Pakistan extends delayed T129 helo deal with Turkey — again

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  22 février 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contracts for February 19, 2021

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  19 juin 2019 | International, Autre défense

  15 extra pounds of gear can be the difference between life or death in a firefight, this Marine officer’s research says

  By: Shawn Snow The weight being humped by grunts into a firefight with a sophisticated adversary like Russia or China could be the difference between mission success or going home in a body bag, according to one Marine officer's award-winning research. Marine Capt. Courtney Thompson said computer simulations she ran showed that just adding 15 pounds to the “bare essential” fighting load carried by Marines resulted in an additional casualty on the battlefield when Marines were pitted against competent shooters. The Corps' fighting load varies between 43 to 62 pounds depending on the level of body armor a Marine wears. Military body armor protection ranges from level II to IV. Thompson's simulations were run with level II body armor — protection capable of stopping a 9 mm round. The weight range includes a carried weapon. She told Marine Corps Times in an interview that the results of the simulations were “eye opening," especially in light of a 2017 government watchdog reported that detailed Marines and soldiers were carrying between 117 pounds to 119 pounds on average. When she ran the simulations and added more weight “casualties just went up,” Thompson said. And “the better the [enemy] shooter got, the more the difference in weight mattered." In a near-peer fight, Thompson said, Marines will need to move faster on the battlefield to survive and win. “The slower they are, the higher the chance they have of getting hit," she said. But it's not just about reducing a Marine's exposure time to being shot, smaller weight loads aid in more precise shooting and quicker target engagement times. A 2018 report from Washington D.C.-based think tank Center for a New American Security, explained that heavy combat loads “not only slows movement and increases fatigue” but decrease “situational awareness and shooting response times.” Moreover, a 2007 report from Naval Research Advisory Committee on Marine combat loads recommended an assault load of just 50 pounds. As the Corps focuses on the near-peer fight, the weight carried by Marines into battle is a topic that will need to be front and center for Marine commanders, Thompson said. Thompson's research, which won the Military Operations Research Society Stephen A. Tisdale Thesis Award at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, has the attention of officials at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory — where the Corps has been exploring ways to boost combat power while also reducing the weight burden on grunts. Marine Corps Times has reached out to the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory for comments on this research. Marine Corps Systems Command said its “Gruntworks” team spoke with Thompson about her research. The team handles the integration of equipment for Marine rifle squads. Thompson, a combat engineer, said she came up with the idea after seeing how “gassed” her Marines got during training as a result of operations tempo and weight. “I thought if I could quantify weight in terms of casualties and probability of mission success, that's what the Marine Corps understands,” she said. Thompson's computer simulations relied on Australian human subject data and infantry demographics supplied by headquarters Marine Corps. The Australian data was used because of the Australian Defence Department's rigorous study on its tiered body armor system, Thompson explained. The Marine infantry data included physical fitness and marksmanship. The individual Marines within the simulated 13-man rifle squads “represented the average for that rank for all 0311s [Marine rifleman] in the Marine Corps,” she said. Thompson said she ran the simulations nearly a million times. Thompson's research showed that reducing the weight burden carried by grunts could save lives and win battles. But she didn't make any prescriptive adjustments to the Corps' combat gear load outs. She told Marine Corps Times that she didn't want to “limit” a battlefield commander's decision-making. The Corps' various fighting loads are broken down in its infantry training and readiness manual into four different groups, fighting load, assault load, approach march load and sustainment load. The load type is dependent on the mission at hand. Thompson's research was aimed at the fighting and assault loads. The fighting and assault loads include combat gear for the “immediate mission” and the “actual conduct of the assault,” respectively, according to the Corps' infantry manual. The assault load weight varies between 58 pounds and 70 pounds based on level of body armor. The weight range includes a weapon being carried. The training and readiness manual excludes the weight of a weapon in its gear break down. Thompson isn't calling for particular pieces of gear to be thrown off the packing list, but she said commanders should throw the entire list in a pack, wear it, and “see if it is a reasonable amount of weight.” The Corps is already making a number of changes to reduce weight. Some of those include a new lightweight helmet, lighter body armor for counterinsurgency conflicts and polymer ammunition. But Marines also are packing on weight with new tech like tablets and drones, which have been dished out to rifle squads. At the end of the day, Marine commanders have a delicate balance of weighing risk verse capability, and it wont be easy for commanders to forgo pieces of equipment on a mission to lighten packs, Thompson explained. A commander “can't prove the lives they saved” from taking a particular action, Thompson said. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/06/18/15-extra-pounds-of-gear-can-be-the-difference-between-life-or-death-in-a-firefight-this-marine-officers-research-says/

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  6 août 2020 | International, C4ISR

  Israel increases training via virtual battlefield center amid Hezbollah tensions

  By: Seth J. Frantzman Israeli Defense Forces have completed several exercises with a new Brigade and Battlegroup Mission Training Center. Tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon have grown this month and the IDF officials say they face a constant threat of attacks and need to be prepared to respond. Virtual exercises enable a brigade's officers to train while not taking away resources from the field. The center is also part of a growing digitization effort to give more tools to the IDF during its multi-year Momentum plan that includes new networked technology. Lt. Col. Netanel Shamaka, commander of the Special Forces battalion of the Givati brigade, said the latest exercise used this new virtual combat system and it “enabled us to get an in-depth understanding of battlefield scenarios.” Two brigades have gone through the training in June and July, and up to eight more will go through by the end of the year. “The IDF's ability to improve and develop creates an atmosphere of initiative and innovation among the various combat ranks - which improves combat capability. The Givati Brigade is the first brigade to begin training in this way,” Shamaka said. Training took place at the Training Command Headquarters at the Julis base near Ashkelon. The B2MTC was developed by Elbit Systems. Upgraded twice with new capabilities, databases and after-action reports, the virtual simulator provides better coordination on the battlefield, according to Tal Cohen, senior director of land training and simulation at Elbit Systems. Virtual training centers, like the one the IDF uses, have been increasingly popular worldwide. Elbit points to its work with the Royal Netherland Army simulation center (SimCen). “Military operations are becoming increasingly complex, while large-scale exercise opportunities occur less frequently due to cost, logistics and environmental constraints. Elbit Systems' new trainer provides Armed Forces with a flexible and scalable solution to train commanders,” according to Elbit Systems. The Givati brigade is usually deployed in southern Israel opposite the Gaza frontier. “The training prepared us for battle from a different angle. we will implement this on the battlefield on the day of command,” Shamaka said. Israel has faced tensions with Hamas in Gaza over the last years, including more than 1,500 rockets fired and clashes along the border, incidents at sea and involving drones. In addition, on July 23 Israel boosted ground forces along the Lebanese border over concerns about escalation with Hezbollah. Israel is also involved in a multi-year campaign to confront Iranian elements in Syria and around the region. This complex battlefield, using 5th generation F-35s and the latest air defense, with more concentration on special forces is suited to virtual training because modern commanders have more technology at their fingertips and face larger challenges dealing with systems that involve artificial intelligence and algorithms to aid in battle management. During the recent training soldiers experienced fighting in simulated urban terrain fortified by Hezbollah. The simulators are divided along the lines of a brigade, with command rooms and platoon leaders and company commanders and exercises continuing for several days. Replicas of Lebanese villages appear on screens with the threatsthat the soldiers would encounter, such as Hezbollah bunkers. The system documents failures in the field and virtual casualties inflicted to help units learn from mistakes. Because the IDF's Momentum plan foresees bringing as many capabilities to the front as quickly as possible during a conflict, this digital battlefield aids in improving coordination. It is supposed to close gaps between battalion and company levels as well without eliminating traditional field exercises. Cohen says recent upgrades mean the simulator gives more than 100 officers from company to brigade level access to peripheral units, logistics, UAVs, helicopters, artillery, aircraft and all the other combined arms and elements that may be present on the battlefield. That means that pilots have the opportunity to sit in the same room on the virtual trainer behind a screen and then meet with their company commander counterparts for after action discussions that wouldn't necessarily take place in a field exercise. With Hezbollah tensions overshadowing training this July, the virtual exercise mimicked real-world challenges. “The virtual exercise was designed and generated to take place on the Lebanese border, in the Northern region of Israel. Facing the constant threat of attacks from Hezbollah, the IDF needs to be prepared to respond accordingly,” Shamaka said. “Should there be a need to destroy Hezbollah's infrastructure in Lebanon, we must be able to maneuver in a populated and complex environment. This virtual simulation system provides personnel with experience and familiarizes them with the hostile environment they would need to face in the case of conflict.” In the past Israel faced challenges in the 2006 war because of communications problems between units and dealing with Hezbollah fighters dug-in to the rural terrain and rocket fire near villages. Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick, ground forces commander of the IDF since 2019 and a key part of the Momentum multi-year changes, has been pushing for increased use of the virtual simulators, Cohen said. Elbit expects an expansion of training next year. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/07/27/israel-increases-training-via-virtual-battlefield-center-amid-hezbollah-tensions