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13 Dec 22. Deputy Commander of Strategic Command says “DSEI is a learning platform and a way of building resilience.”
Lieutenant-General Tom Copinger-Symes, CBE was speaking at a DSEI event last week. London, 13th December 2022
The government’s overarching theme for DSEI 2023 was launched last week at an event in central London attended by guests from media and industry, where they heard about the role DSEI plays at the heart of the UK and global defence industry.
Guests listened to a keynote speech from Lieutenant-General Tom Copinger-Symes, CBE, Deputy Commander of Strategic Command, alongside speeches from Mark Goldsack CBE, Director of UK Defence and Security Exports at the Department for International Trade, DSEI spokesperson (Retd) Air Vice Marshal Gary Waterfall and DSEI Director Grant Burgham.
In a wide-ranging speech Lt General Copinger-Symes spoke to the overarching theme for DSEI 2023 of ‘achieving an integrated force’ and how one of Strategic Command’s purposes is to drive integration in the Armed Forces. He set this against the experience of Covid, and how it has taught both the UK and the world about integration and dis-integration.
Lt General Copinger-Symes also spoke about the importance of DSEI as a learning platform and how lessons in resilience can be learnt from the war in Ukraine. Whilst hardware is still important, it’s the platforms and software that now give nations their competitive edge. Expanding on this point he outlined three key areas: how analysis of data provides precision, automation provides speed to decision making and autonomy of machines working with humans generates more mass.
Software and technology companies will play a key role in DSEI 2023, with the event providing a platform for discussions around Digitalisation, Cyber Security, AI and Data Analytics. The Future Tech hub at DSEI is three times bigger then 2019, with many new “non-traditional” defence companies already signed up, demonstrating the reach DSEI has in these new areas of defence.
Speaking afterwards Lieutenant-General Tom Copinger-Symes, CBE, Deputy Commander of Strategic Command said: “It was a pleasure to speak at the launch of DSEI 2023 and engage with Defence media and representatives across industry. DSEI is a great forum for complex and diverse interaction between people with different skillsets and different mindsets, but all united by the common purpose of protecting the nation and helping it prosper.”
Grant Burgham, DSEI Director, commented: “DSEI offers a crucial opportunity to foster vital integration between the UK MOD, the Department for International Trade, defence suppliers, industry partners and the media. The exhibition space is nearly sold out and on track to be the biggest in the event’s 24-year history. It is great to see the growth of the event with over 200 new exhibitors signed up with ten months still to go and the biggest growth areas being space and future tech. We were delighted to host Lt General Copinger-Symes and Mark Goldsack to hear their views on how DSEI is an important milestone in the defence calendar.”
Held biennially, DSEI connects governments, national armed forces, industry thought leaders and the global defence and security supply chain on an unrivalled scale. The event is curated to consistently support both the prime contractors as well as small and medium-sized enterprises while, crucially, giving the UK exports a significant boost. On a rolling 10-year basis, the UK remains the second largest global defence exporter after the USA.
DSEI will take place at ExCeL London 12-15 September 2023.
14 Dec 22. Innovators invited to gain insight into the future of ISR.
Dstl will share new technical concepts for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in an age of AI and autonomy, at an event for industry and academia.
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) will share early stage research to help potential partners understand where future funding opportunities may lie and help build the UK’s capability.
We are seeking interest from a wide range of suppliers including small and medium enterprises, those representing niche areas and those who don’t traditionally work with defence.
Dstl will also welcome those normally involved at later stages of technical development which could benefit from insights into its pioneering research and the future requirements of UK defence and security.
Potential suppliers of future defence and security technology can register to attend the showcase of the latest research into generation-after-next technical concepts for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). This was identified as an area for investment in the 2021 Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy.
The AI and autonomy for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (A2ISR) project is covering research themes including:
- AI-enabled ISR tasking and collection
- cloud-edge infrastructures
- data-centric process improvement
- machine-assisted intelligence such as natural language processing
- advantages that could be brought by quantum information processing
The showcase will be held on 23 February 2023 in Wiltshire. Attendees will see demonstrations of cutting-edge science and technology and have opportunities to discuss support to and the alignment of Dstl’s research with emerging concepts in industry and academia. There will also be an outline of the next steps for Dstl’s A2ISR project.
Request your invitation
To register your interest in attending the A2ISR Industry Showcase Day email including:
- up to 2 names from your organisation
- job title or role of each attendee
- nationality of each attendee
- email address for each attendee
Read our full guide about how to sell to or work with Dstl: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-sell-to-dstl-industry-academia-and-other-research-organisations (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
12 Dec 22. See the weapons on display at Vietnam’s first defense expo.
Vietnam showed off its upgraded Cold War-era, Soviet-made air defense systems at its first defense expo, improving their capabilities against modern threats such as cruise missiles and drones.
An upgraded ZSU-23-4M Shilka tracked, self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and S-125 Pechora-2M medium-range surface-to-air missiles were on static display during the Vietnam International Defence Expo, which took place Dec. 8-10 at Gia Lam Airport in the capital Hanoi.
The upgraded ZSU-23-4M featured an electro-optical system fitted with a laser rangefinder. It also included daylight and thermal cameras capable of automatic target tracking in lieu of its turret mounted RPK-2 Tobol fire-control radar (NATO designation Gun Dish) for its quadruple 23mm autocannons.
The tracking system is linked to a new digital fire-control system made by state-owned defense company Viettel, which says the technology enables the tracking of aircraft up to a range of 20 kilometers (12 miles) and allows the engagement of low-altitude targets.
It is also fitted with four Russian-made Igla short-range surface-to-air missiles, increasing the engagement range from 2,500 meters to 5,500 meters, and at target altitudes of up to 3,500 meters (an increase from 1,500 meters).
The four-year upgrade program began in 2014, although not all of Vietnam’s ZSU-23-4Ms received upgrades, with a video of an air defense exercise in 2021 showing the radar-equipped vehicles still in service.
The Pechora-2M system on display at VIDEX was mounted on a fixed launcher with four missiles. Vietnam upgraded its missiles with assistance from Belarus and Russia in the early-2010s to the Pechora-2M standard. The Southeast Asian nation says the upgraded missiles can be used to engage cruise missiles.
Other improvements to the missiles reportedly include shorter engagement times, improved performance against electronic jamming and improved kill probability.
The original S-125 and ZSU-23-4 were first introduced by the Soviet Union in the 1960s, with the former used in the Vietnam War against American jets. Vietnam also currently operates newer Russian air defense systems such as the S-300 surface-to-air missile.
The country has also started looking beyond its traditional Russian suppliers in recent years, having acquired air defense systems from Israel that saw the introduction of the short- and medium-range Spyder surface-to-air missiles. Vietnam has reportedly expressed interest in the Barak 8 system, made by Israel Aerospace Industries. (Source: Defense News)
09 Dec 22. European premiere: Airbus-led large-scale flight demo teams up fighters, a helicopter and drones. In Europe’s first large-scale multi-domain flight demo led by Airbus, two fighter jets, one helicopter and five unmanned remote carriers teamed up and accomplished a mission that could occur in real-life situations. The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) Manned-Unmanned Teaming Demonstrator project will now move to the next phase: further paving the way for FCAS by developing a flying remote carrier (RC) demonstrator in the coming years.
“With the Multi-Domain Flight Demo, or MDFD, we demonstrated for the first time in Europe how manned-unmanned teaming capabilities and functionalities with up to ten connected assets work in a real-life inspired scenario and under near operational conditions,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus. “This is yet another example of how we push boundaries and pioneer technologies so that our customers can fulfill their missions: saving lives and ensuring a better future for us all.”
In the demo conducted in late summer 2022, the fighter jets, helicopter and unmanned remote carriers were connected via a meshed compact airborne networking data link (CANDL) that allowed them to seamlessly interact above Rovajärvi, Finland – and help to rid the world of a fictional rogue warlord.
A Learjet 35 from Airbus subsidiary GFD acted as a surrogate fighter, with the crew on board commanding the remote carriers, represented by five modified Airbus Do-DT25 drones. Two of them were equipped with Electronic Support Measures (ESM) sensors from partner company MBDA Germany to detect the fictional rogue warlord’s ground air missile positions. The remaining three RCs were equipped with Electro Optical (EO) cameras that recorded and confirmed the locations of the air defences visually. Additionally, one simulated fighter acting as a command and control aircraft was visible on the screens in the visitor tent where the contractor representatives from the German and Finnish armed forces followed the demo.
While the air defence was eliminated, ground troops requested close air support via a forward Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) to help them extract the fictional rogue warlord. An Airbus H145M helicopter responded immediately, helping the team to achieve their mission. In parallel, the H145M teamed up with one of the EO RCs keeping an eye on the surroundings and providing the special forces with reconnaissance data. The helicopter crew commanded the RC directly from the cockpit while the video stream of the Do-DT25 was directly transferred to the H145M. The JTAC, located close to the troops on ground, co-ordinated the attack by digital emergency notification (9-liner request) to the helicopter and partly took over command and control of one EO RC to assess the effect of the operation finally.
The MDFD concluded the second phase of the so-called FCAS MUM-T (Future Combat Air System Manned-Unmanned-Teaming) Demonstrator project, funded by the German procurement office BAAINBw. Now the project is going to enter Phase III, which will lead to the maturing of existing capabilities and development of new ones to enable initial operations in the 2030’s with existing combat aircraft and remote carriers developed by then. An initial contract for the go ahead has just been signed between Airbus and BAAINBw.
Remote carriers with different sizes and capabilities are vital assets for FCAS, where they will operate in a team with the manned New Generation Fighter and the Eurofighter, connected to a cyber-secured combat cloud network. Operating under the command of a manned fighter aircraft, RC’s provide better protection for pilots while enhancing the operational envelope and the ability to act in risky situations.
Multi-Domain Flight Demo – the partners
The MDFD was led by Airbus in cooperation with the German Bundeswehr, the Finnish Defence Forces and industry partners such as missile company MBDA Germany, compact airborne networking data link provider Patria, autonomy and mission technology startup HAT.tec and drone launch system provider Robonic.
09 Dec 22. Vietnam stages inaugural defence exhibition. Over 170 local and international companies from 30 countries are showcasing their products and solutions at the Vietnam Defence Expo, which is being run for the first time in the Southeast Asian country from 8-10 December in Hanoi.
Hosted by the Ministry of National Defence (MND) at a refurbished airbase in Gia Lam, the event also features a static display of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA)’s latest capabilities, including its Russian-made T-90S and T-90SK main battle tanks (MBTs) that were delivered around 2019.
The three-day event is aimed at helping Vietnam “diversify procurement channels and sources of technologies to produce military equipment for the country’s armies and for exports,” the MND said in a statement in November.
Most of Vietnam’s defence acquisitions have thus far been sourced from Russia, which was for decades been the country’s main supplier of defence equipment. According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Hanoi is one of Russia’s biggest defence customers.
However, reports have emerged that Vietnam’s reliance on Russia is on the wane as it strives for greater self-sufficiency and more advanced systems, as well as concern over the dismal battlefield performance of Russian equipment in the invasion of Ukraine.
The MND had in August announced a series of reforms to reduce reliance on defence imports and modernise the armed forces. The latest development follows the introduction of a new government directive earlier this year aimed at boosting domestic defence industrial capability in the coming decade.
Some of these efforts include restructuring the MND’s General Department of Defence Industry (GDDI), a state-run conglomerate of approximately 60 defence production centres, research institutes, and corporate enterprises.
Another main focus of the reforms is to encourage international partnerships to support joint defence research and development projects as well as technology transfers into Vietnam. (Source: AMR)
08 Dec 22. Team Defence Information developing support for the MOD DE&S Future Capability Group (FCG). TD-Info continues to actively support and assist the FCG in kick-starting key initiatives identified jointly by DE&S and MOD Front Line Commands (FLCs). This is called the Open Innovation Laboratory (OIL). OIL in summary – Joint Strategy: Coherent, thought collaboration focal point for Industry engagement, consistent messaging, and communication across industry sectors About: Command focused and sponsored problems/opportunities that are outcome based to enable exploitation and acquisition of products, upgrades, and services. How? By the exploitation and utilization of the most appropriate existing Working Group or community Collaborating with: MOD problem owners and funders, Defence Primes and OEMs, Established tier suppliers, Solution architects and systems integrators, other sector supply chain, SMEs. Current activities and those at the early planning stage include:
- Futures Lab – Team Defence Information is pleased to be working alongside Futures Lab, a Future Capability Group service that draws together bespoke, pan-industry and academic collaborative teams to deliver decision support to defence. Keep your eye out for events and opportunities we’ll be sharing across our networks. Follow Futures Lab on LinkedIn to find out more:.
- High Value Manufacture CoE – The launch event of the HVM CoE was hosted at AMRC Sheffield. With a broad range of attendees from across MOD, industry, and academia the discussions have helped shape the COE direction and areas for investigation. Future engagement will be facilitated through the creation of a community of interest that will be facilitated by TD Info OIL. Immediate main effort will be delivering AdM as a service (Project TAMPA), supporting the Challenge Workstream and co-chairing the digital thread future topics will include Advanced Materials, Composites & Light Weighting; Advanced Manufacture; In-Service Support; and Digital Thread. The next HVM COI will convene shortly.
- Agile Commercial Practices – Accessing talent and contracting for outcomes to deliver sprints and enable iterative development calls for new approaches to contracting. Earlier in August 22 small focus group workshops took place imparting knowledge of different commercial framework approaches. The best practice and pitfalls of each were captured and will be used to inform FCG route to market options.
- Application Programme Interfaces for Robotic & Autonomous Systems (API4RAS) Task – Team Defence is producing a paper to generate collaboration and a call to action around Application Programme Interfaces for Robotic & Autonomous Systems (API4RAS). Through collaboration, diversity of thought and learning from across sectors we will generate valuable insight to inform FCG’s direction around Modular Open Systems Approaches to robotics and automation in the Battlefield. We will deliver our findings before the end of the year so please get involved, simply track our progress, or just read and exploit the outputs.
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.
Additive Manufacturing (AdM) as a Service Working Group
On 9 November we held the third meeting of the AdM as a Service Working Group at the Defence Academy, Shrivenham. Over 50 people attended from across the MoD, academia and industry. The event started with an update on the MoD’s AdM as a Service Challenge (Project TAMPA) and its move towards contract in January 2023. Eight bids have been accepted from PQQ submissions to go forward to the ITT stage, which is being led by the HVM team in FCG, DE&S. There were also presentations from industry and MoD on current and ongoing activities around the introduction of AdM into the Defence Supply Chain, including Project Convergence – a multinational exercise hosted by the US DoD in California, during which an additive manufacturing trial took place. The trial, which was supported by DSTL, compared a range of polymer and metallic advanced manufacturing technologies. This was the first time the UK have successfully shared and printed Additive Manufacturing files from another NATO nation. You can find out more on all British Army social media accounts. The second half of the AdM WG meeting focussed on ‘hot topic’ sessions, in which issues such as how to promote greater engagement between OEMs and SMEs and information sharing around AdM technologies, capabilities and activities were discussed.
The individual AdM Working Groups continue to make good progress alongside the AdM Challenge, led by the Defence Support Transformation Team, Strategic Command, and facilitated by Team Defence Information. These WGs cover a range of topics across the Digital Thread, Certification and Inventory Management areas, identifying key issues and blockers to the enablement of wider AdM adoption within Defence. If you would like to know more about the Working Groups, please contact Stu Olden. (Source: Team Defence)
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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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