Defence`s Feeds

The new Academic Spotlight blog series features recent research findings on security sector reform and security governance published in international relations academic journals. It provides a venue to promote discussion within the academic-policy nexus and develop opportunities to share and exchange on key SSR issues and themes. The blog posts published in this series summarize

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Italian Beretta BM-59 Automatic Rifle

The Army of the Czech Republic (ACR) has received its first batch of Ceska Zbrojovka (CZ) Bren 2 assault rifles. The rifles are the first of 2,600 ordered in May for CZK417 million (USD16.6 million). The first batch was delivered in early November, will the entire order due to be delivered by the

Key Points DNI James Clapper delivered his resignation on 16 November, although he will serve through the end of the Obama administration. Several reports using anonymous sources indicated that President-elect Trump was considering eliminating Clapper's position, and that President Obama had been

Key Points India has assigned its latest destroyer to the country's Western Naval Command The ship's arrival comes amid rising tensions with Pakistan The Indian Navy will assign the newly inducted Project 15A Kolkata-class guided-missile destroyer, INS Chennai, to the service's Western Naval

The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) published on 21 November long-delayed guidelines on how to deal with suppliers who have been charged with misconduct in defence procurement. The "guidelines for penalties in business dealings with entities" remove the previous blanket 10-year ban on

India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has revealed that about 25% of the components used in the indigenously designed and built Tejas Mk 1 Light Combat Aircraft have been sourced from outside India. Junior defence minister Subhash Bhamre told parliament on 18 November that 344 of the so-called line

The Japanese government is planning to buy the uninhabited island of Mageshima in Kagoshima Prefecture to use it as an aviation training facility for both the US military and the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Tokyo told IHS Jane's on 22

In a calculated rebuff to an already flailing government-sponsored peace process, an alliance of four insurgent factions in the north of Myanmar's Shan State has launched a co-ordinated offensive aimed at trade centres and key logistics arteries along the country's border with China. The wave of

EVENT On 17 November 2016, Russia's internet and telecom sector's regulator, Roskomnadzor, ordered internet providers to block LinkedIn, a social network for professionals, within Russian territory. This move followed a ruling on 10 November by a Moscow court which upheld an August 2016 ruling to

South Korea is looking to secure additional technologies from the United States to support its programme to develop the Korean Fighter Experimental (KFX) aircraft, it has been disclosed. The Minister of South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), Myoung-jin Chang, said on 21

EVENT Five soldiers and a civilian died in suspected jihadist attacks in north and central Mali on 20 November as the country conducted municipal elections. The delayed polls, the first since President Ibrahim Keita was elected in 2013, were originally scheduled for 2014 but repeatedly postponed

Belarus' Minotor-Service has used internal research and development funding to develop a new 4x4 multi-purpose amphibious armoured vehicle to the prototype stage. Designated Vitim, the vehicle has a monocoque all-welded steel hull that is claimed to provide protection from 7.62 mm ammunition fired

The US Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast has contracted US-based construction services provider Sauer to construct a littoral combat ship (LCS) operational training facility at Naval Station (NS) Mayport, Florida.

Schiebel’s Group-developed Camcopter S-100 unmanned air system (UAS) has successfully completed search-and-rescue (SAR) missions in the Mediterranean for global charity organisation Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).

L-3 Communications has secured a contract to deliver switchgear equipment for the power distribution and protection system to be installed on-board the US Navy’s new submarine programme.

Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Bamenda, capital of Cameroon's North West region, on 22 November against poor road infrastructure and perceived marginalisation of Anglophones in the country. The protest coincides with the beginning of an indefinite strike by teachers in Cameroon's

Americas

• Arms trafficker Viktor Bout will continue serving his 25-year stint in federal prison following the denial of a retrial by the US Circuit Court of Appeals. Convicted of conspiring to kill US soldiers by agreeing to sell arms to DEA informants posing as members of the FARC terrorist group, Bout maintained that he could not have been part of such a conspiracy as his business associate, Andrew Smulian, was already an informant for the US agency. The judge stated that the evidence suggested merely that the agency “saw Smulian as a way to get to Bout.”

• The Dutch Damen Shipyards Group is to provide two modernized Stan Patrol 4207 vessels to the Jamaican Defense Forces as part of the JDF’s renewal of its patrol boat fleet. Three decommissioned Damen-built Count-class offshore patrol vessels previously used by the JDF are being traded in as part of the deal. Delivery of the new boats is expected by the end of the year.

Middle East & North Africa

• Rheinmetall has secured a $10.6 million contract to modernize and expand a live combat training facility for a country in the region. The deal will see the company supply up-to-date hardware and software components for the customer’s Mobile Combat Training Center, which includes new laser engagement simulator to support combat vehicle and weapon systems training. A modernized Legatus combat simulation training system will also be provided to the customer and is already in use by the German military.

• Turkey’s quest for an air-defense system continued with Defence Minister Fikri Isik saying on Friday that they were in talks with Russia over purchasing the S-400. Other countries are also being contacted, but Isik maintained that the Russian stance on the issue has been positive. Ankara is also looking to develop its own indigenous system, but a foreign procurement would be ready for operational use in a much shorter time period.

Europe

• The US State Department has cleared the sale of 26 Predator B UAVs to the UK. Valued at $1 billion, the deal also includes 12 Advanced Ground Control Stations, 12 Multi-spectral Targeting Systems, 25 AN/APY-8 Lynx IIe Block 20A Synthetic Aperture Radars, and other communication and identification devices, as well as equipment spares. Having already operated the MQ-9 Reaper, it is expected that British forces will have no problems making the transition.

• Officials from the French and British governments have come to an agreement on further collaborative missile defense development. Franco-British missile manufacturer MBDA has been selected to support the project, which includes the establishment of new development centers in the company’s UK sites Stevenage and Bolton. The missile cooperation agreement comes shortly after officials announced the launch of the next phase of the $145 million joint Franco-British Maritime Mine Counter Measures program, which aims to improve naval defense technology.

Asia Pacific

• The Afghan military will be flying more American wares following the decision by the Pentagon to swap out Russian-made Mi-17s for the Sikorsky Black Hawk. Citing increased problems in maintaining the Mi-17 fleet due to sanctions caused by “Russian aggression,” a number of US lawmakers have been pushing for the switch. It’s believed that Washington will modernize 53 UH-60As by acquiring them from the Army before transferring to the Afghans.

• South Korea has been cleared to continue with their purchase of Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasure systems (LAIRCM). Developed by Northrop Grumman, the pods are designed to protect large aircraft from man-portable missiles. The $141 million sale will see four LAIRCM systems procured for Korean A-330 multirole tanker aircraft. South Korean F-16s are also slated for upgrade, following the awarding of a $1.2 billion contract by the Pentagon to Lockheed Martin.

Today’s Video

Combat debut of the Tu-95MSM strategic bomber:

LAIRCM Concept
(click to view full)

Defense Support Services (DS2), a Greenville, SC-based venture between Lockheed Martin and Day & Zimmermann, received a $96 million contract to provide support for the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasure (LAIRCM) System.

Northrop Grumman’s LAIRCM is a laser-based countermeasures system that is designed to defend C-17 and C-130 transport aircraft and other large, slow-moving aircraft from an infrared missile attack by automatically detecting a missile launch, determining if it is a threat, and activating a high-intensity system of pulsed lasers to track and defeat the threat by confusing its guidance head…

The LAIRCM was developed in response to heat seeking missiles that are able to outsmart the flares that large aircraft deploy to thwart them. Particularly troublesome are the shoulder-fired man-portable air-defense missiles (MANPADS). More than 700,000 MANPADS are estimated to have been produced in the past 30 years. According to the USAF, 90% of all US air combat losses for the last 25 years can be attributed to infrared missiles, such as MANPADS.

The LAIRCM system has 2 small laser transmitter assemblies mounted on the rear of the plane, as well as 5 missile warning transmitters at various points on the aircraft. The most prominent warning transmitters are in 2 projections on top of the aircraft just back of the cockpit that resemble “horns.” Processors in the cockpit and rear of the plane collect the data and transmit information to the aircrew.

Capt. Jeffrey Bryant, USAF 95th Airlift Squadron’s standardization and evaluation navigator, said that the USAF has seen a lot of MANPADS in Iraq. He explains how the LAIRCM system defeats them.

“The laser transmitters are the heart of the system. They basically work to interrupt the infrared signal, or heat. The two rear lasers ‘blind’ the missile’s eyeball, so it disables the missile’s ability to follow the heat source from the plane.”

The US Air Force’s Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base manages the DS2 contact (FA8625-10-D-6501).

Updates

November 22/16: South Korea has been cleared to continue with their purchase of Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasure systems (LAIRCM). Developed by Northrop Grumman, the pods are designed to protect large aircraft from man-portable missiles. The $141 million sale will see four LAIRCM systems procured for Korean A-330 multirole tanker aircraft. South Korean F-16s are also slated for upgrade, following the awarding of a $1.2 billion contract by the Pentagon to Lockheed Martin.

August 9/16: Northrop Grumman has been awarded $45 million as part of the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) program. The USAF deal will see NG conduct work on processor replacement and support hardware with completion expected for April 2018. First fielded in 2005, LAIRCM provides automatic protection against shoulder-fired, vehicle-launched, and other infrared-guided missiles for large transport and rotary-wing aircraft.