Defence`s Feeds

On 22 November, the Subcommittee will discuss, with the involvement of 3 experts, risks and trends and their security implications for the EU as well as EU efforts to mitigate the security relevant effects of climate change. It will also examine to what extent increased economic/military activities, impact on desertification, land degradation, water and food scarcity can be linked to climate change and what major effects they have on EU security.
Location : Paul-Henri Spaak 5B001
Further information
Draft programme
hearing documents
Presentatin by Lukas RÜTTINGER , Senior Project Manager at Adelphi Research - Berlin (Germany)
Presentation by Tor A. BENJAMINSEN, Professor at Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Noragric - Ås (Norway)
Presentation by Malin MOBJÖRK, Senior Researcher, Head of Climate Change and Risk Project at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), – Stockholm (Sweden)
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

item 4 - EU Defence Research Networks and the future of EU defence research
Presentation by Christian de Villemagne, Director of the French-German Research Institute (ISL), Saint-Louis
Presentation by Piotr Szynkarczyk, Director of the Industrial Research Institute for Automation and Measurements (PIAP), Warsaw
Presentation by Klaus Thoma, Senior Advisor, Fraunhofer Society, Freiburg
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Some 20 military helicopter pilots and intelligence officers from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom participated in the first ever helicopter electronic warfare course organised by the European Defence Agency (EDA), from November 20th to December 1st at RAF airbase Linton-on-Ouse (UK).

The course was initiated under the Agency’s Helicopter Exercise Programme (HEP) to boost helicopter crews’ skills and abilities in electronic warfare systems and tactics, a fast evolving domain which so far barely featured in rotary missions typically deployed to ‘low-tech’ battlefields.  

Against this backdrop, the first course was largely devoted to introducing the basics of electronic warfare including the impact and functioning of radar, infra-red (IR) and ultra-violet (UV) systems. Specialists from various defence industries were invited to brief the trainees who also spent some time at the UK electronic warfare range at RAF Spadeadam where they had the opportunity to learn about various surface-to-air missile systems and exchange views with experts operating and maintaining them. The course ended with a visit to the airbase’s simulator where a bespoke electronic warfare sortie was carried out, allowing trainees to apply and visualise some of the theoretical topics previously discussed in the classroom. 

All in all a successful first course likely to be followed-up by other electronic warfare courses (basic and advanced level) in 2018 and beyond.
 

More information: 

• Helicopter Initiatives (EDA project page)
  
  

EDA Member States recently adopted the REACH roadmap 2018-2020 which lists all current and potential future EDA activities related to the implementation, in the military domain, of EU Regulation No 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). The roadmap should allow for a more structured and transparent approach in supporting the main purpose of the REACH regulation which is to protect  human health and the environment while, at the same time, ensure the operational effectiveness of Member States’ armed forces.

The activities listed in the roadmap 2018-2020 are the result of an assessment, selection and prioritisation of proposals tabled by Member States, the European Commission, the defence industry as well as the recommendations made in the EDA Study on the Impact of the REACH and CLP Regulations on the Defence Sector which was finalised in December 2016.

In concrete terms, the EDA REACH roadmap 2018-2020 encompasses two categories of activities:

• generic tasks and subtasks carried out continuously, including administrative tasks, interaction and monitoring/coordinating activities with stakeholders;
• project-specific tasks and subtasks with a defined scope and duration, such as activities related to the Commission’s REACH Refit 2017, the EDA’s Code of Conduct on REACH Defence Exemptions, the EDA Member States’ Common Position on Ammunition Classification under REACH, or the implementation of specific proposals made in the aforementioned EDA Study on the Impact of the REACH and CLP Regulations on the Defence Sector.

The implementation of the different activities is managed by the Agency which shared the roadmap with all relevant stakeholders. During the whole implementation phase, the EDA will continue to closely cooperate with Member States’ REACH experts (including the EDA REACH Task Force at the technical level), the Commission, European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the defence industry.
 

More information:

• EDA REACH roadmap 2018-2020
• EDA Member States adopt Common Position on Ammunition Classification under REACH (webnews October 2017)
• EDA REACH project webpage

 

HMS Queen Elizabeth has sprung a leak due to a problem with a shaft seal, which is letting in water, UK media reported on 19 December. Jane’s understands the leak is not serious enough to prevent the carrier from putting to sea or conducting trials scheduled for 2018. There appears not to be a

As part of a wide-ranging modernisation programme the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) commissioned 10 new aircraft on 15 December. Comprising both turbo-fan and turbo-prop transport aircraft as well as advanced jet-trainer/ground attack platforms, the latest acquisitions reflect the growing role played by

Thales and AMOG Technologies have teamed to carry out a study into the development of stealth technology for submarine periscopes and optronic masts, the Australian government announced on 20 December. Christopher Pyne, minister of defence industry, claimed that the teaming is another example of

Event On 13 December 2017, Ukraine’s Infrastructure and Transport Minister Volodymyr Omelyan said that UkrZaliznytsia (UZ), Ukraine’s state-owned railway company, “was considering” a total ban on all railway transportation with Russia, to be introduced at some point in 2018.

After completing the first full-scale testing of a rocket engine component under the Hydrocarbon Boost (HCB) programme, researchers at the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) are one step closer to addressing the country's reliance on Russian rockets for its space programmes. Additionally, AFRL

Serbia is interested in using specialised military overhaul facilities in Republika Srpska (RS), one of the two constitutional and legal entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on a permanent basis, the Serbian defence minister has said. Serbia is implementing a policy to develop RS enterprises and its

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) and Ministry of Science and ICT (information and communications technology) have signed an agreement to collaborate on next-generation military technologies. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) calls for the two ministries to identify and

Airbus and Williams Advanced Engineering have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore ways in which they can collaborate on high-altitude pseudo satellite (HAPS) and Formula 1 technologies. Airbus’ Zephyr HAPS unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is one of the focuses of the work,

Event The mayor of Misratah, Mohamed Eshtewi, was kidnapped on 17 December as he was being driven home from Misratah airport following an official trip. His corpse was later left outside a local hospital. The perpetrators of the attack have not yet been identified. Eshtewi had been vocal in his

The two primary contenders for Germany’s heavy-lift helicopter requirement are waiting on confirmation from the Bundeswehr that the project has indeed been signed off as reported. Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin confirmed to Jane’s on 19 December that neither has received notification

Ammunition official Abu Ayoub and offensives administrator Abu Sulayman announced their defection from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's 'Badiya' branch and pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has begun modifying some 40 Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole fighters to enable them to carry the BrahMos-A (Air) supersonic cruise missile, and thus boost the aircraft’s long-range precision-strike capabilities. Official sources told Jane’s that the state-owned

At least nine people were killed and 56 others were wounded when an Islamic State suicide bomber detonated their explosives targeting a prayer hall at Bethel Memorial Methodist church in the city of Quetta in Pakistan's Balochistan province on 17 December, Reuters reported. Reports added that a

The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 19 December approved the introduction of two Lockheed Martin Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defence (BMD) systems to counter the growing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. "North Korea's nuclear and missile

US science, technology, and services group Leidos has been contracted by the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) to build a second Sea Hunter-type Class III Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vessel (MDUSV) to support science and technology (S&T) advancement of autonomous technologies and

Eurofighters of the Luftwaffe’s Taktische Luftwaffengeschwader (Tactical Air Force Squadron, TaktLwG) 31 “Boelcke” in Nörvenich have gained an air-to-ground capability to deliver laser- and GPS-guided Guided Bomb Unit 48 (GBU-48) bombs, the Luftwaffe announced on 18 December.