EXHIBITIONS AND CONFERENCES
Nov 07. The Association of the United States Army’s Institute of Land Warfare will conduct a Shaping the Force Symposium – titled “Building an Expeditionary Army for Persistent Conflict” – Wednesday, Dec. 5 through Friday, Dec. 7 at the Judson F. Williams Convention Center, One Civic Center Plaza, El Paso, Texas.
This professional development forum will provide an opportunity for military and civilian participants to discuss doctrine, training, leader development, organization, materiel, soldier support, personnel and facilities – approaches to modernizing the current and future modular force. Invited speakers and panel chairmen include: Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, member, House Armed Services Committee; Secretary of the Army Pete Geren; Lt. Gen. N. Ross Thompson III, military deputy/director, Army Acquisition Corps; Lt. Gen. Michael A. Vane, director, Army Capabilities Integration Center; Maj. Gen. Mitchell H. Stevenson, commander, Army Combined Arms Support Command and Fort Lee, Va.; Maj. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sorenson, Office of the Chief Information Officer/G-6, Department of the Army; Maj. Gen. Robert P. Lennox, commander, Army Air Defense Center and Fort Bliss, Texas; and Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, commander, Army Infantry Center and Fort Benning, Ga. To review planned agenda go to www.ausa.org, “Upcoming Events.” To register go to: www.ausa.org, “Upcoming Events,” Shaping the Force Symposium Registration.” – Or, contact Kaye Culyba at AUSA: (703) 907-2416, e-mail .
21 Nov 07. In October Rheinmetall Defence staged a two-day event at its Unterluess proving ground in northern Germany, displaying and demonstrating an extensive array of Force Protection products and system solutions to an expert audience. Force Protection means more than just protected vehicles: for example, the term also takes in a large number of new networked techniques for defending convoys and patrols. As one of Europe’s most experienced suppliers of systems and equipment for ground forces, Rheinmetall Defence offers 360° competence in the field of Force Protection. Undersecretary Dr. Peter Eickenboom, German Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Hans-Otto Budde and a whole host of high-ranking officers responsible for current Bundeswehr operations abroad witnessed a compelling demonstration of Force Protection technology in action. On Day 2 of the event Unterluess played host to high-ranking delegations from a number of NATO nations. Two years ago Rheinmetall unveiled “Protective Shield”, a networked “system of systems” for protecting military installations, pointing the way forward. As Detlef Moog, Member of the Executive Board of Rheinmetall Defence, makes clear: “The threat facing our troops deployed in harm’s way has in no way diminished since our first live demonstration in 2005. Quite the contrary: the dangers are increasing. Clearly, we need to do everything possible to safeguard our soldiers by supplying the military with solutions that can make an effective contribution to Force Protection immediately.” This year’s presentation, dubbed “Rheinmetall Live 2007”, consisted largely of dynamic demonstrations, with the focus squarely on selected, readily available systems, products and developments. Among the technologies showcased were networked systems for protecting convoys and patrols from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and similar threats. Also on show were new solutions for protecting installations and other assets as well as numerous other technologies with Force Protection potential in hostile out-of-area environments. These include protected vehicle systems, lethal and non-lethal weapon systems as well as state-of-the-art simulation technology and robotics. At “Rheinmetall Live 2007”, the company – with support from Thales, Kongsberg, Securiton and Ingenieurbuero Deisenroth – demonstrated a wide range of new capabilities reflecting the process of Force Transformation in the Bundeswe