BATTLESPACE UPDATE Vol.20 ISSUE 21
21 May 2018
NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF – EUROPE
Dreadnought Submarines: Construction
Astute Submarines: Final Build
Submarines: Decommissioning
France: Test Pilot Exchange
Nigeria: Force Protection Training
Challenger 2 MBT: Spares for Oman
Hybrid Threats: Specialist Brigades
Military Aircraft: Fleet Numbers
Latin America: Foreign Secretary’s Visit
United Nations (UN): Peacekeeping
HMS WALNEY: Potential Sale
Turkish imports increase by 20%
UK troops For Afghanistan
Trump Rails Against German Spending
NATO Plans Greater Show of Force
Romania Buys Iron Dome
Brexit update!
UK could SNUB US fighter jets
Spain defence export record
UK will lose influence in CSDP
EU wants strong post-Brexit defence
NEWS IN BRIEF – USA
Information Technology Initiatives
B-1 Bomber into a Gunship
USAF Budget Builds on Momentum
NATO allies who miss spending
Army Modernization Philosophy
US terrorism budget since 9/11
US May Lose In Start Of Next War
$7.5bn sought to counter China
EU provided illegal Airbus subsidies
NEWS IN BRIEF – REST OF THE WORLD
UAE amphibious assault in Yemen
USAF resumes Afghan C-17 airdrops
Australian Labor alarm on OPV
Aus auditor asks for new costings
Australian Industry Plan released
BUSINESS NEWS
Spending Propels Industry Mergers
DSME makes further gains
Kongsberg saw sales fall
AERTEC buys QualityPark Group
Remington exits bankruptcy
CETC and CSIC smart manufacturing
Trump talk of helping China’s ZTE
Reliance Naval non-performing asset
Indra reports sharp earnings fall
ST Engineering posts quarterly gains
MILITARY VEHICLE NEWS
Bushmaster arrives in Japan
Team Polaris® selected by U.S.
Polaris ATV update
Jaguar prototype unveiled
Industry pushes lighter vehicles
Watpac builds Rheinmetall MILVEHCOE
Derivatsiya-PVO SPAAG trials in 2018
Poland seeks mine-laying system
USMC Wants Armored Recon Prototypes
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
SOCOM Timing Capabilities
LM Vehicle Control Station
Crossbar agreement with Microsemi
Sparton Introduces LCD Display
SEA – future of modelling
Singapore’s digital sandbox
V-280 Valor hits cruise
China’s Flying Wing Bomber
SATELLITE SYSTEMS, SATCOM AND SPACE SYSTEMS UPDATE
US must secure supply chain
Boeing and Assembrix 3-D MoU
Kymeta Appoints CopaSAT
Britain, EU clash over Galileo
UK cannot be part of Galileo
UK could withhold clearances
New iDirect Government Unveiling
VT iDirect and Kymeta partner
Smart Antennas from Alcan
RADAR, EO/IR, NIGHT VISION AND SURVEILLANCE UPDATE
US DOT’s Integration Pilot Program
USAF seeks Pave Hawk DVE solution
The pricey RU60G sniper sight
Eagle Eye Cloud Security Camera VMS
Pulsar IR Illuminators!
RoK sensors for helicopter carrier
Cameroon Air Force receives Cessnas
Authority to disable drones
Sig TANGO6 1-6×24 scope for SDMR
FLIR – More is Better
C295 MPA for South Korea
WINGMAN wearable UAV detection
New Law Enforcement Tactical UAV
USAF JSTARS recap contract required
UK Airport Trial of UAV System
European Hub for DroneShield
Elbit XACTth65 for ADF
New Tech to Counter Drones
MISSILE, BALLISTICS AND SOLDIER SYSTEMS UPDATE
Arnold Defense at SOFIC
US Army orders Bonus rounds
SEA supplies TLS
Sparton and Raytheon Team
USS Milwaukee fires missiles
DARPA develops generic seeker
Meteor-class missiles on Tejas
Selling guns abroad easier
New Russian Yars missile complexes
Armored Brigades To Get APS
USS Milius to U.S. 7th Fleet
Indian Army to acquire new guns
Dyneema® capacity increased
Acquisition of Next-Gen US Rifle
US Army Push for Greater Lethality
Commandos Buying guided munitions
Rafael’s downscaled Trophy APS
UNMANNED SYSTEMS UPDATE
Knight Hawk UAV from K2
Contract for Stoprotor
New autonomous nano-drone
Russian ships fitted with BPV-500
Russia tests new UAVs
Solar Power to Hybrid Tiger UAV
Sierra Nevada Joins Gremlins
GA-ASI Japan Public Day demo
German to lease Israeli drones
Gremlins Demo Flights in 2019
UK flip-flops toward ISR drone
Eurodrone will rely on Galileo
US drone sales to Middle East
Mysterious UAV in Afghanistan
C2, TACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS, AI, CYBER, EW, CLOUD COMPUTING AND HOMELAND SECURITY UPDATE
Spectra atSOFIC in Tampa
Storing intel in big data age
Cyber Command has full staff
US elite tier of EW warriors
Denmark launches cyber strategy
One EA-6B Prowler squadron left
USAF EW Push Gains Steam
Nationwide Cybersecurity Exercise
EU funded Brain-IoT Project
NDAA markup keeps DISA cuts
INTERNATIONAL PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES
UNITED KINGDOM AND NATO
The cost of Trident
BAE Systems Astute contract
EUROPE
Poland seeks mine-laying system
Bell expects Czech UH-1Y sale
Finland’s fighter replacement
USA
USAF seeks Pave Hawk DVE solution
Pentagon used IDIQ contracts
REST OF THE WORLD
RoK Chinook upgrade Team
Indian RFP for 200 Ka-226T
- African Defence Industry Fund
US, Taiwan boost engagement
Indian Army to acquire new guns
Australian Future Frigates project
CONTRACT NEWS IN BRIEF
UNITED KINGDOM
SEA
BAE Astute contract
EUROPE
SEA
Navantia Spanish contract
USA
LAND
Epsilor Harris contract
L3 NVG contract
Raytheon MARS contract
ViaSat MIDS contract
AIR
General Atomics MQ-9 contract
Lockheed F-35 contract
Lockheed ELGTR contract
TECHNOLOGY
Insight Public Sector contract
Polaris Alpha contract
REST OF THE WORLD
LAND
Frequentis ATC contract
AIR
Argentina buys Super Étendard
TECHNOLOGY
Aus Innovation Hub contracts
MANAGEMENT ON THE MOVE
TopEngineer.com Job Of the Week!
Systems Manager in Glos
LOCATIONS
LAND
Thailand’s MRO project
F-35 fleet management office
Saab expands Finnish facility
OPEC CBRNe Scottish HQ
FREQUENTIS to open UAE office
Raytheon broke ground on hangar
MARITIME
China’s second carrier trials
AWD Sydney launched
Panama commissions Stan Lander
China’s first carrier trials
AIR
UK’s F-35Bs arrive next month
CH-53 Deliveries to USMC
Sudan’s FTC-2000 jets arrive
German Navy Sea Lion delayed
King Air 350 certified for RNZAF
Tu-22M3M flight later in 2018
Chinese amphibious aircraft by 2022
MILITARY AND GOVERNMENT
PERSONNEL
U.S. APPOINTMENTS
USMC LG J.L. Osterman appointment
USAF LG C.Q. Brown Jr. appointment
USN Capt. J.S. Scheidt appointment
USAF LG Richard M. Clark nominated
USAF Col. M.C. Edmondson nominated
USMC Col. D.J. Lecce appointment
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY TEAMINGS
Rafael JV with ROMAERO
Rolls-Royce partners Marand
Boeing and Assembrix MOA
Aselsan, JoSecure agreement
PERSONNEL
Harald Wilhelm leaves Airbus
U.S. APPOINTMENTS
SSL Names Marks and Sarojak
REST OF THE WORLD APPOINTMENTS
John Davis joins Naval Group Aus
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS
UK Defence Industry Exports
The Indispensable Ally?
Sunset for the Royal Marines?
House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Qatar: Hawk Aircraft
Armed Forces: Railways
MoD: Internet
Defence: Procurement
FEATURES
The INF Treaty: The Way Forward
By Katarzyna Kubiak, Transatlantic Post-Doc Fellow for International
Relations and Security (TAPIR), Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies
Helping Iraq Help Itself: Turning the Iraqi Election into a Strategic Asset By Anthony H. Cordesman
Team Leidos Rises to the MOD Logistics Challenge
By Howard Wheeldon, FRAeS, Wheeldon Strategic Advisory Ltd.
Japan’s Critical Leadership Role On Free And Fair Trade
By Shin Ito
CAE – Training Partner of Choice
By Howard Wheeldon, FRAeS, Wheeldon Strategic Advisory Ltd.
MOD Confirms Seventh Astute Class Submarine Order for BAE Systems
By Howard Wheeldon, FRAeS, Wheeldon Strategic Advisory Ltd.
TAILPIECE
“Ukraine claims dolphin army captured by Russia went on hunger strike”. (The Guardian headline, 17 May 18.) (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
CONTACT DETAILS
Julian Nettlefold
BATTLESPACE Publications
8 Sinclair Gardens
London W14 0AT
Tel/Fax: +44 (0)207 6105520
Mobile: +44 077689 54766
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NEWS IN BRIEF – EUROPE
Web Page sponsored by Harris Corporation
http://www.harrisforcemodernization.com
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14 May 18. Dreadnought Submarines: Construction. Speaking at BAE Systems’ shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, the Defence Secretary announced (14 May 18) that the Dreadnought Submarine programme has moved into its second phase with a £900m contract signed with BAE Systems and a £60m contract signed with Rolls-Royce. The second phase continues the design of the first submarine and the start of build of the second.
Comment: Dreadnought is the programme to replace the four Vanguard Class submarines, which carry the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent. The submarine will be 153.6 metres long, with a displacement of 17,200
tonnes. The boats are being delivered by the newly-formed Dreadnought Alliance; a joint management team established between the MoD, BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
14 May 18. Astute Submarines: Final Build. During his visit to Barrow-in-Furness the Defence Secretary also announced that the MoD has signed a
£1,500m contract to build a seventh Astute hunter-killer submarine for the RN; to be named after the 1415 Battle of Agincourt.
Comment: The first three submarines in the Astute Class (HMS ASTUTE, HMS AMBUSH & HMS ARTFUL) are already in service with the RN. At 97m long and displacing over 7,400 tonnes, they are the largest and most powerful nuclear-powered attack submarines ever built for the RN. AGINCOURT will be the seventh RN vessel to be so named: the first serving as a prison ship prior to being sold in 1814. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
15 May 18. Submarines: Decommissioning. The Defence Procurement Minister confirmed (15 May 18) the cost of storing and maintaining submarines awaiting recycling at Rosyth and Devonport over the past five years, as: 2012-13 – £3.9m; 2013-14 – £3.4m; 2014-15 – £1.0m; 2015-16 – £2.2m and 2016-17 – £0.9m.
Comment: In an earlier Written Answer (8 May 18) the Minister stated that there are currently seven submarines awaiting recycling at Rosyth, with a further 13 at Devonport. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
17 May 18. France: Test Pilot Exchange. The French Minister of the Armed Forces and the Defence Secretary held (17 May 18) the first Defence Ministerial Council since the announcement (18 Jan 18) of a permanent forum for the discussion of Franco-UK Defence Co-operation. During the meeting a technical arrangement which will oversea the exchange of test
pilots between the two nations was signed. The agreement formalises an exchange enabling French pilots to train at the UK Empire Test Pilots’ School based at MoD Boscombe Down and British pilots to train at the
French Test Pilots’ School based on the Istres Le Tubé Airbase. The two countries have successfully carried out the second development firing of the Sea Venom missile which is to equip French Navy and Royal Navy helicopters. French and British Armed Forces operate alongside each other in NATO, including as part of the Enhanced Forward Presence in Estonia.
Comment: Building on the 2010 Lancaster House Treaties, the French President and the Prime Minister agreed (18 Jan 18) a range of measures to strengthen Defence co-operation at a summit held at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
15 May 18. Nigeria: Force Protection Training. The RAF reported (15 May 18) that personnel from 5 Force Protection Wing (5 FP Wg), based at
RAF Lossiemouth, have travelled to Nigeria to deliver a Short Term Training Team task at Kaduna Airbase. The Lossiemouth detachment is to train the Nigerian Air Force Regiment and Air Police in Air Force protection, military policing, conceptual planning, instructing and intelligence. Personnel undergoing training include some
who will deploy to the North East of Nigeria to fight against Boko Haram after completing the courses.
Comment: The 5 FP Wg deployment is part of a wider programme of Defence engagement being conducted by the UK in Nigeria. Attacks on Nigerian Air Basses by Boko Haram terrorists have resulted in the request to the
UK for bespoke force protection training. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
16 May 18. Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank (MBT): Spares for Oman. In a Written Statement (16 May 18) the Defence Procurement Minister confirmed that the UK intends to provide a package of Challenger 2 tank spares, worth £997,000, to the Royal Army of Oman. The Minister said that: “The UK is committed to assisting the Royal Army of Oman and the Government of Oman as it remains a key ally in the Gulf region.”.
Comment: The provision of equipment to Oman is being made as a grant-in-kind and will compromise surplus assemblies and line replaceable units for the repair and maintenance of Challenger 2 tanks. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
10 May 18. Hybrid Threats: Specialist Brigades. Details were provided in the House of Lords (10 May 18) about two specialist Brigades with capabilities in strategic communications, cyber and intelligence: 77 Brigade is comprised of approximately 200 Regular and 270 Reserve Service personnel and 1 Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Brigade is comprised of approximately 2,800 Regulars and around 2,100 Reservists.
Comment: The above specialist Brigades were established in direct response to hybrid threats, as identified in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
16 May 18. Military Aircraft: Fleet Numbers. The Defence Procurement Minister provided (16 May 18) details of fixed and rotary wing aircraft in service with the RN, Army and RAF as at 1 Apr 18. The inventory of aircraft includes the numbers of each type held in the Forward Fleet and Sustainment Fleet. Figures exclude contractor provided aircraft fleets with the exception of the Voyager transport aircraft.
Comment: The information on Forward and Sustainment Fleet aircraft holdings can be found in the House of Commons Daily Report for 16 May 18, in answer to Question 142886. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
19 May 18. Latin America: Foreign Secretary’s Visit. The FCO announced (19 May 18) that the Foreign Secretary has begun a five-day tour of Latin America, travelling to Argentina, Chile and Peru as well as representing the UK at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Buenos Aires (20 & 21 May 18). Commenting on his first official visit to Latin America, the Foreign Secretary said that the region “is a vibrant and dynamic part of the world that works closely with the UK on a number of issues including trade, security, science, infrastructure and education….”
Comment: On 14 May 18 the British Antarctic Survey and the Instituto Antártico Argentino signed a memorandum of understanding that aims to provide a formal framework for joint scientific research projects,
training and exchange activities. The agreement, signed during the 41st Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Buenos Aires (13 to 18 May 18), will be in force for an initial period of five years. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
18 May 18. United Nations (UN): Peacekeeping. There are currently 688 UK Service personnel serving on UN missions: Democratic Republic of Congo
(5 – OP PERCIVAL); Cyprus (272 – OP TOSCA); Mali (2 – OP NEWCOMBE); Somalia (42 – OP CATAN); Somalia (4 – OP PRAISER); South Sudan (353 – OP TRENTON); South Sudan (9 – OP VOGUL) and Tunisia (1 – OP TRAMAL).
Comment: This year is the 70th anniversary of UN peacekeeping. On 10 May 18 the UN Security Council received a briefing from Force Commanders, as the organisation seeks to reform the system making peacekeeping more effective and efficient through better mission planning, more pledges of troops and equipment and stronger mission performance. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
16 May 18. HMS WALNEY: Potential Sale. The MoD’s Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA) published (16 May 18) an updated sales brochure for
HMS WALNEY, the single-role minehunter which was decommissioned in October 2010. Expressions of interest are being invited for the vessel at a guide price of £30,000.
Comment: HMS WALNEY, which is moored in Portsmouth and is no longer in a running condition, was first offered for disposal in 2014. The vessel is now being offered with “the potential for use as a houseboat, a stylish
restaurant, a floating bar or even an office space packed with individuality”. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/18, 21 May 18)
18 May 18. Turkish defence and aviation sector’s imports increase by 20 percent. Turkish defence and aviation industry exports fell by 6.6 percent in 2017 compared to 2016, while imports increased by 20 percent and total orders received fell by 32, according to a 2017 industry performance report of the Defence and Aerospace Industry Manufactures Association, quoted by the Dünya newspaper. The total turnover of the industry increased by 12 percent, reaching $6.7bn, while the industry’s total net sales was $5.2bn. Some 82 percent of domestic sales were made to end users, while the share of end users in export sales remained at 38 percent.
The industry’s 2017 exports stood at $1.8bn, fall of 6.6 percent due to the depreciation of Turkish lira and the decrease in the demand.
The industry’s imports reached $1.5bn, a 20 percent increase compared to 2016, following a 21 percent fall in 2016, compared to 2015. According to the report, the rise in imports was related to the share of foreign inputs in the total sales volume, as well as the need for companies to stock some goods.
According to the sales breakdown based on the industry’s technology segments, land platforms/systems had the highest sales volume, while aviation was in second place.
“By 2016, overseas sales revenues decreased by 6.6 percent in 2017. Exports have remained well below expectations from 2014 and the serious decline in foreign exchange earning service costs in 2017 has adversely affected the 2012-2017 compound annual growth rate, revealing that reaching 2023 targets will be difficult,” the report said.
Strengthening the domestic defence industry and decreasing Turkey’s dependence on foreign goods and services were set as one of the priorities of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his manifesto for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24.
(Source: Google/ahvalnews.com)
18 May 18. Hundreds more troops planned for Afghanistan. Pressure from Trump forces new commitment. Britain is considering sending hundreds more troops to Afghanistan after pressure from President Trump, The Times understands.
One of the options being looked at is for about 400 additional personnel to be deployed to the war zone as part of a Nato training mission, almost doubling the British presence.
The United States said last year that it would send an extra 3,500 troops to Afghanistan, key areas of which have fallen under the control of the Taliban four years after the end of Nato-led combat operations.
A final British plan has not been signed off but Whitehall sources say that Theresa May is expected to make an announcement at a summit of Nato allies in July. Mr Trump will attend the meeting then travel to Britain on his first official visit.
It can also be revealed that Britain and its European allies fear that Mr Trump will use the summit on July 11 and 12 in Brussels to threaten to pull out of the alliance in frustration at feeble European defence spending.
Discussions are taking place in capitals including London, Brussels and Berlin about how to avoid such an ultimatum, which would throw the carefully planned meeting into chaos, military and diplomatic sources said.
The president has repeatedly emphasised the need for each of the 29 members to spend at least 2 per cent of national income on their military. At present only five, including Britain, do so. “The greatest worry is that Trump might come there . . . and say — screw you all, you still have not done what I told you to do a year ago [when he raised the issue of spending on Nato], we are pulling out and not paying you any more money,” a senior British military officer said. “That would be the end of Nato.”
Raising the pressure, Mr Trump said last night that countries that did not meet the target for Nato contributions would be “dealt with”. He was speaking as he met Jens Stoltenberg, the head of the alliance, who is in Washington.
Mr Trump welcomed a general rise in defence spending by Nato members, but said that more was necessary, even suggesting an increase to 4 per cent of GDP. He said: “Germany has not contributed what it should be contributing, and it’s a very big beneficiary — far bigger than the United States, frankly.”
The US is by far the biggest provider to Nato of military personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines and money. The investment helps to ensure American security but is also relied upon by European allies at a time of growing threats.
Britain’s option for a significant troop increase in Afghanistan is a change from last year, when military chiefs were considering offering only additional aircraft and logistical support after Mr Trump’s mini-surge. The shift shows that pressure from the US administration is having an effect.
Colonel Richard Kemp, who served in Afghanistan, said that Britain and the US withdrew regular troops too soon in 2014, so it was unsurprising that they were sending soldiers back. “We have a national interest in maintaining security in Afghanistan and therefore we should be doing it,” he said.
The extra 3,500 US troops came on top of the 11,000 US personnel already in Afghanistan. About 600 British military personnel are in the country, largely in the capital, Kabul. They are taking part in a Nato-led training mission, called Resolute Support, to aid the Afghan forces, as well as helping to provide security. British special forces are on the ground as part of a separate counterterrorism operation, alongside Afghan, US and other coalition special forces, pursuing Islamic State and al-Qaeda militants as well as the Taliban.
General Sir Richard Barrons, a former commander of Joint Forces Command, said the UK must recognise that the decision to conclude combat operations in 2014 had not worked. “When we left it was not the case that the Afghan national army and the air force were strong enough to tip the balance against the Taliban and that now has to be reset,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
He said that although the increase would send an important message there may yet be a need to increase the numbers further. “It will send an important message to our allies that they should step up as well and it will also send an important message to the Taliban supporters that they will never bring this fight in Afghanistan to an end by fighting,” he said.
“The only way this war is every going to end is when the Taliban and their supporters realise they can’t fight their way back to government and that just fighting year on year on year, with casualties on both sides, is in no one’s interest.
“If we’re going to make a meaningful contribution we’re going to have to find the courage to train, advise, assists and accompany them into action. With that comes some risk, but that’s how you make a difference.”
Besides the British and US forces there are 4,000 other Nato troops in the country, but a Nato source said that the alliance was facing pressure to increase that figure by about 2,500.
A Whitehall source said that James Mattis, the US defence secretary, had signalled to fellow defence ministers in Brussels in February that patience in Washington was wearing thin at the continued US funding of European security. “Everyone is expecting him [Mr Trump] potentially to kick off [at the summit],” the source added. The contributions by Germany, Spain and Italy, which respectively spend 1.2 per cent, 0.9 per cent and 1.1 per cent of GDP on defence, are a particular irritant, according to a second British military officer. The US spends 3.6 per cent of GDP on defence.
Asked about Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said: “We remain committed to Nato’s non-combat Resolute Support mission, in which we play an important role, and keep our contribution under constant review.”
A Nato official said that European allies and Canada had in the past three years stopped defence cuts, with budgets starting to rebound. “There’s still a long way to go, but we’ve made a good start,” the official added.
- The Ministry of Defence is failing to meet a cost-saving goal to cut civil servants. The number of civilian staff rose by 190 to 56,870 in the year to April, even though it is supposed to be cut to 41,000 by 2020, data from the MoD revealed. In the same period the number of servicemen and women fell in the army, navy and air force — in the army by 1,290 to 77,120, despite a target strength of 82,000.
(Source: The Times)
17 May 18. NATO Plans Greater Show of Force in Response to Russian Aggression. Russia, Iraq and Afghanistan have been high on the agenda at NATO’s Military Committee session. The 29 Allied Chiefs of Defence met in the new NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday to review and discuss key military issues ahead of the next month’s meeting of NATO Defence Ministers.
Russia has been a top concern for defence chiefs since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. However, tension has ramped up recently as Moscow was blamed for the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
Russian aircraft have increasingly tested NATO air defences as they fly dangerously close to NATO planes. Earlier this month, a high-speed Russian fighter jet had a near miss with a US surveillance plane over the Baltic.
Nato forces
In response to Russian aggression, the alliance has sent battle groups to reassure nervous countries which border Russia. Now NATO is planning a much greater show of force on land, air and sea.
Trident Juncture 18 will take place this November in Norway with over 40,000 participants from more than 30 nations.
General Denis Mercier, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, said: “This exercise is a prime example of NATO allies and partners working together in peacetime as well as in crisis. It will be one of NATO’s largest exercises in the recent years.”
NATO Chiefs have also been considering Afghanistan and is boosting its training mission there by sending an extra 3,000 troops to join the 13,000 already there. However, overall NATO says violence is at its lowest level for five years as Afghan forces gradually weaken insurgents.
General Curtis Scaparrotti, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said: “We’ve had a second year of putting pressure on the Taliban and enough pressure as we look to the future – what would I hope to see – is more of them coming to the table for reconciliation and we have to get to a negotiated point.”
On Iraq, NATO intends to set up a permanent training mission and military academies. But with anti-western cleric Muqtada al-Sadr now in holding the balance of power in the country, it is unclear what kind of welcome NATO troops will receive.
General Petr Pavel, Chairman Nato Military Committee, said: “Regarding the NATO training and capacity building mission in Iraq, the chiefs of defence noted the need for NATO to continue discussions with the new Iraqi government once it is formed.”
(Source: defense-aerospace.com/British Forces News)
18 May 18. Donald Trump Rails Against German Defense Spending Shortfall. US President Donald Trump said NATO members, such as Germany, that do not meet defense spending targets will be “dealt with.” Germany is far from being on track to meet the alliance’s 2 percent of GDP target. US President Donald Trump on Thursday again took aim at German defense spending, saying that NATO members that do not meet commitments would be “dealt with.”
At a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington, Trump praised seven other alliance members for paying the amount “they’re supposed to be paying.”
“We have some that don’t and, well, they’ll be dealt with,” Trump said. Germany, he added, “has not contributed what it should be contributing and it’s a very big beneficiary.”
“In particular, Germany must demonstrate leadership in the alliance by addressing its longstanding shortfall in defense contributions,” Trump said.
Stoltenberg says Trump’s pressure is working
The US president has repeated railed against Germany for falling below NATO defense spending commitments. NATO agreed in 2014 that all 29 members would spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense by 2024. In addition to the United States, only Poland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, and the United Kingdom meet the target.
Stoltenberg said Trump’s “leadership on defense spending has really helped to make a difference.”
“It is impacting allies because now all allies are increasing defense spending,” he said. “No allies are cutting their budgets.”
Germany falling way short
Last year, Germany only spent 1.2 percent of GDP on defense. The 2018 budget envisions 1.3 percent of GDP going to defense. Despite defense spending increases expected over the coming years, Berlin will still fall far short of meeting its commitments due to economic growth. Faced with Trump’s criticism on spending in the past, German politicians have argued that other expenditures, such as on development and humanitarian aid, should be included in spending calculations rather than only the size of the defense budget. German Chancellor Angela Merkel backs plans for Germany’s defense budget to eventually reach 2 percent of GDP. However, her Christian Democrat’s junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, are against massive defense spending increases and demand funds be used more efficiently. The German military faces multiple problems that have raised serious questions about its capabilities and readiness, which have led to calls for the defense budget to be increased. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Deutsche Welle German Radio)
18 May 18. Romania Buys Israel’s Iron Dome Air Defence System. Romania is set to become the first country to buy Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defence system, after signing a deal on Thursday. Romania is the first country to buy Israel’s Iron Dome short-range rocket interception system after the state-owned company Romaero signed a deal on Thursday with Israel’s Rafael Advanced Systems.
The deal signed in Bucharest was disclosed by the Israeli manufacturer in a press release to the Israeli media. The Romanian buyer did not release any information.
According to the Israeli manufacturer, the deal refers to air defence systems, including the Iron Dome and its naval version. Romania will also acquire Samson remote-controlled weapons stations and Spike anti-tank missiles.
The Israeli company said the weapons and equipment will all be produced in Romania by Romaero; the Israeli company said it will allow transfer of technology and know-how.
Neither company disclosed the cost of the agreement.
Rafael Advanced Systems explained in the press release that it had already transferred know-how and production of components to various countries, including Canada, the US and Poland, but that this was the first time it was exporting the Iron Dome.
The Israeli company was present with a stand at the Bucharest Black Sea Defence and Aerospace exhibition that closes Friday.
Iron Dome is the world’s only dual mission counter rocket, artillery and mortar, C-RAM, and Very Short Range Air Defence, VSHORAD, system.
According to the manufacturer, it is designed for quick detection, discrimination and interception of asymmetric threats such as short-range rockets, mortars, and artillery shells, and also serves as a VSHORAD Missile System against traditional Air Defence targets, such as aircraft or helicopters.
The Israelis have used the system since 2011 to intercept rockets fired from Gaza as well as South Lebanon. Since 2017, the system has been operational on ships.
Romania has been on a military shopping spree for a year-and-a-half, after the country increased defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP in line with NATO targets.
It signed several memorandums to acquire new equipment and weapons in 2017, including seven Patriot systems from the United States costing some 4 billion US dollars.
Romania has advocated an increased NATO naval presence in the Black Sea to counter Russia, and the Defence Ministry in 2018 is to spend 1.8bn euros to acquire two patrol corvettes. The first to become operational within three years and the second one in seven. (Source: Google/www.balkaninsight.com)
17 May 18. Brexit update! The Editor attended a dinner on Wednesday night where the speaker stated that “The negotiations just begin next March.” A guest at the dinner who works in Brussels confirmed that the Speaker was right and that on March 19th 2019 the only things which will happen is that the British Flag will come done from the EU building, the British judge will leave the European Court of Justice and the UK representative will leave the EU. Apart from that nothing changes until at least 2022! So rumours of cliff edge and Hard Brexit are just that, rumours!
17 May 18. UK could SNUB US fighter jets and opt for cheaper EUROPEAN aircrafts after defence review. The UK Government is considering backing out of a multi-billion-pound deal to buy a new generation of US fighter jets and instead purchase cheaper European jets, in an epic snub to the country across the pond. The Ministry of Defence has already acquired 48 aircrafts from the US at a cost of £91bn but instead of honouring the pledge to buy an extra 138 F-35 fighter jets, it is now looking at purchasing Eurofighter aircrafts, made by a European consortium.
This bone of contention has been linked to the Westland scandal, a struggle during Thatcher’s Government in 1985-86 over whether a US or a European-led consortium should take over Britain’s last remaining helicopter company.
The affair resulted in the resignation of the then defence secretary Micheal Heseltine and a weakened Government.
Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, is planning to publish a defence review in July, which could bring into question the affordability of the new F-35 Lightning II air, the most expensive but technically advanced fighter jet in history.
Williamson also set in motion a Combat Aircraft Industrial Strategy, which will be published this summer and will decide the future spending on jet fighters and determine whether the UK will opt for a European fighter over a US-developed jet, despite Brexit.
The Defence Secretary seems to favour the option that would ensure the viability of a joint European jet fighter business until 2050 at least.
However, US ambassador Woody Johnson pointed out last week some of the components of the “amazing” American aircraft – in particular the tailplane – are being manufactured in the Britain by BAE Systems, which means that the project provides thousands of jobs for an estimated value of £13bn to the UK economy.
Mr Johnson previously said he was very impressed by the joint partnership between the UK and the US.
He said: “This is an example of a programme that is absolutely incredible. The UK is going to make a lot of money. There are going to be a lot of job.”
Despite the comments, the Ministry of Defence is currently negotiating with the Joint Programme Office, the US department in charge of contracts, over the expensive cost of the Lockheed Martin built aircraft.
Mark Francois, Conservative MP, former defence minister and a member of the defence select committee also raised concerns over the affordability of the American aircrafts: “We are sceptical about the viability of all 138 aircraft, which is what we are theoretically committed to.
“Unless Lockheed Martin can bring the cost down, the F-35 will suck up other funds for other programmes in the defence budget.
“If the costs continue as they are that will have a serious knock-on effect to the rest of the defence spending programme.”
He added: “The MoD are looking again at the costs of the F-35. The question remains from aircraft 49 onwards how many of these are you going to end up buying and the MoD is looking at that at the moment.”
The first four F-35s will be delivered to the UK by the US next month and will be based at RAF Marham in Norfolk. The cheaper European option, Eurofighter Typhoon, which is jointly built by Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as the UK is already in service with the RAF but in order to compete with the more technically advanced and more expensive F-35 will require a mid-life upgrade.
Tim Ripley, aerospace expert at Jane’s Defence Weekly, commented on the row comparing it to the Westland affair. He said: “It’s shaping up to be a grand stand-off, a transatlantic dog-fight, the defence-industrial saga of the summer and a Westland-esque moment for the British Aerospace industry.”
Mr Ripley also said that the Defence Secretary was “reputedly dead keen on the European plane”, which is the reason why he launched the Combat Aircraft Strategy.
However, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said it is too soon to speculate on the outcome of the review.
The spokesman said: “The F-35 programme remains on track and within budget, providing a game-changing capability for our Armed Forces.
“We continue to drive down costs with every purchase and remain committed to purchasing 138 F-35 Lightning aircraft while British industry benefits from an order book of over 3,000 jets.” (Source: Google/www.express.co.uk)
16 May 18. Spain sets new defence export record. For the second year running Spain has set a new record high in defence exports sales in 2017 with a 7.3% rise to EUR4.34bn (USD5.13bn).
But while allies in NATO and European Union partners remained the biggest clients, together taking a 72.6% share by value, it was Saudi Arabia that showed the most dramatic increase, growing by 133% to EUR270.2m.
The figures show Germany overtaking the United Kingdom as the largest export market, with sales of EUR1.2 bn against the UK’s EUR950m.
With both these countries, as with third-placed France (EUR422.1m) and fourth-placed Turkey (EUR301.5m), most of the value consisted of the sale of military transport aircraft. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
16 May 18. Report shows UK will lose influence in CSDP missions post-Brexit. The European Union (EU) External Affairs Sub-Committee has published a report that reveals that the UK can continue to participate in Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions and operations post-Brexit, but it will lose its influence.
Post-Brexit, the country will not have the same influence that it currently does in the development, planning and leadership of CSDP missions and operations, the report states.
The UK has influenced the development and planning of all missions and operations as an EU member state. In addition, the country has led the EU’s primary anti-piracy operation, EU Naval Force (NAVFOR) Somalia, also known as Operation Atlanta.
EU External Affairs Sub-Committee chair Baroness Verma said: “CSDP missions and operations have contributed significantly to UK foreign policy and have benefitted from the UK’s participation.
“A good example is Operation Atlanta, the EU’s flagship anti-piracy operation, which the UK has successfully led.
“Under the existing model for third country participation, the UK will lose influence over CSDP missions and operations. To maintain engagement with the EU on wider security and defence, the UK should seek to negotiate observer status in the EU’s planning and decision-making bodies.”
CSDP missions and operations have helped the country to carry out several missions, including handling piracy, promoting the rule of law, and peace-building in post-conflict states.
In order to ensure that it can engage with the EU on wider security and defence matters, the External Affairs Sub-Committee recommends that the UK Government develops and submits detailed proposals for future CSDP cooperation before the June 2018 European Council meeting. (Source: army-technology.com)
15 May 18. EU wants strong post-Brexit defence relations with UK but warns about industrial access. The European Union wants close post-Brexit co-operation with London in defence and military matters, including the United Kingdom’s future participation in multi-nation capability projects, but there will be inevitable restrictions on industrial endeavours such as Galileo, the European Union’s earth observation satellite system, said top EU officials involved in the Brexit negotiation.
“Splendid isolation [in security and defence] is not an option for the United Kingdom: you can try, but it is doubtful the rest of the world would let you,” said Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s security and defence policy chief. “Our security is connected. I have little doubt that our future is one of close co-operation – strong and strategic – but it will be with the United Kingdom as a third country and not a half member.” (Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. UK army unease mounts after decade of ‘underfunding.’ Critics say the UK government has prioritised investment in the navy and air force. The number of full time soldiers in the British army has declined from 102,000 in 2010 to 77,470 in January 2018. Corporal Sam Bailey joined the British army’s prestigious parachute regiment after leaving school at 17 and within a few months was serving in Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban. “I have been in eight and a half years, and I have loved every single moment,” he said. “I would never take it back.” Just a few minutes earlier Corporal Bailey was leading a group of paras in a simulated attack on a specially constructed enemy town in the middle of Salisbury Plain, a military training base in southern England. The exercise this month, which also involved troops from Denmark, Latvia and Lithuania, was an impressive show of force designed to send a message to the UK’s adversaries. But it might also have been aimed at critics of the British army, who claim it is under manned and under equipped. The size of the full time force is at its lowest in more than a century and military chiefs are struggling to attract enough new recruits. At the same time generals are trying to adapt to new and growing international threats from hostile states like Russia as well as modern forms of conflict such as cyber and information warfare. “Without doubt the army is in decline,” said David Richards, the UK’s former chief of the defence staff and an ex-army general. “But it’s not too late to arrest if our political leaders really want to.” In January senior military figures like Sir David won a partial victory after prime minister Theresa May authorised a review of Britain’s defence capabilities. That review is due to finish in July, with officials in defence secretary Gavin Williamson’s department increasingly confident of securing some extra funding from the Treasury that might stave off further cuts. But even if chancellor Philip Hammond releases more money for the UK military, some experts fear a decade of cuts and a prioritising of investment in new hardware for the navy and air force has left the army too depleted to recover. The shift in spending is exemplified by the UK’s commitment to new aircraft carriers, the F-35 fighter jets that will go on these ships, and the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent, which will be carried by next generation submarines. Leaner British Army battles for funds According to the Ministry of Defence’s latest equipment plan, over the coming decade Britain will spend £64bn on submarines and ships for the navy, almost £36bn on combat jets and support aircraft for the air force, and just over £20bn on land equipment, most of which is for the army. While the army will also benefit from new investment in helicopters and weapons systems, some former commanders are increasingly uneasy. “The underfunding of the army over the last decade has meant that never in our history have we had such a disparity in the capability of the equipment used by our enemies, or our allies, and our own,” said Major Richard Streatfeild, a former army commander. Peter Quentin of the Royal United Services Institute, a defence think-tank, argued it was time for a rethink that benefited the army. “If you want enduring decisive effect you need presence on land and the investment in our land component deserves to be no less resourced than any of the other environments,” he said. The army’s main battle tank, Challenger 2, has been upgraded at a cost of £700m As well as upgrading its main battle tank, Challenger 2, at a cost of £700m, and a £1bn plan to modernise the Warrior armoured personnel carrier, the army is to spend £3.5bn on almost 600 Ajax armoured vehicles. The Ajax, and a new mechanised infantry vehicle called Boxer, are essential to a sweeping reorganisation of the army to create two lighter, faster strike brigades. Analysts said this plan, announced in 2015, has given the army the opportunity to argue for extra money. But even with the head of the army General Sir Nick Carter poised to become chief of the defence staff next month, there are still concerns that it could be vulnerable to cuts in the current review. Recommended Analysis UK defence spending RAF prepares to unleash new stealth fighter Most experts agreed on one thing, however: further reductions to army personnel are not an option. The number of full time soldiers in the British army has declined from 102,000 in 2010 to 77,470 in January 2018 after former prime minister David Cameron ordered headcount to be cut by a fifth. Outsourcing the role of recruitment has magnified the headcount problems. Capita, the company responsible for the work, is falling short of its recruitment goals, according to former defence minister Mark Francois. He estimated that to hit the army’s target of 82,000 full time soldiers by 2020, Capita needed to recruit 10,000 new entrants each year. “They were 3,000 short in 2016-17 and it looks like being the same sort of number this year,” said Mr Francois. Share this graphic The defence ministry said the army was working with Capita on a “recruitment improvement plan which is now being implemented”, and that it was seeking to ensure a better “representation of younger, energetic role model soldiers in recruiting offices”. It added: “The services continue to have the manpower, skills, experience, equipment and resources they need to meet all our operational demands, international obligations, and keep the country safe.” Sir Nick has nevertheless highlighted the need for the army to modernise further in the face of new threats from Russia, Iran and China. “All of these states have become masters at exploiting the seams between peace and war,” he said in a speech in January. “What constitutes a weapon in this grey area no longer has to go bang.” The tricky job of adapting to these new challenges will now fall to Sir Nick’s successor as head of the army, Mark Carleton-Smith, a former special forces commander. “It’s a really careful balancing act,” said one senior army commander, who asked not to be named. “You need to develop those capabilities to deal with electronic warfare, with information operations. “Also you need a credible deterrent and that comes from having hard military capability. If you erode that too much you don’t have the credible deterrents.” (Source: FT.com)
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18 May 18.
Information Technology Initiatives Must be Tied to DoD’s Mission, Official Says. Dana Deasy, the Defense Department’s chief information officer, spoke to members of the DoD information technology community about the importance of being mission focused and innovative during his remarks at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association’s Defensive Cyber Operations Symposium in Baltimore May 17.
Deasy, a former private-sector executive who assumed the DoD CIO role May 7, is focused on the importance of understanding and supporting the mission.
“When you ask 10 different people in the private sector ‘Why are we here?’ you might get 10 different answers. But here, everyone talks about the mission and how it aligns to the National Defense Strategy,” he said. “Everybody is crystal clear on the focus of the mission.”
Aligning IT Mission With National Defense Strategy
Deasy urged all members of the DoD IT community to get to know the National Defense Strategy in depth, and to make sure what they are doing is aligned.
“Truly understanding what’s said inside that strategy will crystallize what we need to focus on, he said. “The three tenets are lethality, alliances, and reform. … Every conversation I’ve had so far has been: Tell me your part, the role you’re playing in supporting those three tenets.”
The CIO said he will pursue innovative ideas and technologies, but cautioned “innovation” doesn’t always equate to something new.
“People always think when you use the term innovation you’re talking about something that is brand new, leading edge, maybe never been done or we want to be early adopters on,” Deasy said. “But I also always remind people innovation is sometimes taking what you have [and asking], how do you make it better?”
Cyber Innovation, Moving to the Cloud
He is particularly interested in innovation that falls within the areas of cyber: data integration through a variety of methods, tools and techniques, including big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence; a cloud that sits at the foundation and a world-class environment.
Deasy elaborated on the idea of moving to the cloud, which is currently a major initiative within the department.
“It’s really important to understand this is not a case where you’re trying to lift out of your old world and you’re suddenly trying to drop into your new world. But this is the most phenomenal opportunity I think we’ve ever experienced as technical folks … to be able to look at your legacy estate and say, ‘This is a brilliant opportunity to reengineer,’ he said.
Deasy added, “Cloud allows you to do amazing things that you simply haven’t been able to do historically. … It gives us as IT professionals a whole new way to operate our estate and to build the future of how we want IT to run.”
The CIO also emphasized the need to collaborate with industry, academia and other federal partners in all IT endeavors.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my going-on 37 years of being in technology it is that you cannot go after these things alone,” Deasy said.
(Source: US DoD)
17 May 18. Proposed Cannon Would Turn the B-1 Bomber into a Gunship.
The B-1B Lancer bomber already carries more weapons than any of its counterparts. But officials are exploring the possibility of adding a cannon to its arsenal.
Boeing Co. has been granted a patent for a cannon that could enhance the aircraft’s ability to take on more close-air support roles. The patent, U.S. 9,963,231 B2, shows various mounts for the gun, which would retract into the aircraft’s belly.
The company is exploring the possibility of mounting different types of weapons. “A weapon may include or correspond to a machine gun, a chain gun, a cannon, an autocannon, a rail gun, a projectile firing device, or a laser weapon,” the patent states.
“By mounting the weapons system within a weapons bay, the aircraft may operate at supersonic speeds when the weapons system is retracted, extended, or both,” it continues. “By including a weapons system on board an aircraft, functionality of the aircraft may increase and the aircraft may gain additional capabilities. For example, a bomber may be able to provide close-air support or better support ground troops.”
Experts say the proposed enhancement may be speaking to what troops on the ground really want: air support with eyes on the target.
This “really seems to go back to the ground forces not trusting precision-guided munitions,”
said one defense analyst in Washington, D.C.
“The whole argument in favor of the A-10 is that the ground forces want whoever is providing fire to have eyes on the target,” the source told Military.com on background Wednesday.
“They don’t trust that a precision-guided weapon from a Reaper [drone], F-16, B-1 or whatever is going to hit the right target at the right time and not hit them. They want guns with the operators overhead,” the expert said.
The source cited a June 9, 2014, incident in Afghanistan in which a B-1 crew dropped two 500-pound bombs overtop of five U.S. soldiers and one Afghan soldier near Arghandab. The soldiers, including two Green Berets, died in the accident.
“The Air Force sees a future where they’re just putting weapons on specified coordinates. The ground folks have no confidence in that,” the expert said.
The B-1 community has recently highlighted how the long-range bomber can support a CAS mission.
“If I’m talking to a guy on the ground and I have my sensor on him … we can drop weapons seven miles away, or we can drop lower, drop them closer,” said Lt. Col. Dominic “Beaver” Ross, director of operations for the 337th Test and Evaluations Squadron. “We’re not going to drop them as low as an A-10, but we are going to do shows of force where we’re 500 feet overtop of their head.”
Military.com sat down with Ross, and other Global Strike Command officials during a trip to the
Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, and took a ride in the B-1B over training ranges in New Mexico in December.
Coordinating targets in such a manner is helped by the B-1B’s Integrated Battle Station, known as the IBS upgrade, and the Sustainment-Block 16 (SB-16) upgrade, which give pilots and backseaters — the offensive and defensive positions in the cockpit — more situational awareness, with enhanced cockpit displays and data and coordinate sharing.
During Military.com’s Dec. 19 flight, the SB-16 system showed enhanced communications and data-sharing techniques, including the military grid reference system and tech displays that enabled pilots and crew to instantaneously send target coordinates, weapons information, altitudes, speeds — even the aircraft’s call sign.
Adding a cannon to the aircraft could also reduce the number of precision-guided bombs released, cutting the Air Force’s expenses in the long run.
“The gun on the bomber is a way of having a gun with long loiter time that can get where it needs to get quickly,” the defense analyst said. “But it’s also preferred (by some) to the same bomber releasing a PGM.”
While the Air Force could use its brand-new AC-130J Ghostrider gunship for a similar mission, putting a mounted gun on the B-1 could help stave off the bomber’s retirement.
“It certainly gives more range and speed for this capability,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president and analyst at the Teal Group. “If it does its part in keeping the B-1 in service longer, then the concept has merit.”
The Air Force has already set in motion plans to retire its B-2 Spirit and Lancer bombers in the 2030s as it builds up its new B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber fleet. The Lancers will stick around until at least 2036, enough time to bring in new pilots, train them and have them fly for at least 15 years.
But Aboulafia thinks expense will probably prevent the cannon from ever becoming a reality for the B-1.
While an actual dollar figure remains unknown, given “the expense relative to the likely lifespan of the B-1, the odds are against it,” he said. “Given the expense of the aircraft, that’s unlikely.”
Operating the Lancer costs $82,777 per flight hour, according to published 2016 operational costs for the aircraft.
Boeing will nevertheless proceed with the concept to prototype options.
“There are currently no plans or customer requirements to install this specific system. However, the USAF has asked Boeing to innovate and Boeing is responding,” Boeing spokeswoman Lori Rasmussen told Military.com on Monday.
“When our teams bring forward ideas that could have future value for our customers, we will submit a patent application, even when there is no explicit customer requirement for the innovation,” she said.
(Source: Military.com)
17 May 18. Air Force Budget Request Builds on Momentum, Addresses Great Power Competition. The Air Force’s fiscal year 2019 budget request builds on momentum to restore the force after years of funding uncertainty and addresses the challenges from a great power competition, Air Force leaders said today. The budget request is well-aligned with the National Defense Strategy and recognizes the international security environment is more competitive and dangerous than it has been in decades, Air Force Secretary Heather A. Wilson said.
“We’ve returned to an era of great power competition, and that great power competition is the central challenge to U.S. security and prosperity,” she said.
Wilson and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein testified on the Air Force’s fiscal year 2019 funding request and budget justification at a Senate Appropriations Committee defense subcommittee hearing.
Air Force Focuses on ‘Bold Moves’
Key areas addressed in the budget request include readiness, people, nuclear deterrence, modernization, space superiority, multidomain command and control, air superiority, light attack, and science and technology, Wilson and Goldfein pointed out.
In addition, it prioritizes long-term competition with China and Russia, they noted.
The request focuses on continuing the efforts to restore the readiness of the force to allow the U.S. to “win any fight, any time,” and includes “bold moves” to address evolving global security challenges, Wilson said.
The first of the bold moves is accelerating defendable space to “deter and defend and prevail against anyone who seeks to deny our free use of space in crisis conflict,” the Air Force secretary said. The second bold move focuses on multidomain operations, she told the panel.
“Future wars will be won by those who observe, orient, decide, and act faster than adversaries in an integrated way across domains — land, sea, air, space and cyberspace,” Wilson and Goldfein explained in their joint written statement.
Importance of Predictable Funding
Goldfein highlighted the need for predictable funding and warned against returning to sequestration and its arbitrary cuts. The Air Force, he explained, is still recovering from the damage from the 2013 sequestration.
The budget request of $156.3bn for fiscal year 2019 – a 6.6 percent overall increase from the fiscal year 2018 request — builds on the progress made in 2018 to restore the readiness of the force, increase lethality and cost-effectively modernize, Wilson and Goldfein explained.
They thanked lawmakers for their support and for providing predictable funding. President Donald J. Trump signed a $1.3trn spending bill in March that includes a $160bn boost in defense spending over two years, reversing years of decline and uncertain funding.
Defending the Homeland
The Air Force, with its 670,000 military and civilian members, understands it must defend the homeland and allies with a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent, Goldfein noted.
“We also understand that we are expected to own the high ground with air and space superiority, freedom to maneuver and freedom from attack,” he said. “We’re expected to project America’s military power forward with our allies and partners as we bring global vigilance, global reach and global power for the joint team.”
In their joint statement, Wilson and Goldfein said in light of global trends and intensifying pressure from major challengers, the Air Force’s relative advantage in air and space is eroding in a number of critical areas.
“The projected mismatch between demand and available resources has widened,” they said, underscoring the importance of funding for Air Force priorities.
“Any American weakness emboldens competitors to subvert the rules-based international order and challenge the alliance and partnership network that underpins it,” they said. (Follow Lisa Ferdinando on Twitter: @FerdinandoDoD)
17 May 18. Trump: NATO allies who miss spending defense targets will be ‘dealt with.’ U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that NATO allies that do not meet the organization’s defense spending targets would be “dealt with,” and he singled out Germany as one country he said was not doing enough. Trump’s remarks came at a Cabinet meeting attended by the NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.
“We had countries that were not paying what they were supposed to be paying. Now most countries are. And I think you’ll be able to handle the ones that aren’t. Right? I have confidence,” Trump told Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg highlighted Trump’s work on shoring up NATO, whose continued purpose Trump questioned while campaigning in the 2016 election.
Sitting beside Trump at a brief press availability, Stoltenberg praised Trump: “Thank you for the leadership you show on defense spending because it is very important. We all contribute more to our shared security. It is really having an impact.
Trump interrupted Stoltenberg to urge the NATO chief to explicitly credit him: “Do you give me credit for that?”
“You have helped to do that because your leadership has been important and it has had a real impact,” Stoltenberg replied.
The meeting comes amid frayed ties between between the U.S. and European allies over the Trump’s withdrawal of the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal and Trump’s decision to levy steel and aluminum import tariffs—before deciding to exempt the European Union and six other countries.
Trump, in response to a question on U.S. trade with the European Union, said the union “outside of China and a couple of others, treats us, on trade, as badly as you can be treated.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this week suggested that Germany would not hit the NATO spending target, calling the prospect, “not completely beyond the imagination.” A German revenue boom has raised the likelihood of a defense budget hike, however.
Trump called out by name the countries whose military budgets meet a target of 2 percent of economic output: Poland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, and the United Kingdom.
“They paid. They were on time. They paid the number that they’re supposed to be paying. We have some that don’t, and, well, they’ll be dealt with,” Trump said.
“We’re still waiting on 20 member states to meet their NATO commitments and spend at least 2 percent on defense. And 2 percent is a very low number. The number really should be 4 percent,” Trump said.
Trump reaffirmed America’s commitment to NATO’s mutual-defense clause and praised Stoltenberg and NATO overall, saying, “NATO has been working very closely with the United States. Our relationship is really good.
“Together we’ve increased and really raised money from countries that weren’t paying or weren’t paying a fair share. We have a little ways to go, but many billions of dollars of additional money has been raised,” Trump said. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent his first full day in office last month stressing that NATO allies should pay their way.
In closed-door meetings, Pompeo in particular pressed allies to increase their military budgets to meet a target of 2 percent of economic output spent on defense every year by 2024, as well as ensuring 20 percent of the outlay is on equipment. (Source: Defense News)
16 May 18. Evolutionary Revolution: Esper’s Army Modernization Philosophy. Army Chief of Staff wants revolutionary new weapons. The Army Secretary wants affordable technology fast. How can they reconcile these opposites? By building systems with off-the-shelf tech but leaving room to upgrade them with radically new tech when it’s ready, Secretary Esper said today. Call it evolutionary revolution.
Sec. Esper, a former Army Ranger and Trump appointee, wasn’t rebuking Gen. Mark Milley, a career soldier named Chief of Staff under Obama. The two men are in lockstep on the Army’s Big Six modernization priorities — “the Chief and I, we’ve sworn a blood oath not to change them,” Esper told reporters — and the need for a new Army Futures Command to streamline the service’s troubled acquisition system.
Nevertheless, there’s a difference in emphasis that we’ve noted in the past, with Milley’s rhetoric consistently grander and Esper’s more evolutionary. That’s in part a difference in temperament, in part a difference in roles, but it’s also a tension that may affect policy and budgets.
Esper’s Case For Caution
So, speaking about Army modernization this afternoon at the Center for a New American Security, Esper repeatedly emphasized his preference for realistic goals that can be achieved on budget and schedule. “If you can bring technology to the field, to the force a lot quicker, you save money,” Esper told the CNAS audience. “If you… put much more emphasis on prototyping and leveraging current technologies and not developing blue sky, white chart types of things, you save money.”
“We’ve spent a lot of time, my senior acquisition executive (and I), with PEOs (Program Executive Officers) and PMs (Project Managers),” Esper said. “We’ve been very clear that our approach is not to look for… time-consuming, costly new development programs, but rather let’s look at the traditional defense industry, the commercial sector, particularly with regard to the network.”
Commercial information technology has advanced much faster than the government can keep up. But even in relatively slow-moving technologies like armored vehicles, Esper is open to buying off-the-shelf foreign designs, as the Army did for its eight-wheel drive Stryker.
The Army can’t keep upgrading its current equipment forever, Esper emphasized, so it does need to buy something new, but that doesn’t mean something radically new. One of the most pressing examples is the M2 Bradley, a heavily armed and armored troop carrier that’s run out of electrical power and horsepower to handle further upgrades. Esper has consistently described the Army’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle initiative as a Bradley replacement, although the service is also exploring armed robots, and Milley has emphasized replacing the M1 Abrams as well.
Esper doesn’t want to replicate the lengthy, costly, and controversial process (complete with satirical movie) that led to the Bradley back in the 1970s and 1980s: “The Bradley was a development program and we’re committed to not going that route.”
As a general principle, “I don’t want to go (to a) white-sheet, long term development program, years to determine requirements,” Esper summed up. “We need to go with what we can assemble now in the next two-three years.” The Army’s top budget priority remains readiness for near-term crises, he said, but once readiness is restored to high levels ca. 2022, the secretary expects the funding emphasis will shift to modernization.
Reconciling Evolution and Revolution
How can the Army reconcile Esper’s cost- and technology- conscious caution with Milley’s revolutionary ambitions, I asked just after his CNAS remarks. “Two examples,” Esper said:
“We’re putting a lot of research, a lot of dollars, into directed energy — lasers,” he said, “but I know I need air and missile defense now” against everything from ISIS drones to Russian jets to Chinese ballistic missiles.
“So I’m putting into the battlefield, beginning in 2020, a battery of Strykers, a Stryker chassis with traditional missiles on it (and) maybe a gun,” Esper said. “I know it’s going to take time to develop the laser, (but) I’m confident we’ll get there, (so) I want to make sure I build a vehicle that can accommodate that.”
It’s “the same thing with the Bradley replacement,” Esper said. While the Army’s Cross Functional Team (CFT) for Next Generation Combat Vehicle has an ambitious timeline for prototyping unmanned war machines, Esper emphasized that truly autonomous robots will take much longer — so we need to realize the revolution by evolutionary stages.
The Army has made significant progress in developing self-driving kits for existing trucks that let them follow a manned vehicle in convoy, something called “leader-follower” technology. That’s a far cry from independent maneuver across the battlefield, but it’s also a big improvement over always needing a human driver in each vehicle. And a vehicle that can do leader-follower today might be upgraded to operate more independently in the future.
“We can do leader-follower right now; I was in one of those first vehicles in Michigan a few weeks ago,” Esper said. “But I want to make sure as I build that first vehicle — because I need it now — (that) it has on board sufficient power, computing space, room inside the vehicle to accommodate fully developed semi autonomous and fully autonomous (technologies).”
Ultimately, “whoever gets to robotics and AI first, it’ll be a game changer on the battlefield,” Esper told reporters. But for all the commercial progress in driverless cars — which operate on paved roads with no one shooting at them — it’ll be some time before military artificial intelligence is ready. So, he said, ” we’ve just got to be able to build a vehicle today that, as that technology matures, you can install it.”
In short, don’t wait for fully autonomous robots. Build a vehicle today that can drive itself in limited circumstances, like supply convoys or clearing minefields, and leave room to upgrade it to something more autonomous over time. Don’t wait for battlefield lasers: Build a vehicle today that can fire existing anti-aircraft missiles, but leave room to add a laser when it’s ready.
This kind of design is, of course, easier to advocate for than to accomplish. Lasers, for instance, require a lot of electrical power and generate a lot of waste heat. Efficiency-minded engineers and members of Congress alike may dislike buying extra generating and cooling capacity that’s not needed today on the grounds we’ll probably need it in the future. And what form future technologies will actually take is notoriously hard to forecast.
Nevertheless, some of the most successful military vehicles have been those with room to grow. Consider the B-52 bomber, ridiculously over-engineered by modern standards but because of that robust enough to serve for 66 years and counting, with countless modifications large and small.
Or consider the M2 Bradley itself and its sister systems from the “Big Five” of the 1980s buildup, like the M1 Abrams tank and AH-64 Apache helicopter. All have been upgraded repeatedly, with everything from better targeting systems to heavier armor — “the Apache of today is not the Apache of 1986,” Esper noted — and have remained in service for almost 40 years.
It’s this model that Esper clearly wants to follow: “What we want to do,” he said, “is get a new platform we know we can continue to build upon and upgrade over time for decades.” (Source: Breaking Defense.com)
16 May 18. Here’s how much the US has spent fighting terrorism since 9/11. From fiscal 2002 to 2017, the U.S. spent 16 percent of its entire discretionary budget as part of the counterterrorism fight, a new report has found. Counterterrorism funding — a broad term that includes government-wide homeland security efforts, international funding programs, and the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria — totaled $2.8trn between fiscal year 2002 and 2017, per the newly released Stimson Center study.
That’s an average of $186.6bn per year over 15 years. For comparison, that figure represents more than the overall 2017 defense expenditures of Russia, India and South Korea combined. The yearly average would also top the combined yearly average spent by the United States in the Korean and Vietnam wars, according to a government estimate using FY2011 dollars.
Spending on counterterrorism peaked in 2008 with around $260bn, a figure that dipped to $175bn in 2017. Even that low figure would still represent almost 2.5 times the Trump administration requested for its Health and Human Services budget for FY19.
As the authors note, terrorist actions by Muslim extremists or jihadis since the September 11, 2001 attacks have killed 100 people in the United States, or about six per year. In comparison, the opioid overdoses in the United States led to more than 20,000 deaths in the United States during 2016 alone.
During that 15-year period, homeland security spending totaled $979 bn (35 percent of the overall counterterrorism figure), emergency and overseas contingency operations (OCO) spending at DOD totaled $1.7trn (60 percent), war-related spending at State/USAID totaled $138bn (5 percent), and non-OCO counterterrorism foreign aid totaled $11bn, less than half a percent of the total figure.
While produced by the Stimson Center, the report relied heavily on a bipartisan group of defense experts, including two former Pentagon comptrollers in Tina Jones and Mike McCord; defense expert Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute; Luke Hartig, a former senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council; Amy Belasco, a budget expert who has worked with both the Congressional Research Service and Congressional Budget Office; and John Mueller, a terrorism expert at the Cato Institute.
By the authors’ own admission, the nature of tracking counterterrorism funding through the various accounts means the final figure is “imprecise,” but the figure represents the closest to a single number that has been assembled by the national security community.
Worryingly, the group concluded that “the transparency of current data is eroding,” with one key report — the Office of Management and Budget’s annual homeland security report — having been discontinued for fiscal year 2018.
As a result, the working group concluded that the United States government needs to create a solid definition of just what counterterrorism funding actually includes. To get to that point, they recommended a five-step plan:
- Create a clear and transparent counterterrorism funding report, with Congress requiring OMB to compile and analyze data governmentwide to provide solid metrics on spending.
- Adopt a detailed agencywide definition for counterterrorism spending, which would involve OMB and Congress developing a “a clear, usable set of criteria” to define counterterrorism spending and show how those dollars are being used to protect American civilians from terrorist threats.
- Plan for future budget pressures by sorting out counterterrorism spending at the program, activity, and project levels, identifying ongoing vs. incremental emergency needs.
- Tie the definition of war spending to specific activities. The goal here would be to separate counterterrorism and war spending, in part thanks to the infamous OCO spending mechanism which allows a variety of mission sets to be rolled into the war funding account.
- Similarly, the working group calls on Congress to pass new legislation that requires it to vote separately to approve spending that is designated as war-related emergency or wartime overseas contingency operations spending before those funds can be obligated.
“These five recommendations would do much to make budget data on overall counterterrorism programs and activities more systematic and available to budget planners, Congress, and the public,” the authors concluded. “This data would be an essential tool for creating a more systematic process of evaluating the effectiveness of these programs.”
15 May 18. Generals Worry US May Lose In Start Of Next War: Is Multi-Domain The Answer? “There is a good chance… we’d lose the opening stages of this war,” said one speaker. “Parts of the Pacific, parts of Europe are probably going to be overrun before we can gather ourselves.”
Russia or China could “overrun” US allies at the outbreak of war, senior military leaders fear, and our plan to stop them is very much a work in progress. Iraq and Syria have given sneak previews of how the US can combine, say, hackers, satellites, special operators, and airstrikes in a single offensive, but we’re not yet ready to launch such a multi-domain operation against a major power.
“There is a good chance… we’d lose the opening stages of this war,” said one participant in a high-level all-service conference on multi-domain operations held here last month. (I was allowed to attend on the condition I not identify anyone). “Parts of the Pacific, parts of Europe are probably going to be overrun before we can gather ourselves.”
“If deterrence fails, we’re not going to be able to prevent loss of terrain and populations,” the speaker continued. “Just look at the Baltic States,” where every potential target is just a few hours’ drive from the Russian border and the NATO presence — one multinational battalion each in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland — is often dismissed as a “tripwire.” With US allies this exposed, the speaker said, “we’d give ground, and we’d have to consolidate and gather our resources to make a counter push.”
But when we try to counterattack, today’s adversaries won’t allow the US four or five months to mobilize, deploy, and prepare the way Saddam Hussein did twice (in 1990-91 and 2002-3), added another participant: “We’re predictable. They’ve built a system to take advantage of that predictability.”
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis — a former joint commander himself — has pledged to make the US “strategically predictable for our allies” (i.e. dependable) but “operationally unpredictable for any adversary.” Part of being unpredictable is developing ways of fighting, and the concept with the most momentum in the last few years is multi-domain operations. The different US services have long worked with each other in limited ways, most notably when Air Force, Navy, and Marine aircraft support Army and Marine ground forces. But the multi-domain concept wants to jointness to a much higher level: seamless integration of land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace over vast warzones, with each service both assisting and being assisted by the others.
Multi-Domain in the Middle East
The war against the Islamic State provided some small-scale, “episodic” examples of multi-domain operations, one participant recounted. In one case, intelligence had identified a number of the enemy’s primary command posts, but not their backup sites. So rather than just bomb the high value targets and try to figure out where the survivors went, the coalition forces used (unspecified) space and cyber capabilitiesto shut down communications at the primary sites. That forced the enemy leadership to move to their backup locations and turn them on, allowing the allies to target those. The physical strike followed, destroying the backup sites first and the primaries second.
“That’s an example of a multi-domain operation. The first shots were digits, ones and zeroes,” the participant said. “Pretty cool.”
The catch? The whole operation took four or five days, he said, but “it took us three weeks, probably, to organize that operation.”
Why so long? To start, the US didn’t have all the military capabilities and legal authorities required, forcing it to rely heavily on allies. Further, even within the US forces, information didn’t flow freely.
In a single command post, the speaker said, commanders had to make sense of four separate pictures of the battlefield:
- data on the current positions of friendly ground units via Blue Force Tracker;
- data on friendly air units, which didn’t show up on Blue Force Tracker;
- intelligence data, which didn’t feed into either the ground or air systems above;
- “a crowd-sourced social media map” that compiled tweets and other social media posts to report where bombings and battles had occurred. This open-source intelligence was at least as accurate as official intelligence sources and considerably faster.
This kludged-together system, taking weeks to bring capabilities together across multiple domains, works okay against the Islamic State, with its ragged ground force, modest cadre of hackers, and complete lack of air, sea, and space assets. But it would be lethally slow against a major power with its own long-range sensors, precision missiles, and big guns.
“We had absolute supremacy in all domains, right, and it still took us weeks to get that together because we didn’t have all the tools or resources or the authorities to be able to do it ourselves,” the speaker said. “(That) won’t work against a near-peer adversary.”
“We’ve got to be able to do in hours what …. took us weeks,” the speaker continued. Instead of such coordination being the exception, laboriously put together for a specific operation, it needs to become the default, part of the day-to-day operations of the armed forces: “Today we episodically synchronize. And in the future we’re going to have to continuously integrate.”
Command, Control, & Chaos
To achieve this integration, “we’re going to have to think very differently about command and control,” said another participant. Instead of relationships between commands staying the same for months or years, for example, who has the lead might suddenly switch to exploit some fleeting opportunity, then switch back again: “One minute you might you might be the supported commander, the next you might be the supporting commander.”
“In the Army…..we love to draw lines on maps,” the speaker continued: This brigade will advance here, this division will hold there. But that won’t work against adversaries with long-range weapons that reach across our tidily bounded boxes. A battalion, for example, might not be able to advance until someone neutralizes an enemy battery firing from hundreds of miles away — but that battery might not reveal its location by firing or redeploying until US ground units threaten it. Who’s in charge of solving that problem? We need a “functional approach,” the speaker said, integrating capabilities like precision firepower or ground maneuver across the entire war zone.
The Air Force already adopts a functional approach that plans for strike, refueling, reconnaissance, and other missions across the entire theater, rather than carving up territory among subordinate commands as in the Army. But the Air Force has its own obstacles moving to Multi-Domain Command and Control (MDC2) operations.
In particular, theater Combined Air Operations Centers (CAOCs) are set up to handle requests for air support coming from the Army’s top echelons, not from lots of widely dispersed, fast-moving brigades as envisioned for future war. “That creates a giant liaison problem,” said one briefer.
The head of Air Combatant Command, Gen. Mike Holmes, has argued the Air Force may need to decentralize its command structure for future wars. One participant today suggested the solution may instead be to create a kind of Uber for airpower: Ground commanders could input their request for a particular type of support — airstrike, electronic warfare, reconnaissance, etc. — and a centralized system automatically matches them with the nearest available asset
The Navy is likewise looking at how to command and control its forces in a larger war. For decades, carrier and amphibious strike groups have operated as independent units, supervised by theater commanders: PACOM in the Pacific, CENTCOM in the Mideast, and so on. Now, the Navy is looking at strengthening an intermediate level of control, the fleet, with potentially multiple strike groups under a single fleet commander and multiple fleets in a theater. Naval operations will “now be synchronized at a much higher level,” one participant explained.
As much as we strengthen command and control, however, we have to expect the enemy to disrupt our plans. When military officers talk about “synchronizing” operations, “(it) implies that we have the ability to precisely synchronize our activities: maneuver, fires, sustainment, command, protection,” warned one speaker. “I think a future near-peer competition is going to preclude that. We’re going to have to accept a lot less precise synchronization.
“It’s going to be rougher,” the speaker continued. “It’s going to look more like an advance in World War II than the advance on Baghdad in (2003) or the attack in Desert Storm.”
That puts a premium on initiative and improvisation. Those are two things, fortunately, that Americans tend to be good at. (Source: glstrade.com/Breaking Defense.com)
15 May 18. Lawmakers seek $7.5bn to counter China’s rise.
The U.S. should forge stronger military ties with Taiwan and add $7.5bn in national defense spending in the Pacific region in order to counter Chinese influence in the region, according to a legislative proposal from four U.S. senators.
The bipartisan Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, or ARIA, would authorize $1.5bn annually for five years to deter and defend against China. A mix of State Department and Defense Department funds would bolster the U.S. military presence and readiness in the region, improving defense infrastructure and critical munitions stockpiles.
The bill would also support regular arms sales to Taiwan, and fund the enforcement of freedom-of-navigation and overflight rights — moves to defy Beijing’s calls to keep out of the contested South China Sea.
CNBC reported this month that China had installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on three of its outposts in the South China Sea.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Sen. Cory Gardner, chairs the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity. he said the idea had originally come from Senate Armed Services Committee Chair John McCain, R-Ariz., and that he would work with appropriators to see it funded.
“This is not a new concept, and this is as close as we’ve come to an Asia-Pacific security initiative,” Gardner told reporters Tuesday.
The other sponsors are the subpanel’s ranking member, Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass.; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Todd Young, R-Ind. The name of the bill recalls the European Reassurance Initiative, a pot of money to bolster European capabilities against Russia—since renamed the European Deterrence Initiative.
On Tuesday, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver and Deputy East Asian and Pacific Affairs Alex Wong, appeared before Gardner’s subpanel, where they endorsed the legislation’s goals.
“With the help of Congress and the funding provided, we’re trying to build a force that’s appropriate to the longer-term challenges with China’s military modernization program, and trying to work with allies and partners to make sure they are adequately equipped and prepared for those long-term challenges,” Schriver said.
The U.S. is already boosting allies’ maritime domain awareness and maritime capabilities. The bill would augment foreign military financing and international military education and training programs, both with the idea to help partners “to resist coercion and to deter and defend against security threats.”
The bill explicitly excludes Myanmar, whose military has been accused of human rights violations, and Philippine counternarcotics activities, which have been linked to extrajudicial killings
In written testimony, Schriver emphasized the fiscal 2019 budget proposal’s investment in joint, integrated fires to “reach inside an adversary’s anti-access and area-denial envelope with advanced, long-range munitions.”
The Pentagon’s implementation of the National Defense Strategy calls for dispersal equipment and “survivable, sustainable logistics” to help in a potential conflict with China.
Schriver said the competition with China was not only a military rivalry with the U.S. The U.S. is seeking to partner with all nations that respect national sovereignty, fair and reciprocal trade and the rule of law.
“It’s a competition of ideas and values and interests. I think many more countries, including the most significant and influential counties in Asia outside of China support these concepts,” Schriver said. (Source: Defense News)
15 May 18. The World Trade Organization (WTO) today in its final decision found that the European Union (EU) has failed to honor multiple previous rulings and has provided more than $22bn of illegal subsidies to European aircraft maker Airbus. After examining this case for more than a decade, the WTO has determined the EU must end its unfair business practices and remedy the ongoing harm caused by the illegal subsidies.
This landmark ruling by the WTO Appellate Body is the final decision in this case, which was initiated in 2006. Today’s decision ends the dispute and clears the way for the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to seek remedies in the form of tariffs against European imports to the United States.
The authorized tariffs are likely to total billions in duties per year, unless and until Airbus addresses the illegal subsidies it received from European governments for its most recently launched airplanes. It is anticipated that U.S. tariffs will be authorized up to the amount of annual harm this market-distorting tactic is causing. Tariffs could be scheduled as early as 2019. This is expected to be the largest-ever WTO authorization of retaliatory tariffs.
“Today’s final ruling sends a clear message: disregard for the rules and illegal subsidies is not tolerated. The commercial success of products and services should be driven by their merits and not by market-distorting actions,” said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing chairman, president and CEO. “Now that the WTO has issued its final ruling, it is incumbent upon all parties to fully comply as such actions will ultimately produce the best outcomes for our customers and the mutual health of our industry. We appreciate the tireless efforts of the U.S. Trade Representative over the 14 years of this investigation to strengthen the global aerospace industry by ending illegal subsidies.”
The U.S. government, with Boeing’s full support, has complied with WTO rulings stemming from the two cases the EU brought against the United States. One case has already ended in favor of the United States, and in the other, the vast majority of the allegations the EU made against the United States and Boeing were dismissed. Where there were narrow rulings against U.S. practices, they have been fully addressed to the WTO’s satisfaction.
Just one finding against the United States now remains before the WTO, which concerns a Washington state tax measure. It is under appeal and should be decided later this year or in early 2019. Boeing believes that ruling will be reversed, but if not, Boeing has pledged to do whatever necessary to come into full compliance in the interest of upholding rules-based trade, which is essential to fairness and the future prosperity of the global aerospace industry.
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16 May 18. UAE carries out amphibious assault in Yemen. The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) military announced on 14 May that it had carried out an amphibious assault in Yemen called Operation ‘Red Thunder’, the official WAM news agency reported. It identified the area where the assault took place as Al-Fazah, around 80km south of Al-Hudaydah: a port city controlled by the Iranian-backed rebel group Ansar Allah (Houthis).
“The operation successfully destroyed the command centre, with a great number of equipment and documents belonging to the Houthis seized. A large number of rebels were also killed and injured during the direct clash,” WAM reported without adding further detail.
UAE-backed forces are currently advancing towards Al-Hudaydah, with WAM reporting a day earlier that the port of Hima had been captured. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
16 May 18. Kazakh government reports increase in defence exports. Kazakhstan’s defence equipment exports doubled in 2017, the country has announced ahead of the Kazakhstan Defence Exhibition (KADEX).
Kazakh Minister of Defence and Aerospace Industry Beibut Atamkulov told the country’s parliament on 14 May that defence exports in 2017 reached KZT16bn (USD49m), following on from a 14% increase in production by the country’s defence industry.
Key to the country’s success were the outputs of privately held West Kazakhstan Machine Building Company, Kazakhstan Engineering (KE) subsidiaries Kirov Plant JSC and Tynys, and KE-Aselsan joint venture (JV) Kazakhstan Aselsan Engineering (KAE).
KAE achieved notable success in the export of night-vision devices to Turkey and Uzbekistan. (Source: Google/IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. USAF resumes C-17 airdrops into Afghanistan as security deteriorates. The United States has resumed strategic airdrops into southern Afghanistan, reflecting the deteriorating security conditions in the country. A US Air Force (USAF) Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifter assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (EAS), 379th Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW), at Al Udeid Airbase in Qatar conducted the type’s first airdrop into Afghanistan in 18 months. As noted by the 379th AEW on 15 May, the aircraft flew from its base at Al Udeid to Bagram Airbase near Kabul. At Bagram, it was loaded with an unspecified cargo that on 10 May was dropped at night into an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan. The resumption of strategic airdrops into Afghanistan a year-and-a-half since the last one comes three weeks after the Taliban announced the official launch of its annual spring offensive. Since that announcement on 26 April, Afghan government forces have, with US support, been involved in heavy fighting throughout the country, most notably around the western city of Farah. This heightened military activity comes at a time when the USAF is releasing more weapons over Afghanistan than at any time since the official end of combat operations in December 2014. Such has been the downturn in the security situation in Afghanistan that the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has reported that the Taliban now controls about 14.5% of the country’s districts – the highest recorded since the US-led invasion in 2001. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. Australian Labor sounds the alarm on OPV contract. Just days after Offshore Patrol Vessel designer Lürssen announced months of negotiations with Austal failed to produce an arrangement to include the West Australian company in the project, opposition spokesperson for defence Richard Marles has accused the government of botching the entire project. A report from the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) this week warned that multiple risks have been brought into the OPV project after the government brought the project forward. The national auditor found the sustainment costs, which Defence’s own 2016 Interim Capability Lifecycle Manual identifies as a “key driver in the acquisition process and therefore must be considered in the earliest planning stages”, have not been taken into account.
“Defence provided rough-order-of-magnitude sustainment cost estimates to the government at second gate approval. At the time, Defence advised the government it ‘does not have a sustainment plan of sufficient fidelity to seek approval for sustainment costs’,” the report said.
“Consequently, selection of the Offshore Patrol Vessel was not based on reliable whole-of-life cost estimates. Defence advised the government it would develop support system specifications and conduct a tender for sustainment of the vessel in the second quarter of 2018. Defence undertook to return to the government in the final quarter of 2018 to present proposed sustainment costs for approval.
“The progress of the Offshore Patrol Vessel program through second gate approval on the basis of rough-order-of-magnitude sustainment costs is contrary to the findings and recommendations of numerous external reviews and audits undertaken in Defence over the past two decades.”
The ANAO slammed the decision to not properly take into account sustainment costs, referring to Australia’s history of Defence acquisitions.
“The history of Defence acquisitions in Australia demonstrates that inadequate sustainment cost estimates at project approval have led to cost implications once the platform is in service. By the time the government is provided with reliable sustainment cost estimates for the Offshore Patrol Vessel, the first vessel will be under construction, with no option to consider alternative platforms if the sustainment costs of the vessels are above expectations.”
Marles said the government has now started a project without proper costing and extended the so-called valley of death.
“You couldn’t have run the Offshore Patrol Vessel tender worse if you’ve tried,” Marles told Defence Connect.
“The government sent the supply vessels to be built overseas without thinking about what that meant for the local workforce; panicked when they realised they’d opened a valley of death; then tried to changed their mind at the last minute. In the end, they’ve left the valley of death open and picked an OPV option without knowing what it will cost.
“No amount of press releases and announcements can hide the fact the minister has botched this from start to finish.”
This is not the first time the Labor member has criticised the government over the OPV project. Last month, the Corio MP said the exclusion of Austal in a design capacity on the SEA 1180 OPV project had hindered the development of an Australian naval export industry.
Austal, which was in a joint bid with Fassmer and would have seen a large bulk of the design capability done in Australia, was in negotiations with winning designer Lürssen to be included in the build of the vessels, as per the government’s request, for several months until last week.
The shadow defence minister argued that the Australian shipbuilder, which has designed and built ships for Australia, Egypt, Oman and the US, is one victim of the government failing to incorporate Australia’s defence industry in tender arrangements for future projects.
“For all its abilities and deficiencies the design house at Austal in Henderson is the only significant naval design house in Australia,” Marles said.
“The failure of the government to develop a proper rationale for an Australian defence industry and its corresponding inability to bring the defence community along with it can be seen in the recent decision about the building of the Navy’s next generation of Offshore Patrol Vessels.”
Marles said that while developing an export based defence industry must be the long-term goal if the industry is to survive, Australia’s existing capabilities should have been leveraged in the OPV project, as well as the Future Frigates.
“The best opportunity to do this is by leveraging the domestic capability which is developed through the building of equipment for the ADF,” said Marles.
“Making sure we get the key procurement decisions right, from the perspective of the Australian defence industry, is therefore essential if we are to develop that industry. But this is unlikely to happen if the development of our national defence industry is not a clear goal in the procurement process.”
The OPV project is widely regarded as the upcoming naval project most likely to deliver potential export success. Kim Gillis, the deputy secretary of CASG, recently said during Senate estimates “that class of vessel is very in-demand from a range of navies around the world, and the export of those size vessels is far more likely than much larger combatant vessels”.
Marles said that the decision has failed to provide Australian industry with an export-based business, given the design of naval vessels “is where the intellectual property of the vessel exists” and “is where true ownership of the ship lives.”
“I am not in a position and certainly do not have the expertise to assess which bid provided the better option for the navy. I can only assume, given the government’s decision, that the answer to this question is that the Lürssen design was the better boat,” he said.
“But the consequence of this decision is that there will be no Australian, or even part Australian, design of the next OPV, which could have been the foundation for the development of an Australian vessel which could be sold to the world. If we assume that Lürssen did design the better boat, then in the making of this decision Navy capability trumped the development of Australian defence industry capability.”
(Source: Defence Connect)
14 May 18. National auditor asks Defence for new costings of naval shipbuilding plan. The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has issued a scathing report into the government’s $89bn Naval Shipbuilding Plan, warning of high levels of risk, cost blowouts and schedule delays.
The report from the national auditor examined the government’s shipbuilding program, which includes the Offshore Patrol Vessels, Future Frigates and Future Submarines projects.
While the report found that projects are so far meeting their milestones, it stressed that the projects are at an early stage and there are “high to extreme risks” in the shipbuilding plan.
“Key risks relate to the delivery of expected capability, program cost, ability to meet program schedules, and management of the industrial base. The Naval Shipbuilding Plan did not address the management of these risks in any detail,” the report said.
Of particular concern to the ANAO is the Future Frigates project, which was brought forward by Defence so that prototyping activities could begin in 2020.
“Schedule compression presented such extreme risk that cost and schedule over-run was likely, and that to proceed on the current schedule had the potential for severe reputational damage to Defence and the government,” the report warned.
The intended prototyping activities due to start in 2020 have not been included in Defence’s Integrated Investment Program, the report warned. While Defence advised the Defence Minister that the cost associated with the prototyping will be recovered in the efficiencies gained during the Future Frigate build, the ANAO found that Defence did not conduct any supporting analysis for this advice.
The designer and builder of the frigates is yet to be selected, with BAE Systems, Ficantieri and Navantia all in the running.
Successful implementation of the overall Naval Shipbuilding Plan will “depend on actively managing the high to extreme levels of risk”, the ANAO found, but said Australia’s experience in this area, alluding the Air Warfare Destroyer Project, said delivering these projects on time and on budget was “very high expectations”.
The report found that the Naval Shipbuilding Plan was based off assumptions made when the 2016 Defence White Paper was published, but key factors have since changed, with the Future Submarines now confirmed for construction in Australia and the OPVs and Future Frigates commencing construction earlier than expected. As such, the ANAO has urged Defence to revisit the cost assumptions of the naval shipbuilding projects.
“That Defence, in line with a 2015 undertaking to the government, determine the affordability of its 2017 Naval Shipbuilding Plan and related programs and advise the government of the additional funding required to deliver these programs, or the Australian Defence Force capability trade-offs that may need to be considered,” the ANAO recommended.
But the recommendation has been rejected by Defence.
“Defence takes an enterprise approach to its Naval Construction Programs,” Defence said in its response to the report.
“The shipbuilding provisions identified in the Integrated Investment Program are consolidated to enable government to consider the affordability of the Naval Construction Program as each project is presented to government.
“Offsets are recommended to government if there is a shortfall between the funding requirement and existing provision. Consequently, Defence disagrees with the ANAO’s recommendation.”
Responding to the report, Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne told Defence Connect given the scope and size of the Naval Shipbuilding Plan, risk was always inevitable.
“Building an Australian shipbuilding and submarine industry is a huge undertaking, it’s a nation building project so of course it contains risk,” Minister Pyne said.
“It’s been made especially hard by years of inaction under Labor when the industry was allowed to stagnate.
“The alternative would be to send the $200bn of taxpayers money we are spending on the largest build-up of our military capability in our peacetime history overseas, creating jobs and advanced manufacturing opportunities in other countries.
“We make no apologies for deciding to invest in Australian-built ships, creating Australian jobs and using Australian steel rather than buying foreign ships off the shelf and using Australian tax dollars to strengthen the defence industries and increase employment and wealth overseas.” (Source: Defence Connect)
12 May 18. Naval Group’s Australian Industry Plan released. The Australian Industry Plan (AIP) submitted by Naval Group during the Competitive Evaluation Process (CEP) for the $50bn Future Submarine Program has finally been released and has led to accusations the Department of Defence has betrayed Australia’s defence industry and ASC.
The AIP was released to Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick after a year of battling with the Minister for Defence and the Department. While much of the focus on the previously unreleased document centred around what percentage of involvement Australian industry would have in the project, it is the French company’s initial plans to use an Australian shipbuilder that has drawn the ire of politicians.
The document contains several references to transferring technology to an Australian sustainment organisation (ASO) of the government’s choice and also includes a bar graph explaining how the company planned to utilise ASC staff, listing 1,700 employees as part of its anticipated employment outcomes.
Despite the plan including ASC as part of its build proposition, the document’s section explaining Naval Group’s build scenario has been heavily redacted, with Senator Patrick accusing the government of intentionally cutting out ASC from the project and attempting to cover it up.
“It’s treachery,” said Senator Patrick. “Coupled with a tender that explicitly prohibited Australian shipbuilders, ASC and Austal, from tendering for the $35bn Future Frigate Program, it’s clear that Defence has betrayed the government in the execution of its sovereign naval shipbuilding agenda. It appears the Department are in control of Minister Payne and Pyne.
“Defence will have to explain why they did not take up this part of the proposal noting the success that ASC had with the Collins build and the fact that they are an Australian company with an established Australian supply chain that could have been exploited in the program.
“1.700 workers will be displaced and a great deal of submarine corporate experience lost as a result of Defence’s treachery.”
Another document from Naval Group – then DCNS – also spruiked a ‘Two Shipyards as One’ strategy in which the company said it was prepared to work with ASC for the project.
“The ‘Two Shipyards as One’ strategy comprises a dedicated program of work to prepare ASC in every respect for the build,” the document says.
Senator Patrick, a former submariner and defence contractor, this week tabled the Defence (Sovereign Naval Shipbuilding) Bill 2018, which will seek to amend the Defence Act 1903 to require all new naval vessels exceeding 30 metres, including Australia’s Future Submarines and Future Frigates, to be built in Australia except in times of defence emergency or in war time.
Under the proposal, any future naval vessels would need to be built by an Australian shipbuilder that is incorporated in Australia and is not controlled by one or more foreign persons and is not a subsidiary of a foreign entity. The information required to maintain and upgrade the naval vessels would also need to be placed under government control.
“It is this sort of departmental treachery that Centre Alliance’s new Sovereign Naval Shipbuilding Bill is intended to deal with,” Senator Patrick said.
“Why has the build proposal information been redacted?”
Labor senator Kim Carr, a former minister for manufacturing and defence materiel, also told Defence Connect he will be pursuing the matter at the next inquiry into the Future of Australia’s Naval Shipbuilding Industry.
“It is clear from the content of Naval Group’s Australian Industry Plan that we are not being told the whole story by the Turnbull government,” Senator Carr told Defence Connect.
“For example, the document reveals that Naval Group intended for ASC to be part of the build solution from the outset, with an expectation that this would support 1,700 jobs. The documents suggest that this was not the wish of Defence or the government.
“It also raises serious questions about a government that is hellbent on avoiding public scrutiny, claiming repeatedly that disclosure is not in the public interest only to change their minds a few months later, with no explanation as to the cause of this about face.”
The government recently came under fire for refusing to have the Naval Shipbuilding Advisory Board appear before the inquiry into the Future of Australia’s naval shipbuilding industry.
The Senate economics committee released correspondence showing Defence rejected the invitation for the board to appear before the hearing scheduled for 2 May, which has now been postponed. The correspondence also shows that on 28 March 2018, the committee invited the board to appear at a hearing in May 2018. Defence declined the request on 11 April.
In the lead-up to the Senate economics committee making the correspondence of Defence’s refusal public, Defence has now agreed to have one member appear before the committee at the next hearing.
This was not the first time such an issue has happened within Defence.
In February 2016, Defence refused the attendance of a departmental economist, Dr Robert Bourke, at senate estimates. After a summons was issued by the Senate on 11 February, a spillover hearing of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (FADT) legislation committee was held on 3 March 2016 with Dr Bourke in attendance.
In May 2017, Defence again refused to allow an officer from the Department to appear before the FADT committee at estimates. The officer had signed off on a one-month consultancy contract for $75,000 and was to be questioned on the value-for-money considerations made prior to authorising the contract. Defence backed down after a motion to summons was lodged in the Senate on 10 May 2017. (Source: Defence Connect)
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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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16 May 18. Strong Military Spending Propels Industry Mergers. Expected boosts in defense spending are encouraging companies to broaden their portfolios through mergers and acquisitions to better provide high-end capabilities to the U.S. military, according to a recent report.
The analysis by Capstone Headwaters, “Aerospace & Defense Outlook: Mergers and Acquisitions Update 2018,” notes that the amount of movement within the aerospace and defense world increased by 2 percent in 2017, compared to a 16 percent decline the prior year.
As the Trump administration settled in after the inauguration, “many in the aerospace and defense sector seemed to wait for greater clarity in defense spending before moving on major acquisitions early in 2017,” the report said.
Several large transaction announcements followed, the biggest being a $30bn acquisition of Rockwell Collins by United Technologies Corp., the report said. UTC — which is also the parent company of Pratt & Whitney — will benefit from Rockwell’s experience in communications as well as aviation and avionics systems, pending government approval.
Boeing announced its acquisition of advanced aerospace and autonomous systems manufacturer Aurora Flight Sciences in October 2017. Additionally, Airbus and Boeing both aim to secure their dominance in the aviation market by merging with smaller regional aircraft manufacturers, with Airbus recently committing to a 50 percent stake in the Bombardier CSeries program and Boeing announcing plans to increase ties with Brazil-based Embraer.
Many of these decisions reflect priorities laid out in the fiscal year 2019 presidential budget request, including: ground forces; space systems; missiles and munitions; and research, development, testing and evaluation. Merger and acquisition activity has aligned with those priorities, according to the report, citing Northrop Grumman’s $9.2bn acquisition of Orbital ATK to gain launch and propulsion, missiles and space systems capabilities, pending government approval.
The U.S. military and other government agencies are also stepping up spending in information technology services, leading companies to expand their portfolios to include high growth areas such as: cybersecurity; cloud computing; data analytics; and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or C4ISR.
Cybersecurity in particular has seen “exceptional growth” as breaches become more common and the world increasingly relies upon internet-connected devices. “M&A activity followed suit with an almost 50 percent increase in the number of cyber deals and doubling in the value of transactions as startups mature,” the report said.
As emerging capabilities such as hypersonics, autonomy and directed energy become bigger priorities in the Pentagon, large primes are investing more in internal research and development to meet the demand. “Where capability gaps fall short, filling these gaps via acquisitions of innovative, often middle-market, companies provides one pathway to strategic growth,” the report said. (Source: glstrade.com/National Defense)
17 May 18. DSME makes further gains. South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has posted another quarter of profits following its return to share trading in late 2017.
The shipbuilder said on 15 May that its net profits in the first quarter of 2018 were KRW226.3bn (USD210m), while its total quarterly sales were KRW2.256bn.
These figures are down 3% and 17% respectively compared to the same period in 2017, with DSME attributing the decline to the strength of the South Korean currency against the US dollar.
However, DSME also pointed to the new figures as further evidence of its re-expansion following several years of severe financial constraints caused by weakened commercial shipbuilding and energy sectors.
(Source: IHS Jane’s)
17 May 18. Kongsberg saw sales fall in first quarter. Kongsberg has reported lower revenues for the first quarter of 2018, attributed to the year-on-year decline to a 10.9% decrease in its defence division that resulted from a fall in sales of missiles and air defence systems.
The Norwegian state-controlled group recorded revenues of NOK1.59bn (USD195.91m) over this period for the defence and aerospace division, and received new orders in this area totalling NOK798m. The overall group reported revenues of NOK3.55bn, down on the NOK3.72bn recorded in the equivalent quarter in 2017, representing a 4.5% decrease, with a total order intake of NOK2.94bn. This was down from NOK3.45bn the previous year. (Source: Google/IHS Jane’s)
15 May 18. AERTEC Solutions has further consolidated its position in the European market through the acquisition of the QualityPark Group. AERTEC Solutions, the international engineering and consulting firm specializing in airports and the aerospace and defence industries, is taking another step in its plan for international expansion with the acquisition of the German engineering firm, the QualityPark Group (QPAC). The Hamburg-based company is a supplier of high technology engineering solutions and processes, with extensive experience in the aerospace market.
QPAC, specialized in manufacturing engineering and electrical systems, together with important R&D activity, works in close collaboration with clients such as Airbus and Premium Aerotec.
QPAC has accumulated great expertise in the areas of process management, manufacturing engineering, systems engineering, design of electrical systems and of tools, and works in close collaboration with clients such as Airbus, Premium Aerotec, FERCHAU Engineering or LATESYS GmbH, participating in programmes such as A400M, A320, A330-200, A350XWB or A380.
For Antonio Gómez-Guillamón, founder of AERTEC Solutions, “this business integration will allow us to position ourselves in the German market, which is clearly strategic for us, and to consolidate our position in the European market, where we already have a significant presence”.
AERTEC Solutions already has offices in the United Kingdom, in addition to the four Spanish offices in Malaga, Seville, Madrid and Barcelona. On the American continent the company has offices in Colombia and the U.S. “AERTEC is a company that has had an international focus ever since its inception, more than twenty years ago. We strive everyday to grow into one of the most important engineering companies in the European aerospace industry, capable of influencing the development of the global aerospace industry. The acquisition of QPAC has added its weight to that goal,” said Vicente Padilla, the other founder of AERTEC Solutions.
The international engineering and consultancy firm based in Malaga expects to increase its global turnover by 15% thanks to the acquisition of QPAC, which currently has more than 50 employees. The acquisition also means that AERTEC now has a presence in three of the most important European aeronautical centres: Hamburg, Broughton and Andalusia. The company manages numerous multidisciplinary projects for the main manufacturers in the aerospace sector, such as Airbus. In fact, the company is currently a Tier-1 supplier of manufacturing engineering services and programme management to the Airbus Group for its civil and military aircraft, in addition to providing its know-how and experience in industrialisation activities, manufacturing support, assembly, design and production support and testing systems engineering.
17 May 18. U.S. gunmaker Remington exits bankruptcy in tough gun climate. U.S. weapons manufacturer Remington Outdoor Co Inc FREDM.UL said on Thursday it had emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with less debt and more stable financing that may help it ride out a slowing market for firearms.
Remington, America’s oldest gunmaker, filed for bankruptcy protection in March, weeks after a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida killed 17 people and triggered intensified campaigns for gun control by activists.
Under the reorganization plan, inked two days before the Feb. 14 Parkland shooting, creditors including JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Franklin Advisors will take ownership stakes in the company in exchange for forgiving more than $775m (£573.3m) of debt.
Remington also received a $193m new lending package funded by seven banks, including Bank of America Corp (BAC.N).
“It is morning in Remington country,” Chief Executive Anthony Acitelli said in a statement.
Investors in Cerberus Capital Management LP, the previous owner, had urged the private equity fund to sell Remington after its Bushmaster rifle was used in a school shooting in 2012 in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, in which 20 children died.
Remington has said its bankruptcy would not affect lawsuits against it, including one filed by the families of Sandy Hook victims. It is also appointing a new board of directors.
Remington’s bankruptcy was partly triggered by a decline in gun sales as President Donald Trump’s election eased firearm enthusiasts’ worries about increased regulation.
Following the Parkland shooting, companies such as Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N), Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc (DKS.N) and Walmart Inc (WMT.N) cut ties with gun-rights groups or restricted sales of weapons.
Bank of America has hinted that it may sell its participation in Remington’s exit financing package.
“These companies have a real opportunity to solidify a brand that is in sync with what customers want now and in the future,” said gun control advocate Igor Volsky. He called Parkland “a tipping point for Americans waking up and saying that guns are a real problem.”
Distressed investors who normally view bankruptcies as an opportunity to obtain equity in a restructured company on the cheap largely stayed away from Remington.
“Because it filed for Chapter 11 just weeks after the tragic Parkland shooting, Remington became the hot potato that many investors did not want to touch,” restructuring attorney Vincent Indelicato of Proskauer Rose said in an email. (Source: Reuters)
16 May 18. Two Chinese defence industrial groups, the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) and the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), have each established what they call ‘smart manufacturing’ initiatives to drive capability development.
The initiatives, announced separately by the two groups in mid-May, are in line with the Chinese government’s ‘Made in China 2025’ programme, which was launched in 2015 and seeks to leverage Industry 4.0 technologies and techniques and position China as a world-leading advanced manufacturer. Under the project announced by CETC, the corporation has created an ‘X+AI new-generation action plan’ that is intended to spur innovation in developing Industry 4.0 technologies.
(Source: IHS Jane’s)
15 May 18. U.S. lawmakers push back on Trump talk of helping China’s ZTE. U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday rejected any plan by President Donald Trump to ease restrictions on China’s ZTE Corp (000063.SZ), calling the telecommunications firm a security threat and vowing not to abandon legislation clamping down on the company.
Trump on Monday had defended his decision to revisit penalties on ZTE for flouting U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran, in part by saying it was reflective of the larger trade deal the United States is negotiating with China.
“I hope the administration does not move forward on this supposed deal I keep reading about,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio said. Bilateral talks between the world’s two biggest economies resume in Washington this week.
The Trump administration is considering an arrangement under which the ban on ZTE would be eased in exchange for elimination of new Chinese tariffs on certain U.S. farm products, including pork, fruits, nuts and ginseng, two people familiar with the proposal said. The potential arrangement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“They are basically conducting an all-out assault to steal what we’ve already developed and use it as the baseline for their development so they can supplant us as the leader in the most important technologies of the 21st century,” Rubio said at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Asia policy.
Trump had taken to Twitter on Sunday with a pledge to help the company, which has suspended its main operations, because the penalties had cost too many jobs in China. It was a departure for a president who often touts “America First” policies.
The Commerce Department in April found ZTE had violated a 2017 settlement created after the company violated sanctions on Iran and North Korea, and banned U.S. companies from providing exports to ZTE for seven years.
U.S. companies are estimated to provide 25 percent to 30 percent of components used in ZTE’s equipment, which includes smartphones and gear to build telecommunications networks.
CYBERSNOOPING?
The suggestion outraged members of Congress who have been pressing for more restrictions on ZTE. Some U.S. lawmakers have alleged equipment made by ZTE and other Chinese companies could pose a cyber security threat.
“Who makes unilateral concessions on the eve of talks after you’ve spent all this time trying to say, correctly in my view, that the Chinese have ripped off our technology?” Senator Ron Wyden, the senior Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees trade policy, told Reuters.
Wyden, who is also on the Intelligence Committee, was one of 32 Senate Democrats who signed a letter on Tuesday accusing Trump of putting China’s interests ahead of U.S. jobs and national security.
The company has denied wrongdoing.
Republican Representative Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said at a Bloomberg event on Tuesday he did not expect lawmakers would seek to remove a ban on ZTE technology from a must-pass annual defense policy bill making its way through Congress.
“I confess I don’t fully understand the administration’s take on this at this point,” Thornberry said. “It is not a question to me of economics, it is a question of security.”
Another Republican, Senator John Kennedy, defended Trump, saying the president’s approach is part of a larger set of negotiations with China.
“He didn’t get up one day and go, ‘I think I’ll change my mind on ZTE.’ I think it’s part of a larger issue, and part of a larger set of negotiations,” Kennedy told reporters. (Source: glstrade.com/Reuters)
14 May 18. Reliance Naval designated as a non-performing asset. Mumbai-based Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited (RNEL) has been designated by the state-owned Vijaya Bank as a ‘non-performing asset’ sending the shipbuilder’s share price to a record low.
The bank said RNEL’s new designation was prompted by guidelines recently introduced by the Reserve Bank of India that stiffen measures on companies deemed to be at risk of payment default.
The bank added that the ‘non-performing asset’ designation, indicating its concerns about the ability of the company to repay loans, is applicable from the quarter ending 31 March.
In April, RNEL’s auditors, Pathak HD & Associates, warned that the shipbuilder’s fiscal year 2017-18 (FY 2017–18) financial results indicated the existence of “uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as going concern”. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. Indra reports sharp earnings fall. Spanish systems group Indra saw its profits slide by almost 49% in the first quarter of the year to EUR10.7m although its overall sales grew by 12% to EUR714m. The 20% state-owned technology group attributed the Q1 year-on-year profit fall to a combination of exchange rates, higher financing costs & the introduction of new accounting norms. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
11 May 18. ST Engineering posts quarterly gains. Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering) has posted increases in sales and profits in the first quarter of 2018, the company announced on 11 May. ST Engineering said sales in the quarter ending 31 March increased year-on-year by 9% to SGD1.64bn (USD1.23bn) and that pre-tax profit was SGD144m, also an increase of 9%. The group said that defence sales amounted to 37% – or about SGD600m – of total group of revenues. Its order book at the end of the quarter was SGD13.4bn, with about SGD3.2bn of this expected to be delivered in the remainder of 2018. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
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17 May 18. Bendigo-built Army vehicles arrive in Japan. The latest tranche of Australian-built Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles has arrived in Japan this week. The four vehicles delivered this week take the total of exported Bushmaster vehicles to Japan to eight.
Thales Australia said the delivery of the vehicles is a milestone for defence exports in Australia.
“Over the past 10 years, Thales Australia has generated more than $1.6bn worth of exports. Delivering economic benefits not only for Thales, but along our supply chain,” a spokesperson for Thales Australia told Defence Connect.
“The Bushmaster is operated by eight defence forces across the world, including Australia, the Netherlands, UK, Japan, Jamaica, Indonesia, Fiji and New Zealand.”
The second shipment of vehicles to Japan comes after Prime Minister Turnbull showcased Australian-made Bushmasters to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in January. Thales Australia built and supplied four Bushmaster vehicles to Japan in 2014 at a cost of around $3.6m. The combination of the eight vehicles represents Australia’s biggest defence export deal to Japan. Over 1,100 Bushmasters have been manufactured to date in Bendigo.
The Bushmaster vehicles have been in operation since 1997 for the Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Netherlands Army, British Army and the Jamaica Defence Force. The vehicles are lightly armoured and provide protected mobility transport for infantry dismounting from the vehicle before going into action. (Source: Defence Connect)
17 May 18. Team Polaris® and its advanced MRZR® X multi-mode vehicle platform have been selected by the U.S. Army to be one of the robotic systems used by infantry brigade combat teams for the next year of trials as part of the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport (SMET) program.
“The optionally-manned MRZR X helps ease the transition from manned vehicles to unmanned because it maintains the functionality, drivability and multi-mission capability of a traditional MRZR,” said Patrick Zech, program manager, Polaris Government and Defense. “Providing the Army with the option for high speed operations or missions with a soldier driving behind a traditional steering wheel is an important part of our offering.”
As military forces worldwide look to lighten the warfighter’s load now and smartly network vehicles in the multi-domain battlefield in the coming years, the MRZR X provides an evolving, robotics capable, multi-mission platform. In addition, the MRZR X provides worldwide commonality with the MRZRs already in service in the U.S. and more than 30 allied nations.
“In addition to meeting or exceeding all of the current robotics requirements, we’ve designed a layered, modular, open architecture, integrating sensors and software that will make it easier for the Army to securely upgrade technology in the vehicles,” Matthew Fordham, group lead and associate division manager for Unmanned Systems and Security Products, Applied Research Associates Inc (ARA).
The MRZR X provides warfighters with a modular, multi-mission support platform and that has multiple modes of operation that span a broad spectrum from traditional operator driving, to multiple levels of autonomy, including the capability for remote control, teleoperation, follow-me, leader-follower and full autonomy. This allows the MRZR X to enhance and evolve mobility in varying roles including service as a robotic equipment mule, autonomous resupply vehicle, warfighter-driven squad carrier, logistics support vehicle, rescue mission enabler and high-speed casualty evacuation capability. In the future, the connectivity of the MRZR X will provide the ability to act as a networked node in the multi-domain battlespace.
ARA has been producing Modular Robotic Applique Kits (M-RAKs) for more than 20 years, with a specialty in off-road robotics, further enhanced by the acquisition of Neya Systems. The advanced MRZR X fully integrates the autonomy systems and optimally places the sensors to safeguard the technology while keeping the physical and software architecture open so it can spiral in future technology. The vehicle drivetrain is powerful and reliable, allowing for longer missions, high speeds and silent drive when needed – all on the very familiar, sustainable and intuitive MRZR platform.
Polaris Industries Inc., Applied Research Associates Inc. (ARA) and Neya Systems LLC formally teamed in 2017. The Team Polaris MRZR® X evolves squad mobility with advanced unmanned systems technology from ARA and the pioneering and unsurpassed autonomous systems behavior of Neya Systems. Team Polaris has many pursuits – together and individually – with U.S. services, allied militaries and commercial programs.
17 May 18. We’re about to find out if this ‘optionally-manned’ Polaris ATV could help shoulder a soldier’s combat load.
One of two designers of a prototype unmanned vehicle that the Army plans to test whether robotic vehicles fit in their formations has released details of its submission.
The Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division and the 1st Brigade Combat Team at 10th Mountain Division will be the first teams in the Army to run training missions and testing with these robotic systems in the formations, said Bryan McVeigh, project manager for the service’s Force Protection Robotics Portfolio at an April conference.
The program, dubbed the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport aims to remove much of a soldier’s load by carrying gear, ammo, food and water to fulfill a dismounted squad’s needs while on longer patrol.
Polaris Industries announced this week that the Army had purchased 20 of its MRZR X multi-mode vehicle platforms as one of the two prototypes to test in these new robotic trials.
“The optionally-manned MRZR X helps ease the transition from manned vehicles to unmanned because it maintains the functionality, drivability and multi-mission capability of a traditional MRZR,” said Patrick Zech, program manager, Polaris Government and Defense. “Providing the Army with the option for high speed operations or missions with a soldier driving behind a traditional steering wheel is an important part of our offering.”
According to Army requirements, the eventual pick for the SMET project must be an autonomous ground vehicle capable of carrying up to 1,000 pounds of gear over 60 miles in 72 hours.
The company said in its release that the MRZR X has a “layered, modular, open architecture,” which helps integrate sensors and software for future upgrades, said Matthew Fordham, a division manager for the Applied Research Associates, Inc.’s unmanned systems and security products.
The ARA works with Polaris and Neya Systems LLC, doing work on “Modular Robotic Applique Kits,” or M-RAKs.
Marine reconnaissance units have used the Polaris RZR tactical vehicles for small formation movement in all terrain environments since at least 2015. Other special operations forces have used variations of ATVs for different training scenarios for many years. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Army Times)
16 May 18. Jaguar prototype unveiled. Key Points:
- A prototype of France’s Jaguar AFV was unveiled at Nexter on 16 May before it is displayed at Eurosatory 2018
- The Jaguar, Griffon, upgraded Leclerc MBT, and VBMR léger are part of France’s Scorpion programme
A prototype of France’s Jaguar 6×6 armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) was unveiled at the Nexter facilities in Satory on 16 May in the run-up to the 11-15 June Eurosatory 2018 defence exhibition.
The vehicle, a joint programme between Nexter, Renault Trucks, and Thales, is the second of two prototypes, both of which will be exhibited at Eurosatory, one at the Nexter stand and the other at the French Ministry of Defence stand, along with a Griffon 6×6 armoured vehicle.
(Source: News Now/IHS Jane’s)
15 May 18. Industry pushes lighter, smaller vehicles as critical for Mideast combat. Exceptionally notable at last week’s Special Operations Forces Exhibition in Jordan was the large presence of local and international light tactical products to support special ops fighting the wave of regional threats.
“The new type of threats faced today requires the use of light vehicles able to meet the demand of the countries confronting terrorism in an asymmetric environment where the assemblage of terrorist groups is becoming more concentrated in residential areas,” said Abdallah Al Salman, marketing and communication manager with the Jordan-based KADDB Investment Group.
Forecast International analysts predict the global light, wheeled vehicle market will produce more than 36,000 units worth at least $30.9bn through 2024 ― despite ongoing worldwide economic difficulties.
“In order to counter this new type of threats, you certainly need smaller and lighter, high-maneuverable vehicles. And as an example, KIG has worked on developing Al-Maha and Al-Washaq as a solution to customers that require smaller vehicles to maneuver in narrow neighborhoods and streets,” he added.
Both Al-Maha and Al-Washq were developed after KIG received feedback from its local and international customers, according to Al Salman, who noted that the Al-Jawad vehicle is sometimes considered too large to effectively counter the “new type of threats.”
“The two vehicles are able to carry eight personnel in total (six plus two) in comparison with Al-Jawad, which can carry a total of 10 personnel. But what’s common is the high level of protection,” he said.
A fourth-generation vehicle, the Al-Jawad serves as an internal security vehicle and provides a high level of protection standards at the CEN B6 level of protection. It follows the success of its three previous generations.
On display for the first time during SOFIX was KIG’s new Al-Mared eight-wheel drive armored vehicle and its Al-Faris six-wheel drive armored vehicle. Both come with the Stanag L3 level of protection, upgradable to Stanag L4.
For its part, Oshkosh Defense showcased its Special Purpose All-Terrain Vehicle technology demonstrator at the show, after having it tested in an unnamed Middle Eastern country in 2014.
The S-ATV is lightweight and agile, and is advertised as being able to meet a range of mission requirements for armed forces in the U.S. and the Middle East, among other areas around the globe.
“There’s always a trade-off in weight classes, and as you get lighter, you generally accept far less protection,” explained Mike Ivy, senior vice president of international programs and global product support at Oshkosh Defense.
“The vehicle that the customers want is driven by the operational environment at a given time. In some cases, they need more speed, greater range and less protection; and in other cases, they need greater protection, less speed and transportability,” he added. “We feel like we are uniquely positioned to offer vehicles across that spectrum of missions.”
For Anthony Winns, the head of Lockheed Martin’s Middle East and Africa regional business, pointed at cost and size as a main focus for customers.
“A lot of the focus is on cost and miniaturization. And when you’re able to reduce cost, that means you are able to buy more weapons,” he said. “The economies are dictating that you want to be able to spend your money more effectively, and governments want to do that. The lighter weapons ― the less costly and the more effective ones.” (Source: Defense News)
15 May 18. Watpac to build Rheinmetall MILVEHCOE for Australian LAND 400 project. Construction and civil engineering company Watpac has been selected as the managing contractor to construct the $170m Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) for Rheinmetall Defence Australia. The new MILVEHCOE facility is expected to support 300 jobs a year over two years. It will be located at Redbank in Ipswich, Queensland. In a statement, Queensland State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Minister Cameron Dick said that the earthworks on the project are expected to commence by the middle of this year after Rheinmetall concludes its contract negotiations with the Australian Government.
Construction work is expected to begin by the end of the year, while the MILVEHCOE facility will be completed by the end of 2020.
As Rheinmetall’s largest facility outside of Germany, MILVEHCOE will help the company to manage the delivery, continued development and sustainment of the initial 211 Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicles under the Australian Army’s Land 400 Phase II programme.
Dick said: “It will serve as a regional hub with an expected programme of continuous design, manufacture and support for up to 5,000 military vehicles across Australia and the Asia Pacific.”
Workers from Queensland, Australia, will be based in Rheinmetall’s German factory to carry out production of the first 25 Boxer vehicles, developing the technical skills to install the systems onto the 25 vehicles.
Dick added: “The MILVEHCOE will be the base for Rheinmetall to deliver the $5.2bn Land 400 Phase II contract for next-generation combat reconnaissance vehicles for the Australian Army.
“Progress is well underway with GHD completing the initial designs, work they will finalise in association with Watpac, and the development application has been approved by Ipswich City Council.” (Source: army-technology.com)
14 May 18. Derivatsiya-PVO SPAAG to enter state trials in 2018. The Derivatsiya-PVO self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) will enter state trials later this year, a Russian defence industry source has told Jane’s. He added that a prototype of the newest 57mm SPAAG developed by the Nizhny Novgorod-based Burevestnik institute, a subsidiary of Rostec’s Uralvagonzavod (UVZ), had already been manufactured and sent for preliminary trials.
The Derivatsiya-PVO is based on the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle, the protection of which is reinforced by explosive reactive armour skirts. The source said the SPAAG is designed to engage unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles, surface-to-air munitions, tactical aircraft, combat helicopters, and single rockets fired by multiple rocket systems, as well as lightly armoured ground and surface targets. The vehicle can destroy an aerial target flying at a speed of up to 500 m/s at an altitude of up to 4.5km and at a slant range of up to 6 km. The system’s remote-controlled 57 mm gun has a rate of fire of 120m/s. Its ammunition load comprises 148 armour piercing, high explosive fragmentation tracer rounds, multipurpose airburst munition, as well as guided artillery projectiles. The secondary armament suite comprises a 7.62mm medium machine gun and nine Tucha-family smoke dischargers. The Derivatsiya-PVO is supported by a Ural-4320-based transporter and a mobile maintenance vehicle, the source added. The system has a crew of three. The SPAAG is reported to be fitted with the OES OP electro-optical passive targeting station developed by Minsk-based JSC Peleng. It can detect a small aerial target 10 km away and identify it with a thermal imager at 4km. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. Poland seeks truck-mounted scatterable mine-laying system. The Polish Armament Inspectorate (AI) announced on 9 May that it is relaunching the Baobab-K programme to develop a vehicle able to scatter mines, with a 6 June deadline for bids. The previous call was cancelled in October 2017 because the AI assessed the development costs at less than a third of the amount bid. The winner must prepare a model, prototype, and technical documentation. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
10 May 18. USMC Wants Armored Recon Prototypes By 2023: F-35 On Wheels Or FCS Redux? It’s important to explore a wide range of options and not lock down requirements too early, Lt. Gen. Walsh said. (By contrast, FCS set precise objectives and only then looked to see if they were possible). “We’re trying to solve the problem of what is reconnaissance (and) counter-reconnaissance in the future,” he said, not simply replace an old vehicle with a new one.
By 2023, the Marine Corps wants prototypes for a radically new scout unit they want to be the ground version of the F-35 — scouting ahead into hostile territory, killing key targets, and feeding data back to the rest of the force. Though called the Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle, the project has evolved well beyond a straightforward replacement for the aging Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) into a networked family of manned vehicles, ground robots, and drones, collectively capable of not only reconnaissance but also electronic warfare and long-range precision strikes.
Industry response has been overwhelming. Interested companies have submitted some 282 white papers and counting, deputy commandant Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh said last week. These aren’t just traditional prime contractors proposing manned vehicles, but a host of smaller companies proposing also unmanned systems, sensors, networks, EW, weapons, and more, Walsh and his staff said. The Office of Naval Research (ONR), which is running the $42m science, technology, and prototyping effort for the Marines, has actually had to push back deadlines to sort through this embarrassment of riches.
That’s a stark contrast to the Marines’ first stab at the Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle, when a small number of big contractors proposed modest improvements on the 1980s-vintage LAV. “The reason we did this (i.e. reboot the program and work with ONR): I wasn’t seeing the bright ideas coming from industry,” Walsh said.
By contrast, the former fighter pilot said, “I could see it on F-35,” which started in the 1990s as a stealthy strike fighter but has evolved into an electronic/cyber warfare platform that can gather and “fuse” a vast amount of data to guide the rest of the force. Walsh wanted to see the same ferment of new tactics and technologies for ground reconnaissance. Now, by all accounts, he’s getting it.
Big Ambitions
The Marines have big ambitions for the ARV. “The vehicle should be able to launch a UAS (Unmanned Aerial System), scout deep, and then use precision fires (and) electronic warfare,” Walsh said last week. Speaking, at the Modular Open Systems Summit, he emphasized the importance of an open architecture design that could be “constantly” upgraded with new technologies as they become available.
What kinds of technologies? His staff and online materials for a January 9 industry day lay out a long wishlist:
- the ability to operate for extended periods with minimal resupply, part of the emerging Army and Marine Corps focus on “distributed operations” where units disperse and keep on the move to avoid presenting easy targets for precision strikes.
- better amphibious performance than the current LAV while remaining as easy to transport on landing craft (four vehicles per LCAC hovercraft).
- an arsenal of medium-caliber automatic cannon (e.g. 30 mm) for lightly armored targets, anti-armor firepower for heavy tanks, long-range missiles (the Israeli Spike) or kamikaze drones (Switchblade) for targets over the horizon, and some means to shoot down enemy drones. (The systems in parentheses were listed in the industry day briefings as examples, not mandates).
- advanced long-range sensors and a secure communications network to share the data they collect, even in the face of enemy jamming and hacking.
- electronic warfare capability to detect, classify, and jam enemy transmissions, to include downing drones by scrambling their control links.
- Active Protection Systems, like the Israeli Trophy APS now being studied by the Army, to shoot down incoming anti-tank warheads before they hit, as well as unspecified counter-IED (Improvised Explosive Device) defenses.
- passenger capacity for scouts who can dismount and fight on foot (the current LAV carries six, but the number for ARV is not yet fixed).
Now, not all of this equipment has to fit on one vehicle. Even the current LAV exists in multiple variants for different missions: armed troop carrier, mobile command post, mortar carrier, anti-tank, anti-aircraft, and so on. The future ARV, likewise, will be the basis of “Next Generation Armored Reconnaissance Family of Vehicles,” the briefing materials say. And those vehicles will be accompanied by multiple types of unmanned air and ground vehicles, including a small (Group 1) recon/kamikaze drone and larger (Group 3) drones for long-range recon and to air-drop mini-robots to scout targets at ground level.
This kind of complex integration of different systems, emphasizing different ways to gather information, is increasingly typical of US defense programs, not just in the Marine Corps. “The general approach reflects a consistent theme across the services, i.e. attempts to leverage modern technologies involving sensors, communications, and information fusing/analysis to make operators more aware of their environment and forces more effective in general,” said Dakota Wood, a retired Marine now with the Heritage Foundation. “Whether that can be done at acceptable cost and in a reasonable period of time remains to be seen.”
Can They Do It?
Can the Marine Corps, the smallest service, pull together all these disparate technologies into a successful program? With its plan for a family of manned vehicles supported by drones and ground robots, all networked together to share data, the Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle sounds a little like the Army’s cancelled Future Combat Systems, which has become a byword for overreach.
ARV looks a lot more likely to succeed, however, said one experienced observer of ground force modernization programs. “It’s much less ambitious than FCS, though, and it will be bought in fairly small numbers,” the source said. The Marines only aim to buy 500 ARVs — plus associated drones and robots — which is a relatively small number for a defense program.
On a technical level, the source said, “a wheeled vehicle is much less ambitious (than a tracked one as in FCS),” and that’s what the Marines will probably build. There are plenty of wheeled armored vehicles available on the market today, including the Army’s 8×8 Stryker, itself the big brother of the Marines’ LAV, in turn a descendant of the Swiss MOWAG Piranha. Italian and Singaporean designs are currently competing for the Marines’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV, not to be confused with ARV or for that matter AAV). All these vehicles are basically bulletproof boxes capable of being reconfigured for a wide range of missions, so the ARV program doesn’t need to invent some radically new vehicle to carry its capabilities, as FCS tried to.
Likewise, there are a lot of different drones available that can perform the missions called for in the ARV briefing materials. Ground robotics aren’t as advanced, but at least the Marines are only looking at scout bots, rather than armed remote-controlled vehicles as in the Army’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle program.
What’s more, while the Army wants to get its first prototype NGCVs in 2019 (with tests running through 2024), the Marines don’t plan to get prototype ARVs until late 2023 (tests will run through 2025). Low-rate initial production of the first 50 vehicles will run from 2026-2027, at which point the first ARV unit will reach Initial Operational Capability (IOC). Full rate production of the remaining 450 vehicles will run through 2032.
“Could we go faster? We absolutely could faster if the money was there,” Walsh told reporters. But in the early 2020s, he said, “we’re bringing on ACV, we’re bringing on JLTV. We’ve got to get through those things” before taking on another ground modernization program.
That tentative timeline — still fairly fast as defense procurements go — gives the Marines eight years to work out the technology. What’s more, the plan is to build two sets of tech demonstrators: one using low-risk, off-the-shelf technology wherever possible, one pushing the envelope in quest of a “revolutionary” improvement. Neither prototype will have to carry the full range of capabilities: Instead, Walsh and his staff said, the objective is to develop “80 percent solutions” designed with an open architecture that will allow easy upgrades in the future, both to improve the baseline ARV and to develop new specialized variants.
It’s important to explore a wide range of options and not lock down requirements too early, Walsh said. (By contrast, FCS set precise objectives and only then looked to see if they were possible). “We’re trying to solve the problem of what is reconnaissance (and) counter-reconnaissance in the future,” he said, not simply replace an old vehicle with a new one.
“If we went to the primes today that build vehicles, they would build a certain box for us and say, ‘this is what we can do,’” Walsh told the modular systems conference. “When you open it up to lots of people, you’re going to come up with lots of different ideas.” (Source: Breaking Defense.com)
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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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17 May 18. Special Operators Pursuing New Position, Navigation and Timing Capabilities. This is part 9 of a 10-part series covering U.S. Special Operations Command’s Top 10 technology needs leading up to the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Tampa, Florida, May 21-25, 2018. Today: Positioning, Navigation and Timing. Positioning, navigation and timing capabilities are moving to the forefront of the military’s acquisition priorities. Technology is developing to a point where GPS may now be susceptible to spoofing and jamming, said Dana Goward, president of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation. Jamming involves stopping or disrupting a signal, whereas a signal can be “spoofed” by being replaced with alternative information, he noted.
To counter these interferences, the services have implemented new programs and examined more advanced ways to provide PNT capabilities outside of traditional GPS technologies. For example, the Navy has begun fielding its next-generation PNT distribution system while the Air Force works to field GPS III, a satellite that will provide new civil and military signals and increased accuracy.
Special Operations Command is also pursuing ways to provide assured PNT solutions to its commandos, Navy Lt. Phillip Chitty, a spokesperson for SOCOM, said in an email. He noted that the command pursued the effort through a classified collaboration event through SOFWERX, an initiative that allows for technology experimentation with nontraditional partners. Chitty did not provide additional information about the event or when it occurred.
“This classified session generated concepts that USSOCOM is developing,” he said. “Due to maturity of the systems under development, it is too early to determine a timeline.”
A Defense Systems Information Analysis Center announcement released last year stated SOFWERX’s intention to hold a “GPS Out of the Box” event in April 2017 geared towards examining GPS alternatives. SOCOM’s program executive office fixed wing sought participants who were subject matter experts on the utilization of GPS applications, the notice stated.
“The SMEs are sought to identify suitable alternatives to the PNT functioning of GPS in environments where GPS performance is unavailable, denied or degraded,” it noted. The outcome of the event had the potential to inform future requirements for development programs, according to the notice.
The event was also expected to examine potential design enhancements to existing GPS systems, including for large and small unmanned aviation systems, the notice stated.
It was scheduled to be held at a test bed in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Army’s Rapid Capabilities Office also participated in a SOCOM technical experimentation event in March by leading the PNT section. The Army assessed both dismounted and mounted non-GPS solutions and was able to solicit feedback from SOCOM operators and Army soldiers, according to a service news release.
“This demonstration provided the next step in assessing new technologies for PNT,” Rob Monto, head of the RCO emerging technologies office said in the release. “Being able to participate in this SOCOM-led event meant the Army could determine if the capabilities were tangible now, while also giving us a better understanding of what technologies are out there.”
Technologies used to demonstrate ways to overcome GPS jamming included radio-frequency range finding, atomic clock systems and inertial navigation unit technology. Demonstrators used the systems in both mounted and dismounted environments while the RCO tracked the results by comparing the data to a GPS logger, according to the news release.
Dan Bernard, the SOCOM acquisition, technology and logistics lead for the technical experimentations, said the experiments allow for operational users, program offices and technology developers to work together.
“The technology developers are essentially showing their kit to the user and the program offices at the same time,” he said in the release. “We’re looking at early development. It does no good to do this with finished products. That’s just shopping.”
SOCOM’s Top 10 Technology Needs:
Part 1: SOCOM Iron Man Suit Prototype Delayed a Year
Part 2: Special Operations Command Beefing Up Communications
Part 3: SOCOM Investing in New Tech to Counter Drones
Part 4: SOCOM Tapping into Biotechnology
Part 5: SOCOM Replenishing Precision-Guided Weapon Stockpiles
Part 6: SOCOM Setting Records for Unmanned Systems Procurement
Part 7: New Tools Wanted to Fill Signature Management Gaps
Part 8: Commandos Need Lightweight, Energy Efficient Equipment
(Source: glstrade.com/National Defense)
17 May 18. First US Customer for Lockheed Martin’s Universal Unmanned Vehicle Control Station. Lockheed Martin’s modular unmanned vehicle control software, which can simultaneously control dozens of unmanned vehicles at one time, now has its first U.S. customer. Aurora Flight Sciences, which is focused on accelerating the development of autonomous technology, has purchased the newest Vehicle Control Station (VCS) software product: VCSi.
“Aurora Flight Services has been flying with our vehicle control station VCS-4586 product for the past decade,” said Keith Purtle, business development manager for Lockheed Martin CDL Systems. “When the opportunity arose to help design and build our newest iteration, VCSi, Aurora was a preferred choice.”
According to Sean Engdahl, Aurora Flight Sciences’ senior software engineer, “We are in the middle of testing VCSi flight modes and route uploads against our ground and flight software. Everyone is liking the new implementation of VCSi.”
John Molberg, business development manager for Lockheed Martin CDL Systems, said, “The vehicle control station was originally launched in 1993 using a fly-by-mouse interface. In 1993 the concept of flying an aeroplane with a mouse was radical as everyone flew planes with sticks. Now of course there are very few people flying UAVs with sticks anymore, with everyone using mice and touchscreens.”
VCSi (the “i” is for international) was developed by Lockheed Martin CDL Systems, leveraging its 25 years of expertise developing unmanned vehicle control software for the U.S. Army. The VCSi software can control numerous unmanned systems at one time, regardless of whether the unmanned system operates in the air, at sea, or under water. The system’s control interfaces allow for true 1:N control of dissimilar vehicles anywhere on earth spanning commercial and military missions.
This VCSi commercial software, which is made in Canada and free of export restrictions, is built on an open architecture framework and is hardware and operating system agnostic. It supports NATO STANAG 4586 and a multitude of other military and industry standards. A vehicle integration and development kit provides all the tools necessary for customers to integrate VCS for their unique unmanned vehicle systems. VCSi is also easily translatable to support non-English language and non-Latin scripts.
Lockheed Martin has five decades of experience in unmanned and autonomous systems for air, land and sea. From the depths of the ocean to the rarified air of the stratosphere, Lockheed Martin’s unmanned systems help militaries, civil and commercial customers accomplish their most difficult challenges. (Source: UAS VISION)
16 May 18. Crossbar, Inc., the ReRAM technology leader, announced an agreement with Microsemi Corporation, the largest U.S. commercial supplier of military and aerospace semiconductors, in which Microsemi will license Crossbar’s ReRAM core intellectual property. As part of the agreement, Microsemi and Crossbar will collaborate in the research, development and application of Crossbar’s proprietary ReRAM technology in next generation products from Microsemi that integrate Crossbar’s embedded ReRAM with Microsemi products manufactured at the 1x nm process node.
“We are pleased to have Microsemi in our growing list of licensees,” said George Minassian, CEO of Crossbar. “Together, we can bring unique integration of ReRAM into highly integrated, advanced node semiconductor solutions for a wide range of high-performance, low-power solutions.”
The unique nanofilament technology of Crossbar ReRAM is built upon standard CMOS processes and is fully scalable to below 10nm without impacting performance. Highly integrated semiconductor solutions with unique embedded memory architectures can be built to offer a highly secure, low-power platform with fast access times for advanced applications including edge computing, communications infrastructure, artificial intelligence, Industrial IoT and automotive.
“We are very pleased with the Crossbar license as their unique and highly scalable ReRAM technology allows us to plan power-efficient, high performance products across a multi-generation roadmap,” said Jim Aralis, Microsemi CTO. “This technology collaboration with Crossbar furthers our commitment to becoming the leading supplier of semiconductor solutions differentiated by performance, reliability, security and power while delivering truly innovative solutions.” (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
15 May 18. Sparton Introduces a New 24” Rugged 4k Military LCD Display.
Sparton Corporation (NYSE:SPA) under the brand Aydin Displays, a leader in the ruggedized displays market introduces a 24” Rack/Console Mount Rugged 4k Military LCD Display. The model 4k24N boasts an unmatched picture clarity with an ultra high definition native resolution of 3840 x 2160, which is twice that of most ruggedized displays. This 4k Military Flat Panel Display is designed for Rack/Console mounting and features PCAP multi-touch screen. It is designed and built to weather the extremes of temperature, moisture, vibration and shock during crucial military missions. This allows the user ultimate interactivity within a multitude of operations, whether it be shipboard, airborne or ground mobile applications.
“With stylish body lines, a seamless bezel to touch interface, the modern look stands out against our standard Defense products,” said Louis Houde, Rugged Electronics General Manager. “We really thought outside the box with this one.”
Well-equipped the 4k24N has multiple video inputs such as a Display Port, VGA, DVI and two HDMI ports and Parallel Connectors. The 4k24N is designed to meet a myriad of rigorous military requirements which include: MIL-STD-810G (Drip & Sand/Dust), MIL-S-901D (Shock), MIL-STD-167-1A Type 1 (Vibration) and MIL-STD-461F (EMI).
The 4k24N adds to the Aydin Defense product line which comes in a variety of sizes ranging from 10” to 65”. Aydin Displays has been designing and supplying ruggedized displays, smart displays / thin client displays and computer workstations for military programs for more than 50 years.
Product Series Features
- 4k Ultra High Definition, 3840 x 2160 Resolution
- Multi-Touch Screen-PCAP (USB)
- Rack / Console Mount
- Sleek, Modern Design
- LED Backlight
- Convenient Front OSD Controls
- Designed and Built to Military Standards
- DVI-D, VGA, Display Port and HDMI Video Connectors
- Parallel Connectors
(Source: ASD Network)
16 May 18. Cohort company SEA has led an industry team which has delivered its findings on the future of modelling and simulation to the UK Ministry of Defence. The core Architectures, Interoperability and Management of Simulations (AIMS) delivery team of SEA, BAE Systems, QinetiQ and Thales has conducted a wide range of research tasks related to the AIMS themes over the past four years. The delivery team has been supported by a range of external suppliers from the Dstl Synthetic Environment Tower Community of Practice. The vision statement for the AIMS programme is: “To enable the delivery of a single environment, such that users can create capability from modelling and simulation components and services which are inherently interoperable”.
One of the key outputs from AIMS has been the development of the concept of Modelling and Simulation as a Service (MSaaS). The MSaaS concept provides a potential strategic approach to deliver secure, agile simulation based capabilities, by making modelling and simulation assets, data and services conveniently accessible. The delivery of future simulation capability using MSaaS provides the opportunity to realise significant benefits, in terms of greater accessibility to simulation, enhanced sharing and reuse of assets, rapid composition and deployment of simulations and efficient use of hardware.
While AIMS has developed the UK concept for MSaaS, it has also contributed to the parallel NATO Modelling and Simulation Group activity to provide a consistent approach to MSaaS across the partner nations.
The AIMS team provided a practical demonstration of MSaaS to key MoD stakeholders at the Shrivenham UK Defence Academy. This highlighted how MSaaS could be employed to support future training and Joint Force exercise activities, demonstrating key elements of the concept including a registry and repository of simulation assets, simulation composition tools and rapid deployment and execution using cloud computing technologies.
The research team has also modified existing parallel capabilities in the Defence Geospatial Services area developed by Envitia, to provide a concept searchable registry of simulation assets.
The MSaaS approach is fully consistent with the future direction of service delivery and key UK MoD initiatives such as Defence as a Platform (DaaP) and provides an opportunity to complement and enhance the services offered by the UK Defence Simulation Centre.
Jon Lloyd, Dstl Technical Partner for AIMS contract, commented: “MSaaS offers Defence the opportunity to maximise both cost and operational effectiveness in the way simulation is delivered across all Defence needs; including Force Preparation, Operational Analysis, Acquisition, and Decision Support.
“As Defence IT infrastructure is modernised in line with the Defence Information strategy, MSaaS helps to ensure Modelling and Simulation capabilities are ready to exploit the benefits of technologies such as Cloud based hardware solutions. The ability to drive down the acquisition cost and development time to ensure simulation systems stay current in their ability to represent current and future operating environments is a key factor in establishing an MSaaS ecosystem that enables end users to access emerging and best of breed M&S capabilities from across the supplier base. Furthermore, the MSaaS approach offers opportunity to provide the Defence Simulation Centre (DSC) with an efficient way of managing the range of M&S resources that MoD requires in a way that they can be readily accessed on demand.”
15 May 18. Singapore reveals ‘digital sandbox’ for defence innovation. Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) is using the Republic of Singapore Navy’s eastern Changi Naval Base (CNB) as its first Live Digital Testbed (LDTB) to support the experimentation of new digital application or technologies that could eventually result in deployable solutions that improve the day-to-day operations of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) as well as the ministry.
Announced by senior minister of State for Defence, Heng Chee How, at the inaugural MINDEF/SAF Digital Innovation Day (DID) at CNB on 15 May, the LDTB is a joint initiative by MINDEF and the SAF that is supported by the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) DSO National Laboratories. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
15 May 18. V-280 Valor hits cruise. Bell’s V-280 Valor tilt-rotor demonstrator has now flown in cruise mode, reaching 190 knots. To achieve cruise mode, the rotors in the V-280 pivot from vertical lift to fully forward-facing. While the company reached 190 knots in recent flight tests, it will continue to expand the envelope until it reaches an expected speed of 280 knots, a company spokesman told Defense News on May 15. The aircraft is part of the Joint Multi-Role Demonstration program that will inform the U.S. military on requirements for a fleet of future helicopters expected to come online, possibly before 2030.
There are two demonstrator aircraft involved in the program: Bell’s aircraft, and a Sikorsky-Boeing coaxial demonstrator called the SB-1 Defiant. Bell first flew its aircraft in December. Sikorsky and Boeing plan to begin flying their aircraft by the end of 2018.
According to Bell, the V-280 has logged more than 90 hours of rotor turn and more than 27 hours of flight time. The aircraft has been put through the paces of ground taxi and hover taxi tests as well as low-altitude hovering maneuvers to include 360-degree pedal turns and forward/aft/lateral repositions and 60 knot roll-on landings. (Source: Defense News)
14 May 18. China to Unveil Flying Wing Bomber Aircraft. China is likely to soon unveil one of its most anticipated weapons — a new-generation long-range bomber, aviation industry observers said amid disclosure of the plane’s appearance by its developer on Tuesday.
Aviation Industry Corp of China, the nation’s leading aircraft maker, displayed a front view of what appears to be a flying-wing aircraft concept at the end of a promotional video. The video was published on its WeChat account to mark the 60th birthday of Xi’an Aircraft Industry, an AVIC subsidiary in Shaanxi province that is China’s major builder of bomber aircraft.
The video shows an artistic rendering of a triangle-shaped plane under two English words and ellipses, “The Next……”. The scene closely resembles a moment in a 2015 promotional video from United States aerospace and defense technology company Northrop Grumman that depicted what is now known as the B-21 Raider, the U.S.’s next long-range, stealth strategic bomber. AVIC did not explain the six-second episode, placed at the end of the video in an unmistakable attempt to highlight the plane’s significance and mystery. Despite its brevity, the video seems to have ended debate among Chinese military fans and aviation industry observers on whether the country’s new bomber will adopt a conventional aerodynamic configuration or a flying-wing design previously used only by the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.
General Ma Xiaotian, former commander of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, told reporters in September 2016, “We are now developing a new-generation, long-range strike bomber that you will see sometime in the future.” Ma’s remarks put an end to years of speculation on whether China would develop a new aircraft to replace its half century-old H-6 bomber series.
Shi Jian, senior editor at Aviation World Monthly magazine, said the latest AVIC move indicates that the State-owned defense giant believes the new bomber’s design and technologies have advanced enough that the company wants to let people know of the program’s progress.
“I think the new bomber will be unveiled to the public in the near future,” he said. “It is now not uncommon for the PLA to make public its top weapons before their delivery thanks to the increased level of transparency and confidence brought about by our technological advancement.”
He said the flying-wing design should not have been difficult for Chinese engineers when they designed the bomber, explaining the real challenges lie in the plane’s flight-control system and engines. Fu Qianshao, an aircraft expert from the PLA Air Force, anticipated that the new bomber would be better than the U.S.’s B-21 in flight range and carrying capacity. He said it will probably have an operational range of at least 12,000 kilometers and a maximum payload of 20 metric tons of bombs and missiles. (Source: News Now/www.defencetalk.com)
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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
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17 May 18. The US must secure its supply chain in the face of anti-satellite weapons. At the 34th National Space Symposium in April, U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced that the service is taking steps to secure its satellite networks by working with allied forces, commercial satellite owners and international organizations to share satellites currently in orbit.
Testifying before Congress, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats warned that U.S. adversaries “continue to pursue anti-satellite [ASAT] weapons as a means to reduce U.S. and allied military effectiveness.” While the threat is serious and sharing allied satellites provides a measure of security, the Air Force will not be able to preserve America’s edge in space unless it focuses on securing the satellite supply chain here on Earth.
Already, states like China, Russia, North Korea and Iran have developed or demonstrated the capacity to create ASAT systems. The spectrum of ASAT weapons includes both missiles and cyber means intended to deny access to, disrupt or destroy U.S. satellite systems. Because ASAT weapons can target both military and commercial satellites, ASAT operations can threaten everything from our ability to collect intelligence or conduct military operations to American firm’s ability to engage in global commerce.
The goals of the Air Force’s initiative is to ensure the security of the service’s space assets by deterring adversaries from targeting its satellite network by decreasing the time required to build and launch a new satellite. To achieve this goal, the Air Force will add additional satellites to its global network and distribute its satellite network across an array of space assets in both geosynchronous and low-Earth orbit.
NASA classifies satellites in low-Earth orbit as systems that operate at an elevation between 150 and 2000 km with an orbit time ranging between 90 minutes and a few hours, while satellites in geosynchronous orbit operate at an altitude above 35,780 km and can take 24 hours to complete a circular orbit.
While the Air Force initiative seeks to secure satellites in space, the plan is insufficient to protect U.S. military and civilian capabilities because it does nothing to address supply chain vulnerabilities, which may result in the infiltration of malicious software and hardware prior to launch.
A detailed new report from the Secure World Foundation puts this threat in its proper context. According to “Global Counterspace Capabilities: An Open Source Assessment,” the three primary access points for targeting a satellite are the supply chain, the land-based infrastructure that interacts with the satellite, and the actual satellite while it is in orbit. Of the three access points, the supply chain and land-based infrastructure are ideal targets of opportunity for attackers because they are the most accessible.
While the land-based infrastructure and government employees that interact with U.S. satellites operate under strict physical and information security protocols in restricted access facilities, companies that provide satellite components rarely follow such rigorous security measures to maintain the integrity of the products they are supplying to the U.S. government. Thus, contractors and sub-contractors may be highly susceptible to infiltration, thereby allowing malicious actors to install remote access points that can bypass any security features later installed on the system and leaving even the most hardened defenses completely ineffective.
Supply chain threats are neither new nor unique to the space industry; however, the utility that satellites provide to the U.S. make the systems an ideal target for state and non-state actors who wish to hinder the ability for the U.S. to conduct operations around the globe.
The threat of ASAT systems is particularly significant for the U.S., which is heavily reliant on satellite networks for the command and control of both government and commercial assets. Depending on which satellite is targeted, possible effects of an ASAT attack could be anything from an increased time required to mobilize forces to respond to a conflict to an inability to use GPS systems on the battlefield, or to a hindered ability to conduct missile strike operations.
In the current threat environment, it is imperative that the U.S. harden its satellite networks at both the hardware and software levels. Securing those satellite systems begins with the supply chains that provide the essential components for satellite construction and end with regular security updates for the entire satellite. Supply chain infiltration remains an ongoing threat to national security and more needs to be done to protect these supply chains from cyber infiltration, espionage and exploitation.
Once the Air Force recognizes that the supply chain is vulnerable, the question becomes how to secure it. One critical step is to ensure that contractors begin planning to mitigate the threat, perhaps by developing a formal supply chain risk management plan. An effective response should also consider technology, such as blockchain, that can help to verify transactions. In all likelihood, the best approaches will emerge from a period of trial-and-error. The important thing is to start now.
(Source: Defense News)
15 May 18. Boeing will soon be able to store 3-D printing data in the cloud, with help from an Israeli partner. Boeing and Israeli company Assembrix Ltd. signed a memorandum of agreement yesterday enabling the U.S. defense giant to use Assembrix software to securely manage and share 3-D printing data with clients during the design and manufacturing phases of production.
Assembrix’s software “virtualizes industrial 3-D printing” which allows clients to allocate space in industrial size 3-D printers to produce product’s in real-time, according to the company’s website. The cloud-based service protects customer’s data from being intercepted, corrupted or decrypted throughout the distribution and manufacturing processes.
“We are pleased to partner with Boeing and value its confidence in us and in our capabilities,” said Lior Polak, Assembrix CEO. “This collaboration supports our vision to develop and implement innovative solutions that connect the world and take the additive manufacturing digital thread one step forward.”
For a company like Boeing, that currently has 3-D printing capabilities at 20 locations worldwide, this software will increase productivity and aid the company as it transforms its additive manufacturing production system to augment the company’s growth.
“This agreement expands Boeing’s ties to Israeli industry while helping companies like Assembrix expand their business,” said David Ivry, president, Boeing Israel. “Boeing seeks suppliers globally who meet stringent quality, schedule, cost and intellectual capital standards, and Assembrix does all of that.”
Boeing collaborates with Israeli companies on many products, including the F-15, the AH-64 Apache Longbow and the Arrow-3 missile interceptors.
(Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
15 May 18. Kymeta Appoints CopaSAT as Kymeta Government Solutions Authorized Partner for U.S. Department of Defense.
World’s leading SATCOM providers team up to bring simple, customizable, secure, on-the-move communications to military customers.
May 15, 2018 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
REDMOND, Wash. & TAMPA, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Kymeta—the leader in flat-panel satellite antennas enabling always-on mobile broadband—announced today that CopaSAT LLC—a leader in reliable, secure communications technology—has joined forces with Kymeta Government Solutions to deploy Kymeta satellite communications (SATCOM) products and services for military users.
Kymeta and CopaSAT have joined forces to bring Kymeta #satellite solutions to military users.
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The partnership makes the full line of Kymeta products available to U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
“Welcoming CopaSAT as an important distribution partner marks another milestone in our record of success within the U.S. Department of Defense and Special Operations community,” said David Kervin, General Manager & SVP, Kymeta Global Solutions. “CopaSAT’s history of providing SATCOM solutions to units within SOF and DoD makes them an ideal partner to serve these specialized customers.”
CopaSAT will provide installation, integration and training support for the entire line of Kymeta solutions. In addition, CopaSAT will provide a 24/7 network operations center out of its brand new Tampa, Florida facility, covering tier 1 and tier 2 support for all Kymeta solutions, including the KyWay™ on-the-move satellite terminal and KyWay™ Go portable terminal.
“The partnership with Kymeta Government Solutions takes our capability of providing leading-edge technology to the most sophisticated warfighters in the world to the next level,” said Scott Bohnsack, COO, CopaSAT. “Bundling Kymeta solutions with our newly released AxialOne service provides global Ku bandwidth at the cost of a single region. Users can now take advantage of the world’s most sophisticated flat-panel SATCOM terminal and a network of high-throughput satellites around the globe to create a very powerful capability. We are very excited about the possibilities that are on the horizon for our military customers.” (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
14 May 18. Britain, EU clash in growing row over Galileo satellite project. Britain and its European Union partners clashed on Monday in a deepening row over the European Commission’s decision to exclude the United Kingdom from a new satellite navigation system, Galileo.
Galileo is the EU rival to the global positioning system (GPS) developed and controlled by the United States and used by millions of consumer devices globally. It was commissioned in 2003 and is due for completion by 2020. The Commission, the EU’s executive, has started to exclude Britain and its companies from sensitive future work on Galileo ahead of the country’s exit from the bloc in a year’s time.
Britain’s foreign minister, Boris Johnson, said on Monday he had raised concerns with his French counterpart over the EU stance and the government said it might withhold security clearance for companies working on the project.
“I mentioned our slight puzzlement about what had happened with the Commission’s decision on Galileo and the satellite,” Johnson said.
“But our determination, nonetheless, (is) to go ahead with a (rival) UK satellite if that proved to be necessary.”
One expert said last week any rival British satellite navigation system could cost about 3bn pounds ($4bn).
A few hours after Johnson’s comments, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said British companies could not be directly involved in a new EU satellite navigation system after Brexit, but Britain would have access to its signal.
“It cannot be business as usual,” Barnier said. “Third countries and their companies cannot participate in the development of security-sensitive matters.”
Asked about the issue on Monday, a French presidential adviser said there was no decision from the EU to exclude Britain from Galileo, and that the current “uncertainty” was simply the direct result of Britain’s decision to leave.
“It’s simple: Britain is part of Galileo today as an EU member, but won’t be automatically part of Galileo tomorrow as a third-party state,” he said. “That’s the mechanical, legal consequence of Brexit.”
The adviser said the issue could only be settled as part of the EU’s post-Brexit security agreement with Britain.
“In principle, the EU and France in particular have no intention of keeping Britain away or outside Galileo after Brexit, quite the contrary,” he said. “But there are ways and means in terms of access, questions in terms of security data, it’s complicated.”
The UK space agency, on behalf of the business minister Greg Clark, wrote to British companies asking them to consult the government before agreeing any new contracts to work on the project, in a move aimed at stopping the transfer of technology to EU companies.
“I regret that these steps are a necessary consequence of the position taken by the European Commission,” the letter said. (Source: FT.com)
14 May 18. Britain after Brexit cannot be part of EU Galileo satellite system – Barnier. British companies cannot be directly involved in a new EU satellite navigation system after Brexit but Britain will have access to its signal, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator said on Monday.
“Third countries and their companies cannot participate in the development of security-sensitive matters,” Michel Barnier told an event in Brussels, referring to the Galileo programme.
“These rules will not prevent the UK as a third country from using the encrypted signal of Galileo providing that the relevant agreements between the EU and the UK are in place.” (Source: Reuters)
14 May 18. UK could withhold security clearances for companies working on Galileo. Escalation of row with EU over satellite programme. The British government could withhold security clearance for companies working on Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system, in the latest clash over Brussels’ ban on UK involvement in secure elements of the programme. The UK space agency, on behalf of the business secretary Greg Clark, has written to 13 UK companies working on Galileo’s highly secure elements to remind them that they need the government’s security authorisation for any future work. The letter has asked the companies to consult the government before agreeing any new contracts. “I regret that these steps are a necessary consequence of the position taken by the European Commission,” the letter stated. Mr Clark’s move is aimed at stopping the transfer of technology to EU companies outside the UK as Britain considers developing its alternative to Galileo. Although UK companies are being locked out of contracts that run beyond March 2019, when the UK leaves the EU, Brussels is discussing a contract with CGI — which is responsible for much of the encryption for Galileo’s highly secure Public Regulated Service — to transfer technology to Thales of France. Industry insiders speculated that blocking all technology transfers by refusing security authorisation could impose a delay of up to three years on a programme already significantly behind schedule. Ministers have also been told this could add €1bn to the costs of the sophisticated navigation system, which has many civilian and military uses. The letter said the decision to request a consultation on new contracts follows the commission’s letter in January stating that it would no longer be appropriate for the UK to be involved in the exchange of secure information relating to Galileo. The commission suggested that in the absence of a security agreement with the EU, the UK could be a security threat after it quits the EU. “The UK government has been clear that it strongly disagrees with the European Commission’s position as we believe it is in our mutual interest to remain in Galileo as part of our steadfast commitment to the continent’s security,” the letter stated. “Excluding the UK and our unique expertise will lead to increased costs and delays in the deployment of Galileo. “Without clear assurances that UK industry can collaborate on an equal basis and without continued access to the necessary security-related information, the UK could end its participation in the project,” it added. The letter said that as the UK continued to explore its ongoing participation for its own navigation system, “we are obliged to inform you that your company, as a PRS authorised entity in the UK, must obtain authorisation from the UK Competent PRS Authority (CPA) to carry out any new work relating to the design and development of the Galileo and EGNOS systems and the PRS. “We therefore would ask that you consult us prior to concluding agreements on any future work relating to the aspects of the Galileo and EGNOS Programmes outlined in the Commission’s letter,” it concluded.
08 May 18. A New iDirect Government Unveiling — The 9050 OM Ruggedized Satellite Router. iDirect Government (iDirectGov) has unveiled their 9050 OM ruggedized satellite router — the 9050 OM features enhanced security, military environmental standards and improved functionality in a ruggedized form factor for operation in harsh outdoor environments.
A 950mp integrated satellite router board resides at the heart of the 9050 OM, which protects the board from the elements including blowing rain or dusty conditions. Powered by Evolution® 4.2 software, the 9050 OM can operate in harsh environments in temperatures ranging from -40°F to +131°F. While en route to a mission, the 9050 OM can survive a parachute jump from 25,000 feet or be submerged in water, and still be able to operate once it reaches its final destination.
The 9050 OM features are as follows:
- Transmit Key Line, to lower battery consumption and extend the mission as needed
- Blackout switch to turn off all LEDs for discrete operations
- Single data connector to support two LAN ports, console, GPS input, and Transmit Key Line
- Antenna pointing meter to ensure the satellite terminal is properly peaked
- Passively cooled – no powered fans required to cool down the product while in operation
- External power supply designed for outdoor use along with the product
- Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 Level 3 certified
- Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) certification ready
John Ratigan, President of iDirect Government, said this is going to drastically change the way operators work in the field. Gone are the days of lugging around heavy transit cases in inclement weather and remote locations — this 9050 OM is durable, compact and powerful, enabling iDirectGov’s 950mp satellite router board to send critical information over the airwaves without overheating or experiencing a failure in the field. The company’s engineers designed and tested this solution so that the men and women who defend our nation can communicate seamlessly in order to complete their mission and keep us safe. (Source: Satnews)
08 May 18. A Terminal Connection Between VT iDirect and Kymeta. VT iDirect, Inc. (iDirect), a company of Vision Technologies Systems, Inc. (VT Systems), has extended their partnership with Kymeta in an agreement to become an official reseller of the KyWay™ Terminal (KyWay Terminal) to the company’s global base of mobility-focused partners.
The Kymeta™ KyWay Terminal integrates ground breaking mTenna™ flat-panel antenna technology and the industry’s leading iDirect X7 modem, to serve a broad range of mobility applications, uniting high throughput performance with a sleek form factor, electron ic steering, and attractive price point.
VT iDirect holds the market share lead for VSAT ground infrastructure in key mobility markets. This agreement provides VT iDirect customers with a strong competitive advantage to expand their footprint into new emerging mobility markets for the land mobile, maritime, government and defense.
According to Kymeta, the KyWay Terminal is the only commercially available electronically-steered flat-panel antenna solution built to scale and support many different mobility applications. The unique design and form factor of the Kymeta antenna, combined with VT iDirect’s established VSAT platform, enables a new connectivity solution for land mobile markets such as trains, buses, agriculture and construction. The ability to offer a viable solution in these new segments is creating new demand for satellite services. The KyWay Terminal has already gained traction in key markets like maritime, government and military.
Neville Meijers, CCO and EVP, Kymeta, said that the firm’s mission is to enable seamless, always-connected mobile communications. Kymeta is excited to make KyWay Terminals available to iDirect’s ecosystem of leading connectivity solution providers. Together, the companies will enable a broad range of new mobility use cases that will make broadband available where it has never been before.
Kevin Steen, VT iDirect’s CEO, added that Kymeta is playing a major role in revolutionizing satellite communications with their KyWay electronically-steered, flat-panel terminals. By combining the KyWay Terminal with the iDirect infrastructure, the company’s channel of satellite service providers will gain a powerful competitive advantage to expand their mobility footprint and will be well-positioned to capture the emerging land mobility market. (Source: Satnews)
08 May 18. Smart Antennas from Alcan Systems to Empower SES Network’s O3b mPOWER. ALCAN Systems GmbH has reached an important milestone in the development of a new Flat Panel antenna for the Customer Edge Terminals (CET) of O3b mPOWER, SES’s satellite-based communications system.
ALCAN announced in August of last year that the firm had raised 7.5m euros in Series A funding from a consortium of investors (including SES) to bring their next-generation, low-cost, ultra-thin flat smart antennas to market. ALCAN has been working with SES Networks to develop a new generation of low-power flat smart antennas to be used over the O3b MEO constellation. Significant progress has been made toward a 2D-electronically steerable flat antenna operating at Ka-band. ALCAN’s smart antenna design is based on a new technology for liquid crystal (LC) — enabled phased array antennas, which provides state-of-the-art performance at low power and low cost. ALCAN’s flat smart antennas are electronically steerable and can be easily mounted on moving vehicles such as airplanes, ships, trains, trucks, buses, caravans and self-driving cars. They can also be mounted as ground fixed antennas to support the roll-out of mobile backhaul and enterprise networks. The antennas are designed to be compatible with existing GEO, MEO and upcoming LEO satellites. The antennas will also be compatible with future 5Gmm Wave technology.
Dr. Onur Karabey, CEO at ALCAN, noted that the company is ideally positioned to meet the demands of an increasingly mobile and connected world.
John-Paul Hemingway, EVP of Product, Marketing and Strategy for SES Networks, said that O3b mPOWER is designed to provide cloud-scale connectivity through a ‘virtual fiber’ network for application-aware services on a global scale. The company believes hat working closely with partners such as Alcan in a robust development ecosystem will enable SES Networks to introduce the latest innovation and greatest cost-efficiencies across multiple market segments at great scale. (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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17 May 18. Echodyne to Participate in US DOT’s Integration Pilot Program. Echodyne, the manufacturer of innovative, high-performance radars for autonomous machines, announced today that its MESA™ radars will be used as part of North Dakota Department of Transportation’s (NDDOT) Integration Pilot Program (IPP). NDDOT, with the Northern Plains UAS Test Site, was selected as one of ten US Department of Transportation IPP awards earlier this month. North Dakota’s project includes a wide variety of public benefits from UAS, including roadway safety, first responders’ communication, monitoring critical infrastructure, and assisting law enforcement and emergency responders during severe weather and search and rescue operations. To achieve this, it will continue testing advanced technologies for UAS safety, operations at night, flying beyond line of sight, and others.
Echodyne’s high performance solid state radars are an excellent fit for the project because they contribute critical all-weather detection and tracking by leveraging patented Metamaterial Electronically Scanning Array (MESA) technology and intelligent radar control software.
“Our unique MESA technology enables true beam steering radars with high performance search-while-track capabilities,” said Eben Frankenberg, CEO. “They provide excellent performance in all environments and weather to achieve advanced UAS operations.”
The North Dakota team hopes the project will lead to scalable operations for a multitude of UAS industries including linear infrastructure inspections, crop health monitoring, media reporting, and emergency response.
“We are excited to include Echodyne radars in the IPP project and to demonstrate a comprehensive approach to operating autonomous UAS safely,” said Russ Buchholz, UAS Integration Program Administrator for NDDOT.
(Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
17 May 18. USAF seeks DVE solution for Pave Hawk helos. The US Air Force (USAF) is to equip its Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk combat search and rescue (CSAR) helicopters with equipment for flying in degraded visual environments using a DVE system (DVES).
The USAF announced on 16 May that it is seeking from industry a DVES that specifically address the operational limitations and safety risks associated with aircraft-induced incidents, such as brownout and whiteout (the blinding effects of dust/dirt and snow during the take-off and landing phases of a helicopter’s flight profile).
“Current systems on the HH-60G do not provide adequate situational awareness (SA) to pilots and aircrew during operation in some degraded visual environments (DVE),” the USAF’s pre-solicitation said, adding “Despite the risks, pilots and aircrew of the HH-60G are routinely called upon to perform their critical mission of combat search and rescue (CSAR) and personnel recovery under DVE conditions.” (Source: IHS Jane’s)
16 May 18. The Chinese Company Selling Iranian Sniper Gear Around the World. ‘The proliferation of this technology is illustrative of a supply chain that is truly global and, consequently, is difficult to monitor and control.’ It’s a thermal sniper sight that allows a shooter to see his prey’s body heat against the black of night—and boy, is Iran’s military proud of it. The pricey RU60G sniper sight has gotten the royal treatment in state-linked news outlets, propaganda documentaries, and selfies with senior officers, where it’s trumpeted as a great indigenous optical achievement.
Though Tehran would have you believe its sniper sight is a purely domestic affair, the fact is they had a little help from abroad. Sift through the layers of business registration documents, web hosting records, and photographs from Middle Eastern weapons black markets and you’ll find the trail for Iran’s thermal sniper sight runs from the war in Syria all the way to a cheap motel room in Beijing, where the chairman of one of Iran’s largest defense contractors registered a shell company to invest in Chinese optics manufacturing.
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The world got one of its first glimpses of the RU60G sight—and its larger cousins, the RU90G/RU120G—in 2013, during Iran’s International Police Safety & Security Equipment Exhibition in Tehran. Amidst the displays of SWAT-style tactical gear, Iranian news outlets celebrated a new thermal sniper sight, the RU60G, and displayed a larger version of the sight from the same family atop an AM50 sniper rifle. The sight, a fawning Iranian news article proclaimed, would help soldiers target militants in the harsh terrain of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan provinces and in the mountains of Iranian Kurdistan—two areas where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have fought to suppress Islamist and Kurdish nationalist insurgencies.
It’s indeed a valuable piece of equipment. The thermal sniper sights let users see targets during day, night, and under most weather conditions. They allow a shooter to see through most kinds of smokescreens, spot camouflaged targets, and even tell if a vehicle is running or idle. In short, they greatly amplify a user’s ability to spot targets on the battlefield.
Two years after their exhibition debut, the sights began to surface, not in Iranian provinces, but on social media weapons black markets run by militants in Iraq and Syria and Yemen—three countries where Iran has been supporting and supplying militant groups. Turkey has already arrested Kurdish militants using the RU60G, in a possible sign that Iran’s arms production is starting to fuel other, unrelated conflicts.
Militants in both Iraq and Syria have carried out a brisk trade in weapons, explosives, and military equipment through Telegram channels, WhatsApp groups, and Facebook pages where optics equipment is especially popular. The markets act as a kind of lint trap for the weapons supplied to different factions in the conflicts. Whether captured from dead fighters, sold through corruption or simply lost through neglect—the chain of custody is rarely clear—arms like the RU60G began to fetch anywhere up to $5,000.
Soon, al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Syria were showing off captured RU60G sights attached to Iranian AM50 sniper rifles while Iranian-backed militia members in Iraq published pictures of themselves packing RU60G-equipped rifles. Night vision and thermal sights have been popular with Islamist militant groups in Syria, where militants have occasionally posted propaganda videos filmed through lenses. The videos show snipers far away from their targets waiting for lone sentries to expose their heads or torsos—revealed in white blobs on thermal sights—to fire and fell enemy troops.
All this time, Iran has told the world that the RU60G is an indigenous product only made by Rayan Roshd Afzar, an Iranian defense company that, according to U.S. sanctions designations, supports the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ drone and aerospace programs. The firm also produces software to help censor social media in Iran.
Chinese business registration documents, however, tell a different story. In 2013, the chairman of Rayan Roshd, Mohsen Parsajam, registered a business, Most Outstanding Beijing Technology Developing Company Globally Ltd, to room 1724 on the 14th floor of a Beijing hotel. Registration documents reveal no activity for the company until 2015—the year when RU-series sights began appearing abroad. That April, Parsajam’s company took an ownership stakein Sanhe Haobang Optoelectronic Equipment Co., Ltd, a Chinese company run by Chinese national Emily Liu.
Sanhe registered websites for Raybeam Optronics and a host of other companies. On Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce website, Raybeam began marketing military optical equipment from its factory, including a series of sights identical to the RU60G and the RU90G/120G—ever so mildly relabeled as the “RB60G” and “RB90/120G”—and promised it could crank out as many as 600 a month for customers.
Alibaba shut down Raybeam’s store in July 2017 shortly after Emily Liu and her network of companies were sanctioned, according to a statement provided to The Daily Beast by Alibaba Group.
Liu and Raybeam did not respond to requests for comment from The Daily Beast.
Exhibitor lists and Raybeam’s own website show that in 2016 and 2017, the company traveled around the world to offer its products to international customers at arms exhibitions in Moscow, Beijing, Kazakhstan as well as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Almost two years after Raybeam exhibited in Dubai, Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen could be seen in photographs carrying weapons equipped with the RU60G sniper sight as they fought a brutal counterinsurgency waged by a coalition including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Snipers in Yemen have made use of anti-materiel rifles designed to pierce armor and knock out enemy equipment in addition to copies of the Russian-made SVD sniper rifle. A March report by the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights found that, while airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition have been responsible for the vast majority of civilian casualties over the past six months, “indiscriminate shelling and sniper fire in densely populated areas by the Houthis accounting for much of the remainder.”
In June 2017, Liu’s relationship with Iran caught up with her. The Treasury Department sanctioned Liu, Raybeam, and a handful of other companies connected to her. The designation described Liu as a “China-based procurement agent” who “sought to procure U.S.-, Canadian-, and European-origin electronic components on behalf of [Iran’s Shiraz Electronics Industries].”
Liu’s designation didn’t mention thermal sights or Rayan Roshd but in the same announcement, the Treasury Department said it was sanctioning both Rayan Roshd and Parsjam. Parsajam, the release noted, had “obtained a range of military-applicable items from China on behalf of Rayan Roshd.”
It’s unclear how much of the RU60G’s production took place in China at Raybeam’s facilities, but products traceable by Liu’s network of companies have surfaced abroad. The Daily Beast found a host of advertisements in Syrian rebel arms markets on Telegram advertising both the RU60G and its components. “Salaam alaikum, brothers. That’s the telescope,” one poster wrote beside a picture of the thermal sight. “In your experience, how does it compare to the 3S or the Pulsar?”
A review of the markings on the RU60G’s lithium ion batteries found in Syrian social media arms markets show nearly all marked with Rayan Roshd branding. One battery, though, was marked as the product of Raytronics Co Ltd. When it sanctioned Emily Liu’s network of companies, the Treasury Department listed “Raytronic Corporation Limited” as an entity controlled by Liu used “to support her proliferation activities.” The markings also describe the battery as for the “RU60 series”—eschewing Raybeam’s slightly altered “RB60G” branding and instead using Rayan Roshd’s own designation for the sight.
It isn’t clear whether Raybeam is still in business with Iran. But the company is still very much in business in general. Corporate records show that Raybeam is still offering products for sale, including the infrared lenses used in the RU-family of sights. Complete sights, redubbed as hunting products, can still be purchased from vendors in China and Sanhe Haobang has continued to file patent applications for new technologies. This October, Raybeam is also scheduled to exhibit at the 2018 Interpolitex Means of State Security Exhibition in Moscow, according to an exhibitor’s list.
Matt Schroeder, a senior researcher at Small Arms Survey, a nonprofit which studies the spread of small arms in conflicts, said that he’s not familiar with the RU60G specifically but recognizes the pattern it represents. “The proliferation of this technology is illustrative of a supply chain that is truly global and, consequently, is difficult to monitor and control. This is not new. It is a problem that the international community has been wrestling with for many years.”
(Source: Defense News Early Bird/www.thedailybeast.com)
16 May 18. Eagle Eye Networks, Inc., the leading global provider of cloud-based video surveillance solutions, today announced that it has enhanced the video analytics offered within the Eagle Eye Cloud Security Camera VMS. Customers can easily and instantly activate analytics on their cameras without having to install additional hardware or software. No on-site technicians or system upgrades are needed to immediately receive analytic alerts and data.
Eagle Eye Cloud Security Camera VMS customers can enable analytics from the dashboard for any camera in their account. Eagle Eye Analytics will function on any camera that is supported by the Eagle Eye Cloud Security Camera VMS – no analytic functions of the camera are required. Eagle Eye Analytics will even operate with analog cameras. The ability to deploy analytics quickly and without upfront hardware or software investment shows the long-term advantages of a cloud-based solution.
The following analytics are now available:
– Line Crossing – Detects when an object crosses a virtual line. Direction may be specified, and notifications may be generated. It is useful for receiving notifications when a security boundary (fence, restricted area, and one-way road) is crossed. It is also well suited for monitoring building entrances, loading docks, and parking lots.
– Intrusion Detection – Detects when an object enters a customer defined area. Intrusion detection is used to generate a notification when an object enters that forbidden area.
– Object Counting – Counts how many objects cross a line in either direction. This can be used for counting cars, people, or other objects. Total count per day, per direction, and current delta of the count are maintained and displayed.
– Loitering – Monitors a defined area and triggers an alert if an object lingers longer than the pre-configured dwell time. (Available 5/15/2018)
In the enhanced Eagle Eye analytics experience, customers are able to track and view up to twenty-five analytic events in Eagle Eye’s intuitive Gallery Viewer. The Eagle Eye Gallery Viewer is an exceptional tool for quickly finding video of interest and viewing active motion and analytic events. In addition, the improved Eagle Eye Cloud Security Camera VMS gives customers the ability to gain further operational insight by generating customized period graphs of the enhanced data from five minutes to seven days.
The enhanced Eagle Eye Analytics are immediately available and can be enabled within the Eagle Eye Dashboard on a camera-by-camera basis. Customers do not need to replace their existing cameras to have access to Eagle Eye Analytics.
16 May 18. Enhance your Night Vision with the new Pulsar IR Illuminators! Pulsar is introducing two new Pulsar Ultra IR Illuminators, Ultra-850 IR Illuminator (PL79137) and Ultra-940 IR Illuminators (PL79139). The Ultra IR Illuminators are designed solely for the Pulsar Digisight Ultra models, attaching to the side of the Digisight housing. Ideal for nighttime, predator, hog and varmint hunting, while adding many welcome features that will upgrade your Pulsar optics. The Ultra IR Illuminators provide visual enhancement at night for increased detection and identification range. This IR features variable beam control to focus from spot to flood depending on the scenario. The IR beam position is adjustable and will align flawlessly with the Digisight field of view. A high-powered LED IR illuminator will allow for adjustable output power, providing three different brightness settings. Another great attribute to the Ultra IR Illuminators is their dependability with their IP55 water resistance.
16 May 18. South Korea selects mix of local, Israeli sensors for second Dokdo-class helicopter carrier. Key Points:
- The Republic of Korea Navy’s second Dokdo-class ship will feature a different set of weapons and sensors from its predecessor
- Improvements have been incorporated from the service’s 11-year operational experience with the first-of-class
The Republic of Korea Navy’s (RoKN’s) second Dokdo-class helicopter carrier, which will be known in service as ROKS Marado with pennant number 6112 once commissioned, has been built to carry a different suite of weapons and sensors from the first-of-class. Images from the Marado ’s ceremonial launch on 14 May reveal that South Korea has selected the ELM-2248 (MF-STAR) multifunction surveillance radar from Israeli defence firm ELTA Systems in place of the SMART-L multibeam radar from Thales found on ROKS Dokdo (6111). The country has also selected what appears to be the SPS-550K three-dimensional air and surface surveillance radar from local company LIG Nex1, in place of the Thales MW08 surveillance radar found on the first-of-class. Also, notably absent is the Raytheon Mk 49 guided missile launching system capable of deploying the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM), which is found atop Dokdo’s bridge. On Marado, this has been replaced with a single fixed-array face of the MF-STAR radar mast located amidships. Illustrations released by South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) on Marado indicate that the ship will be armed with two 20 mm Phalanx close-in weapon system (CIWS) turrets. These will be located on deck in the bow section, and on a depressed pedestal at stern.
Close-in protection on Dokdo is provided by two Thales Goalkeeper turrets, which are located on the ship’s superstructure and on deck, also in the bow section. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
16 May 18. Cameroon Air Force receives two Cessna 208 Caravan aircraft. The Cameroon Air Force has received the delivery of two Cessna 208 Caravan intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft from the US at Yaounde.
With the delivery, the airforce will deploy the jets that enable it to fight against the Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa, reported Defense World.Net.
Equipped with cameras with a range of up to 10km, the two aircraft will be capable of providing the Cameroon Air Force with real-time data via video and photograph, as well as through radio communications. US Ambassador to Cameroon Peter Henry Barlerin was quoted by DefenceWeb as saying: “These surveillance aircraft represent a new link in the chain of our excellent cooperation, and have the potential to improve the safety and effectiveness of Cameroon’s fighting forces.
“Flying day or night, throughout the Far North, they can provide real-time information through video and photograph, as well as through radio communications, to both national decision makers and to operational commanders.”
As well as the two Cessna 208 Caravans, the US has also provided the airforce with a complete package, including the training of pilots, maintenance technicians and equipment operators. It has also supplied the delivery of spare parts and on-the-ground technical support.
Barlerin added: “The US looks forward to continuing to work with our Cameroonian partners to ensure that these aircraft are smoothly and safely absorbed into the airforce inventory.”
On 2 December, two new Cessna 208B Grand Caravans arrived in Chad from the US to be initially used for pilot training for the Chadian Air Force.
The two Cessna 208B jets for the Cameroon Air Force were delivered in January this year, following air and ground crew training on the aircraft carried out in the US last year. The US Air Force (USAF) Life Cycle Management Centre awarded contracts for the upgrade of six Grand Caravan aircraft for the airforces of Cameroon, Chad and the Philippines in 2016. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
15 May 18. U.S. agency seeks new authority to disable threatening drones. The head of the U.S. Homeland Security Department on Tuesday told Congress that the agency needs new legal authority to track threatening drones and disable or destroy them if necessary.
Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told the Senate Homeland Security Committee that DHS needs “clear legal authority to identify, track and mitigate drones that could pose a danger to the public and to DHS operations.”
“Our enemies are exploring other technologies, too, such as drones, to put our country in danger. ISIS has used armed drones to strike targets in Syria, and we are increasingly concerned that they will try the same tactic on our soil,” she said.
A bipartisan group of senators including committee Chairman Ron Johnson and the committee’s top Democrat, Claire McCaskill, said they had introduced legislation to give DHS and the Justice Department authority to “to protect buildings and assets when there is an unacceptable security risk to public safety posed by an unmanned aircraft.”
Government and private-sector officials are concerned that dangerous or even hostile drones could get too close to places like military bases, airports and sports stadiums.
Nielsen added that DHS has “also seen drones used to smuggle drugs across our borders and to conduct surveillance on sensitive government locations.”
Congress said it must give additional authority to DHS to deal with drones.
“It is not enough to just tell drone operators not to fly in certain high-risk areas; we must give federal law enforcement the authority to act if necessary,” Johnson said.
The bill would cover high-profile events like the Super Bowl and presidential inaugurations as well as federal installations and the protection of officials. It would authorize officials to disrupt communications of threatening drones, seize control or destroy them if needed.
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration barred drone flights over major U.S. nuclear sites. The FAA also banned drone flights over 10 U.S. landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty in New York and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Also banned in 2017 were drone flights over 133 U.S. military facilities. The Pentagon said in August that U.S. military bases could shoot down drones that pose a threat.
The FAA said in January that more than 1 million drones have been registered. Last week, the U.S. Transportation Department picked 10 pilot projects allowing drone use at night, out of sight operations and over populated areas. (Source: Reuters)
15 May 18. Sig Sauer’s TANGO6 1-6×24 riflescope for SDMR. Sig Sauer’s TANGO6 1-6×24 riflescope has been selected by the US Army for its Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDMR), the company announced on 11 May.
The optic is the final component to complete the SDMR system that will be deployed into service for the US Army’s designated marksmen.
The riflescope features a flat dark earth anodised aircraft grade aluminium maintube, 762 extended range bullet drop compensation illuminated front focal plane reticle and an ultra-bright red horseshoe dot for fast daylight target acquisition. The optic also features locking illumination dial, power selector ring throw lever and a laser-marked scope level indicator for mount installation.
Andy York, president, Sig Sauer Electro-Optics, said: ‘Sig Sauer Electro-Optics fuses superior optical designs, advanced electronic technologies, and ruggedised mechanical systems tested to MIL-STD-810G at our research and development and assembly facility in Oregon, US.
‘We are firmly committed to supporting the US Army with this mission-specific riflescope that bridges the gap between close-quarters battle and mid-range tactical engagements.’ (Source: Shephard)
14 May 18. FLIR – More is Better When it Comes to Your Thermal Imager. Multiple color palettes provide distinct advantages in diverse environments. Thermal imagers detect and amplify minute temperature differences between objects in the user’s environment and convert them into recognizable images, much like a digital photographic camera does with visible light.
Similar to photographic cameras offering different settings and filters to optimize image quality in different environments, FLIR engineers have increased the performance of their newest Breach thermal monocular and ThermoSight Pro thermal riflescopes by adding distinct palette options that display captured temperature data in discrete color sets. Each palette offers various advantages, depending on user preference and circumstances.
“Breach and ThermoSight Pro offer a choice of seven palettes, and there is no right or wrong palette for any particular application,” says FLIR Sales and Distribution Manager, Angelo Brewer. “The choice really comes down to personal preference, the characteristics of the user’s environment, and how the image might be used.”
WHITE HOT: The most commonly used palette, White Hot displays warm objects in white, while cooler objects appear dark. This palette is great when there’s a wide span of temperature in the same scene. The main advantage of White Hot is that the overall scene looks very realistic, so the user more easily interprets details. This palette is suitable for scenes with either high or low contrast, making it a great option when shifting from one landscape to another.
BLACK HOT: The opposite of White Hot, the warmest objects appear black in this popular palette. Black Hot is a favorite among law enforcement and hunters alike, because scenes look lifelike, especially at night.
RAINBOW HC: This palette uses multiple colors to display minute temperature differences. It is often used in large, open areas where differences in temperatures are minimal. It adds more visual interest to the scene and ensures excellent visibility of objects with a high temperature. Rainbow HC is particularly useful in low contrast scenes, as it utilizes a wider color spectrum to add details to the scene and ensures excellent visibility.
SEPIA: This palette displays warmer temperatures in yellow and cooler temperatures in black. The Sepia color palette has a relatively narrow visual spectrum and helps reduce eye and mental fatigue. Because it is easy on the eyes, Sepia is great choice when looking through Breach or ThermoSight Pro for a significant stretch of time, such as while conducting surveillance or waiting in a blind.
IRONBOW: Ironbow is a nice, general-use palette that simulates the glow of heated objects. This palette allows users to quickly spot warmer objects against cooler backgrounds. Much like iron in a fire, a target’s radiance is conspicuous against the surrounding background, allowing for quick acquisition of people, animals and other warm objects.
ARCTIC: Arctic is another popular palette, because it displays high temperatures with a well-defined outline that separates warm from cool, helping warmer targets stand out in their surroundings.
OUTDOOR ALERT: Outdoor Alert uses the lifelike detail of Black Hot, but highlights the hottest ten-percent of the scene in orange, making it even easier to find hot objects in a scene. Outdoor alert is a popular choice for nighttime game recovery and surveillance. When it comes selecting a thermal imager, the ability to display and view the environment in multiple color palettes has significant benefits; seven choices are always better than one. And while choosing a preferred color palette is up to the user and the specific environmental conditions in which they’re operating, with so many choices, Breach and ThermoSight Pro definitely have a video palette that will provide a clear advantage.
The new FLIR Breach thermal monocular and all three new ThermoSight Pro thermal riflescopes are now available for purchase at established FLIR dealers throughout the US, starting at $2,495 and $2,199, respectively.
15 May 18. Airbus positions C295 MPA for South Korea. Airbus is to offer its C295 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) to the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN), the company confirmed to Jane’s on 15 May.
In bidding for the USD1.8bn programme, Airbus is looking to compete against Boeing, which is offering its P-8 Poseidon MPA, and Saab, which is proposing its Swordfish MPA.
An Airbus spokesperson said, “The Airbus C295 MPA/ASW [anti-submarine warfare] offers the best combination of operational capabilities and value and is the ideal solution for South Korea’s requirements.”
He added, “We would welcome an opportunity to participate in an open tender to meet South Korea’s MPA and anti-submarine warfare requirements.”
The RoKN requirement is expected to initially feature the acquisition of six MPAs. However, the programme could expand significantly in the future when the RoKN retires its 16 Lockheed Martin P-3 MPAs, which have been in service since the mid-1990s.
While South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) confirmed in February that it intends to procure the MPA capability from a foreign supplier, the procurement agency has not yet identified the acquisition method. A decision on this is expected soon.
Two routes are possible: procurement through the US government’s Foreign Military Sale (FMS) mechanism, which will automatically favour Boeing; or an open tender through which Boeing, Airbus and Saab will compete.
The C295 MPA is currently operated by Brazil, Chile, Oman, and Portugal, with Chile also operating some its aircraft for ASW missions. The C295 MPA has also been ordered by Canada and one additional undisclosed customer. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. Wearable Drone Detection for Special Operations Forces. MyDefence is launching its third product in the WINGMAN series of wearable drone detection platforms – The WINGMAN 103 – the most advanced wearable drone detection solution available on the Counter UAS market.
The WINGMAN 103 has been engineered to meet the requirements of elite forces, designed to be the wingman of its operator. With its ultra-light weight and rugged exterior, the WINGMAN 103 is the only truly wearable drone detection platform that can withstand extreme operational conditions.
“At MyDefence we are constantly trying to push the boundaries of technological development. Our engineers have been able to greatly advance our wearable drone detection and alarm system, and we are proud to introduce the WINGMAN 103 to the world – designed for special operations forces, who demands state-of-the-art Counter UAS technology”, says CEO of MyDefence, Christian Steinø.
Product features
- Small and light form factor allowing dismounted soldiers to wear the WINGMAN 103 on their uniforms or backpacks using the MOLLE clip-on system
- Designed to withstand extreme conditions with operating temperatures from -30°C to +65°C (-22oF to 149oF)
- With an IP67 rating, the WINGMAN is dust- and waterproof
- Detection range of 1-2 kilometers, depending on environmental conditions, providing situational awareness and early-warning on threats
- Designed to be used with standard external clip-on batteries with 14 hours of operation
“The WINGMAN 103 has been designed together with special operations forces, making it a truly unique product that takes operational requirements of the end users into account. The result is a ruggeddust- and waterproof wearable drone detection device that provides all-day battery life in all operational conditions – from arctic to desert environments”, says COO of MyDefence, Dan Hermansen.
Together with the WINGMAN 103, the MyDefence external Active Antenna (AA100) is also being introduced. The special-designed quad-band active antenna provides 360 degrees of coverage on the 433MHz, 1.2Ghz, 2.4GHz and 5.8Ghz frequency bands. The AA100 is plug-n-play and does not require an external power source, as the antenna is powered by the WINGMAN.
The AA100 active antenna is dust- and waterproof and is designed specifically for drone detection with its built-in filters and low noise amplifiers, making it the ideal companion for the WINGMAN 103.
(Source: UAS VISION)
14 May 18. IMT Vislink Collaborates With K2 Unmanned Systems On Launch Of New Law Enforcement Tactical Drone. xG Technology, Inc. (“xG” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: XGTI, XGTIW), whose IMT and Vislink brands are recognized as the global leaders in live video communications in the broadcast, law enforcement and defense markets, today announced the collaboration between IMT Vislink and K2 Unmanned Systems, LLC (“K2”) on the launch of K2’s new law enforcement tactical drone, the Knight Hawk. IMT Vislink is providing interoperable, encrypted HD video downlink technology for use with the Knight Hawk, which is the first U.S.-designed and assembled law enforcement tactical UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle).
K2 announced the release of the Knight Hawk at the 29th Annual APSA Fly-In Training, a private event hosted by the Pasadena Police Department to network, and train, and display new technologies. The event was held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on May 9, 2018.
IMT Vislink downlink technology is fully compatible with regional agencies’ large platform, fixed, and rotary wing surveillance aircraft platforms, allowing for dual use of current portable and mobile command vehicle downlink receive systems. The IMT Vislink downlink systems are built around an “air-to-anywhere” philosophy that allows real-time video to be collected, distributed and managed across all deployed assets.
The Knight Hawk is a commercial grade UAV designed with first responder operations and infrastructure inspection in mind. Its high pound payload capacity, infrared optics, and encrypted HD video downlink are just a few features that make it crucial for critical situations.
John Procacci, Vice President of Sales, said, “We are pleased to collaborate with K2 on their exciting new drone system. Our mission has always been to provide live, real-time video communications that deliver actionable intelligence from all aerial platforms to law enforcement personnel, and this project with K2 is the latest example. We look forward to working with K2 to ensure that our downlink system delivers maximum situational awareness for use in tactical operations.”
(Source: ASD Network)
14 May 18. US lawmaker calls for USAF JSTARS recap contract award. Key Points:
- A US lawmaker wants the US Air Force to award a contract for JSTARS recap
- The service proposed cancelling the programme and pursuing an alternative battle management system
A US lawmaker is calling for the US Air Force (USAF) to award a contract for its Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) recapitalisation programme to bridge a gap until it can field its Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) effort.
“I think we need to get as much (intelligence) as we can in the air as fast as we can,” House Armed Services Committee (HASC) member Austin Scott of Georgia told Jane’s on 11 May. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. First UK Airport Trial of a Drone Surveillance System. A successful trial of a ground-breaking drone surveillance system has taken place at London Southend Airport last week. IPS combined with the METIS Aerospace SKYPERION technology to develop a suitable solution for integration into airports.
This system not only spots drones much sooner than previously possible and allows them to be tracked, but it also identifies exactly where the operator is located (offering the possibility of them being apprehended), something which has previously been almost impossible.
Rogue drone operations are becoming an increasing issue for UK airports with upwards of 3 to 4 sightings of ‘rogue’ drones per week in the London airspace area alone. Drones are readily available from High Street shops and can be flown within a few minutes of purchasing, and although they have many lawful uses they can also be easily adapted to carry a range of payloads, from cameras to explosives.
Due to the size and colour of most drones they are very difficult to spot, however if one is sighted near the critical part of an airport operation (such as the final approach to the runway) then the only option is to completely stop operations. This most notably happened at Gatwick in July 2017, which led to delays for thousands of passengers and considerable costs to the airport.
Damon Knight, Head of London Southend Airport Air Traffic Services says, “We do not have any outstanding issues with ‘rogue’ drone operations at London Southend, but we have had some sightings near the airport which fortunately have not affected our operations. However, we recognise that there is a wider problem for the aviation industry and so as an airport we have been very involved in understanding how we can deal with the issue and helping to explore ways to co-ordinate drone activity in the existing aviation operational framework.”
He added, “After being introduced to IPS and METIS and witnessing a live demonstration of their drone surveillance system we recognised the huge potential of the system for the whole aviation industry and so therefore invited both companies to undertake a trial in an operational environment here at London Southend.”
The purpose of the week-long trial was to demonstrate and test the ability of the IPS-METIS SKYPERION Solution to monitor, detect, track and record the activity of RPAS – Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems – better known as drones, in the vicinity of London Southend Airport. A series of ‘tame’ drones were deployed near the airport in order to test how the equipment worked in an ‘as live’ situation. The equipment involves two airfield sensors which offer 360-degree coverage up to 4kms – in all weathers, 24 hours a day – feeding back real-time information to a control ‘station’ located with the Air Traffic Control team.
Tony Burnell, CEO METIS Aerospace Ltd commented, “We are very grateful to London Southend to allow IPS and METIS the opportunity to prove the SKYPERION technology in their operational environment. We are looking forward to continuing the forward-thinking relationship with London Southend to develop SKYPERION for integration into Air Traffic Systems.”
Ansar Ali, Chairman of IPS Limited added, “We are proud to be working in partnership with Tony Burnell and the team at METIS Aerospace, and we are grateful to Damon Knight at London Southend Airport for facilitating the proving trial at London Southend. We are delighted with the success of the trial and we look forward to working with users, regulators and other stakeholders in further developing the system, in order to provide enhanced safety, security and business continuity at airfields and other critical locations.”
Glyn Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Stobart Aviation, owners of London Southend Airport said, “When we heard about the potential benefits of this new technology for the whole aviation industry we were only too pleased for London Southend to lead the way and help in trialling it. We are delighted this week has been a success and look forward to seeing where this project goes next.” (Source: UAS VISION)
14 May 18. DroneShield has today released an ASX announcement regarding
the European Hub for DroneShield products. The announcement is as follows: DroneShield Ltd (ASX:DRO) announced that the European Hub for DroneShield products, announced to the market on 5 March 2018, has commenced operations. The detection capabilities showcased at the European Hub include multi sensor detection incorporating radar and radio frequency direction finder sensors (RadarZeroTM and RfOneTM), complemented by jamming capabilities provided by DroneGun TacticalTM and DroneShield’s stationary jammer product DroneCannonTM. DroneCannonTM integrates the existing 2.4Ghz, 5.8Ghz and GPS jamming capabilities, and further two bands, 433Mhz and 915Mhz, matching DroneGun TacticalTM jamming spectrum. In response to end-user requirements, the product features an enhanced vertical coverage angle, providing complete vertical coverage of the airspace. In early June 2018, the European Hub will be holding a demonstration of DroneShield products to various government departments of NATO countries, including military, law enforcement and secret service agencies. DroneShield will be conducting several additional demonstrations in Europe over the next two months, as part of the procurement processes that it is going through with a number of governmental end-users.
13 May 18. Elbit Systems of Australia Pty Ltd (“Elbit Systems of Australia “or “the Company”) has closed out the successful delivery phase of the Land 125 Phase 3C contract supplying XACTth65 thermal weapon sights to the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Dan Webster, the Managing Director of Elbit Systems of Australia and Malcolm McKeith, the Director of Armaments Systems Program Office at The Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), signed the final delivery document at Melbourne’s historic Victoria Barracks on 22 March. The Maintenance phase of Land 125 continues until mid-2020. Its compact size, light weight (only 450 grams) and high performance during day and night make XACTth65 a category leader. Since delivery commenced in September 2016, nearly 4,800 XACTth65 thermal sights have been supplied to the Australian Army with early indications suggesting good reliability of the systems delivered. Noting the positive feedback from the end users of the XACTth65, Elbit Systems of Australia’s Land 125 Project Manager, Cathie Webb commented, “Personnel who have been issued with the thermal sight have been giving us extremely positive feedback about the sight’s effectiveness and ease of use.”
CASG’s Director of Armaments Systems Program Office, Malcolm McKeith, acknowledged the strength of the relationship that the contract has fostered between his office and Elbit Systems of Australia and expressed interest in other technologies being developed by the Company.
Dan Webster, Managing Director of Elbit Systems of Australia said, “The success of the contract was another important aspect of the Company’s strategic partnership with the Army and the ADF more broadly. Technology is moving very quickly right across our very diverse offering, and weapon sights are no exception. The th65 thermal sight is just the beginning of the role technology will play in sighting systems, with the integration of sight data into the Battle Management System likely to be the next step.”
09 May 18. SOCOM Investing in New Tech to Counter Drones. Unmanned aerial systems are becoming cheaper and more powerful. The military is investing in technologies to counter systems employed by adversaries that could carry deadly payloads. Special Operations Command is developing counter-UAS platforms that can be used by dismounted special operators, said Navy Lt. Phillip Chitty, a spokesperson for the command.
SOCOM is “working on handheld, backpack-sized, mobile and fixed-site configurations that detect and defeat small UAS,” he said in an email.
The organization is currently conducting evaluations and risk-reduction efforts to create prototypes, he said. It is also working with agencies such as the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organization and the services, he added.
Enemy unmanned aerial vehicles are a major threat for special operators, Chitty noted. The Islamic State has reportedly armed drones with explosive devices and dropped them in Syria.
“The use of small, lightweight, unmanned aerial systems by our adversaries presents a force protection threat to U.S. and … partner nation special operators,” he said. “These systems are used primarily for reconnaissance and are capable of carrying light payloads.”
SOCOM is seeking both kinetic and non-kinetic options for counter-UAS systems, Chitty said. Industry has developed technology that can knock drones out of the sky using missiles and lasers, as well as platforms that can jam the system’s communications relay, forcing it to turn around or land.
The command is “looking at everything from handheld to a ‘system-of-systems’ capability that optimizes all methods of detection and mitigates all threats that small UAS present in an interface that will not dramatically obstruct the SOF operator’s mission planning or load,” Chitty said.
Army Gen. Raymond A. Thomas III, commander of Special Operations Command, said the organization is hard at work developing such technologies.
“Current efforts include … continuing ThunderDrone activities which focus on counter-unmanned aerial systems challenges and solutions as well as opportunities to enhance our offensive use of UAS, especially in coordination with machine learning-enabled capabilities,” he said in prepared remarks to the House Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities earlier this year.
ThunderDrone — a series of rapid prototyping events that focus on unmanned aerial technology — is an initiative under SOFWERX, an organization which seeks to facilitate fast prototyping and technology experimentation between SOCOM and nontraditional partners.
The command sees U.S. adversaries taking commercial-off-the-shelf unmanned systems and reconfiguring them to be employed as weapons and surveillance tools, he added.
James Smith, acquisition executive at SOCOM, said earlier this year that the command was working on the second iteration of its rapid prototyping event that focused on counter-UAS.
The organization concluded the tech expo portion in February and had more than 90 vendors demonstrating their technologies to over 250 government subject matter experts, he said.
Further demonstrations were slated for March and April, he added.
ThunderDrone is expected to culminate in June with a third event called “Game of Drones,” he said. Top performers from the counter-UAS event will be able to compete against each other for cash prizes.
Maj. Gen. Carl E. Mundy III, commander of Marine Corps Special Operations Command, noted that counter-UAS is a major concern for MARSOC. It is working alongside SOFWERX and the Marine Corps’ Rapid Capabilities Office to develop such technology, he noted in prepared remarks to the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities in April. (Source: glstrade.com/National Defense)
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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
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17 May 18. Arnold Defense, the St Louis based international manufacturer and supplier of 2.75-inch rocket launchers, is showing a concept named the “FLETCHER” 2.75-inch/70mm Weapon System at SOFIC, at the Tampa Convention Center, Florida, from May 21-24, 2018. The FLETCHER system can be mounted on land-based military vehicles as well as base defense platforms. The FLETCHER Laser Guided Rocket Launcher System can be seen at SOFIC on the BAE Systems booth SD33, where it is displayed on a Polaris DAGOR® ultra-light tactical vehicle for the very first time.
The FLETCHER concept is supported by a team of global defense industry companies collaborating under Arnold’s leadership to combine their complimentary expertise. Working together, the team is able to provide a full-system approach to FLETCHER ranging from design, validation, testing, manufacture and full system integration in a variety of ground-to-ground engagement scenarios.
FLETCHER is a unique design that allows for ease of operation, maintenance and sustainment in support of combat operations. FLETCHER employs an existing suite of guidance modules, rockets and warheads which are already used in well-known programs and are readily available to global forces. Working in-concert with world-class designation equipment, FLETCHER is a fully integrated weapon system that can engage targets at ranges up to 5 kilometers giving land forces capability that previously required the deployment of air assets.
Jim Hager, President and CEO of Arnold Defense said “Since launching FLETCHER in London, UK, last September, we have been showing it all around the world where it is garnering significant interest, especially from special operations military units. Our rocket launchers are already well-established on airborne platforms internationally. Transitioning onto the land (on both vehicular and dismounted roles) and also into marine environments, with FLETCHER, is a natural progression for us and will provide these forces with a completely new capability.”
He added: “FLETCHER is a very exciting new development for Arnold Defense and our team partners. We’re expecting to have the FLETCHER system ready for sale towards the end of 2018”.
17 May 18. China’s Z-19E helicopter completes firing tests. The export version of China’s Harbin Aviation Industries (Group) Company (HAIG) Z-19 Black Whirlwind armed reconnaissance/attack helicopter has completed firing tests. HAIG’s parent company, the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), said in a 16 May statement that the helicopter, which is called Z-19E, showed its “manoeuvrability and operational capability” during the 40-day trails, which began on 29 March. The tests involved the live-firing of air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, unguided and guided rockets, as well as of the platform’s podded gun systems, said AVIC without providing further details about the tested weapons. The trials also served to verify weapons integration and the fire-control system, the company added. The narrow-body, tandem-seat Z-19E, which made its first flight on 18 May, is China’s first export-oriented attack helicopter. With a maximum take-off weight of 4,250 kg, the Z-19E is a light armed helicopter providing advantages in cruising speed, climb rate, and usable ceiling, according to its developer. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
17 May 18. US Army to order Bonus rounds. The US Army is about to order 500 BAE Systems Bofors Bonus 155mm sensor-fuzed munitions as part of a larger order for the anti-tank rounds. Peter Burke, deputy project manager for combat ammunition systems within the US Army’s Program Executive Office for Ammunition, announced at the IQPC Future Artillery 2018 conference, held in London from 14–16 May, that the US Army will purchase 3,141 rounds over a three-year period starting late this year. A production contract is currently being negotiated via the NATO Support Procurement Agency with a contract announcement expected before the end of this month. Deliveries will be scheduled to be made in three tranches to start in late 2018 with an initial 500 rounds, followed by a further two tranches in 2019 and 2020. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
17 May 18. Cohort plc company SEA has showcased its role as a leading supplier of Torpedo Launch Systems (TLS) at a UK defence services industry day on board the Royal Navy Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland in Pyeongtaek naval base, South Korea. SEA has supplied its TLS to recent and ongoing programmes for the Royal Thai Navy, Royal Malaysian Navy and Philippines Navy, and used the industry day to highlight its capability to leading South Korean shipbuilders.
SEA worked with shipbuilders DSME in supplying triple stack trainable NATO standard lightweight TLS for the Royal Thai Navy’s DW3000F Class frigate. The company is currently working with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) supplying similar TLS for two new HDF-3000 frigates being built for the Philippines Navy.
HMS Sutherland was a highly appropriate venue for the industry event as SEA was able to demonstrate to visitors its wealth of experience in manufacturing and supporting the RN TLS fitted to Type 23 frigates. Besides its TLS, SEA also used the industry day to highlight its capabilities in decoy launcher systems, above and below the water communications, Echo sounders and its leading edge technology thin line KraitArray, towed Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) sonar. The latter has attracted considerable interest in South East Asia, where its deployment via SEA’s Krait Defence System is viewed as an attractive ASW asset for smaller vessels. More than 100 visitors attended the industry day, including representatives from the Republic of Korea Navy and potential Korean industry partners and distributors. SEA was one of 13 UK companies in attendance.
SEA’s South East Asia Vice President, Strategic Accounts, David Hinds commented that the event to showcase the best in British defence equipment was a considerable success, with the region representing a huge area of opportunity for SEA. With Korean shipyards building and upgrading so many of the naval assets operating throughout the region, this was a great opportunity to engage with them and showcase our capabilities. Our TLS is fast becoming the recognised standard for ships in South East Asia that require this type of equipment. Although there is strong competition, we were able to demonstrate the latest equipment technology and discuss how we already work closely with in-country partners to supply customer requirements.”
16 May 18. Sparton and Raytheon Team on Next Generation Mine Neutralization System. Sparton Corporation (NYSE:SPA) announces it will team with Raytheon to support the design, test, and deployment of the next generation Barracuda Mine Neutralization system.
The Barracuda Mine Neutralization system is an expendable, autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle intended to identify and neutralize bottom, near surface, and drifting mines. Sparton will design and develop the deployment packaging and wireless communications buoy supporting Raytheon’s mine neutralizer vehicle. Sparton will also provide manufacturing services to support system fabrication.
“Sparton is excited to leverage our knowledge of maritime communication, packaging, and deployment systems for this new opportunity,” said Jim Lackemacher, Group Vice President of the Engineered Components and Products Segment. “Sparton looks forward to collaboration with Raytheon to bring this vital capability to the fleet.” (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
16 May 18. USS Milwaukee fires missiles to start LCS missile module testing. The Freedom-class variant Littoral Combat Ship USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) conducted a live-fire missile exercise to start mission-module testing off the coast of Virginia on 11 May, US Navy (USN) officials said.
Milwaukee fired four Longbow Hellfire missiles that successfully struck fast inshore attack craft targets.
During the test, which simulated “a complex warfighting environment”, crew members used radar and other systems to track and engage small surface targets, officials said in a statement, and then fired missiles against the surface targets.
The test marks the completion of the first phase of the Surface-to-Surface Missile Module (SSMM) developmental testing (DT) for the LCS Mission Modules (MM) programme. It was the first integrated firing of the SSMM from an LCS. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
16 May 18. DARPA developing affordable, generic seeker for precision guided weapons. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a low-cost seeker that will fit onto any air-deployed munition and can use parts from any company. Under its Seeker Cost Transformation (SECTR) programme, DAPRA is designing a seeker with a new open architecture that is government-owned, using a government standard so that users can add new sensors, change the computer processor, and change software modules, Tom Karr, the agency’s programme manager for SECTR, told Jane’s. In future, DARPA wants to achieve three things with that system, Karr said. It wants to have a seeker that can operate in a GPS-denied environment, as well as operate even with the loss of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability, he said. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
16 May 18. IAF plans to integrate Meteor-class missiles on to LCA Tejas. The Indian Air Force (IAF) intends to equip its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas with a long-range Meteor-class missile system with an aim to improve the capability of the fighter jet.
Indigenously developed and built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the single seat, multi-role LCA Tejas is expected to gain an advanced capability with the missile integration. This will enable the jet to easily deal with its adversaries, reported India Today.
In a statement, the Indian Government sources were quoted by India Today as saying: “The request for proposal has asked the aircraft to be equipped with a long-range beyond visual range missile of the class of Meteor, which can take out enemy aircraft in the range of more than 100m.
“This would help the LCA get an edge over the aircraft with adversaries.”
The Meteor-class missiles are expected to equip a total of 83 units of the LCA Tejas Mark 1A variant under the order placed by the IAF with public sector unit HAL.
With the integration of the new longer-range missiles, IAF’s Mark 1A Tejas fighter jets are expected to be capable of defeating the enemy aircraft even without being within their striking ranges.
A source was quoted by India Today as saying: “One good thing about the Meteor is that it has not yet been integrated with any American-origin aircraft and the Pakistani F-16s or the Chinese-origin JF-17s can’t get them in the times to come as well.”
Developed by European missile manufacturer MBDA, the Meteor is an active radar-guided beyond visual air-to-air missile that features a speed greater than 4mach and an enhanced striking capability of more than 100km, reported Financial Express.
The 3.65m-long missile, which is equipped with kinematics features, is capable of striking a wide range of targets simultaneously and in all weather conditions. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
15 May 18. Selling guns abroad could get easier, thanks to the Trump administration. The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to make it easier to sell small arms abroad.
The State department has submitted a request to shift oversight on small-arms exports, such as semiautomatic rifles, from State to Commerce, kicking off a 45-day review period of the new policy, which has been long sought by the gun industry.
The move impacts any firearms that are “widely available” in U.S. stores for commercial sale. However, State would maintain oversight on any weapons sold primarily for military use.
It’s a move that arms manufacturers have sought for years, with hopes of selling more weapons abroad – one that aligns with the Trump administration’s stance that economic security and national security are irrevocably linked.
But while the Trump administration is pushing forward the policy, discussion about moving such weapons to Commerce has been underway for years as part of the Obama administration’s export reform efforts. Under that umbrella, the State department went through the various categories of export rules and looked to move as much as possible over to Commerce, in order to encourage exports and free up State regulators to spend more time on large defense items.
“These changes will significantly reduce the regulatory burden on the U.S. commercial firearms and ammunition industry, promote American exports, and clarify the regulatory requirements for independent gunsmiths, while at the same time prioritizing national security controls and continuing our ability to restrict exports where human rights, illicit trafficking, and related issues may be of concern,” a State department spokesman told Defense News on background.
During the 45-day comment period, arms control groups are expected to object over fears such weapons may be used against civilian populations. While State continues to have oversight on military-grade weapons, sales of semiautomatic weapons for police forces would now be outside the agency’s jurisdiction.
In 2016, Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Ben Cardin, D-Md., helped block the sale of rifles to police in Philippines over human rights concerns. In a May 15 statement, he warned that “weakened Congressional oversight of international small arms and munitions sales is extremely hazardous to global security.”
“Small arms and light weapons are among the most lethal weapons that we and other countries export because these are the weapons that are most likely to be used to commit atrocities and suppress human rights, either by individuals, non-state groups, or governmental security and para-military forces,” said Cardin. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
15 May 18. Putin says Russia’s defence industry to get new Yars missile complexes in 2018. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that 14 missile regiments would receive the new Yars intercontinental missile complexes to replace their old Topol complexes this year as part of a build-up of the state’s armed forces.
Putin, whose relations with the West have deteriorated, said previously he does not want an arms race, while warning potential enemies that his country has developed a new generation of invincible weapons to protect itself.
At a meeting with defence ministry officials in the Black Sea city of Sochi on Tuesday, Putin added that the national defence industry would also receive modernized missile-carrying bombers in 2018.
“In the course of the year, the air part of a nuclear triad will receive modernized missile-carrying bombers TU-95MS and TU-160 armed with modern cruise long-range missiles Kh-101 and Kh-102,” he said.
He also told officials that the defence sector should finish the development and prepare for manufacturing the S-500 surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile system capable of intercepting targets at the highest altitudes including near space. (Source: Reuters)
15 May 18. All Armored Brigades To Get Active Protection Systems: Gen. Milley. “Once the US companies come on line,” Gen. Milley said, “the intent is to outfit the entire heavy force — the Bradleys, the tanks, any future combat vehicles — with active protective systems.”
The Army plans to equip all its M1 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradleyswith Active Protection Systems, which shoot down incoming rounds, as soon as US companies can build enough, Chief of Staff Mark Milley told the Senate this morning. Currently the only combat-proven APS are Israeli and Russian, with US industry still ramping up.
The US Army is already buying the Israeli Trophy APS for every M1 heavy tank in four armored brigades slated for early deployment to a crisis. (Three brigades are in the 2019 budget, one in 2018). But those brigades also include hundreds of M2 Bradleys, medium-weight troop carriers with significant armament and armor but little spare capacity to handle further upgrades. Instead of Trophy, which was built for tanks, the Army is testing an APS called Iron Fist Light, also Israeli, on the Bradleys.
At this morning’s hearing of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense, Sen. Steve Daines asked when the Bradleys would start getting Active Protection Systems.
“We’re hoping to do that here in the next 24 months,” Gen. Milley replied. “These systems were built for (foreign) vehicles, so we’re taking these systems and we’re adapting them right now, as we speak, to our vehicles. And there’s some testing and prototyping, safety testing, that has to be done with these before they are ready for operational use in the four brigades that we’ve selected, but we hope to have that done within 24 months.”
When will National Guard units get APS? Daines asked, noting the Guard armor company in his home state, Montana.
So far, Milley said, the only APS in the budget are for the four active-duty brigades, which are expected to be among the “first responders” to any crisis abroad. “We don’t yet have a schedule for the Guard, or the rest of the regular Army, but our intent is to outfit the total force, the total Army, with active protective systems in the years ahead,” he pledged. The Army has nine active-duty armor brigades — soon to grow to 10 — plus five in the Guard.
What’s the hold-up? “Active protection systems are manufactured only in…three (countries) right now,” Milley explained. “(One is) Russia, which we’re not going to get them from. (The others are) Israel and the United States, and the companies in the United States, they’re not ready yet for full rate production.
“We have not worked out the schedule,” Milley emphasized, “but…once the US companies come on line with the full system, the intent is to outfit the entire heavy force, all of our vehicles, all the ground vehicles — the Bradleys, the tanks, any future combat vehicles — with active protective systems.”
Milley is also interested on APS on “some aircraft,” i.e. Army helicopters, though “we haven’t worked out the aircraft piece.”
The only US Active Protection System in contention is Artis LLC’s Iron Curtain. Developed specifically for lighter vehicles, Iron Curtain is currently being tested on the eight-wheeled Stryker, a light armored vehicle not used in heavy armored brigades. Instead, there are specialized Stryker formations. Milley didn’t speak to APS for Stryker.
However, Milley did emphasize the importance of converting all Strykers from a standard flat underbody to a double-v-hull that helps deflect the blast from roadside bombs and land mines.
“Over the last 16-17 years of continuous combat, we’ve had a lot of lessons learned, and one of those lessons learned is the vulnerability to IEDS, improvised explosive devices, that detonate underneath the vehicle,” Milley. “We also learned that making a v (shape) in the bottom of the hull disperses the energy from the explosive and provides much greater survivability to the crew inside.”
How much better, asked subcommittee chairman Richard Shelby.
“It’s significantly better,” Milley replied, promising to provide specific figures. “I don’t know the exact numbers, but I would put it up at 80-90 percent over a flat bottom.”
Originally, the Army had planned to leave many Stryker units with flat underbodies, including the 2nd Cavalry based in Europe. While the Russian Army would probably not rely on improvised roadside bombs — although its proxies might — Russia has a large arsenal of landmines, some of which can be quickly sown over a wide area by aircraft or artillery. If Russia decided to occupy the Baltic States, for example, it would probably seize territory as fast as possible and then defend its fait accompli with landmines, anti-tank defenses, and air defenses to deter any counteroffensive. (Source: glstrade.com/Breaking Defense.com)
15 May 18. USS Milius Brings Enhanced Missile Defense to U.S 7th Fleet. The guided missile destroyer USS Milius entered the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations May 14 to join the forward-deployed U.S. naval forces in Japan.
Milius joins Destroyer Squadron 15 to support security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by bringing enhanced missile defense capabilities as a ballistic missile defense platform.
“I am very excited that Milius is coming to DESRON 15,” said Navy Capt. Jonathan Duffy, the commander of DESRON 15. “The ship’s advanced capabilities will be vital in support of our missions in the Indo-Pacific region.”
During the past year, while homeported in San Diego, Milius was fitted with the Aegis Baseline 9 combat system, upgrading its air defense, ballistic missile defense, surface warfare and undersea warfare capabilities. The ship then completed Combat System Ship’s Qualification trials and multiple live-fire events to perform operational testing of its new weapons technology.
Hard-Working Crew
“I could not be prouder of this crew and their hard work and dedication leading up to this deployment,” said Navy Cmdr. Jennifer Pontius, the commander of the USS Milius. “The crew has trained extremely hard to get the ship fully certified and ready for tasking, and we are excited to operate forward and bring new capabilities to the [forward-deployed U.S. naval forces] team.”
With its Aegis BMD system, the Milius has the ability to provide regional, as well as homeland, defense support and can intercept short- to intermediate-range, separating and non-separating ballistic missile threats above the atmosphere and shorter-range ballistic missiles within the atmosphere.
A U.S. Navy destroyer is a multimission ship that can operate independently or as part of a larger group of ships at sea. The Milius is equipped with a Vertical Launching System, Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, torpedoes, guns and Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems.
When the Milius arrives in Yokosuka, Japan, it is scheduled to undergo a regular maintenance period while the crew and their families settle into the area.
Milius follows the guided missile destroyers USS Benfold and USS Barry as the final destroyer to transition from the U.S. 3rd Fleet to the U.S. 7th Fleet. The move is part of the U.S. Navy’s plan to rotate newer and more capable units into positions across the Indo-Pacific region to provide security and stability to the forward-deployed Navy. (Source: US DoD)
15 May 18. The Indian Army is pushing hard to acquire new guns for its artillery regiments. The army is keen on procuring 814 guns of the ‘mounted gun system’. The entire project will cost around Rs 15,750 crore. According to a report published in The Economic Times, the army is trying to ‘re-validate’ the project and seek a new Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) from the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by the defence minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.
The AoN is the first step towards procuring equipment. The proposal for acquiring the 155mm/52 calibre mounted gun system for the army was cleared on November 22, 2014, by the DAC headed by the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar. The Indian Army has not acquired artillery guns in the almost three decades after the Bofors scam came to light in 1986. The guns once procured will be deployed along the western frontier with Pakistan and the eastern one with China.
According to officials, the Request for Proposal (RFP) was not issued within the validity period of the AoN given in 2014, so the AoN had lapsed. The officials said that the army would revalidate the case and seek a fresh AoN to restart the process. RPF enables vendors to make their offer according to the requirements of the force. As per the proposal cleared in 2014, the artillery guns would be procured as per the ‘Buy and Make’ procedure introduced in 2013, under which 100 such guns would be bought off the shelf while 714 would be made in India.
The government owned, Ordnance Factory Board, had exhibited its mounted gun system at the Defexpo 2018 held in Chennai last month. The gun is part of the Army’s Rs 50,000 crore Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan formulated in 1999. According to the report, the army has a plan to acquire 3000 artillery guns by 2027. To strengthen its artillery regiments, the Indian Army is also looking forward to procure towed guns, self-propelled guns and ultra light howitzers. K9 Vajra-T, the 155mm/52 calibre self-propelled gun system which is developed by Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Defence & Aerospace division will be delivered to the Indian Army by the first week of June. (Source: Google/www.latestly.com)
14 May 18. DSM invests to increase global Dyneema® production capacity. Royal DSM, a global science-based company active in health, nutrition, materials, today announced to increase its production capacity for Dyneema®, the world’s strongest fiber™. Strong demand for both Dyneema® UD (Uni-Directional laminate) and Dyneema® fiber is prompting this increase. Financial details will not be disclosed.
The company is investing to install additional new UD technology at its plant in Heerlen, the Netherlands, and its plant in Greenville, NC, U.S. and will also make improvements to existing production lines to expand Dyneema® UD and Dyneema® fiber capacity, incorporating the latest technologies. The global production capacity of Dyneema® UD will be increased by more than 20%. This capacity increase will further strengthen DSM’s product leadership under the Dyneema® brand.
The capacity expansion will enable DSM to serve the growing global customer demand. The growing domestic U.S. market will be served better from DSM’s Greenville, N.C. facility. Globally-recognized law enforcement organizations such as: the New York Police Department (NYPD), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Los Angeles Police Department, and many others are protected daily by Dyneema® technology. The additional Dyneema® UD and Dyneema® fiber capacity will become available in the course of 2018 and is due be fully on stream by Q1 2019.
In addition to expanding capacity, DSM Dyneema will also further improve its carbon footprint, delivering on its brand promise Dyneema®, the Greenest Strength™. Applications made with Dyneema® already deliver the lowest carbon footprint for the performance specified from cradle-to-grave compared to other materials and DSM is committed to further improve this. As an example, DSM’s plant in Greenville, North Carolina, already uses 100% renewable electricity.
Dyneema® UD is a composite unidirectional laminate that offers excellent energy absorption and enhanced protection. It is available as a hard and soft ballistic material. Ongoing innovation by DSM will continue to newer, lighter, better performing materials to the market in the years ahead.
“Dyneema® products are finding use in a broad and ever-increasing range of markets and applications in which lightweight strength is of the essence, for instance best-in-class protective ballistic vests, inserts and helmets,” notes DSM Dyneema President Wilfrid Gambade. “DSM Dyneema is the world’s largest UHMwPE fiber and UD manufacturer with a backward integration into UHMwPE polymer production. These investments will enable us to better accommodate growing customer demand and needs while further extending our global leadership position.”
09 May 18. Army Aims to Speed Acquisition of Next-Generation Rifle. Under pressure from top brass, Army project managers hope to field a next-generation squad automatic rifle sooner than planned. The system, also known as the NGSAR, is expected to replace the legacy M249 squad automatic weapon. Current plans call for it to be fielded in fiscal year 2022. The projected timeline has already been accelerated from previous estimates that the new weapon would be fielded in 2025 or later. But some officials want the acquisition community to move even faster, noted Lt. Col. Loyd Beal III, product manager for crew served weapons in program executive office soldier.
“We have senior leaders who say, ‘What’s taking you so long? Why ’22? Why can’t you do it in ’20 or ’21? And so we’re seeing that kind of pressure and we’re thinking around that type of problem statement,” Beal said May 9 during a panel discussion at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Armament Systems Forum in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Col. Elliott Caggins Jr., product manager for soldier weapons, said: “We’re going to do everything we can … to try to get that program moving faster.”
In June, the Army will select vendors to participate in a prototyping event, Beal said. A solicitation for that opportunity has already been released. Up to five vendors could be chosen, he told National Defense.
Under the current schedule, contracts for engineering and manufacturing development are expected to be awarded in late fiscal year 2019. For the EMD competition “it’s wide open again” and participants in the prototyping event will have to recompete, Beal said.
The EMD phase is anticipated to last about two years. Unless the program is accelerated, the new weapon is expected to reach milestone C and enter production in fiscal year 2022, he said.
For the prototyping solicitation, the Army took a “systems approach” and included the gun, weapon fire control and ammunition, Beal noted.
“Normally we typically back into the ammunition or we back into fire control and we may go out and procure a gun,” he said. “This is a really unique opportunity … to do something different and to really kind of look at the problem in terms of a holistic system that we could go out to industry and say, ‘Hey, what can you do to solve this problem?’”
Sergio Aponte, product officer for the next-gen squad automatic rifle, said project managers want to see technology advances in a number of areas to create a more lethal weapon system.
“We’re looking at new ammunition,” he said. “That’s number one.” Officials are evaluating different materials for those rounds, he added.
New barrel production processes and materials are also on the wish list. “We have to deal with those higher energies that we’ve been talking about for that lethality,” he said.
For the weapon system, recoil mitigation, suppression and signature reduction are also important, Aponte noted.
“Those materials, processes and new innovations that we’re looking for from you are really critical in order to meet this timeline that we’re talking about,” he told members of industry.
Meanwhile, the service also plans to acquire a next-generation squad carbine. That is expected to be fielded 18 to 24 months after the current NGSAR target date of 2022, Beal said. However, there’s also pressure from higher ups to move faster on that effort, he noted.
“The automatic rifle [program details] will get set, and then you will see the carbine come up fast and furious in terms of the requirement, in terms of our approach, in terms of the acquisition strategy and those types of things,” he said.
Caggins said officials would like to be able to make capability trades for both weapon systems concurrently.
“We’re in those discussions right now [to figure out] how do we do that, how do you accelerate that and what makes sense from a technological perspective and a capability perspective,” he said. (Source: glstrade.com/National Defense)
09 May 18. US Army Push for Greater Lethality Presents Opportunities for Armaments Industry. Lethality is now a “hot issue” in the Army and resources are being realigned to push these capabilities forward. And that’s good news for industry, a service official said May 8.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen such strong emphasis on lethality growth from small arms all the way up to artillery systems all at the same time. That’s almost unprecedented,” said Anthony Sebasto, executive director of the enterprise and systems engineering center at the Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center. “In the past they’ve all come in cycles but this is … a wholesale change,” he added.
The Army has identified long-range precision fires, next-generation combat vehicle, future vertical lift family of helicopters, air and missile defense, soldier lethality and the network as its primary areas of focus as it prepares for conflict with peer competitors such as China and Russia. Armaments touches on five of those six categories, Sebasto said at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Armament Systems Forum in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Sebasto’s slide presentation identified the top armament needs: higher pressure/lower wear weapons technologies across all platforms; extended range projectile technologies; novel warhead materials; power sources for indirect fire precision munitions; artificial intelligence-enabled weapon fire control that reduces engagement time from target acquisition to trigger pull; advanced small caliber ammunition; drone defeat munitions; lightweight, high strength materials for guns and mounts; and novel recoil mitigation approaches to facilitate lethality enhancement on lighter manned and unmanned platforms.
“The message to industry is the Army has set conditions, has set priorities, everybody is falling in line” including the science and technology communities and the program executive offices, he said.
“For everybody in this room that’s involved in the lethality business, whether you’re guns, whether you’re missiles, whether you’re directed energy… I think it’s fair to say all of you are the right people at the right time to come together” to provide new capabilities, he added.
During his remarks, Sebasto highlighted a few critical technology gaps. ARDEC is always looking for new and better materials for weapons, he noted.
Developing sufficient power sources has also been a challenge, he said. “Power sources for munitions — this has been a nagging problem for years,” he said. “We keep asking munitions to do more and more and [we] put more smarts in them. But the battery technology, power source technology have not necessarily kept up.”
Lower-cost solutions for shooting down enemy drones are also needed, he noted. When faced with a swarm of inexpensive unmanned aerial vehicles, the Army doesn’t want to have to fire munitions that cost $10,000 each, Sebasto said.
Weapons for unmanned systems also need to be improved, he said. “We’re going to move toward autonomous ground platforms that will be unmanned” and relatively small, he said. “For the armaments business, if you want to have multi-role capabilities for the use of guns we need to look at ways of how we can reduce recoil.”
To stay ahead of threats, “we’re going to have some breakthroughs and we don’t have all the answers,” Sebasto said. “There’s plenty of really smart folks in industry and academia that can help.” (Source: glstrade.com/National Defense)
11 May 18. Commandos Buying Thousands of Small Missiles That Pack A Bigger Punch Than Hellfires. As counterterrorism missions show no signs of slowing down and civilian casualties always a worry, the commando command is turning to a light, guided munition to chase down fast-moving targets. Small insurgent groups have long used speed and distance to try and outrun American precision-guided weapons launched from loitering drones and attack aircraft. But a new weapon being employed by U.S. special operators is trying to erase that tactic from their playbook.
A lightweight glide missile, smaller and more powerful than a Hellfire and fired from a C-130 gunship tens of thousands of feet above the battlefield, is about to start heading to the force by the thousands, according to SOCOM documents about an upcoming contract award.
SOCOM purchased several dozen Small Glide Munitions from Dynetics, a small firm in Huntsville in 2017. The SGM appears to have proven its value to commando leaders who are readying a contract for about 4,000 more of the 59-lb munition over the next four years.
The SGM can travel more than 20 miles and slam into targets moving up to 70mph with its 36-lb. warhead, which is not only more powerful than a Hellfire, but clocks in at almost half the weight of the iconic 100-lb. munition.
The company was able to pack that punch into a lighter tube thanks partly to the fact that the SGM is unpowered, and uses wings that unfold after launch to glide to its target. A company official told me that the weapon was designed to be modular so the munition could fit on a variety of platforms, and components can be swapped out.
In a justification document explaining why it was not conducting a full and open competition to purchase the SGM, SOCOM said it needed to “expeditiously complete development, integration, test, and fielding a SGM capability for the AC-130W, AC-130J, and other Special Operations Forces (SOF) platforms” because “the combat need is immediate.” The document went on to say that the only other compatible munition “was removed from service on USSOCOM aircraft due to failure to achieve lethality performance, and high cost to redesign to meet mission requirements.”
In a contract expected to be award in July, SOCOM is expected to buy 700 SGMs in 2018 and 2019, with 900 more in 2020. That number rises to 1,000 per year in 2021 and 2022.
Despite the renewed focus on great power competition spelled out in the Pentagon’s recent National Defense Strategy, and the White House’s National Security Strategy, there’s little indication American special operators troops will peel away from long-term counterterrorism missions in the Middle East, Yemen, Eastern Africa and Libya.
Those missions tend to be small, fast-moving, and rely on precision firepower to protect the American forces spread among small groups far from bases or consistent air support. And the issue of civilian casualties looms large.
A Dynetics official told me that the SGMs semi-active laser guided munition uses lattice control fins for stability and control, taking a page from the work the company did on the Massive Ordnance Air Blast munition — the infamous MOAB — and the Massive Ordnance Penetrator
SOCOM had used several other munitions to fill the requirement for a lightweight munition, but decided that none really fit the bill. The command initially considered Raytheon’s Griffin, Northrop Grumman’s Viper Strike, Textron’s G-CLAW, and Dynetics’ SGM. But according to the justification document,
- the command “phased the Viper Strike out of the inventory due to failure to achieve lethality performance, and high cost to redesign to meet mission requirements.”
- The G-CLAW “is 2-3 years behind the SGM in maturity and experienced failures in its first flight test with a seeker,” and
- the Griffin “does not address the required aspects of the 360 degree employment zone, launch signature, and support engagement scenarios in which attack azimuth and impact angle must be precisely controlled. At this time, there is no viable alternative to the SGM.”
The Dynetics official told me that the company is exploring putting the munition on other light attack aircraft and helicopters, and that “nothing that would preclude it from unmanned or light aircraft or gunship derivatives.” The official — who requested to speak anonymously due to security concerns — added that he thinks a modified version of the SGM could be a good fit for the Army’s lightweight precision munition program, which is looking to get a new generation of lightweight bombs on drones and helicopters.
The Special Operations Command’s missile spending spree comes amid a larger Pentagon push to rapidly develop and acquire precision munitions during its two-year break from sequestration, which runs out in 2020. And the commandos have the money to do it. The 2019 SOCOM budget request was $13.6bn, up from $12.6bn in 2018, and $11.8bn in 2017. The latest budget would also pay to grow the force from 70,200 to 71,900, a massive uptick from the pre-9/11 size of about 33,000 troops. (Source: Breaking Defense.com)
11 May 18. Rafael advances ‘downscaled’ Trophy APS development. Rafael Advanced Defence Systems is preparing to test a ‘downscaled’ variant of the Trophy hostile fire detection (HFD)/hard kill active protection system (APS) the last quarter of this year.
As part of its final qualification, the downscaled variant will be integrated with Rafael’s Samson Mk II remote weapon station (RWS). The company is currently under contract to develop two configurations of the Samson Mk II RWS for customers: one to the standard configuration (main 25mm/30mm/40mm gun, secondary 7.62mm machine gun, and two Spike anti-tank guided missiles [ATGMs]), which is in serial production for Lithuania to equip its ARTEC GmbH Boxer 8×8 armoured fighting vehicle; a second contract, signed late May 2017 with an undisclosed customer, provides for a Samson Mk II RWS solution furnished for, but not equipped with, a lighter weight variant of the Trophy APS, which will be mounted on an unspecified tracked platform.
“The basic configuration of this turret solution will be slightly different to enable it to incorporate the downscaled Trophy system,” Yizhar Sahar, Marketing and Business development director at Rafael Advanced Defence Systems’ Land Division, told Jane’s. “It retains the lethality package, but is configured to optimise the vehicle’s protection with integration of the lighter weight Trophy system integration.”
Sahar said that, in comparative terms, the Samson Mk II RWS turret for Lithuania – battle ready and with add-on armour and ammunition – weighs some 2.2 tonnes. The same turret equipped with the downscaled Trophy solution adds only one additional tonne of weight. “We see this as a breakthrough comprehensive RWS solution: a low profile turret equipped with both an enhanced lethality capability and a survivability enhancement/manoeuvring enabler.”
Computer-generated image showing the downscaled Trophy APS configuration integrated on the Samson Mk II remote weapon station turret. (Rafael Advanced Defence Systems)
Sahar said that the first all-up lighter weight Trophy system – which will be integrated on the Samson Mk II RWS – will ready for preliminary testing in the last quarter of 2018. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
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18 May 18. Knight Hawk Law Enforcement UAV from K2.
K2 Unmanned Systems, LLC, a U.S. commercial drone manufacturer, flight ops and training company, has announced the release of the first American made Law Enforcement tactical drone, the Knight Hawk.
The announcement was made at the 29th Annual APSA Fly In Training, a private event hosted by Pasadena Police Department to network, and train, and display new technologies.
The commercial grade UAV is designed with first responder operations and infrastructure inspection in mind. Its high pound payload capacity, infrared optics, and encrypted HD video downlink are just a few features that make it crucial for critical situations.
“We saw an opportunity to create positive change. Society’s acceptance of drones now opens the door for first responders to use this emerging technology to enhance public safety.” said Jason Kamdar, Founder and CEO of K2 Unmanned Systems.
Market demand was high for an American designed and manufactured drone, and K2 delivered. The Knight Hawk uses a closed circuit system to ensure telemetry data is protected when performing flight operations and technical support is accessible anywhere in the U.S.
K2 Unmanned Systems worked in conjunction with IMT/Vislink to demonstrate interoperable encrypted HD video downlink technology. This transmission technology is fully compatible with regional agencies large platform, fixed, and rotary wing surveillance aircraft platforms, allowing for dual use of current portable and mobile command vehicle downlink receive systems.
“Our vision is to revolutionize industrial operations and life-saving missions world-wide through unmanned aerial technology,” Jason also said. The company is now scheduling demos for companies and key individuals that express interest in purchasing the new UAV. (Source: UAS VISION)
18 May 18. Australia Awards Development Contract for Stoprotor.
Unmanned Aerial Systems Pty Ltd was awarded A$293,000 (USD 220,00) through the Defence Innovation Hub to combine features of a helicopter and a fixed wing aircraft in order to increase performance, efficiency and capability.
Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, said:
“The Defence Innovation Hub is supporting Australian industry throughout all development stages of the innovation process; from concept exploration and technology demonstration, through to prototyping and integrating capability demonstration and evaluation,”
“Investing in Defence innovation will not only build the innovation capabilities of Australian industry and research organisations, it will also deliver innovative capability solutions for use by Defence.”
Funded at around $640m over the decade to 2025-26, the Defence Innovation Hub accepts proposals on innovations at all stages, from early stage concept exploration and technology demonstration through to advanced prototypes for integration, test and evaluation.
StopRotor Program Objectives
The prime objective is to demonstrate controlled, routine starting and stopping of the rotorwing in-flight enabling transition between fixed and rotary wing flight in a single aircraft.
The air vehicle performance objectives are as follows:
- Increased aircraft hover efficiency: Retain and improve Helicopter hover efficiency with minimum compromise to achieve range and endurance targets.
- Increased aircraft cruise efficiency: Lift to drag 10:1 or greater (wind tunnel demonstrates 17:1 in clean configuration)
- Useful load & payload fraction (40% and 10-12% of gross weight respectively)
- Increased aircraft sustained flight speeds: High speed, long endurance, long range (relative to MTOW State of the art)
(Source: UAS VISION)
18 May 18. Ultra Low Power Deep-Learning-powered Autonomous Nano Drones. A team of computer scientists have built the smallest completely autonomous nano-drone that can control itself without the need for a human guidance. Although computer vision has improved rapidly thanks to machine learning and AI, it remains difficult to deploy algorithms on devices like drones due to memory, bandwidth and power constraints.
But researchers from ETH Zurich, Switzerland and the University of Bologna, Italy have managed to build a hand-sized drone that can fly autonomously and consumes only about 94 milliWatts (0.094 W) of energy. Their efforts were published in a paper on arXiv earlier this month.
At the heart of it all is DroNet, a convolutional neural network that processes incoming images from a camera at 20 frames per second. It works out the steering angle, so that it can control the direction of the drone, and the probability of a collision, so that it know whether to keep going or stop. Training was conducted using thousands of images taken from bicycles and cars driving along different roads and streets.
DroNet was previously deployed on a Parrot Bebop 2.0 drone, a larger commercial-off-the-shelf drone.
In the older model the researchers worked on, the drone had to be in radio contact with a laptop running DroNet on a high-powered processor. Now, all the number crunching is done directly on the PULP (Parallel Ultra Low Power) platform developed by ETH Zurich and the University of Bologna, using GAP8, a chip based on the architecture of RISC-V open-source processors, about the size of a 50 cent coin.
“Computation is fully on-board, from state-estimation to navigation controls. This means, nano-drones are completely autonomous. This is the first time such a small quadrotor can be controlled this way, without any need of external sensing and computing. The methodology remains however almost unchanged using steering angle and the collision probability prediction [in DroNet],” Loquercio told The Register.
DroNet is deployed by performing the most computationally intense kernels of the algorithm in parallel across eight of the RISC-V cores. The newer system is slightly smaller and performs fewer computations to reach roughly the same performance.
The architecture of an GAP8 processor. Image credit: Palossi et al.
But it suffers from some of the same setbacks as the older model. Since it was trained with images from a single plane, the drone can only move horizontally and cannot fly up or down.
Autonomous drones are desirable because if we’re going to use drones to do things like deliver packages, it would be grand if they could avoid obstacles instead of flying on known-safe routes. (Source: UAS VISION/The Register)
16 May 18. Russian Corvettes to be Fitted with BPV-500 VTOL UAVs. Russian Project 22160 corvettes will be fitted with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for searching for submarines, and surveillance of surface vessels and shoreline. Also, UAVs will provide target designation to ship-based armament systems and, in the future, may be used for strike missions, the newspaper Izvestia reports.
The Navy Commander-in-Chief’s directorate revealed to Izvestia that a modular unmanned aerial system (UAS) has been developed for Project 22160 corvettes and is now being prepared for trials. All the equipment, including the operator’s work station, is accommodated in one or two standard cargo containers that can be placed on deck of a ship.
The UAS suite includes two coaxially built BPV-500 helicopter type UAVs. A model of this UAV for the armed forces was displayed at the International Maritime Defense Show in 2017. Its tests started in the autumn of that year. The UAV takeoff weight is 500 kg, the body measures 5 m in length, the payload is 150 kg. The vehicle can remain in flight up to 5.5 hours and operate at a distance of 320 km from its carrier.
The system is designed for aerial monitoring of large areas, including for on-ice reconnaissance, support of search and rescue operations, patrolling, guarding and anti-terrorist missions. Over time, UAVs may be armed with missiles and bombs, which will enable them to perform combat duties. The coaxial design ensures the BPV-500’s higher hovering accuracy, making them less vulnerable to wind blasts, which is essential in landing onto a small ship. An optronic system and onboard radar are used for gathering information.
The data are transmitted to the ship in real time. UAV can operate in an autonomous mode (flying by a preset route) or controlled by an operator.
Project 22160 corvettes have a low radar signature. The specific feature of these ships is their modular design. However, due to their relatively small size and displacement, the corvettes have no hangar for aviation equipment. Normally they are fitted only with a landing pad on the stern. Therefore permanent basing of helicopters on them is impossible, which compromises their combat abilities. However, this problem can be resolved by using containerized UAVs.
Denis Fedutinov, an expert on UAVs, believes that in reconnaissance, drones can replace conventional helicopters on small displacement ships. “The use of such UAS on Project 22160 corvettes stems from the need to effectively gather information without risk to the crew. Thus a single ship can monitor a much larger water area,” the expert noted. (Source: UAS VISION/Navy Recognition)
14 May 18. New UAVs completing Russian state testing. Russia is testing and may soon procure four new types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including its first heavy strike UAV, according to Deputy Defence Minister Yury Borisov. Borisov, who is believed to be in line to become deputy prime minister for defence industry in the new Russian Federation government, made the announcement in a 5 May interview on Russian military television network Zvezda. Two new tactical UAVs were displayed in the 9 May victory day parade in Moscow. Korsar has a reported 200 kg take-off weight, 6,000 m ceiling, and 160 km combat radius, with an endurance of 10 hours. It can be armed with Ataka 9M120 missiles. It has completed state acceptance testing. Borisov said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) would buy Korsar and the rotary-wing Katran. Beyond tactical UAVs, Borisov indicated the MoD could complete testing of the Inokhodets and Altius UAVs in 2018. He described them as future operational-level assets. Inokhodets is designed to carry a 450 kg payload and remain airborne for up to 30 hours. Altius would be Russia’s first heavy strike UAV. Weighing 5 tonnes, it delivers a 2-tonne payload. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. Naval Research Lab Adds Solar Power to Hybrid Tiger UAV Project. Alta Devices has announced that the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) will use Alta Devices highly efficient, flexible, and light-weight solar technology to help power the breakthrough Hybrid Tiger UAV. The Hybrid Tiger is a project designed to create a Group-2 UAV that will stay aloft for at least 3.5 days. Technologies developed for the project will be applicable to other unmanned vehicles.
The Hybrid Tiger program integrates multiple technologies into a single UAV designed for long range endurance. It will use high-efficiency flexible solar cells, a hydrogen fuel cell, and energy-aware guidance algorithms. The program is sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy and the U. S. Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Office.
The Hybrid Tiger UAV planned demonstration includes flights over multiple days, during the winter solstice and as far North as 50 degrees latitude to highlight how extreme endurance UAV flight can be achieved using hybridization of solar photovoltaics, a hydrogen fuel cell, and autonomous soaring algorithms, regardless of latitude or time of year. The aircraft will fly for multiple days without using traditional fuels. The multi-day endurance technology will enable applications such as low altitude communications enablement, atmospheric research, and search and rescue missions, according to a fact sheet provided by NRL.
“Widespread use of small UAVs in both the military and industry has been limited to-date by endurance. The Hybrid Tiger will demonstrate that very long endurance flights, with sophisticated telemetry and capabilities, can be achieved with the inclusion of solar arrays,” said Jian Ding, Alta Devices CEO. “This project will open the door for many new solar powered UAV applications, and we look forward to achieving next generation breakthroughs via this cooperative effort.” (Source: UAS VISION)
14 May 18. Sierra Nevada to Join DARPA Gremlins Project. Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), has been selected to participate in Phase 3 of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Gremlins program as part of the Dynetics-led team. The Gremlins program will develop the capability to launch groups of reusable Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) from manned aircraft while out of range of adversary defenses, enhancing the operational flexibility, safety and effectiveness of U.S. military air operations. When the Gremlins complete their mission, a C-130 transport aircraft aims to retrieve them in flight and return them to base for maintenance and preparation for additional missions, making the Gremlins a low-cost, repeatable solution.
SNC will provide the Gremlins Air Vehicle (GAV) Autonomous Docking System (GADS) precision navigation, guidance and control system elements essential to rendezvous and docking of the GAV with the C-130 host aircraft. The basic architecture for the precision navigation capability (PNav) was initially developed for the Autonomous Aerial Refueling Demonstration (AARD) and UCAS-D (X-47B) programs. The SNC GADS leverages much of the PNav technology to provide navigation, guidance and control for the GAV, enabling precision docking for recovery. The Dynetics solution involves deploying a towed, stabilized capture device below and away from the C-130. The GAV is designed to dock with this device in a manner similar to an airborne refueling operation.
Kutta Technology, an SNC subsidiary, is providing the multi-vehicle control services and user interface software for Gremlins. The goal is to provide a control station with safe, intuitive work flows for controlling multiple GAVs simultaneously from launch to recovery.
“Work on the Gremlins program leverages Kutta’s previous experience with safe, supervised-autonomous vehicle control, coordinating multi-vehicle surveillance, and agent-based, manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T),” said Kutta’s Chief Operating Officer, Doug Limbaugh.
During Phase 2, Kutta successfully implemented the control station prototypes for all operator workflows and established test plans and results to support airworthiness. The Phase 3 effort will refine these prototypes according to feedback generated during system integrations.
“SNC’s past accomplishments with autonomous refuelling and precision navigation were a perfect fit for what Dynetics planned to accomplish on the Gremlins program. Once the two companies came together to discuss how to leverage SNC’s technology, both recognized an opportunity to help make the Dynetics team even more competitive,” said Greg Cox, senior vice president of business development and technology for SNC’s Electronic and Information Systems business area. “I don’t believe anyone questioned that SNC would be an outstanding partner to add to the team. I know we were certainly excited about joining a group as dedicated as Dynetics.”
SNC joined the Dynetics Gremlins team following completion of Phase 1 of the Gremlins program. Prior to commencement of Phase 2, DARPA down selected from four to two teams. Phase 2 served as an evaluation for final down select to a single team to demonstrate capabilities in Phase 3.
“It doesn’t take much to recognize SNC as an industry leader in precision navigation,” said Mark Miller, Dynetics’ Gremlins program manager and vice president of Missile & Aviation Systems Division. “With the many challenges surrounding airborne recovery, Dynetics wanted the best expertise and experience for the navigation and docking operations, and that’s exactly what we get with SNC.”
SNC continues to be a leader in unmanned navigation and control and remains committed to developing autonomous technologies. The SNC PNav technology is being considered for autonomous aerial refueling applications while the Unmanned Common Automated Recovery System, Version 2 (UCARS V2) is currently fielded in support of Department of Defense UAS operations. (Source: UAS VISION)
14 May 18. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), a global leader in Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), gave the community of Iki City and Nagasaki Prefecture a “Public Day” demonstration of its Guardian RPA on May 13. Approximately 300 people visited Iki Airport and met the GA-ASI staff. The demonstrations, which officially began on Thursday, consist of approximately 10 five-hour test flights over a three week period out of Iki Airport, in the Nagasaki Prefecture and will collect data that will be shared across multiple government agencies.
The flights will collect data for three main purposes:
- Meteorological, disaster and oceanic observations
- Marine accidents and rescue support
- Aviation, communications and industrial support
GA-ASI is leading the demonstrations in cooperation with the Iki Airport. The data collected with the sensors on the Guardian will be provided to research institutions to support scientific research, and flight data will be given to relevant organizations to help establish procedures for using RPA systems in private airspace. Details for the demonstration have been coordinated with a number of organizations, including airspace authorities. GA-ASI has sent a team of experienced RPA pilots and maintenance personnel to Japan to ensure safe operations during all phases of the demonstrations.
14 May 18. German military to move forward with plan to lease Israeli drones. The German Defence Ministry will notify lawmakers shortly that it will proceed with plans to lease Israeli-built Heron-TP surveillance drones, a programme that was delayed last year, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen told top military officers on Monday.
The ministry had postponed its plan to lease five of the unarmed drones, a deal valued by security sources at around 1bn euros, amid concerns over their future use raised by the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) in the final months of the last coalition government.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and SPD agreed in their new coalition accord signed in February to lease the drones built by Israel Aerospace Industries [ISRAI.UL], while work continues on a separate programme to develop a new European-built drone.
Von der Leyen said the required notification would be sent to parliament soon, but gave no details.
Defence ministry officials say lawmakers will be asked to review two separate, nearly completely negotiated contracts – one with Airbus, which will manage the drone programme, and one with the Israeli government to cover training, infrastructure and logistics for the unmanned planes.
The SPD, in a surprise move, had blocked the long-planned lease of the drones last summer, citing concerns about a possible future arming of the aircraft. But SPD officials later agreed to proceed with leasing the unarmed aircraft and insisting on a full debate about the ethical, constitutional and legal ramifications of arming the drones in the future.
In a reply to a query by Left party member Andrej Hunko, dated March 5, a ministry official said the government planned to seek options for two additional Heron-TP aircraft.
Germany also plans to move ahead to negotiate the acquisition of three unmanned, higher-altitude MQ-4C Triton drones built by Northrop Grumman Corp after the U.S. State Department approved the sale on April 4.
The ministry hopes to receive a bid from Northrop for three of the drones in the third quarter, and wants to start using them by the mid-2020s, a ministry spokeswoman said. (This refiled version of the story adds dropped word in lead). (Source: Reuters)
14 May 18. DARPA Gremlins on Track for Demo Flights in 2019. DARPA is progressing toward its plan to demonstrate airborne launch and recovery of multiple unmanned aerial systems (UASs), targeted for late 2019. Now in its third and final phase, the goal for the Gremlins program is to develop a full-scale technology demonstration featuring the air recovery of multiple low-cost, reusable UASs, or “gremlins.”
Safety, reliability, and affordability are the key objectives for the system, which would launch groups of UASs from multiple types of military aircraft while out of range from adversary defenses. Once gremlins complete their mission, a C-130 transport aircraft would retrieve them in the air and carry them home, where ground crews would prepare them for their next use within 24 hours.
A recent flight test at Yuma Proving Ground provided an opportunity to conduct safe separation and captive flight tests of the hard dock and recovery system.
“Early flight tests have given us confidence we can meet our objective to recover four gremlins in 30 minutes,” said Scott Wierzbanowski, program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office.
In addition to preliminary flight tests, the team has focused on risk reduction via extensive modeling and simulation. The team looked at how fifth generation aircraft systems like the F-35 and F-22 respond to threats, and how they could incorporate gremlins in higher risk areas. The gremlins’ expected lifetime of about 20 uses could provide significant cost advantages by reducing payload and airframe costs, and by having lower mission and maintenance costs than conventional platforms, which are designed to operate for decades.
The C-130 is the demonstration platform for the Gremlins program, but Wierzbanowski says the Services could easily modify the system for another transport aircraft or other major weapons system. Modularity has made Gremlins attractive to potential transition partners.
“We are exploring opportunities with several transition partners and are not committed to a single organization. Interest is strong with both the roll-on/roll-off capability of the Gremlins system — as it does not require any permanent aircraft modification — and a wing-mounted system to provide greater flexibility to a wider range of aircraft,” said Wierzbanowski.
Gremlins also can incorporate several types of sensors up to 150 pounds, and easily integrate technologies to address different types of stakeholders and missions.
DARPA recently awarded a contract to a Dynetics, Inc.-led team to perform the Phase 3 demonstration. The DARPA program team currently is exploring the possibility of demonstrating different sensor packages with potential integration partners prior to program completion in 2019. (Source: UAS VISION)
11 May 18. Britain flip-flops toward ISR drone, but France keeps eye on combat capability. An Anglo-French project for a combat drone demonstrator is switching tracks, as Britain is now more interested in pursuing a surveillance UAV, according to French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly.
“The FCAS project is undergoing a reorientation,“ she said in an interview with weekly magazine Air & Cosmos, published May 11. “Our British allies would like to steer the project toward a surveillance drone.“
London and Paris, in a bid to pool their interest in respectively surveillance and combat drones, are working on “definition of the technology packages, which would allow us to feed into these two streams at the same time,“ she said.
France and the U.K. had planned to pursue a €2bn (U.S. $2.4bn) project to design and build a technology demonstrator for a combat drone, dubbed Future Combat Air System Demonstration Program, or FCAS DP. But the lack of announcement of a program launch at the Anglo-French summit in January was seen by French industry as a rethink on the British side.
France, however, has continued interest in building an unmanned combat air vehicle.
Despite the U.K.’s interest in an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance UAV, there was scope for cooperation with France by sharing the technology on the FCAS DP.
The technology packages were a “great opportunity“ that could be used in a broad project to integrate manned and unmanned aircraft into a combined network, dubbed Future System for Air Combat, Parly said.
Germany is the partner for France on the latter, which will be opened up to other European partners, she said. “Certain (countries) have already asked and nothing rules out opening the project up for the United Kingdom if they wish to join,“ she said.
Work on the FCAS DP project is “extremely useful“ for France and the U.K., she added. “This is not about public relations.“
Defense industry analyst Fabrice Wolf is not surprised at the revelation, as Britain will have the stealthy F-35 fighter jet for operations in high-intensity zones, and a UCAV would duplicate the F-35.
For France, and particularly Germany, it is “indispensable“ to have such a UCAV capability, he added. Germany needs a replacement for its Tornado fighter and a planned Franco-German fighter will enter service around 2040.
Time was needed to allow the FCAS DP projects to mature and then be considered for incorporation with a larger European program, Parly said.
The French approach, whether working on the project with Germany or the U.K., was to identify useful and concrete projects, work in close cooperation, build solid foundations, and then open up to other partners, she said, all aimed at building European defense.
A strengthening of ties between Berlin and Paris is seen by the French defense industry as partly due to London’s planned departure next year from the European Union.
Britain worked on its Taranis UCAV demonstrator, which was first flown by prime contractor BAE Systems in Australia in August 2013.
For France, the initial test program for its Neuron UCAV demonstrator began in December 2012 to September 2015, flying in France and partner nations Italy and Sweden. The six nations backing the program are France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, with the former acting as the lead nation.
Dassault Aviation is the Neuron prime contractor, with subcontractors Airbus Defence & Space of Spain, Alenia of Italy, Hellenic Aerospace Industry of Greece, Ruag of Switzerland, and Saab of Sweden. (Source: Defense News)
11 May 18. New Eurodrone will rely on Galileo satellite navigation, but have GPS just in case. The long-awaited European medium-altitude long-endurance UAV will rely on the new Galileo satellite system for navigation, but also use GPS as a backup, one of its design partners has said.
First glimpsed in mock-up form at the Berlin Air Show last month, the “Eurodrone” is being developed by Airbus, Dassault and Italy’s Leonardo in a bid to end Europe’s reliance on U.S. and Israeli UAVs as the bloc aspires to greater defense autonomy.
UAVs are only as autonomous as the satellite navigation links they use, and the launch of the Eurodrone has coincided with the introduction of Galileo, the European satellite network that may wean Europe off its dependence on the U.S. GPS system.
“The idea is that the drone will use Galileo from the start, and in the initial phase will probably be dual mode, with GPS as a redundancy measure,” said Giovanni Soccodato, head of strategy, markets and business development at Leonardo.
With two planned satellite launches on July 25, all 24 of the Galileo satellites will be in orbit, providing a global positioning service and breaking the monopoly held by GPS. Galileo has been providing an initial service since December 2016. When complete, the network will provide a normal service and a Public Regulated Service for government users.
The mock-up of the Eurodrone, which features two pusher propellers, is based on a configuration that is due to undergo a “system preliminary design review” at the end of this year.
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Soccodato said he expected a request for proposals to be issued by Italy, Spain, Germany and France around the end of 2018 or in early 2019.
Although Airbus will lead the project, Leonardo will look for a healthy share of mission-systems work, thanks to its experience on the Falco UAV ― which it has sold ― the European Neuron program and the HammerHead UAV being developed by Piaggio, according to Soccodato.
The firm is set to group all its UAV work from across its divisions, including unmanned rotorcraft work, in one unit, he added.
He said he imagines Leonardo taking a 20-25 percent share of the program, but added that the stake should be a simple reflection of national financial commitments.
“I hope we see the new mentality where shares are based on competences, not on money,” he said. Development of the UAV would cost about €1bn (U.S. $1.2bn), he said.
Soccodato said Europe has lost enough time on national UAV programs. “Everyone tried to build a MALE, but there was no work on what a common requirement would be,” he said. “The proof that there was a common requirement is that many countries are using the Predator.”
Asked what the Eurodrone could offer to Europe that a Predator cannot when it enters service in the next decade, he said: “Capability and sovereignty.” (Source: Defense News)
11 May 18. Flood gates could open on US drone sales to the Middle East. U.S. drone sales could heat up in the Middle East as the Trump Administration moves to relax unmanned aircraft export policies abroad for non-NATO countries.
And while Jordan prominently displayed one of its Chinese drones that looks eerily similar to a Reaper unmanned aircraft system right next to its new colossal Russian-made Mi-26 Halo cargo helicopter at the Special Operations Exposition here, General Atomics came to the expo with a message to Middle Eastern countries that its unmanned aircraft systems are best suited to accomplish mission sets important in regional operations.
Because it’s been essentially impossible to buy larger drones with laser-designator technology by foreign countries in the Gulf region, area countries have turned to Chinese and Russian technology. Chinese drones are dominant in the Middle East because they are less expensive and there are no buying restrictions.
General Atomics has been able to sell its MQ-1 Predator UAS to NATO countries like the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy, but has only sold an exportable version of Predator approved for the Middle East and North Africa to the United Arab Emirates so far, Jim Thomson, company regional vice president of international strategic development in the Middle East, North Africa and the Americas, told Defense News at SOFEX this week. The company had to design an exportable version in order to sell it in the region due to previous Foreign Military Sales (FMS) restrictions on drones under the Obama Administration.
But with the new policies emerging under President Trump, General Atomics has been advising potential customers around the world, including the Middle East, to go ahead and start asking the U.S. government to buy drones they’ve been eyeing, Thomson said.
The U.S. government will still handle each potential drone sale on a case-by-case basis as it does all FMS, but now there’s a much higher chance of an approval, Thomson said.
Another aspect of the policy opens up the opportunity for companies to sell systems via direct commercial sale, where a company and another country can directly negotiate a deal, eliminating the longer process of using the U.S. government as a middle man.
The policy still has to flesh out, and there’s a 60-day period for industry to provide feedback on the draft, but Thomson believes the crux of the policy will remain and there’s no harm in starting the request process while the policy fleshes out, he advised.
But now that it may be easier for U.S. companies to sell drones globally, industry has to make a case to countries with Chinese and Russian systems that the capability U.S. companies bring to the table is a better deal.
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For General Atomics, the cherry on top for Middle East customers is the ability for the company’s UAS to team with manned aircraft and the fact it offers an end-to-end solution from the aircraft, to the ground control, to software and even a system that helps with data dissemination, Thomson said.
General Atomics pioneered manned-unmanned teaming with the U.S. Army early on, pairing its Gray Eagle UAS with AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to fill a gap in armed reconnaissance capability left open when the service retired its OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters.
The systems are designed to pass imagery into the cockpit and give the pilot the ability to control the UAS’ payload. The pilot could also be capable of controlling the entire UAS, but operationally the service hasn’t been big on the idea.
General Atomics has approval to provide MUM-T capability to Gulf countries through FMS, Thomson said.
And Middle East countries want the capability.
“That is a benefit we have over the others like the Chinese or foreign suppliers because the waveforms have to be compatible, you have to have the right waveform for them to receive and transmit and those are U.S. waveforms,” Thomson said.
Additionally, the capability allows helicopters going out to the forward edge of the battles space without satellite connection to stay connected to home base through, for example, a satellite data link-connected Predator that can relay voice communications back to base, according to Thomson.
Predator also has a loiter capability of 35 hours, Thomson said, while helicopters can stay aloft in a mission for roughly four and a half hours.
This means the capability would be especially useful for maritime patrol missions in the Gulf region.
General Atomics has received quite a few requests from Middle Eastern countries expressing interest in the MQ-9B Guardian, which is a maritime patrol UAS that has a maritime radar in the belly of the aircraft, Thomson said.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Morocco all have maritime missions where it would be ideal to replace an expensive manned aircraft with an unmanned system, particularly because the job can be tedious and long to run patrols.
“I think that will be the first domino to fall will be a maritime Predator for one of these countries,” Thomson said, “and then from there we will see.”
Thomson believes the trend is usually for countries that operate drones through their air forces to pick U.S. Air Force drones so there will be a continued market for Predators and Reapers.
But he said Middle Eastern countries that came to the Army Aviation Association of America conference in Nashville, Tennessee, last month, are watching what the U.S. Army is doing with MUM-T and Gray Eagle and “they are seeing the benefits of manned-unmanned teaming that the U.S. Army has pretty much developed,” Thomson said, adding he has not seen other countries with such an ability.
Saudi Arabia, for instance, might be a better candidate for Gray Eagle, because it has the Royal Land Forces. “I could see them being a Gray Eagle customer,” Thomson said. (Source: Defense News)
11 May 18. US Air Force deployed mysterious drone to Afghanistan to catch terrorists planting roadside bombs. Data from an investigation spearheaded by Defense News sister brand Military Times revealed that an experimental, homegrown reconnaissance drone called “Silver Fang” was deployed by the Air Force to Afghanistan during the mid-2010s.
Very little information about the Silver Fang unmanned aerial system is available online. But it emerged within data on aviation mishaps obtained by Military Times, painting a fascinating portrait of a little-known technology, and revealing for the first time the extent of Silver Fang testing in Afghanistan.
“Silver Fang was an Air Force Research Laboratory program that provided intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability based on a Tier II, runway-independent small unmanned aerial system,” said Daryl Mayer, a spokesman for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, where AFRL is located. According to the AFRL-sponsored website Launch Stories, Silver Fang is a derivative of the Silver Fox UAS originally developed by BAE Systems’ unmanned technologies division, which had been bought by Sensintel and has now become part of Raytheon.
It was originally used in theater to help find terrorists who were placing improvised explosive devices along convoy routes — a mission that it was uniquely suited for due to its size, which was large enough to carry significant payloads while staying small enough to operate very quietly while in flight.
The Silver Fox already hosted an electro-optical, infrared sensor, but AFRL added a radio frequency sensor with a wide field of view to help cue the EO/IR sensor and more quickly identify IEDs, the Launch Stories piece noted.
Silver Fang’s experience in Afghanistan raises interesting questions. How often was it being operated? How successful was it in finding IEDs? Did the continued comms link and propulsion problems have anything to do with why the program was seemingly canceled? Or was it funding?
Defense News contacted Air Force Research Laboratory in the hopes of getting answers to these questions. The organization was able to confirm the existence of the aircraft, but declined to comment further on its past activities for classification reasons.
During a September 2016 hearing in front of a congressional panel, Maj. Gen. Robert McMurry, then the head of AFRL, cited Silver Fang as a success story of how the organization can quickly move technologies from development to the field. However, he also noted the difficulty of transitioning them to programs of record.
“The thing that prevents transition, it is hard to say, but I think it is really just getting the agreement that we are going to transition and how we are going to bring that into the operational fold and which service will pick that bill up and when,” he said.
“Because, usually, the bills aren’t that big, but everybody is so tight on money, just trying to figure out how to plan for that and a timeline is a challenge.”
Wait, Penguin what?
As for the mishaps, Silver Fang experienced 15 mishaps from FY2014 to 2017, and 11 of those accidents occurred during deployments of the aircraft to Afghanistan, according to the data obtained by Military Times. Later mishaps took place in Turkey and at home station at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Most of those accidents involved a loss of propulsion or communications link. In 10 cases, the aircraft crashed and was defined as “not recovered” or “destroyed,” but all mishaps were labeled Class C — perhaps because the cost of the aircraft is between $50,000 and $500,000.
The Air Force has been impacted by 271 Class A, B and C aviation mishaps involving drones from fiscal years 2011 to 2017.
Of those, 45 incidents not associated with big-name Air Force programs of record like the MQ-9 Reaper MQ-1 Predator or RQ-4 Global Hawk.
Aside from Silver Fang, the data notes mishaps involving drones like Spectral Bat; Aervironment’s RQ-20 Puma; RQ-16 T Hawk; the Boeing-Insitu Integrator; Penguin B, a small drone made by Latvian manufacturer UAV Factory; Aerovironment’s RQ-12 Wasp; Lockheed Martin’s Fury B; and Sand Dragon.
It also documents a previously-known 2015 crash of a high-altitude long endurance drone, the experimental X-56A created by Lockheed Martin Skunkworks. According to the mishap data turned over to Military Times, the aircraft was “damaged on landing,” but recovered, resulting in a class C mishap. While a handful of entries include no data about the UAS at all, two are especially intriguing. Two Class A incidents — a June 2016 event in the United Arab Emirates, followed by an August 2016 mishap where an unnamed drone from Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan crashed in Djibouti — resulted in the destruction of two unnamed drones valued at more than $2m. Others were almost comical, such as an 2012 Class C accident where an unnamed drone flew into an aerostat in Kuwait, destroying both the UAS and the balloon. (Source: Defense News)
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Sponsored by Spectra Group
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18 May 18. Spectra Group announces significant order intake milestone at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) in Tampa. Spectra Group (UK) Ltd, a world leading solutions provider of high grade information security and communication capabilities, has today announced that in the 12 months since SOFIC last year, nearly 1000 SlingShot systems have been ordered from specialist end-users across 4 continents. This takes the total number of systems shipped to over the 3000 mark, further endorsing Spectra’s dominant position in the Tactical SATCOM market place.
Spectra’s SlingShot is a unique low SWaP system that enables in-service U/VHF tactical radios to utilise Inmarsat’s commercial satellite network for BLOS COTM. Including omnidirectional antenna for the man, vehicle, maritime and aviation platforms, the tactical net can broadcast over 1000s miles between forward units and a rear HQ, no matter how or where the deployment. In addition to C2 voice, the system enables data capability supporting mission critical applications such as; artillery fire missions, GPS tracking and biometric analysis. With reduced cost compared to traditional TACSAT, increased channel availability and almost no increase in the training burden, SlingShot is redefining tactical communications. Spectra has strategic relationships with both Inmarsat, whose L-TAC™ service uses SlingShot and Airbus, which brands SlingShot as TREx services.
This milestone announcement coincides with the SOFIC 2018 exhibition taking place in Tampa, Florida, 21-24 May. At SOFIC 2018, Spectra’s partners, ComSat, will be showcasing SlingShot on their stand (Booth 225) and Spectra representatives will also be on hand to provide further information, if required. Live demonstrations will also be taking place outside by appointment, at the Satcom Direct RV.
Simon Davies, CEO at Spectra Group (UK) Ltd said, “this order intake milestone is one we’re very proud of and proves, again, that SlingShot is fast becoming the system of choice for use by the world’s finest specialist users” He added: “we’re receiving significant amounts of interest in our products and services from around the globe so our attendance at SOFIC 2018 is another fantastic opportunity to meet people and explain the advantages of our systems. My team will be at the event so please do make contact by visiting the ComSat stand”. (Source: Hawker Chase/www.c4isrnet.com)
16 May 18. Fighting terrorism and storing intel in the age of big data. Several companies in attendance at the Special Operations Forces Exposition last week didn’t bring missiles, rockets, helicopters or drones, but rather laptops or other devices with software designed to make sense of the huge amount of data and intelligence flowing in for counterterror operations in the Middle East.
The fight against terrorism has become more complicated in a data-rich and data-dependent, international stage. Terrorists have adeptly used avenues through social media to spread philosophy and recruit members while engaging in campaigns of misinformation to influence communities.
The United States and its allies admit they haven’t caught up to waging war against campaigns of misinformation fought through social media because of the difficulty involved in keeping track of the online activity.
At the Middle East Special Operations Commanders Conference, an Iraqi commander recounted the struggles of going up against the Islamic State group as the country fought to take back Mosul from the militant organization.
ISIS was effective at hiding among the population, essentially forcing families to give up their homes as safe havens and serve as human shields, making precision airstrike targeting difficult for coalition forces fighting the militants. Some ISIS members used children as shields when moving about the city and dressed as women to avoid detection.
Insight into the adversary
Even though terrorist organizations are skilled in campaigns of misinformation, Raytheon’s Multimedia Monitoring System, or M3S, is touted as one way to fight back.
The company showed off the distributed and scalable monitoring tool at SOFEX. The M3S provides analysis of foreign language broadcast media, websites and social media. It is essentially a set of very organized, intelligent eyes and ears.
It can take information flowing from Facebook, Twitter or other social media as well as what is broadcast on local TV news and translate a foreign language into English and pinpoint content of interest.
“Tools like this are invaluable to the special operations community, particularly when it comes to targeting adversaries, particularly in a terrorism kind of environment that you face in the world today,” said Tom Goodman, director of Raytheon’s international cyber business. “They hide among the population, they hide in plain sight. … And they co-opt and sometimes coerce the population into collaborating with them.”
Raytheon’s M3S multimedia monitoring system takes speech from video and audio, then generates a transcription and automatically identifies people and places.
Tools like the M3S “are invaluable to the targeteers, as they are looking to get precision strikes in. No one wants to see collateral damage,” he said.
“So tools like this and being able to see what may look like a signature on a building from the air, if you can marry it up with contextual analysis from managing and monitoring what is going on in the broadcast media and other types of intelligence sources, that gives you a clearly better refinement of your targeting capabilities and not only minimizes that damage,” Goodman added. “It also ensures that you send a message clearly to the adversary that it doesn’t matter where you go, doesn’t matter what you do; we will find you, we will hunt you down and take care of you.”
The system can bring context and clarity to the plethora of information flowing through. “There is a lot of information that can be understood as it links to not only the context of the messaging that comes across media outlets but also who’s listening, what are the trends,” he said, “the following of what is being tweeted, retweeted, things like that.”
The system allows analysts to be able to monitor terrorist propaganda and the communities being targeted, as well as provide insight into an organization’s behaviors and what it might be planning.
This capability is particularly important as ISIS moves through North Africa, Southeast Asia and Afghanistan following its defeat in Iraq.
The M3S “is very good at separating the bad messaging from the good messaging, and it gives you the ability to be able to say, ‘No, here’s the reality, here’s what actually happened,’ and you can get ahead of that messaging that much faster, and so that is very critical,” Goodman said.
While the M3S is not a new system, it continues to improve alongside advancements in artificial intelligence, which continues to refine its ability to translate a variety of languages.
“There is a tremendous amount of intelligence that is built into this platform,” he said. “Not only is it looking for the keywords and able to do the translation not only in Arabic, for example, but the various dialects in Arabic and understanding the context, understanding the inflections and variation of words. It looks at how messages are being conveyed, the construct of certain words within a sentence and sentences leading up to it that gives you some insight into the intent of what is said.”
The system is also able to translate languages from Southeast Asia, Europe, South America and Africa, even breaking it down to tribal dialects.
Patterns of life
Massing the multitude of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data from airborne sensors continues to be a challenge, particularly in saving that data for the long term in a digestible manner.
General Atomics — best known for being the manufacturer of the famed Predator, Reaper and Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft systems — created a product now used by customers in the United States called the System for Tactical, Archival, Retrieval, and Exploitation, or STARE.
It’s software that runs on a computer with very large storage drives, which customers use to store ISR data, archiving it in ways that make it easy to later retrieve and exploit.
“It’s not just for General Atomics data. It doesn’t matter if it’s a King Air or a FLIR camera,” Jim Thomson, company regional vice president of international strategic development in the Middle East, North Africa and the Americas, told Defense News at SOFEX. “As long as it’s a common format … it can all be stored in the STARE server.”
The system enables the customer to put all of its data into one storage device and call up information. For example, a user can pull up imagery of a certain area over the past six months to see if there are any changes, or the user can look for “patterns of life,” Thomson explained.
The company has conducted demonstrations in the Middle East, including for Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Egypt, Thomson said.
“It’s a capability that our competitors don’t have,” he said. “You buy a system from a competitor, that video comes down off an airplane, and what do you do with it? Maybe you look at it that day. A week from now, do you still have access to that data? Probably not.”
The ability to examine patterns of life in a place like Mosul as the coalition forces worked to drive out ISIS was crucial to keeping collateral damage to a minimum and to hone in on appropriate strikes.
“It’s about really understanding who the enemy is and it’s not about taking out one bad guy ― you want to know where he is going, who his leader is and who his leader’s leader is.”
17 May 18. Cyber Command has a full cyber staff now. Cyber Command’s cyber warfare cadre is officially fully manned.
The 133-team, roughly 6,200-person cyber mission force has reached what’s known as full operational capability, the command announced May 17. This designation comes four months ahead of the official deadline of September 30 set by previous Cyber Command commander, Adm. Michael Rogers.
The Air Force’s teams, which were the last of the services to hit this milestone, announced the milestone May 16 after receiving the designation earlier in the month.
The process involved a rigorous set of criteria, according to CYBERCOM, including an approved concept of operation and a high percentage of trained, qualified and certified personnel. Teams also had to show they could perform their mission under stress in simulated, real-world conditions as part of specialized training events.
“As the build of the cyber mission force wraps up, we’re quickly shifting gears from force generation to sustainable readiness,” Gen. Paul Nakasone, CYBERCOM’s commander, said.
“We must ensure we have the platforms, capabilities and authorities ready and available to generate cyberspace outcomes when needed.”
Despite being a major milestone, some have cautioned that the designation only means the teams are fully staffed, and does not mean teams will be up to full mission readiness.
Few teams at the time of FOC will be what is known as C1, which means the unit can fully carry out its wartime mission, Maj. Gen. Burke Wilson, at the time deputy principal cyber adviser to the Secretary of Defense, said at a conference last year. Instead, he said to think of the designation as a bit of a phasing in. Wilson is now retired from the military and the deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy.
To be fair to Cyber Command and the services, Bill Leigher, director of government cyber solutions at Raytheon and a retired rear admiral, previously told Fifth Domain the fully operational capability designation was really how many people were on the teams and whether they matched the correct career billets.
The FOC designation is critical in that top officials have indicated potential changes to the force would be coming after the teams were fully manned.
Prior to retirement, Rogers recently told lawmakers he’d like to “retool” the structure of the cyber mission force as it was built on a construct that is almost eight years old and can take advantages of lessons learned in that period.
He said he told the service cyber component commanders that such a retooling would not take place until all the teams reached FOC.
Nakasone, has hinted at potential changes to the structures of the teams as well.
“As we actively employ these teams in operations, we continue to mature our understanding of how to strengthen the mission readiness of this force. The department has made significant investments in cyber payloads and toolsets for the CMF, and a formal study is currently underway to more comprehensively inform requirements based on lessons learned from recent operations,” he said.
These teams conduct offensive, defensive, intelligence and analytic work for global cyber operations.
Some in the cyber community have indicated that the balance of the teams, as well as the makeup of their personnel, should change, though what such a change might look like is unclear.
Officials in the cyber community have indicated that more intelligence personnel could be needed to help better inform operators of targets and context, as well as more tool developers — the initial force was very operator heavy, relying heavily on NSA personnel for tools initially.
Others have noted the need for Cyber Command to take a more prominent role in the information space akin to what Russia has done fusing cyber and information operations producing cyber-enable information operations.
Nakasone has also indicated information operations, which currently are not within the purview of Cyber Command’s capabilities, could be folded into its toolset.
Another option could revolve around turning the cyber teams into all-purpose rather than just focused on offense or defense.
“Right now we have teams that look at defense, we have teams that look at offense, almost like a football team. Maybe a better concept is we set up like a hockey team or a basketball team where everybody plays both ways at the same time,” Ignatius Liberto, chief of staff at Cyber Command’s operational global defense arm Joint Force Headquarters-DoD Information Networks, told Fifth Domain at the AFCEA Defensive Cyber Operations symposium in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 16.
“We’re trying to think our way out of this and there is certainly nothing carved in stone at this time,” he said. (Source: Fifth Domain)
16 May 18. The US Army is grooming an elite tier of electronic warriors. The Army is undergoing a change to its cyber and electronic warfare personnel. Announced last year, the service will transition its cadre of electronic warfare soldiers into the service’s cyber branch, effectively making them cyber planners. The main Army leader heading the effort equated the split in cyber/EW personnel going forward to the division within the special operations forces community.
“Think of it as akin to [how] we have our traditional SOF … and then you have your very, very high-end SOF in [Joint Special Operations Command] — that is sort of the model we’re putting in place,” Maj. Gen. John Morrison, commander of the Cyber Center of Excellence, said during a keynote presentation May 16 at the AFCEA Defensive Cyber Operations symposium in Baltimore, Maryland.
JSOC refers to the elite special operations units such as Naval Special Warfare Development Group — better known as SEAL Team 6 — and Delta Force.
“We’ll have tactical cyber operators … then the very, very, very best will move into the cyber mission force,” Morrison said, referring to the cyber warrior cadre that serves U.S. Cyber Command and conduct strategic level cyber operations.
Effective October 1 of this year, the EW workforce will transition to the cyber branch and will go through a series of mobile training teams that are teaching them how to do planning in the cyber domain, Morrison said.
Anyone new entering the electronic warfare force after that will first go through cyber training at Fort Gordon and then will move to specific training in conducting operations in and through the electromagnetic spectrum.
This is all part of a new construct the Army is instituting to insert cyber and electromagnetic activities cells organically within brigade combat teams to provide commanders with planning in those domains.
Future wars will require these high-end capabilities and commanders must have staff that can understand and help plan schemes of maneuver within them to get at larger objectives.
“The way that we’re transforming our electronic warfare professionals is they will become cyber operators. They will be the face inside our brigade combat teams and our maneuver formations for cyber operational planning,” Morrison said.
“They’re complimentary. You cannot look at electronic warfare professionals and cyber operators in isolation.” (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
17 May 18. Denmark launches new cyber and information security strategy. The Danish Government has launched a new national cyber and information security strategy that will provide enhanced protection against cyber-attacks and digital threats.
Danish Defence Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen launched the new strategy in collaboration with Public Sector Innovation Minister Sophie Løhde and Industry, Business and Financial Affairs Minister Brian Mikkelsen.
Built further on the 2018-2023 Defence Agreements, the strategy comprises 25 specific initiatives to consolidate the defence of the country against cyber-attacks, information technology (IT) criminals and external threats.
Over the next few years, the Danish government intends to invest kr1.5bn ($237.86m) to improve the country’s cyber and information security.
In addition, the country will set up a national situation centre at its Centre for Cyber Security.
Frederiksen said: “Cyberattack by hardcore criminals and by countries such as Russia are one the greatest threats of our time.
“That’s why we’re now consolidating cross-authority efforts and combining a number of initiatives. This strategy is a natural continuation of the Defence Agreements, which also give high priority to the cyber area, and the large resources made available by the agreements will benefit society at large.
“In particular, we’ll strengthen the capacity of the Centre for Cyber Security to identify and prevent harmful cyber-attacks targeted at authorities and businesses in Denmark.”
The new cyber situation centre will help monitor important IT systems and the country’s most important digital networks in order to warn authorities and businesses about current and potential threats.
(Source: army-technology.com)
16 May 18. The USMC is down to one final EA-6B Prowler squadron. The Corps’ aging electronic attack aircraft, the EA-6B, is now down to one last squadron.
In its final years, the aircraft was highly productive in a fight over Syria, jamming militants and protecting U.S. pilots from enemy air defense systems.
On May 11, Marine Electronic Attack Squadron, or VMAQ-3, based out of Cherry Point, North Carolina, held its deactivation ceremony, leaving VMAQ-2 as the last EA-6B Prowler squadron in the Corps. VMAQ-3 will complete its deactivation May 31, according to Capt. Sarah Burns, a Marine spokeswoman.
The last remaining EA-6B squadron in the Corps will begin its deactivation in October 2018.
“VMAQ-2′s deactivation in FY19 will mark the end of the EA-6B’s service in the Marine Corps, as well as its continuous employment as a joint tactical Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) asset,” Burns told Marine Corps Times.
The EA-6Bs from VMAQ-3 are headed for Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, commonly referred to as the Boneyard, where they will be stored and preserved.
Despite the sun setting on the Corps’ legacy electronic attack aircraft, the Prowlers put up a hell of a fight in its final years deployed overseas in support of Operation Inherent Resolve against ISIS militants.
The aircraft has been important asset to coalition forces for its ability to jam ISIS communications, roadside bombs and suppress enemy air defenses in Syria.
The EA-6B was one of the first aircraft on scene in the lead-up to U.S. strikes against ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria.
In February 2014, VMAQ-3, “the Moondogs,” deployed to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, to support operations in the United States Central Command area of operations. VMAQ-4 subsequently began operations over the skies of Syria that August.
The Moondogs carried out one final deployment from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, spanning April to September 2017, in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
The mission: to “conduct airborne electronic warfare in support of operations, to include suppressing enemy radar and surface-to-air missiles utilizing electronic jamming and high-speed anti-radiation missiles, as well as collecting tactical intelligence in a passive electronic support role,” a command release states.
In mid-April, an EA-6B escorted a pair of B-1 bombers as they carried out airstrikes against the Barzah Research and Development Center located near Damascus, Syria.
The strikes were in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack carried out by the Syrian regime against civilians in the village of Douma, Syria, in early April. The EA-6B escort was likely there to suppress enemy air defense systems.
The Navy’s EA-18G is replacing the EA-6B and will serve as the sole joint electronic attack asset for the Defense Department, according to Burns.
“Since 1977 the Marines and Sailors of the VMAQ squadrons have continued their legacy of professionalism and distinguished service supporting continuous deployments and operations from El Dorado Canyon in 1986 to Operation Inherent Resolve all while flying in excess of 250,000 flight hours,” Burns said. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
15 May 18. USAF EW Push Gains Steam; C-5 Gets 3-D Printed Door Handles. We will probably never know much about it, but the Air Force’s top Electronic Warfare task force has completed its first scrub and should report to top service leaders in the next month or so.
The woman who leads the Air Force’s effort, Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, started the Strategic Development Planning Experimentation unit to find gaps in the service’s capabilities. Once the gap is found, the service creates an Enterprise Capability Collaboration Team (ECCT) to examine the best ways to fill it.
The EW ECCT was stood up last year. While most of what it’s doing is classified, we know that cyber, which had been deemed outside its purview, is now a solid part of the work.
General P., who led Space and Missile Systems Center and is now head of Air Force Materiel Command, told me at a Defense Writers Group breakfast that “an update” on the ECCT will be given to the “four stars” soon. In a late February interview at AFA Winter, Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein told me that cyber would “absolutely” be part of the EW work. “But the definition of how you use cyber is really important,” he noted. “Are you using that as a domain or as a set of capabilities within that domain? It’s both.”
The Office of Secretary of Defense published a classified report on EW last June and the House version of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act includes language requiring the Defense Secretary and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs come up with a plan for “joint campaign modeling and wargaming for joint electromagnetic spectrum operations” and present it as a report by Feb. 18 next year. The bill also would require the Pentagon to brief the authorizers on various joint EW efforts. If you search through the NDAA you will find very few EW spending items, though much of that effort is likely to be highly classified.
Pawlikowski also offered a sketchy look ahead at the Multi-Domain Command and Control (MDC2) ECCT, which provided its report to the chief late last year. She predicted we would see a slow “blending together” of the National Space Defense Center, the Tanker Airlift Control Center (which handles tankers and airlift for the Air Force) and the service’s Air Operations Centers. A rolling series of software and hardware RFPs will make this possible, along with a great deal of agile software development, she said.
In other news, the service is pressing hard to do much more predictive maintenance, the head of AFMC said. Using Delta Airlines’ experience with predictive maintenance as “a baseline,” she told my colleague Marcus Weisgerber of Defense One that the Air Force is excited about improving readiness and aircraft availability using machine learning and other techniques to keep planes in the air. She said the service is “in talks” with Lockheed Martin about giving it access to maintenance data for the C-130J. Companies make a substantial portion of their profits from maintaining aircraft and often guard the data they’ve gathered over the years like the Crown Jewels, so it will be interesting to see what kind of arrangement the two sides reach.
For the aging C-5 fleet, she pointed to the use of 3-D printing of a part for a door handle part that was failing. Using a conventional approach to find a supplier who could make the part would have taken a year and run about $1,300 per handle. Instead, they came up with a way to print the handle for $700 and did it in weeks. (Source: Breaking Defense.com)
14 May 18. National Guard Conducts Annual Nationwide Cybersecurity Exercise. The Cyber Shield 2018 cybersecurity exercise is part of the National Guard’s ongoing effort to be a versatile capability for governors of all 54 states and territories.
This is the seventh iteration of the training exercise. By working closely with interagency partners and the private sector, the National Guard seeks to strengthen network cybersecurity and leverage new and emerging technologies for homeland defense.
Two Phases
The exercise centers around two phases. The first week offers participants the opportunity to learn from leaders in military, government and the private sector on vital cybersecurity skills.
The second week challenges the National Guard soldiers and airmen as they face off against trained adversaries. The teams utilize their unique talents to defend networks and mitigate the effects of attacks against vulnerable infrastructure.
“This exercise provides a very technical defensive cyber ecosystem with a defensive cyber operations element training focus,” said Ohio Army National Guard Lt. Col. Teri Williams, the exercise commander. “Cyber Shield truly is a crucible where industry cyber talent merges with our military forces and the result is a more polished, tuned, and stronger response capability.”
Cyber Shield is also unique in the fact that it is planned and executed by a volunteer staff of National Guard and reserve soldiers and airmen over the course of 11 months.
Improving Cybersecurity
“The exercise is planned by a staff that is truly passionate about improving the cyber defense of our nation,” Williams said. “In working with this group, I’ve witnessed, firsthand, many talented, dedicated volunteers who are passionate in their quest to improve homeland defense through cybersecurity.”
The National Guard is uniquely suited for cyber operations if an incident occurs. Because of their status as a state military force when not under federal mobilization orders, Guard units are uniquely positioned to respond quickly in situations where federal response may not have appropriate authority.
Moreover, many of these participants, being part time citizen-soldiers and airmen, work in the cyber field in the private sector, which provides an amount of experience to this exercise.
“Individual technicians must take their technical skills to collective and collaborative levels in order to be successful,” Williams said. “We are committed to providing our participants with challenging and realistic training in order to protect our homeland.”
The cyber experience gained throughout the careers of these soldiers and airmen will be put to the test over the course of this demanding and complex exercise. (Source: US DoD)
14 May 18. Airbus CyberSecurity brings its expertise to EU funded Brain-IoT Project. A European consortium of twelve industry and academy partners from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, including Airbus CyberSecurity, has won the approval of the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 to begin working on Brain-IoT. The focus will be on interoperability and cybersecurity in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT).
As IoT products and services are being deployed more regularly in real life scenarios, concerns have risen in terms of dependability, security, privacy and safety. The Brain-IoT project, funded by the EU with a budget of €5m, aims to establish a framework and methodology that supports users of IoT platforms, offering model-based tools that will aid the development of innovative, tightly integrated solutions for interoperability and cybersecurity.
As a security work package leader, Airbus CyberSecurity will provide its expertise and latest technologies to the Brain-IoT framework. The company’s experts will work with a particular focus on the areas of secure IoT devices and service provision, with the objective of deploying a state-of-the-art security layer and innovative lightweight mechanisms to secure all kinds of IoT elements. These solutions will apply to unilateral devices, such as sensors, as well as to more complex equipment, such as smartphones. Airbus CyberSecurity will also provide expertise to the IoT working group in promoting and strengthening security solutions for entire IoT ecosystems.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to contribute to the most important security topic facing our generation. When it comes to IoT, it’s necessary to address tomorrow’s safety and security issues today”, said Steven Rymell, Head of Technology for Airbus CyberSecurity.
The Brain-IoT consortium is coordinated by Istituto Superiore Mario Boella (ISMB), Italy, and includes companies and institutions from five European countries. More information about the Brain-IoT project is available at http://brain-iot.eu.
10 May 18. NDAA markup keeps DISA cuts, ups cyber funding. The House Armed Services Committee conducted its annual slog through hundreds of amendments to come up with a bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act starting in the morning of May 9 and continuing past midnight.
After 14 hours of debate, the committee reported the $716bn bill, including 248 amendments, favorably on a 60-1 vote. Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard was the lone holdout.
On the IT front, Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) looked to counter the committee chairman’s proposal to trim the Pentagon’s “fourth estate” — the defense agencies that provide back office support and services.
Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) had originally looked to eliminate the Defense Information Systems Agency and the Washington Headquarters Service. The bill proposed by the chairman called for leaving such cuts up to the Department of Defense chief management officer.
Brown’s amendment proposed a report from the secretary of defense, the CMO, CIO and others by March 1, 2020 in advance of any consolidation. Brown, concerned with the impact of the potential job loss, said “It remains unclear what would happen to DISA’s missions and functions.”
Thornberry said it is “important” for the committee “to take a look at those [DOD] agencies that aren’t a part of the [services],” and their growing budgets. DISA’s is up 13 percent, he said.
“I’m a little more prescriptive in that I want to [see] how will this go,” Thornberry said before opposing the amendment, which the committee declined to adopt.
Some committee members expressed concern about a proposed 25 percent cut to supporting agencies and functions including IT, personnel management and logistics. Additionally, a proposal by Thornberry to eliminate the Test Resource Management Center was voted down. (Source: Defense Systems)
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Spectra Group Plc
Spectra has a proven record of accomplishment – with over 15 years of experience in delivering secure communications and cybersecurity solutions for governments around the globe; elite militaries; and private enterprises of all sizes.
As a dynamic, agile, security accredited organisation, Spectra can leverage this experience to deliver Cyber Advisory and secure Hosted and Managed Solutions on time, to spec and on budget, ensuring compliance with industry standards and best practices.
Spectra’s SlingShot® is a unique low SWaP system that enables in-service U/VHF tactical radios to utilise Inmarsat’s commercial satellite network for BLOS COTM. Including omnidirectional antenna for the man, vehicle, maritime and aviation platforms, the tactical net can broadcast over 1000s miles between forward units and a rear HQ, no matter how or where the deployment. Unlike many BLOS options, SlingShot maintains full COTM (Communications On The Move) capability and low size and weight
On 23 November 2017, Spectra Group (UK) Ltd announced that it had recently been listed as a Top 100 Government SME Supplier for 2015-2016 by the UK Crown Commercial Services
Spectra’s CEO, Simon Davies, was awarded 2017 BATTLESPACE Businessman of the Year by BATTLESPACE magazine and is a finalist in the inaugural British Ex-Forces In Business Awards in the Innovator Of The Year category.
Founded in 2002, the Company is based in Hereford, UK and holds ISO 9001:2015, ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation.
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INTERNATIONAL PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Sponsored by American Panel Corporation
http:// http://american-panel.com/
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UNITED KINGDOM AND NATO
15 May 18. The cost of Trident has just spiralled even more out of control. On Monday 14 May, the government announced it had signed off on spending nearly £1bn more on the Trident nuclear submarine programme. But the revelation came just days after a parliamentary committee warned the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was essentially running out of money, with one campaign group telling The Canary the MoD is “out of control”.
The Trident magic money tree
The Trident programme is the UK’s nuclear ‘deterrent’, consisting of four submarines. It’s currently being upgraded, after parliament signed off on continuing the programme in 2016. But the scheme has always been fraught with controversy, not least because of the cost and the debate surrounding nuclear disarmament. Now, the government appears to have poured petrol on the fire by announcing Trident contracts worth £960m have been signed off.
The government says the contracts are to “ramp up the next phase of construction” for Trident’s replacement, the Dreadnought submarines. The contracts are “for £900m and £60m with BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce respectively”. It comes less than two months after the government announced a further £600m for the scheme, on top of another £200m announced in February. The government’s current estimated cost of renewing Trident is around £31bn. But campaigners claim that, when all factors are considered, the actual total cost of the programme is nearer £205bn.
“Immature assumptions”
Meanwhile, the extra £960m for Trident comes after parliament’s public accounts committee released a report on 9 May. It warned the MoD was facing a huge funding gap. The committee said the department:
Simply does not have enough money to buy all the equipment it says it needs… The Equipment Plan for 2017 to 2027 is not realistic and the department lacks cost control.
The committee noted there was a potential £20.8bn “affordability gap” in the MoD’s budget; in layman’s terms a shortfall. It also said the department had failed to be ‘transparent’ to parliament and the public about “the financial risks it faces”.
In relation to the Trident upgrade, the committee warned [pdf, p10] it was the “biggest risk” to the MoD’s finances. But in a bizarre move, the MoD itself warned the committee that the Trident replacement was based on “immature assumptions”, and that it couldn’t guarantee costs wouldn’t increase further.
All aboard the nuclear white elephant
All this is damning news to campaigners. The general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Kate Hudson, told The Canary:
Usually, it’s organisations like CND that criticise the MoD and its spending plans, but the public accounts committee has been pretty devastating in its criticism; particularly singling out spending on the Trident replacement programme.
The committee basically says the MoD is sloppy, secretive and out of control. Bad planning and projections are evident: it is likely that they will come in over budget and cash will be required earlier than anticipated. A key problem is that with such vast, uncontrolled spending on the nuclear weapons system, which has zero use other than as a status symbol, the government won’t be able to afford to spend on meeting new security challenges like cyber attack, as well as terrorism and the consequences of climate change. The MoD needs to be reined in. It’s playing roulette with our security, gambling on big ticket projects with no returns. This latest funding announcement shows that the whole Trident renewal project is spiralling further out of control. Parliament must scrutinise the programme and its relevance in 21st-century defence. Because if not, it will continue to turn into the biggest ‘white elephant’ in living memory. (Source: Hawker Chase/www.thecanary.co)
14 May 18. BAE Systems has been awarded a £1.5bn contract for delivery of the seventh Astute class submarine and a further £900m for the next phase of the Dreadnought submarine programme. The Secretary of State for Defence, The Right Honourable Gavin Williamson, announced these contracts today during a visit to the Company’s submarine site in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. During his visit, the Defence Secretary named the seventh and final submarine in the Astute class as Agincourt. He also formally opened a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, marking the latest development in a major infrastructure investment programme at the Company’s Barrow site. Certain phases of construction for the Dreadnought class will take place at the new Central Yard Facility, which includes production, workshop and office facilities, measuring 180m long, 90m wide and 44m high.
Construction on the first of four new Dreadnought submarines started in October 2016 and this latest funding will support ongoing design and build activities, procurement of materials and investment in new and existing facilities for a further 12 months.
The Defence Secretary said: “This multi-billion-pound investment in our nuclear submarines shows our unwavering commitment to keeping the UK safe and secure from intensifying threats. HMS Agincourt will complete the Royal Navy’s seven-strong fleet of hunter-killer attack subs, the most powerful to ever enter British service, whilst our nuclear deterrent is the ultimate defence against the most extreme dangers we could possibly face.
“Not only is this a massive boost for our armed forces, but it’s huge for Barrow, the heart of sub-building in this country. Today’s news supports around 8,000 BAE Systems submarine jobs, as well as thousands more in the supply chain, protecting prosperity and providing opportunity right across the country.”
Cliff Robson, BAE Systems Submarines Managing Director, said: “Securing this latest funding for our submarines programmes is excellent news for BAE Systems and the 8,700 people in our Submarines business, as well as our local community in Barrow and the thousands of people across our UK supply chain who help deliver these nationally important programmes for the Royal Navy. We continue to make progress on these highly complex and technical programmes and today’s announcements will allow us to move forward with greater certainty and stability.”
The first three submarines in the Astute class – HMS Astute, HMS Ambush and HMS Artful – are already in service with the Royal Navy. Earlier funding allowed us to start work on the seventh submarine in 2014, while the fourth, fifth and sixth submarines are also under various stages of construction in Barrow having been previously awarded full contracts. At 97m long and displacing more than 7,400 tonnes, they are the largest and most powerful nuclear-powered attack submarines ever built for the Royal Navy.
Dreadnought is the programme to replace the four Vanguard class submarines, which carry the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent. Once built, they will measure 153.6m long, with a displacement of 17,200 tonnes. They are being delivered by the newly-formed Dreadnought Alliance, a joint management team established between the MOD, BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce. The delivery of the Astute and Dreadnought programmes is a national endeavour with a supply base spanning the length and breadth of the UK. In 2017 alone, BAE Systems spent around £700m with more than 700 suppliers. To support the build of Dreadnought, the Barrow site is undergoing major redevelopment that will provide a range of new and upgraded capabilities, including an extension to the Devonshire Dock Hall, a 28,000m2 off-site logistics facility and a 8,000m2 Central Training Facility as well as the recently completed Central Yard Facility.
EUROPE
14 May 18. Poland seeks truck-mounted scatterable mine-laying system. The Polish Armament Inspectorate (AI) announced on 9 May that it is relaunching the Baobab-K programme to develop a vehicle able to scatter mines, with a 6 June deadline for bids. The previous call was cancelled in October 2017 because the AI assessed the development costs at less than a third of the amount bid. The winner must prepare a model, prototype, and technical documentation. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
11 May 18. Bell expects Czech UH-1Y sale to be concluded shortly. Bell expects its anticipated UH-1Y Venom utility and assault helicopter sale to the Czech Republic to proceed now that the country’s presidential elections have been concluded. With the sale of 12 helicopters to the Eastern European nation having already been approved by the US government, a senior Bell official told Jane’s on 10 May that the election has delayed the process somewhat, but that now it has concluded the way is clear to finalise the deal.
“But for the elections in the Czech Republic this deal would have already been done,” Bell’s Director Global Military Business Development Europe, Joel Best, said. “With all the new people coming in, it just takes time for the government to sort through the processes. That’s where we are at with the Czech Republic right now.”
The Armed Forces of the Czech Republic (Vzdusné Síly Armády Ceské Republiky: VS ACR) has a pressing need to replace many of its Warsaw Pact-era inventories, which include Mil Mi-2 ‘Hoplite’, Mi-8/17 ‘Hip’, and Mi-24 ‘Hind’ helicopters.
According to various sources, a Czech Ministry of Defence and ACR experts’ commission recommended the purchase of the UH-1Y, and in October 2017 the US State Department cleared the sale of the platform and associated weapons and other equipment to the country to satisfy its requirements. This approval came about 17 months after Bell had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Czech industry in support of the company’s push to secure its first export sale of the UH-1Y. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
11 May 18. New team seeks local firms for Finland’s fighter replacement contract. The Finnish government has created an industrial task force to identify subcontract and co-investment opportunities for indigenous defense, information technology and security industry companies linked to the country’s $12bn fighter replacement project, the HX Fighter Program.
The government initiative aims to connect Finnish advanced technology companies to subcontracting and investment cooperation opportunities within the HX-FP contract framework. The Ministry of Defence is expected to liaise with the Finnish Defense Forces to determine how domestic companies can maximize their individual technology advantage to win contracts linked to fighter life-cycle maintenance needs..
In particular, the MoD wants to assemble an indigenous pool of expertise within the specialized technology areas needed to maintain and service new fighter aircraft, in addition to their weapons and information systems. Finland is planning to replace its fleet of 64 F/A-18 Hornets with a new NATO-compatible multirole fighter. The Ministry of Finance issued a request for quotations to five aircraft manufacturers at the end of April. The MoD has laid down an industrial-participation obligation for tenderers under the HX-FP. This sets industrial participation at a minimum of 30 percent of the total contract value. This level of industrial participation is viewed as ensuring significant involvement for native companies in the HX-FP. The strategy has two primary goals: These comprise satisfying the requirement for reliable security of supply, while reinforcing Finland’s defense technological and industrial foundations.
A provisional assessment by the MoD estimates that up to 300 Finnish firms could benefit from participation in an HX-FP-linked industrial cooperation loop with a future supplier.
The Ministry of Finance estimate is supported by the Association of Finnish Defence and Aerospace Industries, the central organization for Finland’s defense and security industry sector.
“On analysis, our estimate is that between 200 to 300 Finnish companies could participate in this industrial cooperation,” said Tuija Karanko, the AFDAI’s secretary general.
The five candidates under consideration as part of the HX-FP evaluation framework include France’s Dassault Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Saab-built Gripen E, the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Lockheed Martin F-35.
The request for quotations represents the first phase of negotiations in the HX-FP. Preliminary, candidate-specific procurement packages are to be determined during this stage.
The next phase is due to commence in the second half of 2019. The final contents of the procurement packages will, during this stage, be negotiated and agreed upon with each tenderer.
The MoD intends to seek final quotations at the end of the second negotiating phase in 2020. The Finnish government plans to reach a decision on aircraft procurement in 2021. (Source: Google/Defense News)
USA
17 May 18. USAF seeks DVE solution for Pave Hawk helos. The US Air Force (USAF) is to equip its Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk combat search and rescue (CSAR) helicopters with equipment for flying in degraded visual environments using a DVE system (DVES).
The USAF announced on 16 May that it is seeking from industry a DVES that specifically address the operational limitations and safety risks associated with aircraft-induced incidents, such as brownout and whiteout (the blinding effects of dust/dirt and snow during the take-off and landing phases of a helicopter’s flight profile).
“Current systems on the HH-60G do not provide adequate situational awareness (SA) to pilots and aircrew during operation in some degraded visual environments (DVE),” the USAF’s pre-solicitation said, adding “Despite the risks, pilots and aircrew of the HH-60G are routinely called upon to perform their critical mission of combat search and rescue (CSAR) and personnel recovery under DVE conditions.” (Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. Pentagon used IDIQ contracts 40 percent of the time. Forty percent of Pentagon contracts were indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts, which potentially limit competition, a government watchdog agency reports. Of the contracts, three-quarters were made to a single contractor, rather than multiple contractors, according to a Government Accountability Office report published Friday. GAO relied on data from 2015 through 2017 for the report. Though the nine IDIQ contracts GAO reviewed included ordering provisions that contemplated competition among the contract holders for subsequent orders.
“However, nearly all of the contracts we reviewed contained provisions that, while not explicitly limiting competition, may have the potential, under certain circumstances, to reduce the number of contractors who are eligible to compete for the orders,” the report concludes.
The use of these provisions was generally aimed at providing the government with the best value or to serve other goals, like increasing federal contracting opportunities for small businesses.
The GAO report did not make any recommendations, and the Defense Department had no comments on it.
The report comes Defense Department officials have defended their decision to award a potentially multibillion-dollar cloud contract — Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure — to a single vendor. In this case, they pointed to the current state of the commercial marketplace, existing acquisition laws and battlefield requirements as critical components.
Also last month, U.S. Air Force selected Lockheed Martin to design and prototype a new hypersonic cruise missile, as part of a broad Pentagon push to kickstart America’s hypersonic arsenal — a single IDIQ contract worth as much as $928m. (Source: glstrade.com/Defense News)
REST OF THE WORLD
17 May 18. New team emerges to compete for South Korea’s Chinook upgrade. Korea Aerospace Industries, or KAI, has signed an agreement with U.S. avionics maker Rockwell Collins to collaborate on upgrading Chinook heavy-lift helicopters operated by South Korea’s Army and Air Force.
The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding to undertake Chinook modifications at the Army Aviation School in Nonsan, 210 kilometers south of Seoul, KAI said in an announcement.
“The pair will technically collaborate on the design, modification, flight tests of the Chinook helicopters,” the release said. “The sides will also explore ways of expanding cooperation on overseas aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul projects.”
The KAI-Rockwell team will compete with the Korean Air-Boeing team, which signed a similar MoU during the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition last October.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration is scheduled to issue a request for proposals to bidders as early as August.
The Chinook modernization project is aimed at modernizing a total of 27 Chinook helicopters by overhauling their design, engines, avionics, cockpits and others, according to the Army.
The South Korean Army operates about 30 CH-47Ds as utility transports, while the Air Force runs six HH-47Ds mainly for search and rescue. The average age of the CH-47Ds is 37 years, and that of the HH-47Ds is nearly 20 years. Besides the upgrade effort, the South Korean Army seeks to buy about 10 to 12 CH-47F models from Boeing through a commercial contract, according to Boeing officials. (Source: Defense News)
16 May 18. Indian MoD issues RFP for 200 Ka-226T helicopters. India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued a request for proposal (RFP) to the joint venture (JV) formed between Russian Helicopters and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the supply of 200 Kamov Ka-226T ‘Hoodlum’ light multirole helicopters for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Army Aviation Corps (AAC).
Industry sources told Jane’s on 16 May that the RFP, which was despatched in early May to the India-Russia Helicopters Limited Company, requires the JV to supply 60 twin-engined Ka-226T platforms in fly-away condition from Russia. The remaining 140 helicopters are to be licence-built by the JV at a new facility in the Indian city of Tumkur for INR50bn (USD736m), with the amount of indigenous content set to be 70%. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
15 May 18. South Africa launches Defence Industry Fund. The South African government announced on 15 May that it had established a Defence Industry Fund (DIF). The chosen facilitator is Crede Capital Partners, which was appointed by acquisition agency Armscor and the Association of Aerospace, Maritime and Defence (AMD) to act as an independent owner and operator of the fund in line with South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority requirements. The fund is expected to facilitate implementation of the results of a defence review that was carried out in 2015. The defence review was approved by parliament in 2015, and serves as a national policy on defence, to provide a long-term strategic view on the capabilities required by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), a joint statement from Armscor and AMD said. (Source: Google/IHS Jane’s)
15 May 18. US, Taiwan boost industrial engagement efforts. Defence companies from the United States and Taiwan are increasing efforts to identify potential programmes and opportunities for collaboration.
In a bid to facilitate expanded co-operation, the US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) and the Taiwan Defense Industry Development Association (TW-DIDA) recently co-hosted a bilateral defence business forum in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
The forum was a one-off event but is linked to the annual US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference, which is also hosted by the USTBC and is next scheduled to be held in late October in Maryland, United States.
Lotta Danielsson, vice-president of the USTBC, told Jane’s on 14 May that the forum was an opportunity for defence companies from both sides to explore prospects for partnerships on defence programmes in Taiwan and in international markets through US supply chains. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
15 May 18. The Indian Army is pushing hard to acquire new guns for its artillery regiments. The army is keen on procuring 814 guns of the ‘mounted gun system’. The entire project will cost around Rs 15,750 crore. According to a report published in The Economic Times, the army is trying to ‘re-validate’ the project and seek a new Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) from the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by the defence minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.
The AoN is the first step towards procuring equipment. The proposal for acquiring the 155mm/52 calibre mounted gun system for the army was cleared on November 22, 2014, by the DAC headed by the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar. The Indian Army has not acquired artillery guns in the almost three decades after the Bofors scam came to light in 1986. The guns once procured will be deployed along the western frontier with Pakistan and the eastern one with China.
According to officials, the Request for Proposal (RFP) was not issued within the validity period of the AoN given in 2014, so the AoN had lapsed. The officials said that the army would revalidate the case and seek a fresh AoN to restart the process. RPF enables vendors to make their offer according to the requirements of the force. As per the proposal cleared in 2014, the artillery guns would be procured as per the ‘Buy and Make’ procedure introduced in 2013, under which 100 such guns would be bought off the shelf while 714 would be made in India.
The government owned, Ordnance Factory Board, had exhibited its mounted gun system at the Defexpo 2018 held in Chennai last month. The gun is part of the Army’s Rs 50,000 crore Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan formulated in 1999. According to the report, the army has a plan to acquire 3000 artillery guns by 2027. To strengthen its artillery regiments, the Indian Army is also looking forward to procure towed guns, self-propelled guns and ultra light howitzers. K9 Vajra-T, the 155mm/52 calibre self-propelled gun system which is developed by Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Defence & Aerospace division will be delivered to the Indian Army by the first week of June. (Source: Google/www.latestly.com)
11 May 18. OPV tender conditions raise more questions around Future Frigates project. The government is under fire again for not mandating the use of an Australian shipbuilder for the $35bn Future Frigates project, after Defence revealed such conditions were contained in the Offshore Patrol Vessel tender.
Responses to questions on notice show the three bidders for the $4bn OPV project – Damen, Fassmer and eventual winner Lürssen – were required to produce a response to the tender that included the use of an Australian shipbuilder registered as an Australian company for at least 15 years.
“A requirement of the Offshore Patrol Vessel request for tender necessitated tenderers propose a commercial structure which included an Australian shipbuilder with at least 15 years registration as an Australian company,” Defence said in response to questions on notice from Labor senator Kim Carr.
Lürssen’s tendered commercial structure, based on a proposed joint venture between ASC and Forgacs Marine and Defence (a subsidiary of Civmec), complied with the tender requirements, as did Damen’s bid, which also saw the Dutch company partner with ASC and Civmec, while Fassmer partnered with Austal.
While Lürssen is currently in negotiations with Austal, at the request of the government, to determine whether the West Australian company will play a role in the construction of 10 of the 12 vessels, Senator Carr has questioned why no such condition was included in the $35bn SEA 5000 Future Frigates project.
“This answer just creates more questions,” Senator Carr told Defence Connect.
“When did the government intervene to make this a requirement, given they didn’t do it in the tender documents? And if they realised having an Australian builder was important enough to intervene like this in the OPV tender, why haven’t they learnt that lesson for the frigate project, too?”
The government has been under pressure in the Senate since last year to change the tender conditions for the SEA 5000 project but has continued to reject the calls, claiming any changes to the tender could significantly delay the project.
The government’s eleventh hour decision to include Austal in the OPV project, despite not being a teaming partner of Lürssen, prompted Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick to label these claims as a lie.
“The final shipbuilding configuration announced today, which is different, proves the government can change tack even very late in the piece to give Australian shipbuilders a prime role,” said Senator Patrick when the OPV project was announced last November.
Minister Pyne hit back at Senato Carr’s comments, telling Defence Connect the build will be done by Australians.
“Whoever is selected as the prime contractor it will be an Australian build, create Australian jobs and use Australian steel.
“It’s the height of hypocrisy for Labor to be lecturing us on shipbuilding. Not one Australian worker will ever be employed constructing a naval vessel commissioned from Labor’s time in office. Labor created the Valley of Death by not committing to a single submarine or ship to be built in Australia during their six years in office.
“While Labor’s idleness in office caused the problems, we have acted to fix them.” (Source: Defence Connect)
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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.
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UNITED KINGDOM
SEA
14 May 18. BAE Systems has been awarded a £1.5bn contract for delivery of the seventh Astute class submarine and a further £900m for the next phase of the Dreadnought submarine programme. The Secretary of State for Defence, The Right Honourable Gavin Williamson, announced these contracts today during a visit to the Company’s submarine site in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.
EUROPE
SEA
16 May 18. Navantia has won a contract from the Spanish Navy to develop and install an upgraded version of its integrated platform control system (Sistema Integrado de Control de la Plataforma: SICP) for the Segura-class minehunters. The EUR8.1m (USD9.6m) contract will run until 2022 and include the modernising of training systems and a land-based monitoring centre.
Work will focus on upgrading the system’s interface, bringing it into line with the standards used in the Spanish Navy’s larger ships. It will be carried out in two phases, with development and testing to be followed by staggered installation in the ships from 2020 onwards. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
USA
LAND
17 May 18. Battery manufacturer Epsilor-Electric Fuel has secured a new contract to supply military rechargeable batteries for Harris’ Falcon multiband radios. Under the deal, the company will deliver the batteries for Harris’ AN/PRC-117 manpack radios and the AN / PRC-152 handheld radios to a military customer in South East Asia. Epsilor-Electric Fuel general manager Alex Stepansky said: “Epsilor invested heavily in developing off-the-shelf batteries for a variety of US-made communication systems. (Source: army-technology.com)
16 May 18. L3 Technologies Inc., Londonderry, New Hampshire, was awarded a $391,761,379 hybrid (cost and firm-fixed-price) contract for procurement of enhanced night vision goggle, binocular. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 2, 2021. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-18-D-0003).
14 May 18. The US Army has awarded Raytheon a USD11.9m contract for low-rate initial production of the modernised AN/ARC-231 multimode aviation radio suite (MARS) hardware components. The AN/ARC-231 MARS provides secure two-way voice and data communications over the 30–512 MHz frequency range for army aircraft, including the AH-64A/D/E Apache, UH-60A/L/M/V Blackhawk, CH-47D/F Chinook, OH-58D/F Kiowa Warrior, and UH-72 Lakota, as well as its unmanned aircraft systems, Lorenzo Cortes, spokesperson for Raytheon, told Jane’s. Under terms of the contract, Raytheon will manufacture and deliver the AN/ARC-231 hardware for platform qualification. It will also provide technical and engineering services to support study, analysis, test, training, integration, and qualification, as well as develop hardware and software updates. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
11 May 18. ViaSat Inc., Carlsbad, California, is awarded a maximum potential value $85,500,000 modification, to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contract (N00039-15-D-0043) for the Block Upgrade II retrofit of Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) low volume terminals. The terminals provide secure, high-capacity, jam-resistant, digital data and voice communications capability for Navy, Air Force and Army platforms. Work will be performed in Carlsbad, California, and is expected to be completed by May 2024. No funding is being placed on contract and obligated at the time of award. Contract actions will be issued and funds obligated as individual delivery orders are issued. This contract modification was not competitively procured because it is a sole-source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) – only one responsible source (Federal Acquisition Regulation subpart 6.302-1). The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity and awarded the contract on behalf of the MIDS Program Office (PMA/W 101).
AIR
16 May 18. General Atomics, Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, has been awarded a $206,009,932 firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive, and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to retrofit 122 MQ-9 Block 5 aircraft. Work will be performed at Poway, California, and is expected to be complete by June 20, 2024. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $40,886,489 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-18-F-2364).
15 May 18. Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded $24,076,058 for modification P00655 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-02-C-3002). This modification provides for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Verification Simulation F-35 In-A-Box (FIAB) Phase II for delivery of the FIAB software model, software license fees, and continued FIAB software model development, integration, and support. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (90 percent); and Marietta, Georgia (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2018. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force) funds in the amount of $20,363,600 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This effort combines purchases for the Navy ($7,500,000; 37 percent); Marine Corps ($6,883,000; 34 percent); and Air Force ($5,980,600; 29 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
14 May 18. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) received a $23.1m contract award from the U.S. Navy for follow-on production of Enhanced Laser Guided Training Rounds (ELGTRs) to support the service’s Paveway™ II Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) weapons training. The award exercises the initial option of the contract negotiated in 2017 and extends ELGTR production into late 2020. Lockheed Martin manufactures ELGTRs for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and international customers. The ELGTR is compatible with F-16, F/A-18, AV-8B and various international aircraft platforms. Ongoing development efforts are focused on ELGTR compatibility with additional platforms to further expand the user community.
TECHNOLOGY
11 May 18. Government IT product reseller Insight Public Sector has won a three-year, $653.2m blanket purchase agreement to supply Microsoft brand-name software licenses and cloud computing tools to the Department of the Navy. The Navy received four offers for the BPA via the General Services Administration’s E-Buy website after sending the solicitation to 895 vendors. This BPA was issued as part of the DON Enterprise Software Licensing effort and policy and guidelines established under the Defense Department’s Enterprise Software Initiative, DOD said in its Friday contracts digest. (Source: Defense Systems)
16 May 18. Polaris Alpha has secured a subcontract to support the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Active Interpretation of Disparate Alternatives (AIDA) programme. As part of the $2.3m contract, the company will collaborate with Raytheon subsidiary BBN Technologies for the development of semantic-based abductive reasoning capabilities. Semantic-based capabilities will be developed to help DARPA in its efforts to build advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools for use in the fast-changing battlefield environment. DARPA AIDA has been designed to develop a ‘multi-hypothesis semantic engine’ that will process information and intelligence from fast-changing, chaotic, dangerous environments. The semantic engine will be used to generate explicit alternative interpretations of events, situations and trends from a wide range of unstructured sources, for use in noisy, conflicting and potentially deceptive information environments.(Source: army-technology.com)
REST OF THE WORLD
LAND
11 May 18. Sharjah International Airport has awarded Frequentis and its UAE partner, Bayanat Engineering UAE, the contract to modernise its voice communication infrastructure and replace the existing Schmid Telecom system. The tower at Sharjah International Airport will be equipped with the Frequentis VCS3020X.
The VCS3020X will ensure Sharjah International Airport benefits from the best performing air traffic control voice communication solution, together with rapid deployment and the lowest total cost of ownership.
AIR
11 May 18. Argentina purchased five used Super Étendard fighter jets from France’s navy for 12.6m euros ($15.1m), the South American country said in its official government gazette on Friday. Argentina is seeking to modernize its ageing military fleet for security purposes before hosting the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires later this year. France’s ambassador to Argentina told Reuters in an interview last November that French shipbuilding company Naval Group was also in talks to sell four ships to Argentina. (Source: Reuters)
TECHNOLOGY
15 May 18. Australia to support defence technology innovation. Australia’s Defence Innovation Hub has awarded contracts to three domestic businesses for the additional development of technologies to help improve the nation’s combat capabilities. The three Australian companies include Aerospace and Mechanical Consulting Engineers (AMCE), Unmanned Aerial Systems, and Defence Materials Technology Centre.
Under the terms of the contract with AMCE, the company will be responsible for developing the latest lightweight armour solution for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) aircraft using panels designed with new materials and ballistic protection level. Unmanned Aerial Systems will offer an innovative solution by combining the features of a helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft with an aim to improve performance, efficiency and capability. Defence Materials Technology Centre has also been contracted to develop lightweight armour for soldiers equipped with improved protection levels and functional integration. Australian Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said that, with a total value of more than $1.2m, the three contracts support the Australian Government’s commitment to boost the local defence industry and develop advanced capabilities. The Defence Innovation Hub is investing approximately $640m until 2025-2026. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
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MANAGEMENT ON THE MOVE
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TopEngineer.com Job Of the Week!
Job – Systems Manager in Gloucestershire
Location: Gloucestershire, UK
Salary: £60000 – £65000 Per year
Job type: Permanent
Category: Aerospace Engineering
Job Reference: EMP415097
Posted on: 11 May 2018
About the Role:
Key responsibilities include:
* To ensure that all engineering documentation issued by the Systems department has been reviewed by an approved technical authority and meets both airworthiness and company requirements.
* To staff and maintain a Systems engineering capability to support both new programme developments and in-service sustaining programme requirements.
* To work closely with the on-site engineering managers (Design & Analysis, Test, Lab) and other System managers, to identify and manage the full spectrum of system activities (in-house and offload) to optimize the use of available skills and equipment.
* Participate in the ongoing development of systems engineering methods and processes. Ensuring that these are rolled out to the Systems Engineering team and the wider engineering community.
* To ensure all engineering initiatives, procedures, standards and design guides are properly applied over the life-cycle of the landing gear equipment.
* To ensure budgets are established, validated and monitored in accordance with program requirements. As well, to ensure that the non-programme system budgets are identified, validated and monitored.
* To ensure that the agreed deliverables are provided on-time, on-quality and on-cost.
The Systems engineering department covers a range of sub-disciplines:
* Performance and Dynamics
* System Architecture and Integration
* Electrical
* Hydromechanical
* Avionics
* Safety and Reliability
* Validation and Verification process
Candidate Skills & Requirements:
The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in Systems Engineering roles over at least a 10 year period. The candidate should be qualified to a minimum of degree level in systems engineering or a related discipline and have Chartered Engineer status.
The candidate will have a broad understanding of all the Systems sub-disciplines listed above and should also possess the experience necessary to be eligible to receive technical signing authority in at least two of these sub-disciplines. As well, the System manager should have specific experience of the V&V process be familiar with all relevant Airworthiness regulations.
This is a team manager role and very much a hands-on position. The candidate must have managed a team before and be able to demonstrate leadership experience, problem solving and decision making skills and possess the ability to adapt to changing priorities and workload. Attention to people development and performance management is also key to this role. The candidate must have a well demonstrated ability for flexibility, independence and innovation.
Finally, the candidate must possess excellent communication skills, both written and oral. This is essential as the Systems manager must ensure that the communication channels are clearly established within the department and between the Gloucester system department and the other sites, functions and IPTs.
Matchtech acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers and is part of Gattaca Plc.
Gattaca Plc provides support services to Matchtech and may assist with processing your application.
LOCATIONS
LAND
17 May 18. Thailand set to move forward on MRO project. Thailand is moving closer to establishing a regional aerospace maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) centre in the east of the country aimed at attracting domestic and foreign investment in military and commercial domains. A Thai government official confirmed to Jane’s on 17 May that a plan to establish the so-called MRO Campus is subject to a feasibility study that is scheduled to be completed soon, possibly by the end of May. Under the plan, which was proposed in 2017, the MRO centre will be established at the existing U-Tapao airport. Owned by the Royal Thai Navy (RTN), this facility currently serves both commercial flight operators and Thai military aviation divisions. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
16 May 18. US Air Force planning for future F-35 fleet management office. Key Points:
- The USAF is planning for a F-35 fleet management office
- This would replace the current JPO that the Pentagon wants to disband
The US Air Force (USAF) is in the early stages of planning for a fleet management office that would emerge after the Pentagon disbands the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Joint Program Office (JPO).
Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) Chief General Ellen Pawlikowski told reporters on 15 May that the goal of this office will be to strengthen the management structure so it is more responsive to the service’s F-35 needs. Gen Pawlikowski said although the JPO has done a brilliant job helping to drive aircraft production costs, it will be difficult to keep this large group of aircraft moving forward together with all its different players.
“The speed and agility that you hear us talk about nowadays in terms of being able to meet the national defence strategy is going to make that type of organisational structure … too cumbersome,” Gen Pawlikowski said at a Defense Writers Group breakfast.
Gen Pawlikowski believes the USAF will continue to leverage the F-35’s commonality as the aircraft’s basic design structure, including engines, is already set. She said as the USAF evolves the aircraft need to respond to different missions, the weapons could also evolve because of the roles the F-35 will play, compared with how the US Marine Corps (USMC) and US Navy (USN) will use the aircraft.
“There will be some more uniqueness, but … there’s benefit in that economy of scale which we are all benefiting from now, which I think we will continue to want to leverage,” Gen Pawlikowski said.
The USAF has a contracting relationship with Lockheed Martin that runs through this single programme office and Gen Pawlikowski said the service needs to ensure it maintains the benefits from this type of relationship and that it does not end prematurely. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
15 May 18. Saab expands work for Finnish facility. Saab has revealed that a facility it established in Tampere, Finland, in 2017 will extend its capability from electronic warfare to development of the next generation of RBS15 air-to-surface/surface-to-surface missile. The Saab Technology Centre (STC) was inaugurated in January 2018, and the company announced at the time that it would initially focus on technologies relating to electronic warfare for the Gripen E/F fighter and airborne early warning and control aircraft, as well as electronic support measures/electronic intelligence systems for land applications. An 11 May announcement subsequently said that this year the STC will extend this work to the development of the RBS15, a missile system which is used in the air and naval domains. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. OPEC CBRNe To Supply Global Defence Market From Scottish HQ.
The opening of its first office in Larbert, Scotland on 2 May 2018 signalled the start of even bigger things within the global defence market for specialty CBRN apparel brand, OPEC CBRNe.
With more than 100 key influencers and suppliers, trade representatives and key international decision makers in attendance, the opening indicates OPEC CBRNe’s commitment to a British production base, and its strong affiliation with Haven Protective Solutions, where OPEC CBRNe now shares an address.
During the opening, guests were able to witness the functionality and integration capabilities of the CBRN garments, which were worn by serving soldier Richie Barr, and were treated to a working tour of the factory premises.
“OPEC CBRNe is focussed on the fusion of technology with innovation to create superior CBRN garments for military and first responders, providing optimal protection against attacks in both military and civil environments,” said OPEC CBRNe General Manager, Chris Jackson during the opening.
11 May 18. FREQUENTIS to open UAE office serving the Middle East.
Frequentis, the leading international supplier of communication and information solutions, will open a new office in Abu Dhabi. The offices will provide the region with a permanent sales and support service, further expanding the Frequentis global network and enabling continued growth.
Frequentis AG has over 70 years of experience in safety-critical communications, developing from a mid-sized Austrian business into a successful and international corporate group, providing solutions and products in approximately 140 countries, with subsidiaries in more than 50 countries. The company has been serving clients throughout the Middle East with tailor-made solutions for over 20 years, with the support of strong local partners.
Frequentis has a strong working relationship with most Middle Eastern customers, including providing centre tower automation and AIM and surveillance solutions for the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), fully IP voice communications and recording for the Saudi Air Navigation Service (SANS), and other voice communications and recording systems throughout the Middle East, as well as a maritime communications infrastructure for the Sultanate of Oman. Frequentis has also provided a C4I Centre solution for five public safety organisations in the Middle East, allowing full radio and digital TETRA and LTE integration.
The new office base will also develop Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) capabilities into the Middle East. The STEM offering comes through Frequentis’ experience and close cooperation with universities and government organisations in Europe, and especially Austria where the company is based, enabling knowledge transfer and local connections.
11 May 18. Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and the Ontario International Airport Authority broke ground today on a hangar that will house Raytheon’s flying testbed platform.
The RMT, a modified 727 airliner, conducts airborne test and evaluation on a variety of technologies, including radars, electro-optical/infra-red sensors, avionics and other systems.
“Tomorrow’s sensor systems are already in the sky today because of the real-world, in flight testing occurring on Raytheon’s multi-program testbed,” said Rick Yuse, president of Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems. “The groundbreaking is an important step toward housing this technological asset in Ontario, California.”
U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (CA-42), a lifelong resident of Riverside County, commended Raytheon’s arrival in the Inland Empire.
“The new Raytheon facility at Ontario Airport is an exciting project. I was pleased to work with others in the community to re-establish the local control of Ontario Airport. Since the transfer, the airport has continued to pursue economic opportunities for the Inland Empire,” he said. “I’m delighted Raytheon, one of our country’s premier defense contractors whose work is vital to our national security, has decided to be an important part of fulfilling the airport’s extraordinary potential.”
The Raytheon hangar will complete construction later this year. It will staff 25 full-time employees, and at maximum capacity staff approximately 50 people for project-related work. Economic impact associated with the project ranges between $10 to 15m a year.
Alan D. Wapner, president of the Ontario International Airport Authority, welcomed the newest addition to Southern California’s fastest growing airport.
“Raytheon’s move to ONT is consistent with the Commission’s vision for the airport to be a magnet for economic development in the region – one that is low-cost, business friendly and customer focused, not to mention innovative and collaborative in its approach with airport tenants and vendors,” said Wapner.
MARITIME
14 May 18. China’s second aircraft carrier begins sea trials. locally built aircraft carrier began sea trials on 13 May. China’s second aircraft carrier sailed from the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (DSIC) shipyard on 13 May to commence initial sea trials, according to Chinese state media, a move which comes just one year and two weeks after the ship was launched.
The ship, which has yet to be given a pennant number and name, is the first aircraft carrier to be wholly constructed in China and has been built to the same basic design as China’s first carrier, Liaoning , which was laid down as the Soviet Navy’s Kuznetsov-class carrier, Varyag .
The ship is configured for short take-off but arrested recovery (STOBAR) aircraft operations using a ski-jump, and will operate the J-15 (‘Flanker’ derivative) fixed-wing aircraft built by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.
All of the equipment on board the new carrier is likely to have been manufactured in China and the construction of such a large and complex warship is a significant milestone not only for China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), but also for the country’s shipbuilding industry.
A number of external changes are evident in the new carrier, most obviously around the island structure. The ship’s Type 346 phased-array radar, which is similar to the upgraded version fitted onto the latest PLAN destroyers, has had its array panels repositioned higher and at the corners of the superstructure. A second bridge-type arrangement has been added one deck above the first and the island structure is slightly shorter than that on Liaoning .
It is likely that significant improvements have also been made internally, and photographs show that the four air weapon hoists that emerge between the forward blast deflectors on Liaoning ’s flight deck have been replaced on the new carrier with a single larger hoist.
(Source: Defense News Early Bird/IHS Jane’s)
18 May 18. The Air Warfare Destroyer Sydney will be launched at the Osborne Naval Shipyard near Port Adelaide, South Australia, in a May 19 ceremony attended by government, naval and defence industry dignitaries.
The warship is about 75 per cent complete and will likely undergo sea trials towards the end of the year before being commissioned in 2019.
Like its two sister ships, Sydney is 146.7m long and will have a top speed of more than 28 knots (52km/h), a range of about 5000 nautical miles and accommodation for more than 200 personnel.
It will also carry a range of weapons, detection and electronic warfare systems on board, which include an Aegis Weapon System Baseline 7.1, SPQ Horizon Search Radar, 48 vertical launch missile cells, an Mk 45 5″ 62 Calibre gun for coastal operations and two quad launchers of anti-ship HARPOON weapon systems.
The three ships in the A$8bn project were ordered in 2007 and the first ship, HMAS Hobart, was delivered in June 2017. The second air warfare destroyer, Brisbane, successfully completed the first phase of builder’s sea trials in November, which included testing the ship’s propulsion, manoeuvring, control and navigation systems. It is expected to be delivered to the Commonwealth mid-year while Sydney is due for delivery in 2019. (Source: The Lead)
14 May 18. Panama commissions new Stan Lander 5612. The ship, Presidente Manuel Amador Guerrero (L-403), was purchased for USD16m, said Panama’s Ministry of Public Security. The multipurpose support vessel is produced by Damen Shipyards, has a length of 57m, a maximum speed of 10kt, and a payload of 500 tonnes. It carries a crew of 16. Presidente Amador transited to Panama from Vietnam, suggesting that it was likely manufactured in Damen’s Song Cam Shipyard. During the commissioning ceremony, President Juan Carlos Varela said SENAN will also receive a Beechcraft King Air 300 aircraft. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
13 May 18. China’s first home-built carrier sets out for sea trials.
China’s first domestically developed aircraft carrier left its northeastern port to begin sea trials on Sunday, state media said, the latest milestone in the country’s efforts to modernise its military.
The still-unnamed carrier was launched this time last year but since then has been undergoing fitting of weapons and other systems and has not yet entered service. The official Xinhua news agency confirmed the ship had left for trials with a short announcement. Other state news outlets showed undated photos of a fog-shrouded carrier just off of its dock.
“Our country’s second aircraft carrier set sail from its dock in the Dalian shipyard for relevant waters to conduct a sea trial mission, mainly to inspect and verify the reliability and stability of mechanical systems and other equipment,” Xinhua said.
Little is known about China’s aircraft carrier programme, which is a state secret, though official media in recent weeks had widely speculated that sea trials were set to start.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is overseeing an ambitious plan to update the armed forces, including the development of stealth jets and anti-satellite missiles, as China ramps up its presence in the disputed South China Sea and around self-ruled Taiwan, an island it considers its own.
Chinese military experts have told state media that the carrier, China’s second and built in the northeastern port of Dalian, is not expected to enter service until 2020, once it has been fully kitted out and armed.
But the government has said the new carrier’s design draws on experiences from the country’s first carrier, the Liaoning, bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted in China. The new conventionally powered carrier will be able to operate China’s Shenyang J-15 fighter jets.
Unlike the U.S. Navy’s longer-range nuclear carriers, both of China’s feature Soviet-design ski-jump bows, intended to give fighter jets enough lift to take off. They lack the powerful catapult technology for launching aircraft that U.S. carriers have. China’s navy has been taking an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with its first aircraft carrier, expected to serve more as a training vessel, sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and new Chinese warships popping up in far-flung places. State media has quoted experts as saying that the country needs at least six carriers. The United States operates 10 and plans to build two more. Most experts agree that developing such a force will be a decades-long endeavour for China, but progress on the home-built carrier holds a certain prestige value for Beijing, seen by many analysts as keen to eventually erode U.S. military prominence in the region. (Source: Reuters)
AIR
17 May 18. UK’s First F-35B fighter jets to arrive early next month. UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has confirmed that the first next-generation F-35B Lightning II fighter jets will begin arriving at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Marham air station early next month.
The RAF Marham in Norfolk, East Anglia, will serve as the home for the first tranche of the four F-35B Lightning II fighters that will arrive in the UK from the US. To be flown by the British RAF’s newly reformed Dambusters 617 Squadron, the F-35Bs are expected to fly across the Atlantic Ocean with several air-to-air refuelling serials. The 617 Squadron has been formed and named after 75 years of the original formation of the legendary Dambusters squadron, which carried out missions during World War II in 1943. The 617 Squadron is currently training with the fighter jets in the US before they start flying to the UK.
Williamson said: “75 years ago, the Dambusters pushed the boundaries of what was possible. That same spirit of innovation continues today as the Dambusters of today prepare to fly the world’s most advanced fighter jet in the skies over the UK.
“Just like those Lancasters, which played such a vital role in the Second World War, the F-35B Lightning is based on great British design, operating with futuristic technology to adapt to an increasingly dangerous world.”
Built by Lockheed Martin, F-35B Lightning II is multi-role first fighter aircraft that combines radar-evading stealth technology with supersonic speeds, as well as short take-off and vertical landing capability.
Capable of being operated from both land and sea, the aircraft will be jointly operated by the RAF and the British Royal Navy.
When in service with the Royal Navy, the F-35s will serve as a major part of Carrier Strike when operating from the navy’s newest Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
16 May 18. Sikorsky Begins CH-53 King Stallion Heavy Lift Helicopter Deliveries to the U.S. Marine Corps. Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), delivered the first CH-53 King Stallion helicopter to the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) today. The aircraft is the first of an expected 200 helicopters for the Marine Corps’ fleet. The CH-53K is the new build replacement for the U.S. Marine Corps’ aging CH-53E Super Stallion fleet. The CH-53E first flew in 1974 and entered service with the USMC in 1981.
“Our first delivery of a CH-53K to the Marine Corps marks the start of a new generation of true heavy lift helicopter deliveries by Sikorsky that bring unsurpassed and expanded capability across the modern battlefield to provide tremendous mission flexibility and efficiency in delivering combat power, humanitarian assistance or disaster relief for those in need,” said Dan Schultz, Sikorsky President and former CH-53 pilot. “With 18 additional aircraft in various stages of production already, the entire Sikorsky team, in partnership with our suppliers, is looking forward to additional deliveries to delight our customer.”
This first CH53K heavy lift helicopter will be stationed at Marine Corps Air Station New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
There the helicopter enters into the Supportability Test Plan. U.S. Marines will conduct a logistics assessment on the maintenance, sustainment and overall aviation logistics support of the King Stallion. This assessment also will validate maintenance procedures with Marine Corps maintainers conducting hands-on care/upkeep of the aircraft. The Supportability Test Plan will ensure readiness and support on the flightline when CH-53K helicopters enter into service with the USMC.
Sikorsky expects to deliver its second CH-53K helicopter to the USMC in early 2019.
The CH-53K test program recently completed the following milestones: maximum weight single-point cargo hook sling load of 36,000 pounds (16,329 kilograms); forward flight speed of over 200 knots; 60 degrees angle of bank turns; altitude of 18,500 feet mean sea level (MSL); 12-degree slope landings and takeoffs; external load auto-jettison; and gunfire testing.
“I am very proud of the work accomplished to deliver the most powerful helicopter ever designed into the hands of our Marines,” Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, Deputy Commandant for Aviation, said. “And confident in the teamwork and dedication in this program which will carry us to IOC (Initial Operational Capability) next year.”
Sikorsky is preparing its manufacturing facility in Stratford, Connecticut, to house CH-53K production beginning this summer.
The heavy lift helicopter made its international debut and showcased its maneuverability and advanced fly-by-wire technology during demonstration flights at the recent ILA Berlin Air Show in Berlin, Germany. For the latest video and photos from the air show please visit our Twitter and Facebook channels.
The CH-53K is an all new aircraft, using modern intelligent design. The rugged CH-53K helicopter is designed to ensure reliability, low maintenance, high availability and enhanced survivability in the most austere and remote forward operating bases.
16 May 18. Sudan’s new FTC-2000 jets arrive. The Sudanese Air Force has taken delivery of its new Chinese-made FTC-2000 jets, the Sudanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 16 May. The MoD said that a new squadron for the FTC-2000s had been officially inaugurated in a ceremony attended by the Major General Awad Khalafallah Marawi, the deputy chief of staff, and the Chinese military attaché. It released photographs showing aircraft with numbers running from 1201 to 1206, indicating that all six FTC-2000s that Sudan ordered have been delivered. The order was confirmed by Wang Wenfei, the director general of Guizhou Aircraft Industries Corporation (GAIC), in an interview published by China Aviation News on 3 November 2016. Marketed by the Aviation Industries Corporation of China (AVIC), the FTC-2000 is the export variant of GAIC’s JL-9 two-seat supersonic turbojet-powered trainer. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
15 May 18. Delayed simulator hits German Navy Sea Lion preparations. The German Navy is having to adjust its plans to introduce the NH90-variant Sea Lion helicopter into service due to a delay in procuring a bespoke simulator system, a senior service official told reporters on 14 May.
Speaking at the home of German Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station (NAS) Nordholz, Commander Jan Keller of Naval Wing (MFG) 5 said the procurement process for a new simulator is ongoing, but that it will not be completed by the time that the first of the navy’s 18 currently contracted Sea Lion helicopters arrives at the type’s future main operating station next year.
“The simulator for the Sea Lion is in the process of being ordered, and though the ground is now being prepared it will not be ready for the delivery of the first three aircraft in October 2019,” Cdr Keller said, adding; “We would have liked the simulator beforehand, but we will [instead] be using German Army [NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH)] facilities and we are looking at options for using Italy’s [NH90 NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH)] simulator also.”
As noted by the commander, the Sea Lion simulator is being procured through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). With the requirement comprising infrastructure, a full-mission simulator (FMS), and a rear-cabin crew trainer, the bids from industry have all been received and the technical evaluations are in progress.
CAE, which already supplies all of the simulator hardware for the German Navy’s fleet of Lockheed P-3C Orion aircraft and Westland Sea King and Westland Sea Lynx helicopters (the service’s Dornier Do-228 and Eurocopter EC135 platforms do not have simulators), has confirmed that it is one of a handful of companies understood to be competing for the Sea Lion requirement. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
15 May 18. First leased King Air 350 certified for use by RNZAF. The first of four leased Beechcraft King Air 350 aircraft has been certified for use by the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), New Zealand’s Minister of Defence, Ron Mark, announced on 10 May, adding that the remaining three platforms will be delivered progressively into 2019. The twin-engined aircraft, which will replace the RNZAF’s current fleet of four leased King Air 200 platforms, are expected to provide the service with a new pilot-training capability. Moreover, two of the four King Air 350s will be configured to assist in maritime surveillance tasks across New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone.
“These smaller aircraft have proved cost efficient for the extensive multi-engine training RNZAF pilots need after becoming proficient on single engine aircraft,” said Mark on 10 May, pointing out that with the end of lease of the old fleet, the government has also made a decision to increase the RNZAF’s domestic training capability by bringing specialist aircrew training back to New Zealand for the first time in two decades. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. Tu-22M3M bomber to make maiden flight in third quarter of 2018. Preparations of the Tu-22M3M prototype are nearing completion for its maiden flight, in the third quarter of 2018, which could take place in August, a Russian aerospace industry source has told Jane’s.
“Assembly of the aircraft is being completed,” the source reported.
The upgraded bomber will receive modern digital avionics and a new information management system. “Under this deep upgrade, the aircraft will be fitted with digital radio-navigation equipment, a new communications suite, and an updated weapon control system,” the source said. A significant proportion of the Tu-22M3M’s avionics suite will be common with that of the upgraded Tu-160M strategic bomber. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. China to deliver world’s largest amphibious aircraft by 2022 – Xinhua. China expects to deliver its domestically developed AG600, the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, to customers by 2022, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported late on Sunday citing the plane’s manufacturer.
“We are endeavouring to get the airworthiness certification from the civil aviation authorities by 2021, and deliver it to the customers by 2022,” Xinhua quoted Huang Lingcai, the plane’s chief designer at state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) [SASADY.UL], as saying.
China developed the AG600 as part of a drive to modernise its military, amid a more muscular approach to territorial disputes in places like the South China Sea that has rattled nerves in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States. It made its maiden flight in China in December. Huang also said the aircraft would make more flights this year, including its first takeoff from water. AVIC has spent about eight years developing the aircraft, which is roughly the size of a Boeing Co (BA.N) 737 and is designed to carry out marine rescues and battle forest fires. It has a range of up to 4,500kms (2,800 miles) and is designed to be able to take off and land in two metre (six feet) waves. Powered by four turboprop engines, the AG600 can carry 50 people during maritime search-and-rescue missions, and can scoop up 12 metric tons of water within 20 seconds for fire fighting trips, according to state media. In December, state media said that the aircraft had received 17 orders so far from Chinese government departments and Chinese companies. (Source: Reuters)
MILITARY AND GOVERNMENT
PERSONNEL
U.S. APPOINTMENTS
17 May 18. USMC LG Joseph L. Osterman for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general, and assignment as commanding general, I Marine Expeditionary Force. Osterman is currently serving as the deputy commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida.
16 May 18. USAF LG Charles Q. Brown Jr., for appointment to the rank of general, and assignment as commander, Pacific Air Forces; air component commander for U.S. Pacific Command; and executive director, Pacific Air Combat Operations Staff, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. Brown is currently serving as deputy commander, U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
11 May 18. USN Capt. Jeffrey S. Scheidt for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half). Scheidt is currently serving as executive assistant to the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, N2N6, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, District of Columbia.
11 May 18. USAF LG Richard M. Clark has been nominated for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general, and assignment as deputy chief of staff, strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia. Clark is currently serving as commander, Third Air Force, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
11 May 18. USAF Col. Michele C. Edmondson has been nominated to the rank of brigadier general. Edmondson is currently serving as the senior executive officer to the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia.
11 May 18. USMC Col. Daniel J. Lecce for appointment to the rank of major general and appointment as the staff judge advocate to the commandant of the Marine Corps. Lecce is currently serving as the assistant judge advocate general for military justice and the officer-in-charge of the Navy-Marine Corps Appellate Review Activity, Office of the Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy, Washington, District of Columbia.
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY TEAMINGS
17 May 18. Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., a global leading defense company, has signed a teaming agreement with ROMAERO, Romania’s largest government-controlled Aerospace & Defense Industry. The agreement was signed by ROMAERO CEO, Mr. Remus Vulpescu and Rafael’s CEO, Major General (ret.) Yoav Har-Even. The signing ceremony took place on Wednesday (May 16, 2018) and was attended by dignitaries from Israel and Romania at BSDA in Bucharest.
As part of their new partnership, Rafael and ROMAERO will consolidate a local partnership to facilitate local production and knowledge transfer geared towards various Romanian acquisition programs.
The new cooperation will address the Romanian Army’s operational requirements in the upcoming programs already approved by Romania’s parliament. These include:
Air defense systems – the combat-proven Iron Dome system, with over 1700 combat interceptions at a success rate of over 90% and the combat-proven SPYDER air defense system, already supplied to India and to other countries around the world, and the C-Dome Naval Air Defense System, aimed at equipping Romania’s four new corvettes to address Romania’s SHORAD and VSHORAD programs;
Remote Weapon Stations – the SAMSON 30mm caliber, with 25 customers around the world. SAMSON is being offered for Romania’s 400 Rheinmetall vehicles;
EO, Precise Tactical Missiles – SPIKE – a family of electro-optical precise tactical missiles including its brand new SPIKE LR 2 5th generation missile. SPIKE Family missiles have been sold to 29 countries, with 30,000 missiles already supplied. Rafael has over 15 years of experience in Production Transfer Programs (PTP) worldwide. Its PTPs have been implemented successfully at more than 50 overseas companies located in the U.S, Canada, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and other countries.
16 May 18. Rolls-Royce partners Marand on Australian frigate bid. Rolls-Royce has entered a partnership with Australian engineering company Marand in support of BAE Systems’ proposal to supply its Type 26 Global Combat Ship to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). In a press release on 16 May, Rolls-Royce said it has selected Marand as its industry partner on the MT30 gas turbine engine, which powers the Type 26. Under the agreement, which hinges on a Type 26 contract win, Marand will design, develop, and produce the enclosure for the MT30 as well as provide integration support. Rolls-Royce said the agreement could also offer export opportunities for Marand in line with obligations under the Australian Industry Capability (AIC) and Global Supply Chain (GSC) programmes. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
14 May 18. Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Israeli company Assembrix Ltd today signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that will enable Boeing to use Assembrix software to manage and protect intellectual property shared with vendors during design and manufacturing.
“This agreement expands Boeing’s ties to Israeli industry while helping companies like Assembrix expand their business,” said David Ivry, president, Boeing Israel. “Boeing seeks suppliers globally who meet stringent quality, schedule, cost and intellectual capital standards, and Assembrix does all of that.”
Assembrix’s software will enable Boeing to transmit additive manufacturing design information using secure distribution methods to protect data from being intercepted, corrupted or decrypted throughout the distribution and manufacturing processes.
Boeing is focused on leveraging and accelerating additive manufacturing to transform its production system and support the company’s growth. The company currently has additive manufacturing capabilities at 20 sites worldwide and partners with suppliers across the globe to deliver 3D-printed parts across its commercial, space and defense platforms.
“We are pleased to partner with Boeing and value its confidence in us and in our capabilities,” said Lior Polak, Assembrix CEO. “This collaboration supports our vision to develop and implement innovative solutions that connect the world and take the additive manufacturing digital thread one step forward.”
14 May 18. Aselsan, JoSecure ink collaboration agreement. Turkey’s Aselsan has signed a collaboration agreement with Jordanian firm JoSecure, the company announced on 12 May. Details of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two companies, announced via Twitter, were not disclosed. JoSecure, which is part of Jordan’s King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) Investment Group, was established in 2004. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
PERSONNEL
14 May 18. Harald Wilhelm (52), Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Airbus (stock exchange symbol: AIR), has decided to leave the Company in 2019 in agreement with the Board of Directors. Harald Wilhelm has served Airbus and its predecessor companies for 27 years in various finance roles and he has been CFO of Airbus Commercial Aircraft for the last 10 years and on top group CFO for the last six years. The Chairman of the Airbus Board of Directors, Denis Ranque, commented: “The Board recognizes the strong contribution made by Harald to the performance of the Company and appreciates his commitment to support an orderly transition. We will now start the search for a successor to the CFO and announcement will be made in due time.”
U.S. APPOINTMENTS
08 May 18. SSL Names Marks and Sarojak as New Members of the Firm’s Leadership Team. SSL, a Maxar Technologies company (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.) (NYSE: MAXR, TSX: MAXR) has revealed that two executives have joined the SSL leadership team to develop growth opportunities for the company’s innovative spacecraft systems and expand the company’s focus on smallsats and Earth Observation (EO).
Adam Marks is assuming the role of Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and Mark Sarojak will serve as VP of Commercial Earth Observation. The addition of these two leaders will augment SSL’s strategic and satellite technology expertise and accelerate growth by leveraging the collective power of the Maxar Technologies businesses.
Mr. Marks was most recently VP of Strategy & Corporate Development at Thales Group. Prior to that position, he was at Booz Allen Hamilton where he advised Department of Defense (DoD) and aerospace industry clients. His expertise includes mergers and acquisitions and working with U.S.-based technology start-ups. He has a law degree from George Washington University, a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University.
As Vice President of the Commercial Earth Observation business, Mark Sarojak leads SSL’s remote sensing business, and drives strategies for the wider adoption of satellite-enabled technologies and the growing smallsat applications market. (Source: Satnews)
REST OF THE WORLD APPOINTMENTS
17 May 18. Naval Group Australia has appointed a new chief executive, with interim CEO Brent Clark transitioning to a new role. Naval Group Australia’s board has appointed John Davis as chief executive and Future Submarine Program director effective from 1 July 2018. As CEO, Davis will lead Naval Group Australia through the ongoing delivery of the Future Submarine Program. This includes the design and build of 12 submarines for the Royal Australian Navy and the design of a new submarine shipyard at the Osborne Naval Shipbuilding precinct in South Australia. Davis has worked within the Defence industry, both in Australia and the UK, for over 30 years. Davis has worked for Raytheon Australia, the Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance, BMT Defence Services and the UK Ministry for Defence. (Source: Defence Connect)
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PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS
15 May 18. House of Commons Library. UK Defence Industry Exports. This briefing paper provides an overview of UK defence industry exports covering the three main sources of data on the subject. The paper looks at trends over time, the regions of the world where UK defence exports are going, and the type of goods that are being exported. There is no internationally agreed definition of what constitutes as a defence or arms export, or how they should be measured. There are several sources for data on the arms industry, with each focusing on a slightly different element: The annual Department for International Trade DSO UK defence and security exports publication is based on a survey of UK defence companies and covers orders for defence services, support and equipment.
The quarterly Department for International Trade ECO strategic export controls licensing data publication measures the number and value of licences issued for the export of strategic goods.
The SIPRI arms transfer database maintains global data on the volume of international transfers of major conventional weapons. According to the DIT DSO, the total value of UK defence exports in 2016 was £5.9bn. Nearly half of the UK’s exports went to the Middle East. Exports to North America accounted for around 23%. Between 2007 and 2016 the UK was the world’s second largest defence exporter. (Source: Hawker Chase/researchbriefings.parliament.uk)
17 May 18. Defence Committee. Secretary Of State Evidence Session. The Indispensable Ally? US, NATO and UK Defence Relations.
Tuesday 22 May 2018 14.30.
Committee Room 6, The Palace of Westminster.
- Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE MP, Secretary of State for Defence
- Peter Watkins CBE, Director General Security Policy, Ministry of Defence
- Giles Ahern, Head of MoD/FCO Joint Unit on Euro-Atlantic Security Policy
This is the final session of the inquiry examining US, NATO and UK defence relations. The Committee will draw on the evidence they have received in both the predecessor inquiry (truncated due to the General Election) and the current one. The Committee has heard from a range of witnesses and will take the opportunity to challenge the Secretary of State on his priorities for the upcoming NATO summit, how the UK intends to support NATO modernisation and adaptation, and the way in which he intends to sustain the close working relationship between the UK and US militaries. The Committee intend to publish its report in advance of the NATO summit in July.
16 May 18. Defence Committee. Sunset for the Royal Marines? The Royal Marines and UK amphibious capability: Government Response to the Committee’s Report. Following the initiation of the National Security Capability Review in 2017, reports began emerging that substantial cuts in the Royal Marines and the disposal of both of the Royal Navy’s specialist amphibious assault ships fifteen years early were being considered by the Government as part of the review. The Defence Committee resolved to inquire into amphibious forces and their importance to UK Defence.
The Committee’s report, published in February 2018, concluded that such reductions would be “militarily illiterate” and “totally at odds with strategic reality”. It emphasised that the UK’s amphibious capability is a military specialism of the highest value in current and future operations, and that further cuts to an already reduced force would end its status as one of the UK’s leading strategic assets.
The Government’s response repeatedly re-states the Government’s commitment to the future of the UK’s amphibious forces but gives no guarantee that there will be no future cuts in the numbers of Royal Marines or amphibious ships.
The response seeks to maintain the Government’s position that the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers can take the place of specialised amphibious vessels, such as HMS Ocean which was recently sold to Brazil. The evidence the Committee gathered in the course of its inquiry clearly demonstrates that amphibious operations require specially configured warships manned by highly-trained amphibious specialists. Anything less results in exposing vessels and the personnel manning them to an unreasonable level of operational risk.
Although equipment and manpower requirements will vary with each operation, the response does not adequately address the Committee’s point that reductions to the amphibious force can only further limit the range of options available to a commander on operations. The diversifying threats that the UK is facing should mandate an increase, rather than a decrease, in theatre-entry capabilities.
Chairman’s Comments
Commenting on the publication of the Government’s response, the Chairman of the Defence Committee, Rt Hon Dr Julian Lewis said: “Through its ongoing Modernising Defence Programme, the Government has the opportunity to re-examine the assets that we need to meet our strategic priorities and ensure our national security. We hope that the Ministry of Defence will reflect on the flexibility and range of capability offered by the UK’s amphibious forces and make firm commitments that no further damaging reductions will take place.”
House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Q
Asked by Nia Griffith
(Llanelli)
[N]
Asked on: 11 May 2018
Ministry of Defence
Qatar: Hawk Aircraft
143126
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Defence Procurement of 23 April, Official Report, column 593, what progress has been made on Qatar’s order of the Hawk aircraft.
A
Answered by: Guto Bebb
Answered on: 16 May 2018
Her Majesty’s Government is continuing to work closely with BAE Systems and the Qatari government to finalise details of the Typhoon contract which was agreed on 10 December 2017. The package also includes the procurement of Hawk aircraft. It would be inappropriate to comment any further at this stage as to do so would prejudice commercial interests.
Q
Asked by Lord Berkeley
Asked on: 08 May 2018
Ministry of Defence
Armed Forces: Railways
HL7586
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what input they gave to the statement by the European Commission that €6.5 billion will be allocated from the Connecting Europe Facility for military mobility by rail; whether they support the need for improved rail links across Europe for the purpose of defence and the preservation of peace; and what plans they have for co-operation on such matters after the UK leaves the EU.
A
Answered by: Earl Howe
Answered on: 16 May 2018
The proposal to allocate €6.5 billion to military mobility by rail is part of the European Commission’s overall proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework that was published on 2 May 2018. Member States will have the opportunity to discuss and amend the Commission’s proposal as it proceeds through the formal decision-making processes over the coming months. The UK is pleased to see work developing in conjunction with NATO on this important initiative, and any decisions on which programmes the UK will participate in after 2020 will be taken as part of the future partnership negotiations.
Q
Asked by Lord Harris of Haringey
Asked on: 08 May 2018
Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence: Internet
HL7609
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cloud services contracts that were previously delivered by British cloud services providers for the Ministry of Defence are now delivered by multinational cloud service providers; what is the value of those contracts; and what are the names of the previous providers.
A
Answered by: Earl Howe
Answered on: 16 May 2018
There are no Ministry of Defence contracts that were previously delivered by British cloud service providers that are now delivered by multinational cloud service providers.
Asked by Nia Griffith
(Llanelli)
[N]
Asked on: 11 May 2018
Ministry of Defence
Defence: Procurement
143127
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his oral contribution of 23 April, Official Report, column 582, when he plans to look at the whole defence procurement argument with regard to the real benefits to UK plc.
A
Answered by: Guto Bebb
Answered on: 16 May 2018
The Refreshed Defence Industrial Policy, published on 20 December 2017, outlined the importance that we attach to maintaining a thriving and globally competitive defence sector, and to building UK economic value. To support this, the Defence Secretary announced in March 2018 that he had invited the hon. Member for Ludlow (Philip Dunne) to carry out an external review of how Defence contributes to UK prosperity. This will look at the full range of defence activities, including procurement.