01 May 24. U.S. Africa Command’s Largest Annual Exercise Kicks Off in Tunisia. U.S. Africa Command’s premiere and largest annual joint and combined exercise, African Lion 2024, got underway Monday in Tunisia, the Pentagon announced during a briefing today.
U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, will be hosting the exercise across Tunisia, Senegal, Ghana and Morocco; with more than 8,000 personnel from over 27 nations participating through May 31, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.
“African Lion provides an opportunity to conduct realistic, dynamic and collaborative readiness training in austere environments,” said Singh, adding that the exercise increases interoperability, while strengthening shared defense capabilities and cooperation used to counter violent extremist organizations and transnational threats.
“The exercise is a testament to the dedication participants have to enhancing security and collaboration across the continent.”
Now in its 20th year, African Lion highlights the U.S. military’s commitment to maintaining strong relationships with allies and partners throughout the region, thus embodying the military’s partner-led and U.S.-enabled approach to Africa, according to a recent Army release on the exercise.
“We are very grateful for our Tunisian hosts. They continue to demonstrate their professionalism and hospitality,” U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John A. LeBlanc, SETAF-AF deputy commanding general, is quoted in the release. “This multinational engagement is designed to prevent conflicts, deter adversary aggression and ensure readiness to respond effectively to any crisis.”
During the Tunisia portion of the exercise, African Lion will be focused on developing readiness and interoperability among participating countries through diverse training activities. This includes live-fire exercises; explosive ordnance disposal operations; and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear training, according to the release.
Among the more than 8,000 personnel participating in African Lion, the U.S. military will be represented by service members from three of the nation’s six armed forces.
“It’s important to highlight the fact that those numbers include members of the Army, Air Force and Marines,” LeBlanc is quoted in the release. “I happen to be a New Hampshire National Guardsman myself, and I’m very pleased elements of the U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard have flown all the way to Tunisia for African Lion as well.”
Elsewhere in U.S. Africa Command’s area of responsibility, Singh announced that U.S. Naval Forces Africa and U.S. Marine Corps Africa are joining with Ghana’s navy to lead the African Maritime Forces Summit and Navy Infantry Leadership Symposium Africa in the Ghanaian capital of Accra.
During the summit — which is runs through Thursday and has a theme of “Cooperation at sea: Safeguarding African Maritime Security” — military chiefs and government leaders from more than 40 international ally and partner countries are participating in panel discussions focused on maritime security and collaboration, said Singh.
“These discussions and connections will improve interoperability across domains and continents, strengthening strategic-level relationships to help facilitate better regional cooperation when dealing with maritime threats,” she said.
The first event of this kind took place virtually in July of 2021 with more than 16 countries in attendance. (Source: U.S. DoD)
01 May 24. The Soldier Academy: Revamped Army training allows more flexibility to choose unit and role. The British Army’s new updated training system – the Soldier Academy – will allow recruits greater flexibility to transfer between cap badges and roles.
Recruits scattered across different locations now follow a common 13-week schedule, which is also constantly updated to address worldwide threats.
Brigadier Andrew Garner, who heads up the academy, told Forces News the Army is also changing the way the training is delivered.
“We talk about a sort of crawl, walk, run philosophy to make sure that we’re not losing too many recruits at the beginning of the process,” he said.
“In addition to creating the new common military syllabus, we’ve created a pre-employment training package for all instructors during basic training so that they can then become much more qualified.”
Brig Garner also said the new training package helps instructors “understand what it is to be a recruit, not from when they were recruits, but what a recruit is expecting now”.
Technology has also become a huge part of the training.
Captain Oliver Pritchard told Forces News all the recruits are now issued iPads that provide individual feedback thanks to a new app called MyTraining.
“Daily and weekly, they can record a reflective diary, how they’re feeling, how much sleep they’re having, how fatigued they are,” he said.
“That’s a personal one-to-one thing, just between the corporal and that recruit, which they can help them with.
“It’s not quite like Bad Lads’ Army anymore. It’s very different. It’s very much the same standard. It’s very much just the approach in which we unlock the recruits’ potential.
“That’s the thing that’s changed, using technology, being more empathetic, but by no means they’ve become soft. (Source: forces.net)
29 Apr 24. Boeing T-7A Red Hawk Triples Progress.
– Three development milestones recently completed
– Flight testing continues, including high angle of attack
Climate Chamber Test: T-7A aircraft APT-3, one of five engineering and manufacturing development aircraft, underwent rigorous testing at Eglin Air Force Base, enduring temperatures ranging from -25°F to 110°F. This test evaluated the aircraft system’s performance, including propulsion, hydraulic, fuel, electrical, secondary power, environmental control, and overall operations in extreme environmental conditions. The aircraft has since returned to St. Louis for testing.
Escape System Test: Boeing and the Air Force conducted a dynamic sled test in February at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. The test focused on design enhancements in the Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, ACES 5 ejection seat and Pacific Scientific EMC’s canopy fracturing system to reduce the risk of injury. During the test, the team implemented variable timing to slow down the ejection seat, using the drogue chute and investigated canopy fracturing system patterns. The team is now preparing to move forward with the next round of development testing.
Flight Control Law: Boeing completed development in February of a new software flight control law and since then, has flown the aircraft more than 10 times, reaching 25-degree angle of attack. Additionally, three of those flights demonstrated the aircraft’s ability to achieve fine tracking while in high angle of attack, a key capability for pilot training. Incorporation of control law 17.5 clears the path for the Air Force to start high angle of attack and departure resistance testing at Edwards Air Force Base.
“The T-7A Red Hawk is poised to revolutionize pilot training, delivering enhanced safety, performance and adaptability, and completing these three milestones shows significant progress in the program’s development,” said Evelyn Moore, vice president and program manager, T-7 Programs. “We will continue with flight testing and the next round of escape system testing throughout this year and into 2025.”
While the T-7A Red Hawk continues to progress in testing and flight completions, Boeing is also building a new production line for low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the T-7A. The company is slated to load the first forward and aft fuselages for LRIP midyear as suppliers are already underway developing parts for production.
29 Apr 24. US Army’s 5-4 ADAR and 2CR take part in CALFEX in Poland.
The exercise served to test the capabilities of M-SHORAD system.
US Army’s 5-4 Air Defense Artillery Regiment (ADAR) and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (2CR) have successfully taken part in a combined arms live-fire exercise (CALFEX) at the Bemowo Piskie Training Area in Poland.
CALFEX was conducted as part of the ongoing Saber Strike 2024 exercise, scheduled from 8-30 April 2024.
Saber Strike served as a platform to demonstrate the integration of air defence and manoeuvre units, with the new Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense System (M-SHORAD) being a highlight, reported Leara Shumate.
This system is designed to provide strategic short-range air defence, improve the manoeuvring capabilities of forces and offering increased protection for operations.
US Army Captain Bryce Land said: “The Army Test and Evaluation Command’s (ATEC) CG has charged the Operational Test Command (OTC) and the Army Evaluation Command (AEC) with updating the way we test new equipment and systems.
“The M-SHORAD participation at Saber Strike 2024 is allowing us to gain an understanding of what it will take to conduct testing in contact while utilizing operational fielded unit training.”
The CALFEX refined tactical operations and promoted international defence cooperation, testing the M-SHORAD’s effectiveness in real-world conditions.
CALFEX also saw participation from air defence units from NATO countries, including Germany, Italy, Romania, and Spain, among others.
US Army Sergeant Tristan Haigh, a Cavalry Scout assigned to 2CR, said: “Integrating air defence into our scout operations really helps with our security because we can have our main focus on the ground while air defence has their eyes in the sky. It helps us overall with the security and overall success of the mission.”
Saber Strike 2024 exercise forms part of the Dynamic Employment of Forces to Europe for NATO Deterrence and Enhanced Readiness (DEFENDER) 2024, a series of training exercises.
Said to be the largest US Army exercise in Europe, the DEFENDER 24 involves more than 17,000 US and 23,000 multinational service members from more than 20 Allied and partner nations.
DEFENDER 24 is focused on the strategic deployment of US-based forces, the utilisation of Army prepositioned stocks, and enhancing interoperability across 13 European countries.
The exercise aims to deter adversaries, transform operational mission command, strengthen the NATO Alliance, and build readiness.
(Source: army-technology.com)