Sponsored by AOC Europe
https://www.aoceurope.org
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04 Mar 22. Registration for AOC Europe 2022 is now open.
To join the EW community in Montpellier, France this May for the conference and free-to-attend exhibition, please register today.
Why attend AOC Europe 2022?
AOC Europe, the flagship event of the Association of Old Crows (AOC) will take place in France for the first time to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the French Lafayette AOC chapter. Don’t miss out as the EW community reconvenes together again to discuss new advances, future challenges and view the latest technology solutions from over 85 specialist suppliers in the electromagnetic spectrum operations domain.
Top confirmed exhibitors, include:
- Babcock
- Hensoldt
- Leonardo
- MDBA
- Plat
- Rohde and Schwarz
- SAAB
- Thales
URL as registration is now open: https://www.aoceurope.org/battlespace-2022
05 Mar 22. Saudi Arabia’s World Defense Show kicks off first edition with nearly 600 exhibitors from over 40 countries.
- Biennial show to accelerate future industry trends, showcasing latest tech developments
- Expected 30,000 visitors visiting stands and pavilions featuring hundreds of local and global firms
Under the patronage of Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s World Defense Show will open its first-ever edition tomorrow with an expected 30,000 visitors attending throughout the four-day show, from 6th to 9th March 2022.
Founded by Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), World Defense Show – set to be held every two years – will accelerate the future of the industry by showcasing the latest technological developments from around the globe, demonstrating defense interoperability across all major domains – air, land, sea, space and security systems.
Across the four trade days, high-level delegations from dozens of countries will visit stands and pavilions featuring products and demonstrations from hundreds of global and local exhibitors.
His Excellency Ahmad Al-Ohali, Governor of GAMI, said: “The 6th of March will mark an important milestone in the Kingdom’s journey towards localizing 50% of its military expenditure by 2030. We have seen overwhelming global interest for participating at World Defense Show’s first edition and we look forward to providing a conducive environment for networking and cross-border partnerships to drive innovation in the industry.
“There has never been a better time to partner with Saudi Arabia’s defense and security ecosystem as we continue to transform a nascent industry with immense potential. Our doors are open to international manufacturers and service providers who share our vision for technology transfer, talent development and defense industrialization.”
Andrew Pearcey, CEO, World Defense Show, said: “World Defense Show is envisioned to be one of the world’s best defense and security events, providing a world-class meeting environment with unprecedented networking programs. The level of international demand is unlike anything we have seen before in the industry and that is testament to Saudi Arabia’s position as a key market for the industry and its vision to support economic growth through developing the defense sector. We look forward to inspiring conversations about the future of defense among visitors, delegations and exhibitors from over 80 countries.”
World Defense Show is tailored to provide a unique platform for networking, collaboration, knowledge-sharing and the discovery of new innovations. A tailored Meet the Buyer program will host up to 600 meetings, connecting buyers and suppliers, from companies that cover all major areas of the global defense industry, through pre-arranged, face-to-face meetings. Another flagship networking program is World Defense Show’s Meet the KSA Government Program, highlighting opportunities in Saudi Arabia for investors to meet with key local defense players and learn more about the industry’s strategy, objectives, tendering and procurement guidelines as well as partnership requirements.
Spanning across an 800,000 sqm site World Defense Show features three large exhibition halls, outdoor exhibit spaces, a dedicated interoperability demonstration area, a purpose-built 3KM-long runway and space for static aircraft.
Running up to six times per day, an interactive and immersive Command & Control Center will feature a 20-minute show simulating the future of interoperability at the highest levels. World Defense Show’s dedicated Start-Up Zone will host the latest technologies driven by small and medium companies from around the world – playing host to an exclusive networking environment to introduce SME products to industry decision-makers, investors and venture capital firms.
Daily themed panel discussions and keynote presentations will introduce the audience to insights giving rise to the technologies exhibited at World Defense Show. Key Saudi entities that are developing the Kingdom’s industry and economy will deliver sessions that offer insights into Saudi Arabia’s defense industry transformation.
On International Women’s Day, March 8th, 2022, leading women in defense will gather at a special event to celebrate, promote, and accelerate participation in the defense industry. The full-day event will feature keynote presentations and interactive panel discussions, to advocate for, and connect with the diverse voices of today’s defense community.
The final day of the show will open its doors to 5,000 talented Saudi students from the Kingdom’s best STEM institutions for the Future Talent Program. The program will connect participants to career opportunities and apprenticeship programs in the defense and security sectors, offering young professionals valuable advice to kickstart and progress their careers.
SAMI accelerates vision to become top 25 defense and security company by 2030
In its role as the strategic partner of the World Defense Show, SAMI affirms its commitment to building a robust and self-reliant defense ecosystem in Saudi Arabia
As the global defense industry prepares to meet at the inaugural edition of the World Defense Show (WDS) in Riyadh, the event organized by the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), SAMI, the strategic partner of the event and Saudi Arabia’s national champion for the defense industries sector, has set its sights on accelerating its transformation to become one of the top 25 defense and security companies in the world by 2030. Apart from showcasing its innovative and comprehensive defense products and systems, SAMI aims to expand its partnerships with globally renowned OEMs, establish new joint ventures and subsidiaries, create more employment opportunities, and boost its exports through its participation in WDS 2022.
H.E. Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Chairman of SAMI, said: “We are grateful for the visionary leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and for the supervision and guidance of the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) and strategic partners in the sector for our achievements over the past five years. Among these achievements is the localization of defense and security industries, which enhance, diversify, and enrich our national economy for sustainable prosperity.”
Founded by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2017, under the direction of H.R.H. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, today, SAMI stands tall as a defense and security group of companies with several accomplishments that have helped the Kingdom’s defense sector boost its indigenous capabilities. In line with its mandate to support the goals of Vision 2030 by contributing to localizing 50% of Saudi Arabia’s defense spending by 2030, SAMI has made remarkable strides in transferring production, knowledge, and technology to the Kingdom, attracted foreign direct investments, and supported the growth of the SME sector through its affiliates. It has also been strengthening the local defense supply chain to ensure the sustainability and self-sufficiency of the Kingdom’s defense ecosystem.
Eng. Walid Abu Khaled, CEO of SAMI, explained: “With our sights firmly set on our strategic vision to become one of the top 25 defense companies in the world by 2030, we have been building up our capabilities across our five business divisions of Aerospace, Land, Sea, Advanced Electronics, and Defense Systems. Simultaneously, our efforts to support localization and strategic partnerships continue to accelerate our journey towards this goal through the transfer of technology, knowledge, and production to the Kingdom.”
Since its inception, SAMI has demonstrated its commitment to participate in supporting the strategic objectives of localizing the defense and security industries and building technical and human capabilities. In the past five years, SAMI partnered with five global OEMs to establish operational joint ventures focused on localizing manufacturing and technology,
resulting in an exponential growth in Saudi Arabia’s local defense capabilities. This has also developed the Kingdom’s local talent by familiarizing them with the latest technologies and equipment in the world of defense. The group has also made strategic acquisitions and established subsidiaries to develop its capabilities across key defense segments.
Inspiring young Saudi male and female professionals to join defense and security careers is yet another achievement of SAMI. The on-the-job training (OJT) launched by its joint venture company SAMINavantia has been instrumental in attracting young Saudi engineers and technicians to the sector, providing them with key training and upskilling programs and the opportunity to contribute to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals and future aspirations. More than 30 Saudi engineers have completed their OJT to date.
The past year was one of significant growth for SAMI, helping the company achieve key milestones in terms of growth and expansion. The successful completion of the Al-Sarawat project involving five new Avante 2200 corvettes for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces was among the exceptional achievements of 2021. The annual revenue registered a whopping 2,407% increase to reach SAR 2.6 billion, and the contracts and backlog exceeded SAR 10 billion with a localization commitment of 57.7% approved by GAMI.
In other major developments signifying SAMI’s unprecedented growth last year, it secured SAR 7 billion in debt and gained SAR 130 million in income from liquidity management, intragroup lending, and project trade finance, and grew its employee base by 633% to reach 2,500 from 341 in 2020. Eyeing further growth, SAMI acquired Advanced Electronics Company (AEC) to establish SAMI Advanced Electronics and launched SAMI Composites.
As Saudi Arabia strengthens the foundations of its defense sector, SAMI aims to further strengthen its excellence in defense and security innovation and facilitate the transfer of expertise and production to the Kingdom. It will continue to build up its capabilities, strengthen its partnerships, and train and attract young professionals. Most importantly, SAMI’s role as the strategic partner of WDS 2022 once again underlines its potential to support Saudi Arabia’s transformation as a global defense industry hub in line with Vision 2030.
04 Mar 22. SupportNET22 – Delivering Better Availability – 09:00-16:00 – 28-29 April 2022 – Sofitel Hotel Terminal 5 Heathrow.
SupportNet22 is the opportunity for senior leaders from Defence Support, Defence Equipment and Support, Front Line Commands, industry, academia, international partners, and external speakers to discuss how to deliver:
“a paradigm shift in platform and equipment availability and the development of superior, assured, environmentally sustainable and cost-effective support services.” Defence Support Strategy 2020
Click here for the benefits of attending SupportNET22.
Our outline programme for Day 1 includes:
Keynote speeches from The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Min DP), Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) and Chief of Defence Logistics and Support (CDLS).
Presentations on:
- ‘Setting the Demand Signal’ including the possible future threat environment and Support Operating Concept (SOC).
- ‘Designing Through Life’ with examples from industry and defence such as Support Solution Envelope 21.
- ‘Supporting Through Life’ with examples like the Royal Navy’s Project KRACKEN.
- ‘Sustaining Through Life’ with topics that include Defence Supply Chain Strategy and Strategic Base Development.
- Launch of Support Advantage Industry Charter by CDLS.
There is an evening reception to give everyone an opportunity to discuss these subjects in an informal environment.
On Day 2 we have presentations on:
- ‘Enabling Through Life’ that include topics like human factors, performance and data and ‘Doing so Sustainably’ with vignettes and examples from industry.
- ‘Doing so Collaboratively’ with presentations from international NATO partners.
This event is free to attend with lunch and refreshments provided on both days. Industry stands can be booked for a small fee and will showcase existing and future technology.
Click here to register as a delegate or to request and industry stand. For more information please contact Kevin Atkins.
04 Mar 22. Defence Information 2022 (DI22) – Mobilising the Defence Digital Backbone – 8-9 June 2022 – Active Conference Centre, Thornbury, Bristol, and online.
Here’s just a taste of what we have in place already for Day 1: Information Strategy & Information Enablers
Our first speaker, Charlie Forte, Chief Information Officer (CIO), MOD, highlights several key activities and we will cover all of these during the day with expert speakers such as:
- Mobilising the Defence Digital Backbone John Fitzpatrick, Director Digital Enablement
- Delivering the Defence Digital Foundry Maj Gen Tom Copinger-Symes, Director Strategy and Military Digitisation, MOD
- Implementing the Defence Data Strategy Caroline Bellamy, Director Chief Data Officer MOD
- Mobilising AI on the Digital Backbone – Bridging the Gap from Work Automation to Digital Optimisation Peter van der Putten, Director Decisioning & AI Solutions & Assistant Professor, AI & Creative Research, Pega
- People, Integration and Agility: the Vertebrae of the Digital Backbone Oliver Organ, Business Development Manager, VIMA
- Unravelling the Digital Backbone – people, process, technology, data and secure by design Steve Bell, Technical Director – Atkins
For Day 2 the theme is: Support, Services & Support Information Strategies. Keep watching for future speakers as we confirm them.
Details of how to register your attendance are coming soon! Tickets are for both days and include the extra networking session on Day 1.
We are still inviting contributions for the prestigious Excellence Award. Please submit your ideas to Tony Butler.
For more information on DI22, please contact Steve Shepherd. Limited sponsorships are offered on a first come first serve basis, to reserve or book a sponsorship or exhibition stand space, please contact Sue Russell.
Many thanks to DI22 Event sponsors: Appian, IFS, Google, VIMA Group and IBM (Gold), Dataiku, Atkins, D2iQ and Motorola (Silver) and Camcode, Whitetree and PEGA (Bronze), exhibiting are MEGA (virtual). Garrison with support stands from Women in Defence Charter, CUPA, TD-Info, MOD Teams (TBC) and the Excellence Awards finalists. Finally, thank you to Kahootz for providing DI22 with DI22 Virtual Event Platform and Fujitsu for Event Support.
04 Mar 22. Trading Forum meeting 11:00-12:00 – 8 March 2022 on MS Teams.
The Trading Forum brings the MOD and industry together to:
- hear the MOD’s latest update on its procurement systems and processes.
- discuss procurement best practice with industry.
The Trading Forum is your chance to help shape and influence the future direction of MOD’s procurement processes.
Contact Andy Whatman to find out more or contact Suzette Payne to book your place.
03 Mar 22. New STEM Event.
Date: Tuesday 24 January 2023
Venue:. Cranfield University
Time: 12.00pm-3.00pm.
The event will begin with a presentation from short listed schools who have taken part in a competition and the second part will be a careers fair. We hope to have a number of students from a range of schools, both local and national. Having hosted a similar event at my school for five years, I hope to have about 15 STEM companies participating, with stands, with information about the various job opportunities available in their organisation. This provides a fantastic opportunity for students to talk to delegates about the different roles they offer and learn more about different pathways, including apprenticeships.
In addition to the STEM event there is an Engineering Challenge sponsored by Viasat to which schools will be invited to participate. The winners will be announced on January 24th
Contact Mrs J Scott
Careers and Enterprise Leader
Thornton College
Jo Scott:
02 Mar 22. Why Can’t We Keep Our Attack Submarines Ready For Action? Bartlett Maritime Corporation and its Bartlett Maritime Plan™ Industry Team, including the Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, Goldman Sachs, Fincantieri Marine Group, Squire Patton Boggs and the Mayors of Lorain and Lordstown, OH, will host a Panel Discussion and Press Conference “Resolving the Submarine Maintenance Crisis: Restoring National Security” Wednesday, March 9, 2022, at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, Washington, DC 20041. The Panel Discussion and Press Conference will be live streamed via webcast at www.bartlettmaritime.com.
Why Can’t We Keep Our Attack Submarines Ready For Action?
In October 2016 a 688-class submarine entered the shipyard for a planned 6-month overhaul. This ship finally completed its overhaul and left the shipyard in October of 2021 – more than five years later. In the meantime, the next submarine scheduled for that dry dock slot sat, waiting at the pier for 4 years – completely inoperable because its dive certification had lapsed. With a 35-year planned service life, that ship is going to go more than a decade between operational deployments due to the delays in starting its overhaul. These are not isolated cases – between 2008 and 2018 the submarine force lost 10,363 operational days at an added cost of more than $1.5bn, according to GAO Report 19-229. This National Security problem also keeps getting worse. Just last year, according to Pacific Submarine Force Commander Rear Admiral Jeffrey Jablon, the fleet lost nearly 1,500 submarine operational days to idle time.
According to the Commander of Fleet Forces Command, Admiral Daryl Caudle, “I don’t have enough capacity. I don’t have enough dry docks, and I don’t have enough shipyards.”
The Bartlett Maritime Plan™ is a proactive immediately actionable public-private-partnership designed to solve this problem and to restore National Security. The plan includes building American Naval Shipyard in Lorain, OH and American Naval Depot in Lordstown, OH and training a ready workforce in greater Northeast Ohio/Northwest Pennsylvania to staff these urgently required new maintenance facilities.
While there is an exceptionally challenging shortage of skilled trades personnel along the Nation’s Ocean coasts, there is an abundant, ready pool of skilled trades personnel and apprentice candidates along the North Coast. Bartlett Maritime has partnered with the Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO to develop this entirely new workforce.
Capital for this project will be provided by an innovative and unique public-private-partnership between Bartlett Maritime Corporation and both the State of Ohio and the US Navy, applying existing federal and state laws. The Goldman Sachs Public Sector and Infrastructure Banking group has been retained to advise in the establishment of the project capital structure.
Squire Patton Boggs, through its Cleveland, OH and Washington, DC offices, is providing outside legal counsel to Bartlett Maritime Corporation to support development and execution of the Bartlett Maritime Plan™.
Submarines to be overhauled at American Naval Shipyard at Lorain will require buoyancy assistance through the St. Lawrence Seaway. Fincantieri Marine Group’s Bay Shipbuilding of Sturgeon Bay, WI will develop and build the Oceangoing Transit Carriers (patent pending) for this project, basing this new vessel on an existing vessel type now built at Sturgeon Bay.
Commenting on the project, Dario Deste, President and CEO of Fincantieri Marine Group here in the U.S., stated, “We believe this plan represents a potential ‘win-win’ for the Navy and for numerous Midwest communities, specifically in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. We support this plan, and we are keenly interested in partnering in any way possible.”
Lordstown, OH Mayor Arno Hill and Lorain, OH Mayor Jack Bradley will each discuss what these projects will mean to their communities.
US Navy Submarines are currently built by General Dynamics Electric Boat in Quonset Point, RI and Groton, CT and by Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, VA. The 4 existing Naval Shipyards are in Portsmouth, VA; Kittery, ME/Portsmouth, NH; Bremerton, WA and Pearl Harbor, HI. The new facilities proposed in the Bartlett Maritime Plan™ will collaborate with these 6 shipyards, not compete with them – providing the additional industrial capacity and capability which is so desperately required to restore the US Navy’s attack submarine force to full operational readiness.
RSVPs are requested at . (Source: PR Newswire)
23 Feb 22. US Army cyber conference seeks to bolster holistic national cybersecurity. Upcoming cyber conference could help the U.S. Army better understand how to use its defensive cyber efforts to protect critical assets and harbor a more robust national cybersecurity ecosystem.
The Jack Voltaic series, developed by the Army Cyber Institute at the U.S. Military Academy to game out the state of cybersecurity at local ports, kicks off its next conference Feb. 24 at The Citadel military college in Charleston, South Carolina.
The exercise has thus far focused on defending critical infrastructure across two cities — Charleston and Savannah, Georgia — allowing them to gain a better understand of incident management if a cyber disruption occurs.
Army Cyber Command, as well as the Guard and Reserves, have cyber protection teams that hunt actors on Defense Department networks and eradicate threats. This exercise could provide insights as to how to better use and deploy those teams.
“Are there places where it would be appropriate to apply those capabilities, and then where are the mechanisms to do that,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, chief of Army Cyber Command, told C4ISRNET, regarding lessons he hopes to get out of the event. Fogarty is providing the opening conference keynote.
One mechanism he suggested is “Defense Support of Civil Authorities,” the process for which the U.S. military can assist state and local entities.
From the Army’s perspective, it has to deploy from ports. If those areas, which are under the control of state and local governments, succumb to cyberattacks, it hinders the Army’s ability to deploy. Thus, it is in the best interest of the Army and the rest of the services to lend a hand in aiding localities in improving their cyber defense, which leads to better national cybersecurity.
“We require strategic mobility. Again, we don’t want to be fighting on our shores; we want to keep that offshore. We have to be able to get to the fight,” Fogarty said. “For us, it’s making sure there’s clear understanding by civil authorities what our requirements are, what our expectations are, and then what we can [do] to assist them and protect that strategic capability for the nation.”
After Jack Voltaic 3.0 in September 2020, officials realized there was a need to keep the conversation going regarding critical infrastructure resiliency.
“It’s too important to conduct once, write down some lessons and then move on,” said Col. Jeffrey Erickson, director of the Army Cyber Institute. “Rather, we wanted to continue to foster an ecosystem of information and knowledge exchange through a series of conferences with Norwich University Applied Research Institutes, the Georgia Cyber Center, The Citadel and the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute at the University of Illinois.”
Events such as Jack Voltic also help the Army better tune to certain threats, Fogarty said, noting that partnerships with industry and academia help alert the service to different types of challenges, and vice versa for local governments.
There’s “an array of threats that local authorities — they’re going to be the principal responders to. Their ability to identify these [threats] — essentially to rehearse what their responses are, understand what their capabilities are, where their limitations may be, where they make investments — that’s, really what they principally get out of this,” Fogarty said. “For the Army, what I want to do is I want to worry about getting the people, the material that we require to conduct operations there.”
Officials believe success equates to increased awareness across all sectors.
“Success this week looks like increased awareness in the community, new (and greater) connections between public and private sectors, and potential new critical infrastructure resiliency events in the future. Only through more sets and reps can we continue to increase resiliency at all levels,” Erickson said. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
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AOC Europe
AOC Europe connects organisations and individuals across government, defence, industry, and academia to promote the exchange of ideas and information, and review the latest advances in electromagnetic and information-related fields. With a history spanning more than 25 years, AOC Europe is the Association of Old Crows’ flagship international event with 70+ manufacturers and 1000+ attendees from 40+ countries coming together to engage, innovate and network and to discuss all things within this dedicated sector.
Our 2022 conference theme:
Integrating Electromagnetic Effects across all Domains
The control of the electromagnetic spectrum is a fundamental requirement in modern warfare in all domains whether land, sea air, space, information or cyber. Systems operating in these domains must be able to communicate, make decisions, share information and take actions in a coordinated, controlled and effective manner using the electromagnetic spectrum.
To achieve and maintain this dominance, electronic warfare, radar, navigation, situational awareness and other information and communication systems require significant levels of integration and interoperability across all types of platforms and in all domains. Innovative integrated systems requirements, applications and enabling technologies will be considered from intelligence data gathering, analysis and data fusion through to the deployment of countermeasures and other actions that use the electromagnetic spectrum.
For more details on exhibiting/sponsoring, submitting a paper or attending the event visit www.aoceurope.org
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