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By: Valerie Insinna FARNBOROUGH, England — The Netherlands on Tuesday inked a deal to purchase four MQ-9 Reaper Block 5 drones from General Atomics, marking the first sale of unmanned aerial systems since U.S. President Donald Trump signed off on a policy to loosen up arms sale restrictions. During a ceremony at the Farnborough Airshow, Vice Adm. Jan de Waard, the director of the Netherlands' Defence Materiel Organisation, and Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, head of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, signed a letter of offer and acceptance. Such a letter cements a foreign military sale between the United States and a foreign nation. The sale of MQ-9s to the Netherlands has been in the works for a long time. “It's a party time today,” de Waard said. “We started this program in 2003. We postponed it in 2005, then we revitalized it in, I think, in 2010, and then we postponed it again.” The U.S. State Department first approved the Netherlands for a potential MQ-9 sale in 2015, when it valued the order at about $339 million for four air vehicles, six Honeywell TPE331-10T turboprop engines, ground stations, Lynx radars, and a variety of other subsystems and spares. The deal is for the unarmed configuration of the Reaper. Hooper said the Dutch MQ-9s would “not only accentuate their own domestic national security capabilities but will add to their capability to contribute to NATO as a part of that alliance and coalition.” The announcement of the deal with the Dutch comes just a day after Trump approved an implementation plan for his new export reform policy, called the Conventional Arms Transfer policy. U.S. government agencies been awaiting guidance about how to interpret new arms transfer rules. The Royal Netherlands Air Force will join Spain and the U.S. in operating the Block 5 variant of the MQ-9, the former of which will begin receiving its aircraft in 2019. France and Italy additionally operate Block 1 systems, as does the U.K., although the British Royal Air Force is acquiring the new certifiable MQ-9B version via its Protector program, which is expected to enter service in the early 2020s. India is additionally looking to acquire 22 of the Sea Guardian variant from the U.S., and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. sources claimed that a letter of offer and acceptance for this is expected to be signed by the end of 2018. There is an option to retrofit the Block 5 to carry the wings and tail of the SkyGuardian, although no detail has been provided on whether or not any of the other nations are currently planning on selecting the option. Dave Alexander, president of GA-ASI, told Defense News that while there is no immediate demand for either the SkyGuardian or the retrofit option from the largest Reaper operator, the U.S. Air Force special operations forces have shown an interest in it due to an ability to operate from a shorter runway in support of expeditionary operations. The company has orders to fulfill production of the Block 5 MQ-9 for another five years, he added, noting that GA-ASI is planning to expand its production capabilities to enable it to fulfill forecast orders from India and three other customers. Aside from the deal with the Royal Netherlands Air Force, a number of agreements were signed between GA-ASI and partners throughout the Farnborough Airshow, an apparent move by the company to demonstrate its willingness to transfer work and technology to customer nations. Leonardo UK announced it signed an agreement with GA-ASI for the companies to jointly offer the former's Sage electronic support measure system for both the SkyGuardian and Sea Guardian variants. It will be integrated without the need for an external pod and will be available to order from 2019. Furthermore, General Atomics and GKN Aerospace signed a letter of intent July 17 to facilitate the development of composite tails for the MQ-9 in the U.K., while Dutch company Fokker has developed landing gear subsystems for the UAV since 2016. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/farnborough/2018/07/17/netherlands-signs-deal-for-unarmed-mq-9-reaper-drones

By: Mark Pomerleau A recent flight test has demonstrated how a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program could help legacy systems communicate with newer ones. The program, called System of Systems Integration Technology and Experimentation, is a collaboration between Lockheed Martin and DARPA. Using live assets and virtually simulated systems, the partnership exhibited interoperability between a ground station, flying test bed, a C−12 and flight test aircraft, transmitting data between them through an unknown partner capability called STITCHES. John Clark, vice president of ISR and UAS at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, boiled down STITCHES to a simple analogy: it aggregates the data of one sensor type and interprets it for another type much the way Google Translate detects English and delivers Italian. This specific flight test looked at ISR and shortening decisions to strike, explained Clark. “It was all centered around the idea of kill chain timeline reduction and showing how information could be gathered,” he said, speaking to reporters at a media roundtable July 12. The current five-year program is nearing its end, but Clark shared that the objective was not to transition the capability to a service. “The whole premise behind it was to go prove that these types of system of system architectures could be employed much faster and this distributed idea was much nearer than we thought,” he said. The military services are striving to more seamlessly integrate information, systems and operations across the five domains of warfare, however, so any lessons learned could one day prove valuable. https://www.c4isrnet.com/intel-geoint/sensors/2018/07/16/is-the-google-translate-of-sensor-systems-coming/

By SAMANTHA MASUNAGA A decade after the U.S. Air Force commissioned the next generation of GPS satellites, the first of these spacecraft is finally set to launch into orbit later this year. As with other national security missions, a roughly 200-foot-tall rocket will blast the massive satellite to space, fulfilling a contract worth more than $80 million. But as nations develop technology to disable or shoot down satellites — as China did to one of its own satellites with a ground-based ballistic missile in 2007 — the U.S. military has started to look at options for rapidly and cheaply launching smaller crafts into space. An experimental program spearheaded by a Pentagon research agency could eventually be part of that solution. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, along with aerospace giant Boeing Co., is developing a reusable spaceplane expected to launch small satellites 10 times in 10 days. The vehicle's first test flight is set for 2021, which hints at the Defense Department's growing interest in reusable rocket technology, particularly its potential to drive down launch costs and speed up turnaround time. In recent weeks, the spaceplane's rocket engine, known as the AR-22, completed 10 test fires in 240 hours without need for refurbishments or major repairs, said Jeff Haynes, program manager at Aerojet Rocketdyne. The test firing took place at NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi from June 26 to July 6. The engine test is “really good progress,” said Claire Leon, director of Loyola Marymount University's graduate program in systems engineering and former director of the launch enterprise directorate at the U.S. Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center. “SpaceX has had its success,” she said. “I think this engine test also demonstrates that other companies are doing the technology development and having success that will enable reusability.” The title of first reusable system belongs to NASA's Space Shuttle, though more recently, several commercial space firms, including Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Stratolaunch and British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit, have developed systems that would reuse aircraft to launch satellites from the belly of a plane. https://www.stripes.com/news/the-military-is-building-a-space-plane-now-it-looks-to-have-an-engine-up-to-the-task-1.538009

By: Andrew C. Jarocki WASHINGTON--Leonardo announced a host of new defense systems, including a communications intelligence system and a radar array. The Italian contractor unveiled the new offerings at the 2018 Farnborough Air Show in the U.K. The ‘Spider' communications intelligence system promises to “detect, intercept, identify and geo-locate complex target communcations” in real time, according to the company. The array, designed to fit on drones or manned aircraft, weighs less than 20kg (44 lbs) and fits in a 1.5 x 0.5 x 0.5m pod. The Griffo E-Scan system, the latest model of electronically-scanning radars, uses a matrix of hundreds of tiny radar modules to ‘steer' an electronic beam, rather than the radar physically moving to point a beam at a target. This allows the beam to move quickly and for “the radar to perform multiple tasks simultaneously" according to a company announcement. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/farnborough/2018/07/16/from-the-spider-to-the-griffo-leonardo-launches-radar-and-comms-systems/

By: Aaron Mehta FARNBOROUGH, England — The U.K. has selected Lockheed Martin to help develop its first domestic commercial spaceport in Melness, Scotland — an effort that could be of interest to the U.S. military as it hunts for a means to launch satellites into orbit. Lockheed is teamed with Moog, Orbital Micro Systems, the University of Leicester, Surrey Satellite Technology, Satellite Applications Catapult, SCISYS, Lena Space, Reaction Engines and Netherlands Space Office on the project. The first launch from Melness is scheduled for the “early 2020s,” per Lockheed. “The countdown to the first orbital rocket launch from U.K. soil has officially begun," Patrick Wood, Lockheed Martin's U.K. country executive for space, said in a statement. “This initiative will not only spark advancements in science and innovation, it will create new opportunities for current and future U.K.-based suppliers to become part of the next space age." The United Kingdom has not been shy about its desire to get in on the burgeoning commercial space launch industry, with a 2015 National Space Strategy calling for the U.K. to own 10 percent of the industry by 2030. The launch site development is being led by Scottish government economic and community development agency Highlands & Islands Enterprise, with Lockheed providing “strategic support and guidance.” Lockheed also has a hand in the first payload scheduled to be launched from the location, designed to release up to six cubesats, including Lockheed's LM 50 system. While the location is not focused on defense, the militaries of the U.S. and others have become increasingly interested in using commercial space launch to get constellations of military satellites, including smaller systems, into orbit. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/farnborough/2018/07/16/lockheed-selected-to-build-first-uk-spaceport/

By: Beth Stevenson FARNBOROUGH, England — UMS Skeldar has launched a new version of its flagship unmanned helicopter that has a longer-endurance capability, as the company continues its aggressive campaign to promote the system for a number of ongoing international naval requirements. The Skeldar V-200B has a five-hour endurance due to a 10-kilogram weight reduction in the aircraft, something the company claims will up its appeal because of the increased performance and reliability. The new model is now the baseline offering that UMS Skeldar will pitch to customers. UMS Skeldar is a joint venture between Saab and UMS that formed in 2015 to primarily promote the V-200, a UAV that had previously struggled to secure customers despite years of development and marketing by Saab. “It [the V-200B] is almost a completely new aircraft — a new build since the Saab days,” David Willems, head of business development at the company, told Defense News. The "B" model is the result of work carried out under the partnership, he added, and features new GPS antennas and software in addition to the weight decrease, as well as better fuel consumption due to engine modifications. Endurance can be increased, or an extra 10 kilograms of payload can be carried by Skeldar, Willems said. Notably, the way the V-200B has been developed will allow for the drone's industrialization, moving from one-off manufacture, as was the case with the previous variant, to serial production. The Asia-Pacific region is the most active market for Skeldar, Willems says. The company is seeing potential in South Korea, and it has been specifically targeting Australia for some time now, where it is expanding its industrial base to potentially support work transfer. “It is a very interesting time there, and we are building a small Australia ecosystem,” he said. Australia is acquiring a number of types of unmanned systems under ongoing programs, seeking systems such as ship-based UAVs under its Project Sea 129 Phase 5 effort, supporting its aim to operate a comprehensive fleet of unmanned aircraft that includes the Insitu ScanEagle and Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton. Skeldar is most often pitched against Schiebel's unmanned Camcopter helo, a system that has seen more commercial success in both the military and civil markets, although UMS Skeldar has been demonstrably active in marketing its system since the joint venture was formed. A heavy-fuel variant of Camcopter has been undergoing trials in Australia under work that will act as risk-reduction efforts for the Project Sea 129 Phase 5 program. UMS is also active in Germany where it is teaming with ESG to pitch to the Navy for similar requirements to Australia. The company has delivered Skeldar to Indonesia, which has used it to assess operating a UAV of this type, although little news on the outcome of that work has been revealed by either the Indonesian government or the company. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/farnborough/2018/07/16/helicopter-drone-loses-weight-lengthens-endurance-but-will-the-change-attract-customers/

FARNBOROUGH, Angleterre (Reuters) - Le ministre britannique de la Défense Gavin Williamson va dévoiler au salon aéronautique de Farnborough un nouveau projet d'avion de combat, avec un financement déjà prévu de deux milliards de livres (2,3 milliards d'euros), a-t-on appris lundi de source proche du dossier. L'appareil, qui remplacera à terme l'Eurofighter Typhoon, sera conçu et produit par BAE Systems , Rolls-Royce et Leonardo, a indiqué cette source. Ce projet britannique, à moins de neuf mois de la sortie prévue du pays de l'Union européenne, apparaît comme une concurrence au projet d'avion de la France et de l'Allemagne pour succéder à l'Eurofighter Typhoon, au Rafale et au Gripen du suédois Saab dans le cadre du programme FCAS. La Grande-Bretagne discute avec d'autres pays pour trouver des partenaires pour développer l'avion, a ajouté la source. La Suède est considérée comme le partenaire le plus probable, même si des pays comme la Corée du Sud, le Japon, la Turquie ou des pays du Golfe acheteurs d'armements comme l'Arabie saoudite, sont aussi des partenaires possibles. Le nouvel avion serait opérationnel d'ici 2035, prêt à remplacer en 2040 le Typhoon, développé dans les années 1980 par l'Allemagne, l'Espagne, la Grande-Bretagne et l'Italie. Le Grande-Bretagne n'a pas développé d'avion de combat seule depuis les années 1960. Elle a toutefois contribué à développer et à construire l'avion de combat le plus avancé de la flotte britannique, qui est le F-35 américain, sur lequel BAE Systems assure environ 15% du travail sur chaque appareil. (Sarah Young; Catherine Mallebay-Vacqueur et Cyril Altmeyer pour le service français, édité par Véronique Tison) https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/londres-prepare-son-chasseur-face-a-l-avion-franco-allemand.N720259

By: Justin Lynch Amid uncertainty over NATO member's defense spending, energy deals with Russia and the very future of the alliance itself, combating Moscow's campaign of digital war quietly emerged as an item of agreement for the 29-state body during a summit in Brussels. Consider: Few previous NATO meetings of world leaders have included so much discussion over cybersecurity. In a joint declaration, the word “cyber” appeared 26 times. In what appears to be a first for the alliance, leaders twice mentioned the threat of “disinformation campaigns,” that have spread chaos through western countries. The declaration devoted two sections to digital security. Leaders agreed to create two new bodies: A cyberspace operations center in Belgium and a “Joint Force Command” headquarters based in Norfolk, Virginia, that is focused on protecting transatlantic lines of communication. The alliance also agreed to integrate cybersecurity into NATO operations, although it is not mandatory for countries to do so. The joint decleration followed a recent announcement by the organization that it would boslter its joint cyber operations. If nessecary, alliance members can coordinate a response to a malicious cyberattack, strengthening the pact's agreement of collective self-defense. “We don't accept cyber, propaganda, interference in domestic political processes,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stolenberg during a press conference on June 11. He added later in the day that NATO will continue to assist Ukraine in “cyber defense,” amid its upcoming elections. The focus on cybersecurity and online warfare may be caused by the digital battering that alliance members have experienced in recent years. As NATO members posed for a “family” photograph on Wednesday, it was difficult to pick out members of the transatlantic partnership where Russian disinformation or cyberattacks have been absent. There was Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro, Emmanuel Macron of France, and Jüri Ratas of Estonia, Theresa May of Britainand Angela Merkel of Germany; just a sample of NATO countries who have confronted Russian hackers and propaganda. However experts say that the alliance's cyber provisions depend on the strength of the organization itself, which came into doubt during a “turbulent” morning, according to sister-site Defense News. After Trump apparently indirectly threatened to leave NATO if countries did not boost their defense spending, the alliance held an emergency meeting. But in a press conference afterword, Trump praised the alliance and said that “the United States' commitment to NATO is very strong.” While he claimed that countries agreed to boost their military spending, The Associated Press reported that Macron disputed the claim. Trump also criticized Germany on Twitter for paying “billions of dollars” for Russian oil on Thursday morning. “Not acceptable!,” Trump tweeted. But the test for NATO's cyber commitments may come during a meeting next week between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Trump, himself a beneficiary of Moscow's digital support, according to a U.S. intelligence assessment. Last week, Klara Jordan, director of the cyber statecraft initiative at the Atlantic Council, told Fifth Domain that the meeting has risks. “Trump may do something similar to what he did after the summit with Kim of North Korea, where he calls for physical exercises not to happen on the border of Russia, and this may include cyber-exercises.” https://www.fifthdomain.com/international/2018/07/12/nato-summit-boosts-cybersecurity-amid-uncertainty/

By: Beth Stevenson RAF FAIRFORD, England — General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' developmental MQ−9B SkyGuardian made the first ever transatlantic flight of a medium-altitude, long endurance aerial drone. The unmanned aerial vehicle completed touched down at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom after a 3,760 nautical mile sortie from the U.S. July 11 that began at the Grand Forks test site in North Dakota 24 hours and 2 minutes prior. The journey was the first transatlantic flight of both the SkyGuardian and any MALE UAV, but also the first U.K. appearance of the UAV that the Royal Air Force will operate under its Protector program. The U.K. is the launch customer for SkyGuardian, and the journey to RAF Fairford to take part in the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) ties in with the RAF's centenary celebrations, as the MQ−9B will be one of the next combat aircraft types delivered to the service. L3 Technologies Communication Systems provided Ku-band satellite communication (SATCOM) to control the UAV throughout the flight with no handover to a control station in the U.K, although Inmarsat Government provided a backup L-band SATCOM capability in case of failure. A line-of-sight ground control station was shipped to Fairford and was responsible for taxiing the aircraft once it had carried out its automatic landing. It flew at approximately 27,000 feet for most of the flight, dropping to 9,000 feet and maintaining a holding pattern near Fairford for some 2 hours ahead of landing, transiting initially via Canada, over to the South of Ireland, and then over Wales before reaching its end destination. Jonny King, vice-president of GA-ASI UK, told a media briefing at Fairford that the transit demonstrates that the UAV is self-deploying, and the journey was relatively routine for the test aircraft — just with a different landing destination. It has previously flown a sortie of more than 48 hours, King noted, and for the transatlantic flight it was able to fly under the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's authorization, with support from the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority that granted an overflight permission for the transit into U.K. airspace. While the U.K. is on record as being the launch customer for the SkyGuardian through its Protector effort, the aircraft is yet to go through certification testing — one of the most distinguishing features of this variant — and will not be delivered to the RAF until the early 2020s. Development and certification contracts for Protector have been signed, but a production contract for the buy is not expected to be signed for some time, the RAF told Defense News. Air Marshal Julian Young, chief of materiel for air, defense equipment and support for the RAF, said that it is expected that Protector will be acquired under two direct commercial sales contracts and two foreign military sales deals with the U.S. government, covering the various elements of development and acquisition. “Protector is one of the most exciting projects I have to deliver,” Young said, adding that it will be a “gamechanger” in its ability to fly alongside manned aircraft under the remit of air traffic control, with the ultimate goal of being able to fly in open airspace alongside uncontrolled aircraft. “This is a key component of the future of the RAF's air power,” he told media at the aircraft landing event. “I hope this is going to set the standard for aviation. The U.K. is very happy to be the lead with this unique capability.” SkyGuardian has been in test flight for some 18 months so far, King said, adding that the second test aircraft – YBCO2 – will join the first aircraft in test flight in the next month or so. In accordance with the U.K.'s 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the RAF will more than double its MALE UAV capability, which is currently fulfilled by a fleet of 10 Block 1 MQ-9 Reapers, so as few as 21 could be acquired, although 26 is a figure that has been previously touted. The RAF has claimed that integrating UK-made weaponry is a priority for the program, so it will operate MBDA's Brimstone ground attack missile and Raytheon UK Paveway IV laser-guided bombs, although contracts for these have also not yet been signed. “Sovereignty is clearly an important issue,” Young told Defense News, adding that while the Reapers that were bought in the same configuration operated by the U.S. Air Force have been a capability that the U.K. has been able to effectively exploit, more sovereignty would have been an advantage. But “this comes at a cost.” He added that the training capability that the U.K. will use is still undecided on, although the U.K. is open to this taking place domestically or with other partners should another nation elect to acquire aircraft. SkyGuardian will be showcased throughout RIAT before being dismantled and shipped back to the U.S. a week later, King noted. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/riat/2018/07/13/gamechangeraerial-drone-arrives-in-uk-after-mammoth-24-hour-transatlantic-flight/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ebb%2016.07.18&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief