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25 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Four factors to consider in keeping NATO relevant

By: and Daniel S. Hamilton

The NATO alliance survived four years of U.S. President Donald Trump due largely to strong congressional support and clever leadership by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. After the bell ringing and fireworks end in European capitals to welcome President-elect Joe Biden, the alliance will need to realize that it can not go back to business as usual. The world has moved on during those four years and the alliance will need to continue to rejuvenate in order to remain relevant.

That rejuvenation process will be enshrined in a new Strategic Concept, which should emerge over the next year or so. Stoltenberg already has a so-called reflection process underway designed to identify key areas where change is needed. Biden's foreign policy team will now weigh in.

NATO's rejuvenation might unfold under what we call the “Four Cs.” We should want an alliance that is more coherent, more capable, more comprehensive in scope and with a more co-equal balance of contributions to the common defense.

The return of Joe Biden alone will contribute to NATO's coherence, and reverse poisonous trans-Atlantic political relations. But the problem is deeper.

Threat perceptions differ markedly across the alliance. There is broad lack of confidence in commitments to the North Atlantic Treaty, including its mutual defense Article V. There is democratic backsliding among several NATO members. Allies are facing off against each other in the Eastern Mediterranean. There are differing attitudes about Russian behavior around the Black and Baltic sea. There are differences about the endgame in Afghanistan. And there are uncertainties of how the alliance should address China's growing security role in Europe and the global commons.

The new Strategic Concept will need to enhance coherence by reaffirming common democratic values and recommitting to the common defense. This will be the most important element of a new Strategic Concept. A review of the Strategic Concept can provide a process through which allies can assess mechanisms to uphold their mutual commitment to strengthen their free institutions, avoid straying from agreed democratic practices and prevent allies from confronting each other militarily.

Second, the alliance needs to continue its efforts to strengthen its capabilities in two distinct areas: conventional military might and resilience against so-called hybrid or non-kinetic attacks.

Since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO nations have begun to focus again on a major power competitor. Four NATO battlegroups are forward-deployed to the Baltic states and Poland. A small, very high-readiness force and a larger readiness initiative were undertaken to back up those battalions. A mobilization initiative was designed to make sure ready forces can forward-deploy quickly. But European defense budgets constrained by COVID-19 will put those initiatives in jeopardy. The Strategic Concept will need to prioritize those programs.

The alliance must also more methodically address unconventional challenges to human security from Russia such as media disinformation, corrosive cyber operations, supply chain disruptions and energy intimidation. The Strategic Concept needs to design resilience programs so that alliance members can better protect the critical functions of our societies to such disruptive dangers.

Next, the scope of NATO's mission needs to be more comprehensive. NATO's core tasks of collective defense, crisis management and cooperative security must be expanded to include countering challenges that contribute to global instability. Those challenges would range from managing global warming and pandemics through the refugee crisis to the rise of China.

NATO has recently used its mobility and civil defense assets to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. NATO navies have contributed to saving the lives of refugees at sea. In addition, the consequences of a major ice melt will have a significant security impact in the Arctic, along urban coastlines and on further refugee flows. To remain relevant, NATO must begin to define its role in these areas.

Stoltenberg has focused the alliance's attention on China. That nation is increasingly partnering with Russia in the military arena including defense industrial cooperation and joint exercises. It also has invested in European strategic infrastructure, created technology dependencies and used coercive diplomacy to stifle European voices. NATO's expanded role should include reducing those dependencies and developing much closer partnership ties with America's Asian allies.

Finally, the new Strategic Concept should result in more co-equal trans-Atlantic distribution of military capabilities and responsibilities. This is less about traditional burden-sharing than it is about responding to two historical trends. Europe's response to the Trump years has been to seek greater strategic autonomy. China's military challenge has American planners focusing on Asia first.

Many American friends of Europe are discussing a possible new division of labor, with the United States focusing more on China and European militaries focusing on Russia. This, however, could leave Europe poorly defended and open to coercion. The Strategic Concept will need to divine an elegant solution, perhaps with Europe accepting the responsibility to provide half of the capability needed to defend against a major Russian attack.

NATO has remained history's strongest alliance precisely because it has adapted to new strategic conditions. It can do so again.

Hans Binnendijk is a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council and formerly served as the U.S. National Security Council's senior director for defense policy. Daniel S. Hamilton is an Austrian Marshall Plan distinguished fellow and the director of the Global Europe Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/11/24/four-factors-to-consider-in-keeping-nato-relevant/

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 15, 2019

    16 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 15, 2019

    ARMY BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP, York, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $474,084,062 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for system technical support and sustainment system technical support. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 14, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-19-D-0040). ACC Construction Co. Inc., Augusta, Georgia, was awarded a $30,006,388 firm-fixed-price contract for a Special Operations Forces tactical equipment maintenance facility. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work will be performed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 5, 2020. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 military construction funds in the amount of $30,006,388 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, North Carolina, is the contracting activity (W912PM-19-C-0008). Tecmotiv (USA) Inc.,* Niagara Falls, New York, was awarded a $19,644,207 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Egypt) contract for M60 engine overhaul parts package. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Niagara Falls, New York, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 25, 2020. Fiscal 2011 foreign military sales funds in the amount of $19,644,207 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-19-C-0042). DynCorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded an $18,537,068 modification (P00205) to contract W58RGZ-13-C-0040 for aviation field maintenance services. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2019. Fiscal 2017 and 2019 aircraft procurement, Army; and operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $18,537,068 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Mississippi Limestone Corp.,* Friars Point, Mississippi, was awarded an $18,399,991 firm-fixed-price contract for articulated concrete mattress casting at the Mississippi River. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Delta, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 21, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $18,399,991 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi, is the contracting activity (W912EE-19-C-0002). Avatar Environmental LLC,* West Chester, Pennsylvania (W912DQ-19-D-3004); GEO Consultants Corp.,* Kevil, Kentucky (W912DQ-19-D-3005); Trevet-Bay West JV II LLC,* San Diego, California (W912DQ-19-D-3006); and TriEco LLC,* Louisville, Kentucky (W912DQ-19-D-3007 ), will compete for each order of the $12,000,000 hybrid cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract for environmental architect engineer services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 10 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 14, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity. Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $9,742,355 modification (P00030) to contract W911QX-16-C-0012 for support of Saturn Arch Aerial Intelligence System for day and night image collection and exploitation of Improvised Explosive Device “hot spot” areas. Work will be performed in Bridgewater, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 16, 2019. Fiscal 2018 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $ 2,062,117 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP, York, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $7,201,316 modification (P00024) to contract W56HZV-17-C-0059 for the maintenance of M88 recovery vehicles, technical data package maintenance and total ownership cost reduction. Work will be performed in York, Pennsylvania, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 18, 2020. Fiscal 2018 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $7,201,316 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY ZOLL Medical Corp., Chelmsford, Massachusetts, has been awarded a maximum $400,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for patient monitoring and capital equipment systems and accessories. This was a competitive acquisition with 36 responses received. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with a Jan. 13, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D1-19-D-0011). (Awarded Jan. 14, 2019) Valneva USA Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $70,051,600, firm-fixed-price contract for the Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 ( c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a one-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Maryland and the U.K., with a Jan. 14, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DP-19-D-0001). Dental Health Products Inc.,* New Franken, Wisconsin, has been awarded a maximum $37,500,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for dental equipment and accessories for the Defense Logistics Agency electronic catalog. This was a competitive acquisition with 68 responses received; 20 contracts have been awarded to date. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Wisconsin, with a Jan. 13, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Department of Defense and other federal organizations. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DH-19-D-0005). (Awarded Jan. 14, 2019) NAVY Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded $68,933,454 for cost-plus-incentive fee delivery order 0104 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-14-G-0020). This order provides for the design, development, documentation, integration, and test of upgrades to the U.S. Reprogramming Laboratory to execute the Mission Data (MD) programming and reprogramming mission for the F-35 Digital Channelized Receiver/Technique Generator and Tuner Insertion Program (DTIP) and non-DTIP configurations. These efforts are in support of Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps operational aircraft, as well as all training aircraft within the continental U.S. with MD products. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (65 percent); Baltimore, Maryland (25 percent); and Eglin Air Force Base, Florida (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in May 2021. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $20,000,000 will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This order combines purchases for the Air Force ($34,466,727; 50 percent); Navy ($17,233,364; 25 percent), and the Marine Corps ($17,233,363; 25 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. C4 Planning Solutions, Blythe, Georgia, is awarded a maximum ceiling $45,488,761 firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract with a five-year ordering period and option to extend services up to six months for tactical systems support and professional engineering services for the Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity. This contract contains an option, which if exercised, will bring the contract value to $49,999,196. Work will be performed at Camp Pendleton, California (41 percent); Okinawa, Japan (15 percent); Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (four percent); Norfolk, Virginia (four percent); Alexandria, Virginia (four percent); Quantico, Virginia (four percent); New Orleans, Louisiana (two percent); and additional various locations outside the continental U.S. (26 percent), and work is expected to be completed by March 6, 2024. If the option is exercised, work will continue through Sept. 6, 2024. Fiscal 2017 (Marine Corps) operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $515,910; and fiscal 2019 (Marine Corps) operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $146,903 will be obligated under the initial task order immediately following contract award. Although expired, the fiscal 2017 contract funds in the amount of $515,910 are available for this effort in accordance with 31 U.S. Code 1558. The contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contract activity (M68909-19-D-7605). AECOM Management Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, is awarded a $35,162,580 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, fixed-price contract resulting from solicitation N00189-18-R-0044 that includes provisions for economic price adjustment to provide third party logistics support services and hazardous material supplies as required by Marine Corp. Pacific and tenant Navy commands in Okinawa, Japan. The contract includes a five-year base ordering period with an option to extend services for a six-month ordering period pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8 which if exercised, the total value of this contract will be $38,965,976. All work will be performed in Okinawa, Japan, and work is expected to be completed February 2024. If the option is exercised, work will be completed by August 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $768,053; fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $1,211,512; and working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $138,000 will be obligated at time of award. Operations and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps) funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (N00189-19-D-0001) BAE Systems Hawaii Shipyards Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii, was awarded a not-to-exceed $9,576,151 undefinitized contract action modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-14-C-4412 for scheduled Surface Incremental Availability (SIA) on USS Halsey (DDG 97). The scheduled SIA is the opportunity in the ship's life cycle primarily to conduct structural repairs and alteration to systems. Work will be performed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by May 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $4,689,804; and fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $98,255 will be obligated at time of award. Funds in the amount of $4,689,804 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Jan. 14, 2019) Global Technical Systems Inc.*, Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded an $8,510,970 firm-fixed–price delivery order N00024-19-F-5610 under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00024-14-D-5213 for the procurement of 15 Common Processing System (CPS) Technical Instruction Twelve Hybrid (TI-12H) water-cooled production units for Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program and two CPS TI-12H air-cooled production units for ship self defense systems. The CPS is a computer processing system based on an Open Architecture (OA) design. CPS consists of the CPS enclosure assembly and three subsystems: the processing subsystem, the storage/extraction subsystem, and the Input / Output (I/O) subsystem. It is intended to support the computer requirements of various Navy combat systems. This contract will provide for production, testing and delivery of CPS (water cooled, air cooled, and air-cooled commercial equivalents), spares, and associated engineering services. Work will be performed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by October 2019. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $8,510,970 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Jan. 14, 2019) Lockheed Martin Corp., Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a fixed-price-incentive firm target modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-18-C-2300 to exercise an option for the construction of one fiscal 2019 littoral combat ship. The specific contract award amount for this ship is considered source-selection sensitive information (see 41 U.S. Code 2101, et seq., Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 2.101 and FAR 3.104) and will not be made public at this time. Lockheed Martin will perform and oversee all necessary design, planning, construction and test and trials activities in support of delivery of this ship to the Navy. Work will be performed in Marinette, Wisconsin (40 percent); Washington, District of Columbia (7 percent); Baltimore, Maryland (6 percent); Beloit, Wisconsin (2 percent); Iron Mountain, Michigan (2 percent); Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1 percent); Waunakee, Wisconsin (1 percent); Crozet, Virginia (1 percent); Coleman, Wisconsin (1 percent); Monrovia, California (1 percent); and various locations below 1 percent (38 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2026. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1732604/source/GovDelivery/

  • Nexter armored vehicle could soon include tethered drones

    11 juin 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre, C4ISR

    Nexter armored vehicle could soon include tethered drones

    VERSAILLES, France ― Nexter has unveiled a concept version of its Titus armored vehicle adapted to carry augmented mission systems, including a tethered drone, unmanned ground vehicles and a remote controlled 20mm cannon. The six-wheeled vehicle serves as a multipurpose platform to develop capabilities that could one day be fitted to vehicles such as the Griffon troop carrier. One of the capabilities is a captive UAV tethered to the vehicle, which could be used for observation and artillery targeting, a Nexter executive told journalists May 16. The UAV can fly to a height of 50 meters. A quieter option is a small, stand-alone UAV, which can also be launched from the vehicle's roof for reconnaissance missions. The hull has an outside compartment to deploy small unmanned ground vehicles, or UGV, to detect improvised explosive devices as well as chemical, biological and radiation weapons. The vehicle is armed with a remote controlled 20mm cannon, with options for a 25mm or 30mm weapon. The gun, UGV and UAV could be controlled inside or outside the vehicle with a smart pad. Another capability that could be installed includes a “virtual fence” for facial recognition for the vehicle's crew and troops. Nexter displayed the demonstrator vehicle at an artillery day event in December at the Canjuers Army base in the southeast of France. Nexter also showed off Themis, a tracked UGV armed with a 20mm gun. The vehicle is supplied by Milrem of Estonia. Themis is armed with an ARX 20mm remote controlled cannon with a 2-kilometer range and armor piercing shells. Other options are 12.7mm and 14.5mm heavy machine guns. The vehicle could support disembarked troops with heavy firepower and be used to open roads. Themis weighs 1 ton, travels at 24 kph and has an all-terrain capability. It is powered by electricity and diesel, with the latter delivering an endurance of 10 hours. Many countries, particularly for special forces, have shown interest in the vehicle, a Nexter executive said. A firing test is due to be held this year. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/eurosatory/2018/06/08/nexter-armored-vehicle-could-soon-include-tethered-drones/

  • Brazil to double air fleet as part of $10.6 billion investment

    23 août 2023 | International, Aérospatial

    Brazil to double air fleet as part of $10.6 billion investment

    For the Brazilian Air Force, the plan involves the production and acquisition of 34 F-39 Gripen fighters.

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