21 juin 2018 | International, Sécurité

Synthetic biology raises risk of new bioweapons, US report warns

Report warns that swift progress in our ability to manufacture viruses is making us vulnerable to biological attacks

The rapid rise of synthetic biology, a futuristic field of science that seeks to master the machinery of life, has raised the risk of a new generation of bioweapons, according a major US report into the state of the art.

Advances in the area mean that scientists now have the capability to recreate dangerous viruses from scratch; make harmful bacteria more deadly; and modify common microbes so that they churn out lethal toxins once they enter the body.

The three scenarios are picked out as threats of highest concern in a review of the field published on Tuesday by the US National Academy of Sciences at the request of the Department of Defense. The report was commissioned to flag up ways in which the powerful technology might be abused, and to focus minds on how best to prepare.

Michael Imperiale, chair of the report committee, and professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Michigan, said the review used only unclassified information and so has no assessment of which groups, if any, might be pursuing novel biological weapons. “We can't say how likely any of these scenarios are,” he said. “But we can talk about how feasible they are.”

In the report, the scientists describe how synthetic biology, which gives researchers precision tools to manipulate living organisms, “enhances and expands” opportunities to create bioweapons. “As the power of the technology increases, that brings a general need to scrutinise where harms could come from,” said Peter Carr, a senior scientist at MIT's Synthetic Biology Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

More than 20 years ago, Eckard Wimmer, a geneticist at Stony Brook University in New York, highlighted the potential dangers of synthetic biology in dramatic style when he recreated poliovirus in a test tube. Earlier this year, a team at the University of Alberta built an infectious horsepox virus. The virus is a close relative of smallpox, which may have claimed half a billion lives in the 20th century. Today, the genetic code of almost any mammalian virus can be found online and synthesised. “The technology to do this is available now,” said Imperiale. “It requires some expertise, but it's something that's relatively easy to do, and that is why it tops the list.”

Other fairly simple procedures can be used to tweak the genes of dangerous bacteria and make them resistant to antibiotics, so that people infected with them would be untreatable. A more exotic bioweapon might come in the form of a genetically-altered microbe that colonises the gut and churns out poisons. “While that is technically more difficult, it is a concern because it may not look like anything you normally watch out for in public health,” Imperiale said.

The report calls on the US government to rethink how it conducts disease surveillance, so it can better detect novel bioweapons, and to look at ways to bolster defences, for example by finding ways to make and deploy vaccines far more rapidly. For every bioweapon the scientists consider, the report sets out key hurdles that, once cleared, will make the weapons more feasible.

One bioweapon that is not considered an immediate threat is a so-called gene drive that spreads through a population, rewriting human DNA as it goes. “It's important to recognise that it's easy to come up with a scary-sounding idea, but it's far more difficult to do something practical with it,” said Carr.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jun/19/urgent-need-to-prepare-for-manmade-virus-attacks-says-us-government-report

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13 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

Leonardo invests in ‘fully electric’ Skydweller drone
By: Tom Kington ROME — Leonardo will be the leading investor in a new solar-powered drone capable of carrying an 800-pound payload and which will fly for the first time in 2021, the Italian defense company said Monday. The Skydweller drone, initially developed by an American-Spanish startup involving Northrop Grumman experts, will be “the world's first fully electric unmanned aircraft capable of carrying large payloads with unlimited range and ultra-persistent endurance,” the firm said. Skydweller will also be free from the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations, with Leonardo acting as the “main industrial partner,” a spokesman said, as well as prime contractor for sales to Italy, the U.K., Poland and NATO. The system will comply with European export laws and will not be subject to ITAR, allowing “the aircraft to satisfy government and commercial needs around the world,” Leonardo said. Skydweller is based on the Solar Impulse 2, a solar-powered aircraft developed by Swiss engineers that flew around the world in 17 flights during 2015 and 2016. Developers see the Skydweller as pushing the limits for payloads for solar flight, while operating at medium altitudes — lower than the high altitudes for which such aircraft have usually been designed, and allowing onboard sensors and transmitters to operate at closer range to the ground. Aimed at civil and military customers, the drone is expected to offer surveillance, communications and navigation capabilities, and be interoperable with existing air bases. Development and construction of the new aircraft is to take place in Spain's Castilla-La Mancha region. Leonardo plans to create a dedicated engineering team following its entry into the program as an investor, the firm said. The first phase of the program will involve converting the manned Solar Impulse 2 into an optionally piloted vehicle with autonomous flights planned for next year. https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2019/11/12/leonardo-invests-in-fully-electric-skydweller-drone/
4 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 4, 2019
ARMY Avon Protection Systems, Cadillac, Michigan, was awarded a $92,670,255 firm-fixed-price contract for the joint service aircrew mask, engineering support, special tooling and spare parts. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 21, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911SR-19-D-0002). AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin, Santa Maria, California, has been awarded a $52,700,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus, and award-fee type, modification (P0009) to contract FA8818-17-D-0001 for engineering, development and sustainment services supporting the Air Force Multi-Mission Satellite Operation Center. This increase provides for continuous services to operate experimental and demonstration satellites; act as the focal point and center of expertise for Department of Defense experimental and demonstrations space and missile operations; support space and missile research, development, test and evaluation and initial operational test and evaluation. Work will be performed in Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 5, 2019. This modification is for work within scope of the contract. Fiscal 2019 other procurement funds will fund this contract. Space and Missile Systems Center, Kirkland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity. NAVY Advanced Management Strategies Group LLC,* Dumfries, Virginia (M00264-19-D-0001); Atkinson Aeronautics and Technology Inc.,* Fredericksburg, Virginia (M00264-19-D-0002); Emerging Technology Support LLC,* Mooresville, North Carolina (M00264-19-D-0003); Get It Done Solutions LLC,* Fredericksburg, Virginia (M00264-19-D-0004); Strategic Ventures Consulting Group LLC,* Falls Church, Virginia (M00264-19-D-0005); and Vickers and Nolan Enterprises LLC,* Stafford, Virginia (M00264-19-D-0006), are each awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with five-year ordering periods and an option to extend services for up to six months for technical, analytical, and engineering support for the Marine Corps Capabilities Development Directorate. The estimated aggregate ceiling of the contracts is a combined $43,891,128. If the option is exercised, the contract value will be $48,280,241. Each company will have an opportunity to compete for individual firm-fixed-price task orders. The majority of work will be performed at the contractor facilities in Mooresville, North Carolina; Dumfries, Virginia; Fredericksburg, Virginia; Falls Church, Virginia; and Stanford, Virginia, as determined by task orders awarded. Work is expected to be completed in January 2024. With the option exercised, work will continue through July 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps); and research and development (Navy) funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. These contracts were competitively procured via solicitation on the Federal Business Opportunities website, with nine proposals received. The Marine Corps Installations Command, National Capital Region, Regional Contracting Office, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Coffin Turbo Pump Inc., Englewood, New Jersey, is awarded a $15,523,669 indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity, firm-fixed-priced contract, for up to 33 turbine driven main feed pumps for LHD-1 class main propulsion boilers. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division requires the production of a non-commercial main feed pump unit that will be driven by a steam turbine on a common solid shaft (no couplings). The main feed pump unit is designed to provide feed water to the Navy LHD-1 class main propulsion boilers. Work will be performed in Englewood, New Jersey, and is expected to be complete by January 2024. Fiscal 2017 other procurement (Navy) funding in the total amount of $1,299,325 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N64498-19-D-4004). Fairbanks Morse Engine, Beloit, Wisconsin, is awarded a $13,552,041 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with firm-fixed-priced ordering provisions for engineering, logistics and program management services in support of the Navy diesel engine systems. Work includes engineering and technical services, logistics support, engine training, and program management services. Work will be performed in Beloit, Wisconsin, (52 percent); San Diego, California (30 percent); and Norfolk, Virginia (18 percent), and is expected to be complete by January 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $720,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the contracting activity (N64498-19-D-4001). *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1724565/
21 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

Germany to form A400M Multinational Air Transport Unit with Hungary
Gareth Jennings Germany is establishing a new multinational unit to operate the Airbus A400M transport aircraft, with Hungary committed as its first partner. The Bundeswehr announced on 17 September that the Multinational Air Transport Unit (MNAU) was being established at Wunstorf Air Base in northern Germany, home to the Luftwaffe's A400M force. This new international unit will relocate to Lechfeld Air Base in the far south of the country with 10 of the Luftwaffe's 53 contracted A400Ms, as well as additional A400Ms that might be provided by partner nations. Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, inspector of the German Air Force, was quoted as saying, “The establishment of the implementation team of the Multinational Air Transport Unit is another milestone in multinational, military air transport. With the integration of the first technical officer of the Hungarian Air Force [HuAF], the cooperation with our Hungarian partners begins.” As noted by the Bundeswehr, the genesis of the MNAU dates back to 2017, when the Federal Ministry of Defence enabled the Luftwaffe to set up a new air transport association with multinational participation. With the Luftwaffe planning to field 40 A400Ms, this new multinational unit would operate all or some of the remaining 13 contracted to Germany. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/germany-to-form-a400m-multinational-air-transport-unit-with-hungary

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