03 Mar 20. Qatar defence exhibition cancelled as coronavirus spreads in Gulf. Qatar’s Dimdex defence exhibition due to be held this month has been cancelled as the coronavirus outbreak spreads throughout the Gulf and wider Middle East.
There have been at least 1,641 cases of the virus in the Gulf region, mostly in Iran where 66 people have died. The March 16-18 Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (Dimdex) was scheduled to take place at the city’s exhibition centre DECC. It was cancelled after consultations with public health officials and the government, according to a statement on its website. Qatar’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday it had recorded a new case of coronavirus, a Qatari national who was among a group evacuated from Iran on Feb. 27. This brings the number of infections in Qatar to eight. (Source: Reuters)
03 Mar 20. Shrivenham Close Combat Symposium, 7-9 July 2020. The aim of this symposium is to consider the aspirations, trends and innovation in small arms, unit weapon systems both mounted and dismounted, ammunition, sensors, optics and protective clothing and equipment. It also examines supporting technologies such as autonomous systems, front-line logistics and ‘less than lethal’.
Army HQ Ground Manoeuvre Capability also use the event to engage with industry. This year they have expressed a particular interest in: technologies that reduce the individual human error budget, provide battlegroup organic indirect fire at short and medium ranges, night-sight technology especially for GPMG, counter swarm-UAS systems, organic anti-armour for battlegroup overwatch, precision HE technologies and broader capability enhancements through a better acquisition model.
The event is held over three days. Day 1 is at the Defence Academy of the UK in Shrivenham and provides insight from Army HQ and the National Police Chiefs’ Council Armed Policing Portfolio Lead, Chief Constable Simon Chesterman QPM. This is supplemented by presentations from academia and industry. Day 2 takes place at Cranfield University’s COTEC range facility on Salisbury Plain. This involves live-firing demonstrations from industry as well as an opportunity to fire small arms from different manufacturers and with different optics and technologies. Day 3 is back at Shrivenham and provides more technology briefs from industry and academia.
The event is for all those involved with weapons systems, equipment and technologies for the ground manoeuvre community of the military and the security sector more broadly: military, police, security, industry and academia. It provides a valuable opportunity to network, inform, educate, debate and challenge the status quo.
If you wish to present a paper at the event or produce a poster, please send an e-mail including a short abstract to Leanne, Papers should be planned to take 20 minutes to present followed by 10 minutes for questions.