Defence`s Feeds

TACTICS (Tactical Service Oriented Architecture), an R&T project launched in 2014 by Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Poland through the European Defence Agency (EDA) and carried out by a consortium of 9 contracting partners and 2 sub-contractors* with the aim to define a Tactical Service Infrastructure (TSI) enabling military tactical radio networks to participate to Service Oriented Architectures (SOA), was brought to a successful closure at a final meeting of the TACTICS working group at the EDA premises on the 8 of June. 

Military systems, communications and information infrastructures are increasingly becoming service-oriented, both on a national level and in the context of international collaboration. However, while research on Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) in classical business environments has produced satisfactory and well-established solutions, this is not the case for mobile/tactical environments in which operators have to deal with much more complex challenges (such as the limitations of disruptive and throughput-constrained networks, aggravated by limited end user devices) for which existing SOA technologies are not an answer. 

EDA’s TACTICS project was thus launched in February 2014 to: propose measures to mitigate the constraints of military tactical environments so that they can also benefit from SOA; and to formally describe a Tactical Service Infrastructure (TSI) in a reference architecture following the NATO Architecture Framework (NAF).

 

Results 

At the beginning of the project, military constraints, operational requirements and expected SOA benefits were collected and defined with the help of national military experts. On this basis, a reference architecture for a Tactical Service Infrastructure (TSI) was designed in such a way that it can cope with the constraints. 

By performing a number of technology studies in dedicated fields of research, it was ensured that the TSI reference architecture encompasses up-to-date and also novel research results reaching from security policy management, traffic engineering, quality of service provision and interoperability mechanisms for semantic service registries. 

The resulting TSI reference architecture describes how a future SOA-based middleware could be established and what mechanisms the middleware can take advantage of, to support user-facing services’ realisation in a tactical constrained environment.
Multinational live demonstration

The findings were shown in a multinational live demonstration. The demonstration, carried out on the 11/12 April 2017 in Ditzingen (Germany), incorporated national tactical radios (UHF and VHF) and an emulated long-range satellite connection. Based on this, the Consortium presented selected SOA benefits and technical innovations in the researched areas using a proof-of-concept implementation of the TSI and exemplary user-facing services. 

*The consortium is composed of the following companies/institutions: Thales Deutschland (Consortium Coordinator), Fraunhofer FKIE, Germany (Technical Coordinator), Patria Aviation Oy (Finland), Thales Communications & Security (France), Leonardo (Italy), Thales Starmille (Italy), University of L’Aquila (Italy), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway), ITTI (Poland), Military Communication Institute (Poland), Military University of Technology (Poland).

 

More information

• Official project’s web site 

 

In order to consolidate its presence in Afghanistan and to maintain, expand and ensure better impact of its current output, AAN is seeking to recruit one Researcher. The positions are expected to be Kabul-based and full time.

Background

The AAN is a non-profit, independent policy research organisation, established in February 2009. It aims to bring together the knowledge, experience and drive of experts to better inform policy and to increase the understanding of Afghan realities. It is driven by engagement and curiosity and is committed to producing independent, high quality and research-based analysis on the main developments in Afghanistan.

The institutional structure of AAN includes a small core team, currently consisting of three Co-Directors/Senior Analysts ‘commuting’ between Europe and Afghanistan, and a Kabul-based team of international and Afghan analysts. AAN has a small, well-functioning office and a guesthouse in Kabul that serves as the hub of the organisation’s activities.

AAN publishes regular in-depth thematic reports, policy briefings and political commentaries. The main channel for the dissemination of the reports is the AAN web site. For more information on AAN please check the AAN website: www.aan-afghanistan.org

The Researcher will report to AAN’s Co-Directors or a person designated by them, and s/he will be provided with a fixed-term and renewable employee contract. Remuneration will depend on experience and skills, taking into account the current AAN salary scales.

Note: AAN is a small, hard-working and dynamic team and we are looking for individuals who will fit well with AAN’s current team and who are able to contribute to AAN’s work, rather than individuals to fill exact positions. This is a team for self-starters that enjoy contributing to team work, researchers with a sense of both detail and creativity, who enjoy a wide range of tasks including commenting on and editing other people’s work, mentoring younger researchers, communication tasks, etc.

Job description Researcher

Specific responsibilities

• Develop and conduct in-country field research with a view to producing high-quality analytical reports;
• Closely follow the political developments in and around Afghanistan and contribute to dispatches, reports and speaking engagements;
• Contribute to AAN’s in-country communication through organising events, contributing to AAN’s Dari/Pastho website and social media presence;
• Contribute to translation, editing and peer reviews of AAN publications;
• Contribute to the administration and management of the AAN network and in-country presence;
• Contribute to the management of AAN’s research portfolio;
• Other tasks as deemed necessary.

General Requirements

• Degree in a relevant field (Masters in for instance, Communications, Journalism, Political Science or Social Sciences);
• Knowledge and experience of communications and/or advocacy work and of developing communications’ strategies;
• Knowledge and experience of the Afghan political and social landscape;
• A minimum of 5 years relevant working experience in Afghanistan and/or its region;
• Excellent communications, networking and organizational skills;
• Excellent analytical, writing skills and editing skills;
• Ability to function in a demanding and challenging environment (flexibility, a sense of humour and the ability to work with relatively little guidance are essential)
• Native Dari or Pashto speaker and excellent English language skills with a passion for language. 

Starting date

The selected candidates will start at a mutually agreed date. There is a three month trial period.

How to apply

You can email your application, consisting of a CV with cover letter outlining your experience, three references (with up-to-date email addresses) and a recent example of your writing and analytical skills, to ‘recruitment@afghanistan-analysts.org‘.

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

For administrative ease please write ‘AAN application Researcher’ and your name in the subject line.

The deadline for applications for this recruitment is 15 July 2017.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

For more details on the positions or the application process please direct your queries to: sari@afghanistan-analysts.org

In order to consolidate its presence in Afghanistan and to maintain, expand and ensure better impact of its current output, AAN is seeking to recruit one or two new research staff members. Depending on skills, training and experience they will be hired for the position of Junior or Senior Analyst. The positions are expected to be Kabul-based and full time.

Background

The AAN is a non-profit, independent policy research organisation, established in February 2009. It aims to bring together the knowledge, experience and drive of experts to better inform policy and to increase the understanding of Afghan realities. It is driven by engagement and curiosity and is committed to producing independent, high quality and research-based analysis on the main developments in Afghanistan.

The institutional structure of AAN includes a small core team, currently consisting of three Co-Directors/Senior Analysts ‘commuting’ between Europe and Afghanistan, and a Kabul-based team of international and Afghan analysts. AAN has a small, well-functioning office and a guesthouse in Kabul that serves as the hub of the organisation’s activities.

AAN publishes regular in-depth thematic reports, policy briefings and political commentaries. The main channel for the dissemination of the reports is the AAN web site. For more information on AAN please check the AAN website: www.aan-afghanistan.org

In order to consolidate its presence in Afghanistan and to maintain, expand and ensure better impact of its current output, AAN is seeking to recruit one or two new research staff members. Depending on skills, training and experience they will be hired for the position of Senior or Junior Analyst. Both positions are expected to be Kabul-based and full time (some flexibility possible for the right candidate).

The Senior/Junior Analyst will report to AAN’s Co-Directors, and s/he will be provided with a renewable consultancy contract. Remuneration will depend on experience and skills, taking into account the current AAN salary scales.

AAN provides war risk insurance and travel/accommodation costs during official travel.

Note: AAN is recruiting one or two persons. AAN is a small, hard-working and dynamic team and we are looking for individuals who will fit well with AAN’s current team and who are able to contribute to AAN’s work, rather than individuals to fill exact positions. This is a team for self-starters that enjoy contributing to team work, researchers with a sense of both detail and creativity, who enjoy a wide range of tasks including commenting on and editing other people’s work, mentoring younger researchers, communication tasks, etc.

Job description Junior/Senior Analyst

Specific responsibilities for both positions

• Plan, manage and conduct in-country field research with a view to producing high-quality analytical reports;
• Drafting and finalising analytically in-depth dispatches and possibly reports;
• Participate in all aspects of AAN’s analysis and review processes, including through research collaboration, editing of colleagues’ texts, peer reviewing of reports and mentoring of younger colleagues;
• Contribute to all aspects of AAN’s communications’ processes through media interviews, social media outreach briefings, speaking engagements and other events;
• As needed, contribute to the administration and management of the AAN network and in-country presence.

General Requirements

• Degree in a relevant field (Masters in for instance Communications, Journalism, Political Science or Social Sciences);
• A minimum of 7 years relevant working experience for the Junior Analyst and a minimum of 12 years relevant working experience for the Senior analyst, of which at least three year in Afghanistan, a neighboring country or the region for both;
• A deep and documented knowledge and experience of the Afghan and/or regional political and social landscape;
• Excellent and documented analytical, writing skills and editing skills.
• Experience in communications, social media campaigns, etc.
• Excellent networking and organisational skills;
• Ability to function in a demanding and challenging environment (flexibility and a sense of humour are essential)
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Native English speaker or comparable level with a passion for language;
• Preferably proficient in Dari, Pashto or another locally relevant language.

Candidates do not need to specify whether they are applying for the Junior or Senior Analyst position. A determination will be made based on years of experience, level of knowledge and an assessment of the candidate’s ability to independently research, draft and edit, and possibly mentor others to AAN’s standards.

Starting date

The selected candidates will start at a mutually agreed date. There is a three month trial period.

How to apply

You can email your application, consisting of a CV with cover letter outlining your experience, three references (with up-to-date email addresses) and a recent example of your writing and analytical skills, to ‘recruitment@afghanistan-analysts.org’.

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

For administrative ease please write ‘AAN application Analyst’ and your name in the subject line.

The deadline for applications for this recruitment is 15 July 2017.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

For more details on the positions or the application process please direct your queries to: sari@afghanistan-analysts.org

Military forces and airborne assets participating in EU-led military operations are highly likely to encounter adversaries armed with Surface-to-Air Fire (SAFIRE) weapons to interfere with, and potentially jeopardise, air operations. A recent EDA study developed a strategy on Counter SAFIRE (C-SAFIRE) with the aim to maximise air assets’ availability, survivability and freedom of manoeuvre in theatre of operations. 

Counter- Surface-to-Air Fire (C-SAFIRE) capability is required on EU-led military operations in order to prevent the threat or use of SAFIRE being a risk to mission success, excessively constraining air assets’ (fixed wing and rotary) freedom of action, or imposing avoidable costs or casualties. The C-SAFIRE study supports an EU approach to facilitate Member States’ participation in EU-led military operations under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), while supporting mission effectiveness and operational risk management for participating air assets. The study states the  C-SAFIRE capabilities required for participation in EU-led military operations and addresses how air platforms with different capabilities can be employed.

Through the study, a technical, organisational and procedural guide on C-SAFIRE in EU led military operations was produced. The study also presented a common understanding of measures to be taken at national level to facilitate the development of an integrated approach in the assessment and development of Member States’ C-SAFIRE capabilities, training included. 

The project was funded by the EDA and carried out by a contractor. The study design and implementation was coordinated by the Project Team C-SAFIRE,  that bring together experts from the Member States. 

Copyright picture: Airbus Defence & Space

More information

• Public Executive Summary - Study to Inform Strategy on Counter-Surface-to-Air Fire (C-SAFIRE) in EU-Led Military Operations

 

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

On 22 June, SEDE will welcome Canadian MPs and Senators, travelling as part of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association of the Parliament of Canada, to discuss European defence policy, EU-Canada cooperation in CSDP and Canada's participation in NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence. Gabor Iklody, Director Crisis Management and Planning Directorate, EEAS and Gabriel Bernier, Head of the Defence Policy Section, NATO will give opening presentations to kickstart the debate.
Further information
draft agenda
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Americas

• It’s been revealed that the US Navy intends to acquire at least 80 F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft over the next five years, running against initial plans to zero out the aircraft program beginning next year. The announcement was made by the sailing branch to the US Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee last week in a written testimony notes the “Fiscal Year 2018 President’s Budget requests $1.25 billion in [the Navy’s aircraft procurement account] for 14 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft” that will “address continuing warfighter demand for advanced tactical aircraft.” 23 aircraft will procured in 2019 for $1.95 billion, 14 in 2020 for $1.35 billion and 14 in 2021 for $1.27 billion and 15 in 2022 for $1.28 billion.

• Ahead of its debut at this week’s Paris air show, Lockheed Martin are close to finishing the latest round of negotiations for the manufacture of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. As many as 440 jets are being negotiated under the deal and are being spread out over three tranches in a multi-year deal estimated to reach at least $37 billion. As many as 11 customer nations will receive fighters as part of the deal, including Australia, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, South Korea, Britain and the United States. The price of the F-35’s A variant is then expected to drop to $80 million by the end of 2020.

• Raytheon is to restart the Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) production line after a $650 million dollar order from the Netherlands, South Korea, Japan and Australia. The sale calls for the delivery of a total of 280 SM-2 Block IIIA and IIIB missiles, and the sale is expected to keep the company’s Arizona production line open through 2035 as Raytheon anticipates more orders from the US and its allies as they rebuild their inventories using the modernized production line. Congress are expected to be notified of the sale in the coming days.

• Lockheed Martin has received a $472 million US Army contract for the production of Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets. The sale includes 2,868 alternative warhead rockets, 648 unitary warhead rockets and 370 pods of reduced-range low-cost practice rocket and covers delivery under a foreign military sale to Finland, France, Germany and Singapore. Work will be conducted in Grand Prairie, Texas, and has an expected completion date of July 31, 2019.

Middle Easy & North Africa

• A US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet has scored its first air-to-air kill, shooting down a Syrian Su-22 on Sunday. The incident occurred after reports that the Su-22 had bombed the forces of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces as they moved on Islamic State positions south of Tabqah. A statement by the US Central Command issued a statement saying the plane was downed “in collective self-defense of Coalition-partnered forces,” while a Syrian army statement initially suggested that that the US-led coalition shot down one of its planes as it conducted a combat mission against Islamic State militants. The US Super Hornet is based onboard the USS George H.W. Bush, the only US aircraft carrier operating in the region.

Europe

• A new fighter attack version of Leonardo’s M-346 has been unveiled at the Paris air show. The updated aircraft—the M-346FA— includes the company’s Grifo multi-mode fire control radar, as well as seven pylons for external weapons loads, enabling it to carry 2,000 pounds of external weapons. Leonardo stated that the new fighter was designed to help different air forces meet their needs rapidly by building on a common base, adding that they have found international interest in the plane “specifically in the Far East and South America.”

• Serbia could receive a new batch of MiG-29 fighters by the end of this month, according to Defense Minister Zoran Djordjevic. It had been reported in March that Belgrade would receive six MiG-29 fighter jets as well as the modernization of another four planes from Russia in a deal worth $207 million and includes the cost of fuel storage facilities, hangers to store ten planes and the complete maintenance and modernization of the planes’ missiles. The deal is being seen as good value, enabling Serbia to modernize its fleet at a much lower cost than its neighbors.

Asia Pacific

• Japan’s ShinMaywa has said that it is willing to allow Indonesian industry to collaborate on the final assembly of the US-2 amphibian aircraft if the Indonesian government selects the aircraft as its amphibious search-and-rescue (SAR) platform. However, the firm ruled out the possibility of assembling the aircraft in Indonesia as it will not be economically feasible to do so. Instead, ShinMaywa stated that the aircraft could be delivered fully assembled with final configuration works to be done in the customer’s country, mentioning Indonesian state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia as a possible partner in the collaboration.

Today’s Video

• AV-8B Harrier performs reverse landing on USS America:

Chinese ST2 Light Tank

The US Navy has successfully carried out the final of three land tests for the surface-to-air Standard Missile-6 Block IA (SM-6 Blk IA) at the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), New Mexico.

The US Office of Naval Research's (ONR) TechSolutions programme has sponsored the development of the deployable ship integration multitouch system (DSIMS).

Northrop Grumman has successfully demonstrated unmanned mine-hunting capabilities with the use of high-speed AQS-24B sensors during the Belgian Defence Technology and Industry Day trials at Zeebrugge naval base.

Alongside directed energy weapons and electromagnetic rail guns, supercavitating torpedoes repeatedly feature at the top of the wish list of must-have capabilities for any self-respecting navy of the future – and it is easy to see why. The allure of …

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Leading naval company SENER has taken part in Nor-Shipping 2017, between 30 May and 2 June in Oslo, Norway.

As a follow-up to the Commission’s European Defence Action Plan acknowledging that European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) may be used by Member States in the defence sector, the European Defence Agency publishes the “EDA’s ESIF web-platform” to provide any potential defence-related stakeholder (including MoDs, industry, research-and-technology organisations, academia, clusters) both with:

• an interactive analytical mapping on ‘sources’ of regional, national, and transnational calls for proposals under Structural Funds and
• respective contact details of the hundreds ESIF managing authorities ultimately in charge for funding allocation.

For the financial framework running till 2020, ESIF are made up of 5 specific funds totaling more than 450 billion euros, matched nationally by additional 180 billion euros. In the defence sector, ESIF may co-fund productive investment projects, and support the modernisation of the defence supply chains.

EDA’s work supporting access to ESIF is focused on the two main funds (together commonly referred as “Structural Funds”):

• the European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF) and its “Interreg” share, which can support - inter alia - defence activities and dual-use activities in research and innovation at regional, national and transnational/cooperative level; 
• the European Social Fund (ESF), which can support the development and enhancement of key skills and competencies (KSC) for defence.

With regard to the ERDF, EDA has been technically assisting successfully funded pilot R&T project applications. Concerning ESF for KSC, an EDA’s procedure aimed at supporting free-of-charge the application to the ESF for selected pilot KSC-related projects  is currently underway through Ministries of Defence.

The ESIF web-platform complements the successful  EDA’s “COSME web-platform” launched one year ago to facilitate access to finance, grants and free-of-charge advisory services for defence-related SMEs and clusters. For further details: esif@eda.europa.eu or cosme@eda.europa.eu 

 

More information:

• The EDA’s ESIF platform is available at www.eda.europa.eu/esif
• The EDA’s “COSME platform” is available at www.eda.europa.eu/cosme.
• An overview of main EU funding programmes is available at www.eda.europa/eufunding
• EDA’s work on Access to EU funding.  

 

Today marks the start of the sixth European Air Transport Training (EATT2017). Hosted by Portugal, several hundred military personnel from Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom will train from June 19 to 30 at Air Base 11 (AB11) in Beja. This multinational exercise was initiated within the framework of the European Air Transport Fleet Programme of the European Defence Agency (EDA) and will be executed by the newly founded European Tactical Airlift Centre (ETAC) and supported by the European Air Transport Command (EATC). 

The overall objective of this exercise is to achieve a high level of interoperability among air transport capable EDA Member States by exposing their crews to a complex operational environment, in which to practice their procedures and tactics and to gain  the necessary qualifications to perform tactical operations in current theatres of conflict and humanitarian relief.

EATT2017 is set up to give the participating aircrews a variety of training, from basic tactical elements like practicing assault landings and air drop procedures to complex multi-ship combat mission profiles. The planning and execution is assisted by mentors, ensuring proper application of the common tactical guidelines. In parallel, training of Combined Air Terminal Operation (CATO) personnel is taking place on the ground, dealing with cargo preparation, loading of aircraft, and administrative procedures. 

Around 100 paratroopers from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal will be deployed daily by mission aircraft. From the multi-organisational staff to the multi-national contingents, EATT2017 focuses on the overarching goal of increasing the interoperability of European airlift assets through training based on agreed common procedures. With already over 100 crews having received European tactical airlift training and over 2,000 hours flown in the past five years, EATT2017 follows in this spirit, and is a tangible example of improving Europe’s military airlift provision for a strong European defence.

Assets and staff from seven Member States participate in EATT2017: Germany (C-160 Transall and A400M Atlas), France (C-130H Hercules), the Netherlands (C-130H Hercules), Poland (C295), Portugal (C-130H Hercules), Romania (C-27J), and United Kingdom (C-130J Hercules). 

 

More information:

• EATF project page
• EATT2017 Factsheet

SAES has offered advice and discussions on the measurement and control of ship noise at the Spanish Defence Technological Conference.