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DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN Reserve officers from 23 countries are meeting in Quebec City to discuss training and other issues related to the use of part-time soldiers. The Summer Congress of Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers (CIOR) and Interallied Confederation of Medical Reserve Officers (CIOMR) started Aug. 3 and runs until Aug. 10. “More than 23 nations are participating in discussions on prominent issues related to military reserves including the contribution of reserve forces to international operations, reserve training, education and employer support,” the Canadian military noted. The Canadian Armed Forces has more than 27,000 reserve soldiers, sailors and air personnel. The annual Summer Congress provides an opportunity for participating nations to forge links between military reserve officers, share best practices, develop viewpoints on issues in support of the NATO alliance, and foster reserve officer professional development, the Canadian military pointed out. Full Article: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/reserve-officers-from-around-world-meet-in-quebec

By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The Air Force is preparing to begin buying light attack aircraft next year — and the winner is going to be either Textron's AT-6 Wolverine or the Sierra Nevada Corp.-Embraer A-29 Super Tucano. According to a pre-solicitation posted on FedBizOpps on Aug. 3, the service will put out a final request for proposals to the two competitors in December with the hopes of awarding a contract by the end of September 2019. However, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told Defense News on Monday that service leaders have not yet made a final decision on whether to green-light a program of record. Should that happen, the pre-solicitation will ensure that the service can move as quickly as it would like to eventually procure new planes, she said. If the new weapons program moves forward, it appears the service will limit the competition to the two aircraft currently involved in the service's light attack experiment. The pre-solicitation states that SNC and Textron Aviation “are the only firms that appear to possess the capability necessary to meet the requirement within the Air Force's time frame without causing an unacceptable delay in meeting the needs of the warfighter.” The Air Force's decision to only consider the A-29 and AT-6 had been foreshadowed by officials like Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, its top uniformed acquisition officer, who repeatedly stated that the service would likely limit a competition to those two participants. Full Article: https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/08/06/the-light-attack-aircraft-competition-will-be-down-to-two-competitors/

By: David B. Larter The U.S. Navy's $122.3 billion Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program is off to an inauspicious start after faulty welding was discovered in several missile tubes destined for both the Columbia and Virginia-class programs, as well as the United Kingdom's follow-on SSBN program. In all, 12 missile tubes manufactured by BWXT, Inc., are being scrutinized for substandard welds. Seven of the 12 had been delivered to prime contractor General Dynamics Electric Boatand were in various stages of outfitting, and five were still under construction. The Navy and Electric Boat have launched an investigation, according to a statement from Naval Sea Systems Command spokesman Bill Couch. “All BWXT welding requiring volumetric inspection has been halted until the investigation is complete,” Couch said. The bad welds came to light after discrepancies were discovered with the equipment BWXT used to test the welds before shipping them to GDEB, according to a source familiar with the issue. The discovery of a significant quality control issue at the very outset of fabrication of Columbia injects uncertainty in a program that already has little room for delays. The issue is made even more troubling because it arises from a vendor with an excellent reputation, and raises questions about whether the Navy can deliver Columbia on time, something the Navy says is vital to ensuring continuous nuclear deterrent patrols as the Ohio class reaches the end of its service life. Full Article: https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2018/08/06/the-us-navys-top-acquisition-priority-stumbles-out-of-the-gate-after-bad-welds-discovered-in-missile-tubes/

BY JOHN WATTS Several tech trends will make tomorrow's tanks harder to spot — and that may have strategic implications. Truly game-changing technology does not develop in isolation. It results from the convergence of multiple trends and usually the combination of multiple technologies. For example, today's social-media platforms did not arise from internet connectivity alone. Rather, they evolved iteratively over multiple generations of technological development, incorporating the miniaturization of digital cameras, the increase in portable computing power of smartphones, and advances in cellular connectivity. In that context, a cluster of technological trends may be converging to produce a potentially transformative battlefield capability: “stealth tanks.” This concept is not new and there is no certainty that these new technological developments will fully scale or prove operationally effective. But as these technologies develop they hint at possibilities that warrant serious discussion about their potential application to armored vehicles, as well as their operational and politico-strategic implications. By “stealth,” we do not mean invisibility. Rather, it is a collection of technologies designed to reduce an object's observable signature, thereby making detection more difficult. Even if temporary or incomplete, stealth provides a significant tactical advantage. Aircraft achieve stealth through a decreased radar cross section which incredibly complicates detection. Full Article: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2018/08/stealthier-tanks/150276/

By: Todd South As Marine units face evolving drone threats from terrorist organizations and at the same time shore up their air defenses against near-peer air attacks, a few key pieces of gear in the most recent defense bill could vastly strengthen overhead protection. Until recently, Marines tasked with taking down drones or short-range missiles had to link into a vast array of detection devices and then perform a practically 20th century task to take them out. Essentially, a Marine with binoculars scans the air for drones while another Marine zeroes in with a Stinger missile ― first fielded in the 1980s but upgraded since ― to shoot down what is often a few hundred dollars' worth of a patched together, weaponized or surveillance-type commercial drone. But a review of the past five years of Marine Corps budget requests and approvals for two systems, the Ground Based Air Defense-Transformation, or GBAD, and the Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar, or G/ATOR, have more than doubled in the past five years and are projected to maintain or increase from now until 2022, when a GBAD with a laser component is expected to field. Beginning as far back as 2013, the Marines have been purchasing the G/ATOR, an advanced radar system that executes the function of a combined five legacy systems. Full Article: https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/08/06/marines-increase-ways-to-detect-and-kill-air-threats-from-hobby-drones-to-cruise-missiles/

Igor Bozinovski The Bulgarian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 25 July placed details online of the project to procure 150 armoured vehicles for the Bulgarian Land Forces (BuLF). The 17-page document was approved by Bulgaria's Council of Ministers on 16 May. The BGN1.224 billion (USD722 million) BuLF modernisation project calls for BGN810 million to be spent on the acquisition of at least 90 armoured combat vehicles, and BGN414 million on at least 60 special and support vehicles. In addition, BGN240 million is planned for the acquisition of related equipment, documentation, personnel training, training and simulation equipment, an automated fire control system for a self-propelled mortar battery, and related communication and information systems. Full Article: https://www.janes.com/article/82190/bulgaria-details-armoured-vehicle-procurement

Igor Bozinovski On 30 July, the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence published a tender for the general overhaul of two Mi-17 transport and four Mi-24V combat helicopters of the Bulgarian Air Force (BuAF). The deadline for submission of bids is 3 September, with a framework agreement covering a period of 48 months to be signed with the successful bidder. The procurement is valued at BGN37.3 million (USD22 billion): BGN11.3 million for the Mi-17s and BGN26 million for the Mi-24Vs. Full Article: https://www.janes.com/article/82199/bulgaria-overhauls-mi-17-and-mi-24-helicopters

By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — House and Senate lawmakers have authorized an injection of about $51 million in funding to cyber-harden missile defense systems, according to the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act conference report, and appropriators are expected to follow suit in the defense spending bill with roughly $100 million in additional funding. Congressional authorizers noted in a summary of the NDAA conference report, released July 23, that the conferees were supporting an increase in funding to address cyberthreats to U.S. missile defense systems. WASHINGTON — House and Senate lawmakers have authorized an injection of about $51 million in funding to cyber-harden missile defense systems, according to the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act conference report, and appropriators are expected to follow suit in the defense spending bill with roughly $100 million in additional funding. Congressional authorizers noted in a summary of the NDAA conference report, released July 23, that the conferees were supporting an increase in funding to address cyberthreats to U.S. missile defense systems. What the new defense bill means for cyber U.S. House and Senate negotiators boosted funding for cybersecurity in the annual defense authorization bill, which serves as a repudiation of the Trump administration's foreign policy. By: Justin Lynch The U.S. military and its allies are reliant on missile defense systems both regionally and to defend the homeland. Such a capability will require a more robust level of protection against cyberattacks as adversaries grow in their ability to take down systems through jamming and other electronic warfare capabilities. The strategy to disarm enemy systems using jamming and electronic attack already plays a major role in war gaming against possible peer adversaries in the future. Using cyber and electronic attack is seen, at times, as the first line of offense to take down enemy air defense systems, so as to allow the injection of friendly forces into denied territory. And since that's part of the strategy to penetrate enemy systems, it will be and already is a part of the adversaries' strategies, too. Full Article: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2018/07/27/congress-offers-millions-in-budget-to-cyber-harden-missile-defense-systems/

By: Maddy Longwell   U.S. Strategic Command has approved the Navy's new narrowband satellite communication system for expanded operational use, which could begin as early as this fall, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command announced Aug. 2. “MUOS' acceptance for operational use is an important milestone for the Navy, and it's one step closer for significant communications improvements for all our forces,” Rear Adm. Carl Chebi, the Navy's program executive officer for space systems, said in the release. The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), built by Lockheed Martin, is a five-satellite constellation, which includes four operational satellites and an on-orbit spare, that works with ground relays to operate like a global military cellular network. The first satellite launched in 2012. The system can transmit voice, video and mission data on an Internet Protocol based system that can connect to military networks. Users can connect to Department of Defense communications networks such as the Global Information Grid and Defense Switched Network. Full Article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2018/08/03/navy-satellite-system-approved-for-expanded-use