Defence`s Feeds

A few months after first contact with his handlers from China's Ministry of State Security (MSS, or Guanbu) in Thailand

There has been no mention of Abdullah Yahya Al Hakim in any of the Houthis' statements since the recent spate

In late November, 29-year-old Texan Brandon Gill, a former vice president at JP Morgan Private Bank announced he was running for a seat

Americas Lockheed Martin Aeronautics won an $8.4 million modification, which adds scope to procure diminishing manufacturing sources in support of production, retrofit, spares, replenishment and repairs for the F-35 Lightning II program for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Foreign Military Sales customers, and non-US Department of Defense participants. Work will be performed in Fort […]

F-35B: off probation (click to view full) The $382 billion F-35 Joint Strike fighter program may well be the largest single global defense program in history. This major multinational program is intended to produce an “affordably stealthy” multi-role fighter that will have 3 variants: the F-35A conventional version for the US Air Force et. al.; […]

Ministers are holding a series of meetings in parliamentary committees to present the priorities of the Belgian Presidency of the Council.
Committee on Constitutional Affairs
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
Committee on Budgets
Committee on Culture and Education
Committee on Development
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
Committee on International Trade
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
Committee on Legal Affairs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Committee on Fisheries
Committee on Regional Development
Committee on Transport and Tourism
Subcommittee on Security and Defence

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Across land, sea, air, space and cyber, military operations increasingly rely on data. That makes access to cloud technologies essential. A European Defence Agency-financed study has concluded that cloud computing can be applied to defence, both at the strategic level and in the field, to help European armed forces achieve information superiority against an adversary.

The EDA study over four years, ‘Cloud Intelligence for Decision Support and Analysis’ (CLAUDIA), looked at the application of civilian cloud technologies in defence, including computing capabilities, data storage and software tools hosted externally. Results of the study were presented on January 25th, with a view to follow-up activities looking at constraints to cloud computing in defence.

Given the pressures of the battlefield, such as relying on a range of connections from satellites to radios in an extreme environment, EDA’s research is crucial to increasing situational awareness and shortening reaction times across multiple domains.

As cloud technology uses virtualisation − creating a virtual version of servers, storage devices and networks using software −  the study focused on the overall advantages for defence. These are simplicity, flexibility and the ability to scale up in military environments, as well as working with ‘big data’ supported by artificial intelligence (AI) tools. These advantages can significantly improve the situational awareness and decision-making process both at strategic and tactical level.

CLAUDIA’s objective was to research using cloud technologies to support analysis of hybrid warfare including:

• Management and processing information from heterogeneous sources
• Tactical cloud infrastructure for Command, Control, Communications, Computers (C4) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) − or C4ISR − systems
• Information-process enhancement by using AI and big data
• Joint strategic, operational and tactical level simulators
• Simulation as a Service (SaaS) for computer simulations of theatres of war (synthetic environments) and rapid scenario generation

Thanks to CLAUDIA, a Software Analysis (SWAN) platform has been developed to demonstrate the cloud-based capabilities, with different modules to address the different technology topics, including:

• Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Analysis at the strategic level
• Tactical Cloud
• Internet of Military Things
• 5G for Tactical Cloud and AI in Wargaming

The demonstration showcased the benefits of cloud technologies with the SWAN platform at both the strategic and tactical level. Edge computing – at or near the location of either the user or the data source –  was also introduced to demonstrate the benefits of using such technologies in the field, providing real-time situational awareness with enhanced data and visual capabilities. The demonstration included simulation and wargaming for a hybrid warfare scenario, with the use of wargaming and advanced training and exercises capabilities. The study recommended making the SWAN platform available to all Member States for further testing.

EDA's wider role

EDA supports its 27 Member States in improving their defence capabilities through European cooperation. Acting as an enabler and facilitator for Ministries of Defence willing to engage in collaborative capability projects, the Agency has become the hub for European defence cooperation with expertise and networks allowing it to the whole spectrum of defence capabilities.

Member States use EDA as an intergovernmental expert platform where their collaborative projects are supported, facilitated, and implemented. For more details, please see here. 

The next ordinary meeting of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 14 February 2024 from 9.00-12.30 and 14.30-17.30hrs and Thursday, 15 February 2024 from 9.00-12.30 in Brussels (room SPAAK 5B1).

The meeting agenda and documents will be published here.

SEDE missions 2023:

• India - 17-21 December 2023
• Israel and OPT - 8-10 December 2023
  
• Germany and Poland - 24-26 July 2023
  
• Armenia - 19-22 June 2023
  
• Romania and Moldova - 15-18 May 2023
  
• Djibouti and Somalia - 1-4 April 2023
  
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - 20-23 February 2023
  

SEDE meetings' calendar 2024
EP calendar 2024
Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

On 24 January, SEDE MEPs will hold an exchange of views on the spill-over from the Israel-Hamas war in the escalation in the Red sea and in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. They will also exchange views with Jiří Šedivý, Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency, on EU's defence capability priorities and progress in addressing critical capability gaps.

Ukraine remains high on the SEDE agenda with its regular update - in camera - on the European Peace Facility's role in providing military equipment for Ukraine and on the EU's Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine, with Lt Gen Michiel van der Laan, Director General of the EU Military Staff.

Meeting agenda and documents
Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

The recent strikes by the United States on Iraq undermine decades of cooperation between the two countries and lead to irresponsible escalation, Major General Yahya Rasool, the official spokesman of the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, said on Wednesday.

The Iraqi government said on Wednesday that U.S. airstrikes on positions of the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces are "irresponsible escalation" in the Middle East region.

Iraqi resistance groups have vowed to continue their operations against military bases, where US military forces and trainers are stationed, in retaliation for Washington's unqualified support for the relentless Israeli war on Gaza, after the US military carried out an airstrike against sites used by the Iraqi anti-terror forces.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has discussed the new developments in the besieged Gaza Strip and the Red Sea with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the Security Council meeting on the Middle East in New York.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says at least 11 prisoners in Iran are at "imminent risk" of execution, most of whom are Kurdish.

The convictions of retired military officers Lee Ching-hsien (李慶賢) and Yeh Jui-chang (葉瑞璋) have been finalized after their appeals were rejected by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The launch of 'Ammunition Cum Torpedo Cum Missile Barge, LSAM 19 (Yard 129)', 5th Barge of 11 x ACTCM Barge Project, built by MSME Shipyard, M/s Suryadipta Projects Pvt Ltd, Thane for Indian Navy, was undertaken on 24 Jan 24 at M/s Suryadipta Project Pvt Ltd (Launch site of M/s SPPL)

On 23 Jan 24, the Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted Exercise Desert Knight along with French Air and Space Force (FASF) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force

Kim Son Gyong, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs who led the DPRK delegation to the 19th NAM Summit and the 3rd South Summit held in Kampala of Uganda as a special envoy of the DPRK government, respectively met the presidents of Uganda and Equatorial Guinea and the prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines during the meeting.

The 3rd South Summit took place in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, on Jan. 21-22.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un made a rare acknowledgement on the dire state of his country's economy, urging ruling party officials to take immediate action.