BAE Systems signs US Army deal for M777 gun structures

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  30 août 2018 | International, C4ISR

  UK eyes alternative to Galileo satellite system as Brexit row widens

  By: Andrew Chuter LONDON — Britain is moving toward launching its own satellite navigation system in a response to moves by the European Union to freeze it out of the Galileo constellation over the country's divorce from the EU. The Conservative government in London announced Aug. 29 it was setting aside £92 million (U.S. $119 million) to undertake an 18-month study looking at the feasibility of designing and developing an alternative to the Galileo satellite system. The move is the latest development in a growing row between Britain and the EU after Brexit negotiators in Brussels told their U.K. counterparts they would only be allowed standard, third-party access to Galileo and would not receive data from the system's Public Regulated Service — an encrypted navigation service primarily designed for military users and resistant to jamming, interference and spoofing. The Brexit squabble has also snared Britain's fast-growing space industry, which has been excluded by the EU from bidding for further Galileo-related contracts. Paul Everitt , the CEO of ADS, the lobby group representing the U.K. space and defense industries, said the space industry here has played a “key role in creating the Galileo program, from early pathfinder spacecraft more than a decade ago, to encryption and ground control operations.” “The government's new investment to develop a national satellite navigation system, to make sure valuable U.K. capability continues to be supported, irrespective of the outcome of Brexit negotiations, is very welcome,” Everitt said. The British announcement comes just days after a European Space Agency rocket launched the last four of 26 Galileo satellites required to complete the €10 billion (U.S. $11.7 billion) satellite navigation network. Further spacecraft are scheduled to be launched as backups. The row between London and Brussels could have wider implications for Britain's security relations with the EU, according to analyst Sophia Besch with the Centre for European Reform. As the disagreement over Galileo gathered momentum earlier this year, the think tank tweeted: “#Galileo could set a dangerous precedent for #Brexit #defence negotiations in the future — or it could serve as a wake-up call for EU and UK negotiators argues @SophiaBesch.” Britain has invested about £1.4 billion in the Galileo system, and industry here has been a significant provider of technology in critical areas like encryption as Europe moved to obtain autonomy in navigation satellite systems alongside rival systems owned and operated by the U.S., Russia and China. In a July 29 statement , the British government said it wants to remain part of the Galileo program but will go it alone if it can't negotiate an acceptable agreement. “Without the assurance that UK industry can collaborate on an equal basis now and in the future, and without access to the necessary security-related information to rely on Galileo for military functions such as missile guidance, the UK would be obliged to end its participation in the project,” the statement said. Business secretary Greg Clark said Britain's position on Galileo has been consistent and clear. “We have repeatedly highlighted the specialist expertise we bring to the project and the risks in time delays and cost increases that the European Commission is taking by excluding U.K. industry," Clark said. “Britain has the skills, expertise and commitment to create our own sovereign satellite system, and I am determined that we take full advantage of the opportunities this brings.” The UK Space Agency is leading the study-phase work supported by the Ministry of Defence. Britain is due to lay out its wider plans for military space later this year when Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is due to publish the long-delayed defense space strategy. The British government announced at the Farnborough Air Show last month that it is investing in building a space port in Scotland to launch spacecraft. Williamson, who is currently embroiled in a bitter fight with the Treasury and the Cabinet Office over the level of funding for Britain's cash-strapped military, said in a statement that the sector is one of his personal priorities. “The danger space poses as a new front for warfare is one of my personal priorities, and it is absolutely right that we waste no time in going it alone if we need an independent satellite system to combat those emerging threats,” he said. The cash for the satellite navigation study hasn't come from the MoD, but it has been allocated from the £3 billion Brexit readiness fund announced last year by the government. https://www.defensenews.com/space/2018/08/29/uk-eyes-alternative-to-galileo-satellite-system-as-brexit-row-widens

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  19 juillet 2019 | International, Terrestre, Autre défense

  Army Eyeing Navy's High-Powered Laser to Fight Enemy Drone Swarms

  By Matthew Cox Army modernization officials are getting help from the Navy to make the service's High Energy Laser program more than twice as powerful for fending off aerial attacks from swarms of enemy drones. Currently, the Army's High Energy Laser Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator (HEL TVD) features a 100-kilowatt laser designed to fit on Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle (FMTV) trucks. The service plans to conduct a demonstrationof the system's target acquisition, tracking and other capabilities against a range of targets in 2022. Meanwhile, the Army's Rapid Capabilities Office plans to take advantage of the Navy's 250-kilowatt laser program, a system that could be adapted to fit on the FMTV platform, Army Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski told an audience Tuesday at an Association of the United States Army Institute of Land Warfare breakfast. "The intent is to work with the Navy, and we are doing that right now, in order to increase the power of that laser system from beyond 100-kilowatt up to maybe the 250-kilowatt mark," said Ostrowski, the military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. The Army's 100-kilowatt HEL TVD is being designed to provide air and missile support to forward operating bases and airfields, Ostrowski said. The service also plans to field a platoon of four 50-kilowatt lasers, known as Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) that will be mounted on a Stryker combat vehicle in fiscal 2022. The advantage of the laser is having an "unlimited magazine" for unmanned aerial systems, as well as rockets, artillery and mortars, instead of "shooting $100,000 missiles at $7,000" unmanned aerial systems, Ostrowski said, adding that the Army hopes to expand the potential use of lasers on the battlefield beyond air defense. "We want to be able to put that capability on our tanks to potentially get after targets that our combat vehicles can go after, so this is just the beginning ... of where we see lasers going in the future," he said. One of the challenges of working with lasers, Ostrowski said, is controlling the heat buildup generated by the power source. "It's not just the ability to create the energy to fire the laser, but it's also to dissipate the heat," he said. It's still uncertain whether the Navy's 250-kilowatt laser program will work for the Army, but "we are not going to ignore" its potential for dealing with more complex enemy air attacks, Ostrowski said. "The power piece is extremely important. If you don't have the power, you don't have that unlimited magazine, and that unlimited magazine makes a difference in a swarm environment where you have multiple targets and you have to be able to ... recharge quickly and be able to shoot them all down," he said. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/16/army-eyeing-navys-high-powered-laser-fight-enemy-drone-swarms.html

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  30 juin 2022 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité

  NATO forging cyber response force amid growing Russian, Chinese threats

  The U.S. will '€œoffer robust national capabilities'€ to support the initiative, which is using lessons learned from the Russia-Ukraine war to tailor its methods.