Europol Shuts Down Major Phishing Scheme Targeting Mobile Phone Credentials

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  December 8, 2022 | International, Naval

  US Navy secretary talks drones, fleet size and South American security

  What's weighing on the service for the new year? Carlos Del Toro discusses what's top of mind.

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  August 18, 2020 | International, Land

  India Ban on $47 Billion Arms Imports Sowing Uncertainty

  By Sudhi Ranjan Sen 16 août 2020 à 18:00 UTC−4 Updated on 17 août 2020 à 04:58 UTC−4 India's move to ban the import of certain weapon systems will do little to boost local manufacturing and is sowing uncertainty at a time when the South Asian nation is trying to ramp up defenses on its restive borders with China and Pakistan, according to analysts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration earlier this month announced curbs on $47 billion worth of imports that include communication satellites, conventional submarines and light machine guns. But defense experts said they didn't address critical issues such as the certification of systems and locally-made components, and won't prevent the military from making emergency purchases of equipment from foreign vendors. Modi has struggled to transform the world's second biggest arms importer into a defense manufacturing powerhouse since a 2014 proposal to produce indigenous equipment and systems worth $100 billion by 2020. The target has since been slashed in half and the deadline extended to 2027, while the need for more advanced weaponry grows more urgent following the most deadly border clash with China in four decades. Modi Backtracks on Free-Trade Vow With Import Curbs in India The ministry's ban on imports will have little impact beyond “measures already taken to localize defense production and reduce import dependency,” said Amit Cowshish, a consultant with the New Delhi-based Manohar Parrikar Institute For Defence Studies and Analyses and a former financial adviser on acquisitions in the Ministry of Defense. “The promotion of local manufacturing requires more cooperation between the military and domestic defense industry,” Cowshish said. “Mutual trust is missing, with everyone working at cross purposes.” While New Delhi is the world's third-biggest military spender, its air force, navy and the army are still equipped with weapons that are largely obsolete. ‘Self-Reliance Push' The push for locally-produced systems and hardware was a big step toward self-reliance in defense and creates an opportunity for the Indian defense industry to manufacture the items using their own design and development capabilities, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Aug. 9. A defense ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for a comment. Similar policy declarations to stem imports were made by India in 2013, under then prime minister Manmohan Singh, and also by Modi's administration in his first term in 2018, didn't significantly increase the ‘Made in India' products deployed by the military. “Time and access to technology is fundamental to such efforts -- currently a large proportion India's defense industry is little better than system integrators,” said Rahul Bedi, a New Delhi-based independent defense analyst. “A major dose of realism is needed.” The banned list is also vague on the position of joint-ventures between Indian and foreign manufacturers and license produced weapon systems, he said. Despite its drawbacks, India's nascent defense industry is cautiously optimistic about the new policy. “We are sure that this list will keep getting amended to add newer programs that lay a road map matching our nation's aspiration,” said Jayant Patil, senior executive vice president (defence & smart technologies), Larsen & Toubro Limited. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-16/india-s-tense-borders-threaten-plan-to-ban-some-weapons-imports

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  October 8, 2020 | International, C4ISR

  Meggitt Training Systems changes name to InVeris Training Solutions

  Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― The live-fire and virtual weapons training company Meggitt Training Systems is rebranding to InVeris Training Solutions, the company announced Wednesday. The Suwanee, Ga., firm, is shedding the name of its former parent company, Meggitt Plc., which sold the former subsidiary to private investment firm Pine Island Capital Partners LLC for $146 million in July. The new name is meant to connote trust and integrity, the company said. Pine Island's partners include former former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy. Partner Clyde Tuggle, a former Coca-Cola executive, serves as interim CEO for InVeris, and Chambliss ― a partner at Pine Island ― is non-executive chairman for InVeris. Chambliss, now with Washington law firm DLA Piper, represented Georgia as a Republican and served on the armed services and intelligence committees before retiring from Congress nearly six years ago. He became aware of the company now known as InVeris while serving in Congress and said it was a natural fit for Pine Island because of his partners' backgrounds in the defense space. “We clearly understood at the time of the purchase back on July 1 that we were buying a company that is the gold standard when it comes to providing training for the United States military as well as to international clients in the same arena,” Chambliss said. “Going forward, we think that clearly we have the opportunity, number one, to provide the resources to what is now known as InVeris to expand from a technology standpoint the products that we have been making for years, and to further develop and bring those products into the 21st Century.” The company, which employs roughly 450 people, will retain its ownership of its legacy brands, FATS (a line of virtual systems) and Caswell technologies. The company continues to work on the U.S. Army's Engagement Skills Trainer II contract and Squad Advanced Marksmanship-Trainer program, as well as the U.S. Marine Corps' Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainer, according to Vice President of Strategy, Sales and Marketing Andrea Czop. It's also fielded derivatives of those systems to the Navy and Air Force. The company has fielded over 15,000 live-fire ranges and 5,100 virtual training systems globally in its 90-year history. It also has clients in more than 55 countries―including programs of record in Canada, Australia and the U.K. for more than 25 years. Foreign sales are key to its growth plans, company executives say. “We continue to be very active with all those international customers, and we're growing,” said Czop. “There are a lot of opportunities for us right now, and the focus is our international strategy.” https://www.defensenews.com/2020/10/07/meggitt-training-systems-changes-name-to-inveris-training-solutions/