over clearance hurdles, for example, which for many are very difficult barriers,” Rogers explained.

After serving more than four years as a commander of Cybercom and after nearly 37 years of service as a naval officer, Rogers is set to retire this spring.

“I will do all I can during the intervening period to ensure the mission continues, that our men and women remain ever motivated, and that we have a smooth transition,” he said. (Source: US DoD)

 

27 Feb 18. How do you teach common sense? DARPA wants to find out. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency wants to start a new program that will take machine learning to a new level: to help computers develop common sense. The agency that takes on some of the Department of Defense’s hardest problems asked for $6.2m for the program in its fiscal 2019 budget request.

“Recent advances in machine learning have resulted in exciting new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in areas such as image recognition, natural language processing, and two-person strategy games (Chess, Go),” according to the document. “But in all of these application domains, the machine reasoning is narrow and highly specialized; broad, common sense reasoning by machines remains elusive.”

The request details how humans and machines will cultivate a symbiotic relationship in which humans teach machines to learn and reason.

“The program will create more human-like knowledge representations, for example, perceptually-grounded representations, to enable common sense reasoning by machines about the physical world and spatio-temporal phenomena,” the document reads.

The problem of learning common sense has long been one of the most difficult hurdles facing AI researchers. In order for a machine to be considered truly intelligent, it must be able to reason using the broad scope of information that humans are expected to possess.

For example, imagine an autonomous robot programmed to be a waiter at a cocktail party. When the robot sees it has picked up a broken glass, common sense reasoning tells it not to pour liquid into the glass, but instead pick up a different one.

The potential list of applications for a system equipped with with general common sense reasoning is endless. This prospect of general AI, equipped with superhuman level computing power and learning capabilities, prompted tech mogul Elon Musk to warn that humanity risks “summoning a demon” if we’re not careful. Others, such as Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates, have echoed Musk’s sentiment.

Many Defense Department leaders, however, have taken a different view and embraced the prospect of machine learning technology as not only inevitable, but a force for good. Former Deputy Defense Secretary, Bob Work, touted machine learning technology as a necessary innovation that will allow machines to help humans make decisions faster.

Work’s Third Offset strategy called for the Pentagon to embrace advances in artificial intelligence technology and encouraged human-machine teaming on the battlefield. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)

 

27 Feb 18. Cyber security technology developed for banking is being used to protect small defence businesses so they can bid for large contracts. Australian company VeroGuard Systems has developed a unique technology that enables online authentication and encrypted transmission across fixed and mobile networks with military and banking level security. VeroGuard Co-CEO Nic Nuske said the system used anchored ID and multi-factor authentication to be the first and only secure open internet-based login to the cloud and enterprise networks.

“Every single day there’s trillions of dollars being interchanged between the banks using the same security protocols we have in this solution,” Nuske said. “But it’s the first time ever you can put it into an environment where it’s switching between pretty much any machine or device and guaranteeing the authenticity of the user, which then means you can take almost any device or application onto the Cloud and know that it’s completely protected.”

The Melbourne-based company was lured to Adelaide in November by Investment Attraction South Australia, an agency set up to bring innovative companies to the state, and then introduced to South Australia’s large defence industry by the Defence Teaming Centre (DTC). South Australia is a key hub for Australia’s defence industry and is home to several major defence companies including the Australian Submarine Corporation, BAE Systems, Raytheon and SAAB. Defence Teaming Centre CEO Margot Forster said the DTC linked VeroGuard with South Australian company OpSys after recognising the benefit that a collaboration could bring to small businesses wishing to work in the defence sector. (Source: Defence Connect)

 

26 Feb 18. Cyber Talent Wanted: Military, Intelligence Community Strive to Retain Cyber Workforces. The private sector has for years lured cyber talent away from the government with promises of higher compensation. To counter this, leaders within the military and intelligence community are implementing a slew of programs that they believe will boost retention.

The Army is closely monitoring retention rates for its cyber workforce, including officers, enlisted soldiers and civilians, said Todd Boudreau, deputy commandant of the U.S. Army Cyber School at the Cyber Center of Excellence in Fort Gordon, Georgia.

“We do know that there is a challenge to retain that workforce,” he told National Defense in an interview.

While the Army recognizes that it cannot pay as much as the private sector can, there are ways that the service can entice its workforce to stay in government, said Sgt. Maj. Karl Pendergrass, the Army’s cyber training and education directorate sergeant major.

One example includes special incentive pay for jobs that are deemed to be particularly critical, he noted.

The Army is currently exploring ways to piggyback off of a Pentagon program to incentivize service members to have proficiency in certain languages, he said.

For a soldier to be a top-tier cyber professional, it requires significant dedication to education and certifications that are outside of the scope of their normal duties, he noted. The Army wants to reward those men and women who spend that time investing in their profession, he added.

“Similar to a language program, [it’s] based on the level of your proficiency [and] you get paid more a month,” he said. “But you have to maintain that, and so it’s a very rigorous program to make sure that you’re achieving and maintaining those standards.”

However, Pendergrass said he often finds that pay isn’t a top factor for most Army cyberwarriors.

“We provide them with a unique environment where they get access to things that their counterparts typically do not. They get access to unique mission sets and environments,” he said. “Keeping their minds engaged … is something they find uniquely attractive.”

The service also permits its personnel to work with industry for a certain amount of time, enabling them to obtain important experience that they can then apply to their regular military job.

It “allows us to collaborate alongside industry,” he said. “We send someone off to Microsoft to work in their spaces and then [they] bring back what they’ve learned. … What they give us back is remarkably valuable, because remember those companies — the Citibanks, the Carnegie Mellons, the Microsofts, the Googles — they also have their own … cyber protection entity.”

The Army is also initiating a direct commissioning pilot program that will allow the service to recruit from a bigger pool, Boudreau said.

Direct commissioned officers are often lawyers, doctors, veterinarians or chaplains, he said. “The Army recognizes we’re not going to stand up our own medical school or our own theological college,” he said. “Individuals that have the bachelor’s degree and have gone through those different programs, they’re assessed in the Army outside of your normal” channels.

Officers who join through the initiative are normally awarded three years worth of credit, allowing them to come in as a first lieutenant and on the precipice of becoming a captain, he said. Doctors can even come in at the colonel level, he added.

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2018 gave the Army the authority to offer such a path for cyber professionals under a pilot that will last five years, he said.

“The Army has already jumped in and has established a baseline of between five and 10 individuals that we would bring in a year,” he said. It has already held interviews with applicants, but a timeline for when they would be approved is not yet available.

Data so far shows that the service is successfully retaining its top talent, Boudreau said.

“We don’t really see an alarming retention problem,” he said. “We are guarded and are monitoring to make sure that we maintain the normal attrition rates, that we’re not losing [our workforce]. But evidence to date has not shown that we have.”

The Air Force is also tracking retention rates for its cyber workforce and looking at ways to keep its most talented individuals, said Maj. Gen. Patrick C. Higby, director of cyberspace strategy and policy at the office of information dominance and chief information officer within the office of the secretary of the Air Force.

“Our cyber airmen certainly have skills that are very attractive to the commercial sector,” he said. “The commercial sector as you can imagine can offer higher levels of compensation. … [But at] the end of the day, that does not overly concern us because we believe that the mission sets that our cyber airmen are engaged in — i.e., being decisively engaged with an adversary that is trying to do our nation harm — that that higher calling will basically supersede the attractiveness of compensation in the commercial sector.”

The two biggest factors in retaining its workforce — which include officers, enlisted airmen and civilians — is to ensure they have healthy relationships with their supervisors and that they recognize how important their day-to-day job is to the Air Force’s larger mission, he said.

The Air Force has more than 50 initiatives looking at ways to better retain its cyber workforce, he noted.

The service has to retain an exponentially higher number of officers working in cybersecurity in order to keep its career field healthy, Higby said. Budget cuts in 2009 and 2014 forced the Air Force to make manning decisions that reduced the number of officers in the cybersecurity field, he noted.

“Many of those reductions came in the lower-grade positions, and so I’m now looking at this situation where I have more field-grade officer requirements than company-grade officer requirements,” he said. Field-grade officers include majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels. Company-grade officers are lieutenants and captains.

“Essentially my career field pyramid is inverted, and obviously that is not a healthy” situation, he said.

To retain these company-grade officers, the Air Force implemented a program that would give those who reenlisted for a certain number of years a financial bonus, he said.

The service is also looking at ways to better pinpoint cyber talent in its new recruits. Already the Air Force has a defense language aptitude test that has for years been used as a way to discover hidden talent, Higby said.

“It does not test how well you speak French or Arabic or Japanese. It tests what is your propensity to learn or what would be your aptitude for learning those languages,” he said.

The service is about to roll out a cyber equivalent of the assessment that will allow it to target young recruits who may not think that they would necessarily be a good fit for the Air Force’s cyber team, he said.

Such an assessment could tell if a person is good at adversarial thinking, which could prove to be useful for cyber operations, he said noting, “What better skill to have when you’re trying to set up cyber defenses than adversarial thinking?”

The National Security Agency is also working on ways to retain its cyber professionals, said Cynthia Miller, the agency’s chief of human resources, who could only speak about the civilian side of the workforce.

The agency is in a uniquely difficult position because its employees must obtain a security clearance and be a U.S. citizen to work there, she noted.

“That’s a uniqueness that … our competitors don’t have to have, which can be challenging,” she said. However, “in any given month we have over 10,000 people applying to work here. We have the interest. We also have the retention that we need, which rests at about 94 percent.”

The agency is implementing special pay authorities to entice its workforce to stay, she noted. However, even with these bonuses, the NSA cannot compete with industry when it comes to salaries, she said.

“Is it a challenge? Absolutely,” she said. The agency faces competition from defense contractors, the commercial sector and academia, she noted.

However, working for the NSA allows an individual to access technology that he or she could not in the private sector, Miller noted.

“There is uniqueness that you won’t find anywhere else,” she said. “The type of things that they touch literally every day in defense of this nation, no one else can offer them that opportunity.”

In the past, NSA has been dogged by accusations of low morale at its headquarters, which is located in Fort Meade, Maryland. This is something the agency recognizes and is working on, Miller said.

“We’re the size of a city here, tens of thousands of people. Of course you are going to have pockets of morale” issues, she said.

Miller pointed to growing pains related to the implementation of NSA 21 — an organizational restructuring plan — as one reason some employees have had lower morale.

“When we went to NSA 21, that was a huge change,” she said. Major overhauls often require large adjustments, she added.

For example, under the restructuring, at least 12 employees at the senior executive level — who comprised the agency’s board of directors — now are a tier lower on the organization chart than they were before, she said.

That was because NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers wanted to have fewer people reporting to him directly, she said. “When you have the amount of change that we have had in the last 18 months, yes, of course it has affected morale. Is it something that we are pretending does not exist? No.”

The agency is aware of these morale issues and is working to open up communication channels via town hall meetings and brown bag sessions with its employees, she noted.

Morale issues do not keep Miller up at night, she said. “Why is that? Because we aware of it. We have a mechanism in place to try to ensure that we keep it at a level where it does not affect productivity.”

Bill Leigher, director of government cyber solutions for Raytheon, said by and large both the government and private sector face challenges retaining their workforce.

“The NSA and U.S. Cyber Command offer unique and challenging opportunities for cyber practitioners that private industry can’t match,” he said in an email. “Alternatively, many cybersecurity professionals choose an entrepreneurial route. It isn’t always an either/or proposition.”

However, it can often be difficult for cyber professionals who seek defense contractor or government jobs to obtain necessary security clearances. That can be a lengthy and time-consuming process, he noted.

“Understandably, this may not be appealing to some,” he said. It “can sometimes act as a barrier to entering that market.”

It is important for the government to offer “on and off ramps” for cyber professionals to move in and out of government, he noted. That allows them “to learn a new skill or get specific experience without losing seniority or benefits,” he said. (Source: glstrade.com/National Defense)

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UNITED KINGDOM AND NATO

 

28 Feb 18. UK set to release ITN for Type 31e frigate. Key Points:

• The MoD plans to award up to four seven-month competitive design phase contracts
• A firm price of GBP1.25bn has been set for the procurement of five Type 31e frigates, with the first to be delivered before the end of 2023

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is preparing to release a combined pre-qualification questionnaire and invitation to negotiate (ITN) to industry for the Type 31e general purpose frigate competitive design phase (CDP). Up to four seven-month CDP contracts are planned to be awarded, with a single contractor or consortium subsequently downselected for design and build (D&B). Forming the centrepiece of the MoD’s National Shipbuilding Strategy, the Type 31e programme envisages the fast-track acquisition of a globally deployable frigate geared towards forward-deployed maritime security, presence, and defence engagement operations. A firm price of GBP1.25bn (USD1.7bn) has been set for the procurement of five frigates, which are intended to enter Royal Navy service from 2023 to replace the five general purpose-roled Type 23 frigates. The CDP is a funded phase of the T31e programme, during which suppliers will develop their designs to a required maturity point. The ITN is due for release on 12 March, with submissions due for return to the MoD’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) organisation in early April. Contract awards are planned to follow before the end of April. Potential competitors have already engaged in a value management process with the DE&S Type 31e project team. According to DE&S, the value management dialogue has allowed the MoD and candidate bidders to explore ‘trade space’, understand programme parameters and iterate potential design solutions so that unnecessary cost can be driven out of proposed solutions, while ensuring that quality and capability are maintained as far as possible. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

28 Feb 18. Peace-building, stabilisation and conflict sensitivity

B2B Quote Ref no: B2B603327

Location: East England

Register Interest Deadline: Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Submit Documents Deadline: Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Framework for the delivery of security, defence, peacekeeping, peace-building and stability activity in global conflict affected areas.

(Source: B2B.com)

 

28 Feb 18. Maritime Platform Systems

B2B Quote Ref no: B2B603326

Location: South West

Register Interest Deadline: Monday, April 02, 2018

Submit Documents Deadline: Monday, April 02, 2018

Provision of spares and repairs for the Integrated Platform Management Systems fitted to ALBION Class Landing Platform Docks and ASTUTE Class Submarines.

(Source: B2B.com)

 

27 Feb 18. Unmanned Combat Air System

B2B Quote Ref no: B2B603182

Location: South East

Register Interest Deadline: Friday, April 27, 2018

Submit Documents Deadline: Friday, April 27, 2018

Design and assessment of cost-capability trade-offs for a low cost Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator. Supplier day taking place 13/03/18 – no deadline date provided.

(Source: B2B.com)

 

26 Feb 18. Collapsible Pillow Tanks for Fuel – Prior information notice

B2B Quote Ref no: B2B602398

Location: South West

Register Interest Deadline: Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Submit Documents Deadline: Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Supply of circa 100 pillow style fuel bladders. Pre-market engagement supplier day on 19/03/18, register by 14/03/18 12pm – Prior information notice

(Source: B2B.com)

 

23 Feb 18. Development of warships

B2B Quote Ref no: B2B602263

Location: South West

Register Interest Deadline: Friday, March 09, 2018

Submit Documents Deadline: Friday, March 09, 2018

Procurement of the new Type 31e frigates.

(Source: B2B.com)

 

EUROPE

 

23 Feb 18. French shipbuilder to move in on German rival’s territory in Italian sub buy. The French shipbuilder Naval Group plans make an informal pitch to Italy, seeking to persuade the country to switch to its Scorpene attack submarine from the U212A boat made by German rival ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, a source close to the project has told Defense News. Naval Group is expected to make a “proposition” of two Scorpene boats, the source said. Italy has already taken delivery of four U212A submarines, built by Italian shipyard Fincantieri under license from TKMS. The Italian Navy plans to sail a fleet of six subs, and Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said on Feb. 3 the funds to purchase two more would be included in Italy’s 2018 defense budget.

The total cost of the two subs would be €1bn (U.S. $1.2bn), she said.

Italy’s March 4 general election may serve as a key factor in persuading Rome to buy Scorpenes instead of the U212A. A change of government is seen as opening an opportunity for Naval Group to compete with TKMS.

“Nothing is certain,” the source said. Spokesmen for Fincantieri and Naval Group declined to comment. (Source: Defense News)

 

USA

 

01 Mar 18. US Coast Guard to release new heavy icebreaker RFP. The U.S. Coast Guard’s top officer announced Thursday that the service is set to release its request for proposals as early as March 2 for its long-awaited heavy icebreaker replacement.

Adm. Paul Zukunft told an audience at the annual State of the Coast Guard address that the RFP will go out to five potential vendors and will be a comprehensive set of requirements and specifications for the new cutter.

“We need the first one in the water by 2023 so we are on an accelerated timeline,” Zukunft told a group of reporters. “We are still predecisional on the ‘19 budget. But we’re optimistic that this isn’t just a request, but that the funding is there to match it. Now, this is just the first one, we’re looking at a fleet of six, but this gets the ball rolling. We’ve been working this for 20 years now, but we’re getting out the the starting blocks and we need to sprint.”

The Coast Guard is looking to build a fleet of three heavy and three medium icebreakers in the coming years.

Zukunft also left open the possibility that the Icebreaker will need to be armed to counter Russia’s increasing presence in the region.

“We need to build some modularity into this; so maybe you don’t need it up front, but one example is: We need to weaponize the heavy icebreaker,” Zukunft explained. “As you look at what is Russia’s intent in the Arctic, are they going to oppose U.S. presence in the Arctic? Can we use another tool other than submarines? Do we need some surface assets? And right now the only thing we have that can operate in an ice environment other than submarines will be these icebreakers.”

The Coast Guard’s one remaining active icebreaker, the Polar Star, was commissioned in 1976 and requires near constant maintenance to keep it running. The service estimates it can get five more years out of it, which has created an intense timeline to design and build its replacement. (Source: Defense News)

 

28 Feb 18. Lockheed Not Cooperating Enough On F-35 Contract: Vice Adm. Winter. Lockheed Martin “could be much more collaborative and cooperative but they aren’t,” the head of the Joint Strike Fighter program, Vice Adm. Mat Winter, told reporters today. “They could, but they choose not to.”

Winter’s comments are not nearly as searing as those of his predecessor Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, who famously said at the annual Air Force Association conference that the relationship between Lockheed and the program office was “the worst I’ve ever seen” — and that was before he actually started his job.

But they reflect the hardball that Lockheed is playing each time it negotiates a new contract for aircraft. The current contract talks are about 130 aircraft in Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Lot 11. The average price for an F-35A in the 66 planes of Lot 10 was $94.3 m, including the engine, Winter noted. While he wasn’t willing to offer a target percentage he’d like to drop the price to, the admiral was pretty fierce in his advocacy for “the taxpayer and the (international) partners.”

Pressed by reporters for details after he said the program has a really good negotiator, he would only disclose her first name, Julie. Winter said “she will stare down anybody” and “relies on facts” as she battles America’s largest and most politically potent defense contractor to lower prices.

(I asked if she carried a weapon into the negotiating room. She does not.)

But Winter is looking for more factual weapons with which to face Lockheed down and lower both the production and the sustainment costs for all three F-35 models. The head of Pentagon acquisition, Ellen Lord, has said those costs are unsustainable in the long run unless they come down.

WInter’s ordered a Deep Dive Initiative into the costs of the top 100 suppliers to the JSF program to see over the next six months how much it actually costs to build an F-35. Those suppliers produce about 85 percent of the value in the plane, he said.

Key to that will be figuring out how efficient the factories are, how much time workers actually spend making parts, and assembling the aircraft without making mistakes.

On another front to save money, Winter said the government will begin shifting work on 68 aircraft subsystems from contractors to government depots so industry can focus on production.

Perhaps the most ground-shaking news of the press briefing today is that the program will, with Lot 11, put concurrency behind it. The program will no longer be building, testing and fixing aircraft all at the same time, Winter said. Last week an audit of production was finished, setting a production design standard. “Concurrency will be over,” he said.

I asked if he thought that meant the services will basically want to stick with those aircraft that don’t go through concurrency and leave the others for test, training and other uses. He said no, that the concurrency-era aircraft are being brought up to combat standards. Of course, some of them are already more than eight years old, thanks to concurrency and the many problems that arose because of it.

Breaking D readers may remember our ground-breaking interview with Vice Adm. David Venlet about concurrency and why JSF production had to slow:

“Fundamentally, that was a miscalculation,” Venlet said. “You’d like to take the keys to your shiny new jet and give it to the fleet with all the capability and all the service life they want. What we’re doing is, we’re taking the keys to the shiny new jet, giving it to the fleet and saying, ‘Give me that jet back in the first year. I’ve got to go take it up to this depot for a couple of months and tear into it and put in some structural mods, because if I don’t, we’re not going to be able to fly it more than a couple, three, four, five years.’ That’s what concurrency is doing to us.”

But Venlet added: “I have the duty to navigate this program through concurrency. I don’t have the luxury to stand on the pulpit and criticize and say how much I dislike it and wish we didn’t have it. My duty is to help us navigate through it.”

They will have, seven years after that interview.

Some of the concurrency aircraft will be proving themselves over the next few months as the F-35B is going to sea on the USS Wasp next week for Pacific patrols and will deploy aboard the USS Essex this summer.

(Source: Breaking Defense.com)

 

28 Feb 18. F-35 program head blasts Lockheed for slow progress on contract. The top F-35 program official is not satisfied with the pace of ongoing negotiations with Lockheed Martin for the 11th batch of joint strike fighters, but the government is far from having to consider imposing a unilateral contract agreement, the program head said Wednesday.

Vice Adm. Mat Winter, the program executive officer of the F-35 Joint Program Office, had initially wanted to seal a deal for more than 130 Lot 11 jets by October — a lofty goal, considering it had taken his predecessor more than a year to get a 10th batch of jets on contract.

He missed both that target as well as his slightly more modest objective of finalizing a contract by the end of 2017.

Both Lockheed and the JPO continue to negotiate in good faith and are making progress, Winter told reporters during a roundtable Wednesday. However, he is not happy with what he sees as Lockheed’s lack of effort.

“They could be much more cooperative and more collaborative, and we could seal this deal faster. We could. They choose not to, and that’s a negotiating tactic,” he said.

Winter would not elaborate on when the JPO would consider setting a unilateral contract, calling it “an endgame tactic that is the last resort. We are nowhere near that.”

It is incredibly rare for the government to impose a unilateral contract agreement, or UCA — a one-sided deal that forces a contractor to abide by terms set by the government.

In fact, the practice was all but unheard of until the JPO forced Lockheed into a $6.1bn contract for the ninth lot of F-35s in November 2016. The program office felt Lot 9 negotiations had completely stagnated, and the unilateral contract was its only remaining option. Then, after President Donald Trump criticized the program and inserted himself into negotiations, Lockheed cut its losses and decided not to pursue legal action against the Defense Department for the UCA. Trump’s influence arguably helped accelerate a deal for Lot 10 jets toward the finish line, though the program office had already put in more than a year’s work at the negotiating table.

Historically, two of the major difficulties that has slowed down F-35 negotiations is figuring out how much each F-35 should cost, as well as the fee paid to Lockheed.

In the Lot 10 contract, an “A” model dropped in cost from more than $100m to $94.6m. That sum includes the price of the air vehicle, engine and Lockheed’s fee, Winter explained. The price per unit of an F-35 dropped, on average, by 7.5 percent — just a little ahead of the JPO’s goal of a 6-7 percent reduction.

Winter said Wednesday he expects all variants of the F-35 to be cheaper in Lot 11 than in the previous batch. However, he would not put forward a similar cost goal for Lot 11, arguing that it could diminish his chances of having an advantageous starting point for future batches.

“If I give you a number and it gets printed, Lockheed Martin has a target. I’m negotiating for the best deal,” he said.

Perhaps surprisingly, Lockheed officials have acknowledged the difficulties in working through a deal for Lot 11. During the Singapore Airshow earlier this month, Orlando Carvalho, the company’s head of its aeronautics business, said he hopes to settle a contract “in the near future” but couldn’t give a time frame for when he expected to reach an agreement with the JPO.

“Because of the quantity of planes, the value of what we’re discussing, given the size and everything like that, it does take time. So we’re in that process,” he said. “We still have a bit of work ahead of us.”

Carvalho acknowledged a unilateral contract could be an option if negotiations fall apart, but said he also recognized “with high confidence that it is not their desire to do that.”

Since contract negotiations seem to be dragging on, isn’t it time for the president to get involved, as he did on the 10th lot of F-35s?

Winter, who was asked that question, seemed to think that was unnecessary. The program office has its best negotiator sitting down at the table with Lockheed, and she’s doing “phenomenal work,” he said.

“She’s in the NAVAIR 2.0 contracting competency. First name’s Julie. She’s great,” he said. “She will stare down anybody. More importantly, she comes prepared with facts.” (Source: Defense News)

 

28 Feb 18. Development for future vertical-lift aircraft slow-rolled in Army budget plans. The Army’s plans to develop a future vertical-lift aircraft appear to be slow-rolled, fiscal 2019 budget documents show, despite the service’s rhetoric that it wants to expedite the procurement of a new helicopter.

Future Vertical Lift (FVL) is now among the Army’s top six modernization priorities and a big push to ensure it comes online is afoot as the service forms its new Futures Command that will oversee these priorities. A special “cross-functional team” (CFT) has been formed specifically to address the future of vertical lift for the Army.

But FY19 Army budget request justification documents, when compared to FY18 documents, show the process to ultimately procure an FVL aircraft is significantly delayed, particularly in the technology development phase of the program.

Despite FVL receiving $95m in FY19 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation funding, the schedule “may be slipping” and “should trigger meaningful Army contractor [capital expenditure] and [internal research and development] investment,” defense analyst Jim McAleese, of McAleese & Associates, observed in a recent analysis on the Army’s budget request released earlier this month.

According to the budget documents, the start of technology development phase of the FVL program has been pushed back by just over two years. The Army wanted to reach that milestone in the second quarter of FY19, according to the FY18 budget documents, but the service is now planning to hit that mark in the third quarter of FY21.

Subsequently, the release of the request for proposals for design concepts for an FVL aircraft is also pushed back for roughly two years. The Army is now expected to drop that document in the fourth quarter of FY21.

The Army also won’t reach a contract award for a technology maturation and risk reduction period until the first quarter of 2023.

While the service, in the FY18 documents, charted the TMRR phase to last from the second quarter of 2021 through the first quarter of 2024, the FY19 budget books don’t show how long the TMRR phase might last, so it’s unclear if there’s room to make up for lost time there.

The Army’s analysis of alternatives — which began in the third quarter of FY17 — is scheduled to take a longer period of time to complete, according to the FY19 documents. In the FY18 five-year plan, the AOA was going to wrap up in the fourth quarter of 2018, but will now finish at the end of the first quarter of 2019.

The reason for a lengthier AOA is not specified in the budget documents.

The FY19 documents indicate the Army is shooting for a production decision in “the FY 2030 timeframe.” The FY18 documents show the service had planned for that phase in FY29.

The Army has said for over five years it plans to field a new helicopter in the 2030s as debate has swelled over whether it could procure an aircraft much faster. The companies involved in building two different demonstrator aircraft for the Joint Multi-Role program, which will inform the requirements for an FVL program of record, have advised the Army on possible strategies to move faster, but the ideas to get after that vary.

Bell’s demonstrator is the V-280 Valor tiltrotor and a Sikorsky-Boeing team is building the SB-1 Defiant coaxial helicopter. The Army set a goal for the demonstrators to fly in the fall of 2017.

While Valor has achieved significant flight hours in the air since first lifting off in December 2017, Defiant has yet to get off the ground and according to high-ranking Army officials, won’t be flying until the summer timeframe.

The delays in the technology development and maturation portion of the FVL program might be reflective of the delay in the JMR program as the Army will need ample time to fly Defiant as well as Valor before ultimately deciding how it will proceed with an official FVL program-of-record. The Army would not comment on the schedule delays laid out in the budget books or if there are plans somewhere down the road to make up for lost time. In response to such a request for information, a service spokesman stated that FVL is an “evolving topic” and the Army would not address the program before the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium that will take place in Huntsville, Alabama, at the end of March. More major news on the Futures Command is expected to be formally revealed at the show including how the service might address its modernization priorities, Army leadership in charge of the effort have said. (Source: Defense News)

 

23 Feb 18. US DOD seeks cloud-based task management system. Defense Department human resource officials are considering a cloud-based enterprise-wide task management system. In a new ‘sources sought’ notice, the Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA) expects to award a five-year contract that uses a software as a service model. The system must provide interoperability with the Correspondence and Task Management System (CATMS). Officials are looking for a system that streamlines cross-organizational task management systems and can handle as many as 5,250 users. They are also focusing on disaster recovery and continuance of operations, and services such as system administration and maintenance, adoption services, and training and technical support. The effort is a response to a 2015 DOD memo regarding CATMS. DHRA released its notice Feb. 22. Responses are due by March 9. (Source: Defense Systems)

 

REST OF THE WORLD

 

27 Feb 18. Saab highlights Indian industrial opportunities on Gripen. As India looks to make some major decisions on air combat capability requirements in the coming few years, Swedish defence group Saab believes the country could become a “complete source” of Gripen fighter aircraft.

In recent comments to Jane’s, Jan Widerström, Head of Saab India, said the group remains in contention to bid for major programmes to supply fighter aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy (IN). Saab’s main industrial partner on both proposals is the Adani Group, a major Indian infrastructure conglomerate, although other local companies are expected to be enrolled into the potential programmes as New Delhi gradually moves closer to formalising detailed requirements for the IAF and IN. The long-delayed IAF programme was initially thought to be framed by a requirement for single-engine fighters, although this could expand to also include twin-engine platforms. The requirement – yet to be formalised through a request for information (RFI) – is likely to stretch to more than 100 aircraft. The IN programme, known as the Multi-Role Carrier Borne Fighter (MRCBF) project, features the acquisition of 57 aircraft. The IN issued an RFI for this acquisition programme in early 2017. While Widerström said it is “too early” to discuss detailed industrial plans on the IAF/IN programmes because specific requirements have not been laid out by India, he did stress that Saab and Adani have “expressed a clear ambition to work together” on the Gripen proposals for India. “Saab has said very clearly that we will deliver to India the complete capacity to design, develop, manufacture, deliver, support, and sustain an advanced fighter capability based on Gripen,” said Widerström. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

26 Feb 18. Indian Navy Agrees to Buy Four Russian Frigates for $3bn. New Delhi and Moscow have finalised contractual terms for four new stealth frigates that Russia will supply the Indian Navy for slightly over Rs 200bn ($3bn), or about Rs 50bn ($775m) per vessel. Designated the “Upgraded Krivak III class”, the first two frigates will be built in Yantar Shipyard, in Kaliningrad, Russia. The following two will be built in Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) with technology and designs transferred by Yantar. Delivery will begin within four years of signing the contract.

With a defence ministry “cost negotiation committee” having hammered out terms, it remains for the finance ministry and the Cabinet to clear what will be the first capital warship contract signed since Project 17A was contracted in early-2015. The navy already operates six Krivak III frigates. The first three joined the fleet between June 2003 and April 2004, followed by another three between April 2012 and June 2013.  With the current contract, the navy will operate 10 Krivak III frigates — the fleet’s largest single type. The Krivak III costs marginally less than the Rs 57.50bn ($888m) that the navy will pay for each of seven indigenous frigates that Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai (MDL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata (GRSE) have been contracted to build under Project 17A. However, tonne-for-tonne, the indigenous frigates are cheaper. Each displaces about 5,600 tonnes fully loaded, significantly more muscular than the 4,000-tonne Krivak III. Further, each Project 17A frigate has space for two multi-role helicopters, while the smaller Krivak III embarks just a single Kamov-31 chopper. An extra helicopter provides major advantages in anti-submarine operations and airborne early warning.  Even so, with MDL, GRSE and GSL already stretched to capacity, navy planners are satisfied that Yantar is meeting India’s urgent need for more capital warships. The navy is also pleased with how the Krivak III fleet has performed over time. New Delhi wanted to build all four Krivak III frigates in GSL under ‘Make in India’.

However, Yantar had already part-built two frigates for the Russian Navy, which then backed away for lack of funds. New Delhi has obliged Moscow by buying them. The part-built frigates at Yantar are also stalled by a defence embargo that Ukraine imposed on Russia after the latter annexed the Crimea.

New Delhi, which has close defence relations with Ukraine, has undertaken to procure and provide Yantar the Zorya turbines that will power these. The agreed terms stipulate a certain level of Indianisation for the first two vessels that Yantar will deliver, and a significantly higher level for the next two vessels that are to be built in Goa. For GSL, building a vessel as complex as a frigate will require upgrading its facilities and skills. However, naval planners say GSL should not take long to learn, having recently undergone the experience of building missile corvettes that are similarly dense in weapons and sensors. These new Krivak III frigates will have the same engines and armament configuration as Yantar’s last three frigates — INS Teg, Tarkash and Trikand. These include the vaunted BrahMos anti-ship and land attack missile.

Senior naval planners underline the advantages of negotiating a “follow-on” contract, i.e. for vessels similar to those procured earlier. While it took six months to negotiate the contract for the Teg, Tarkash and Trikand, negotiations for the current contract took only 45 days to negotiate and finalise.

The navy’s medium-term plans envisage increasing warship strength from the current 140-odd, to 198 warships by 2027. This will require adding 5-6 warships annually. While some 75 vessels of various types are in the navy’s procurement pipeline, there remains a worrying shortfall of frigates, which are the navy’s workhorses. “We need to have at least 24 frigates. Currently we are 10 short,” says a senior admiral.  (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Business Standard)

 

23 Feb 18. Australian State rivalry for Defence work reaching hysterics: Raytheon Australia. Defence procurement projects that are seeing states go head-to-head to secure work from the federal government, including LAND 400 Phase 2, has been labelled destructive by Gerard Wheeler, head of public affairs for Raytheon Australia, at a parliamentary hearing.

Speaking at the inquiry into the benefits and risks of a Bipartisan Australian Defence Agreement, Wheeler said that while Raytheon Australia is not in support of the bipartisan agreement that has been put forward, a better arrangement needs to be reached between the states and territories.

“There is one area of public dialogue on defence capability where greater bipartisanship needs to be achieved and that is between the various Australian states,” said Wheeler.

“Few could deny that the level of rivalry between the states for defence work has become almost hysterical if not destructive.”

Wheeler touched on the support the company has given to South Australia in its endeavour to establish a local defence industry capability, but criticised other states for pushing a local agenda to secure projects with potential disregard for the national interest.

“Raytheon has been pleased to support a state such as South Australia where successive Liberal and Labor governments have worked assiduously over the course of the past two decades to invest in defence infrastructure and to establish a local defence industry capability that can be at the heart of the Commonwealth’s industrial strategy,” he said.

“What has got completely out of hand is the way some other states have used parochial local media to prosecute their own individual cases to win federal government work with scant regard to any national interest. On occasions this has appeared to crowd out both the interests and other states and a proper consideration of the individual capabilities the Commonwealth may be seeking to acquire.”

Wheeler made reference to the LAND 400 Phase 2 project, a project worth up $5bn, which has heated up in the last few weeks, with accusations rife that the project will come down to pork-barrelling in marginal seats.

Federal ministers Alan Tudge, Tim Wilson, Chris Crewther, Michael Sukkar, Kevin Andrews and senator Jane Hume converged on RUAG Australia’s office at Bayswater for the announcement that, should BAE Systems secure the project, RUAG Australia will produce world-leading ballistic armour for the 225 Australian Army combat reconnaissance vehicles (CRVs).

A new campaign by the state’s Labor government was also launched recently, which includes billboards throughout Canberra aiming to promote the strengths of Victoria’s defence industry and record in manufacturing military vehicles.

Wheeler is not alone in calling for changes to the current defence procurement dynamics. Last year, the NSW Legislative Council’s standing committee on state development has heard from the chief executives of Thales Australia who stressed that the current process is seeing taxpayer funds wasted.

Chris Jenkins, CEO of Thales Australia, argued that the current state of things will see more ‘valleys of death’ created if project decisions are made in favour of state-backed funds and investment rather than sustainable decisions.

“Businesses need to be sustainable for the long-term on their own merits, and our businesses look at the long-term business case and work out: does it make sense to establish, in the case of that LAND 400 project, a build facility that will set up a project for a period of time and then that project will end and then what will be left? In the shipbuilding sector it was called the valley of death for a period of time where projects came, projects went and there was an aftermath,” Jenkins explained.

“Projects need to be in the context of a sustainable business enterprise … The only support that we would seek from the New South Wales government – we are not asking for any money; that is not the point, but what we do think, though, is that it is very important for New South Wales to be on the front foot in ensuring that this national enterprise of things like submarines and Future Frigates is not just focusing on South Australia where the ship gets built; it is all of the knowledge that Australia has, all of the engineers that are coming through university today or kids that have not even thought to be engineers and encouraging them to be part of that future workforce that will not only create the system in the first instance but make sure it stays at the cutting-edge of performance right through the life of that ship, which could be 40 or 50 years.”

Victoria’s defence industry advocate and former parliamentary secretary for defence procurement Greg Combet also labelled the state v state bidding model as “less than optimal” during a Defence Connect podcast.

“There’s no working together on LAND 400, and largely because of the way the procurement has been conducted by the Commonwealth. The states were essentially invited to compete and to treat with the bidders to try and attract them and that’s led to a less than optimal economic outcome, in my opinion,” said Combet.

“I’ve got a funny, I suppose, background for this because having been a Commonwealth government defence procurement minister, I know how inefficient it is to have the states competing in this way.”

The former politician said the process was a way for the federal government to pass on infrastructure costs to the winning state.

“What it is, is a cost transfer from the Commonwealth to the states. Instead of picking up any of the tab for the infrastructure, for example, Defence shifts all of that to the states who are out there competing amongst each other,” Combet said.

“And the extent to which prime contractors then discount their tender price for the infrastructure that’s laid on and the cash incentives that’s laid on by the states, is moot, I think. And that’s a less than optimal outcome for taxpayers.” (Source: Defence Connect)

 

25 Feb 18. Lockheed Martin wants India to fast-track defence procurement.

Phil Shaw, chief executive, Lockheed Martin India, said that the company wants to invest in India and include the country in its supply chain. Lockheed Martin has proposed to manufacture custom-built F-35 fighter jets in India, which its officials say would give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become part of the world’s largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. Photo: Bloomberg

Visakhapatnam: American aerospace and defence major Lockheed Martin on Monday urged India to work on couple of areas like fast-tracking defence procurement procedures with a view to attract companies in the sector.

Phil Shaw, chief executive, Lockheed Martin India, said that the company wants to invest in India and include the country in its supply chain. He said that besides improving ease of doing business, there are couple of things that need to be done by the central government to facilitate investments for the defence sector in India.

One, he said, is “length of defence procurement is pretty long“ and in this area, states can collectively encourage the central government to speed up the process “to start to see some of the investments”. “Also the predictability of some procurement are little bit suspect,” he said here at CII’s Partnership Summit.

Shaw added that when a company spending many years talking about particular programmes and if they get cancelled or postponed, it is a bit disincentive for them. He said Indian government wants to promote defence manufacturing under the Make in India initiative but “Make in India in defence is reliant on these procurement” decisions.

Shaw also said that the government focuses on lowest cost technically acceptable solution in defence, but if the country is looking at capability, establishing industrial footprint, green technology, creating jobs and ecosystem, one needs to look beyond costs and focus on best interest of India. Lockheed Martin has proposed to manufacture custom-built F-35 fighter jets in India, which its officials say would give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become part of the world’s largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. (Source: Google/livemint.com)

 

23 Feb 18. Indian MoD plans to scrap IAF’s single-engine fighter project. India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has directed the Indian Air Force (IAF) to abandon its two-year-old proposal to procure 114 licence-built single-engine fighter aircraft and to broaden its fighter requirement to include twin-engine platforms. Official sources told Jane’s that the MoD recently asked the IAF to finalise a request for information (RFI) for imminent dispatch to foreign fighter manufacturers, incorporating single- and twin-engine platforms in it as the first step towards making up for the force’s combat aircraft shortfall.

“The focus of the RFI is expected to specify overall platform combat capability, rather than stipulate a requirement for single- or twin-engine fighters,” a senior defence official told Jane’s on condition of anonymity. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

————————————————————————-

American Panel Corporation

 

American Panel Corporation (APC) since 1998, specializes in display products installed in defence land systems, as well as military and commercial aerospace platforms, having delivered well over 100,000 displays worldwide. Military aviators worldwide operate their aircraft and perform their missions using APC displays, including F-22, F-18, F-16, F-15, Euro-fighter Typhoon, Mirage 2000, C-130, C-17, P-3, S-3, U-2, AH-64 Apache Helicopter, V-22 tilt-rotor, as well as numerous other military and commercial aviation aircraft including Boeing 717 – 787 aircraft and several Airbus aircraft. APC panels are found in nearly every tactical aircraft in the US and around the world.

APC manufactures the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Large Area Display (LAD) display (20 inch by 8 inch) with dual pixel fields, power and video interfaces to provide complete display redundancy. At DSEI 2017 we are exhibiting the LAD with a more advanced design, dual display on single substrate with redundant characteristics and a bespoke  purpose 8 inch by 6 inch armoured vehicle display.

In order to fully meet the demanding environmental and optical requirements without sacrificing critical tradeoffs in performance, APC designs, develops and manufactures these highly specialized displays in multiple sizes and configurations, controlling all AMLCD optical panel, mechanical and electrical design aspects. APC provides both ITAR and non-ITAR displays across the globe to OEM Prime and tiered vetronics and avionics integrators.

————————————————————————-CONTRACT NEWS IN BRIEF

 

UNITED KINGDOM

 

LAND

 

01 Mar 18. Avon Protection has been selected as the supplier to the UK MOD for their Liquid Decontamination Containment Systems, following an MOD competitive tender for the capture, transfer and containment of liquid waste units. The liquid capture system has been specifically designed and developed by Avon Engineered Fabrications (AEF) to meet the operational and environmental needs of the UK MOD to decontaminate their in-service vehicle fleet. AEF is one of Avon Protection’s specialist engineering business units and recognised as a world-class manufacturer and supplier of industrial coated fabrics for a wide variety of uses including bulk liquid storage, distribution.

 

SEA

 

01 Mar 18. BAE Systems awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a contract to equip the Royal Navy’s new Type 26 Global Combat Ship with the MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS).  The MK 41 VLS is the only system capable of launching anti-air, anti-submarine, surface-to-surface and strike-length missiles. Once integrated with the Type 26, the MK 41 VLS will offer the Royal Navy unparalleled flexibility and capability. There have been more than 3,850 successful firings worldwide. MK41 VLS has been successfully integrated and is in service with the U.S. and 12 allied navies on nearly 200 ships representing 20 ship classes. Each Type 26 will be equipped with three 8-cell MK 41 VLS modules. BAE Systems’ initial order includes nine MK 41 VLS modules, enough for the first three ships of the class.

 

EUROPE

 

LAND

 

28 Feb 18. FN Herstal’s FN Fire Control Unit (FCU) Mk3 has been selected for the German Army’s Future Soldier Expanded System (IdZ-ES) programme, the company announced on 27 February. The FN FCU Mk3 is designed to increase the hit probability of the 40mm grenade system. The FN FCU Mk3 takes into account a number of factors including the range to the target, slope angle, temperature, grenade type, cant and drift effect and automatically indicates the correct point of aim to the user.

The FCU is easy to use, day and night capable, light and compact, and can be fitted onto a wide range of underbarrel and stand-alone launchers.

The FN FCU Mk3 combines several laser safety features for enhanced training capability. (Source: Shephard)

 

 

01 Mar 18. HK 416A5 for the Dutch Special Forces.  The Dutch Ministry of Defence awarded Heckler & Koch a seven-years-contract for the supply of HK 416A5 assault rifles, including spare parts and accessories – worth €14m. The contract runs from 2018 and includes an option for extension by another three years.

As part of the development of the HK 416, A5 version has been given an improved and tool-less gas adjustment for the use of silencers.

The lower part of the housing has been redesigned to be user-friendly for com-plete double-sided operation of the gun and optimum magazine compatibility. Reliability, ammunition compatibility and durability of the rifle have also been improved under real-life conditions. The HK 416A5 is designed for use by special forces.

(Source: ESD Spotlight)

 

01 Mar 18. MRAV Boxer for Slovenia. The Slovenian Ministry of Defence announced the selection of the GTK Boxer to equip two infantry battalions. In a first step, 48 MRAV Boxer will be procured via OCCAR. Budget appropriations are available for 2018 and 2019. First delivery is scheduled for 2019.  Once fully equipped, the first battalion will be ready for action by 2022. The second battalion is to reach operational capability with a further lot by 2025. Slovenia has taken steps to join the OCCAR Boxer Programme with the aim of joining the organisation as a participating country − like Lithuania. As an infantry combat vehicle, the Boxers for Slovenia will receive a turret with a 30-mm cannon and a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun.  Slovenia will be the fourth boxer user state after Germany, the Netherlands and Lithuania. The Boxer programme is increasingly developing into a European armaments programme. (Source: ESD Spotlight)

 

01 Mar 18. Rheinmetall Defence Australia and Victoria’s Heuch, which has been a supplier to the Australian Defence Force since shortly after its inception in 1970, will today announce the major export agreement.

Under the agreement with LAND 400 Phase 2 bidder Rheinmetall Defence Australia, family-owned Heuch will design, develop and manufacture 88 made-to-order mobile units that will increase the lifetime of batteries operating in each Boxer vehicle. The mobile unit is placed next to each stationary Boxer and delivers a charge to batteries ensuring it is immediately operational. The technology, designed at the company’s Dandenong South operations, will also incorporate a dehumidifier that delivers dry air into the interior of the vehicle when it is stationary to eliminate corrosion and mould. (Source: Defence Connect)

 

SEA

 

26 Feb 18. Saab Provides Swedish Navy With Additional Trackfire RWS Systems. Saab has received an additional order from the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV) regarding Trackfire Remote Weapon Station (RWS) for the Royal Swedish Navy. Trackfire RWS will be installed on the new Combat Boat 90 (Strb90 HSM) used by the navy’s amphibian forces.

– This order is further proof that the Swedish customer continues to trust Saab and our products. Trackfire RWS is a flexible system with very high precision and performance, says Anders Carp, Senior Vice President and Head of Saab’s business area Surveillance. This is an addition to a Trackfire RWS order that Saab received from FMV in August 2017. Trackfire RWS has a very flexible construction which can be adapted to the customers’ needs. A combination of sensors, weapons and integration options for different platforms, in the naval- and ground domains, are available. Trackfire RWS forms part of Saab’s portfolio of fire control products, together with UTAAS (Universal Tank and Anti-Aircraft Sight) for Combat Vehicle 90. The products share common technology and sub-systems such as the Fire Control Computer, Video Tracking Module, Recoil Buffer and Stabilisation Technology.

 

AIR

 

01 Mar 18. Belgium participation expands Multinational MRTT Fleet to eight aircraft. Airbus Defence and Space has received a firm order for an Airbus A330 MRTT Multi Role Tanker Transport from Europe’s organisation for the management of cooperative armament programmes – OCCAR – on behalf of NATO Support & Procurement Agency (NSPA). The order follows the announcement on 14 February of Belgium’s official accession to the European/NATO Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF) programme, which already consists of Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway and Germany. An amendment to the original MMF contract adds the aircraft to the seven previously ordered for the MMF programme. The contract also includes three additional options to enable other nations to join the programme and provides for two years of initial support. The programme is funded by the five nations who will have the exclusive right to operate these NATO–owned aircraft in a pooling arrangement. The aircraft will be configured for in-flight refuelling, the transport of passengers and cargo, and medical evacuation flights. Airbus Defence and Space will deliver the eight aircraft from its tanker conversion line at Getafe near Madrid between 2020 and 2024. The European Defence Agency (EDA) initiated the MMF programme in 2012. OCCAR manages the MMF acquisition phase as Contract Executing Agent on behalf of NSPA. Following the acquisition phase, NSPA will be responsible for the complete life-cycle management of the fleet. Head of Sales and Marketing Bernhard Brenner said: “The selection of the A330 MRTT for MMF, along with the earlier similar decisions by the United Kingdom and France, will ensure that Europe has the world’s most operationally capable tanker fleet for many years to come. We encourage other European nations to contribute to MMF in order to maximise the operating and financial advantages of a large fleet based on a common type.”

 

27 Feb 18. InShield for Spain’s A400M fleet. Indra’s InShield Direct Infra-Red Counter-Measure (DIRCM) system has been selected to equip up to nine Spanish Air Force A400M military transport aircraft, the company announced on 23 February. The contract was awarded by OCCAR, manager of the Spanish Ministry of Defence’s A400M programme. Airbus Defence and Space successfully completed the critical design review of the InShield DIRCM system installation for the A400M aircraft in 2017. Under the contract, Indra will also be responsible for providing the associated ILS products and services to integrate InShield DIRCM in the logistic support chain of the Spanish Air Force. These products and services include tools to programme the system libraries, including jamming sequences programming. This will give the Spanish Air Force the capability to complete and manage these libraries without any external dependencies, based on its own intelligence, now and as threats develop in future.

The InShield DIRCM system includes electro-optical technology and solid-state laser technologies that can detect and manage multiple simultaneous threats and neutralise missiles instantly without the need of manual operation. (Source: Shephard)

 

USA

 

LAND

 

23 Feb 18. AM General LLC, South Bend, Indiana, was awarded an $11,843,793 modification (P00008) to contract W56HZB-16-C-0068 to procure an additional 60 vehicles for the M1167 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles Recapitalization program for the Army National Guard. Work will be performed in Mishawaka, Indiana, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2018. Fiscal 2017 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $11,843,793 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity.

 

SEA

 

01 Mar 18. The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a $150m contract, with options worth up to $942.8m, for the development, manufacture and delivery of two high power laser weapon systems, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and counter-Unmanned Aerial System (counter-UAS) capabilities, by fiscal year 2020. With the High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance (HELIOS) system, Lockheed Martin will help the Navy take a major step forward in its goal to field laser weapon systems aboard surface ships.

 

AIR

 

01 Mar 18. Boeing [NYSE: BA] has been awarded a contract to modernize the U.S. Navy F/A-18 fleet, extending the life of existing Super Hornets from 6,000 to 9,000+ flight hours. In the early 2020s, Boeing will begin installing initial updates to the aircraft that will convert existing Block II Super Hornets to a new Block III configuration. The Block III conversion will include enhanced network capability, longer range with conformal fuel tanks, an advanced cockpit system, signature improvements and an enhanced communication system. The updates are expected to keep the F/A-18 in active service for decades to come. The indefinite-delivery contract is for up to $73m. Work begins in April on an initial lot of four aircraft at Boeing’s St. Louis production center. An additional production line will be established in San Antonio, Texas in 2019. Additional follow-on contracts could be awarded over the next 10 years. The U.S. Navy fleet consists of 568 Super Hornets.

 

25 Feb 18. L-3 Technologies Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, is being awarded a $25,623,007 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to manufacture, test, deliver, manage, and support Common Data Link Hawklink AN/SRQ-4 systems for the MH-60R aircraft.  Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah (60 percent); Atlanta, Georgia (14 percent); Mountain View, California (6 percent); Exeter, New Hampshire (2 percent); Derby, Kansas (1 percent); El Cajon, California (1 percent); Boise, Idaho (1 percent); Dover, New Hampshire (1 percent); Sunnyvale, California (1 percent); York Haven, Pennsylvania (1 percent); Bohemia, New York (1 percent); Oxnard, California (1 percent); Littleton, Massachusetts (1 percent); Providence, Rhode Island (1 percent); Cedar Park, Texas (1 percent); Minnetonka, Minnesota (1 percent); Phoenix, Arizona (1 percent); Stow, Massachusetts (1 percent); Salinas, California (1 percent); Ft. Worth, Texas (1 percent); Skokie, Illinois (1 percent); and Toronto, Canada (1 percent), and is expected to be completed August 2020.  Fiscal 2014, 2016, and 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2017 and 2018 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $25,623,007 will be obligated at time of award, $2,000,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals; one offer was received.  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-18-C-1030).

 

01 Mar 18. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has been awarded a contract from Space Systems Loral (SSL) to supply its space navigation system for a next-generation satellite constellation. Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract from Space Systems Loral to supply its space navigation system for a next-generation satellite constellation. Northrop Grumman will deliver its Scalable Space Inertial Reference Unit (Scalable SIRU™) to SSL, to enable spacecraft attitude control and sensor pointing/stabilization. Northrop Grumman’s Scalable SIRU is the industry standard for high-precision, long-life attitude control solutions supporting commercial, government and civil space missions. The Scalable SIRU has proven its performance during numerous space missions, including NASA’s MESSENGER mission to orbit Mercury and Cassini’s journey to Saturn. At the heart of the Scalable SIRU is Northrop Grumman’s patented hemispherical resonator gyro, which has been used in space without a mission failure for more than 40 m operating hours.

 

27 Feb 18. Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, has been awarded a $77,392,758 firm-fixed-price contract to exercise an option to previously awarded contract FA8672-10-C-0002 for Small Diameter Bomb (SBD) II.  This contract provide for low rate initial production for 570 SDB II Lot 4 munitions, 398 SDB II Lot 4 single weapon containers, 126 SDB II Lot 4 dual weapon containers, 20 Production Reliability Incentive Demonstration Effort captive vehicles, 24 SDB II Lot 3 weapon load crew trainers /conventional munitions maintenance trainers, and other data.  Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be complete by July 31, 2020.  This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition.  Fiscal 2017 missile procurement funds in the amount of $18,320,912; and fiscal 2018 missile procurement funds in the amount of $59,071,846 are being obligated at the time of award.  Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA8672-18-C-0010).

 

28 Feb 18. Raytheon Co., Space and Airborne Systems, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Systems, McKinney, Texas, has been awarded a $87,128,192 predominantly fixed-price-incentive contract for fiscal 2016 DAS-4 production.  This contract provides for 44 AN/DAS-4 Multi-Spectral Targeting System Model B high definition/target location accuracy turrets, one lot of production support/capacity increase, one lot of initial spares/shop replaceable units, and one lot of associated data.  Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2019.  This contract involves foreign military sales to France. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2016 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $62,186,952; fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $19,601,732; and foreign military sales funds in the amount of $5,339,508 are being obligated at the time of award.  Air Force Lifecycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-18-C-2011).

 

TECHNOLOGY

 

28 Feb 18. The US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) has awarded a new Physical Science Division task order to the Tauri Group. Awarded under ECBC’s research and technology blanket purchase agreement (BPA), the contract has a base performance period of five years and seeks to support the transition of evolving technologies for troops. This will help improve capabilities for integrated early warning (IEW) of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear hazards. It will also support the demonstration of a common operating environment for an early warning.

The ECBC focuses on conducting research, development and testing, and application of technologies in order to safeguard warfighters, first responders and the country from chemical and biological warfare agents.

Currently, the US Army centre is developing new solutions to enable troops to detect chemical and biological materials remotely.

In addition, advanced technologies are being developed to help tackle threats, such as homemade explosives, biological aerosols and traditional and non-traditional chemical hazards. Earlier this month, the company received two new task orders to provide support services for the DoD’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD). (Source: army-technology.com)

 

26 Feb 18. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has been awarded a $95m contract by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM) to develop increments one and two of the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) system. Northrop Grumman will serve as systems developer and integrator for this 42-month effort. HART is the organization’s next-generation recognition program, replacing the Automated Biometric Identity System (IDENT) built in the 1990s.  HART is a more robust system than its predecessor and when fully implemented will perform multi-modal biometric identification of individuals to enable both national security and public safety as well as benefits and services. Supporting DHS and its mission partners, HART will help the government keep pace with the growing sophistication of threats to our homeland.

 

REST OF THE WORLD

 

LAND

 

01 Mar 18. Rheinmetall Defence Australia and Victoria’s Heuch, which has been a supplier to the Australian Defence Force since shortly after its inception in 1970, will today announce the major export agreement.

Under the agreement with LAND 400 Phase 2 bidder Rheinmetall Defence Australia, family-owned Heuch will design, develop and manufacture 88 made-to-order mobile units that will increase the lifetime of batteries operating in each Boxer vehicle. The mobile unit is placed next to each stationary Boxer and delivers a charge to batteries ensuring it is immediately operational. The technology, designed at the company’s Dandenong South operations, will also incorporate a dehumidifier that delivers dry air into the interior of the vehicle when it is stationary to eliminate corrosion and mould. (Source: Defence Connect)

 

01 Mar 18. The U.S. State Department has approved the possible sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles and launch units to Ukraine at an estimated cost of $47m, the Pentagon said on Thursday. The United States said in December it would provide Ukraine with defensive weapons. Since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine and Russia have been at loggerheads over a war in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces that has killed more than 10,000 people in three years. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in December the weapons would be used to protect Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, but Russia said the U.S. decision would encourage those who support the conflict in Ukraine to use force. (Source: Reuters)

 

SEA

 

26 Feb 18. South Africa orders patrol boats from Damen. The South African defence procurement organisation Armscor has ordered three 62m inshore patrol vessels (IPVs) from Damen Shipyards Cape Town, it was announced on 26 February. The Damen Shipyards Group did not say when its South African subsidiary would deliver the vessels, but noted that they would have the Sea Axe hull design and released a computer-generated image of a Stan Patrol 6211 sailing off Cape Town. Damen said the Sea Axe hull improves seakeeping performance and fuel efficiency. It lists the Stan Patrol 6211 as having a maximum speed of 26.5kt, a range of 4,000n miles, and a crew of up to 62. The IPVs were ordered for the South African Navy as part of Project Biro, which saw Armscor releasing requests for proposals (RFPs) for three offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and three IPVs in December 2014. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

27 Feb 18. Saab Receives Order for Sustainment of ANZAC Frigates. Saab has received an order from the Australian Government under the Warship Asset Management Agreement (WAMA) that will see the continuation of sustainment for Navy’s ANZAC-class frigates. WAMA is a strategic partnership which includes Saab Australia, BAE Systems Australia Defence and Naval Ship Management Australia.

This five-year follow-on programme is a continuation of the ongoing framework sustainment agreement that covers the ANZAC-class frigates, shore support and training facilities through the remaining life of the capability. Saab Australia has been supporting the ANZAC-class frigates for 20 years and, under the sustainment agreement, will continue to provide combat system engineering, in-service support and maintenance services. (Source: ASD Network)

 

AIR

 

25 Feb 18. Indonesia acquires four Wing Loong I UAVs from China.

Key Points:

• Indonesia has acquired four units of Wing Loong I UAVs with surface strike capabilities
• Aircraft will be inducted with the country’s first composite UAV aviation squadron in West Kalimantan

The Indonesian government has acquired four strike-capable Wing Loong I medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (MALE UAVs) from Chinese state-owned aerospace and defence company Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).

A contract for the aircraft was signed in 2017, and the UAVs will be operated by the Indonesian Air Force’s (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Udara’s: TNI-AU’s) Aviation Squadron 51 (Skadron Udara 51), multiple sources from within the TNI headquarters in Cilangkap confirmed separately with Jane’s between 22 and 25 February.

Aviation Squadron 51 is based near the city of Pontianak in West Kalimantan, and the unit shares a runway with the Supadio International Airport. The squadron currently operates Israeli-made Aerostar tactical unmanned aircraft system (UAS) equipped with stabilised, gimbal-mounted electro-optic and infrared (EO/IR) sensor for surveillance missions. With the induction of the Wing Loong I, the unit will be Indonesia’s first composite UAV squadron with two different aircraft types. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

28 Feb 18. Argentine MoD, FAdeA reach deal for three Pampa IIIs. A contract for three FAdeA IA-63 Pampa III advanced training aircraft for the Argentine Air Force was approved on 23 February, according to the official bulletin of the Chief of the Cabinets of Ministers. The USD30.3m contract was paid half up-front and the remainder is to be disbursed as deliveries are made. In addition to the three aircraft, state-owned FAdeA is also providing Ground Control Mission Planner Station software, two Mobile Mission Planner Stations, and back-up equipment. The contract was initially revealed on 14 December 2017. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) and FAdeA had been negotiating a production contract since early 2017 and expected to conclude the deal that same year, but budget decisions delayed its conclusion. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

01 Mar 18. A fleet of Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) were commissioned by MDA, a Maxar Technologies company, to fulfill a contract with an international customer.

Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER® S-100 UAS was chosen by MDA for its impressive track record of providing critical support in sea- and land-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. As a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, the S-100 has a relatively small logistical footprint, which allows for flexible and rapid deployment. By day and night, the UAS functions as a platform capable of carrying a wide range of high-end payloads.

 

26 Feb 18. France’s Thales (TCFP.PA) said on Monday it had won a definitive A$1.2bn (673.07m pounds)contract to unify Australia’s civil and military airspace under a single air traffic control system. The long-awaited deal for systems to guide both jetliners and warplanes across 11 percent of the world’s airspace is the largest of its type for Thales, which competes with Raytheon (RTN.N) and others to support fast-growing air traffic. The OneSKY contract with Airservices Australia and the Department of Defence will result in reduced flight times and delays, Thales Chief Executive Patrice Caine told reporters. The contract will not affect Thales’s revenue or profit guidance, he added. (Source: Reuters)

 

TECHNOLOGY

 

28 Feb 18. Australian Defence Innovation Hub contracts awarded. Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has unveiled the latest tranche of Defence Innovation Hub contracts, with three of the five projects to take place in the ACT.

The five contracts – awarded to BAE Systems Australia, Zangold of Queensland, Nova Defence, Kul Technologies of Victoria, and Data61 – are worth $5.3m. BAE Systems received the largest contract, totalling $2.3m, to explore the potential use of laser technology to detect low intensity signals. BAE Systems Australia is the first defence prime to be awarded a contract by the Defence Innovation Hub since it was launched in December 2016 as part of the Defence Industry Policy Statement.

Queensland’s Zangold was awarded a $1m contract to develop a portable improvised explosive detector to assist with the detection of homemade explosives, chemical warfare agents, narcotics and gasses, while Victoria’s Kul Technologies was awarded $770,000 to explore the development of a more easily transportable and efficient modular hybrid power generation system.

In ACT, Nova Defence received a $779,000 contract to explore the development of a low-cost, high-speed direct mobile ground target that could be used as a realistic direct target for air and ground based defence systems, and Data61 was awarded $441,000 to continue the development of its multi-award winning Cross Domain Desktop Compositor technology, allowing users to view and work across multiple Defence networks from a single monitor, while maintaining the integrity of each network.

Minister Pyne said the latest tranche of Defence Innovation Hub will sustain 23 jobs across the Australian defence industry and innovation sector, and help to give Australia’s armed forces the edge in battle.

(Source: Defence Connect)

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MANAGEMENT ON THE MOVE

 

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Job – Optical Design Engineer in California

Location: California, USA

Salary: TBD

Job type: Permanent

Category: Aerospace Engineering

Job Reference: 360266695

Posted on: 27 Feb 2018

About the Role:

Overview:

Our client is a leading provider of optical manufacturing solutions and they’ve recently partnered with TeamBradley to find an Optical Design Engineer. Home to a large, diverse team of innovative designers, engineers and developers, they are dedicated to working together to bring high quality optical products to consumers worldwide. They are seeking an Optical Design Engineer to be responsible for the signal, simulation, and system modelling of the optical transport and transceiver modules.

Required:

• Master’s Degree (Physics or Electrical Engineering)
• 5+ years experience in system design of optical transmission
• Solid understanding of optoelectronic components and Optical amplification modules
• Strong familiarity with fiber-optics propagation effects
• Skilled in system and signal modelling methodologies
• Knowledgeable of ITU-T, Telcordia, and IEC standards
• Outstanding communication skills

Resumes without the required technical skills and experience will not be considered. Although a strong desire for a certain type of position is a credit to your goal, experience is necessary.

 

LOCATIONS

 

LAND

 

01 Mar 18. Thales opens headquarters in Green Park, UK. Thales has opened its new headquarters at Green Park in Reading, UK, to focus on research and technology. The company is involved in major projects in the UK and is focused on providing 4G connectivity on flights across Europe in addition to different lifesaving capabilities for the British Armed Forces. The new Green Park facility will enable the company to generate 500 highly skilled job opportunities in the region, including 300 specialised engineers. With the opening of the new site, Thales will also be able to create an additional 100 jobs as the company grows in the region. The company significantly contributes to the UK economy with a total of 6,500 employees and annual revenues of £1.3bn.

Thales UK chief executive Victor Chavez said: “The move to Green Park represents a strategic step forward for Thales, bringing together some of our key businesses with our research team to ensure we remain on the cutting edge of customer-focused, technology and business model innovation.

“This new world-class workspace sets the benchmark for future working environments across Thales in the UK; designed to enable collaboration with customers, partners and suppliers as well as supporting our move to smart working.”

The new UK facility is one of the company’s five global centres developed to carry out technology research and development. It will spend approximately £70m every year in the country.

In addition, the facility is expected by the company to serve as a centre of excellence for secure radio communications, network and infrastructure systems, and cyber-security consultancy. (Source: army-technology.com)

01 Mar 18. US Army biometric facility opened in West Virginia. The US Army has inaugurated new biometric operations alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at the Biometric Technology Center (BTC) in West Virginia, US.

The new facility is a joint initiative of the US Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Justice (DoJ). It will see a team of network administrators, biometric examiners, and intelligence professionals work together to identify individuals that threaten national security.

West Virginia US Senator Shelly Moore Capito said: “In a world that’s becoming increasingly dangerous and more difficult to figure out where the bad guys are, this centre of innovation and collaboration is where I believe we’re all at our best.”

The Defense Forensics and Biometrics Agency (DFBA) covers one-sixth of the 360,000ft2 biometric centre. The DFBA is a US Army field operating agency within the Office of the Provost Marshal General.

The remaining space is occupied by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) division. The DFBA operates the US DoD database and focuses on encounters with known and suspected terrorists during military operations. The dataset is a major asset that enables counterterror operations to protect international and US borders.

Before being moved to the newly built facility, the DoD and the DoJ had two separate biometric facilities that were located in older buildings.

With the opening of the BTC, the DoD and FBI will be able to work in collaboration to carry out operations and technical innovations to identify threatening or dangerous individuals. (Source: army-technology.com)

 

01 Mar 18. Nuclear radiation detection specialist Arktis Radiation Detectors has expanded its worldwide network by opening a new office in the UK at Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. The office will build upon existing locations in Europe and the US and reflects the growing market for Arktis’ next generation, plug and play detection systems that detect and identify radioactive and nuclear materials. The company has been regularly funded by the most renowned advanced research and development agencies worldwide, such as the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Arktis Vice President of Sales, Daniel Grosch, explained that the new office would be used to manage business opportunities in the UK and overseas in regions such as the Middle East.

“There are a growing number of opportunities in areas such as border control and military applications and this expanded presence will give us the opportunity to build upon our existing customer base. We anticipate that the UK office will grow as the business accelerates,” he added.

Arktis will make increasing base of the UK supply chain, providing new opportunities for UK firms to build upon their nuclear detection business. In addition, Arktis has joined the Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space industry body (ADS), where it plans to contribute to the organisation’s CBRN Special Interest Group, and is in discussions to extend and form new links with UK academia.

“Amid concerns over use of “dirty bombs” and exposure devices, enhanced security measures are needed at borders and ports. We are fully committed to building our business in the UK, using the expertise of the supply chain,” said Grosch.

There has been growing interest in Arktis’ innovative, open system architecture technology, which leverages the use of natural helium in its detection systems, as opposed to the scarce and expensive He-3 isotope or other. Its systems are particularly suited to airports, maritime ports and areas of high population density and can be used in static and mobile mode to detect nuclear materials. Arktis’ systems already have applications in the seaport and airport environment and are under trial to fill a potential requirement at major transport hubs throughout the US.

 

MARITIME

 

01 Mar 18. UK Defence Secretary names new warship HMS Cardiff on St David’s Day. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced the name of one of the new Type 26 warships as HMS Cardiff on St. David’s Day. The third to be named in the City Class of eight brand new, cutting-edge, anti-submarine warfare frigates, HMS Cardiff will provide advanced protection for the likes of the UK’s nuclear deterrent and Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, and offer an unrivalled anti-submarine warfare capability. (Source: News Now/Gov.uk)

 

28 Feb 18. NSW’s Steber International has commenced work on the first of the five new vessels to support the Royal Australian Navy’s Deployable Mine Countermeasure (MCM) project. Fibreglass boat manufacturer Steber was awarded a contract worth more than $6m by Thales Australia to deliver the five 38-foot vessels to support the RAN.

Minister for Defence Marise Payne, and member for Lyne and Assistant Minister for Children and Families Dr David Gillespie, visited the Taree boatbuilder last week to commend Steber International on its contribution to the navy’s Deployable MCM project.

“Steber vessels will be configured as unmanned surface vessels and mine countermeasure support boats that deploy systems to protect our navy assets,” Minister Payne said.

“As a result of this contract, Steber is looking to create 10 new jobs, including specialist staff and apprentices.”

The vessels will have a top speed of 25 knots, a payload in excess of three tonnes and feature a new naval paint scheme.

The project is scheduled for staged delivery across 2018-19.

Steber general manager Alan Steber said the project will not only support more jobs at the company, but will also open up opportunities to join the Thales global supply chain.

“The project will provide a variety of employment, trades and supply chain opportunities over the two-year build period,” Steber said.

“The vessels will be built to strict specifications, including Australian Marine Safety Authority requirements, involving surveyors and naval architects. In recent times we have ramped up our presence in the defence capability space with development of the Bluebottle range of unmanned surface vessels, and now this contract is a win-win for the Commonwealth of Australia and Steber International.”

Steber is also a key partner with NSW’s Ocius Technology in the innovative Bluebottle Program. The Bluebottle unmanned surface vessel runs on solar, wind and wave energy and can remain at sea for months at a time, offering the potential for future cutting-edge capability enhancements. (Source: Defence Connect)

 

28 Feb 18. Indonesia launches fourth KCR-60M vessel. Key Points:

• Indonesia has launched a fourth KCR-60M fast attack craft
• Country is expected to bolster its fleet with similar vessels in the coming years

State-owned shipbuilder PT PAL has launched the fourth KCR-60M vessel on order for the Indonesian Navy (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Laut).

The vessel, which will be known in service as KRI Kerambit with pennant number 627 once commissioned, was launched on 27 February at PT PAL’s facilities in Surabaya. First steel for the platform was cut at the same location in February 2017. Jane’s first reported in March 2016 that PT PAL has received an order from the Indonesian government to construct the vessel. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

27 Feb 18. Caley builds submarine launch and recovery system for Indian Navy. Scottish engineering company Caley Ocean Systems has completed the construction of a new submarine launch and recovery system (LARS) for the Indian Navy. The LARS was designed and developed at the company’s facilities in Govan and Renfrew. It is intended to form part of underwater capability provider JFD’s third-generation submarine rescue system, which is slated to be delivered to the navy in March.

The new submarine rescue solution is one of two fly-away systems currently being developed by JFD for the Indian Navy under a £193m contract.

The company is also contracted to provide LARS equipment, deep search and rescue vehicles (DSRV) and transfer under pressure (TUP) systems as part of the arrangement, in addition to supplying all the logistics and support equipment required to operate the service.

Caley’s LARS solution has been specifically designed for the fast rescue of distressed submariners.

It is capable of being mobilised on-board suitable vessels in less than 24 hours.

Caley Ocean Systems managing director Douglas Morrison said: “The submarine LARS flies the international flag for Scottish engineering.

“Its specially designed features and technological advancements will allow the rapid rescue of submariners.

“Given the recent tragic events, fast mobilisation timescales have never been more important.

“The system integrates three decompression chambers and its flexible architecture means it can be mobilised on ships with different deck configurations.”

The company used virtual reality (VR) software during the system’s design and manufacturing phases. VR solutions are also expected to be used to provide necessary training to the crew members from the Indian Navy.

(Source: naval-technology.com)

 

AIR

 

27 Feb 18. ConnectJets delivers first Avanti EVO in UK. ConnectJets, Piaggio Aerospace’s exclusive sales agent for the British Isles, today confirmed the first delivery of an Avanti EVO to a UK customer. The aircraft will be available in Europe for charter through ConnectJets supplementing private use by the owner. The aircraft departed Riviera Airport, in Villanova d’Albenga, Northwest Italy, home of Piaggio Aerospace’s centre of excellence, to London Southend Airport on February 8, 2018 and is now offered via ConnectJets’ charter arm and the business aviation charter broker fraternity, starting March 2018. The Avanti EVO is one of the world’s fastest turboprops. There are currently around 220 P.180 Avanti aircraft in service, with growing global interest and presence. The innovative 5-blade scimitar propellers and the three-lifting surface configurations marry together to reach top speeds of 402 KTAS (745 km/h), while its shape aids significant fuel savings and lower emissions, compared with other aircraft in the same class. The Avanti EVO is a great option for continental destinations, thanks to its ability to land on short, or even semi-prepared runways, giving it access to peripheral airports and small airfields that are inaccessible to commercial airliners.

The fully customizable, seven-seat configuration fuselage, with the best stand-up height of its class (5ft 9in/1.75m), can meet most exacting standards, with luxurious materials crafted to suit owners’ specifications.

The new owner, who lives and works in the UK, said: “The Avanti EVO was my first choice for a short haul aircraft in Europe. Not only it is exceptionally fuel efficient, but the interior space is very large for an aircraft of its type. After spending many hours cooped up in small light jets, the height and width of the cabin space is extraordinary. Piaggio Aerospace have fitted out the interior of the aircraft to a very high standard which makes it enjoyable and comfortable to fly in, even during three and four-hour flights. Having a plane which is easy to use for short hops from around Europe, and also comfortable for longer London to Moscow or London to Istanbul flights were key requirements. The innovative design of the plane is a real head turner when it’s on the ground too.”

Gabriella Somerville, Founder and Managing Director of ConnectJets, said, “I am delighted to have concluded this sale to a private individual, who in addition to using the aircraft for their own use, is going to make this one of a kind aircraft available for third party charter. There is a very strong demand for the Avanti EVO in the European charter market, with its ability to serve Europe’s shorter runways like London City Airport. Moreover, with increasing focus on the environment and air quality, the introduction of the pioneering Avanti EVO into Europe’s skies and into the wider charter market could not come at a better time. With increasing sales demand for the Avanti EVO, ConnectJets is undertaking further commercial initiates to expand the presence of the Avanti EVO within the UK.”

 

26 Feb 18. Brazilian Navy boosts its helicopter force. The Brazilian Navy’s helicopter fleet, operated mainly from São Pedro da Aldeia naval aviation base in state of Rio de Janeiro, is receiving a significant upgrade. Squadron HU-2 is to receive the first of five Helibras H225Ms anti-surface warfare helicopters (designated the UH-15B Super Cougar locally) armed with MBDA Exocet AM39 Block 2 Mod 2 missiles in April; although this could be delayed to coincide with the RIDEX exhibition to be held 27-29 June in Rio de Janeiro. The last AH-15B is to be delivered in August 2022. Meanwhile, an initial two Leonardo Super Lynx (AH-11Bs locally) helicopters are bound for Squadron HA-1 by May and a third in August. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

24 Feb 18. Senior leaders of Japan’s Ministry of Defense, U.S. Forces Japan, Pacific Air Forces and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) celebrated the arrival of the first Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) F-35A to its first operational F-35A base here today at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The aircraft, designated AX-6, is the second F-35A assembled at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ F-35 Final Assembly & Check-Out (FACO) facility in Nagoya, Japan and is the first to be assigned to the JASDF’s 3rd Air Wing. Japan’s program of record calls for 42 F-35A aircraft. The first four aircraft were assembled at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas, and delivered to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, where JASDF pilots and maintenance crews are undergoing training. Japan’s fifth F-35A, designated AX-5, was the first assembled in Nagoya and was flown to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, for Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (EEE) certification, before it will join the JASDF F-35A training fleet at Luke Air Force Base.

“The F-35 represents a transformational leap in capability for the Japan Air Self Defense Force and the first aircraft’s arrival in Misawa will significantly enhance Japan’s defense and strengthen the US-Japan security alliance,” said Gary North, Lockheed Martin Vice President for Customer Requirements. “We congratulate the JASDF and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on this critical milestone and we look forward to continuing our strong partnership with Japanese government and industry as they strengthen their defense forces with the F-35.”

To date, more than 265 F-35 aircraft have been delivered to U.S. and international customers and more than 180 are in world-wide production. More than 570 F-35 pilots and 5,600 maintainers have been trained and the F-35 fleet has surpassed more than 125,000 cumulative flight hours. The F-35 is the most lethal and survivable fighter aircraft in the world, giving pilots an advantage against any adversary and enabling them to execute their mission and come home safe. The transformational F-35 is more than a fighter jet, it’s a powerful force multiplier with an advanced sensor and communications suite that significantly enhances the situational awareness and capabilities of networked airborne, surface and ground-based platforms.

 

23 Feb 18. India’s indigenous aircraft Saras completes second flight test. India’s indigenously built light transport aircraft Saras has successfully conducted a test flight for the second time from Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) airport in Bengaluru. Indian Air Force (IAF) air vice-marshal Sandeep Singh said that the IAF is committed to test and induct the first 15 Saras aircraft designed and built by local manufacturers. The current trial was conducted as part of 20 test flights planned for the Saras PT1N aircraft in order to demonstrate the capability of the jet. The first test was successfully carried out on 24 January. Designed and developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), the production model aircraft is expected to be ready between June and July this year, a company statement said. The flight test has been carried out following major upgrades incorporated by NAL on the Saras PT 1 model that includes installation of 2x1200shp engines and a 104in diameter propeller, in addition to enhanced flight control system, rudder area, main wheel, and brakes. With a considerable drag / weight reduction, the modified version of the aircraft is upgraded with several features such as high cruise speed, lower fuel consumption, short landing and take-off distance, low cabin noise, operable from high and hot airfield, pressurised cabin, operable from semi-prepared airfield, as well as low acquisition and maintenance cost. Upgraded from the previous 14-seater model, the new and modernised Saras PT 1 version will feature 19 seats. HAL is expected to serve as the production agency for the military version of Saras. (Source: airforce-technology.com)

 

MILITARY AND GOVERNMENT

 

PERSONNEL

 

01 Mar 18. Germany Offers Transport Support for NATO. NATO wants to strengthen its defence capability with two new commands. To protect the supply and connecting lines across the Atlantic, a command is to be established in the USA. In Central Europe, there are plans to establish a command to support troop transport to and within Europe.

In peacetime the commands are to work outside the NATO command structure. During exercises or in the field, they are to be placed under NATO control. Funding is provided by a single nation or several nations (framework nations).

Germany has offered to take responsibility for setting up the support command. This command is intended to coordinate the transport of material and personnel as well as their protection. Already on the way to the area of operation and clearly in advance, planning can be centralised and the tasks for protection can be harmonised. It is also planned to train and coordinate military units.

The responsibility covers the SACEUR‘s area of responsibility and ranges from Greenland to Africa, Europe and its peripheral seas. The command is to be set up multinational and cover all kinds of military dimensions (land, air, sea). (Source: ESD Spotlight)

 

01 Mar 18. Two New Logistics Directorates of NSPA.  As a result of growing demand, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) in Capellen/Luxembourg has divided the Logistics Operations business unit into two Logistics Directorates. The head of the “Life Cycle Management” department is Brigadier General Rudolf Maus, who had previously headed the “Logistics Operations” directorate with a sales volume of over €4bn in 2017. Orhan Muratli, the former deputy to Maus, is now heading the newly formed Support to Operations Direc-torate.

The new directorates provide broad logistical support for NATO, its member and partner nations and see themselves as logistical integrators of multinational initiatives. The NSPA works on behalf of the nations without commercial intent (no profit/no loss principle), consolidates national needs wherever possible and ensures the best possible support solutions in free competition via commercial services.

The “Life Cycle Management” department covers the entire spectrum of capabilities from the concept phase through development and production to support in the operation and phasing out of material (cradle to grave). Currently, more than 90 weapon systems are supported in different phases of the life cycle, as well as entire fleets in operation. An important instrument of support are weapon system partnerships in which nations consolidate and steer joint cooperation for a particular weapon system. In the field of land systems, these include MLRS, PzH 2000, Dingo 2, Leopard 2 and the GTK Boxer. (Source: ESD Spotlight)

 

28 Feb 18. US Space Corps could launch in 3 years, key lawmaker says. Congress’ strongest supporters of a new Space Corps have not given up the fight, slamming the U.S. Air Force for wasted time as Russia and China pose a growing threat to America’s vital satellites.

“We could be deaf, dumb and blind within seconds,” House Armed Services Strategic Forces ranking member Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., said Wednesday at a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum on space. “Seldom has a great nation been so vulnerable.”

Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, and the Corps’ biggest champion on Capitol Hill, said a space-focused service could be built in three to five years. By year’s end, Rogers, R-Ala., expects an independent report, required by the 2018 defense policy law, about how that process might look.

Rogers and Cooper argue it’s necessary for the military to have a dedicated space force because the Air Force let space capability atrophy in favor of more traditional air needs.

Rogers on Wednesday accused the Air Force of not taking space seriously enough to send a speaker to the CSIS event.

“Over the years, the Air Force has used space programs as a money pot to reach into and subsidize air-dominance programs when they feel like Congress hasn’t given them enough for tankers, fighter jets, whatever,” Rogers said. “Congress has not given any of the services enough, but that doesn’t mean you starve to death one of your subordinate missions.”

(Source: Defense News)

 

27 Feb 18. Saudi king replaces top commanders in military shake-up. Saudi King Salman replaced top military commanders including the Chief of Staff, state media said on 26 February, in a major shake-up of the kingdom’s defence establishment.

The monarch replaced the heads of the ground forces and air defences, as well as civilian officials including several deputy ministers, in a series of late-night royal decrees.

No official reason was given for the sweeping overhaul, but it comes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pursues military reform and a bloody campaign against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Huthi rebels nears the end of its third year.

‘Termination of the services of General Abdul Rahman bin Saleh al-Bunyan, Chief of Staff,’ the official Saudi Press Agency announced, adding that Fayyad al-Ruwaili had been appointed as his replacement.

Al-Bunyan was retired after he inaugurated an arms exhibition recently in Riyadh by the Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), the state-owned defence company, which has drawn several global defence firms.

Theodore Karasik, a senior advisor at the consultancy Gulf States Analytics, told AFP: ‘A military transformation is underway in Saudi Arabia.

‘The changes come on the heels of the SAMI exhibition, which is a critical part of the Prince Mohammed’s reform plan to create an indigenous defence programme.’

Crown Prince Mohammed, the son of the monarch and heir to the throne, is the country’s defence minister and has been consolidating his grip on power in recent months while pushing major economic and social reforms.

The young prince has pursued an assertive regional policy, including leading a military intervention in neighbouring Yemen since 2015 that is seen as a proxy war with arch-rival Iran.

The Yemen conflict has led to what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

More than 9,200 people have been killed in the conflict and another nearly 2,200 Yemenis have died of cholera, according to the World Health Organization.

King Salman also decreed a series of civilian appointments that saw younger officials being elevated to key positions as deputy ministers, deputy provincial governors and royal court advisors.

Tamadar bint Yousef al-Ramah was appointed the deputy minister of labour and social development, a rare senior government post for a woman in the conservative kingdom.

Prince Turki bin Talal, the brother of billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, was appointed deputy governor of the southern Assir Province.

Prince Al-Waleed, dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia, was among princes, ministers and tycoons detained in Riyadh’s luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel in an unprecedented crackdown on what the government calls elite corruption. (Source: Shephard)

 

24 Feb 18. DIUx searching for Raj Shah replacement. After almost two years at the helm of the Pentagon’s innovation shop, Raj Shah is returning to the private sector. Shah, whose background is in venture capital, served as managing director of the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, known as DIUx, as the office expanded and transitioned to the Trump administration. Shah joined DIUx in May 2016, and oversaw the expansion of DIUx from a single Silicon Valley outpost to an effort with offices in Boston and Austin, Texas. A DOD spokesperson confirmed the departure on Feb. 23.

“The nature of warfare is changing, and it’s being driven by technologies that whose development is being led in the commercial center,” Shah said at the 2017 Reagan National Defense Forum. “The Pentagon used to be a monopsony buyer – buying bespoke stuff for ourselves – that world is changing.”

Shah stressed that as technologies with military applications become more and more available, the onus is on the U.S. to take a lead role in funding and shepherding startups because potential adversaries are all too willing to take on that role themselves.

“The challenge and driver here is that our adversaries are not waiting,” Shah said at the Reagan Forum. He noted that Chinese sovereign wealth fund investment in robotics and other technologies is accelerating.

“You can make…observations of why they’re doing it,” he said. “But if we think these things are going to be military-relevant in the future, then [China’s] getting a seat at the table early…that’s a big deal”

Current focus areas for DIUx include artificial intelligence, space, IT, autonomous systems and countering biological threats. The innovation shop already has awarded in excess of $100 m in contracts for more than 45 pilot projects. The agency is expected to be funded at $54m in 2018 and the Pentagon is seeking $71m for DIUx in 2019.

“There is no doubt in my mind that DIUx will not only continue to exist, it will actually grow in its influence and its impact on the Department of Defense,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in an August 2017 visit to the unit’s Silicon Valley office.

During the Obama administration, the DIUx chief reported directly to the secretary of defense. Under a recent reorganization mandated by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, DIUx leaders will now report up to DOD’s undersecretary for research and engineering.

Shah’s exit comes just weeks after one of its funded companies, REAN Cloud, scored a major cloud contract with the Pentagon. DoD signed a five-year $950m cloud deal with the Amazon reseller, enabling DOD agencies to quickly onboard cloud services using “other transaction authority,” a process that streamlines acquisition speed. The OTA contract between REAN and DOD was modeled after a $6.6m DIUx cloud migration pilot in 2017 conducted on behalf of the U.S. Transportation Command.

Shah’s departure has been long expected, two Silicon Valley sources told FCW, and the Pentagon is in the midst of a search for a new managing director. The DOD spokesperson declined to tell FCW how close the unit is to landing a replacement. Navy Capt. Sean Heritage, the DIUx military deputy, is serving as acting managing director while a replacement is sought. (Source: Defense Systems)

 

U.S. APPOINTMENTS

 

01 Mar 18. MG Albert M. Elton II, deputy director for special operations/counterterrorism, J-37, Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia, to commander, Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan; and commander, Headquarters North Atlantic Treaty Organization Special Operations Forces Component Command-Afghanistan, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.

 

01 Mar 18. MG Barre R. Seguin, director, plans and programs, J-5, Headquarters U.S. Africa Command, Stuttgart-Mohringen, Germany, to commander, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force – Afghanistan; commander, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Air Command – Afghanistan; director, Air Forces Central Command’s Air Component Coordination Element for U.S. Forces – Afghanistan, Air Combat Command and Support of North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Operation Resolute Support; and deputy commander – Air, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, U.S. Central Command, Kabul, Afghanistan.

 

01 Mar 18. MG Mark E. Weatherington, director, cyberspace operations, Headquarters North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, to deputy commander, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.

 

01 Mar 18. Brig. Gen. Charles S. Corcoran, who has been selected for the grade of major general, from deputy chief of staff, operations, Headquarters Allied Air Command, Allied Command Operations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to chief of staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa, Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

 

01 Mar 18. BG Stephen L. Davis, who has been selected for the grade of major general, from special assistant to the chief of staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia, to director, global operations, J-3, Headquarters U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.

 

01 Mar 18. BG Lee E. Payne, who has been selected for the grade of major general, from command surgeon, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, to director, Healthcare Operations, Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, Virginia.

 

01 Mar 18. BG Angela M. Cadwell, director, command, control, communications, and cyber systems (C4), Headquarters U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, to director, cyberspace operations, Headquarters North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.

 

01 Mar 18. BG Christopher D. Hill, director, logistics, engineering, and force protection, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, to commander, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, Air Force Materiel Command, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

 

01 Mar 18. BG Tom D. Miller, commander, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, Air Force Materiel Command, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, to director, logistics, engineering, and force protection, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.

 

01 Mar 18. BG Mark H. Slocum, director, U.S. Air Forces in Europe – United Kingdom, U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa, Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England, to inspector general, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.

 

01 Mar 18. Col. Andrew P. Hansen, who has been selected for the grade of brigadier general, from director, joint and national security council matters, Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia, to director, U.S. Air Forces in Europe – United Kingdom, U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa, Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England.

 

01 Mar 18. Col. Thomas K. Hensley, who has been selected for the grade of brigadier general, from senior military assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence), Office of the Secretary of Defense, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia, to director, CJ2, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia.

01 Mar 18. Col. Jeffrey R. King, who has been selected for the grade of brigadier general, from deputy director, resource integration, Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia, to director, logistics, engineering and force protection, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

 

01 Mar 18. Col. Robert K. Lyman, who has been selected for the grade of brigadier general, from director of communications, Headquarters Joint Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to director, command, control, communication, and cyber systems (C4), Headquarters U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

 

01 Mar 18. Col. David B. Lyons, who has been selected for the grade of brigadier general, from vice commander, 12th Air Force, Air Combat Command, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, to commander, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, Air Combat Command, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.

 

01 Mar 18. Col. Robert J. Marks, who has been selected for the grade of brigadier general, from command surgeon, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to command surgeon, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; and chief of the Air Force Nurse Corps, Office of the Surgeon General of the Air Force, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia.

 

01 Mar 18. USAF LG Timothy M. Ray for appointment to the rank of general, and for assignment as commander, Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.  Ray is currently serving as deputy commander, U.S. European Command, Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany.

 

01 Mar 18. USAF MG David D. Thompson for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general, and for assignment as vice commander, Air Force Space Command, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia.  Thompson is currently serving as special assistant to the commander, Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.

 

28 Feb 18. Rear Adm. Timothy White has been nominated to serve as the next commander of Fleet Cyber Command/Tenth Fleet, as well as a third star. White, who is currently serving as the commander of Cyber Command’s Cyber National Mission Force, which protects the nation from cyberattacks of significant consequences, would take the reins of the Navy’s service cyber component to Cyber Command. The Navy, along with the Army, announced late last year their cyber mission force teams reached a critical staffing milestone almost a full year ahead of schedule. (Source: Fifth Domain)

 

28 Feb 18. Rear Adm. (lower half) John V. Fuller will be assigned as director, J5, U.S. Northern Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.  Fuller is currently serving as commander, Carrier Strike Group 1, San Diego, California.

 

28 Feb 18. Rear Adm. (lower half) Shane G. Gahagan will be assigned as program executive officer for tactical aircraft programs, Patuxent River, Maryland.  Gahagan is currently serving as commander, Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division; and assistant commander for research and engineering, Naval Air Systems Command (AIR-4.0), Patuxent River, Maryland.

 

28 Feb 18. Rear Adm. (lower half) Kevin M. Jones will be assigned as commander, Defense Logistics Agency Distribution, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania.  Jones is currently serving as commander, Office of Special Projects, Washington, District of Columbia.

 

28 Feb 18. Rear Adm. (lower half) Karl O. Thomas will be assigned as commander, Task Force 70; and commander, Carrier Strike Group 5, Yokosuka, Japan.  Thomas is currently serving as director, 21st Century Sailor Office, N17, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Arlington, Virginia.

 

28 Feb 18. Navy Vice Adm. Christopher W. Grady for appointment to the rank of admiral, and for assignment as commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Virginia.  Grady is currently serving as commander, Sixth Fleet; commander, Task Force Six; commander, Striking and Support Forces NATO; deputy commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe; deputy commander, U.S. Naval Forces Africa; and Joint Force Maritime Component commander Europe, Naples Italy.

 

28 Feb 18. Navy Vice Adm. Charles A. Richard for reappointment to the rank of vice admiral, and for assignment as commander, Naval Submarine Forces; commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet; and commander, Allied Submarine Command, Norfolk, Virginia.  Richard is currently serving as deputy commander, U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.

 

28 Feb 18. Navy Rear Adm. Michael T. Moran for appointment to the rank of vice admiral, and for assignment as principal military deputy assistant secretary of the Navy (research, development, and acquisition), Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia.  Moran is currently serving as program executive officer for Tactical Aircraft Programs, Patuxent River, Maryland.

 

28 Feb 18. Navy Capt. David A. Welch has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half).  Welch is currently serving as director for international engagement, N52, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, District of Columbia.

 

INDUSTRY

 

INDUSTRY TEAMINGS

 

27 Feb 18. Lockheed Martin, Taqnia Aeronautics collaboration grows. A joint venture (JV) between Lockheed Martin and Taqnia Aeronautics that facilitates the local build of Black Hawk rotorcraft in Saudi Arabia is expected to result in more job provision than the entity originally anticipated. About 650 jobs are now expected to result from the Rotary Aircraft Manufacturing Saudi Arabia (RAMSA) JV, the establishment of which was announced in May 2017 as part of a defence package signed during US President Trump’s visit to the Saudi kingdom. “We are advancing the agreement based on a letter of intent to establish a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Taqnia Aeronautics called Rotary Aircraft Manufacturing Saudi Arabia, supporting the development of a local defense industry,” a spokesperson told Jane’s. (Source: IHS Jane’s)

 

PERSONNEL

 

01 Mar 18. Germany Would Not Block Suitable French Pick for Airbus CEO: Minister

. The German government would not oppose a suitable French candidate to replace Tom Enders as chief executive of European planemaker Airbus when his term expires in 2019, German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said on Thursday. Zypries told reporters it would be difficult for Germany, which alongside France holds a stake in Europe’s largest aerospace company, to block a French candidate after years of having Enders, a German, at the helm. “The most important thing is that it is someone who is qualified,” Zypries said, adding: “The competition in America is not sleeping.” Enders announced in December he would not seek a new mandate when his term expires in 2019. (Source: glstrade.com/Reuters)

 

EUROPE APPOINTMENTS

 

27 Feb 18. Airbus SE (stock exchange symbol: AIR) will propose the appointment of three new independent non-executive directors at its 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 11 April to replace long-serving Board Members. Shareholder approval will be sought for the appointment of Victor Chu, 60, as a Member of the Board of Directors for a term of three years. Mr. Chu, who is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong-based First Eastern Investment Group and a Member of the Board of China Merchants China Direct Investments Ltd., would replace Sir John Parker whose mandate expires at the close of the AGM.

Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, 59, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors of Solvay SA and a Member of the Board of AXA, is proposed to replace

Jean-Claude Trichet whose mandate expires.

René Obermann, 54, a Managing Director at Warburg Pincus, Member of the Board of Telenor ASA and a Member of the Supervisory Board of ThyssenKrupp AG, would replace Hans-Peter Keitel whose mandate expires at the close of the meeting.

The mandate of non-executive director Amparo Moraleda is up for renewal at the meeting. Mandates of all other Board members are not subject to any decision at the AGM.

Airbus has a policy of ‘staggered’ Board terms whereby one third of the 12 directors are reappointed or replaced every year to ensure a smooth transition and to be in line with best practices. This also avoids large block replacements at any single shareholder meeting.

Other resolutions include the approval of the proposed 2017 dividend of € 1.50 per share.

 

27 Feb 18. New ConnectJets Knightsbridge office, James Banham joins team. ConnectJets has recently moved to new offices at 27 Knightsbridge, London, which features a facility to virtually showcase the Avanti EVO.  The team has also been further bolstered by the arrival of James Banham, who takes responsibility for partnerships, evens, marketing and business development.

 

24 Feb 18. In mid-April 2018, Frequentis CEO and company owner Hannes Bardach who has been in the Frequentis management for 35 years, will move to the Frequentis Supervisory Board. Norbert Haslacher, who joined the company in 2015 as board member for Sales & Marketing, will become new Chief Executive Officer. The future three-member board – Hermann Mattanovich and Sylvia Bardach remain in their current responsibility as CTO and CFO respectively – will drive further international growth of the Frequentis Group. As an active owner and chairman of the Supervisory Board, Hannes Bardach will work closely with the Executive Board and contribute to tasks critical to success for the corporate group.

 

26 Feb 18. John Rigby & Co. appoints Andrew Ambrose as head of sales. With over 19 years’ experience in the British gun trade, Andrew Ambrose has been appointed as head of sales at London gunmakers John Rigby & Co. After joining Holland & Holland at the age of 23, Andrew worked his way through the ranks from junior administrator to gunroom manager.  At Rigby, Andrew will be responsible for generating and growing business sales, plus developing the website. Andrew will also be working alongside managing director Marc Newton to help develop the business itself, which is constantly moving from strength to strength.

 

U.S. APPOINTMENTS

 

01 Mar 18. The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today announced that it has named Tim Keating as executive vice president of Government Operations. Keating, 56, has served as senior vice president of Government Operations since joining Boeing in May 2008. In this role, Keating leads the company’s public policy efforts, including all U.S. federal, state and local government liaison operations, as well as the Boeing Global Engagement organization. In addition to oversight of the company’s growing global philanthropic activities, he will continue in this capacity and to serve on the Boeing Executive Council.

 

26 Feb 18. GE nominates three new directors to board. General Electric Co (GE.N) on Monday nominated three new candidates for its board of directors, ahead of a shareholder meeting in April. The candidates are former Danaher Corp (DHR.N) chief executive officer Lawrence Culp, ex-American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) CEO Thomas Horton and the former chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, Leslie Seidman.

01 Mar 18. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) announced today that Jeff Babione has been named the vice president and general manager of Advanced Development Programs (ADP) – also known as Skunk Works® – succeeding Rob Weiss who will retire at the end of 2018. Greg Ulmer has been named vice president and general manager of the F-35 Program succeeding Babione. These changes are effective March 19.  Babione will focus on maintaining the historic success of ADP using the Skunk Works principles – quick, quiet, and quality – to showcase Lockheed Martin’s continuous support for the warfighter. Ulmer, who most recently served as vice president, F-35 Aircraft Production Business Unit (PBU), will maintain the positive program momentum and ensure the F-35 program meets the speed, agility, quality and affordability requirements outlined by U.S. and international customers.

 

REST OF THE WORLD APPOINTMENTS

 

23 Feb 18. A former Royal Australian Navy member has joined Northrop Grumman Australia. Mike Gallagher has taken up the role of strategy director and will oversee the business strategy of the organisation as it continues to expand. Gallagher served in the RAN for 22 years, spending 17 of these in the submarine service where he commanded HMS Osiris on exchange with the Royal Navy, and brought HMAS Farncomb into service.

Since leaving the RAN in 1998, he has held senior executive positions in Raytheon Australia, Nautronix and L3 Oceania, where he was managing director. (Source: Defence Connect)

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TopEngineer was founded by serial digital recruitment entrepreneurs, the Potts brothers, the founders and former owners of Jobsite and the Evenbase digital recruitment group. They have used all of their knowledge and experience of digital recruitment and candidate attraction to deliver this global platform. TopEngineer was launched in 2015 to help organisations drive down the cost of engineering recruitment and to provide engineers with a one-stop-shop for all of their job hunting needs as well as career advice, news and events.

If you would like to know how TopEngineer can help your organisation, please contact the team on 03300 555850 or visit the site: www.topengineer.com Alternatively, if you are looking for a job, feel free to visit the site and apply for relevant roles.

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EXHIBITIONS AND CONFERENCES

 

27 Feb 18. Owning The Night 2018 – Battlespace Surveillance. Fighting the 24 Hour War – Live UAV Detection Planned! ‘Owning the Night 2018’ is to be held at Chepstow Racecourse, Monmouthshire, South Wales, UK, in association with Cranfield Defence and Security, on Tuesday 20th November 2018.

‘Owning the Night 2018’ is to be held at Chepstow Racecourse, Monmouthshire, South Wales, UK, in association with Cranfield Defence and Security, on Tuesday 20th November 2018. This year it will be a one day event, with morning registration followed by the Conference and Exhibition, ending with a live evening battlespace surveillance demonstration, including live UAV detection, followed by a cocktail reception and buffet dinner at the racecourse.

Julian Nettlefold of BATTLESPACE said, “Chepstow Racecourse is an ideal venue to hold Owning The Night as it provides the conference and demonstration facilities under one roof. In addition, given its location in over 400 acres of countryside, with a secure perimeter fence, it is a perfect location for night vision demonstrations with little ambient light egress and the distances required to enable target location at range. Chepstow also has a road running inside the course which will enable Owning The Night to have night driving for the first time since 2009. These vehicles will form part of the night-time demonstrations and will be tracked by exhibitors’ cameras and sensors. We will also be demonstrating day and night live UAV detection systems for the first time.”

Nick Lindley, Director Symposia at Shrivenham said, “Holding Owning the Night at Chepstow represents another step in the development of the Symposia programme as we look to better match facilities to symposia aims and objectives, whilst still ensuring value for money. The innovative use of the racecourse offers us the freedom to deliver high-quality presentations, discussion, networking, exhibits and a range of demonstrations on a single secure site.”

Charlotte Caple of Chepstow racecourse said, “We are delighted to host Owning The Night 2018. Given the location and our extensive facilities, we can accommodate Owning The Night’s conference and demonstrations in one location. The fact that racecourses are required to have the highest standards of security, we are well placed to make this event a complete success and look forward to developing the event and others with BATTLESPACE and Symposia for future years.”

Today’s soldier is exposed to new and evolving threats in conflict, an adversarial and unrelenting activity, that can be transmitted live into our homes by 24 hour media often embedded with forces in the front line. In this scenario the soldier on the ground not only has to deal with his enemy in bad weather, poor light and darkness, he may also have to liaise with coalition forces, local and homeland security organisations, non-government and humanitarian agencies, as well as the media. These requirements require multi-functional skills and multi-cultural disciplines that add to the pressure of combat. He may also have to fight an amorphous enemy who is often indistinct from not only the local population, but also the assured information the soldier receives. The increasing amount of information and data that the soldier needs to analyse in his decision-making mean that systems that can deliver pervasive and better visibility, clearer and greater granularity, and can be fused with other information streams are likely to offer the advantage defence and security operators need.

Owning The Night 2018 will give Defence, Police, Government and Industry a taste of the future and the ability to try the latest night vision devices from weapon sights through night driving aids to advanced target tracking and identification systems.

Please submit proposed Conference Papers to Julian Nettlefold or Nick Linley.

Please contact Nick Linley or Leanne Lawson at Symposia At Shrivenham for Delegate and Exhibition Rates.

For further details contact:

Julian Nettlefold

BATTLESPACE

Tel/Fax: +44 (0)207 6105520

Mobile:  +44 (0)77689 54766

e-mail:

www. battle-technology.com

and

Nick Lindley

Director Symposia at Shrivenham

Defence Academy of the United Kingdom

Tel:   +44 (0) 1793 78 (Mil 96161) 5847

e-mail:

web: www.symposiaatshrivenham.com

Leanne Lawson

Defence Academy of the United Kingdom

Tel:   +44 (0)   +44 (0) 1793 78 (Mil 96161) 5648

e-mail:

web: www.symposiaatshrivenham.com

 

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS

 

27 Feb 18. Defence Committee. Call For Evidence: Modernising Defence Programme. On 25 January the Defence Secretary made a statement to the House of Commons announcing that the Defence strand of the ongoing National Security Capability Review (NSCR) was being separated, and that a new Modernising Defence Programme (MDP) would take its place. The rationale of the MDP remains that the threats facing the UK have become more “complex and intertwined”. Unlike the NSCR, the Secretary of State indicated that he did not intend for the MDP to be a fiscally neutral exercise. The MDP will be made up of four strands, three of which will look at organisation, efficiency management and business and commercial practices in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and a fourth focusing on capability and force structure. The department’s intention is to publish the review before the House of Commons rises for its summer recess in late July. The Committee is seeking to take evidence in order to lay out its priorities and expectations ahead of the MDP reporting.

Written evidence is being sought on the following matters:

• Is the Government correct in its assessment that state-based threats now pose the greatest risk to the United Kingdom?
• What should the MDP mean for the size and shape of the Armed Forces?
• What are the implications of examining Defence separately from the wider consideration of national security capabilities?
• Should the MoD be seeking further increases in defence spending?
• Which capabilities should the MDP be seeking to retain and augment? Which should it be seeking to restructure or dispose of?
• How can the MoD reform itself to improve its business, commercial and procurement practices? How can it set realistic efficiency targets?
• Who should the MoD be consulting externally?
• What lessons can be learned from past defence reviews to inform and improve the outcome of the MDP?

Written submissions for this inquiry should be submitted via the inquiry page on the Defence Committee website. The deadline for written submissions is Monday 16 April 2018.

Submissions should state clearly who the submission is from e.g. ‘Written evidence submitted by <Name>’ and be no longer than 3,000 words. Introductory material on your background or that of your organisation should also be no longer than 200 words. Please contact the Committee staff if you wish to discuss this.

Submissions must be a self-contained memorandum in Word or Rich Text Format (not PDFs). Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference and the document should, if possible, include an executive summary.

Submissions should be original work, not previously published or circulated elsewhere. Once submitted, your submission becomes the property of the Committee and no public use should be made of it unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee.

Please bear in mind that the Committee will not consider individual cases or matters currently before a court of law, or matters in respect of which court proceedings are imminent. If you anticipate such issues arising, you should discuss with the Clerk of the Committee how this might affect your submission.

The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to publish the written evidence it receives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure; the Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.

The personal information you supply will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 for the purposes of attributing the evidence you submit and contacting you as necessary in connection with its processing. The Clerk of the House of Commons is the data controller for the purposes of the Act.

 

House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers

 

Q

Asked by Lord West of Spithead

Asked on: 20 February 2018

Ministry of Defence

Type 26 Frigates

HL5696

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 1 February (HL5091), whether they have produced any estimates of the difference in cost per ship if long-lead items had been ordered for all eight Type 26 Frigates, rather than for an initial batch of three ships.

A

Answered by: Earl Howe

Answered on: 28 February 2018

The Ministry of Defence undertook a series of cost modelling options to inform the decision to order the ships in two batches, and this included the purchase of long-lead items. We concluded that any small benefit that might accrue from buying long-lead items for all eight ships would be offset by the risk of the items becoming obsolete before the start of the programme for the second batch of ships.

 

Q

Asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem

Asked on: 22 February 2018

Ministry of Defence

Kuwait: Armed Forces

HL5776

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possibility of deploying an enhanced UK military presence in Kuwait.

A

Answered by: Earl Howe

Answered on: 28 February 2018

There are on going discussions between the UK and Kuwaiti Governments, without commitment, to consider options to enhance the UK military presence in Kuwait. Currently the UK has a Defence Section in the Embassy in Kuwait and has, for many years, advised and developed Kuwait’s Armed Forces through a British Military Mission permanently based in Kuwait. In addition, we have been supporting the counter-Daesh coalition with troops based in Kuwait. The UK military partnership with Kuwait also includes joint exercising with Kuwait’s military institutions and Armed Forces.