Spain to double its military spending

On the same subject

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  August 1, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  France Creates Space Command To Help Bid To Be Third Space Power

  By Thierry Dubois Luch Olymp, a Russian satellite, is French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly's favorite enemy. Last year, she revealed it had, in 2017, moved into close proximity to Athena-Fidus—a Franco-Italian satellite used for military communications—and tried to intercept its signal. The French military have kept a close eye on Luch Olymp. “I can't resist telling you the latest—it left a business card to another eight satellites belonging to various countries,” she says. The French government uses Luch Olymp as an example of the mounting threats against the country's space-based assets. A feeling of vulnerability was the basis for the government's decision, announced last year, to devise a space defense strategy. Now officially unveiled, it includes developing patrol satellites and space-based directed-energy weapons. The move confirms the trend for nations to consider space as an additional theater of operations for future conflicts. In the U.S., President Donald Trump signed off on a detailed plan on how to organize military space in February. The document, dubbed Space Policy Directive-4, proposes the creation of a sixth military service focused on space. The House and Senate are in agreement that a separate space service is necessary, but they are at odds on the details. Both chambers will enter conference this summer to hash out the specifics and are hopeful an agreement will be reached this fall. Last year, a report on worldwide threats to Congress stated that Russian and Chinese anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons would probably become operational within the next few years. “Both countries also are advancing directed-energy weapons technologies for the purpose of fielding ASAT weapons that could blind or damage sensitive space-based optical sensors, such as those used for remote sensing or missile defense.” Referring to China and the U.S., Parly says she believes in France asserting itself as the world's third space power. A space command with an initial 220 personnel will be created Sept. 1. One of its roles will be to establish French space doctrine. The operations center of the space command is to open in 2024 in Toulouse, where it is expected to benefit from local synergies with the space industry. As the space command will be part of the French Air Force, the latter is to become the Air and Space Force (Armee de l'Air et de l'Espace). The space command to be integrated into the air force will replace the existing Joint Space Command, created in 2010. The Joint Space Command did help French forces with their space ambitions, says Parly. However, it is believed not to be effective because of a lack of unity in the command chain and the development of a military space policy, as well as geographically scattered sites. “Space is a new front,” Parly says. She earlier requested the integration of cameras into the Syracuse 4A and 4B communications satellites, due to be launched in the early 2020s. The cameras will monitor the satellites' close environment. Parly wants to see nanosatellites patrolling in orbit as soon as 2023. They will be used to detect threats and may also carry high-power lasers. Such weapons, which may also be integrated into France's “valuable” satellites, will be able to “dazzle” a threatening spacecraft, says Parly. France is behind in high-power lasers, she admits, but she is confident the country's research laboratories and OEMs will catch up. In fact, aerospace research center ONERA has already conducted a test that temporarily made inoperative the optical sensors of an Earth-observation satellite at the end of its life. According to a report by two members of the French National Assembly, ONERA could build a system that would make such sensors inoperative permanently. ONERA is also taking part in the TALOS project. Launched last year by the European Defense Agency to create high-power laser beam weapons, TALOS is led by CILAS, an ArianeGroup subsidiary. Other ideas for “active defense” include repurposing systems currently developed under a European Space Agency program to remove debris from orbit, using a net or harpoon. France's military programming law for 2019-25 already includes €3.6 billion ($4 billion) for the renewal of satellites—such as launching the CSO Earth-observation satellites. Parly announced another €700 million will be added over that period. They will be used, among other expenditures, to create demonstrators. “Full capacity” of the space command is expected in 2030. On the ground, the existing Graves radar, which monitors low Earth orbit, will be upgraded in 2022. Parly has requested its successor deliver an initial operational capability in 2025, sooner than initially planned. Eventually, it will have to detect an object “the size of a shoe box” at 1,500 km (930 mi.). Debris is a concern, as well as illegal launches such as that of Swarm Technologies' picosatellites last year. The government is counting on European cooperation, especially with Germany and Italy, to make future surveillance equipment and weapons affordable. https://aviationweek.com/space/france-creates-space-command-help-bid-be-third-space-power

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  September 26, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security

  N. Korean Hackers Deploy New KLogEXE and FPSpy Malware in Targeted Attacks

  North Korean hackers deploy new malware strains KLogEXE and FPSpy, targeting South Korea and Japan.

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  July 20, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  DoD Needs Supply Chain Strategy To Survive Future Crises: Roper

  "We were in a very frenzied state," Air Force acquisition head Will Roper says of DoD efforts to stave off the collapse of key suppliers during the early weeks of the coronavirus crisis. By THERESA HITCHENSon July 17, 2020 at 4:38 PM WASHINGTON: Air Force acquisition head Will Roper says DoD needs to develop a new supply chain strategy that incentivizes industry to build a more diverse, responsive and resilient supply chain. “What I hope sticks on the other side of COVID-19 is a strategic focus on the supply chain,” he told a webinar co-sponsored by Government Matters and the Farnborough International Association today, on the even of the virtual air show. “Government has to have a strategy. We have to explain to industry what we consider good supply chain management practices to be, and not to be. And we need to write that in plain English, which the government has a tough time doing frequently.” That strategy also has to be followed up with incentives for industry to do the right thing, he said. “We have to put our money where our mouth is,” Roper said. For example, he said, it should include incentivizing contractors, big and small, to use digital manufacturing technologies that allow companies to quickly pivot to different missions in times of need. “That's a strategic capability for the nation. We need to encourage that,” he said. Roper noted that the Air Force is attempting to do just that with its centerpiece Advanced Battle Management Program (ABMS), being designed as a technology foundation for running future all-domain wars via the Joint All-Domain Command and Control System (JADC2). “We've got a pretty cool program called the Advanced Battle Management System. It's not a cool name — it's kind of like Castle Anthrax in Monty Python: ‘it's not a good name but it's the one we've got',” he joked. “That's a program where adaptability is king.” He explained that the service is working with industry to both explain, and reward, technology initiatives that will give operators the ability to rapidly upgrade or switch out old capabilities for new ones. As Breaking D readers knows, ABMS is attempting to iterate technologies developed under the program on a four-month cycle. Roper said the first three weeks of the COVID-19 crisis threw DoD into a maelstrom as acquisition authorities tried to cope with the potential of supplier collapse. “We were in a very frenzied state,” he said. The Air Force is the executive agent for all DoD use of Defense Production Act Title III contracts to support industry suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. However, the Defense Industrial Base Sector Coordinating Council under the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) actually chooses which companies to support based on service requests — including for the Air Force. While Roper sees ongoing problems from COVID-19 impacts on suppliers, especially small firms for whom cash-flow is highly important, he said that the Air Force and DoD are in a much better place now to handle them as they arise. “I don't think we'll see something as frenzied as what we went through during the first three weeks of COVID,” he said. “I think if this continues in future, we will have to take aggressive actions when there are hotspots that fire up in the country. Smaller companies are always going to be at risk by a few number of COVID-19 cases — they're going to have to shut down their facilities, they're going to have to clean, they're gonna have to be work force quarantining — and for companies of that size, having cash on hand to make payroll, to make invoicing, is critically important. Cash flow and liquidity is everything during a crisis. But we're more ready for that.” This is in part because leaders have a better grasp on what companies are likely to be at risk, Roper explained. “Now, we know who those critical suppliers are we have insight into our supply chain that we have ever had,” he said. For example, the small launch industry is one sector that Roper continues to keep a close eye on. “Small launch is still a big need for our industrial base for the Space Force and we want to try to try to do whatever we can to keep that market healthy,” he told reporters on July 14. Roper expressed some disappointment about OSD's July 1 decision to rescind a June-announced award of $116 million for six small launch companies: Aevum, Astra, X-Bow, Rocket Lab, Space Vector and VOX Space. He explained that OSD determined there “were some additional small business needs” that came up, because the small launch package was one of the last DPA approved actions, it was “the first to be put back in the batter's box.” “My hope is that whenever there's new Title III funding, or when resources free up due to other efforts not executing as planned, that those are the first to go back into the hopper. If I were asked today to put in one new Title III initiative, it's small launch,” he added. As Paul reported, Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord on June 22 said she is seeking approval for a funding package request in the “lower double digit billions” from the White House to cover COVID-19 related costs, including paying for industry claims of supply chain and workforce reductions. And a group of CEOs from major defense primes, in a letter obtained by Breaking D, are asking for DoD help in seeking yet more COVID-19 stimulus funds from Congress. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/07/dod-needs-supply-chain-strategy-to-survive-future-crises-roper