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29 Feb 24. Intelligence Experts from Sweden, Ukraine, UK, US, and NATO Partners Join Symposium on Professional Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). Flashpoint, a global intelligence and threat data firm, today announced that the company will collaborate in a public-private partnership with the British Academy and King’s College London to host an invite-only, open source intelligence (OSINT) symposium. Intelligence experts from Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other NATO security partners, will be joined by expert discussants to discuss a growing international profession of open source intelligence (OSINT) as a vehicle for collaboration, cooperation, and decision advantage for shared enterprises. They will also discuss sector-specific insights relevant to government, private sector, NGOs, journalists, and academic or research institutions.
“The International Field of Professional Open Source Intelligence”
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Set against a backdrop of Sweden’s formal accession to NATO during the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, spreading violence across the Middle East, and rising concerns about threats to commercial and civilian critical infrastructure in the cyber domain, space, and at sea – this timely event will explore the major geopolitical risk and cyber threat landscape of 2024 and related major concerns for free-world allies. Additionally, speakers will share defensive security and threat awareness tactics to empower societal resistance and resilience against hybrid warfare campaigns.
WHAT: Symposium on “The International Field of Professional Open Source Intelligence” co-hosted by Flashpoint and the British Academy at King’s College London
WHERE: King’s College London, Strand Campus
WHEN: 13 March, 2024 14:30-16:00 pm GMT
HOSTS, PRESENTERS, AND ATTENDEES INCLUDE:
- Swedish Defence University: Per Thunholm former Deputy Director of the Department for Intelligence Coordination at the Swedish Ministry of Defence
- Ukraine Centre For Defence Reforms: Oleksandr Danylyuk, Chairman and leader on development of Ukraine’s Joint Intelligence Committee
- European Marshall Center: Martin Schuster, International Program Manager for Partnership for Peace Consortium
- RAND Europe: Ruth Harris, Director of Defence & Security, former NATO HQ and SHAPE Joint Capability Advisor
- The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI): James Byrne, Director of the Open-Source Intelligence and Analysis Research Group
- Centre for Defence Studies, King’s College London: Dr. Hillary Briffa, Asst. Director
- Flashpoint: Andrew Borene, Executive Director for Global Security, former senior official at U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)
- King’s College London: Dr. David Gioe, King’s College London Dept. of War Studies, former CIA officer
- Invited journalists covering national security, foreign affairs, and technology developments from The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and others.
This unique event is open to qualified members of the media. Due to the venue’s security requirement and space restrictions, advanced RSVP is required and invitations are non-transferable. To request an invitation, register here or contact Kari Ritacco, with any media inquiries.
About Flashpoint
Flashpoint is the pioneering leader in threat data and intelligence. We empower commercial enterprises and government agencies to decisively confront complex security challenges, reduce risk, and improve operational resilience amid fast-evolving threats. Through the Flashpoint Ignite platform, we deliver unparalleled depth, breadth and speed of data from highly relevant sources, enriched by human insights. Our solutions span cyber threat intelligence, vulnerability intelligence, geopolitical risk, physical security, fraud and brand protection. The result: our customers safeguard critical assets, avoid financial loss, and protect lives. Discover more at flashpoint.io. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
29 Feb 24. As Tactical EV Plans Take Shape, Army Charges Ahead; Marines Stay Cautious. When green energy entrepreneur and researcher Tom Holm invited Defense Department personnel to a first-of-its-kind tactical electric vehicle expo he had organized in San Diego last September, some 500 stakeholders and decision-makers from across the military services showed up, eager to hear from panels on swift charging advancements and expeditionary fleet electrification challenges.
The event was so well received that it’s expanding in 2024 with a transition from TEVx to TEVCON: a full-blown convention for those invested in the challenge of weaning the vehicles that carry troops into combat off their conventional fuel sources in favor of more green and sustainable electric power.
Following the conference, an associated roadshow will bring militarized electric vehicle and battery demonstrations to bases across the country.
This show of interest comes despite clear misgivings from the Army and the Marine Corps — the Defense Department’s primary purchasers of tactical vehicles — about the readiness of tactical EV technology and the way forward to development and acquisition.
Last June, Lt. Gen. Ross Coffman, deputy commanding general of Army Futures Command, said “the technology does not exist” to create an all-electric tank that can charge in the “tactically relevant” 15-minute time window the service wants. The 17-megawatt generator such a tank would need to meet this target would burn more than 1,200 gallons of diesel per hour, according to analysis from the Institute for Energy Research.
For its part, the Marine Corps maintains it still has no requirement for an all-electric tactical vehicle, preferring to invest in fuel-saving retrofits and cautiously develop a hybrid truck while waiting for technology to mature.
At the same time, the services are under pressure from within and without to solve these problems and make serious headway toward total electrification of their fleets. In 2022, when the services were more bullish on the timeline for adopting electric tactical vehicles, the Pentagon adopted a sustainability plan laying out steps to move toward the White House’s goal of making every vehicle in the U.S. military climate-friendly.
The Army doubled down on the challenge, publishing its own climate strategy the same year with a 2035 deadline to field purpose-built hybrid tactical vehicles and a 2050 target to field fully electric tactical vehicles.
A poignant 2022 image from Russia’s war on Ukraine is creating a different kind of pressure while changing the conversation on vehicle electrification. The aerial photo, which depicts a 40-mile truck convoy stalled out and vulnerable en route to Kyiv due to gas shortages, underscores the extent to which fuel-dependent vehicles remain a liability, demanding dangerous resupply missions and stops. These problems are exacerbated in urban warfare, where vehicles stopped and exposed for any amount of time are a target, and in dispersed operating areas like the Pacific, where refueling missions may be especially risky and costly.
“The war in Ukraine and the growing recognition of the threat we have in the Pacific have disrupted the old model of how to think about war and how to prepare for war,” Brandon Newell, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and founder of the military-focused design firm DCI Next, told National Defense. “What I’m encouraged by, that I am seeing across all services, is that they do recognize that electric vehicles unlock new warfighting capabilities.”
With a ticking clock and a fresh sense of tactical urgency despite meaningful technological challenges, which service, then, will be first to the goal of fielding an all-electric tactical vehicle?
On one hand, the answer seems obvious. The Army in October stated it was ready to begin prototyping of a future Electric Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, or eLRV, which would, if an all-electric design is chosen, be alone in the running for first tactical EV in the U.S. fleet. Army Futures Command and the service’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center have also spearheaded research and prototyping efforts that could ultimately benefit the entire Defense Department.
Moreover, developing hybrid engines and alternative fuels is a main objective of the service’s Contested Logistics Cross-Functional Team, which stood up last spring in response to vulnerability concerns raised by the Ukraine war.
Dean McGrew, the Army’s branch chief for ground vehicle power and mobility at the Ground Vehicle Systems Center, in a recent interview said work to define what the Army wants out of the recon vehicle is well underway. Experiments with existing electrified commercial SUVs at Michigan’s Joint Maneuver Training Center and Georgia’s Fort Moore, he said, allowed engineers to get a sense of how much power they’d need to execute the target of a 50-mile all-electric range through soft sand and other challenging surfaces.While all options remain on the table for vehicle specifications, he said, officials quickly began to realize that their desires for larger vehicles necessitated a “pretty big battery.”
“We had unanimity within the leadership team that, if we’re going to tackle electrification, we’re going to learn a lot no matter which way we go,” McGrew said. “But it’s going to be a heck of a lot easier for us to start on a small vehicle, leveraging commercial capability, than trying to go it alone on a big, heavy tractor. That’s how eLRV got to be where we want to launch from.”
McGrew described it as a 12,000-pound scout vehicle, likely a battery-dominant hybrid small enough to avoid the charging pitfalls that make the idea of an all-electric tank or armored vehicle so unwieldy. He estimates that while such a vehicle would typically have a 250-to-300-kilowatt power system, a 30-kilowatt system would do the job and be rechargeable by a portable generator.
Add in a range extender — an add-on auxiliary power unit — and “we’re really kicking the can on these huge megawatt charging stations down the road quite a ways,” McGrew said.
Crucially, he said, the Electric Light Reconnaissance Vehicle should be able to execute its primary mission unhindered by its power source. The hybrid or electric power system will give the vehicle extended silent watch capabilities, meaning it can stay quietly on station in “surveillance mode” without ever needing to start up the engine, all the while emitting a heat signature much lower and less detectable than a comparable conventional scout vehicle. McGrew added that such a vehicle should burn 25 percent less fuel in idle mode, since it will be able to do everything but drive with the engine off.
“It’s better for the climate because we’re going to end up consuming half the fuel for the same amount of job,” he said. “But we’re here to win wars, and it’s more about operational duration. If I can go twice as long on the same amount of fuel, our logistics tail is less predictable.”
If fiscal year 2024 appropriations materialize as anticipated, contracting actions could begin on the nascent program as early as this summer.
Other Army efforts aim to retrofit the existing tactical vehicle fleet incrementally with Navy-approved lithium-ion batteries that will power the cab and other functions while a vehicle is on station. Crucially, McGrew said, these kits will be able to maintain temperature control — heat and air conditioning — at levels as good or better than those made possible by keeping the engine on idle.
“We do not want to motivate a warfighter to defeat the system,” he added.
To date, the anti-idle kits, which take several days to install per vehicle and realize a fuel savings of about 20 percent, have been added to about 20 of the Army’s 60,000 Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles machines, he said. Pending funding — money for scale production of retrofit kits is expected to materialize in 2025 — the anti-idle installation effort will be in process for years to come.
Observers suggest that the Army is ill-positioned to win the race against its own 2035 and 2050 deadlines. Richard Tannery, the founder of Parabolic Strategy and an independent consultant in EV manufacturing who attended last year’s TEVx, estimated it will take the Army three years to downselect competitors’ prototype vehicle designs. Considering the Army began industry demonstrations on candidates for the eLRV in early 2021, he’s not optimistic about the service’s ability to reach its fielding target.
“We’re already starting behind the curve,” he said.
For its part, though, the Marine Corps remains a deliberate observational distance behind the Army.
“I actually have it on my wall,” Reginald Thomas, head of the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Energy Office, said of the Army’s vehicle electrification roadmap and deadlines chart. “I love that they put a spot on the wall, and they aspire to get there. But that’s nothing the Marine Corps has adopted.”
In 2023, GM Defense, one of the military’s primary industry collaborators in the electric vehicle space, brought an electric-optional prototype version of the Army’s Infantry Squad Vehicle to the Modern Day Marine expo in Washington, D.C., anticipating a tactical electric vehicle requirement the service had yet to articulate.
In addition to the logistics concerns surrounding charging EVs, Marine Corps Systems Command points to another issue they consider prohibitive: the amphibious service’s tactical vehicles all have a built-in requirement to be able to drive through small bodies of water at depths of up to 60 inches, or five feet. While commercially available EVs — without exhaust pipes or air intakes — have demonstrated the ability to drive through standing water without issue, there have also been instances of EVs catching fire in floodwaters due to “thermal runaway” following battery damage.
Despite these misgivings, the Corps now has a candidate for its first hybrid tactical vehicle. It’s planning to build the technology into the future Medium Tactical Truck, expected to hit the fleet before the family of Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacements, or 7-ton trucks, reaches its 2042 retirement date.
It will have an on-board power generator and the ability to operate independent of its internal combustion engine for an unspecified period and completed the preliminary design process last year. The Office of Naval Research, in collaboration with the Nevada Automotive Test Center, is now building a technology demonstrator for the 10-foot vehicle, and the Marine Corps expects to award Other Transactional Authority contracts this fiscal year to two unspecified vendors to solidify baseline and objective-level requirements.
It’s also working on fuel-saving retrofits for its existing MTVRs, installing on one a parallel hybrid drivetrain that will incorporate a 100-kilowatt battery to extend range and improve fuel efficiency. While it’s not committing to the electric squad vehicle concept proposed by GM Defense, the service is moving forward on an experimental effort this year to develop a hybrid-electric platform for the body of its Polaris MRZR all-terrain vehicles, used by Marine reconnaissance, infantry and logistics units.
“Next year, we’re actually going to take that same design and replace the engine with a hydrogen fuel cell to see what kind of benefits that would provide,” Capt. David Lorio, an engineer with the Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Office, said.
Undergoing testing as well at Maryland’s Aberdeen Test Center is an anti-idle kit for the Corps’ existing Logistics Vehicle System Replacement, which would power the truck’s cab and command systems without requiring the internal combustion engine to fire up.
As both the Army and the Marines invest in anti-idle retrofits, the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit is working to break down silos between the services with development of a standard battery that meets military performance specifications. Its Jumpstart for Advanced Battery Standardization, or JABS, program contracted with GM Defense in September 2022 to develop a battery pack based on its commercial Ultium platform.
Four additional companies have since been contracted for prototype development. While one goal of the program and the accompanying Family of Advanced Standard Batteries is a “menu” of tested and approved batteries that can be used to hybridize tactical vehicles, an ultimate objective is standard military performance specifications for the batteries it needs to procure for a range of platforms.
“How can we use batteries that are being developed by the commercial sector and stay away from bespoke, complex, one-off battery systems?” Andrew Higier, director of DIU’s energy portfolio, said in an interview. “We don’t typically do very well at keeping up with the private sector … so it’s about how can we leverage that technology?”
Under the DIU program, GM Defense has analyzed the difference between commercial and defense standards for lithium-ion battery testing and completed critical safety tests to meet Navy standards, which govern military battery requirements, Sonia Taylor, the company’s director of communications, said via email. The next phases will culminate in the integration of a high-voltage battery pack into the utility variant of the Infantry Squad Vehicle, as teased at Modern Day Marine. This pack will be optimized for austere environments and will provide charging power for counter-drone systems and soldiers’ wearable power systems as well as silent watch operations, she said.
Ultimately, “JABS is the initial step to getting high-voltage lithium-ion battery certifications to support a variety of usage across DoD platforms while helping to streamline testing and validation of future electrified solutions,” Taylor said.
While the Marine Corps arguably has the most compelling use case for shedding tactical vehicle fuel dependency with its Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations vision for operating forward in the Pacific and elsewhere with light, dispersed teams in austere environments, the service is simply too small to take a more frontline role in tactical electric vehicle development, officials and outside experts said.
“I don’t think there’s a scenario where the Marine Corps leads this,” said Benjamin Richardson, former director of the energy portfolio at the Defense Innovation Unit and vice president of energy storage company Our Next Energy. “It makes a lot more sense for them to be second and follow” the Army.
As the Army acknowledged, though, when it sidelined electric tank development in favor of a platform with more modest energy requirements, the way to tactical vehicle electrification success will likely be through the Silicon Valley concept of “minimum viable product,” or the smallest possible package in which to validate a new concept. And through this lens, the Marine Corps may still be the first over the tactical EV finish line, thanks to a project underway that’s an order of magnitude smaller than anything else in development.
In response to a recent urgent need statement out of the Corps’ 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, the Expeditionary Energy Office is looking into internal development of lightweight battery-electric dirt bikes that could carry Marines quickly and relatively quietly across a range of terrains.
This follows a year of experimentation by the West Coast-based 1st Reconnaissance Battalion with a self-procured fleet of eight battery-powered MMX dirt bikes by California company Zero Motorcycles. The lithium-ion batteries on these bikes hold a maximum capacity of 7.2 kilowatt hours; can get a range of 79 miles in the city and up to 155 minutes of “aggressive tactical riding”; and charge to 100 percent in six hours using a relatively modest 1-kilowatt charger, according to spec sheets.
While the timeline for this experimentation and development effort has yet to be defined, it may prove to be the quickest moving of the tactical electric vehicle projects underway. “It’s a very small battery,” Lorio said. “So, electrifying that system size may be feasible in the near future. But anything above a motorcycle to go battery-electric for the next couple of decades will be very challenging.” (Source: Hope Hodge Seck -NATIONAL DEFENSE /Paulo Dominonni via LinkedIn)
28 Feb 24. Return of PEO Summit Tackles Urgency, Delivering at Speed and Scale. Earlier this month, the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment hosted its semiannual Program Executive Office Summit. The forum allows senior acquisition leaders from across the services and DOD components to discuss common challenges, share best practices, and build relationships for improving the delivery of capability to our warfighters, allies and partners.
William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. set the scene for the summit with opening comments centered on the current and future threat environments.
“You all have hard, intense jobs,” LaPlante said. “Acquisition is a profession and an expertise that takes an incredible amount of knowledge and skill built over time — and I can’t emphasize enough how important your work is to our ability to implement the National Defense Strategy.”
Spotlight: National Defense Strategy
LaPlante also stressed the importance of delivering innovative ideas to users at scale.
“You and your program managers are the ones helping to translate the tremendous prototyping and modernization efforts taking place across the department and industry into production,” he added. “If we’re not getting those capabilities into the hands of the warfighters at scale, we’re not fully realizing that innovation.”
Brown echoed the importance of the acquisition community in accelerating change. “Each Service is like a Lego set,” he offered. “As a joint force, we must be able to take those sets and build something we can constantly reorganize without losing its completeness. Given the urgency of the threat and how quickly it is evolving, we can’t be missing a bunch of pieces or have blocks that are incompatible in the first place. We must continue talking about what’s at risk and, more importantly, empowering our folks at all ranks to solve the challenge.”
According to Brown, “trust is the foundation of our profession,” and getting capability to warfighters more quickly is one way to build that trust. Often, he explained, that means ensuring the doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities and policy are developed in parallel to the prototype, as well as changing culture to get minimum viable products in the hands of warfighters sooner. “We can’t always wait until we have the perfect solution. I’d rather have a little less capability faster with trade-space to iterate with the technologists and acquisition experts based on that operator feedback.”
Conversation throughout the summit was guided by four panels discussing DOD’s Competitive Advantage Pathfinders, or CAPs, initiative; working with industry; lessons learned from the Adaptive Acquisition Framework; and perspectives from the service acquisition executive. Faculty from Defense Acquisition University facilitated the panel discussions.
Acquisition for Competitive Advantage
Established in February 2022, CAPs are demonstrating challenges and solutions to barriers in capability fielding by illuminating disconnects among the three “legs” of enterprise acquisition: requirements, resourcing and program management. Led by Dave Tremper, deputy assistant secretary of defense for acquisition integration and interoperability, the summit’s first panel explored the CAPs successes that have accelerated acquisitions by an average of two to four years, often without any additional funding.
Panelists from each of the services and Joint Staff shared insights on increasing visibility of validated requirements across the joint force; the efficiencies of open systems architectures for enabling rapid hardware and software insertion across systems, platforms and services; and creatively using existing resourcing authorities to be more responsive to the threat in a system currently optimized to operate on two-year budget build cycles.
Discussion focused on scaling best practices to additional programs, institutionalizing lessons learned and enduring policy reforms, and incentivizing program managers and PEOs to focus on the challenge rather than prescribed processes in order to drive broader cultural change across the acquisition enterprise.
Working Collaboratively With Industry
As the department works to build a modernized defense industrial ecosystem that is robust, resilient and dynamic, the second panel addressed common industry challenges and strategies to mitigate them. These can include hiring and retaining a skilled workforce, incentivizing capital expenditures, and providing stable and consistent to industry partners.
From shipbuilding to munitions, the panelists shared how they are navigating the shift from counterinsurgency operations to the great-power competition amidst current events and the post-pandemic labor environment. PEOs emphasized getting funding into execution rapidly, as well as communicating the importance of the patriots that make up the American industrial base.
The AAF at Five Years: Key Trends and Optimizing for the Future
The third panel explored major lessons learned since the implementation of the AAF’s six pathways and programs that have leveraged the framework’s flexibility to improve acquisition outcomes. Successful approaches included transitioning between or combining pathways, as well as evolving contracting strategies to further capitalize on the flexibility designed into the AAF.
While there continues to be much praise for the AAF — evidenced by year-over-year increases in some of its newer pathways, such as the “middle tier of acquisition” — and for software, panelists and attendees alike shared ideas for further streamlining associated processes and documentation.
Perspectives From the Top
Together on one stage for the first time since Nickolas Guertin, assistant secretary of the navy for research, development and acquisition, was confirmed in December, the department’s four SAEs closed out the summit by sharing their priorities and efforts to empower greater creativity while reducing risk aversion — something Brown also commented on.
“There’s operational risk, policy risk and fiscal risk,” Brown said. “We have to make sure the people who own these risks come together in the same room so we can have the hard conversations and figure out where trade-space exists to accelerate delivery at scale.”
“With efforts like CAPs, we’re seeing what is possible in acquisition when we allow — and encourage — our people to think outside the box,” LaPlante added in closing out the summit. “I continue to be amazed by the breadth and depth of the incredible work taking place, and I look forward to continue opening the aperture and inviting more of our colleagues across the department to spend a day with us and see firsthand why our acquisition enterprise is a competitive advantage.” (Source: U.S. DoD)
28 Feb 24. Defence and Security 2024 conference examines European defence and Nato. The Defence and Security 2024 conference hosted on the record plenary discussions on European defence after the War in Ukraine.
The Royal Institute of International Affairs hosted a discussion on European defence in an uncertain environment during the Defence and Security 2024 conference at Chatham House on London on 27 February, with luminaries questioning the status of Europe’s security after the invasion of Ukraine, as part of an on-the-record plenary session.
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Joannenenke Balfoort, director of Security and Defence Policy for the EU’s European External Action Service, gave voice to many working in the political heart of the European Union when she said that the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “was a wake-up call. We’re awake now.”
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia had knock-on effects for Finland that had also roused change.
Esa Pulkinnen, Permanent Secretary for Finland’s the Ministry of Defence stated that for decades he had worked to bring Finland into Nato, but only following full-scale invasion by Russia into Ukraine in 2022 had the door opened for Finland to join the Alliance.
Lieutenant General Sir Nick Borton, commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, cautioned against trying to learn lessons prematurely from the war in Ukraine, citing as examples the views of commentators expressed about the relevance of tanks in modern warfare, and the effectiveness of attack helicopters.
Both of these systems, Borton described, had been dismissed early on in the war as ineffective, but later proved to be highly regarded. So far, Ukraine has endured two years under Russian attack, and in a prolonged occupation this length of time could represent only a fraction of the total length of the war.
Borton contrasted the the reaction of the observer community to Ukraine, learning short term lessons, with the work at Nato, developing new war fighting plans with a place for every Nato force, making use of role and geography specialisations to rise to a variety of missions.
For the future resolution of the conflict the panel expressed nuanced perspectives. Pulkinnen referenced the sentiments of other speakers at Defence and Security 2024, where expressions were made about the capability for Russia to be defeated, based on substantially higher economic power and defence resources among a subset of Nato Allies.
Pulkinnen suggested that this sentiment was true, if Russia did not seriously consider negotiations for an end to the war. He went on to highlight the difference imposition between Ukraine, which faces an existential crisis, and Russia, which is involved in a war of choice that it could end at any moment, and that the gulf between these two positions would leave Russia more inclined than Ukraine to seek resolution to the conflict.
Borton echoed the sentiments of other strategic thinkers, recognising that all wars end in negotiations, but added that Russia is not at the point where it has lost so many troops that it was likely to consider such action, although he said that Russia had suffered 350,000 casualties and was currently on the defensive.
Sub-specialism at the national level within Nato
Following a question from the audience on the possibility of national sub-specialisms within Nato, the panelists expressed a mix of views.
Nato’s war fighting plans recognise certain role and geographical specialisms by nations, according to Borton, who added that almost no nation in Nato had every military capability that they could make use of, and that as there were fewer Nato Corps headquarters than Nato nations, it was inevitable that nations would organise themselves together for operations.
He added that that an assessment of potential for Nato allies to outspend Russia on defence based on the larger economic power would have assume some kind of combined spending.
Balfoort recognised that joint spending is desirable, but that focussing on national sub-specialisms might not reflect that actually make-up of the Nato Alliance, wherein some nations do not have a specialism.
Inherent difficulties in a Nato-wide embrace of sub-specialisms was also recognised by Jonathan Hoyle, vice-president and CEO of Lockheed Martin for Europe, however he maintained that the possibility still exists for benefits in the High North and Baltic theatres.
Ruth Harris, research group director for defence and security at RAND Europe reflected on the geopolitical ramifications of any cut on capabilities that came about from sub-specialisms or other collaboration, citing that the likely effect on the US would be to provoke nervousness, and that in the current moment, this is not a desirable reaction. (Source: naval-technology.com)
26 Feb 24. ADSTAR 24 to be held in Canberra. The 2024 edition of ADSTAR, the Australian Defence Science, Technology and Research Summit, will be held at the National Convention Centre in Canberra on 17-19 Seotember.
ADSTAR 24 builds on the success of the inaugural ADSTAR which was held in 2022 at Sydney’s International Conventional Centre (ICC).
Although it predated the release of the Defence Strategic Review (DSR), ADSTAR 22 foreshadowed the creation of ASCA, the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator, and brought an unprecedented range of international Defence partners to Australia, including the Chief Defence Scientists, or equivalents, of some eight countries. More than 1800 people from 13 countries attended ADSTAR 22
The ADSTAR Summit 2024 will bring the innovation, science and technology enterprise together to share ideas on a global scale. ADSTAR 24 is designed to build new relationships and strengthen established partnerships across Defence, government, industry and the academic sectors.
The summit is described by DSTG as a must-attend event for small-to-medium businesses, industry, academia, and Government professionals who have expertise and interest in harnessing capability for a resilient Defence force. Attendees will hear from and engage with senior defence leaders and researchers, as well as defence industry representatives and other Australian and international researchers.
ADSTAR 24 will be the leading event for promoting innovation, science and technology in Australia and on a global scale.
For further information and to subscribe to updates go to the ADSTAR web site: https://www.adstarsummit.com.au/ (Source: https://www.ex2.com.au/news/)
23 Feb 24. Software Enabled Defence Workshop 2 – 20th & 21st March 2024.
A further opportunity to understand and influence how MOD are evolving to respond to Constant Defence Threat.
If you wish to influence the evolution of MODs approach and engagement in this critical area, please register using the link below.
Alongside the speakers there will be breakout workshops were your input and guidance can be applied to the ongoing work and provide focussed direction for the 2024/25 phase of work.
For those attending in person, the event will be held at IBM, 20 York Rd, London, SE1 7ND – with coffee from 10:00.
If the above buttons do not work, please use the following links:
Agenda – https://www.teamdefence.info/event/software-enabled-defence-sed-workshop-2/
Register – https://admin.teamdefence.info/public/delegate-registration/page-1.php?id=347
23 Feb 24. Israeli defence firms make air show return, tight-lipped on Gaza war. Israel’s defence industry was out in force at the Singapore Airshow this week, making its return after being largely absent from the Dubai air show in November in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, a subject that was off limits at the Asia summit.
The Israeli ministry of defence and 11 of its defence contractors attended Asia’s largest aerospace and defence gathering, including Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Elbit Systems (ESLT.TA), opens new tab.
IAI, Rafael, Elbit and the defence ministry all declined to comment on the war in Gaza, including the performance of their own weapons.
“We don’t discuss weapons,” Ziv Avni, vice president of business development at Elbit, told Reuters at the unveiling of its latest aerial drone, which a placard said could carry “loitering munitions for covert and precise airstrikes”.
Israel has faced criticism and protests over its months-long military campaign in Gaza, which the health ministry there says has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians.
Israel began its military offensive in Gaza after militants from Hamas-ruled Gaza killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The war wasn’t brought up by delegates at the Singapore event and didn’t dampen appetite for Israel’s missiles, spy gear and aerial drones, two Israeli industry officials at the show told Reuters, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Groups of men in military uniforms, mostly from Asian countries, could regularly be seen shuffling into the booths of Israeli defence companies for conversations.
Unauthorised public assemblies and protests over political situations in other countries are banned in Singapore. But there was some criticism online about Israeli defence firms at the air show.
IAI, Rafael and the Israeli defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment about the online criticism. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Reuters)
22 Feb 24. Japanese MoD makes first appearance at foreign airshow, seeking arms exports. Japan brought 14 companies to the Singapore Airshow, the first non-Japanese airshow the government has displayed arms at since loosening export controls.
In a clear sign that Japan is trying to build an arms export business after decades during which such sales were banned, the Japanese Defense Ministry is displaying at a foreign airshow for the first time.
Japan’s defense acquisition agency also brought 14 companies here to showcase their products and meet possible customers, Hideki Fukawa, director of the ministry’s Defense Equipment Cooperation Planning Office, told Breaking Defense.
“The Singapore Airshow is one of the biggest airshows in this region and Singapore is a very important partner for Japan because it is located in the center of the Indo-Pacific region, and the Japanese government wishes to demonstrate a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” Fukawa, whose office is roughly analogous to the American Defense Security Cooperation Agency, said while dozens of people checked out the Japanese offerings.
The phrase “free and open Indo-Pacific,” of course, is used by the US and its partners to represent standing up to China’s ambitions across the South China Sea and its belligerent treatment of Taiwan. In its 2021 Defense White paper, Japan declared for the first time that the stability of Taiwan is a key Japanese interest.
Japan eased its arms export regulations at the end of last year to allow the transfer of lethal weapons, but there has been little public news around sales — something several members of the Japanese delegation said was due to a combination of Japan’s conservative culture and the very newness of the changes Japan did agree to give the Philippines a radar worth an estimated $4 m last November, but it was not a sale.
The companies here include a startup building an artificial intelligence edge computing chip called EdgeCortix. It’s based in Japan, but as with many tech startups, its employees come from many countries. Stan Crow, a former US Defense Department tech expert, is their vice president for defense and space technology. Notably, Crow said, the Japanese government reached out to his company and invited them to Singapore — a clear sign of the interest Tokyo has in building out its defense export business.
The company had on hand one of its chips at its small stand, along with some promotional materials. a Feb. 15 announcement from the company identified the capability as the SAKURA-I chip, which is described as EdgeCortix’s “flagship” product.
Subaru, the giant Japanese car company, came to boost the export potential for it UH-2 helicopter. The Japanese military plans to buy more than 100 of the aircraft, which had its maiden flight in 2022, but there haven’t been any foreign buyers yet. Fujita Yasunori, manager for defense helicopter sales for the company, said Taiwan, Australia and America, among others, had expressed interest.
Metro Weather America Inc., sells very small Doppler-Lidar wind monitors. They fit in a parking space and can detect wind shear as well as monitor weather for up to 30 kilometers. The company was a last-minute addition to the companies heading for Singapore, CEO Junichi Furumoto said, who added the firm has fielded inquiries from three countries, including the United States.
A survey of the 14 companies by Breaking Defense found that, through the three days of the conference, most had heard from three to five prospective customer countries. The most common were the US, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The other companies included:
- Asahi Metal Industry, which produces aircraft composite parts
- Jupitor Corporation makes a medical trauma treatment center in a container to be deployed on C-130 Hercules or C-2 Greyhounds
- NTKJ provides “high precision” optical lenses and mirrors
- NEC Corporation builds and sells a deployable long-range air defense radar, as well as two other radar systems
- Oki Electric Industry, which makes cockpit displays
- Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the producer of P-1 maritime patrol aircraft, C-2 transport aircraft and turbofan engines
- Kurimoto, who does metal additive manufacturing for engine parts
- SKY Perfect JSAT, a satellite communication service
- Takagi Steel provides metals for aircraft
- Japan Radio Co., which produces a portable tactical radio that can handle push-to-talk and video streaming
- Mitsufuji creates electromagnetic and fire resistant woven material for a hangar to shield electronics from EMP and other interference. They also market a wristband device to detect heat stroke (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Breaking Defense.com)
22 Feb 24. As the launch of the 8th edition of the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX) 2024 fast approaches, the organising committee of DIMDEX has confirmed that over 200 international and local companies will showcase their latest innovations, technologies, and comprehensive defence and maritime security solutions.
Taking place from 4 to 6 March 2024 at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) and under the patronage of HH Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, DIMDEX 2024 is proudly hosted and organised by the Qatar Armed Forces and will be held this year under the theme “Igniting the Future of Maritime Security and Beyond.”
The exhibition will feature nine international pavilions representing numerous companies, authorities, and institutions from Turkey, the United States of America, Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Iran, China and Qatar.
In addition to international participation, national companies, authorities, and institutions will have a notable presence to showcase their latest and most strategic services and will include Barzan Holdings, Milaha, Faisal International Services, ELI Middle East and North Africa Group, and Performance Marine Qatar for Boat Manufacturing.
Additionally, DIMDEX will continue to witness active participation from the Qatar Armed Forces and its various branches, including the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces, Qatar Emiri Air Forces, Qatari Amiri Air Defense Forces, Project 401, Military Colleges, and for the first time, the Qatari Emiri Land Forces.
“DIMDEX continues to attract the most important and prominent international and Qatari defence organisations, further demonstrating its leading global position,” stated Staff Brigadier (Sea) Abdulbaqi Saleh Al-Ansari, Chairman of DIMDEX. “The anticipated large participation in the upcoming edition underscores the event’s significance on a regional and global scale as it has become a key platform for many companies and countries participating in international pavilions to showcase their respective defence innovations across multiple domains. DIMDEX will also contribute to meeting the defence requirements of different nations and identify solutions to a range of challenges facing our world today.”
DIMDEX features the main exhibition spanning 35,000 square meters across 7 halls at the Qatar National Convention Centre. On the second day, the event hosts the Middle East Naval Commanders Conference, while the Hamad Port witnesses the display of visiting warships over the three-day show. The event also sees widespread participation from decision-makers, official delegations, and prominent defence personnel.
Participating international companies and pavilions will showcase the latest technologies, innovations, and maritime defence-related systems in addition to various equipment, boats, and ships equipped with defence, communications, radars, and other maritime solutions and services. Despite its focus on the maritime defence and security domain, DIMDEX has evolved over the years to become one of the most important platforms showcasing the latest integrated defence capabilities, including cybersecurity systems, anti-piracy systems, artificial intelligence, command and control systems, communications, computers, internet, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems, remote control systems, unmanned systems, and more. (Source: https://english.defensearabia.com/)
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DSEI 2025 – 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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