Estonia’s new law opens door for weapons export, defense industry growth

On the same subject

• 

  May 28, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Three European air forces approve performance benchmarks for next-gen fighter jet

  By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — The air forces of Germany, France and Spain have agreed on a set of performance benchmarks to help their governments guide the development of a next-generation fighter jet set to fly in 2040, the German military announced Tuesday in a statement. The document, approved earlier this month, is meant to help officials identify what features from a collection of 10 possible system architectures are worth keeping when the time comes to settle on a path forward for the Next-Generation Weapon System, or NGWS. That system, with the manned next-gen fighter at its heart, is slated to become the central element of the Future Combat Air System, or FCAS, the most ambitious and expensive weapons program in mainland Europe. As envisioned, a small fleet of attack and surveillance drones, or “remote carriers,” would accompany each jet, and all elements would be interlinked by an artificial intelligence-powered “combat cloud,” according to a project description. The 10 different system architectures for NGWS currently in the mix lean in different directions — for example, when it comes to armaments, maneuverability and range of the main jet and its companion drones, the German Bundeswehr statement explained. The three air force top officials — Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz of Germany, Gen. Philippe Lavigne of France and Javier Fernandez of Spain — also agreed on a “Common Understanding Connectivity,” a guide for connecting national systems into the future FCAS scenario. The document will enable the program's partner nations to “synchronize” their respective development programs, according to the German statement. The industry leads for the Future Combat Air System program, Airbus of Germany and Dassault of France, unveiled a mock-up of the future fighter jet at the Paris Air Show last year. The plan is to begin testing a prototype in 2026. Earlier this year, France and Germany formally kicked off the next phase of the overall program, with each government contributing $85 million toward the development of technology demonstrators. German lawmakers, who fear an overtly strong French industry influence in the FCAS program, have linked the project to progress on the Main Ground Combat System, another highly visible bilateral program aimed at building a common battle tank. France has the lead on the next-generation fighter, while Germany leads the tank project. The German parliament's strategy of keeping a close watch on the aerial program by approving only relatively small tranches of money has Dassault CEO Eric Trappier worried about the ability to hit deadlines, French newspaper La Tribune reported last week. Speaking before a French Senate committee in mid-May, Trappier proposed a Franco-German programming law to ensure a more rapid development pace, according to the newspaper. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/05/26/three-european-air-forces-approve-performance-benchmarks-for-next-gen-fighter-jet/

• 

  February 14, 2019 | International, C4ISR

  What the Pentagon’s new AI strategy means for cybersecurity

  By: Justin Lynch The new Pentagon artificial intelligence strategy serves as a roadmap for how the American military will embrace machine learning in future cyber operations, which could be a boon for companies who invest in the technology. Released Feb 12, the Pentagon's strategy shows how the American military will rely on artificial intelligence as a defensive tool. “We will increase our focus on defensive cybersecurity of hardware and software platforms as a precondition for secure uses of AI,” the Pentagon's new strategy states. “ In order to ensure DoD AI systems are safe, secure, and robust, we will fund research into AI systems that have a lower risk of accidents; are more resilient, including to hacking and adversarial spoofing.” A particular focus of the new strategy is researching “emergent effects,” which is what happens when two artificial intelligence systems interact. The Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground, for one, is conducting studies into how artificial intelligence can protect soldiers' tactical networks and communications from cyberattacks. The Pentagon's artificial intelligence strategy comes as both the American military and hackers have embraced machine learning for cyberattacks. According to an analysis by Fifth Domain, more than half of the new challenges and programs announced by the intelligence community's research arm in 2018 involve machine learning or predictive analytics, which represents a potential boon for cybersecurity researchers. In December, the Pentagon announced that Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan would be head of a new artificial intelligence center. Hackers are using artificial intelligence during cyberattacks, Sam Curry, the chief security officer at Cybereason, a threat intelligence firm, told Fifth Domain. Curry said that a particular risk with artificial intelligence is the use of “second order chaotic systems,” where events cause data inputs to change, using the stock market as an example. “Second order systems with badly applied, overreacting machine learning are prone to exploitation,” Curry said. With the release of the artificial intelligence strategy, the Pentagon is attempting to combat significant investments in machine learning by other countries. “Other nations, particularly China and Russia, are making significant investments in AI for military purposes, including in applications that raise questions regarding international norms and human rights,” the strategy says. “The costs of not implementing this strategy are clear. Failure to adopt AI will result in legacy systems irrelevant to the defense of our people, eroding cohesion among allies and partners, reduced access to markets that will contribute to a decline in our prosperity and standard of living, and growing challenges to societies that have been built upon individual freedoms.” https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/2019/02/13/what-the-pentagons-new-ai-strategy-means-for-cybersecurity/

• 

  September 19, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  US sanctions firms in China , Russia, Turkey over Iran’s drone program

  Tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain high, despite the release of five American detainees from Iran this week.