Defence`s Feeds

Length of video : 52'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

On 17 March, the members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs jointly with the Subcommittee on Security and Defence held a debate with Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defence of Ukraine. Against the backdrop of Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine, members discussed with the Ukrainian Minister the military situation on the ground and the current needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

They reaffirmed their unwavering support to Ukraine and asked about military implications of the occupation of nuclear plants by the Russians. Members also inquired the Minister about the alleged usage of banned phosphorus bombs and cluster ammunition by Russians as well as the apparent mobilisation of Chechen irregular troops and on the recruitment of Syrian mercenary fighters.
Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

The Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) integration, is one of the many programs to keep the A-10 Warthog flying in the 2030s. The U.S. Air Force recently released, on March 25, the first photos of an [...]

The post The A-10 Prepares For ‘Bomb Truck’ Configuration Carrying 16 GBU-39 SDBs During Developmental Tests appeared first on The Aviationist.

EDA is working on the establishment of a European Terrain Database (ETDB) which will include a vast selection of images taken from across Europe to be made available to Member States’ Armed Forces for multiple military purposes. To this end, a Multinational Field Trial Exercise was held on 23/24 March at the land test centre of the Italian Armed Forces (Centro Polifunzionale di Sperimentazione) in Montelibretti near Rome. 

More than 30 experts from military test centres based in Italy, Sweden, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, France and Portugal participated in the exercise co-organised by EDA and the Italian Secretariat General of the Defence and National Armaments Directorate - Technological Innovation Department. The first part of the event took place outdoor, in the wider area of the test centre, and was aimed at acquiring images with several cameras working in different spectral regions (visible, long wave Infrared, short wave Infrared) under diverse configurations (mounted on a drone or grounded). A large number of pictures of different terrain landscapes were taken, with and without a specific target. During the second part of the exercise, all these images were uploaded onto the prototypic software platform of the future European Terrain Database which will be installed on EDA servers in the coming months, ready to be populated by users from different participating Member States with unclassified images in different spectral regions (visible, Infrared wavelengths and microwave). The stored pictures will also include information and metadata deemed necessary or useful for their military usage in test and/or research activities.

Once established and fully accessible, the database can be used, for instance, for target recognition, the assessment and improvement of camouflage effectiveness, the testing and enhancement of sensors in different terrains, the generation of synthetic images or the support of modelling and simulation activities. 

The exercise participants came from different expert communities with an interest in the ETDB, particularly scientists and technicians specialised in Optronics and Radar sensor design (including materials) and performance prediction, design, development and testing of new camouflage, visible and infrared signature and Radar Cross Section mitigation solutions. The future dataset can be employed by the Ministries of Defence of all participating Member States for R&T initiatives as well as for operational and training purposes. The multinational field trial was therefore an excellent opportunity for those experts to meet and explore potential cooperation opportunities among European defence test centres.

The event was organised in the framework of EDA’s Defence Test & Evaluation Base (DTEB) initiative, which was launched in 2010 to collect, share and harmonise defence test & evaluation standards and procedures at European level. In the meantime, the DTEB has developed into a dynamic and useful network, not only of European Military Test Centres, but also of companies, universities and public/private research centres operating in the sector of defence technologies.

 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's much longed for first trip to an Arab country since 2011 was made possible by a plane sent by the Emirati authorities, according to our sources. The aircraft carried the Syrian delegation on 18 March to

The GISEC conference, held from 21 to 23 March in Abu Dhabi, gave head of cybersecurity Mohamed Hamad al-Kuwaiti the

New Swedish counter-disinformation agency Myndigheten för Psykologiskt Försvar (MPF) issued a tender call on 16 March so as to strengthen

Xi Jinping and Volodymyr Zelensky are set to speak in the next few days. Zelensky has made repeated requests for

Israel/Gulf - Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Manama eye Tel Aviv's anti-missile shield After Israeli defence ministry director general Amir Eshel

Rayna Milkova is reportedly the latest investigator specialising in Russian cases to join lawyer Keith Schilling's investigation consultancy Schillings, which

The gradual withdrawal from Russia of CAC40 firms and French luxury goods companies is causing some disquiet among their local

Iranian Khordad 15 Air Defense Missile System

The Expendable Active Decoy will be tested on US F-16s after the recent tests on Italian Tornados and Danish F-16s. The U.S. Air Force’s Seek Eagle Office has approved Leonardo’s BriteCloud 218 Expendable Active Decoy [...]

The post Leonardo’s BriteCloud Cleared To Begin Foreign Comparative Testing In The U.S. appeared first on The Aviationist.

4 Career Building Hacks for Ex-Service Members

What Kind of Partners are the Military Looking for?

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

2021 has been a year of significant developments in the security and defence domain, both for Europe and the EU institutions in general, and for the European Defence Agency (EDA) in particular.

Amid rising threats in an increasingly tense geo-strategic environment, especially along the EU’s borders (build-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine), EDA was involved last year in all major efforts to bring EU defence cooperation forward: from the preparation of the Strategic Compass (eventually adopted this week) and ministerial discussions on defence innovation, to the implementation of PESCO and European Defence Fund (EDF) sponsored projects and the launch of the second Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) cycle. The 2021 Annual Report, published today, provides a comprehensive overview of the work accomplished in EDA’s various activity domains throughout the past year.

The report reflects the progress made in the wide spectrum of the Agency’s activities, from its central role in the implementation of the EU defence initiatives (CARD, PESCO, EDF) and the increasing number of defence research and capability development projects and programmes (+11% compared to 2020), to the launch of new enablers and incentives for defence cooperation and EDA’s growing interface role towards wider EU policies.

From Personnel Recovery to Cyber Defence and C-IED exercise

Among the many 2021 highlights was the Agency’s successful involvement in the multinational Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED) Exercise ‘Bison Counter21’ hosted by Italy in Sardinia. The Agency also prepared the launch, in 2022, of a new EDA Bison Counter C-IED Exercises Capability Building (BC-EX) project which foresees at least three additional exercises in 2023, 2025 and 2027.

2021 also saw EDA taking over the role of project manager for two important Cyber Defence and Communication & Information Services (CIS) projects financed under the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP): one aimed at developing a European Cyber Situation Awareness Platform (ECYSAP), and other one meant to develop a European Command and Control System from strategic to tactical level (ESC2).

EDA’s prototype Tactical Personnel Recovery Mission Simulator (TPRMS) was inaugurated in November 2021 at Italian Air Base Poggio Renatico. The new Virtual Reality-based simulator, which allows Personnel Recovery teams to collectively rehearse tactics, techniques and procedures in a risk-free environment, marks a significant achievement as no such capability currently exists within Europe.

The PDF version of the 2021 Annual Report can be downloaded here.

British military data management specialist MASS is hiring electronic threat monitoring experts to beef up its electronic intelligence team for

Gaby Portnoy, who was appointed head of the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD) in February, does not appear to be

Freewheeling businessman Ephraim Menashe, who is currently being investigated by the Israeli state prosecution service, is waiting to be charged.