Defence`s Feeds

The US Marine Corps' (USMC) F-35B Lightning II aircraft has successfully completed the first power module and engine swap at sea aboard the US Navy’s amphibious assault ship, USS America (LHA 6).

BAE Systems has been awarded a $192.68m-worth US Navy contract for work on the USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) and USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) guided missile destroyer warships.

The global naval vessels, surface combatants, and associated maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market is anticipated to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.31% during 2016-2026, according to a report by Strategic Defence Intelligenc…

Airbus Defense and Space has been contracted to provide TRS-4D naval radars for the US Navy's littoral combat ship (LCS) programme.

The Centre for Security Governance (CSG) is pleased to present a new three-part blog contribution from CSG Senior Fellow David Law which provides a security sector perspective on the ongoing crisis in Mali and focuses on stabilization and security sector reform challenges to address in this context. Introduction In late 2011, Mali was plunged into a

For the UN, the Mali deployment has been politically one of its most important to date, one of its largest in terms of numbers of deployed personnel, and one of its most deadly in terms of personnel losses.  At the time of writing, MINUSMA also appears to have been one of the least successful. Overall,

The African, European and International Responses to the Crisis After 2012, several different external military and civilian operations were deployed to Mali. The first major external deployment to the region was the French-led Operation Serval, initiated in January 2013 with some 5000 soldiers, 80% of them French, following an enabling resolution of the United Nations

Background In the 1990s, Mali was often put forward as a model of African democracy. It is not hard to understand why. Following an extended period of authoritarian rule after becoming independent in 1960, Mali held three elections as of 1992 in which power passed to the winner. An anomaly among the Sahelian states during

EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq closed today's Annual Conference 2016 with a call for "cooperation to generate innovation".

In his final remarks wrapping up a "very insightful and constructive conference", Mr Domecq thanked all the speakers for their interesting contributions: Federica Mogherini, Head of the Agency, High Representative and Vice-President of the European Commission, Commissioner Bieńkowska, Slovak State Secretary Ondrejcsák and Mr. De Spiegeleire. He also expressed gratitude to the members of two panels "who brought their insights, expertise and assessments to the table today".
 

Main takeaways

Mr Domceq singled out a number of takeaways from this year's EDA conference, in particular:

• in our increasingly challenging security environment, innovation in research, planning and funding is paramount; therefore, safeguarding leadership in strategic technologies is more pressing than ever. Especially fields like biotechnology, nanotechnology and deep intelligence will have a profound impact on Europe’s ability to develop strategic assets
• at the same time, new technologies and new innovation will require a new mind set: to seek out and import commercial sector innovations and quickly develop new concepts of operation; to tap into innovation in the private sector and channel it into defence; and also to achieve cross-border competition which is speciually important to SME's and start-ups in Member States which do not have prime defence companies
• we have to find a balance between not suffocating SME's and start-ups and taping their knowledge for defence and, on the other hand, provide our governments with assurances that these new players will respect the specificities of the defence and security world
• European collaboration generates innovation and "remains the best guarantee for achieving value for money and developing cutting-edge defence capabilities". "Cooperation is voluntary but it is a need" 
• the main challenges arising from a third industrial revolution are to integrate future innovations into development and production cycles, gain awareness of emerging leap-ahead technologies, access non-traditional sources of innovation, and ensure the reliability of trusted supply chains
• innovation does not come for free: the massive decline in budgetary terms of our defence R&T efforts is a matter of the highest concern because capabilities of the future are at stake here and the competitiveness of our defence industry is at risk. Therefore, fresh funding and the reinforcement of our R&T and innovation efforts will be key to structure European cooperation
• to reap the benefits, and not just adapt, to a third industrial revolution, Member States should make systematic use of the programmatic, financial and policy instruments offered by the EU which can support defence research, identify key enabling technologies and support testing and experimentation in view of potential uptake in defence products
• the EDA is looking to get ahead by also working “up-stream”, notably by facilitating Member States’ convergence on identifying and prioritising research topics
• without a strong incentive, the current momentum may tail off. We must incentivise the right actions and the right programmes
• cooperation in defence is still not part of Europe’s DNA. Yet, it remains the most efficient and cost effective way to ensure Europe’s strategic autonomy
• strategic autonomy and a committment to a strong relationship with our partners are two sides of the same coin; otherwise, the technological gap will create a political gap 
• as a hub for innovation, collaboration and action, EDA will continue to engage with industry and R&T innovators as valuable partners in providing technology and solutions which address the needs of Member States.

 
EDA : "At the service of Member States"

Mr Domecq concluded the Annual Conference 2016 by recalling "EDA's mantra: at the service of its Member States". However, "the Agency's output depends entirely on Member States input. So, view this agency as a crucial and natural partner. Use our resources and expertise".
 

More information

• Federica Mogherini opens EDA Annual Conference 2016 / speech / video
• Listening to the supply & demand sides: EDA Annual Conference panels deliver interesting insights
• Slovak EU Presidency at EDA Annual Conference: "Common solutions are needed on defence"
• Commissioner Bieńkowska outlines upcoming European Defence Action Plan at EDA Annual Conference

Elżbieta Bieńkowska, the European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, today delivered an interesting 'outlook speech' at the European Defence Agency's (EDA) Annual Conference 2016 in which she described the main pillars of the Commission's upcoming European Defence Action Plan (EDAP). 

"There is a clear political momentum to move towards more defence integration and we have to seize it", the Commissioner said.

The objective of the Commission's EDAP which will be presented on 30 November is to provide support to the whole supply chain of European defence. Mrs Bieńkowska briefly outlined the main pillars of the EDAP: supporting defence research with the launch of the Preparatory Action on defence research in 2017; unlocking EU tools to invest into the whole European defence supply chain (especially SME's); working towards a possible European Defence Fund; improving the functioning of the Single Market for defence. 

The actions taken by us do not undermine Member States' national sovereignty nor the cooperation with NATO, the Commissioner stressed.

Mrs Bieńkowska welcomed the good cooperation between the Commission and the EDA.
 

More information

• Federica Mogherini opens EDA Annual Conference 2016 / speech / video
• Listening to the supply & demand sides: EDA Annual Conference panels deliver interesting insights
• Slovak EU Presidency at EDA Annual Conference: "Common solutions are needed on defence"
• EDA Annual Conference 2016 closes with call for cooperation on defence innovation

Speaking today at the EDA Annual Conference 2016 on behalf of the Slovak EU Presidency, State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Dr. Róbert Ondrejcsák called for “common solutions” on European defence.

In his keynote speech, Dr. Ondrejcsák praised the publication of the new EU Global Strategy as “the strongest impetus the CSDP received in terms of strategy since 2003” and recalled the implementation work launched since then, notably the High Level Conference on EUGS Implementation organised by the Slovak Presidency and also attended by High Representative Mogherini. “The debate since then shows how diverse positions of the EU Member States are in defence domain”, he said.
 

“Important to find common solutions on defence”

Dr. Ondrejcsák stated: “Consensus is well reached on the main principles of the level of ambition, such as responding to external conflicts and crises, building the capacities of fragile partners and protecting the Union and its Member states, but when it comes to details, the unanimity is far more difficult, or impossible to reach. Despite the common goal, we still diversify in visions and plans concerning defence cooperation, financing CSDP missions and operations, EU Battle Groups and form of support of our partner countries. Slovakia is not an exception, of course. But it is important that at the end of the day we find common solutions, agreeable to every Member State”.
 

Active role for the EDA

The work of the European Commission is seen by the EU Presidency as “of great importance for the current CSDP context”. In this respect, the upcoming European Defence Action Plan, as part of the wider package, “also creates a space for an active role for the European Defence Agency”, Dr. Ondrejcsák said.

He continued: “We support fostering European defence industry and defence research creating a basis for modern capabilities to maintain security and defence needs of the EU. The initiative with its funding instruments should be open to all beneficiaries with a close focus on small and medium enterprises. We also welcome special attention the European Defence Agency pays to defence industry in Central and Eastern Europe. I am referring to an extensive analysis about measures to enhance balanced defence Industry in Europe, which identifies obstacles and proposes solutions for defence cooperation among central and eastern European countries. The Agency regularly offers room for national armaments directors from the Visegrad 4 countries to seek possibilities for collaborative projects”.
 

European Defence and Technological and Industrial Base

“In times of increasingly fast-changing environment of creating new technologies and the continued need for innovation and the creation of new business models, the European defence sector needs to cope with these changes to remain an important part of the global defence market and remain relevant”, the State Secretary said. “This means preparing for an age of relative uncertainty that can be highly diversified, hybrid and flexible and can well require from the defence sector to adapt quickly to changing innovation patterns, new mind-sets and corporate cultures. In this strategic context, an innovative and competitive European industry is a strategic asset to support EU Global Strategy implementation and be at the centre of development of defence-related capabilities, skills and industrial manufacturing capabilities”.

He added: “At present, we are still situated in an environment of significant economic restrictions in the defence sector. Member States' budgets cuts, increasing prices of defence products and new players on the global military equipment and technology market impact the European defence industry. Therefore, it is necessary to change the approach. If not, the EU and its Member States will face reduced military effectiveness and the defence sector declined military business opportunities. If we use funds more efficiently, combine our efforts and share common capabilities, we can achieve the high effect for less money spent”.
 

Defence R&T

Another risk Europe faces is the lack of Research and Development (R&D) funding, lack of innovation and procurement of new military equipment and defence systems. “In reality it means that Europe and its Member States will no longer be able to afford sophisticated modern military capabilities that would necessarily need to fulfil the tasks determined. It creates a risk for the European defence industry, which will face an increasing competition from companies producing military equipment in the third countries”.

“Pooling requirements and achieving significant savings from economies of scale would enable Member States to acquire the necessary military capabilities that would otherwise could not afford individually. Some activities can be done also on bilateral basis, such as common maintenance, training, exercises and joint research and development. The creation of a common European market for defence would strengthen the European defence industry and would also help Member States to develop military capabilities they need to fully perform its tasks in accordance with the CSDP”, he stated.
 

More information

• Federica Mogherini opens EDA Annual Conference 2016 / speech / video
• Listening to the supply & demand sides: EDA Annual Conference panels deliver interesting insights
• Commissioner Bieńkowska outlines upcoming European Defence Action Plan at EDA Annual Conference
• EDA Annual Conference 2016 closes with call for cooperation on defence innovation

Michael Kofman and I wrote a short piece for the Monkey Cage on the potential impact of the election on U.S.-Russian relations. Go read the whole thing, which also includes contributions from a number of other scholars.

——-

Donald Trump’s victory has the potential to fundamentally reshape U.S.-Russian relations, but whether such a realignment will actually take place will depend on how Trump chooses to learn and appreciate the past failures of several U.S. attempts to engage Russia. It remains to be seen whether he will be willing to follow the advice of professionals, or if he will strike off on his own. U.S.-Russian relations are founded on a complex history, with structural differences among national elites that will prove difficult to bridge through personal rapport among the national leaders. Trump’s first problem will be that other than a small number of close advisers who share his instincts to engage Putin, most of the policy establishment is likely to hold hardened views of Putin’s Russia, ranging from distrustful to confrontational. Rapid change is unlikely to come quickly, despite the personal attention of the president-elect, because the bureaucracy will initially take an obstructionist position.

Having said that, we can make a few predictions regarding policy initiatives that are likely to be undertaken by President Trump. First of all, he is likely to restore the full range of government contacts, including between the two countries’ military establishments. Second, he will pursue more extensive cooperation with Russia in Syria, against ISIS but also against other anti-Assad groups that could conceivably be described as Islamist. Most likely there will be a complete abandonment of the existing policy formulation that there is a moderate Syrian opposition and viable alternatives to Assad, which will closely bridge the U.S. position with that of Moscow’s. And finally, the active sanctions policy against Russia is likely to end, though existing sanctions will not be lifted without a quid pro quo.

…..

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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

After HR/VP Federica Mogherini's capturing opening speech and an inspiring presentation by Stephan De Spiegeleire of the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies on innovation and research as part of a wider vision for a future European defence, the attendees of the EDA Annual Conference 2016 witnessed two lively and interactive panel debates moderated by Graham Muir (Head of EDA's Strategy & Policy Unit) on the opportunities and challenges from the supply and demand sides.

 

Panel 1: Supply side

High-level panelists in this first roundtable were Lowri Evans (Director General DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SME's at the European Commission), Heikki Allonen (former CEO and President of Patria Oyj, the Finnish national defence induystry group), Dr. Kurt Braatz (Senior Vice President at Krauss-Maffei Wegman), Pedro Sinogas (CEO of Tekever) as well as Prof. Witold Holubowicz (CEO of research/consulting company Itti Ltd.).

The panel raised and discussed a number of crucial questions related to the future of the European defence industry, such as 'Are Europe's defence industrial models suited for the future?', 'How best to bring innovation closer to defence?', 'Is enough being done to capitalise on civil and military synergies?' and 'What measures can the European Commission bring to support innovation in defence?'.

A particular emphasis was put on how the role of SMEs and Start-Ups in the defence supply chain could best be maximised and how their full potential as a source of innovation and a key enabler for competitiveness can be realized. In this respect, the need was stressed to promote SME's access to defence research pogrammes and to encourage their greater involvement in EU funding programmes.

 

Panel 2: Demand side

The second panel debate in the afternoon saw high-profile representatives from national governments and EU institutions sharing their views on implications for the defence sector at large: whole-of-government policies in support of strategic innovation, emerging risks and vulnerabilities in terms of technology control, interface with industry, impact on acquisition choices and life-cycle management.

The four high-level panelists were: Rear Admiral Matteo Bisceglia (Director for Naval Armaments, Italy), Ioan Mircea Paşcu (Vice-President of the European Parliament and former Defence minister of Romania),Vice Admiral Mark Mellett (Chief of Defence, Ireland) and Alexander Weis (Vice-Director of the Bundeswehr Planning Office, Germany).

Among the questions discussed were the following: 'Are the current procurement processes of Defence Ministries best adapted to the challenges and opportunities presented by innovation?', 'How important is continued and sustained national investment in research & innovation?', 'What do policy-makers need to do to provide the best possible environment to foster the technological innovations required?', 'How can Europe respond to the US Third Offset Strategy?' and 'How to overcome fragmentation of demand?'.

There was broad consensus on the EDA's role in defence R&T and innovation: the Agency should continue to act as a "catalyst" by identifying innovation gaps and potential collaborative opportunities, bringing interested Member States together and facilitating collaborative R&T projects. However, it was stressed, R&T initiatives need to be driven by capability requirements. The objective is not to fund industrial policy, said Mr Weis. "The EDA has to make sure that R&T projects are capability driven, be it national or EU capabilities".
 

More information

• Federica Mogherini opens EDA Annual Conference 2016 / speech / video
• Slovak EU Presidency at EDA Annual Conference: "Common solutions are needed on defence"
• Commissioner Bieńkowska outlines upcoming European Defence Action Plan at EDA Annual Conference
• EDA Annual Conference 2016 closes with call for cooperation on defence innovation

The European Defence Agency (EDA) Annual Conference 2016 entitled 'A third industrial evolution or revolution in defence?' was opened Thursday morning (10 November) in Brussels by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, who is also the Head of the Agency.

Addressing a 500 strong audience coming from the whole European defence spectrum - governments, armed forces, industry, EU institutions, NATO, think tanks and media - Mrs Mogherini said in her opening speech that time had come to make urgent and concrete steps towards a stronger and more efficient European defence, and to do it “the European way”.

We don’t need another theoretical and endless debate about a potential EU army or treaty change but what is needed are "very concrete actions" to be delivered in the next months to make sure Europe can protect it citizens and become a global security provider. This is what citizens expect now that Europe is facing a "security crisis", she stressed. “There are no excuses, we have to do it and we have to do it now”.

March 2017, when Europe will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, will be a good moment to have a concrete implementation process up and running and to deliver on defence integration. "Sixty years ago, the founding fathers and mothers of our European Union believed that a united Europe had to be built on two pillars: a European Economic Community, and a Defence Community. They knew that a true Union could not simply rely on the integration of the markets. They were right, and yet they failed. Sixty years later, I believe the original intuition has become even more relevant", Mrs Mogherini stressed.

To move ahead towards a defence union, Europe has not to start from scratch because the Treaty of Lisbon already offers all the tools that are required. “We just need to use them. This is a matter of political will, stated Mrs Mogherini adding that she saw now a “clear window of opportunity” to achieve concrete results in the coming months.

She recalled the three parallel processes currently ongoing, namely the implementation of the EU Global Strategy, the Commission’ upcoming European Defence Action Plan (EDAP) and the follow-up on the recent joint EU/NATO Declaration. These three processes have to be complementary, she insisted. We have to advance quickly, “we have to run”, to make sure that those processes lead to first concrete results by spring 2017. In this respect, the European Defence Agency can act as a pivot between the Commission and Member States on European defence, Mrs Mogherini said.
 

Capabilities are crucial

The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission put a special emphasis on the need to make sure Europe has the required capabilities to play its role in defence. Capabilities have to be up to the task. "And here, Europe has to be very careful, I believe, very careful, that the investment gap is not translated into an ever wider technology gap. Because a technology gap would then lead to an interoperability gap. And if left unchecked, this could translate into a political gap which would clearly not be in our interest. And I would add, this would also have economic implications for our continent".

There will be no strategic autonomy and defence role for Europe without a strong and smart and innovative European defence technology and industrial base, Mrs Mogherini concluded.
 

More information

• Speech of the HR/VP Mogherini / video
• Listening to the supply & demand sides: EDA Annual Conference panels deliver interesting insights
• Slovak EU Presidency at EDA Annual Conference: "Common solutions are needed on defence"
• Commissioner Bieńkowska outlines upcoming European Defence Action Plan at EDA Annual Conference
• EDA Annual Conference 2016 closes with call for cooperation on defence innovation

In this issue: Could Russia gain a technological edge over Britain? Plus: the benefits of base sharing, protecting GPS guided weapons from spoofing, the next step in electric vehicles, contenders for the T-X jet trainer programme, lessons learned fro…

Key Points Trump has called for end to mandated defence budget limits to 'rebuild' the military He wants more soldiers and marines, more navy vessels and fighter aircraft, and better missile defence assets Donald Trump's stunning victory in the US presidential election on 8 November caused many

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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) has rejected suggestions that it may pull out of the race for the German Navy's MKS 180 programme as a result of the acquisition of teammate Blohm + Voss GmbH by the rival Lürssen group. The MKS 180 programme, which covers the build of four multirole