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17 Jun 24. France makes new ‘pact’ with industry to speed small drone production, acquisition. Like Washington, Paris has learned that it must help commercial industry along and reform its own buying practices to catch up in explosion of small UAV battlefield use.
Sebastien Lecornu, France’s minister for the armed forces, today signed a “UAV pact” designed to not only keep ideas flowing between the armed forces and the French drone industry but also to develop a strategic unmanned capacity in the under-150 kilogram category.
It’s the first time such an industrial pact has been signed between the French defense sector and the French government’s DGA, the procurement agency.
General Erwan Salmon of the DGA, who will be managing the UAV pact, said that “this is a rare initiative which will allow for standardization and normalization and allow us to produce drones massively and faster.”
The idea behind the pact is that, until the war in Ukraine at least, the small UAV industry was heavily biased towards civilian uses, and the national military market was not important enough to impact developments.
“The armed forces ministry is therefore going to accompany the structuration and development of a national sector which is currently highly fragmented (a large number of isolated and essentially small actors),” according to an armed forces ministry statement.
Salmon explained that Ukraine had shown that “drones can be game-changers” and the pact should provide financing so that French companies can develop “sovereign [technology] bricks. It should also help provide the monies to allow us to buy UAVs off-the-shelf and test them,” he told a packed conference zone here at Eurosatory in Paris.
The “bricks” in question correspond to specific military needs such as data links, payloads, resistance to jamming, cyber, military payloads and autopilot.
“Our procurement strategies need to change,” Salmon said, remarking that “we need to acquire rapidly, at the same speed at which UAVs are developed.”
Col. Herve Mermod of the armed forces general staff explained that one priority was to develop modular payloads able to take images, gather electromagnetic intelligence and be used as weapons.
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In addition the French military’s own interest, the ministry noted that supplying the Ukrainian armed forces “is a factor of acceleration to structure our national industry for two things: first through the volume of orders and then thanks to the competitive advantage on the export market that will be acquired by actors whose products have been used and validated by the Ukrainian forces.”
Bastien Mancini, the co- founder and CEO of drone-maker Delair, pointed out that several French small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) have been delivering UAV systems to Ukraine including companies like Parrot, Hexadrone, and his own Delair “and this materiel has performed satisfactorily.”
But he explained that it costs between € 5 million to €10 million ($5.5 million to $10.8 million) to develop a competitive drone and that production can rack up to 10,000 UAVs a year. “We must be able organize industrially” in order to be able to produce these quantities “and as it’s strategic, we need help.”
He specified that the best help SMEs like his could hope for “is to get public orders for our off-the-shelf systems” and to “shorten the contract lead-times.”
The French move reflects a global growing interest in small drones, as well as a push by governments, including the US, to reform its acquisition to better suit the fast-evolving tech. (Source: Breaking Defense.com)
17 Jun 24. France and Belgium strengthen their cooperation in land defence. France and Belgium signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday to strengthen their cooperation in land defence with both countries acquiring each a 10% stake in John Cockerill Defense, the defence unit of Belgian equipment maker John Cockerill.
“This equity investment will shortly be formalized and secured by the conclusion of an investment agreement and a shareholders’ pact, defining the legal and financial framework of the operation,” the company said in a statement.
This deal comes five months after John Cockerill Defense, a supplier of light tank turrets, signed an exclusive agreement with Sweden’s Volvo VOLVb.ST to buy Arquus, France’s leading supplier of military vehicles.
“This prospective acquisition would contribute to strengthening the cooperation between France and Belgium in a strategic sector … the process has been ongoing ever since, and is progressing through the stages necessary to its conclusion,” John Cockerill said.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo signed the memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels to discuss whom to nominate to the EU’s top posts following a European Parliament election. (Source: Reuters)
13 Jun 24. Nato test for programmes to come in first 100 days of Labour government. Labour published its manifesto on 13 June 2024, including a pledge for a 2.5% GDP defence spend.
The Labour Party Manifesto was released on 13 June 2024, as the campaign to form the next government goes into its final weeks. With a considerable and long-lasting lead in the polls, Labour have played a safe game, moving towards the centre-ground and avoiding any surprise policies that could upset the chances of a major electoral victory.
For Defence, the launch of the Labour party manifesto has followed the same initiative. Much of the language on national security and the defence industry holds with policies set forth by the Party on 3 June, including a pathway to spending 2.5% of GDP on the defence budget.
This target is likely to have the greatest impact of any defence policy in the manifesto, and matches ambitions held by the other major parties. The increase is also in line with a proposals for a new Nato defence spending target of 2.5%, a level that is popular with Allies in the Baltic region who are keen to deter Russian aggression.
Labour’s pledge is singular in that it dos not set a date for when it will be completed. Meeting Labour’s spending commitments is broadly based on increasing growth and balancing the budget without a new tax burden, so arranging an increase in defence spending is likely to pivot on the strength of the economy in the next few years.
Labour’s Nato-test touted to cut MoD deficit
However, some defence policies have much firmer timelines ahead. GlobalData understands that Labour will make the pledge to introduce a ‘Nato-test’ for major defence programmes as a part of its first 100 day efforts, singling it out for early attention.
Policies introduced in this period often enjoy a swifter passage through parliament, aided by the elevated popularity of an incoming government and a level of disorganisation among the ranks of the opposition.
Departments within government vie for such early attention, and policies put forward in the first 100 days will have been selected because they possess a combination of two qualities: being central to the new government’s outlook for the country, and contentious enough that pushing them later on would prove too difficult.
Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary John Healy has raised the issue of a Nato-test before, in the context of Ministry of Defence (MoD) deficits across its major budgets, stating that the MoD would be the first department subject to Labour’s new Office for Value for Money.
Any test that cuts MoD deficits is likely to be subtractive. A Nato-test that performs this duty might be expected to cut costly programmes that do not directly support the UK’s obligations to Nato.
How such a test is is implemented is likely to balance on the findings of the next Strategic Review – another Labour Party Manifesto commitment and the UK’s third Strategic Review in five years, intended to be conducted in Labour’s first year in office. (Source: army-technology.com)
14 Jun 24. Austin Meets With NATO Counterparts Ahead of Washington Summit. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III underscored NATO’s enduring commitment to Ukraine after meeting with his alliance counterparts in Brussels today.
The leaders discussed Ukraine during a meeting of NATO defense ministers, marking the final round of high-level talks before next month’s NATO summit in Washington.
“Like nations of goodwill around the world, our NATO allies continue to stand up for Ukraine’s sovereignty and self-defense,” Austin said. “And as we prepare for the Washington summit, the NATO-Ukraine partnership continues to deepen.”
Today’s meeting included discussions on the alliance’s defense and deterrence initiatives, including progress toward meeting capability requirements for NATO’s new generation of regional defense plans.
The defense ministers also discussed defense industrial production to ensure delivery of key capabilities to Ukraine and NATO’s plan for training Ukraine’s defenders.
Following the discussions, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the group has agreed to a plan on how NATO will lead future coordination of security assistance and training for Ukraine’s armed forces.
The effort will involve nearly 700 NATO personnel and partner countries, who will oversee training for Ukrainian armed forces at facilities in allied countries. The alliance will also plan and coordinate security assistance for Ukraine, manage the transfer and repair of equipment and support the long-term development of Ukraine’s armed forces.
“These efforts do not make NATO party to the conflict,” Stoltenberg said. “But they will enhance our support to Ukraine to uphold its right to self-defense.”
NATO leaders will formally launch the effort during next month’s summit.
Ahead of today’s meeting, Austin hosted the 23rd iteration of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a U.S.-led coalition of some 50 countries committed to helping Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression.
As he met with members of the coalition on Thursday, Austin underscored the group’s collective commitment to helping Ukraine meet its urgent defense needs and bolster its long-term security amid what he said is a critical moment in Russia’s ongoing war of aggression.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a critical moment,” Austin said as he kicked off Thursday’s discussions. “The stakes of this war are high. Ukraine’s survival is on the line. But so is all of our security.
“None of us would want to live in a world where Putin prevails,” he said. “And we would all be less secure if tyrants think that they can trample borders and cow their neighbors.”
Today, Stoltenberg also previewed a new defense industry pledge that will be formalized at next month’s summit.
The pledge, which is aimed at sending a sustainable demand signal to industry, will allow the alliance to “scale up production and to develop a defense industrial base that’s fit for purpose,” Stoltenberg said.
Austin said investment in the defense industrial base “is crucial to the future of our alliance.”
The defense ministers also discussed the ongoing adaption of NATO’s nuclear capabilities and made further progress translating regional defense plans into concrete requirements and identifying the forces needed to defend the alliance.
“For 75 years, NATO has been the greatest defensive alliance in human history,” Austin said today. “NATO has prevented conflict, maintained freedom and the rule of law, and upheld the principles of democracy and human rights.
“We still have more work to do together,” he said. “And as we look toward the summit in Washington and beyond, I am confident that we will continue to make the United States and our world more secure.” (Source: U.S. DoD)
14 Jun 24. Finland will host a NATO land command and troops. Finland will host a new land command unit of the NATO military alliance, Minister of Defence Antti Hakkanen told reporters on Friday following a meeting of the alliance in Brussels.
After decades of military non-alignment, Finland joined NATO last year in response to neighbouring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I’m pleased to state that today all NATO member states have given their political consent to Finland’s key goals in its NATO integration,” Hakkanen said.
“Finland will host a NATO command and there will be land force presence in Finland,” he added.
Hakkanen said the Finnish NATO command will have as a task to direct land warfare operations in northern Europe and in Scandinavia.
He declined to reveal the exact location of the command or how many NATO troops would be placed in Finland, saying detailed planning was still ongoing.
In NATO’s new command structure all Nordic countries would fall under the U.S. based Joint Force Command Norfolk, which is oriented to the North Atlantic defence, instead of new members Finland and Sweden remaining under NATO’s east-oriented Brunssum command in the Netherlands, Hakkanen said.
“With these decisions, the security of Finland and at the same time the security of Northern Europe is strengthened, and they significantly benefit the security of the entire alliance,” he said. (Source: Reuters)
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Founded in 1987, Exensor Technology is a world leading supplier of Networked Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) Systems providing tailored sensor solutions to customers all over the world. From our Headquarters in Lund Sweden, our centre of expertise in Network Communications at Communications Research Lab in Kalmar Sweden and our Production site outside of Basingstoke UK, we design, develop and produce latest state of the art rugged UGS solutions at the highest quality to meet the most stringent demands of our customers. Our systems are in operation and used in a wide number of Military as well as Homeland Security applications worldwide. The modular nature of the system ensures any external sensor can be integrated, providing the user with a fully meshed “silent” network capable of self-healing. Exensor Technology will continue to lead the field in UGS technology, provide our customers with excellent customer service and a bespoke package able to meet every need. A CNIM Group Company
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