BATTLESPACE Updates

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EXHIBITIONS AND CONFERENCES

by

Sponsored by Clarion Events

 

https://www.dsei.co.uk

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01 June 22. Close Combat Symposium Draft Programme Now Available.

Aim

The aim is to bring together the military, academia, and industry to discuss current and future developments in close combat and dismounted technologies and procedures. It will also consider current and future equipment programmes out to 10 years.

D Futures Mil Cap Plans (formerly Cap GM) in Army HQ have expressed an interest in the following subject areas on which presentations would be particularly welcome:

  • Future equipment and technologies deliverable in the 5-10 year timeframe to include potential small arms replacements.
  • ’24-hour digital lethality’ that provides an all day and weather capability
  • Developing a roadmap to the 24/7 future force
  • ‘Close in self-defence’ to include platoon organic fire support, in particular filling the light mortar and anti-armour gaps

Including Presentations from:

  • Army HQ
  • Naval Command HQ
  • FNH UK
  • Thales UK – Cyber Security and the Integrated Digital Soldier
  • KWESST – Organic Precision Fires
  • Iceni Labs – Sense Through the Wall
  • Bill Shepherd – How ‘GEEKS’ Can Help Small Military Units
  • MARRS – Countering UAS
  • Dan Shea – Threats and Developments From 2020-22: Ukraine
  • Nammo – Novel Ammunition Solutions

Range Day Firing Stances from

  • FNH UK
  • Beechwood
  • Defence Academy of the UK
  • Edgar Brothers
  • Law Enforcement International
  • Qioptiq
  • Raytheon ELCAN
  • Rheinmetall Electronics
  • Smartshooter
  • Viking Arms

Close Combat 2022 Tuesday 5 July 1000 – 1005 Conference Administration Nick Lindley, Symposia at Shrivenham 1005 – 1010 Welcome to the Defence Academy 1010 – 1040 Army HQ 1040 – 1110 Army HQ 1110 -1140 Coffee 1140 – 1210 Army HQ/ Naval Command HQ 1210 -1240 Army HQ /Naval Command HQ 1240 – 1340 Lunch 1340 – 1410 Cyber Security and the 24hr Integrated Digital Soldier Dai Stone, Thales UK 1410 – 1440 Digital Capability Transformation at the Tactical Edge Mark Broster, Frazer Nash Consultancy 1440 – 1510 Organic Precision Fires – Making Dumb Weapons Smart Rick Bowes, KWESST Micro Systems Inc 1510 -1540 Tea 1540 – 1610 Sense Through The Wall – Physics vs. Desire Alexander Giles, Iceni Labs 1610 – 1640 How “GEEKS” can help Small Military Units Bill Shepherd, System Engineering Research Center, Stevens Institute 1640 – 1700 Range Day Instructions and Range Safety Brief Nick Lindley, Symposia at Shrivenham Sponsored by Wednesday 6 July 2022 Range Day Sponsored by 0800 – 0930 Exhibitors and Range Staff set up range including check FoS and Zeroing 0830 – 0945 Delegates transported from Churchill Lecture Theatre (Officers’ Mess), Blunsdon House Hotel and Jurys Inn to COTEC, West Lavington. 1015 – 1030 Breakfast on Arrival Range Safety Brief and Brief on Range Detail 1030 Live Firing begins Demonstrations provided by: FNH UK Smartshooter Viking Arms Qioptiq Edgar Brothers Rheinmetall Defence Academy of the United Kingdom LEI Saab Elcan 1230 – 1300 Firing Demonstration TBC 1300 Barbeque Lunch 1530 Live Firing Ends 1530 – 1700 Delegates transported from COTEC to Churchill Lecture Theatre (Officers’ Mess), Blunsdon House Hotel and Jurys Inn 1905 – 1930 Delegates transported from Churchill Lecture Theatre (Officers’ Mess) Jurys Inn to Blunsdon House Hotel for Symposium Dinner 1930 – 2015 Pre-dinner drinks Tawny Room, Blunsdon House Hotel 2015 – 2300 Symposium Dinner Garden Room, Blunsdon House Hotel, then transported back to Jurys Inn and Defence Academy Thursday 7 July 0900 – 0930 TBC Francois Legras, FNH UK 0930 – 1000 The Future of Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems: Using Innovation and Autonomy to counter the UAS Threat Adam Wilding-Webb, MARSS Group 1000 – 1030 How end-to-end objective analytics and feedback can rapidly enhance marksmanship training and performance. Mark Whitehouse, Cervus Defence and Security Limited 1030 – 1100 Coffee 1100 -1130 A Hundred Years of Tiny Mortars John Salt, Cranfield University 1130 – 1200 Modern Threats & Developments from 2020-22 world travel- Ukraine Dan Shea, Small Arms Review 1200 – 1230 Novel Ammunition Solutions Jan Hasslid, Nammo 1230 -1300 The Terminal Performance of the Composite Core 5.56mm NATO SS-109 Bullet Against Laminated Glass as an Intermediate Barrier Pete McCutcheon, Cranfield University 1300 – 1305 Closing Remarks 1305 – 1400 Lunch

 

01 June 22. European VIPs line up for UDT 2022 conference. Defence leaders from European government and military forces will lead discussions at UDT 2022, when the undersea defence community reunites in Rotterdam on 7-9 June.

Within the overarching theme of The Grey Zone, speakers from across Europe’s naval forces and government ministries will be joined by industry partners and think tank representatives to discuss the six conference pillars of Platform Design, Sensors & Processing, Weapons & Countermeasures, Uncrewed, Remotely Piloted & Autonomous Systems, Operational Drivers & Imperatives and Artificial Intelligence & Big Data.

The Day one keynote panel will be delivered by Rear Admiral Huub Hulsker, Deputy Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy, who will be joined by Mr Vasco Pizzinato, Senior Combat Officer – NFS Programme Division, OCCAR; and Rear Admiral (Ret.) Jon Pentreath, Senior Land and Naval Adviser for Clarion Defence and Security.

Day two’s keynote panel discussion will bring together Captain Eric Toebast, NL MCM Service of the Royal Netherlands Navy, with Dr Leendert Dorst, Deputy Hydrographer of the Royal Netherlands Navy; Commander Sander Cool, Commanding Officer of the Defence Diving Group; Lt. Commander Martin Streefland, DHC/7SQN, Royal Netherlands Navy; and Commander Pieterbas Peters, Commander of ME Submarines, also of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

On the morning of Thursday 9 June, the final keynote speech will be delivered by Matt Smith, Director of Analysis at Shephard Media. Following his address, he will moderate a panel which will include Vice Admiral (Retd.) Kari Takanen, Former Commander and Chief of Defence Command, Finnish Navy; and Captain David Wilkinson, Naval Adviser for Clarion Defence and Security.

Other highlights from the conference include ‘Future MCM in combination with old fashion MCM: Augmenting Autonomous Systems’ from Dr Alain Maguer, Engineering and IT Department Head, NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), and Commander Jonas Forsmark, Policy and Plans Department, Swedish Armed Forces HQ; and ‘ROVs for submarines: Systems of systems integration for ROV and AUV operations’ from Nils Størkersen, Director of Research, Division for Maritime Systems, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) and Commander Tobias Söderblom, Head of Underwater Materiel Section, Swedish Naval Staff.

Elsewhere, key speakers from across the three day programme include Wenche Oxholm, Senior Scientist, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, who will present on ‘Anti-Submarine Warfare – Measures of Performance’; Tim Vickery, Senior Principal Advisor at the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), who will speak on ‘Directed Energy Weapons for Submarine Defence’; Chris Parnell, Technical Partner, Platform Systems Division, Dstl, on ‘Design Of Submarine Command And Control’; and Ove Kent Hagen and Kristoffer Engedal Andreassen from the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), who will present on ‘Terrain Navigation Techniques for AUV MCM Operations’ and ‘Simulations Of ASW Operations In The Littoral Zone’, respectively.

To see the full conference agenda and register to attend UDT 2022 visit: https://www.udt-global.com/register

 

01 June 22. First European Defence Innovation Day Calls for More Investment and Cooperation.

“We must invest more in defence and make up for years of budget cuts and underinvestment. The message is clear: we need to reduce fragmentation and invest more together, starting now”, said High Representative/Head of the European Defence Agency, Josep Borrell, during the first European Defence Innovation Day – organised by the European Defence Agency under the auspices of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The event displayed how greater investment and cooperation in defence innovation is crucial to maintain and drive European technological sovereignty.

A first for the European Defence Innovation Hub (HEDI)

The Defence Innovation Day marks the official launch – and first activity – of the Hub for European Defence Innovation (HEDI) which was established within EDA following a decision by Member States’ Defence Ministers on 17 May. The launch of HEDI is not only an important first delivery of the Strategic Compass, but also a crucial step towards a more innovative European defence.

The Head of Agency, Josep Borrell said: “EDA certainly has a key role to play in defence innovation. It has been dealing with innovation since its creation in 2004. And it has already delivered. Successful examples include projects on drone swarms; technologies for electromagnetic railguns; or new clean energy technologies to lower the carbon footprint and decrease energy dependencies in the defence sector. These are all initiatives developed at EDA”.

Speaking at the opening of the event, EDA Chief Executive, Jiri Šedivý said: “The creation of the Hub for European Defence Innovation in EDA is an additional sign that Member States are ready to take European defence innovation to the next level, in cooperation with the European Commission but also with NATO”.

Showcasing European Excellence in Innovation

The European Defence Innovation Day also extended to an exhibition highlighting cutting-edge defence innovations developed at national and European level. The exhibition gathered innovators from 19 Member States and 9 developed within the framework of the European Defence Agency. “I’m proud” of EDA’s work on innovation so far, “but we have to do more”, the Head of the Agency Josep Borrell said, insisting on a close cooperation with the European Commission and its European Defence Fund (EDF), as well as with NATO “because we have the same purpose”.

The event gathered defence experts and innovators from EU institutions, Member States’ Defence Ministries, armed forces and innovation agencies, NATO, media, research institutes, industry and academia. A summary of the discussions during the event are available here: https://eda.europa.eu/news-and-events/news/2022/05/31/first-european-defence-innovation-day-marks-launch-of-hedi (Source: EDA)

 

31 May 22. First European Defence Innovation Day marks launch of HEDI. The first ever European Defence Innovation Day, organised by the European Defence Agency (EDA) under the auspices of the French EU Presidency, took place today in Brussels. The event allowed a 500-strong audience – in the conference room and remotely – to listen to interesting and lively speeches and panel discussions, to visit the onsite European Defence Innovation Exhibition, and to take part in a series of separate thematic ‘Tech-Talks’. The Defence Innovation Day marks the official launch – and first activity – of the Hub for European Defence Innovation (HEDI) which was established within EDA following a decision by Member States’ Defence Ministers on 17 May.

Jiří Šedivý, EDA’s Chief Executive, welcomed the conference speakers and attendees by thanking the French EU Presidency for supporting and co-organising this “landmark event” which is meant to be the first of a long series of future European Defence Innovation Days to come. He reminded the audience of the strategic importance of disruptive defence technologies which, he said, has made of defence innovation “a factor that shapes the international security environment” and the balance of power: “The brutal Russian war of aggression in Ukraine vividly shows why we need to urgently strengthen European defence, and also why defence innovation is essential”. While innovation has always been a centrepiece of EDA’s activities, the EU and its Member States “need to do more, and more together” because joint innovation activities, done in collaboration, “provide better value for money than today’s fragmented efforts”, said Mr Šedivý. The creation of the Hub for European Defence Innovation in EDA is an additional sign that Member States are ready to take European defence innovation to the next level, in cooperation with the European Commission but also NATO. “EDA’s collaboration with NATO, were both organizations are engaging each other in Innovation Prizes and Challenges events, will continue to expand in pace with developments in both organisations”, he concluded.

Bertrand Le Meur: “France will work side by side with EDA to raise up HEDI”

Representing the French EU Presidency, Bertrand Le Meur (Director for Defence Strategy, Counter-Proliferation and Strategic Foresight at the Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy of the French Ministry for the Armed Forces) stressed the strategic importance of defence innovation and the capacity to develop and produce high-end capabilities which, especially in the current times of conflicts and uncertainties, “play a central role in preserving our interests”. “Innovation is essential for improving our defence capabilities and keeping military superiority (…) Therefore, remaining competitive in innovation is a key for the credibility and efficiency of our defence”, he said. The challenges in this domain are manifold, Mr Le Meur continued. First, the defence sector needs to open to civil, non-traditional tech players and companies which are essential for new defence applications. Second, the public-private cooperation must become leaner and smoother than it is today. Third, developers and producers need to consider the end-users’ perspective from a very early stage of the innovation process.  And finally, there needs to be a culture-change in the Ministries of Defence who need to adapt to much shorter and quicker innovation and development cycles than they are used to so far. On all those challenges, Member States’ national innovation stakeholders and agencies need to work together, “not in competition one against each other, but in complementarity”.  HEDI, EDA’s Defence Innovation Hub, will have an important network function to play in this context by connecting the dots between Member States and being a “catalyst and amplifier” of national innovation efforts. France, a strong supporter of HEDI, “will be side by side with EDA to raise up this Hub” and make it a success, Mr Le Meur concluded.

Defence Innovation Exhibition: 26 stands to showcase national and EDA projects

The keynote speech was followed by the official opening, by EDA Research, Technology & Innovation Director Jean-François Ripoche, of the first European Defence Innovation Exhibition which was accessible to all conference attendees onsite. The exhibition featured a total of 26 stands of which 19 were sponsored by Member States to showcase national innovation strategies and projects, while 9 were representing the results of projects developed in EDA’s capability technology groups (‘CapTechs’). Two stands were informing visitors about other innovation activities underway at EDA.  The exhibition topics ranged from Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in defence and new developments in the cyber defence domain to space-based innovative technologies and the use of 3-D-printing (additive manufacturing) in the defence supply chain.

Keynote speech and panel discussions

The afternoon session was opened by a technical keynote speech on ‘Quantum Technologies’, delivered by Tommaso Calarco who is the Head of the Institute Quantum Control at University of Cologne.

It was followed by a first panel discussion, moderated by Daniel Fiott (Defence Editor at the EUISS) on ‘How to bridge civil and military worlds in innovation?’. The session featured François Arbault (Director of Defence Industry, Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space, European Commission), Petter Bedoire (Chief Technology Officer, Saab), Marja Eijkman (Managing Director Defence, Safety & Security, TNO), Brigadier General Dieter Kohl (Special Advisor, NATO Allied Command Transformation) and Olli Ruutu (EDA’s Deputy Chief Executive).

“How to cultivate a European defence innovation ecosystem?” was then the topic of a catching ‘Fireside chat’, moderated by Panagiotis Kikiras, EDA’s Head of Technology and Innovation, that brought together Emmanuel Chiva, the Director of the French Defence Innovation Agency, and EDA Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý. There was a general agreement among the speakers on the need to enhance cooperation in defence innovation across Europe and increase uptake of innovation to ensure long-term effectiveness and resiliency of the Armed Forces.

Josep Borrell: “EDA has a key role to play in defence innovation”

High Representative Josep Borrell, the Head of EDA, closed the event by recalling that the war in Ukraine, “a tough wake-up call”, has dramatically demonstrated why our Armed Forces must be always ready to defend our citizens, values and interests. To ensure that, “we must invest more in defence and make up for years of budget cuts and underinvestment (…) The message is clear: we need to reduce fragmentation and invest more together, starting now”, he said. Member States now clearly acknowledge the importance of it, as today’s European Council meeting in Brussels (30/31 May) has shown, where leaders discussed European defence, based on the defence investment gaps analysis the HRVP/Head of EDA presented together with the Commission on 18 May. While the focus of the EU leaders’ discussion was mainly on the short-term needs, i.e. the replenishment of stockpiles, “we should also look at the future and longer-term needs. For this we need innovation to modernise our armed forces. We either innovate or we risk becoming irrelevant in the field of security and defence”, Mr Borrell said. To retain an edge over competitors and potential adversaries, Europe must make full use of emerging and disruptive technologies to develop capabilities across the full spectrum. “EDA certainly has a key role to play in defence innovation. It has been dealing with innovation since its creation in 2004. And it has already delivered. Successful examples include projects on drone swarms; technologies for electromagnetic railguns; or new clean energy technologies to lower the carbon footprint and decrease energy dependencies in the defence sector. These are all initiatives developed at EDA”. “I’m proud” of EDA’s work on innovation so far, “but we have to do more”, the Head of the Agency said, insisting on a close cooperation with the European Commission and its European Defence Fund (EDF), as well as with NATO “because we have the same purpose”. Today’s official launch of HEDI is not only an important first delivery of the Strategic Compass, but also a crucial step towards a more innovative European defence, Mr Borrell concluded.  (Source: EDA)

 

01 June 22. Team Defence Information June 2022.

Please note all links provided are to our website at www.teamdefence.info and many are accessible to registered members only. To register please go to the top right-hand side of the home page, click on Register, complete the form and you will receive login details in a welcome email, along with guidance on using the website. We avoid images in this bulletin as many defence-related organisations apply email filters that reject emails containing them.

Introduction from our Managing Director, Phil Williams

Dear TD-Info members

We’re heading towards the mid-year point, and what a year it has been. We are busily preparing for the third of our major conferences this year, Defence Information ’22. Post-Covid, we are really looking forward to gathering our MoD and industry partners under one roof to hear the MOD CIO, Charlie Forte, and his team, lay out plans for the delivery of the Digital Backbone. I hope to see many of you there!

In light of the on-going situation in Ukraine, the work we began with Lt Gen Wardlaw, CDLS, last year on the Support Advantage Charter remains firmly in focus and I would seek your support for this venture.

Support to Ukraine Innovation Fund

Proposals by 10 June 2022

Please direct all proposals and enquiries to:

Defence Ministers are calling on UK industry to accelerate the development of equipment for the Ukrainian armed forces, launching a £25m campaign fund for the design and delivery of equipment to the country across the coming months. The competition will be focused on bolstering the existing provision for artillery, coastal defence and aerial systems.

The Government believes drawing on UK expertise across the defence industry, including from innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), could provide battle-winning solutions for the Ukrainian forces.

The requirements fall into four categories:

  • Artillery – Procurement and manufacturing proposals to support the resupply of ammunition and the maintenance of Soviet calibre 152mm and 122mm weapon systems.
  • Coastal defence – Supporting the deterrence of hostile naval forces, persistent surveillance, and delivery of attacks at range, including from autonomous or remotely-controlled vehicles.
  • Military logistics and resupply – Maintenance and development of infrastructure for supply lines by sea and land, including waterways, overbridging and general Ukrainian engineering capability.
  • Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) – The provision of UAS capabilities across a broad spectrum of capabilities, from lethal effects to surveillance, electronic warfare and heavy lift.

The UK has already committed more than £2.8 bn to support Ukraine through humanitarian aid and grants, as well as military kit including

120 armoured vehicles, air defence systems and more than 6,500 anti-tank missiles.

Industry organisations will need to submit proposals by June 10, when a sift will take place to access the funding, with at least £25 m available.

The initial focus is on equipment that can be sourced and supplied in the next four months, with longer-term capability development in scope where applicable.

New TD-Info Members

This month we’re pleased to welcome Hadean Supercomputing Ltd, Crime and Fire Defence Systems, Arqit Ltd and The Woodhouse Partnership Ltd

Defence Information 22 – Mobilising the Defence Digital Backbone

8-9 June 2022

Active Conference Centre, Thornbury, BS35 3JB

We are excited to offer an interesting and thought-provoking programme at this year’s DI.

On Day One, the panels are based on Information Strategy & Information Enablers, speakers are Charlie Forte, Caroline Bellamy and Claire Fry. Data, Cyber Risk & Cloud Services, speakers are Hugh Tatton-Brown, John Abel and Kevin Brown, the afternoon panel – Digital Innovation, the speakers are Peter van der Putton, Tony Purpuri, Paul Homan and Steve Bell. Individual presentations from Duncan Johnston-Watt (Blockchain Technology) Thales (TBC) and Ben Parish.

On Day Two, the panels are based on Support, Services and Support Information Strategies, speakers Steve Hyde, Dr Richard Drake, Richard Puttick, Roger West, Cdre Chris Cook, Shaun Goodman, Chris Hammick with individual presentations from Jim Scott (LM) and Andrew Smith (MOD). The afternoon features a session from TD-Info Vanguard and 4 interactive workshops hosted by Cranfield University, Nexor, IFS and Dataiku. Our finale speaker is Adrian Baguley.

We have 5 finalists for the Excellence Awards, Jet, D2IQ, Causalens, Logiq and SecureCloud+, judging takes place throughout the event; the winner and runner up are announced before the conferences closes.

Event sponsors:

  • Gold: IBM, Mastek, VIMA Group, Appian, Google, IFS and Salesforce
  • Silver: D2IQ, Cisco, DXC, Dataiku, Fortinet, Atkins and Motorola International
  • Bronze: Cambode, PEGA and Whitetree
  • Exhibitors: Allan Webb, Nexor, Garrison, CACI, TVSSCS, Anzen, MOD Architecture, MOD Commerical Services, WiDC, Adarga, SecureCloud+ and Babcock
  • Virtual Exhibitors: MEGA, SSAFA, TLMNexus, MOD UKNCB, Project 4 Learning Lab. Armour Communciations and Denodo

We would like to thank all our event support organisations; and Fujitsu and Kahootz for support services.

PLEASE NOTE, THERE ARE NOW LIMITED ‘IN PERSON’ TICKETS LEFT. TO BOOK PLEASE CLICK THE BUTTON.

Ticket prices (plus VAT):

In person – £450 Members, £750 Non Members, MOD £250

Virtual – £100 Members, £200 Non Members, MOD £50

Future Events – For a full list of events please click here

Health Check of Defence Industrial Base – 10:00-15:00 hrs – 13 June 2022 – TD-Info offices or on Teams

Defence Digital has been asked to undertake an assessment of the state of the Defence’s Digital Industrial Base as part of a wider assessment led by the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy (DSIS) team. The aim is to establish a baseline, considering the Integrated Review and Command Paper decisions, of the health of the defence industrial base. In turn, this will help inform investment choices and decisions. This work has been briefed to the Defence Board, who is keenly interested, as are Ministers and colleagues from across-government. The US report that inspired the work can be found on the US DoD news website.

The DSIS team has developed an analysis template to collect the information and Defence Digital would like to invite TD-Info industry members to a workshop on 13 June 22 to collect views directly from industry. Ideally, the workshop will be in-person to encourage a lively discussion, although a virtual option will be available. The workshop will cover: a sector overview (description and characteristics); risks and issues; changes to the market structure, policy and regulation and programmes; and a sector outlook. The template and information collected to-date will be circulated in advance. For more information and to register, click here.

PLEASE NOTE – Ask me Anything – 10 June 2022: From ATLAS to Agile Constructs – this webinar has been postponed until further notice.

Industry Customer Engagement Forum – 13:00-15:00 hrs – 13 June 2022 – TD-Info offices or virtual – this meeting has been moved from 6 June 2022.

Social Value – 12 Months On Webinar 10:00-10:30 hrs – 14 June 2022 – Go To Webinar

Social Value is the consideration of the social, economic and environmental impact of our projects and programmes and the MOD Social Value Centre of Expertise is soon to be a year old. Peter Coy, Head of the MOD SV CoE will speak about emerging lessons and feedback from his team’s work with government and industry colleagues. There will be an opportunity for Q&A. Register here.

Trading Forum – 11:00hrs – 14 June 2022 – Contact Andy Whatman for more information.

The ISF Management team will meet on 14 June preparatory to a full ISF meeting on 21 June – Please contact Andy Corbett for more information.

TD-Info Strategy Group – 9:45-12:30 hrs – 15 June 2022 virtual on MS Teams – Click here for more information.

Integrated Product Support (IPS) CoP (formerly SCSEWG) – 10:00-12:00 hrs – 16 June 2022 –  Click here to register.

UK Simplified Technical English Working Group – 13:30-15:00hrs – 16 June 2022 – Find out more here.

Ask Me Anything Series – Digital Strategy 12 Months On – 11:00-12:00 hrs – 21 June 2022 – (This event moved so if you have already registered, your registration is still valid, and the Teams Live Link is the same.) We are delighted to welcome AVM David Arthurton, the incoming Director Strategy and Defence Digitisation for Defence Digital, to review the Digital Strategy 12 months on. Register here.

Fuel Transformation Programme Industry Event – 28 June 2022 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm – Following the Fuel Transformation Programme Outline Business Case approval, an industry event is planned for 28 June 2022 at which the Authority will share an update and brief on progress. Register here

High Value Manufacture Centre of Expertise (CoE) – 10:00-16:00hrs – 29 June 22 AMRC, Sheffield

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) Training – 4-7 July 2022 – The next ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) online training course will run from 09:00-12:30 hrs daily between Monday 4 July and Thursday 7 July 2022 on MS Teams with Ciaran Dodd, ASD-approved STE trainer. To register for the training please email Sue Russell.

Recent Events

CUPA

A CUPA meeting was held on 13 May in which it was raised that, in order to maintain momentum and move towards a deliverable product, we need more engagement from industry. It was suggested that the Defence Suppliers Forum (DSF) may be a good vehicle for raising industry awareness and engagement. Major Colin Williams from the Cyber Advisory Team at Defence Digital will give a short presentation on CUPA at DI22. Email Andy Corbett for information.

#DE&S hosts coders for Robot Dog Olympics 16-17 May 2022

Read the press release here. Human Machine Teaming (HMT) – Find a Tender (find-tender.service.gov.uk)

PQQ: https://www.contracts.mod.uk/go/193582850180F80E720A

Team Defence developing support for MOD DE&S Future Capability Group (FCG)

The extraordinarily successful ‘Spot the Dog Olympics’ event took place on May 16 and 17 where teams got involved with the latest Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS). They ‘plugged and played’ into a system of systems, using a device agnostic application store. This allowed user-centric workflows and enabled human machine teaming to deliver a step change in RAS capabilities and operational effects.

Calling for contributors – As a result the production of a paper to inform Robotic and Autonomous System API and Integration Strategy will be produced. This will be a joint MOD and industry activity building on the Spot Olympics. The paper will shape FCG strategy for RAS API and Dev Ops.

Who and when? – Volunteers will need experience in Mulesoft, IBM, D2IQ, Google, Microsoft, Red Hat and Pega. Some of the implementor joining the Task Team will be Thales, Babcock and some of the consultancies will also be in the mix. The MDI community would be very welcome. The next TD-Info news bulletin will give an exact start date and a link to sign up.

Other activities to have on your radar are:

  • Investigation into a Cloud based 3-D Printing Depository
  • Investigation into ‘Smart’ Asset Tracking
  • Formation of an Operational Energy Centre of Excellence

These activities build upon the new engagement approach outlined in the FCG Industry Engagement Strategy released in July 2021, If you would like more information on OIL please contact either Steve Green or Darin Tudor.

Recent Presentations, Publications, Surveys and Updates

Through Life Sustainability Toolset

Has your company ever applied toolsets to evaluate sustainability? Have you ever worked on sustainability related topics? Do you know any related policy?

We’re looking to promote sustainability within Defence through the use of tools! We’re incredibly eager to collect use cases, case studies or thought leadership in this area.

We’re looking for evidence-based case studies on these subjects:

  • Capability Horizons: What are the different considerations across the planning and investment horizons we need to consider for sustainability? What are the no regret actions that we must take today? What will need influencing over the longer capability development lifecycle?
  • Sustainable Acquisition: This section describes best practice and decisions from across sectors. We need to identify best practice, process, methodologies, standards, policies and tools used to generate evidence so that we account for sustainability in investment decisions.
  • Compliance: How do we verify and validate what we proposed to do for sustainability?
  • Product Development: When Defence develops products, how are we building in sustainability from the start? How does we measure this? What can Defence do during the in-service phase?

Email your contributions to Ethan Harwood

New Support Charter outlines UK Defence and industry’s joint commitment to achieving Support Advantage – Signed at SupportNET 22

MOD Support Advantage Charter

Building on the cooperation and transparency commitments within the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy (DSIS), a joint-team from Team Defence Information (TD-Info) and MOD, with support from the Defence Suppliers forum (DSF) and the trade organisations ADS and Tech UK, set about creating the Support Advantage Charter.

On 28 April 2022, The Support Advantage Charter was formally signed by:

  • Lt Gen Richard Wardlaw, CDLS, on behalf of the MOD Support Function,
  • Adrian Baguley, Deputy CEO & Director General Strategic Enablers Defence Equipment & Support, on behalf of MOD Enabling Organisations, and
  • Dr Jon Hall (Chief Innovation & Technology Officer Babcock International Group on behalf of the Defence Suppliers Forum).

Read the full Support Advantage Charter here

Update to CMMC Working Group from Andy Watkin-Child on the progress of NIST CMMC 2.0 – 28 April 2022

On 28 April, the CMMC Working Group received an update from Andy Watkin-Child on the progress of NIST CMMC 2.0, which is in plan to go live in May 2023 and the implications of the US Department of Justice legal actions under the False Claims Act, where contractors to the US Department of Defence have misrepresented their Cybersecurity management capabilities. These have already resulted in significant fines. He also drew our attention to the announcement in March 2022 by the Securities and Exchange Commission that Cybersecurity Risk Management disclosure will become mandatory for businesses on US Capital Markets. Boards will have to demonstrate cybersecurity experience and oversight and assurance of cyber risks. Material Cybers Incidents will need to be reported to the SEC within 4 days. This data will be available to market participants, including investors, researchers, credit rating agencies, insurance companies and legal teams.

The Defence Supplier Forum (DSF) newsletter – May 22

Read it here

DE&S publish the DE&S Digital Engineering Transformation Strategy – Outline strategy and implementation plan – May 2022

“This strategy, and the associated change programme, will start to pull together an agreed view on the scale, pace, approach and focus for DE [Digital Engineering] in DE&S and the wider Defence Enterprise.” (p 4)

Cyber Resilience Strategy for Defence published 9 May 2022

The Cyber Resilience Strategy for Defence outlines the Ministry of Defence’s vision to build a stronger, cyber-resilient Defence. This is more important than ever in an increasingly uncertain world with its fast evolving technological and military challenges.

Land Industrial Strategy published – 18 May 2022

Sets the conditions for long-term collaboration between the MOD and industry, supporting co-investment in capability delivery and innovation.

New Defence BattleLab to drive innovation – 18 May 2022

A new hub designed to spark innovation and push the boundaries of technology used by UK Armed Forces has been officially opened in Dorset today.

Defence and Security Industrial Strategy: reform of the Single Source Contract Regulations Updated – 24 May 2022

This Command Paper sets out a series of proposed reforms to the Single Source Contract Regulations (SSCRs) and seeks stakeholder views. Read the Government response’ here.

Forthcoming Events – Non Team Defence-Information

Data Exploitation in Defence : Powered by Tableau – 14 June 2022

“Our ambition to ‘unleash the power of data’ is stronger than ever. Our future will be shaped by how we protect and exploit Defence’s assets. Data will become our second most important asset only behind our People. This is the clear intent of our Data Strategy.” Charles Forte, MOD Chief Information Officer, Digital Functional Lead

In this session, we will share relevant insights from Tableau’s use in the Defence sector, discuss some of the key elements of the ‘Data Strategy for Defence 2021’, and showcase how Tableau can have a significant impact in day-to-day operations for the MOD, across:

– Driving accurate decision making

– Providing data transparency through the organisation

– Providing Project, Programme and Supply Chain visibility

– Laying the basis for a data culture

By invitation only – Please register at https://dataexploitationindefence.splashthat.com

Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) Meet the Buyer Event – 27 June 2022 at DMS Whittington, Lichfield WS14 9PY

Suppliers – 18 of DIO’s Tier 1 Suppliers in attendance (Construction, TSPs Hard & Soft FM)

Attendees – 100 SME spaces available

Registration – by emailing:

Through DIO, suppliers provide a range of infrastructure services to the Ministry of Defence. By value, we rely on our suppliers to deliver 95% of our infrastructure services. This event will help to ensure DIO is pursuing and aiming to reach as much of the market as possible, increasing competition and achieving our corporate objective of making it easier to do business with DIO. It will also contribute to DIO creating a more transparent procurement environment/process and emphasise that DIO are actively seeking to encourage new suppliers and entrants, including small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to maximise innovation opportunities.

COVID-19 – TD-Info Remote Working

Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, the TD-Info administrative staff continue to work remotely; postal mail is only collected periodically.  With this in mind, please use email as primary form of correspondence should you need to contact our admin or finance department.

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31 May 22. Space for Earth: ILA Berlin shows how space benefits Earth.

  • global space flight community meets at ILA
  • from EnMAP to New Space – a wide range of topics at the Space Pavilion
  • Astronaut Talk with Matthias Maurer and Reinhold Ewald

Central challenges facing modern society can only be solved by innovations that are the result of space flight. For example, data collected in space provides a comprehensive overview of the climate and weather conditions on our planet. Satellites enable the transmission of large volumes of data and make an important contribution to the digital transformation of the economy. Space flight also results in new findings on the evolution of Earth and the solar system. Obtaining new basic knowledge makes it possible to drive forward innovation. Furthermore, space flight decisively helps crisis prevention and disaster management, with early warning systems able to protect humans and the environment.

Meeting place of the global space flight community

Sustainability and climate change, digitalisation and research as well as prevention – those are the key space flight topics at this year’s ILA Berlin. Ministries, agencies, science and space flight enterprises will all present their innovations and latest products for use on Earth and in space.

DLR presents wide-ranging programme at ILA

On the stand of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Hall 6 the focus will be on future Earth observation missions. Tandem-L, a suggestion for a highly innovative satellite mission, aims to globally observe dynamic processes on the Earth’s surface and collect data on biomass changes. The DLR will also present planetary rovers.

ILA Space Pavilion – a globally unique space flight display

A big highlight at ILA will be the Space Pavilion organised by the following partners: the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the German aerospace companies represented by the BDLI. The wide-ranging programme of events and on-stage activities featuring high-profile space flight actors will highlight how space flight improves life on Earth. Another high point will be the Astronaut Talk featuring Matthias Maurer on day three of the show (Friday, 24 June). Among those attending will be European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton; Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Dr. Robert Habeck; Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy Dr. Anna Christmann; Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Aviation and Space Group in the Bundestag Klaus-Peter Willsch; ESA Director General Dr. Josef Aschbacher; Chair of the DLR Executive Board Prof. Dr. Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla; Head of the German Space Agency at DLR Dr. Walther Pelzer; BDLI President Dr. Michael Schöllhorn and BDLI Vice President Aerospace Marco Fuchs.

A Day For Our Climate – Data from space for protecting our climate

Day one (Wednesday, 22 June) of the show at the ILA Space Pavilion will take place under the heading ’A Day For Our Climate’. Space flight plays a key role in fighting climate change. Over half of all climate indicators can only be measured in space. Earth observation satellites such as the Sentinels, part of Europe’s Copernicus Earth observation programme, or those of national programmes such as the German EnMAP mission launched on 1 April 2022, collect highly accurate measurements and long-term records, thus providing data which political actors can use to take rapid information-based decisions.

Day one at the Space Pavilion will also focus on the GRACE satellites – a joint NASA and the DLR mission, which this year is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. By conducting gravity field measurements the mission aims to understand the causes and effects of the climate crisis in order to provide a basis for precise protection measures for the climate and environment.

From New Space to sustainability in space – mega trends in space flight

Day two (Thursday, 23 June) of the show is ILA Space Day – with a focus on mega trends in space flight such as New Space, i.e. the growing commercialisation of space flight and how it is closely linked with other sectors such as automotive and agriculture. Another mega trend is space flight’s important contribution to security and defence architectures. For example, space flight provides important information and guarantees a secure communications infrastructure, and allows state actors to make efficient decisions, thus assisting services and armed forces on the ground. Security in space and sustainability are also vitally important topics. The aim is to avoid collisions in Earth’s orbit and to minimise waste in space. This in turn guarantees satellites can operate safely and helps to ensure satellite-based applications function properly on Earth, so that space flight can continue to be of benefit.

Day two will also focus on space exploration, such as NASA’s Orion programme. In summer 2022 the NASA Artemis I program aims to orbit the moon with its unmanned Orion spaceship. The European Service Module (ESM), built by the European Space Agency and German aerospace industry for NASA, is a key element of every Orion spacecraft. Also on board are two manikins of the DLR for conducting medical tests.  The first launch of Europe’s new Ariane 6 booster rocket has also been announced for 2022. This will ensure Europe’s independent access to space.

Connected and on the way to new frontiers – digitalisation, innovation and research

Day three of the show (Friday, 24 June) for trade visitors will be devoted entirely to innovations and new technologies. Space infrastructure plays a crucial part in digitalisation. Satellites assist many applications, including secure connections, automation, AI, quantum technology, robotics and smart mobility – all areas of Industry 4.0. Space flight will significantly drive forward digitalisation in future, as well as new developments such as 5G connectivity. Furthermore, space flight provides new insights into the origins and evolution of planet Earth and the universe and establishes new basic knowledge. Zero-gravity research carried out on the International Space Station (ISS) boosts medical and technological progress and facilitates the transfer of technology in many sectors.

Whether on stage or at the exhibition, the Space Pavilion will offer visitors an exciting insight into the fascinating world of space flight, including on the weekend days for the public.

Online tickets to ILA are available now at: ila.messeticket.berlin.

More details can be found at: www.ila-berlin.com

 

31 May 22. TAS DCRC to host 2022 symposium in Brisbane, 15 June.

The Trusted Autonomous Systems (TAS) Defence CRC will host its 2022 symposium in Brisbane on 15 June. This year’s event, which has the theme ‘Accelerating cross-domain autonomy’, follows the successful 2021 Symposium held in Townsville.

The 2021 event proved an excellent opportunity to discuss RASAI – Robotics and Autonomous Systems and Artificial Intelligence – across defence, research, industry, and regulator perspectives and TAS DCRC expects this to continue in 2022.

Speakers and panellists include:

  • Commodore Michael Turner, Director General Force Integration, VCDF Group
  • Commodore Darron Kavanagh AM CSC, Director General – Warfare Innovation Navy
  • Colonel Robin Smith OBE, Director RICO, Australian Army

For more information and to register go to: https://tasdcrc.com.au/tas-symposium-2022/ (Source: Rumour Control)

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DSEI 2023 – POWERING PROGRESS, DEFINING YOUR FUTURE

 

DSEI connects governments, national armed forces, industry thought leaders and the entire defence & security supply chain on a global scale. With a range of valuable opportunities for networking, a platform for business, access to relevant content & live-action demonstrations, the DSEI community can strengthen relationships, share knowledge and engage in the latest capabilities across the exhibition’s Aerospace, Land, Naval, Security & Joint Zones.

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