Sponsored by Lincad
————————————————————————-
08 Nov 18. France: Defence and Security Co-operation. During a speech at the British Embassy in Paris (8 Nov 18) the Foreign Secretary detailed aspects of Defence and security co-operation between the UK and France, stating that: “The scale and breadth of co-operation is probably closer than it has ever been”. Specific reference was made to collaborative initiatives agreed as part of the 2010 Lancaster House Treaties.
Comment: The above speech coincided with a report, by former French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and a previous NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson, calling for a strengthening of bi-lateral measures in cyber-security, intelligence-sharing and Defence engagement. Writing in ‘The Guardian’ (8 Nov 18) the authors note that “the case for co-operation may be obvious” but “strong ties do not maintain themselves”. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/40, 12 Nov 18)
05 Nov 18. Oman: Joint Training Base. During his visit to Oman, the Defence Secretary marked (5 Nov 18) the culmination of EX SAIF SAREEA 3 and the opening of a new Omani-British Joint Training Base. UK troops are due to deploy to the Joint Training base in March 2019 and will work and train alongside their Omani counterparts. The Defence Secretary also met the Sultan of Oman and the Omani Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs, indicating the UK’s intention to sign “an agreement of enduring Defence commitment” early in 2019.
Comment: The UK and Omani Chiefs of Defence Staff jointly hosted (2 Nov 18) a meeting with counterparts from Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar and the UAE aboard HMS DRAGON. Discussions included issues concerning maritime security and Defence reform. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/40, 12 Nov 18)
05 Nov 18. HMS VICTORIOUS: Refuelling. In a Written Statement (5 Nov 18) the Defence Secretary stated that a 2014 decision to retain the option to refuel HMS VICTORIOUS in 2018 had now been assessed. “Having conducted an evidenced-based assessment it has been determined that it is not necessary to refuel HMS VICTORIOUS”.
Comment: In 2014 a decision was made to refuel the oldest SSBN HMS VANGUARD, following the discovery in 2012 of a microscopic breach in the cladding around one of the fuel cells in the prototype reactor plant at the shore test facility at Dounreay in Scotland. (The Dounreay test facility had been running since 2002 in order to provide an assessment of how the submarine reactor cores would perform over time.) While HMS VANGUARD was refuelled during a planned deep maintenance period in 2015, it was resolved to defer the decision on whether to refuel HMS VICTORIOUS to 2018. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/40, 12 Nov 18)
29 Oct 18. Type 45 Destroyers: Operational Defects. In a Written Answer (29 Oct 18) the House of Lord’s Spokesman on Defence detailed the number of defects found on Type 45 destroyers from 2016 up to and including 18 Oct 18. The highest number of defects have been found on HMS DRAGON (with 621) followed by HMS DIAMOND (517), HMS DARING (431), HMS DUNCAN (397), HMS DEFENDER (224) and HMS DAUNTLESS (92).
Comment: As noted by the Minister, operational defects can vary in their severity “covering minor ancillary components to major defects”. Type 45 destroyers have been plagued by problems with their power and propulsion systems. On 21 Mar 18 the MoD announced that it had placed a £160m contract with BAE Systems to update the power and propulsion systems fitted to all Type 45 vessels under the Power Improvement Project. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/40, 12 Nov 18)
01 Nov 18. No 11 Group RAF: Re-forms. No 11 Group has officially reformed during a ceremony at RAF High Wycombe on 1 Nov 18. The Group is being formed as a Multi-Domain Operations Group integrating the National Air and Space Operations Centre with the Air Battle Staff under a single commander for all operational command, intelligence and information capabilities with a specific focus on UK-based operations.
Comment: The re-formation of No 11 Group was announced by the Chief of the Air Staff on 11 Jul 18. Training in cyber and battlespace management is to be developed in order to help integrate the space and cyber domains with control of the air. This will be reinforced by intelligence training to further develop the capability to conduct effective information operations. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/40, 12 Nov 18)
30 Oct 18. Soldier Personal Area Networks: R&D Contract. SEA, part of Cohort plc, reported (30 Oct 18) that it has been contracted to supply an experimental soldier personal area network capability to the MoD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). Under the R&D contract, the company is leading the physical and technical software integration of soldier personal area networks with the Army’s current body armour and load carrying systems.
Comment: The company reports that an integrated solution will allow for seamless communication between devices and enhance the performance of the system by, for example, extending battery life. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/40, 12 Nov 18)
25 Oct 18. Haslar Ocean Basin Facility: Rededicated. QinetiQ welcomed (25 Oct 18) HRH The Princess Royal to its Haslar site for the rededication of the Haslar Marine Technology Park’s Ocean Basin in Gosport, Hampshire. The facility, which was originally opened in 1961 and has received a significant upgrade, is one of the largest testing tanks in the world. The basin has a volume of 40,000 tonnes of water and is used by commercial and Defence customers for manoeuvring model tests in calm water and seakeeping model tests in waves.
Comment: In 2008 the MoD made a long-term commitment to support the basin as part of the Maritime Strategic Capability Agreement. According to QinetiQ there has been a significant increase in the basin’s use “notably through a bilateral agreement with the French Government which sees its vessels in this facility”. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/40, 12 Nov 18)
05 Nov 18. Senior Enlisted Adviser: Initial Appointment. The MoD advised (5 Nov 18) that WO1 G Haughton OBE has been appointed as the first Senior Enlisted Adviser to the Chiefs of Staff Committee (SEAC). WO1 Haughton undertakes the role following three and a half years as the inaugural Army Sergeant Major. WO1 Haughton assumed his new appointment on 1 Nov 18, as he accompanied the Defence Secretary and the Chief of the Defence Staff on a visit to EX SAIF SAREEA 3.
Comment: The MoD selection panel is said to have interviewed “a strong field of candidates” before selecting WO1 Haughton for the role. As well as his operational experience in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, WO1 Haughton has held appointments in the training environment including a tour as the Academy Sergeant Major at RMA Sandhurst. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/40, 12 Nov 18)
02 Nov 18. Iran Nuclear Weapons: Joint Statement. The Foreign and Finance Ministers of France, Germany and the UK, alongside the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, issued (2 Nov 18) a Joint Statement regarding the re-imposition of sanctions by the US against Iran. The re-imposition of sanctions has arisen as a result of the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). Parties to the JCPoA remain committed to working on “the preservation and maintenance of effective financial channels with Iran, and the continuation of Iran’s export of oil and gas”. Iran is expected to continue implementing all its nuclear commitments in full, as set out by the JCPoA.
Comment: The above Joint Statement was followed by a Written Statement (5 Nov 18) in the House of Commons. The Written Statement confirmed that the UK remains “committed to preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon” and that the JCPoA remains the best way of achieving this goal. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/40, 12 Nov 18)
05 Nov 18. Defence Equipment Plan: Reports. The MoD published (5 Nov 18) The Defence Equipment Plan 2018 – Financial Summary. The Report sets out the MoD’s plans to spend £186,000m on equipment in the 10 years from 2018/19 to 2028/29. In a Written Statement the Defence Procurement Minister noted the central estimate for the cost of the equipment plan at April 2018 exceeded the allocated budget by an average of 3.7% over the 10 years and that the shortfall is greatest from 2018/19 to 2021/22. However, an additional £1,000m of funding secured in the Autumn Budget (29 Oct 18) will help to reduce the risk to affordability until 2020. The Report is available via the Government web portal (www.gov.uk).
Comment: On the same day the National Audit Office (NAO) published ‘Ministry of Defence: The Equipment Plan 2018 to 2028’ as HC 1621, concluding that the MoD’s approach to forecasting costs “is more realistic than in previous years.”. However, costs are still potentially understated by £3,000m. The report can be found on the NAO website (www.nao.org.uk). (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 18/40, 12 Nov 18)
09 Nov 18. Military ties will stay strong in no-deal Brexit, says forces chief. General Carter confident relations with EU allies would overcome political fallout General Sir Nick Carter says there is an ‘absolute desire by our allies to stay really closely connected to us.’ The head of the UK’s armed forces, General Sir Nick Carter, said the strong military ties between Britain and its closest European allies would endure despite political turmoil unleashed by a no-deal Brexit. Although an agreement between the UK and Brussels could be rubber stamped by Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet as early as next week, obstacles remain which could yet leave Britain facing a cliff edge departure from the EU next March. During the course of Brexit negotiations, Mrs May has repeatedly used Britain’s defence and security capabilities as a bargaining chip with EU leaders, threatening that any failure to secure a new defence treaty could jeopardise Europe’s long-term security. However, General Carter, who took up his post as chief of the defence staff in June, said he was confident that the UK’s military-to-military relationship with EU allies would not be affected — even in the event of a no-deal outcome. “The military realise that if we’ve got close relationships we can overcome some of the turmoil you might have at the political level,” General Carter told the Financial Times in an interview. “And that gives me great confidence. “What I see in my military-to-military relations is an absolute desire by our allies to stay really closely connected to us.” Earlier this week a task force chaired by former French prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve and former Nato secretary-general, George Robertson warned that the security and defence relationship between France and the UK was at particular risk from Brexit. “Beyond its practical consequences, Brexit amplifies tensions inherent in the UK-France relationship,” the task force said. “Everything must be done to ensure that Brexit does not jeopardise European security.” Lord Peter Ricketts, a former UK national security adviser and British ambassador to France, said he shared Gen Carter’s optimism that French and British armed forces would continue to work together after Brexit. But he added: “If Brexit turns out to be toxic and divisive, that’s bound to affect the climate in which the military operates.” On Tuesday Emmanuel Macron, the French president, sparked controversy when he used a radio interview to call for a “true” European army to combat growing security threats posed by Russia and China. Some military commentators interpreted the remarks as a further sign of Mr Macron’s determination to forge a new joint European military force to rival Nato and make EU members less reliant on the US. Gen Carter said that while military relations with France were closer than at any time in his career, he insisted Nato should take the lead in defending Europe. “We’ve always viewed the security of Europe and for that matter broader security being managed and conducted and led through Nato, and we feel very strongly about that,” said Gen Carter. “Nato is a tried and tested military alliance that works, it’s got good doctrine, its got good command and control and people understand how they fit into it.” (Source: FT.com)
09 Nov 18. Study demands ‘new energy’ in France-UK defense ties to weather Brexit fallout. Defense ties between France and the U.K. need a shot in the arm to ensure the two countries can remain closely aligned in a post-Brexit world, according to a pair of British and French think tanks. London’s looming exit from the European Union has the potential to put a wedge between the two long-standing allies, as the Macron government in Paris see its future intertwined with that of a strong Europe, while the U.K. is about to walk away from that idea. That is the conclusion of a new analysis by the Policy Institute at King’s, which is part of King’s College London, and the Paris-based Institut Montaigne. Former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson and former French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve chaired the teams of analysts from both think tanks. The two countries are unique in Europe because both have nuclear weapons, they have permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council and their militaries are built around the idea of going to war on their own if need be. While past agreements, like the Lancaster House Treaties, remain important vehicles for channeling that common ground, there is nonetheless a risk of creeping alienation, according to the analysts.
“Beyond its practical consequences, Brexit amplifies tensions inherent in the UK-France relationship,” the report reads. “It will now be more difficult for France to reconcile its ambitions for European defence with its alliance with the UK, especially as France remains keen to involve the UK in this European architecture. On the other hand, the two pillars of the UK’s foreign policy — the transatlantic relationship and its European anchorage — are being questioned, leaving the country without a clearly defined and designed foreign policy: the ‘Global Britain’ doctrine designed to fill this gap still lacks substance.”
According to the authors, the solution lies in isolating the defense- and security-cooperation dimension from the rest of the ongoing Brexit talks. Mechanisms for including London not only in bilateral touch points with France but also with the rest of the EU must be found to ensure a seamless continuation of ties, they argue. Negotiations continue behind the scenes to carve out access by non-EU members, first and foremost the United Kingdom, to EU-level instruments for strengthening the bloc’s military capabilities.
Under the banner of the Permanent Structured Cooperation initiative, or PESCO, the EU is nursing a policy framework for increased defense cooperation. A sizable funding stream is set up to power the effort. Close U.K. allies in Europe, including France and Germany, seem eager to preserve relationships built over many years.
“It is very important that within PESCO, third-party states who we want to keep at our side have the ability to participate in projects in an uncomplicated way,” German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said in early October as she hosted her British counterpart Gavin Williamson for his inaugural visit to Germany.
Participating in EU military missions “certainly also” should remain a possibility for countries outside the union, she added. According to the French-U.K. think tank study, additional focus should lie on increasing defense industry ties between the two countries. The governments should carry forward a bilateral next-generation aircraft program — dubbed Future Combat Air System (not to be confused with a French-German project of the same name) — to keep British companies in play for a European sixth-generation fighter aircraft, the authors recommend.
“It would be a pity to abandon a program in which significant financial investments have been made, as a feasibility study and technological work have already begun,” the study reads. (Source: Defense News)
09 Nov 18. Italy signals slowdown on F-35 orders. Italy will stretch out the order of F-35 fighter jets, buying six or seven of the aircraft in the next five years instead of the previously planned 10 jets, a government source told Defense News. The decision follows a review of the program by Italy’s populist government, which took office in June and is mulling defense spending cuts to pay for social welfare programs and cover tax cuts. The source said the plan did not envisage a reduction in orders, merely a slowdown of intake, which would leave the decision of the total F-35 purchase to a future government. Previous governments planned to buy 60 F-35As and 30 F-35Bs for a total of 90 aircraft. The new government will focus on spending plans over its five-year mandate and not beyond, the source said, adding that discussions are underway with the U.S. about the change in schedule. The decision on the slowdown keeps with Italian policy on the F-35 set out by Defence Minister Elisabetta Trenta after she took office in June.
“What I would like to do is lighten the load, since we have other spending commitments in Europe. We will try to stretch out deliveries instead of cutting the order, which would reduce offsets and mean penalties,” she told Defense News at the time.
Italy has taken delivery of 10 F-35As and one F-35B. Two of the “A” models as well as the “B” model are being used for training in the U.S., while eight “A” models are now based at the Italian Air Force’s base in Amendola, southern Italy.
Trenta was tapped for office by the Five Star party, one of two political parties in Italy’s current coalition government. Five Star politicians took a hostile line toward the F-35 program before taking office, at one point promising to scrap it. However, a defense spending document released last month suggests the government will maintain spending on the program in the next two years, with €766m (U.S. $874m) due to be spent in 2019 and €783m in 2020. Those figures should be treated as provisional until the overall budget is signed in Parliament in the coming weeks.
Five Star politicians have also shown hostility toward another U.S. defense program — the ground station planned in Sicily to support the Mobile User Objective System, or MUOS, network, a U.S. Navy-run satellite network providing voice and data communications to U.S. military personnel and platforms around the world, even when they are under thick forest canopies.
Long held up by legal challenges in Sicily amid health fears, sources have said the MUOS antenna in Sicily could soon see final approval from the Italian government. (Source: Defense News)
09 Nov 18. Thales on course for EU okay for Gemalto 4.8bn-euro bid – source. French aerospace and defence company Thales (TCFP.PA) is on track to secure conditional EU antitrust approval for its €4.8bn (£4.1bn) bid for chipmaker Gemalto (GTO.AS), a person familiar with the matter said on Friday, a move set to make it a leading player in digital security services.
Thales, Europe’s largest defence electronics group whose largest shareholder is the French state, announced the deal in December last year. Companies are seeking to boost their presence the booming security services market, which includes encryption and biometric passports. Last month, it offered to sell its nShield GP HSM (general purpose hardware security modules) to address the European Commission’s concerns about the deal. Such technology generates keys and encrypt and decrypt data.
The EU competition enforcer subsequently sought feedback from rivals and customers.
“The scope of the divestiture has been confirmed as being Thales GP HSM,” Thales spokeswoman Victoire Chartier said, declining to comment on the EU ruling.
The Commission also declined to comment. It has set a Jan. 8 deadline for its decision. Franco-Dutch Gemalto’s second-biggest shareholder is state-owned bank Bpifrance. (Source: Reuters)
09 Nov 18. Norway suspends arms export licences to Saudi Arabia. Norway announced on Friday that it was suspending new licenses for arms exports to Saudi Arabia following recent developments in the Gulf kingdom and the situation in Yemen. A foreign ministry spokesman declined to say whether the decision was partly motivated by the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
“We have decided that in the present situation we will not give new licenses for the export of defence material or multipurpose goods for military use to Saudi Arabia,” Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said in a statement.
Germany said last month that it would halt German arms exports to Saudi Arabia until the killing of Khashoggi was explained. Norway’s announcement comes a week after its foreign minister summoned the Saudi ambassador to Oslo to protest Khashoggi’s assassination.The decision (to suspend licences) was taken after “a broad assessment of recent developments in Saudi Arabia and the unclear situation in Yemen,” the foreign ministry said in its statement. Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of forces against Iran-aligned Houthi fighters in Yemen, in a conflict that has driven much of Yemen’s population to the brink of famine. (Source: Reuters)
09 Nov 18. OCCAR formally invites Airbus to lead European MALE RPAS project. The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) European procurement agency has issued Airbus with a formal invitation to tender as the prime contractor for the European medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) remotely piloted air system (RPAS), the agency announced on 8 November.
The invitation to Airbus comes just ahead of completion of the design-definition phase for the European MALE RPAS that it is being developed on behalf of Germany and Spain alongside Dassault of France and Leonardo of Italy. Managed by OCCAR, the European MALE RPAS programme is in the final stages of a definition study contract signed on 26 August 2016. The development phase is expected to be launched in 2019, with a prototype first flight expected in early 2023 and delivery of the first system in about 2025.
A full-sized mock-up revealed at the ILA Berlin Airshow earlier this year showed the unmanned aircraft to be slightly larger in size than the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper, with a twin pusher-propeller configuration. The model on display was shown with a single electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor. Though intended primarily as an intelligence, surveillance. and reconnaissance (ISR) vehicle, there will be an option for it to be armed. To date, Germany has said that it will procure 21 aircraft, France has said it will buy eight through to 2030, while Spain recently said that it will buy eight. Italy has yet to divulge its procurement plan. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
08 Nov 18. The Directorate General of Armament (DGA) Qualifies the Rafale F3-R. the Directorate General of Armament (DGA) approved the Rafale’s new F3-R standard, in accordance with the objectives set out in the contract awarded in early 2014 to Dassault Aviation, Thales, MBDA and Safran. A major milestone had already been reached in October with the launch of the F3-R upgrade projects for all 144 Rafale aircraft currently in service. The first ten Rafale F3-R aircraft, four of which will be delivered before the end of the year, will be used by the Air Force and the French Navy to perfect their operational implementation, already initiated alongside the test teams of the DGA. As for previous standards, the new F3-R standard brings major software and hardware evolutions. In particular, two new capabilities profoundly change the game in the field of combat aviation:
— First, the combination of the new Meteor very long-range air-to-air missile and the active-antenna RBE2 electronic scanning radar brings the Rafale even more to the forefront of aerial combat;
— Second, the new generation TALIOS pod enhances its capabilities in the field of target detection, recognition and identification by day and night for high-precision air-to-ground strikes.
The new F3-R standard also takes into account operational lessons learned, notable for the Modular Air Ground Armament (AASM), as well as interoperability and regulatory requirements. The continuous improvement approach of the Rafale thus continues to reinforce the omnirole [1] capabilities of this combat aircraft, which has been successfully engaged in the most demanding overseas theaters of operations. This new standard has already strengthened Rafale’s export competitiveness, as the Rafale’s first three international contracts were concluded on the basis of the F3-R capability profile. [1] The Rafale has the ability to perform all combat air missions during a single flight. (Unofficial English translation by Defense-Aerospace.com) (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Directorate General of Armament (DGA))
07 Nov 18. Europe’s next-gen fighter jet is stuck in the bickering phase. The future Franco-German combat aircraft program is set to begin in earnest early next year, but a key project phase is already in full swing: the bickering. On the surface, the two main companies involved — Dassault and Airbus — have “a clear common vision on the project,” as an Airbus spokesman put it. But there is also the politicking, the jockeying for position and the mistrust that tends to show itself when there is big money on the table. That pertains to the second-tier suppliers, with French business weekly Challenges describing a veritable “guerre” — war — between Airbus and French electronics specialist Thales. At issue is who will lead the critical networking segment of the future weapon system, the secret sauce for turning flying pieces of bent metal into the type of lethal aerial “system of systems” that Berlin and Paris want.
Airbus Defence and Space chief Dirk Hoke, a German, claimed that role in a mid-October interview with La Tribune. And while Airbus says Dassault probably wouldn’t take issue with the arrangement, given its leadership of the actual new combat aircraft, the French company has yet to express a position on the delicate division of labor.
The Dassault press office did not respond to several requests for comment.
In many ways, the state of affairs on the Future Combat Air System, or FCAS, reflects the political features of a Franco-German friendship pushing Europe in the direction of a more unified military capability. That is, France does most of the pushing, while Germany falls back on its mechanistic reflexes in policymaking.
To French ears, the German attitude toward the future air weapon may seem downright stoic. That has a lot to do with a mismatch in attitude between the two countries toward military and defense writ large. France traditionally celebrates its defense companies as national champions, whereas in Germany, the arms industry is one of many economic factors, and an often pooh-poohed one at that.
“Based on the existing bilateral declarations between Germany and France, the path forward for the FCAS program is currently being harmonized in close cooperation,” a German Defence Ministry spokesman told Defense News. “This harmonization encompasses especially the coordination of the required studies in 2019 in order to start the program in a targeted and cooperative manner.”
To German ears, the French rumblings, especially in industry, seem unnecessary and premature.
“We are talking about a planning window of 2040 for fielding a follow-on aircraft to the Eurofighter and Rafale,” the spokesman added. That means, there should be plenty of time to sort out work share details.
For now, Airbus is giving the appearance that it’s watching the knife-sharpening on the industrial work share question from a distance.
“Any public discussion about detailed work share is happening way too early,” Airbus spokesman Florian Taitsch said. “Finally the industrial share-out will depend on the investments made by the participating countries. But we need to enter first into a concept study in order to understand which ingredients are required for the common system.”
Besides the industrial rumblings, high-level policy differences between Paris and Berlin are beginning to trickle down to the level of common defense programs. On the issue of exports, for example, French President Emmanuel Macron rejected a recent statement by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that arms exports should be stopped to Saudi Arabia until the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey is fully explained.
The German news outlet Der Spiegel reported last month that disagreements over the exportability of the future FCAS weapon could represent a serious wrinkle in pushing the project forward. So for now, the industrial “saber-rattling” continues, as one German defense official put it. The question is whether the governments will let it get to them. As La Tribune suggested in an article about Germany’s alleged “filouteries” — skullduggery — in defense cooperation matters with France, perhaps a session of couples therapy might be in order. (Source: News Now/ Defense News)
07 Nov 18. European defence coalition launched in Paris. A coalition of European militaries ready to react to crises near the continent’s borders was launched on Wednesday with Finland becoming the 10th country to join, amid calls by French President Emmanuel Macron for a “real European army”. The French-led initiative would not conflict with the almost 70-year-old, U.S.-dominated NATO alliance, proponents say, but reflects in part concerns about a more isolationist United States under President Donald Trump. The European Intervention Initiative took official shape in Paris after months of negotiations with Germany, who France wants at the centre of the force. Macron proposed the idea more than a year ago but was met with scepticism by other European Union nations, the idea coinciding with the EU’s launch of a landmark defence pact meant to promote joint military investment. Germany, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal have all given their green light for the French-led move. It will see members collaborate on planning, on the analysis of new military and humanitarian crises, and on eventual military responses to those crises.
“In an environment where threats and upheavals of a geopolitical or climatic nature are multiplying, the initiative must send the message that Europe is ready, that Europe is capable,” a French defence ministry official said.
The imminent departure from the EU of Britain, long opposed to EU military collaboration outside NATO, has revived talk of defence cooperation – as have concerns that Trump might prove less willing than his predecessors to come to Europe’s defence in the face of a newly assertive Russia. The initiative does not “contradict or circumvent the EU’s historic defence efforts, nor those of NATO,” the defence official said. “On the contrary, it will only improve interoperability between the participating countries.”
On Tuesday, Macron called for a “real European army” to reduce dependence on the United States. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has long been a vocal supporter of the idea that the EU should have more common defence capability, separate from NATO. Not everyone is convinced.
“Pragmatic advances and patient construction with those who are ready and willing for a political convergence in defence are infinitely preferable to totally illusory and even counterproductive slogans and incantations,” said Arnaud Danjean, a member of the foreign and defence committee at the European parliament. (Source: Reuters)
07 Nov 18. German Weapons Equipment Problems Continue. German political talk of an intention to increase defence budget spending over the next few years reminds me that a report last week from ‘The National Interest’ highlighted that no less than one-third of military equipment in service with the German military actually works. I have previously written in relation to Germany having failed to order sufficient parts and invest in its Tornado and Typhoon fast jets but another reminder this week highlights more criticism of the German government for its poor handling of the situation following confirmation by the German Defense Ministry that only 39% of German military equipment is fully functional against a target of 70%.
According to the German newspaper Deutsche Welle, only 21 of the 71 Puma infantry tanks delivered since 2010 by a German consortium comprising Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall Defense currently work. National Interest reported last week that only 95 out of a fleet of 244 Leopard 2 Main Battle Tanks was fit for purpose.
Earlier this year a Parliamentary report found that no submarines and none of the Luftwaffe’s 14 large air transports could be deployed because they were under repair. Other equipment the report said including Panavia Tornado and Eurofighter Typhoon jets and German Navy ships were not operational because of bad planning or lack of spare parts. The report blamed cutbacks in defense spending and a ‘lack of funding and inefficient management structures and planning”.
With the French President Macron calling for the creation of a ‘true European army’ to defend against Russia and in order to place less reliance on the US and German Chancellor Angela Merkel seemingly supportive of the idea of creating a joint EU intervention force, a ridiculous idea and one that the UK should never back, if anything does come out of the notion best that it does not rely too much on German military equipment. (Source: Howard Wheeldon, FRAeS, Wheeldon Strategic Advisory Ltd.)
07 Nov 18. Food For Thought. Speaking at the annual SSAFA industry dinner last week, Chief of Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter suggested that young people cannot be relied upon to back notion of service. In expressing concern over whether young people fully understand “the notion of service” and whether they can be relied on to support the military in future, General Sir Nick was expounding a concern that I have long been expressing – one that says unless we sell defence to the public, unless the public better understand what defence is and what it does, public support for defence will remain fickle at best.
The RAF 100 commemorations and particularly the RAF 100 Aircraft Tour which visited various cities in the UK during the summer has certainly helped get the message across. But great though these have been in getting the message of what an individual service does we need to do a lot more if we are going to carry the message of what defence is and what it does, why it is so important and of what NATO does to a wider audience of young people. Yes, that is a slightly different message to the one that General Sir Nick was talking about but it is probably just as important.
Back to the SSAFA dinner address and paying tribute to the unprecedented support and financial generosity that the public has shown to the armed services in recent years, General Sir Nick expressed fear that a generational divide may be opening up in attitudes to the military and said that he was worried that the armed forces were misunderstood by outsiders.
He is right to be concerned on this and perhaps nowhere better might we observe an example of attitudes amongst young people and notion of service might be during this coming weekend when those of us who recognise and understand the importance will remember those that gave their lives so that we may be free. There are no figures to back-up what I am about to say but I would be very surprised to see anything more than a very small minority of young people in their twenties who will make the effort to observe and remember what others did for them over this coming weekend. I sincerely hope that I am proved wrong.
In his SSAFA address, CDS told of his belief that younger Britons took the principle of service for granted. “I think” he said “my generation understand the notion of service all too well, naturally recognising that freedom, without the commitment to service, without charity, duty, or pride in one’s country, is unworthy of our British values and unworthy of those who have died in their defence”. He went on to say that “I do wonder though, whether the coming generation, who are less likely to have been exposed to military service, who obtain their information in a very different way, who have grown up in an increasingly complex world, in which attention spans are fleeting, and when there are proportionally more causes and charities vying for support, will still offer that same sense of support that our generation does to the armed forces.” (Source: Howard Wheeldon, FRAeS, Wheeldon Strategic Advisory Ltd.)
06 Nov 18. UK Ministry of Defence sets out £186bn spending plans. The Ministry of Defence has published plans to spend over £186bn in the next ten years in its 2018 Defence Equipment Plan, let’s take a look at what it contains. The plan, found here, also outlines £935m in increased forecast costs for major infrastructure projects during 2017/18. These include an increase of £458m for HMS Queen Elizabeth and her F-35B jets. The rise in F-35B costs were attributed to changes in exchange rates, although the MoD say that these changes ‘were anticipated’.
‘Since 2015 the world has become more uncertain, volatile and dangerous at a faster rate than predicted’
Defence Equipment Plan 2018
The MoD has managed to offset cost increases with cost reductions elsewhere, notably on the Poseidon MRA1 programme (£207m), Apache ‘Sustainment Programme’ (£132m), and the Type 26 frigates (£104m).
A headline failure for the MoD has been the upgrade plans for the Warrior infantry fighting vehicle. This programme is now 13 months behind schedule, and £62m over-budget.
Despite the cost reductions, the National Audit Office (NAO) stated that the MoD’s plan ‘remains unaffordable and is not sustainable if the Department wants to deliver longer-term value for money’. The MoD were however praised for being ‘more transparent than in previous years’.
The MoD forecasts spending £193bn on equipment in the next ten years, £7bn above its £186bn budget for that period. The NAO warned that in a ‘worst case scenario’, this gap could rise to £14.8bn. This figure is however lower than the £20.8bn worst case scenario forecast in January 2018.
The MoD must decide ‘which programmes to defer, de-scope or delete as soon as possible’ according to the NAO.
Minister for Defence Procurement Stuart Andrew said he was “grateful” for the NAO’s report. He said ministers would be “rigorously pursuing productivity and efficiency gains” and “prioritising capabilities to meet the changing threat environment”.
Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith said: “This report on the Government’s Defence Equipment Plan is very damning.
“We need proper investment in our nation’s defences, not just political posturing from the Defence Secretary. You cannot do security on the cheap”.
She added “it is high time that Conservative Ministers stopped relying on unrealistic efficiency savings and got to grips with the huge affordability gap in the Defence Equipment plan”. (Source: News Now/ukdefencejournal.org.uk)
06 Nov 18. After Macron, EU executive echoes EU army call. An EU army is likely to be formed one day, the European Commission said on Tuesday after French President Emmanuel Macron called for a “real European army” to reduce dependence on the United States. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, a former premier of Luxembourg, has long been a vocal supporter of the idea that the European Union should have more common defence capability, separate from the U.S.-dominated NATO military alliance. The imminent departure from the bloc of Britain, long opposed to EU military collaboration, has revived discussion of defence cooperation — as have concerns that President Donald Trump may be less willing than his predecessors to come to Europe’s defence in the face of a newly assertive Russia. Some EU leaders share Britain’s view that giving the EU a big military role could undermine NATO. Traditionally neutral, non-NATO countries in the Union are also wary. However, most member states agreed last December to cooperate on funding and developing their armed forces. Asked about Macron’s remark earlier in the day and whether the Commission supported the creation of a “European army”, chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas noted that new EU project to collaborate on defence procurement and research as well as new EU military peacekeeping missions beyond Europe’s borders.
“This is the Commission that put forward lots of initiatives and proposals to start building gradually a more meaningful and assertive defence identity in these difficult geopolitical times,” he told reporters at a regular briefing.
“I don’t think that this defence identity will start with an EU army,” Schinas said.
“We’ll see that at some point in time, probably down at the end of this process, we may see something that people already describe as an EU army or an EU pooling of resources to make this EU defence identity more visible and more meaningful.” (Source: Reuters)
07 Nov 18. Germany to press China on arms control, foreign minister tells newspaper. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he will press China to embrace arms controls during upcoming meetings in Beijing, citing the need to regulate robotic and space-based weapons that could soon shift from “science fiction” to reality. Maas told German newspaper Die Welt that Germany would continue to press both Washington and Moscow to adhere to the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and said it made sense to include China in future agreements.
President Donald Trump on Oct. 20 announced plans to quit the INF Treaty, citing what he sees as Russian violations of the pact and concerns about China’s development of new weapons since it was not party to the treaty.
Maas said it was imperative to create a disarmament regime that included emerging weapons systems and China. “Space weapons and autonomous weapons will soon no longer be science fiction, but possible reality,” he told the newspaper. “We need rules that keep pace with the technological development of new weapons systems.”
Maas gave no details of his plans to visit China, but said he would use his discussions with Chinese officials in “the next days to advocate for greater transparency and arms controls.”
He said Germany remained in close discussions with the United States and its partners in NATO about the INF Treaty and wants to prevent a new arms race. NATO foreign ministers are due to discuss the issue in December. Maas said he had also urged Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to stick to the INF Treaty and be transparent about its development of new weapons, something that had not occurred to date. (Source: Reuters)
05 Nov 18. Military gets a boost in revised German spending plan. The German military has received a hefty boost in a revised budget plan from 2020 after Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen refused to sign off the previous draft. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Monday proposed adding 5.7bn euros (£5bn) to the planned military budget from 2020, to buy more ships, fighter jets and other weaponry over several years, on top of a more modest 323m euro boost in 2019. Germany is under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to boost its military spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product from the current 1.2 percent – an issue that has sparked great debate within the ruling coalition. Experts say the military budget – now slated to reach around 43bn euros in 2019 – would have to increase by 2bn euros a year through 2021 and 3 bn euros a year after that even to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel’s promise to hit 1.5 percent of GDP by 2024. It was not immediately clear how the extra funding, set out in a 290-page list of proposed budget revisions seen by Reuters, would affect the military budget’s share of GDP. Von der Leyen, from Merkel’s conservative CDU party, wants to plug long-standing gaps in personnel and equipment. But Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats, junior partners in the coalition, have been reluctant to accelerate military spending for fear of alienating more voters at a time when their polling numbers are collapsing. The revisions, first reported in part by the Handelsblatt newspaper, will be debated in parliament this week, and could still be altered by the budget committee. The document called for 5.6bn euros to be spent on a new heavy-lift helicopter whose funding had been called into question, a sign that a formal competition will likely proceed next year between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The document also foresees additional spending on the new MKS180 multi-role warship, new Eurofighter Typhoon warplanes, and a missile defence program called TLVS that is to be built by European missile maker MBDA and Lockheed. (Source: Reuters)
05 Nov 18. MoD faces £15bn budget shortfall, warns UK spending watchdog. Funding shortfall will be biggest in the next four years owing to series of costly projects. The MoD’s forecast cost of buying 48 F-35B fighter jets from Lockheed Martin rose by £309m last year, mainly due to increases to US foreign exchange rates. The UK’s public spending watchdog says the Ministry of Defence’s plan for buying new equipment remains “unaffordable”, with the department facing a shortfall of up to £15bn over the next decade. Just a week after chancellor Philip Hammond awarded the department an extra £1bn in his Budget, the figures published on Monday underlined the scale of the task faced by defence secretary Gavin Williamson as he presses ahead with his plan to reduce costs and modernise Britain’s armed forces. The MoD forecast costs of £193.3bn against a budget of £186.4bn for the 10 years from 2018/19, a gap of £7bn. However, the department said this could more than double to £15bn if a number of identified risks occurred. Responding to the plan, the National Audit Office said that although the MoD had taken a more realistic approach to planning than in previous years, even its worst-case scenario was “optimistic”. “The Ministry of Defence has a clearer understanding of the affordability issues that it faces, but it equally shows how urgently it needs to get on and tackle them,” said Amyas Morse, head of the NAO. Stuart Andrew, the minister for defence procurement, said the shortfall would be “greatest in the four years from 2018/19” with 84 per cent of the costs of the equipment plan falling in that period. This is because some of the UK’s biggest defence procurement programmes, such as the £31bn Dreadnought class submarines being built to carry Britain’s nuclear deterrent from the early 2030s, cost much more in the initial years of production. “We are acting to address this increased risk to affordability,” Mr Andrew added. In one of its most scathing criticisms, the NAO said that by delaying projects, the MoD had “resorted to short-term decision-making, increasing the longer-term risks to value for money and the likelihood of returning to past poor practices”. It cited as an example a two-year delay to the UK’s new fleet of Protector drones, which saved £100m in 2017/18 but led to an estimated increase in costs of £160m over the next 10 years. FT Archive The MoD’s report also highlighted how the forecast cost of purchasing 48 F-35B stealth fighter jets from US manufacturer Lockheed Martin rose by £309m last year, mainly due to increases to US foreign exchange rates. The price of the UK’s new Astute class attack submarines rose by almost £200m over the same period. Last week’s Budget was widely seen as a victory for Mr Williamson, who launched a public offensive against Mr Hammond to secure more money for defence and avoid morale-sapping cuts to troop numbers or other key capabilities. But with the Dreadnought and Astute submarine programmes likely to swallow up the majority of the new money, harder decisions may still lie ahead. “By injecting a further £1bn into the MoD this year and next, the Budget has significantly eased short-term pressures,” said Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general at the UK think-tank the Royal United Services Institute. “Decisions on addressing longer-term pressures on the defence budget will have to wait for next year’s spending review.” (Source: FT.com)
05 Nov 18. Lincad, a leading UK manufacturer of batteries, chargers and power management systems for military and industrial applications, has been given a Bronze Award in the Employer Recognition Scheme run by the Armed Forces Covenant. A long-standing signatory to the Covenant, Lincad has pledged to support members of the armed forces and is open to employing veterans and reservists as well as their spouses and partners. For more than 30 years, Lincad has been supplying the MOD and the defence primes, continually developing lighter, more powerful batteries with faster, more flexible charging solutions for applications ranging in size from man-portable soldier equipment to artillery pointing systems and robotic vehicles.
Janet Rowe, Joint Managing Director at Lincad, commented, “It has always been part of our heritage to support our soldiers in the field by helping them to operate more effectively. Being a signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant is important to us and we’re delighted to have received this recognition of our efforts to support all current and former members of our armed forces.”
————————————————————————-
About Lincad
Lincad is a leading expert in the design and manufacture of batteries, chargers and associated products for a range of applications across a number of different sectors. With a heritage spanning more than three decades in the defence and security sectors, Lincad has particular expertise in the development of reliable, ruggedised products with high environmental, thermal and electromagnetic performance. With a dedicated team of engineers and production staff, all product is designed and manufactured in-house at Lincad’s facility in Ash Vale, Surrey. Lincad is ISO 9001 and TickITplus accredited and works closely with its customers to satisfy their power management requirements.
Lincad is also a member of the Joint Supply Chain Accreditation Register (JOSCAR), the accreditation system for the aerospace, defence and security sectors, and is certified with Cyber Essentials, the government-backed, industry supported scheme to help organisations protect themselves against common cyber attacks. The majority of Lincad’s products contain high energy density lithium-ion technology, but the most suitable technology for each customer requirement is employed, based on Lincad’s extensive knowledge of available electrochemistries. Lincad offers full life cycle product support services that include repairs and upgrades from point of introduction into service, through to disposal at the end of a product’s life. From product inception, through to delivery and in-service product support, Lincad offers the high quality service that customers expect from a recognised British supplier.
————————————————————————-