Sweden donates another $680 mln in military aid to Ukraine

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  15 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre, C4ISR

  Afghanistan deployment proves One World Terrain is more than a training tool

  Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army began building an entire virtual world a few years ago for its Synthetic Training Environment (STE) to bring accuracy and a real-life feel to training, but a deployment of One World Terrain in Afghanistan has proved it's not just a training tool, according to Maj. Gen. Maria Gervais, who is in charge of the service's STE development. One World Terrain, or OWT, compiles realistic and, in some cases, extremely accurate virtual maps of territory all over the globe. The idea is to be able to click on any place on a virtual globe and go there. Soldiers can then train virtually in an exact environment in which they can expect to operate in reality. “We're seeing now there are better uses for operational capability,” Gervais told Defense News in an Oct. 8 interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army's annual conference. “And it's helping us inform how do we now expand this to meet training, operational and also targeting requirements.” It all began with a unit that used OWT for training at the National Training Center on Fort Irwin, California, and saw value in it, Gervais said. When the unit deployed to Afghanistan, the soldiers asked to take the system — which included a drone and software — she said. The unit was able to capture terrain for the purpose of mission-planning rehearsal and route planning. But the soldiers also used it to take an in-depth look at the forward-operating base to see how it was set up and analyze it for vulnerabilities. “I will tell you from that usage, they figured out they had to make some changes,” Gervais said. “And then they went out and they started looking at other operating bases within their area. They expanded it.” The system “immediately started proving its utility to them,” she said, “but from that unit from what they were able to do, we then were able to take the next unit that was coming in behind them and provide all that information to them and allow them to understand how One World Terrain could be used.” The Army's 82nd Airborne Division also used the system prior to deploying to another theater. The division captured the terrain, using it for predeployment planning and mission rehearsals, including how and where to set up a base and where to position electronic warfare systems. OWT also helped the 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii prepare for a Joint Training Readiness Center rotation, and its members also plan to use it during the exercise. These uses have led the Army to provide more drones and software for more units, Gervais said. Starting in December and January, the Army will begin fielding “a little bit more capability,” she added. In March, the STE team went to Germany to observe an assured position, navigation and timing exercise that included a sensor-to-shooter, live-fire drill. The team worked with the 1st Cavalry Division's intelligence analysts and put OWT on the Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A) system, which is an intelligence analysis platform. “We showed them the capability, and what came out of there was pretty astounding,” Gervais said. With 3D terrain from OWT in the system, decisions could be made more quickly because there was no need to compare two different databases and reason against it, she said. That cut workload by about 60 percent, she added. OWT was on a DCGS-A system at Project Convergence at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, this year, Gervais said, and it showed the realm of the possible from a targeting perspective. While the STE had a limited scope during Project Convergence, “we're going to be more integrated in Project Convergence 21 next year,” she added, so that “everybody's kind of operating off the 3D terrain.” https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2020/10/14/afghanistan-deployment-proves-one-world-terrain-is-more-than-a-training-tool/

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  12 juin 2018 | International, Terrestre

  Meet Serval, France’s next multi-role armoured vehicle

  PARIS — France has given a brand name for its planned light multi-role armoured reconnaissance vehicle, or VBMR: Serval. The French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly confirmed “the forces are waiting impatiently for these Light VBMR,” in a June 11 speech to mark the official opening of the Eurosatory trade show. “They will be efficient, protectors, innovative,” she added. “I believe they will be feared and decisive for our strategic security. For these Light VBMR, they lack nothing, except a name. It is a real honor to baptize these Light VBMR with the name Serval.” That name was a tribute to the “know-how and audacity” of the French forces and borrowed from a desert cat known for its “dexterity, speed and smarts,” she said. The French forces conducted the Serval combat operation in Mali, which ran from 2012 to 2014 and took its name from a wild cat found in sub-Saharan Africa. The French parliament has approved the multi-year defense budget, which has boosted the order for Light VBMR by 420 units to 978, she said. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/eurosatory/2018/06/12/meet-serval-frances-next-multi-role-armoured-vehicle/

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  7 août 2019 | International, Naval

  A hazy future: Amid a competition to build British frigates, a UK shipyard hits hard times

  By: Andrew Chuter LONDON — The Northern Irish shipyard that built the Titanic ceased business Aug. 5, and its part in a bid to build a new class of the general-purpose frigate for the British Royal Navy appears to have sunk with it. Harland and Wolff was the lead U.K. yard in a proposal by German-based warship company Atlas Elektronik to build five Type 31e frigates for the Royal Navy. But the Belfast shipyard of Harland and Wolff went into administration after a 158-year history, which included production of the Titanic and ended with its parent company insolvent and running out of offshore renewable-energy work that had become the mainstay of its business. Industry executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that unless Atlas has a plan B, the bid has likely been scuttled by the Belfast yard slipping into administration and thus putting the jobs of 125 on-site workers at risk. Atlas Elektronik UK did not return calls regarding its bid. British warships must be locally built, but designs can be foreign. Atlas Elektronik UK is offering parent company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems' Meko A200 frigate to Britain. Currently, Atlas Elektronik and its U.K. partners Harland and Wolff and Ferguson Marine Engineering of Scotland are vying for the deal against rival proposals led by BAE Systemsand Babcock International. An announcement by the Ministry of Defence on a winning bidder for the program worth more than £1.25 billion (U.S. $1.52 billion) could come next month. The procurement competition was aimed at breaking the local maritime monopoly of BAE Systems. Sharing work across the shipbuilding sector via the Type 31e was part of a national shipbuilding strategy published by the British government in 2017. A strategy review was completed this year by its author, John Parker, but the findings have not been published by the MoD. New Defence Procurement Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyn, the fourth such minister in three years, will likely give Parker's findings a close review. Trevelyn has no previous ministerial experience, but she is known in maritime circles for her membership of Parliament's all-party group on shipbuilding and ship repair, which recently published a report advocating for the domestic production of a new fleet of logistics support ships. However, it's unclear how long the government, and hence the new ministerial team at the MoD, will survive given the political uncertainty here around Britain's exit from the European Union and murmurings of a general election. Buy British? The logistic vessels, known here as fleet solid support ships, are not considered military vessels by the British government; this is so the government can procure them more cheaply overseas. A competition is underway with a U.K. team led by BAE Systems bidding against overseas rivals. But the tide may be turning, as there's parliamentary pressure that two or three large supply ships be built locally. The industry executives who spoke to Defense News said that although the upcoming DSEI defense show had been touted as a possible venue for some kind of an announcement, the timing was — like most other defense issues — clouded by political uncertainties, including the appointment of a new defense secretary and defense procurement minister as part of the government reshuffle by the new prime minister, Boris Johnson. An MoD spokesman said the department wouldn't provide a running commentary on the Type 31e competition or Harland and Wolff's part in it. However, the spokesman did suggest an announcement could take place after DSEI. “It would be inappropriate to comment on Harland and Wolff's involvement in the Type 31e program, whilst this is subject to an ongoing competition," the spokesman said. “The competitive design phase is proceeding to schedule. The outcome of the competition for the design and build of the ships will be announced by December 2019.” All three bidders have been in a competitive design phase ahead of submitting their proposals in late June. The MoD previously ran a competition for the Type 31e (the "e" stands for export), but it halted the procurement effort when all of the bidders failed to submit fully compliant bids. The Royal Navy wants the first of the five Type 31e frigates handed over during 2023 to start replace aging Type 23 frigates in its fleet. Some analysts and industry executives think that's a tall order. The government originally demanded a price tag of no more than £250 million per frigate, although earlier this year, industry executives said the budget restriction had been abandoned, as the MoD agreed to supply more equipment and systems at its own expense. Atlas Elektronik isn't the only company with Harland and Wolff on its team. Babcock International also listed the Northern Irish yard in its proposal. But Babcock has various options, including using its site at Rosyth in Scotland, where the second of two aircraft carriers being assembled for the Royal Navy is now virtually complete. “Our solution for the T31(e) requirement includes a flexible U.K. build approach that can accommodate the use of a range of delivery sites,” a Babcock spokesman said. BAE's plan is to build it's Leander-class warships at the Cammell Laird yard near Liverpool while its own yards on the River Clyde in Scotland focus on completing the design and build of eight Type 26 anti-submarine warfare frigates destined for the Royal Navy. Three have been ordered so far. Steve Turner, the assistant general secretary for manufacturing at the Unite union, said there are strategic defense interests why the Belfast yard should be saved. “The shipyard works with BAE on the Dreadnought [nuclear] submarine program, has an important part to play in the building of the Royal Navy's new Type 31e and is central to the U.K. consortium's bid to build the Navy's fleet solid support ships,” Turner noted. “All this proud workforce needs is a temporary boost from government and a commitment from U.K. ministers that they will back U.K. shipbuilding by block building the new fleet solid support ships in yards across the UK." Harland and Wolff is not the only potential Type 31e supplier in a tough spot. Ferguson Marine, which has a yard on the River Clyde and has been part of the Atlas and Babcock proposals, is experiencing significant cost and time overruns building two ferries. Nationalization by the Scottish government is one option under consideration for the financially fragile company. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/08/06/a-hazy-future-amid-a-competition-to-build-british-frigates-a-uk-shipyard-hits-hard-times/