Nordic states to develop common cybersecurity strategy

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  September 25, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  INNOVATION CENTER OPENS AT LOCKHEED MARTIN IN ORLANDO

  ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Necessity sparks invention at the Innovation Center, now open at Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) facility in Orlando, Florida. In this 6,500-square-foot space, employees are empowered with the technology and tools to develop creative solutions to complex problems. The company expects it to aid in the creation of new patents and the win of new multimillion-dollar contracts. Lockheed Martin IC-Opening-Sept 2018 "Innovation is our 'day job' — it is core to who we are and everything we do," said Frank St. John, executive vice president at MFC. "This facility gives employees the means to bring ideas from our unlimited imaginations to life. The result of which will help us invent technologies to solve previously unsolvable problems." Five specialized labs, a next-generation video conference capability and an interactive lobby serve more than 5,000 employees and counting amidst a hiring surge at the southwest Orlando facility. Virtual reality, robotics, computer-simulated environments, 3-D printing and more are available at workers' fingertips to encourage new ways of thinking and approaching business needs. The space will also host monthly hands-on demonstrations as well as live webcasts across the business. This is the second of its kind at MFC. In less than a year's time, the Innovation Center in Dallas, Texas, has helped secure millions of dollars' worth of captured programs. "The Innovation Center is a destination for our program teams to explore what's possible with the use of high technology," said Tom Mirek, vice president deputy of engineering and technology at MFC. "Like we already have in Dallas, we're going to recognize Orlando's Innovation Center for being a vital resource to the success of our company for years to come." Orlando's Innovation Center is comprised of five unique labs: The Application Research Experimentation & Simulation (ARES) facility allows teams to use their own computing environment and applications to conduct events on a rapidly reconfigurable 12-screen hyperwall. The Genesis Lab is where ideas are born, and one can incubate and develop concepts in a creative, resourceful environment — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Employees have access to augmented and virtual reality, small robotics, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, high-powered computing, and 3-D printers. The Iris Lab offers an indoor robotics test bay for safe and controlled training, experiments, and research. The Engineering Visualization Environment Lab and its animators take complex ideas and bring them to life through feature-film quality renderings. The Polaris Lab employs sensor, optics and laser testing that provides rapid response for employees and program development. This is a fire-control-focused lab that can benchmark new technology. Opening early 2019. Employees in Orlando lead the aerospace and defense industry in their experience with technologies related to electro-optics, millimeter wave radar, image and signal processing, advanced materials, electronic packaging, and large-system integration. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 100,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. This year the company received three Edison Awards for ground-breaking innovations in autonomy, satellite technology and directed energy. SOURCE Lockheed Martin https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2018-09-25-Innovation-Center-Opens-at-Lockheed-Martin-in-Orlando

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  June 23, 2020 | International, Naval

  A naval arms race is gaining speed in the Mediterranean Sea

  By: Tom Kington ROME — In mid-May, Libyans standing on a beach in the west of the country reportedly watched a Turkish frigate off the coast fire a missile, which downed a drone operated by the United Arab Emirates. The incident has not been confirmed but is consistent with Turkey's bold use of naval power in recent weeks as it takes a central role in a proxy war in Libya that has sucked in regional players from Russia and Egypt to Qatar and France. So far, Turkey's foes in Libya appear to be impressed by its show of strength. “In recent days there have been no reports of UAE drone flights against Turkish backed targets,” said Jalel Harchaoui, an analyst at the Clingendael Institute in the Netherlands. Turkey's stance in Libya shows how the Mediterranean has turned in a few years from a backwater on the fringes of Middle East turmoil to a major flash point. As Libya burns, tensions are also rising over new gas fields in the Mediterranean and Russia is re-entering the fray. The result is a new round of naval rearmament. “Tension is escalating and I see procurement following suit,” said Sidharth Kaushal, a sea power research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London. Turkish navy ships have been a constant presence off the Libyan coast since Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan sided with the U.N.-recognized Libyan government in Tripoli in its defense of the capital against an attack by Libyan strongman Gen. Khalifar Haftar. This spring, Tripoli forces backed by Syrian fighters sent in by Turkey rebuffed Haftar, despite the general receiving backing from Russian mercenaries, the UAE, Egypt and France. To help ensure the victory, Turkish vessels are thought to have given sensor support to Turkish drones as they attacked Haftar and destroyed Russian Pantsir air defense systems backing him. Turkey sails ex-Oliver Hazard Perry-class vessels it acquired second-hand from the U.S. Navy which fire surface to air missiles, and is also eyeing new frigates, said Kaushal. “They might build their own hull but would shop abroad for electronics and sensors, rather like China did in the early 2000′s,” he said. Vessels that Turkey has already deployed in the Mediterranean have been also been busy escorting cargo ships to Libya allegedly loaded with arms and supplies for fighters in Tripoli. One such cargo ship was reportedly confronted on June 10 by a European Union task force set up to stop violations of an international arms embargo on Libya, only for the Turkish frigates escorting the vessel to turn back the EU force. What makes the new tension in the Mediterranean so confusing is how old rules and alliances have been blurred. Turkey's alleged violation of the arms embargo came weeks after its vessels had joined partner navies for a NATO exercise off the Algerian coast. Turkey has meanwhile been accused of threatening Cyprus' rights to undersea gas deposits with its own plans to drill in the Mediterranean, sparking a show-of-force naval exercise by Turkey's NATO allies France and Italy to tamp down Turkey's aggression. Turkey's behavior has also rattled Egypt, said analyst Harchaoui, despite Cairo's own recent spending spree on naval assets from France, including two Mistral amphibious vessels purchased after Paris opted not to sell them to Russia, four Gowind corvettes and a FREMM frigate. Italy, which has also built FREMMs in a joint program with France, is now in talks to sell two of the vessels to Egypt. The ships are ready, since they were originally built for the Italian navy, which will now have to wait for the construction of two more ships by Italy's Fincantieri to fill its own quota. At the eastern end of the Mediterranean, Russia is meanwhile renewing its Black Sea fleet and looking to leverage its access to Syria's Tartus port to increase its naval clout in the Mediterranean as it seeks to become a player in the region, said Kaushal. “Russia wants to be able to arm all its vessels with its Kalibr cruise missile, which has previously fired 2,000 kilometers from the Caspian into Syria,” he said. “It is a very cheap way to build up power projection. Putting this type of missile on low-cost vessels is the future, Russia is setting the trend by making minimal resources go a long way, and France and Italy, as well as Greece and Turkey may follow suit,” he said. “Russia also has the P-800 Oniks supersonic anti-ship missile, which reaches 400 kilometers to 600 kilometers — and there is no Western equivalent,” he added. The build up of lethal naval hardware in the Mediterranean is also going on under the sea, with submarines returning to the area in numbers. “It is not impossible that Turkey would send submarines to Libya,” said Harchaoui. Last year Algeria test fired a Kalibr missile from one of its Kilo-class Russian submarines, while in April, Egypt took delivery of the third of four German HDW Class 209 subs it has ordered. Germany has also supplied Turkey and Greece, which operate 12 and 11 subs respectively. “There are 20-30 submarines deployable in the Mediterranean now, a higher number than 10 years ago,” said Paolo Crippa, a defense analyst at the Cesi think tank in Rome. The total number of subs operated by countries giving on to the Mediterranean is currently 63, he said. It is therefore hardly surprising the Italian Navy is increasing its focus on anti-submarine capabilities. If it does hand over two of its FREMM vessels for the Egypt deal, it will likely order the two replacements with added anti-submarine capabilities. Italy is meanwhile due to receive a new LHD vessel, the Trieste, which will host the navy's F-35Bs, while local yard Fincantieri is also building new PPA vessels for the navy. In a defense white paper drawn up in 2015, Italy said it aspired to be the top naval power in the Mediterranean. Five years on, in a much changed world, that ambition is increasingly under threat. “In terms of number of vessels, Italy's aim might be reasonable, but the political will to use a navy will always be key,” Kaushal said. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/06/22/a-naval-arms-race-is-gaining-speed-in-the-mediterranean-sea/

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  January 10, 2024 | International, Land, Security

  Germany to resume arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia with IRIS-T missiles