Defence`s Feeds

Yesterday’s US airstrikes on the Al Shayrat airfield near Homs seems to have been calculated to allow the Trump administration to appear to be acting decisively without necessarily getting bogged down in a conflict or creating a serious confrontation with Russia. To this end, the Pentagon warned Russian authorities about the strikes ahead of time and Russia did not take any steps to activate its air defenses in Syria. At the same time, by warning Russia, the U.S. government ensured that the strike would have very little effect on Syrian military capabilities. Damage reports indicate that the aircraft that were destroyed at the air base were under repair. Most likely, Russian officials warned the Syrian government that the attacks were coming and any valuable aircraft at the base had time to depart prior to the strikes.

As Vladimir Frolov highlighted just yesterday, the use of chemical weapons by Syrian government forces has placed Russia in a difficult position. Russian efforts to deny Syrian government culpability in the attacks have strained credulity. At the same time, Russian leaders clearly felt that they could not hang Assad out to dry. Assad’s goal may well have been to scuttle any chances for peace negotiations to proceed, in order to force his somewhat reluctant Russian ally to agree to an offensive that would culminate in the elimination of rebel forces from their area of control around Idlib. Russia is thus put in a bind, as it can neither give up on Assad nor fully control him.

In this situation, the U.S. airstrikes may help Moscow out of its difficult situation. Russian leaders can now turn the focus away from the chemical weapons attack itself and toward the U.S. airstrikes as a violation of Syrian sovereignty. At the same time, Assad has been put on notice that the U.S. is not going to stand idly by if he persists in using chemical weapons, which may make him more reluctant to take that risk again, eliminating that method of putting pressure on Russia from his toolkit.

All in all, Russia is unlikely to take steps in response to the airstrikes beyond the usual Foreign Ministry protestations, as long as the strikes are a one time demonstrative act, rather than the start of a more sustained U.S. campaign against the Assad regime in Syria. If the United States continues to attack Syrian government forces, on the other hand, that will place Russia in a difficult position, where it has to choose between abandoning its ally and risking a serious military confrontation with the United States. How Vladimir Putin would choose to act in this circumstance is very much unclear. The consequences of forcing Russia into this choice could be very risky.

Additive Manufacturing (AM), widely known as 3D-printing, has been identified as one of the key enabling technologies to improve European industrial competitiveness.

Although AM technologies have been developed in the civil sector, it is considered that there is significant potential for additive manufacturing technologies to enhance defence capabilities. Among them, the most likely are mobility, sustainability, effect and protection through e.g. field repair & maintenance, reduced logistic burden and improved sustainability in warfightingand peacekeeping missions. Substantial economic benefits are also expected.

To identify and explore areas where additive manufacturing will have a wider  impact, the European Defence Agency (EDA) has commissioned Fundación Prodintec (http://www.prodintec.es/en/) and MBDA FR (http://www.mbda-systems.com/) to conduct a project on “Additive Manufacturing Feasibility Study & Technology Demonstration”, with expected delivery in December 2017. The study  targets the entire spectrum of European defence and Additive Manufacturing (AM) stakeholders, at all levels of defence and AM supply chains.

The project is composed of three work strands with specific and intertwined objectives: 

• A desktop study to place AM and its potential in a defence context. The main outcome of this work strand will be the identification of opportunities for AM in the European defence sector. At the same time, it will aim to highlight factors preventing European defence forces from reaping the benefits of this breakthrough technology
• The second work strand is a technology demonstration of AM  in a simulated deployment scenario. Its purpose is to demonstrate the feasibility and operational utility of deploying these technologies in support of a military operation
• Following the desktop study and the technology demonstration, the conclusions of this feasibility study, including the equipment used and typical objects and materials produced, will be presented in an exhibition. The objective is to raise the military awareness of AM  technology and to exemplify how it could improve the way operations, logistic support or maintenance of platforms are conducted.

Therefore, this study has the objective of raising awareness in the defence community and of promoting a better understanding of the potential held by these technologies, thereby stimulating their implementation in defence specific areas. By doing so, not only the R&T community will be informed, but also other potential beneficiaries of the technology, linked to the EDA capabilities mentioned above. This will create a synergy between the Materials R&T community and the operational staff, helping the R&T community to understand the requirements from the operational side.

The contractor for the study has recently kicked off the consultation process through different means (questionnaires, interviews, etc.) with all competent stakeholders, such as: participant Member States MoDs, European Commission, European Space Agency (ESA), European Defence Technology and Industrial Base (EDTIB), and AM related stakeholders (Industry, SMEs and academia).

Ministries of Defence stakeholders are especially invited to take part in the consultation, by replying to the questionnaire from the dedicated link (below), by Thursday, 30 April 2017 at the latest. If you have any technical difficulty or if you need any further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact the EDA contractor via dsg@prodintec.com.

For additional information/clarifications, the contractor’s point of contact Almudena GONZÁLEZ ÁLVAREZ (e-mail: aga@prodintec.com, phone: +34 984 390 060 (Ext: 1505)), while the EDA point of contact is Patricia LÓPEZ VICENTE (e-mail: patricia.lopezvicente@eda.europa.eu, phone: +32 (0)2 504 2890).

 

More information:

• Contractor’s questionnaire on Additive Manufacturing impact on Defence
• EDA letter - support to Additive Manufacturing feasibility study & technology demonstration
• EDA news on the AM kick-off meeting (December 2016)

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