Ukraine industry chief sees bumper year for land-based drones

On the same subject

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  November 29, 2023 | International, Naval, C4ISR

  Iranian drone ‘took unsafe action’ near carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Tuesday's "unsafe and unprofessional" action comes as Navy warships continue to intercept drones in the region.

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  December 14, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Marines looking to integrate new information capabilities

  By: Mark Pomerleau The Marine Corps has famously claimed that every Marine is a rifleman, but the Corps has moved 1,000 personnel in the last two years to focus on cyber, electronic warfare, signals intelligence and information operations. These moves have come at the cost of infantry, “a pretty big cost to go pay for the Marine Corps,” Kenneth Bible, deputy director of the C4 directorate and deputy chief information officer, said Dec. 6 at the Charleston Defense Contractors Association Defense Summit. "The commandant really had to go think about taking that out of the structure to create these [units] across the Marine Corps.” Now the Marines are looking to integrate these new units — called Marine Expeditionary Force Information Groups, or MIGs — with traditional formations. The deputy commandant for information, a new three-star position created in 2017 to oversee all aspects of information-related warfare, is overseeing efforts to further develop the groups and integrate them into battle plans. "How does he employ those capabilities as part of an integrated warfare plan? How does he implement a strike package in the information domain?” Bible said. “We really have to figure out how to go make that a relevant force and make it something that the MEF commanders can use.” Bible explained these forces will be able to provide traditional military information support operations, psychological operations, military deception, or cyber to fight in the information environment. An operational advisory group met earlier in December with all of the group commanders that focused a lot on how they were maturing capabilities, Bible said. Some of the key questions that still remain surround how to provide intelligence support to cyber, as well as how to incorporate information support capabilities for a more integrated force package, from shaping operations to when operations actually take place. Bible said that Lt. Gen. Lori Reynolds, the deputy commandant for information, has told the organization to start building out exercise plans to work more closely together, adding there will be more specifics to come in the near future. Trident Juncture, NATO-led Trident Juncture exercise in Norway that took place from Oct. 25 to Nov. 7, he said, was a good example of getting limited capability out to commanders to test. New tactical defensive cyber teams participated in the exercise and commanders saw their impact, Bible said. https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2018/12/11/marines-looking-to-integrate-new-information-capabilities

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  November 13, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Airbus hopes its $6.5 billion German Eurofighter sale will shine for Switzerland, Finland

  By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — Airbus is trying to make hay out of its $6.5 billion sale of 38 Eurofighter aircraft to Germany for other procurement competitions in Switzerland and Finland. The European defense giant inked a deal with the German Luftwaffe, or Air Force, this week after the country's parliament, the Bundestag, approved the budget earlier this month. The Luftwaffe stands to get 30 single-seater and eight twin-seater planes, Airbus said in a statement. Four of those aircraft will serve as test beds for future technology, as the company positions the Eurofighter as the bridge to the next-generation Future Combat Air System, a German-French-Spanish collaboration, according to the service. “The renewed order from Germany secures production until 2030 and comes at a strategically important time for the program,” the company statement read. “In addition to an expected Eurofighter order from Spain to replace its legacy F-18s, procurement decisions in Switzerland and Finland are imminent in 2021.” Switzerland wants to buy up to 40 aircraft for a maximum of $6.5 billion, and the Eurofighter is one of the aircraft in the running. Similarly, Finland is considering the plane as a replacement for its F-18 fleet. “The variant offered in Switzerland corresponds to the configuration of the German Quadriga order,” Airbus officials wrote in the statement, referring to the name of a new, fourth tranche of aircraft. The new batch, to be delivered by 2030, will replace the first tranche, bought between 2003 and 2008, which can only do air-to-air combat and boasts an obsolete radar, according to the German Defence Ministry. Voters in Switzerland approved a new air defense package in September, including a ground-based weapon system and a fleet of combat aircraft. A second offer from the four competing companies is expected this month. Besides the Eurofighter, Dassault's Rafale, Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin's F-35 also are under consideration. The Finnish government over the summer upped the budget for its “HX” fighter program to $5.8 billion, eyeing a procurement decision in 2021. “The new Tranche 4 Eurofighter is currently the most modern European-built combat aircraft with a service life well beyond 2060,” Airbus Defence and Space CEO Dirk Hoke said in a statement following the contract signature with the German government. “Its technical capabilities will allow full integration into the European Future Combat Air System, FCAS.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/11/12/airbus-hopes-its-65-billion-german-eurofighter-sale-will-shine-for-switzerland-finland