Leonardo to deliver secure communication network technology enhancement to UAE

On the same subject

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  July 27, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Want Siri or Alexa ready for tactical ops? This Army command is working on it.

  By: Todd South ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — As the Army improves its mission command posts, one of the key areas where it has made changes is how soldiers can operate computers for everything from sharing information to tracking friendly and not-so-friendly forces. Staff at the Army's Research Development Engineering Command have upgraded items from tablet-style computers, display systems and ways to use voice commands rather than keyboards for controlling devices. During a recent display at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, soldiers who work as trainer/observers at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, gave demonstrations of the new capabilities for the Tactical Computing Environment. Sgts. 1st Class Sheena Ferrell and Ramon Contreras Jr. showed how soldiers using the new devices can share “one common operating picture” with each other. Users can track individual vehicles on the wide-ranging training area, mark obstacles, terrain features, enemy positions and other items with preprogrammed symbols and use a chat feature to send messages or attachments to other soldiers. Alongside those efforts is another piece of software that gives soldiers a Siri or Alexa-type voice command capability, but contained to the device, rather than relying on the computing cloud or an Internet connection. The program, Single Multimodal Android Service for Human Computer Interaction, or SMASH, has been a part of the larger effort to improve Expeditionary Mission Command across the Army. Users can simply speak commands such as “Show Blue Force layers,” or “big picture,” to have icons or elements appear or disappear on the digital map. Another quick-use feature is to mark specific incidents for later use in after action reports. The demonstrator gave the example of selecting a shorthand for marking a spot for a roadside bomb, speaking the words “French fries,” and the device immediately marked and alerted the map, which would also be relayed to those sharing the same features. Some lower tech but important additions are portable, roll-up displays, and software called Display Viewer Application that replaces a massive hardware device used to share computer screen displays across a closed, Local Area Network within the command post. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/07/26/want-siri-or-alexa-ready-for-tactical-ops-this-army-command-is-working-on-it

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  January 18, 2021 | International, Aerospace

  China’s WJ-700 Armed Reconnaissance Drone Completes Maiden Flight

  China's new WJ-700 high-altitude, long-endurance and high-speed armed reconnaissance drone successfully completed its maiden flight earlier this week. The “rare type” drone is capable of executing both attack and reconnaissance missions in China, according to a statement the Third Academy of the state-owned arms firm China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) sent to the Global Times. First unveiled at Airshow China in 2018, the WJ-700 is expected to have a maximum take-off weight of 3,500 kg, with a maximum endurance of 20 hours. It is capable of performing air-to-surface precision strikes in multiple situations such as stand-off ground attacks, anti-ship, and anti-radiation attacks, the statement said, noting that it will “create a new pattern for drone combat.” China wants to begin selling the drones to domestic and international market needs in the next five to 10 years. Compared to other popular drones, the distinguishing characteristic of the WJ-700 is its large size, meaning it has an outstanding payload capacity that allows it to carry larger munitions like anti-ship missiles and stand-off weapons that enable the drone to launch attacks from outside of an enemy anti-aircraft fire coverage zone, Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert, said. Key tactical and even strategic battlefield hubs, including radar installations, warships and command centers could be targets of the WJ-700, analysts said. The WJ-700 could deliver diverse combat missions in high-threat battlefield environments with its precision combat and wide-area reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities. After completing various system-level tests and verifications, it will be officially put into combat applications, the academy said. https://www.defenseworld.net/news/28768#.YAXP_-hKiUk

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  July 24, 2019 | International, Other Defence

  Esper confirmed as new defense secretary, ending Pentagon leadership uncertainty

  By: Joe Gould and Leo Shane III WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved Mark Esper to be the country's 27th defense secretary, ending a wait of more than 200 days for a permanent Pentagon leader. Esper's relatively drama-free confirmation vote — 90-8 — stood in contrast to the seven months of uncertainty in the highest levels of the military's leadership. After former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was forced out of his post early on the first day of 2019, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan helmed the department until he suddenly withdrew from consideration for the full-time job in June amid reports of domestic violence among his family members. Esper, who until then had served as Army secretary for since late 2017, bounced between that job and the acting defense secretary job over the last five weeks. Lawmakers and military officials expressed concerns over the temporary, unclear leadership in recent months, especially as other top military posts were vacated. Tuesday's vote ends the longest period the Defense Department has gone without a permanent, confirmed leader since it became a Cabinet-level agency. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said ahead of the vote Tuesday that Esper is “beyond qualified” for the top military job. "His record of public service is beyond impressive,” McConnell said. “His commitment to serving our service members is beyond obvious. And the need for a Senate-confirmed secretary of defense is beyond urgent.” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., offered similar praise. “It's not very often we have someone that is enthusiastically supported by Republicans, by Democrats, and he is obviously the right person,” he said. “He has the trust of our president, the trust of our military, the trust of Congress and the country to keep our nation safe.” The only sharp opposition to Esper's nomination came from Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Senate Armed Services Committee member and 2020 presidential hopeful, who grilled Esper over his ties to his former employer, Raytheon. But since President Donald Trump announced Esper's nomination last month, Democrats and Republicans have mostly offered effusive praise for Esper as the right candidate for the job. At Esper's confirmation hearing last week, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., lauded Esper for hosting him and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., for an unvarnished look at problematic Army housing in Virginia. “That willingness to show personal accountability was very, very impressive,” Kaine said. “He's been proactive and he's been transparent. ... And I think those are trademarks of exceptional leadership.” Work ahead Esper, a West Point graduate and former Army lieutenant colonel, was vice president of government relations for Raytheon — the third-largest defense contractor in the United States — for seven years before becoming Army secretary. His most notable work leading the Army included a shake-up of the service's acquisitions portfolio. He inherits a military charged with following the National Defense Strategy's focus on competition with Russia and China but still grappling with Iran tensions, politically charged troop deployments on America's southern border and pressure from Trump to exit Afghanistan. The American Enterprise Institute's Rick Berger said the leadership vacuum after Mattis has left the Pentagon “adrift.” Esper would be wise to reset relationships with Capitol Hill and the press, who have both grumbled at a lack of engagement, he added. “The department has never been more timid about telling its story to the public or to Capitol Hill, a legacy of Secretary Mattis and his caretaker successor,” Berger said. Loren DeJong Schulman, a deputy director at the Center for a New American Security, said Esper's priorities will be to fill the department's widespread leadership vacancies, to dig into the fiscal 2021 budget process and to assert himself in decisions regarding tension with Iran. "In doing so, he has the opportunity to reorient some troubling trends in the Pentagon, such as the growing absence of transparency with the press, Hill, and American people, and the dominance of the Joint Staff in what should be political-military policy debates," she said. “Esper is also fighting a White House policy process driven by presidential tweet and instinct, without a responsible deliberate process. Like Mattis, Esper can insist on better cross-agency deliberation to develop policy ideas that support the president's objectives.” Senators will move onto the next Pentagon leadership vacancy tomorrow when they hold a confirmation hearing for David Norquist to be deputy secretary of defense. Trump has already nominated Ryan McCarthy to replace Esper as secretary of the Army. https://www.defensenews.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/07/23/esper-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-ending-pentagon-leadership-uncertainty/