6 février 2024 | International, Terrestre
Netherlands considers creating tank battalion, but needs funding
Furthermore, such a decision would be up to the next government.
21 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial
NATO group in Europe to receive first jointly owned aerial tankers
COLOGNE, Germany – A group of six European NATO nations next month will take delivery of the first two of eight Airbus A330 aircraft suitable for aerial refueling and transport missions, the alliance announced.
The MFF program, short for Multinational Multi-Role Tanker and Transport Fleet, is one of only a few examples of select NATO nations jointly owning and operating equipment. The first aircraft are slated to arrive in the Netherlands at the main operating base in Eindhoven in June following “a limited delay” over the original schedule, according to a statement.
The NATO Support and Procurement Agency manages the program on behalf of member nations Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway and the Netherlands. The six nations share the cost of buying the planes as well as flying hours used for missions.
The Airbus A330 MRTT aircraft are destined mainly to bolster the aerial-refueling capabilities of participating air forces, which is key to extending the operating radius of their fighter fleets. The tanker can refuel F-16, F-35, Eurofighter, Tornado and Gripen jets, as well as “most of the other” aircraft used by the alliance, including C-17 cargo planes, the NATO statement reads.
Nations can also operate the tankers in a cargo, passenger or medical-evacuation configuration.
According to a memorandum of understanding governing the aircraft's use, Germany has booked up to 5,500 flying hours per year, followed by the Netherlands (2,000), Belgium (1,000) Luxembourg (200), and Norway and the Czech Republic with 100 each.
Besides Eindhoven as the main base hosting five of the envisioned eight total aircraft, the German city of Cologne is slated to host three.
NATO officials have touted the capability to ferry cargo among nations here as key to fighting the coronavirus epidemic. Member nations have repeatedly organized flights to deliver medical equipment, for example, to help each other out.
In alliance parlance, the increased transportation muscle provided by the MFF program goes to the heart of what officials have called NATO's “resilience” in the face of crises. To that end, officials have begun an examination of how the pact's military assets can help civil authorities absorb the kinds of shocks brought by the coronavirus.
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4 septembre 2018 | International, C4ISR
'Five Eyes' allies urge digital industry to stop child pornographers, terrorists
Kathleen Harris · CBC News Canada and security allies say illicit material is flourishing and easily accessible on the web Canada and its "Five Eyes" intelligence allies are calling on the digital online industry to take urgent action to stop child pornographers, terrorists and violent extremists from finding a platform on the internet. After meetings in Australia, ministers from that country, Canada, New Zealand, the U.S. and U.K., issued a statement claiming the group is as determined to counter the "grave threats" online as they are to dealing with them in the physical world. "Our citizens expect online spaces to be safe, and are gravely concerned about illegal and illicit online content, particularly the online sexual exploitation of children. We stand united in affirming that the rule of law can and must prevail online," reads the joint communique issued Wednesday. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould attended the meetings. 'New vectors for harm' The joint statement says the anonymous, instantaneous and networked nature of the web has magnified threats and "opened up new vectors for harm." It also notes that the evolution of digital technology has created new opportunities for transmitting child exploitation material and perpetrating the most abhorrent acts, such as live streaming abuse. The statement says illicit material is not relegated to the recesses of the dark web, but is accessible through most common top‑level domains. Mobile technology has enabled offenders to target children using apps to recruit and coerce children. "The low financial cost, and the anonymized nature of this criminal enterprise, is contributing to a growth in the sexual exploitation of children. We must escalate government and industry efforts to stop this," it reads. Lianna McDonald, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection welcomed the joint statement. "Our organization has been engaging directly with survivors of child sexual abuse who endure lifelong impacts from the recording and sharing of their abuse on the internet," she said in an emailed statement "Collaboration across borders and with all sectors, including industry, is essential if we are to make meaningful progress in this space and address this heinous crime." Tackling terrorist fundraising The communique also pledges to do more to prevent terrorists and violent extremists from spreading materials designed to radicalize, recruit, fundraise and mobilize. Actions urged by the Five Eyes group include: Developing and implementing capabilities to prevent illegal and illicit content from being uploaded, and to execute urgent and immediate takedown measures when there is an upload. Deploying human and automated capabilities to find and remove legacy content. Investing more on automated capabilities and techniques, including photo DNA tools, to detect, remove and prevent reupload of illegal and illicit content. Building user safety into the design of all online platforms and services. Allen Mendelsohn, an internet law specialist and lecturer at McGill's law faculty, said because child porn is universally deemed reprehensible, he expects mounting governmental and public pressure could prompt tech companies to act. But, he said in past, they have resisted any steps to remove content, citing the "slippery slope" argument. "They are loathe to take any sort of action that would be seen as removing or not displaying any particular content that has been uploaded by users," he said. "They have taken the longstanding position that user content is the user's responsibility, not the platform's responsibility." Mendelsohn said the issue is complicated because there are differing laws and views internationally on what constitutes crossing the line for the internet. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/SOMNIA-1.4803122
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12 juillet 2018 | International, C4ISR
No surprise, cloud tops new Defense CIO’s priorities
By: Mark Pomerleau Dana Deasy, the Department of Defense's new CIO, said he sees four critical areas to support the national defense strategy and digital modernization: cloud, artificial intelligence, command, control and communications, and cyber. Speaking at an event hosted by Defense Systems in Arlington July 11, Deasy said those initiatives are listed not in order of importance, but rather in order of integration. Cloud is the foundation for many future warfighting capabilities as well as the other three priorities. As a result, the much anticipated Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure proposal is “not a longs ways off, [but] we have a bit more work to do before we release,” he said. Despite not committing to a specific release date for the multibillion dollar JEDI proposal, Deasy said he wants the overall JEDI effort to be comprehensive, clear and maximize responses. The proposal, he said, should be written in a way “that truly represents what any smart intelligence company in private industry would do in seeking to put an enterprise cloud in place.” Deasy, who has been on the job about two months, acknowledged the department doesn't have a true enterprise capability that will deliver the efficiencies on the scale it needs. Since taking over the JEDI acquisition, he said there is a top down, bottom up review of the effort. deally, an enterprise solution should allow for flexibility, management of classified and unclassified data, scalable in the form of both infrastructure as a service and platform as a service, have common governance and will eventually be a multi-cloud, multi-vendor environment. he said. In his remarks, Deasy also highlighted the recently established Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. The center, he said, will advance DoD's ability to organize AI capability delivery and technology understanding within DoD. The center will also help to attract and cultivate much needed talent in the AI space, he added, demonstrating successful intersection of human ingenuity and advanced computing to include ethics, humanitarian considerations and both short term and long term AI safety. https://www.c4isrnet.com/it-networks/2018/07/11/no-surprise-cloud-tops-new-defense-cios-priorities/