Defence`s Feeds

Activity Report of the work of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence 2014 - 2019 (8th legislature)
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Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

A delegation of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittees on Security and Defence and on Human Rights will go to the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York and to Washington D.C. on 27-31 October 2019. The mission will aim to, amongst other things, assess the implementation of EU priorities by the UN General Assembly, discuss new priorities for the UNGA, and look into possible ways to further uphold multilateralism in the current political and security context.
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EU Fact Sheets: External relations
Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

MEPs strongly condemned the unilateral Turkish military intervention in northeast Syria, urging Turkey to withdraw all of its forces from Syrian territory.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Security and Defence

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

This week (22/23 October), EDA hosted the third PESCO workshop related to the European Secure Software Defined Radio (ESSOR) project which aims to develop common technologies for European military radios. 

The adoption of these technologies as a standard will guarantee the interoperability of EU forces in the framework of joint operations, regardless which radio platforms are used. The ESSOR project will provide a secure military communications system, improving voice and data communication between Member States’ Armed Forces on a variety of platforms. In addition, it will deliver guidelines related to the validation and verification of waveform portability and platform re-configurability, setting up a common security basis to increase interoperability between the forces. By ensuring that military radios are fully accessible, shared and used by all Member States, the effectiveness of joint operations can be increased substantially. 

To that end, the Member States participating in the ESSOR project - Belgium, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal (with Estonia and Ireland as observers) - have moved forward to implement a common architecture analysis of software radios in Europe. 

The ESSOR project activities are currently performed by the consortium A4ESSOR through a contract managed by OCCAr.  A4ESSOR is a joint-venture of the following companies: Thales (FR), Leonardo (IT), Indra (SP), Radmor (PL), Bittium (FI) and soon Rohde & Schwarz (DE). 

The ESSOR PESCO project presents exceptional technological characteristics: it is based on the state-of-the-art technology in the radio field, and it aims at developing the most advanced concepts and solutions for communications applicable to several waveform layers. It builds a complete set of capabilities which will satisfy the most demanding, modern and future communication requirements. 
 

EDA supports development of ESSOR CONOPS 

Earlier this month (11 October), the 2nd ESSOR workshop on the development of a “concept of operations” (CONOPS) had already taken place at the Agency. It allowed the project Members States to gain insight into the process and methodology which are compliant with NATO Architecture Framework version 4. The CONOPS aims at describing the operational needs, visions and expectations of the operational users (from tactical level to component command) on the new waveforms to be developed in the context of the PESCO ESSOR project. It analyses operational scenarios using vignettes and identifies categories of architectural information which are further developed into operational requirements and technical requirements. A questionnaire is being distributed to operational staff of the Army, Navy and Air Force to gather inputs on the role of software defined radio to ensure interoperability among military communication and information systems in a future pervasive interconnected battlefield. 
 

Background

PESCO, the Permanent Structured Cooperation set up in December 2017, allows the 25 participating Member States to jointly plan, develop and invest in shared capability projects, and enhance the operational readiness and contribution of their armed forces. The aim is to jointly develop a coherent full spectrum force package and make the capabilities available to Member States for national and multinational (EU CSDP, NATO, UN, etc.) missions and operations. 

For more information on PESCO visit the website https://pesco.europa.eu/. 

 

Iranian Toophan Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

American M982 Excalibur Guided Artillery Shell

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

Russian Krasnopol Guided Artillery Shell

A joint EDA-NATO Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) Conference, the first of its kind in this format, was opened this morning by the Dutch Minister of Defence, Ank Bijleveld (who spoke via video message), NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment, Camille Grand, and EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq. It followed a successful first European AAR conference organised by EDA last year.

The event, moderated by the Chairman of the Aerial Refuelling Systems Advisory Group (ARSAG), General John Sams, brought together key decision-makers from the EU and NATO as well as the wider transatlantic and international AAR community, including industry, to discuss current and future challenges and coordinate efforts in this important domain. Among the high-level speakers of the conference were notably Major General Laurent Marboeuf, the commander of the European Air Transport Command (EATC), Major General Jose Maria Juanas from the Spanish Air Force, Colonel Juergen Wallwei from the German Military Aviation Authority and Dave Benson from the US Air Force Aerial Refueling Certification Agency (ARCA). The list of all speakers is available in the conference agenda at https://aarconference.org/agenda.

A special focus was put on ways and means to enhance euro-atlantic AAR interoperability. Throughout the day,  the topic was presented, discussed and analysed in various sessions dealing with different aspects, from the optimisation of existing capabilities and the development of new capabilities to the operational and industrial implications of it.

In his opening speech, Jorge Domecq praised the good cooperation between EDA, NATO and ARSAG in such crucial a domain than air-to-air refuelling. “This is yet another testimony of pragmatic cooperation, to ensure complementarity of efforts and avoid unnecessary duplications, as called for by the EU-NATO Joint Declaration”, Mr Domecq said.  

Over recent years, important progress has been made in order to mitigate the important capability gap Europe still has in the field of AAR (establishment of a Multinational MRTT Fleet, AAR exercises organised by the European Air Transport Command, gradual entrance into service of the A440M, successful clearance campaigns between A400M tankers and various receivers, etc.), “but it is not sufficient”, the EDA Chief Executive stressed: “What we really need is to ensure that the AAR shortfall, like capability gaps in other areas, is addressed in a more systematic way”. Therefore, the fact that AAR was reconfirmed as one of the EU Capability Development Priorities (it is embedded in the wider Air Superiority priority) which were approved by EU Member States in 2018, in full complementarity with NATO’s NDPP, will enable the continuation of this effort.  Work is now underway to implement the priorities, including the AAR related one, through Strategic Context Cases (SCCs). 
 

Challenges in the short, medium and long term

“In the short-term, the main challenge is to optimise the use of the existing AAR assets available in Europe, and we can do that through, for example, increased participation in annual European AAR Training (EART). But we can also increase interoperability by increasing AAR clearances - because a tanker without a clearance is not a tanker”, said Mr Domecq who also stressed that the certification of AAR is clearly an airworthiness aspect. In this respect, he welcomed that airworthiness authorities in the AAR field now realise and agree on the fact that “the technical assessment of an AAR clearance is their responsibility”. In the medium-term, the challenge is to cover the peak demand in AAR during the initial phase of an operation or conflict when air superiority is not yet assured, for instance by expanding the MMF fleet. “EDA stands ready to assist interested Member States in the process to explore their potential participation in this important project”, Mr Domecq said.  And finally, in the longer term, the challenge is to close the remaining capability gap, both in strategic and tactical AAR, including by developing automated/autonomous air to air refuelling systems (A3R) as a useful complement to manned AAR capabilities. “It is evident that the future of AAR will be automated”. 

EDA will organise a workshop on 28 January 2020 to bring together Member States and industry to discuss the way ahead on this topic.

 
More information: 

• AAR Conference paper
• Speech by EDA Chief executive Jorge Domecq
• Video message by Dutch Minister of Defence Ank Bijleveld
• Speech by NATO Assistant SG for Defence Investment, Camille Grand

 

Chinese Assault Rifle

After a test run in 2018, EDA has now completed the first fully-fletched Defence Energy Managers’ Course (DEMC)  in which participated a total of 17 students from eight EDA Member States. The course, one of the Agency’s most recent training and education activities, aims at increasing Armed Forces’ energy efficiency and reducing the military’s overall energy consumption through the introduction of defence-specific energy management systems based on the ISO 50001 standard.  

The DEMC provided both theoretical and practical training to energy managers from Member States’ ground forces and air forces as well as navies. The course was launched in November 2018 and attended by personnel from the Armed Forces and/or Ministries of Defence from Belgium, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom.  

The course was split into five distinct modules: three classroom-type sessions and two more practical modules which, in total, lasted some 11 months. Participants increased their knowledge of the complexities of managing energy within a defence organisation (energy management systems were applied to different military installations, from air and naval bases to governmental facilities) and learned how to structure and implement efficient energy management systems. Throughout the course, students were supported by mentors and members of the European Defence Energy Network (EDEN) which also allowed them to have permanent access to the networks’ on-line resources.

The successful completion of the first DEMC marks an important milestone in EDA’s efforts aimed to increase energy sustainability in defence sector and reduce the military’s environmental footprint, also building on the work done in the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CFSEDSS) sponsored by the European Commission and the Agency’s own Energy and Environmental Working Group.

Two additional courses are currently underway; they will be completed by May 2020.

The whole DEMC project is run by EDA’s Industry, Synergies & Enablers Directorate (ISE) and delivered by GEN Europe and the Centre for Renewable Energy Sources & Savings (CRES). 

More information

• Third Defence Management course launched
  
  

EDA’s 2019 Military Airworthiness Conference, a two-days event organised with the support of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence, was opened today in Vilnius by EDA’s Deputy Chief Executive Olli Ruutu. 

The conference brings together key stakeholders from national authorities, industry, European agencies and international organisations, to exchange views and best practices related to the harmonisation of European military airworthiness rules and standards. Common airworthiness approaches and standards are viewed as critical enablers for enhanced European defence cooperation.  

Over the two days, four main topics are being addressed through specific sessions: i) the impact of European Military Airworthiness Requirements (EMARs) on military aviation; ii) opportunities and challenges related to that; iii) lessons learned from EMARs implementation so far; iv) and the experiences made by third-party stakeholders.
 

Good progress made over past 10 years

In his opening speech, EDA Deputy Chief Olli Ruutu thanked the Lithuanian Armed Forces for hosting the event and for their strong interest in the work of the Military Airworthiness Authorities (MAWA) Forum and the harmonisation of airworthiness approaches.  

Since work started ten years ago on the harmonisation of airworthiness approaches in Europe, much has been achieved, Mr Ruutu said.  “The majority of EDA participating Member States have already implemented or are in the process of implementing European Military Airworthiness Requirements in their national regulations. But as you all are aware, the implementation of EMARs is not only about translating them in regulations but also about turning them into practice. And that makes EMAR implementation the most important phase in the harmonisation process and crucial for gaining the full benefits”, he stressed. Implementing the EMARs often means a different approach to military airworthiness that requires a change in safety culture, the Deputy Chief Executive stated. 

Further progress is also required as regards the cooperation between the national military airworthiness authorities in Europe, a topic which is already in the focus of the MAWA Forum.  “Since last year when the MAWA Forum adopted a new airworthiness roadmap, the forum has started several activities to develop harmonised practices and procedures with the objective to increase the level of standardisation and cooperation in the area of initial approvals of and oversight over organisations that provide services in the military airworthiness domain”, Mr Ruutu recalled. In parallel, Member States are engaged in mutual recognitions. “At this stage, 35 active recognitions are already in place between EDA pMS and several recognitions have been concluded with Military Airworthiness Authorities from other countries worldwide. These recognitions familiarise nations with each other’s airworthiness systems. It facilitates the exchange of lessons learned and the development of best practices and helps to build mutual trust and confidence, which are the cornerstones for cooperation”, Mr Ruutu welcomed. 
 

Towards aligning the national airworthiness systems

Based on this, Member States should now consider which additional cooperation steps they could take in the area of military airworthiness in line with their PESCO commitments, he said. “I believe it is now good to reflect on the best cooperative working structures for military airworthiness authorities; keeping in mind that we need to ensure that we are as effective as possible in aligning the national airworthiness systems towards a single reference without affecting national sovereignty as regards airworthiness risk acceptance. We need to facilitate an increased efficiency in certification, approval and oversight activities but also provide industry with a single framework to meet the requirements of all participating Member States”, Mr Ruutu said.
 

Background

The Military Airworthiness Authorities (MAWA) Forum oversees the development and maintenance of the European Military Airworthiness Requirements (EMARs) and promotes ways and means to harmonise the military airworthiness oversight across Europe.

Chinese DF-100 Land Attack Cruise Missile

Chinese DF-17 Ballistic Missile with a Hypersonic Glide Vehicle

Chinese Type 055 Class Guided Missile Cruiser

American F-35A Stealthy Multi-Role Fighter

Picture: Bundeswehr Technical Center for Information Technology and Electronics in Greding (Germany)

With its final working group meeting held at the Agency premises on 26 September, EDA’s European Network on Electro Magnetic Effects Test & Evaluation capabilities Rationalisation (ENTER) project has been officially concluded. 

Launched in 2014 as a so-called Category B project within the EDA’s Defence Test and Evaluation Base (DTEB) initiative, it was supported by eight Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands. The main objective of ENTER has been achieved: the creation of a coordinated network of EME (Electro-Magnetic Effects) test centres in the participating countries, which will facilitate the future cooperation among them based on a shared technical understanding and background. The various centres attached to the network are: 

• Armament and Defence Technology Agency, Electrical Engineering Division (Vienna, Austria)
• Royal Military Academy, Department of Communication Information Systems & Sensors (Brussels, Belgium)
• Military Technical Institute (Prague, Czech Republic)
• WTD 81 - Bundeswehr Technical Center for Information Technology and Electronics (Greding, Germany)
• CISAM - Centro Interforze Studi Applicazioni Militari (Pisa, Italy)
• INTA - Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aerospacial (Torrejon de Ardoz - Madrid, Spain)
• FMV - Swedish Defence Materiel Administration – T&E Division (Ostersund, Sweden)
• RNLM/DMI/MT Sensors and Weapon Systems (Den Helder, The Netherland).

The network of EME test centres and related national experts will now continue to cooperate in the specific EME sector within the DTEB framework. The damaging effects of electromagnetic interference pose unacceptable risks in military technologies. Against this backdrop, the ENTER network will jointly develop ways and means in order to mitigate the risks of fatal electromagnetic interference during EU missions, among other things by examining the hazardous impact of civil equipment on military operations and vice versa.

Besides working on the network, the ENTER project also allowed participating Member States to conduct joint tests, to promote the use of harmonised test procedures, maintain and develop T&E capabilities and expertise and share knowledge, expertise and equipment. ENTER’s results and final recommendations will be further exploited to improve the EME section of the DTEB database.
 

More information:

• Defence Test and Evaluation Base (DTEB) – EDA project page

Chinese Type 075 Class Amphibious Assault Ship

American AAVR7 Amphibious Armored Recovery Vehicle