6 septembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR

DoD official wants ‘safe space’ for defense-industrial base cooperation

WASHINGTON — A Trump administration official wants to create a “safe space” for international defense-industrial base cooperation.

As China's military modernization strategy bridges its civil-military divide and the U.S. National Defense Strategy emphasizes the American industrial base, the Pentagon must protect and encourage America's international partnerships, according to Eric Chewning, the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy.

“As China articulates a civil-military fusion doctrine where they are intentionally blurring the lines between their developments on the military side and the commercial side, we need to work with our allies to create a safe space where we can work collaboratively to do that,” Chewning said Wednesday at the Defense News Conference.

Chewning's comments came as the Trump administration's defense-industrial base review has been delayed for months, but after the administration has streamlined conventional arms and drone export policies, in part to boost the American defense sector.

The Pentagon's acquisitions and sustainment arm maintains bilateral conversations with 35 nations on industrial collaboration, providing a forum to work together in the context of the U.S. strategy's emphasis on great power competition with Russia and China.

The Pentagon could scale up a handful of pilot programs tied to the 2017 expansion of the national technology and industrial base to include the U.K. and Australia, Chewning said.

But the challenge is to create other avenues for countries outside that core group, like Israel. “We have different constructs that apply to different allies, and we're trying to figure out what the right tools is,” Chewning added.

Sharing information and technology is easier said than done. As the U.S. pursues space and cyber capabilities, classification levels are trending higher, potentially hindering the effort, the Danish Embassy's minister-counselor for defense, Peter Michael Nielsen, told conference attendees.

“We do need to see a need to continue sharing technology and information,” Nielsen said. “We also have problems in defense, to get the meetings, to get the information.”

The Trump administration's “America First” emphasis is creating questions and concerns among allies, in that it also emphasizes “Buy America” provisions that penalize them, panelists said.

“We have a strong concern. We are exempted, and if that changed it would be huge," Nielsen said.

Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense-news-conference/2018/09/05/trump-dod-official-wants-safe-space-for-defense-industrial-base-cooperation

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9 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial

Bulgaria ready to start talks with U.S. on F-16 jet deal
Angel Krasimirov, Tsvetelia Tsolova SOFIA (Reuters) - The Bulgarian government has approved a plan to start talks with the United States on buying eight new F-16 fighter jets to replace its ageing Soviet-made MiG-29s and improve compliance with NATO standards, the defense minister said on Wednesday. A deal for Lockheed Martin's F-16V Block 70 would be worth around 1.8 billion levs ($1.1 billion), Bulgaria's biggest military procurement since the fall of Communist rule some 30 years ago. The decision still requires parliament's approval. Other bidders had included Sweden, with Saab's Gripen jets, and Italy, with second-hand Eurofighters. Senior defense ministry and army officials say the F-16 is a multi-role fighter plane that had been tested in battle and had a long lifespan. The defense ministry has previously said that the United States does not need additional licenses and agreements to supply the war plans with the necessary weaponry and licenses, unlike the offers from Sweden and Italy. “The government is proposing to the parliament to allow it to start talks with the United States to acquire new war planes,” Defense Minister Krasimir Karakachanov told reporters. The center-right coalition government has a thin majority in parliament, which is expected to vote on the move next week. The plan has spurred heated political debates in the Black Sea country with supporters hailing it as a strategic choice for Bulgaria, whose NATO neighbors are also flying F-16s, while critics accused the government of breaching the tender rules. On Tuesday, the White House said the United States was ready to work with the government to tailor a deal that will fit Bulgaria's budgetary and operational requirements. Its bid at present exceeds the tender's estimated limit, officials said. “We believe that the F-16 Block 70 offers Bulgaria the best possible combination of price, capability and interoperability with other NATO air forces,” U.S. President Donald Trump's administration said in a statement. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, a former air force commander and frequent critic of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, is believed to favor the Swedish bid and has criticized the process as flawed and “a triumph of lobbying”. Critics have questioned whether the United States can deliver the first two F-16 jets within two years as required and pointed to a U.S. proposal for a one-off payment upon contracting rather than offering a long-term payment scheme as preferred in the tender. Sweden has expressed its disappointment over the decision and said its offer was well below the estimated budget, provided for deferred payment and was ready to deliver on time. The question of which warplanes to buy has been vexing successive governments in Bulgaria for more than a decade. Borissov's government re-launched the tender in July, after a parliament commission ruled that a previous process which favored the Gripen jets, should be reviewed. ($1 = 1.7057 leva) Editing by Kevin Liffey and Susan Fenton https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bulgaria-defence-jets/bulgaria-decides-to-start-talks-with-u-s-on-f-16-jet-deal-idUSKCN1P30W9
21 juin 2018 | International, C4ISR

How the Army will plan cyber and electronic warfare operations
Mark Pomerleau &emsp; With cyber playing a critical role in conflict going forward, the Army has begun to recognize the need to have organic cyber planners within a brigade's staff to offer commanders options related to cyber as well as electronic warfare. Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities, or CEMA cells, have been stood up in each brigade acting as planners to provide targeting options and capabilities to get at commander objectives just as an artillery planner would offer the commander choices related to their field for a pending operation. At the tactical level, these two disciplines – cyber and electronic warfare – have become intertwined. “When I talk to Army commanders and staffs, I try to make the point that I want you to worry less about whether it's a cyber or EW effect,” Lt. Col. Christopher Walls, deputy director for strategy and policy, at the Army's Cyber Directorate within the G-3/5/7, said at the C4ISRNET Conference in May. For example, Walls said for a river crossing mission, a commander might say he needs to buy a few hours to get a battalion across. The CEMA cell, in turn, would look across the capability sets in its portfolio and come up with a course of action. These cells potentially have the ability to allow the commander to target local internet service providers or local routers and prevent opposing forces from using them. The teams may also have an electronic warfare capability that can jam local area network protocols. Finally, these teams might know where mobile switching centers are by digitally geolocating them allowing physical strikes to take them out, Walls said. “I don't want the commander to worry about which of those three things, I just want him to talk to me in terms of desired objective and effects and then us, along with the staff, will determine which capability makes sense,” Walls said. “That's kind of the way we're thinking about the tactical fight.” The best choice comes down to understanding the commander's objectives and intent in order to offer the best solution. “What I would do is understand his intent, what effect he wants and what I'll do is submit that in a formal request and I'll let the higher echelons determine if they can provide that effect,” Capt. Daniel Oconer, brigade CEMA officer, told C4ISRNET during a recent visit to the National Training Center. “In general, all I really need to know for my planning processes is understand what the maneuver force wants to do,” he added. “How do tanks and Bradleys [move], how are the troops on the ground moving. Then, what is their mission? What is their objective? What is the commander's intent? Once I understand that I throw some CEMA flavor, so to say, onto it and then enable them to accomplish their mission.” Oconer is currently billeted as a 29 series electronic warfare officer. The Army will begin to transition these individuals into the cyber branch, or 17 series, so they will all eventually be cyber planners in the CEMA cell. “The way that we're transforming our electronic warfare professionals is they will become cyber operators. They will be the face inside our brigade combat teams and our maneuver formations for cyber operational planning,” Maj. Gen. John Morrison, commander of the Cyber Center of Excellence, said during a May speech. “They're complimentary. You cannot look at electronic warfare professionals and cyber operators in isolation.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2018/06/20/how-the-army-will-plan-cyber-and-electronic-warfare-operations/
7 septembre 2021 | International, Aérospatial

Top defense leaders kick off new phase for Europe's next-gen fighter
Top defense leaders from France, Germany and Spain have formalized plans to begin the preliminary development phase for a lead plane under the Future Combat Air System program, committing their governments to spending billions of euros in the coming years.

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