Defence`s Feeds

US personal protective equipment (PPE) company Point Blank announced on 24 October that it had acquired US PPE firm Short Bark Industries. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Short Bark Industries manufactures a range of uniforms and ballistic protection equipment for the US military

A 43-YEAR-OLD man - identified as Isa Kocoglu - was charged by police with allegedly financially supporting the Islamic State after being arrested during a raid on his home in Hampton Park in Melbourne in the state of Victoria in Australia on 24 October, ABC reported. Police alleged that Kocoglu had

The first heavy-fuel-powered versions of the Schiebel S-100 Camcopter rotary-winged unmanned aircraft system (UAS) will be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) – the vehicle’s launch customer – by the end of 2017, Schiebel’s Australia sales representative, Phil

Ukraine’s Zhytomyr Armored Plant unveiled its new Strazh (Sentinel) fire support vehicle at the Arms and Security Exhibition 2017 in Kiev. According to company representatives, the vehicle is due to enter trials with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence this year and it is hoped that an order

Event Pakistan’s interior minister, Ahsan Iqbal, on 23 October ordered security forces to increase security in Islamabad’s Red Zone area ahead of an Islamist protest march in the capital on 25 October. The Islamist groups oppose the Elections Act 2017, which was passed by the incumbent

NATO-member Turkey could face "necessary consequences" for buying Russian S-400 air defence systems that cannot integrate into the alliance's similar systems, according to a top NATO general. In September Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara had signed an agreement with

The US Air Force (USAF) is to conduct its first operational overseas deployment of the Lockheed martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in the coming weeks, the service announced on 23 October. Twelve aircraft and approximately 300 personnel from the 34th Fighter Squadron (FS) based at

While the US Navy (USN) continues its investigation into its recent surface-ship collisions and review of procedures following those deadly mishaps, early feedback from the USN “operational pause” shows a need for greater focus on small-team development, Admiral John Richardson, the

Event Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles announced on 24 October that he was withdrawing from the opposition coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mesa de la Unidad Democrática: MUD) and called for the creation of a new opposition alliance. Capriles conditioned his return to the

Key Points The youth vote and broader desire for change is likely to strengthen Weah’s prospects, although greater policy continuity would be likely under Boakai. The CDC performed strongly in parliamentary elections, placing the coalition in a strong position whether as the ruling party or

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

The 50th EDA Helicopter Tactics Course (HTC), which ran over three weeks at UK Royal Air Force base Linton-on-Ouse, was successfully completed on 13 October 2017.

The HTC programme started in 2009 as an ‘Interim Synthetic Helicopters Tactics Course’ and ran until 2012 when it was transformed into an EDA ‘Category B ad hoc project’. Since 2009, a total of 641 crewmembers from 16 different European countries have graduated from the HTC course. This is a considerable accomplishment for a programme that was initially set up to enhance the preparation and operational capability of crews to be deployed to Afghanistan, but which then evolved into a much broader multinational helicopter tactics training course. It delivers advanced helicopter tactics training under EDA’s Pooling & Sharing initiative with the aim to enhance the European helicopter operational capability for crisis management and to improve the interoperability of Member States’ helicopter crews.

HTC courses cover the entire crew spectrum (pilots, loadmasters, door gunners etc.) and deal with typical ground and air threats as well as the tactics that can be employed to mitigate them. An HTC course is typically divided into two phases: the first week being devoted to theoretical training, and two additional weeks focusing on simulator-based training.

Standardisation and interoperability are improved by the use of EDA Helicopter Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). In addition, participation in HTC courses provides helicopter crews with the opportunity to develop an international helicopter network which can prove quite valuable in envisaging future cooperation opportunities.

Best practices and lessons learned are regularly integrated into the course syllabus to ensure it remains up to date and of highest quality. Seven EDA Member States are currently participating in the HTC programme: Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Other nations are contemplating a future adhesion to the programme.

 

More information:

• EDA helicopter initiatives

On 14-16 November 2017, the Royal Netherlands Air Force will host the 8th Helicopter Tactics Symposium in Rijen (South Holland). Organized under the European Defence Agency’s (EDA) Helicopter Exercise Programme (HEP), it will allow European helicopter crews to discuss and share experience in helicopter techniques, tactics and procedures.

Helicopter tactics instructors and experts from several European countries, as well as representatives of the Helicopter Tactics Course (HTC), the Helicopter Tactics Instructor Course (HTIC) and the Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC) will gather at this annual HEP event to exchange views, update best practices and learn about the new training possibilities available in the different HEP countries.

The first day, focused on ‘training’, will start with an explanation of the EDA helicopter programmes and a review of the Belgian Black Blade 16 and the Hungarian Fire Blade 17 exercises. Also on the agenda are a presentation of the Dutch helicopter aviation training system and a tour through the Gate 2 simulation facilities. On the second day, focused on ‘operations’, briefings and discussions will cover the latest tactical lessons learned from the helicopter operations in Libya, UK Urban Operations, Slovenian MEDEVAC operations, Czech helicopter door gunner pre deployment training, German introduction of Special Operation Forces helicopters and the procurement of heavy transport helicopters by Germany. On the third day, panel discussions, divided between attack and support helicopter operators, will be organised on the latest developments in training, techniques, tactics and procedures. This will also give the opportunity to European helicopters crewmembers to exchange views and discuss about simulation versus live flying. Based on the panel discussions’ outcome, new proposals to update the HEP Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the capstone tactics manual for multinational helicopter operations, will be submitted.

Furthermore, briefings on the updates of the HEP SOP, the HEP, the HTC, the HTIC programmes and the ATP-49 will be given. The objectives of the upcoming HEP exercises will also be presented in detail, including Hot Blade 2018 (in Portugal), with the focus on helicopter COMAO missions in Hot, High and Dusty conditions with trooping, live firing and MEDEVAC flights.

This Symposium will be opened by Commodore Polet (Commander Defence Helicopter Command at Gilze-Rijen airbase) at the Gate 2 location in Rijen, where the participants will enjoy the atmosphere of a beautiful and effective simulation and symposium location. At the end of each day, the Netherlands, as hosting nation, will organise a visit to Gilze-Rijen airbase (Traditions Room and an operational helicopter squadron), a traditional Dutch diner and a guided tour of the Royal Military Academy.

The multinational dimension of the HEP is key to enhancing European helicopter capabilities and the Helicopter Tactics Symposium contributes to that by offering a platform for in-depth discussions and exchanges of tactical experience.

More information:

• Helicopter Initiatives (EDA project page)

The 33rd Project Team Personnel Recovery (PT PR) meeting was held from 17 to 20 October 2017 at the Stato Maggiore Aeronautica (Air Force General Staff) in Rome (Italy). Brigadier General Luigi Del Bene, Department Airspace Planning & Policy Chief of the Italian Air Force, opened the meeting highlighting the EDA’s substantial work in supporting Member States to their Personnel Recovery (PR) capabilities. This meeting marked the 10th anniversary of the Project Team.

The PT reviewed the different work strands in the field of Personnel Recovery (PR) with a particular focus on projects and demonstrators related to training. National experts from twelve EU Member States shared their expertise and knowledge along with nine representatives from the European Personnel Recovery Centre (EPRC), NATO and the United States Joint Personnel Recovery (JPRA).

The PT PR had the opportunity to visit Vatican City and attend a general audience with the Pope in Saint Peter’s Square. The Chairman of the PT PR, LtCol Frank Stallbörger (Germany) emphasised the collective efforts of the PT PR in saving lives.

 

EDA Personnel Recovery Conference

To increase awareness and visibility of the importance of Personnel Recovery, the Italian Air Force and the EDA will jointly organise a conference entitled “Personnel Recovery: Risks & Mitigations” on 4/5 December 2017 in Florence (Italy). Invitations will be sent soon.

 

Background

The isolation, capture and exploitation of personnel during Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) operations and missions could have a significant adverse impact on operational security, the morale of personnel and public support. The EU therefore places high priority on the release, recovery and reintegration of personnel by employing all possible diplomatic, military and civilian tools. Since the establishment of PT PR in 2007, the European Defence Agency has worked with participating Member States and partners to address identified shortfalls over the full spectrum of PR, from the cultural and conceptual context through training aspects to the development of advanced technologies.

 

Further links

 

• Personnel Recovery: A strong safety net for deployed personnel
• EDA’s Joint Personnel Recovery Staff Course hosted for the first time by Italy
• Factsheet: PR FAS ATD - a Command and Control Tool for Personnel Recovery
• Factsheet: SERE e-learning tool for Personnel Recovery

It is 40 days since the historian, archivist and activist on behalf of Afghans, Nancy Hatch Dupree, died, aged 89. She had spent decades of her life in Afghanistan or, like many Afghans, in exile in neighbouring Pakistan. She was the author of guidebooks on Afghanistan and a publisher of books. Then, first with her husband, Louis, and, after he died in 1989, by herself, Nancy amassed the most extensive archive of documents of the last forty years. Those 100,000 documents are now housed in a special building, known as the Afghanistan Collection at Kabul University (ACKU). Last night, in London, friends and colleagues met to celebrate Nancy’s life and mark her passing. Here, we publish some of the tributes that were made that evening.

Our first despatch to mark Nancy’s ‘fortieth day’, a republishing of an interview she gave in 2007, can be read here. See also AAN’s obituary for her and our report about the opening of the AFKU here.  

Shoaib Sharifi, journalist

My first exposure to the name ‘Nancy Dupree’ goes back 18 years to 1998 when I joined Voice of Sharia, the official name of Radio Afghanistan under the Taliban. At a time when the world thought of Afghanistan as in one of its darkest eras and against all odds, as a newly recruited intern, I was assigned to introduce Afghanistan, its art and culture to the world via Radio Voice of Sharia’s English Programme.

The editor of foreign languages at Voice of Sharia, an educated and dedicated Taleban official, handed me an overly used book and gave me my job description in two sentences: “This is a historical guide to Afghanistan written by a foreigner. It talks about the golden days of Afghanistan. Read this!” Nothing more, nothing less.

Nancy’s legendary guide to Afghanistan: published in 1970 and still the go-to guide.

And with Nancy Dupree’s book An Historical Guide to Afghanistan, not only did I get a year-long approved written script to start my career in media with, but I also re-discovered the golden days of my country. I found in it the tales that my grandma had told me as bed-time stories, but this time they were told and endorsed by a foreigner.

Nancy’s historical guide to Afghanistan was the first non-text book I had ever read, the first book that introduced my own country to me, a teenager brought up in war, who had experienced nothing but gloom and conflict. Nancy’s half a century work on Afghanistan history and culture captured the image of the golden days of Afghanistan, preserved it and then presented it to new generation, a generation that had seen nothing but misery. Her work strengthened the younger Afghan generation’s sense of pride in our golden past, and gave a reason to be optimistic for a glorious future for us in/for Afghanistan.

A mural of her appeared on a Kabul T-wall 48 hours after her death with the message, “My hero,” on top. This was something that Kabul and Kabulis hadn’t seen for quite some time, the picture of a real hero, uncontested and non-controversial.

Nancy’s life and death proved wrong the Afghan proverb which says, “We don’t have living heroes or dead villains.” She also proved wrong the accepted definition of what it means to be a present-day Afghan hero. We now have a proven case that has broken through all the usual limitations: to be a hero, you do no need to be from a certain faction, or represent a particular faith group, quite oddly and surprisingly, you do not even need to be a man. You simply need to be Nancy Dupree with a sustaining love for the country and its people.

 

Nassim Jawad, former director, Austrian Relief Committee for Afghanistan in Pakistan

I knew Nancy and her late husband Louis Dupree for many years, especially from the time when Afghan refugees were pouring into Pakistan in their thousands and both Nancy and Louis were heavily engaged in helping refugees, while maintaining neutrality and integrity in a place that was packed with foreign spies from countries around the world.

Nancy and Louis helped preserve our literature and thereby our culture, reminding Afghans that cultural integrity will eventually help us become a free society again.

Their home in North Carolina, which I had the privilege to visit in the 1980s, was filled with their notebooks from their journeys beginning in the 1950s and 1960s and textbooks, journals, internationally published literature and books on Afghanistan from all over the world.

When Louis passed away in the 1990s, Nancy sold her house, transferred all the literature to a regional library with the condition that as soon the situation permitted, it should be transferred to an Afghan library. She promised to spend the rest of her life in Afghanistan and with Afghans, serving our dear country. And she did so, as aside from short trips to the US, attending medical check ups etc, she spent her last years permanently in Afghanistan.

Nancy has been a true Afghan and I always wished we had a few dedicated Afghans like Nancy – we would have been much better off. She has left a huge vacuum behind. However, she worked hard in the last 10 to 15 years to train, build capacities and empower Afghans to take on the challenges and take responsibility for their own affairs. During my last visit in Kabul, I met some of the great young Afghans, Nancy’s students, who I believe will continue in her path.

As the Afghan proverb goes: “Nancy has been framed in the mirror of our hearts…” and will remain there forever and Afghans will not forget her. She has passed away, but her spirit will guide many bright young Afghans to follow the path and make Afghanistan once again a great country.

 

Andrew Wilder, Vice-President United States Institute for Peace, Asia Programmes

My first memory of meeting Nancy was in Peshawar around 1990 at the first Louis Dupree memorial lecture that she organized to honour her husband.  I had the good fortune to know and interact with Nancy off on since then, although I must admit that many of these interactions involved Nancy scolding me. For example, during the 1990s she was constantly scolding many of us NGO workers for not consistently submitting our NGO reports for her collection of grey literature at the ACBAR Resource and Information Center (ARIC).

When I was at the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, AREU (2002-2005) in Kabul, she was extremely persistent in her requests that we provide a regular supply of readable publications in Dari and Pashto for her innovative and invaluable project to provide box libraries to communities all over Afghanistan.

I feel very fortunate that during a visit to Kabul in early September, and thanks to an email from Jolyon Leslie about Nancy’s condition, I had the opportunity to have a final visit with her in the hospital just one and a half days before she died. Although she was very frail, her passion for preserving and educating a new generation of Afghans about their history and culture was alive and well. It was fitting that our conversation ended with her scolding me for not recently visiting her pride and joy, not to mention her lasting legacy — the Afghanistan Center at Kabul University. While on my way to Kabul airport a few days after Nancy died, I was very pleased to see a beautiful image of her transforming one of the ugly cement blast walls at Massud Circle into a work of art.

Nancy in the stacks at the ACKU Credit: Joel van Houdt

 

Sippi Azarbaijani-Moghaddam, development worker

In 2000 I had already been working extensively for a few years with women inside Afghanistan. I was about to start managing a programme providing independent gender advice to the aid community as a whole. I decided to check in with Nancy who used to run ARIC from an office in a leafy suburb of Peshawar. We met in her office where my eye was drawn left and right and up and down by books, small artefacts, postcards and posters – all fascinating. For a tiny lady I had heard she could be very intimidating but we hit it off straight away, found our ideas were exactly on the same page and became friends. In those days the aid community was small, so we all had time to have long discussions on issues of concern or our plans and dreams.

She also loved cats. I will never forget, at the height of Taliban oppression of women, she and I were involved in a research project together. I walked over to her home with my dog. We sat calmly discussing a Taliban edict banning women from work as at least ten of Nancy’s cats sat around us and stared at my well-behaved dog.

Once the Taliban fell, Afghanistan was deluged by expatriates and Nancy became the shrine everyone wanted to visit. We kept in touch once in a while and her incredible mind kept track of who we all were. I was always amazed that she remembered every single one of us. I will miss her sharp mind and all her incredible anecdotes about travelling in the lost world of pre-war Afghanistan.

This is my tribute to her:

If anyone is alive right now and resonating with passion, it’s Nancy. Inside a tiny frail body was an enormous soul, like the genie inside Aladdin’s lamp. Nancy was an interpreter of how Afghanistan has expressed its soul for thousands of years – through the mud face of a Buddha here, a rock carving there, a scrap of writing by a young refugee in a muddy camp, the research paper written in a wood-panelled library somewhere in the world. She collected and curated all of these expressions of Afghanistan’s soul into an extraordinary and unique legacy.

Afghanistan lives and breathes and tosses and turns, and there is Nancy with notebook and pen telling us what Afghanistan is saying. Some of us are fortunate enough to find a passion in life. Nancy found two: Louis and Afghanistan. And she single-mindedly focused on those two passions. We all wove in and out of her life, but her passions remained strong and constant, and they drew people to her.

Nancy with young people at ACKU. Credit: Joel van Houdt

Nancy could help everyone see where Afghans had been, and she was excited by where Afghans wanted to go and where they could go. Nancy introduced different generations of Afghans to that past, skilfully narrating the turbulent and exciting journey for new generations. She showed every single young Afghans crossing her threshold the solid foundations of their homeland, built on thousands of years of civilization, and with that the possibility to build incredible structures in the future. Through her work, Nancy held up a mirror reflecting a glorious version of Afghanistan back to itself, an extraordinary heritage and one to be proud of.

Nancy’s Afghanistan was a vibrant place and she lived in the thick of it, never separated from her Afghanistan. Countless young of all nationalities were inspired or exhorted to get up, to leave their computers and desks; and to get out into the heat and the dust, and the snow and the mud, and above all to explore her Afghanistan.

Nancy understood better than anyone that knowledge born of passion and love, penetrates the mind, soul and spirit. That knowledge flows through us and changes our inner landscape, it nourishes us and makes us verdant when once there was desert. She has joined the community of men and women who for thousands of years shone like beacons in beleaguered places and preserved knowledge in that part of the world. She understood that the most powerful change comes from the child whose head is full of ideas, not bombs and bullets. Nancy is a Sufi master, calling everyone to her house of knowledge borne of passion and love, introducing everyone to her Beloved, Afghanistan.

She was infected by a passion for an Afghanistan made of light, and she infected every single person she touched. If the thread of your fate took you into Nancy’s office you became pulled into the weft of her unique Afghan carpet. She did not care about anything except helping everyone see Afghanistan as a treasure. Nizami Ganjavi, the poet, writes that everything is a game except the game of love and Nancy understood that and lived her life with exceptional passion.

For those of us not from Afghanistan, Nancy showed us the Afghanistan that we all fell in love with. It is the Afghanistan which has inspired us to get on a flight and go over there once, twice, a hundred times. She reminded us why we had Afghan fever, and her vision of that Afghanistan remained constant, even when the rest of us lost sight of it. Nancy’s Afghanistan went beyond the fighters, the power struggles, the corruption and the abuse, which became compulsive viewing for some.

Her gift has given Afghans access to knowledge, the possibility and the vision for a future based on who they already have been a decade ago, a century ago, a thousand years ago. Nancy’s Afghanistan – she had such an eloquent, skilful and convincing way of showing that Afghanistan to so many different audiences that she left us mesmerized and that’s how Nancy created her tribe. Maybe it is time we start calling ourselves the Nancy-zai.

 

Hermione Youngs, development worker in Afghanistan or with Afghans 1991-2016  

Nancy and I first met in 1992, and soon realised we had one thing in common,  our husbands died on the same day in 1989, this certainly cemented our friendship from then on.

When she decided to return to Jalalabad we travelled from Peshawar over the Khyber Pass together. What stories she told me of her and Louis adventures, and what an insight I was given into their love.

A 25 year friendship filled with laughter and fun, never to be forgotten – thank you Nancy.

Nancy and Louis before the war.

 

William Reeve, BBC Kabul correspondent, 1990s

I much enjoyed being on the board of her wonderful project, as she moved all the thousands of documents up from Peshawar to Kabul.  I will also never forget her old Land Rover, which she sold to me for $1,000 at Christmas in 1993.  She had it with Louis for about 15 years in Afghanistan, and then in Pakistan for a further 15 years.

It was somewhat of a historical document in itself.  Michael Wood used the Land Rover for filming the journey of Alexander the Great through Afghanistan.  It finally broke down half way up the Panjshir Valley, and they had to carry on their trip on donkeys!

 

Hanneke Kouwenberg, health worker in Afghanistan in the 1980s

A newspaper report about the opening of the ACKU in 2013, entitled “‘Grandmother of Afghanistan’ Nancy Hatch Dupree says it may be time to move on,” began with the sentence: 

With the center open and documents finally secure, Dupree thinks it may be nearly time for her to step off the stage.

It ended with:

“I need to do something,” she said. “But I guess like Scarlett O’Hara, I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

By times, Nancy was talking about moving back to the States to retire at her and Louis’ house there, while at the same time saying, “Well, I am thinking why I should make the effort, I would want to come back to Afghanistan anyway. I am not finished here yet.”

Many of us have heard this on many occasions, for many years. It had started already in Peshawar, and we all use to say: I believe it when I see it. Well, we all know now: She is staying!

Nancy often expressed especially her trust in the younger generation of Afghanistan. She loved surrounding herself with young people. “They are the future and they have the right to learn about their history in their own country.”

Her dedication to the country and the people she loved so much will continue in the legacy she and Louis left behind for many generations to come. Their many books, research and writings, the Kabul Museum, the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University.

And not the least, Nancy’s spirit which touched upon everybody who had the honour to meet her. When Nancy believed in something, she went for it with great determination and charm. Luckily enough, otherwise there might not have been a Kabul Museum nor ACKLU in Afghanistan.

There is a lot left to be done for all of us who are touched by “the Afghan Virus” – mind you, it doesn’t go away – because as Nancy once said: “Political agendas rate higher than the well-being of the Afghan people.”

She had many names: Grandmother of Afghanistan, Crazy old Lady, That busy old Lady, Mrs Dupree, Nancy Jan, Ancient monument of Afghanistan…….but for me and many others she will be missed as just: “NANCY.”

 

Anders Fange, former director Swedish Committee for Afghanistan

Nancy Dupree will be remembered as a clear and sober voice among the multitude of foreigners who too often see their engagement in Afghanistan in terms of their own or their own countries’ interests.
She will be remembered for her firm belief that the Afghans, in the end, will prevail against the decades of war and misery. 
She will be remembered for her unyielding confidence that the most important potential in Afghanistan is its men and women, and that they will be able to create a future of peace and prosperity for which they all are longing.

She will be remembered for her persistent commitment and steadfast work for Afghanistan and its people, for never giving up her quest, for stubbornly fighting until the unavoidable end.

Yes, Nancy Jan, you will certainly be remembered. May you rest in peace.

Nancy among the roses at the National Museum in Kabul. In 1974, she published a guide: “The National Museum of Afghanistan.” She was one of the few who knew where the museum’s most prized treasures were hidden during the mujahedin and Taleban eras, when much of what was left in the museum was looted or destroyed. Credit: Joel van Houdt

Picture credits: Many thanks to David Gill and Joel van Houdt for permission to use their photographs and to the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan: the black and white picture of Nancy and Louis is taken from “Afghanistan Over a Cup of Tea; 1995 – 2010, 58 Chronicles by Nancy Hatch Dupree”, published by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, translated by Norman Burns, 2010 (2nd edition).

Edited by Kate Clark

The European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European Commission today launched the second phase of the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector. The Consultation Forum aims to examine how energy efficiency measures, renewable energy sources and technologies, and protection of critical energy infrastructure considerations apply to the European defence sector.

This second phase will see the initiative move towards the identification of bottlenecks preventing the sector from fully benefiting from sustainable energy. This will help the work move towards more concrete implementation, in view of seizing the economic benefits presented by the transition to clean energy.

“The second phase of the Consultation Forum presents the defence sector with a fresh opportunity to collaborate with the European Commission on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and the protection of critical energy infrastructure. Energy security is a key priority for European armed forces, and by acting together, we can improve the resilience of military activities at home and on missions, as well as reduce cost and operational risks, while contributing to the broader objectives of the Energy Union. We must now capitalize on this initiative and deliver real benefits through the initiation of defence energy projects”, said EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq.

“All strands of our energy policy, whether it is energy efficiency or renewables, security of supply or interconnections, have an impact on European defence. While energy efficiency and renewable energy policies were almost not known in the defence and security sector, the Consultation Forum has been key in changing the approach and revealing the significant potential. I am therefore very pleased that the Consultation Forum is entering its second phase which will enable us to explore further how this initiative could be both turned into concrete improvements in the ways which the defence and security sector uses energy and transformed into a real economic opportunity”, Dominique Ristori, Director-General Energy, said.

The first phase of the work brought together a majority of Member States’ Ministries of Defence alongside NATO, the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence, industry and academia, and led to the creation of a European Defence Energy Network (EDEN) with over 100 members. Plenary meetings of the Consultation Forum were held in Brussels (January 2016), Dublin (June 2016), Rome (November 2016), Lisbon (May 2017), and Thessaloniki (September 2017), looking at the challenges and opportunities of moving to a sustainable energy future in the defence sector, including the implications of relevant EU energy legislation for defence.  

The second phase of the Consultation Forum will focus on the identification of bottlenecks preventing the sector from fully reaping the benefits of sustainable energy. The aim is to work towards more concrete implementation, and to identify the tools and opportunities that will transform the knowledge developed to date into tangible defence sector energy projects. Work will be conducted by three parallel working groups covering: (1) Energy Efficiency including Energy Management (2), Renewable Energy Sources, and (3) Protection of Critical Energy Infrastructure (PCEI), with finance as a cross-cutting theme.

Further information can be found on EDA's European Defence Energy Network (EDEN) webpage.

Background

 

The Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector is a European Commission initiative managed by the EDA, the first initiative of its kind for these institutions. It brings together experts from the defence and energy sectors to share information and best practices on improving energy management, energy efficiency, and the use of renewable energy.

The first phase of the Consultation Forum was announced on 20 October 2015 for a period of 24 months. The work was carried out in three parallel working groups: (1) Energy Management, (2) Energy Efficiency, and (3) Renewable Energy Sources. An Experts Group on Protection of Critical Energy Infrastructure (PCEI) developed a PCEI Conceptual Paper.

 

 

Americas

• Canadian defense contractor Discovery Air Defense is to enter the United States Air Force’s (USAF) Adversary Air (ADAIR) competition with the General Dynamics F-16. The firm told Jane’s that it had just finalized a deal to procure a “large volume” of the aircraft and that competing firms were offering third-generation solutions masquerading as fourth-generation one. Multiple awards for as much as $6 billion combined are expected for ADAIR, with the Navy also in source selection for its own procurement for adversary air training. Potential competitors for ADAIR joining DA Defense include Saab’s Gripen Aggressor and a Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) bid offering the French-built Dassault F1 fighters.

• It’s been reported that a number of contracts have been awarded by the Department of Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium (DOTC) to four companies to come up with concept designs for the Army’s long-running Patriot air-and-missile defense radar replacement. Based on their previous involvement with the Patriot program, both Raytheon and Lockheed Martin received contracts to develop new concepts for the radar, while Northrop Grumman also confirmed its involvement in the concept phase of the program. Another firm, Brea, California-based Technovative Applications, has also been reported to have landed another Army contract, which are expected to run for 15 months. After spending years debating what will replace the Patriot’s Raytheon-manufactured radar, the Army announced earlier this year a competition for a brand new 360-degree, lower-tier AMD sensor that can detect different evolving threats coming from any direction, be they ones that ones that fly slower, faster or manoeuvre differently.

Middle East & Africa

• Egypt’s first Gowind 2500 corvette from French shipbuilder Naval Group (formerly DCNA) and the second Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) Type 209/1400 diesel-electric submarine (SSK) have been delivered to the Navy’s naval facility at Alexandria. Cairo has four Gowind 2500 corvettes on order under a $1.1 billion order from France in 2015 and four TKMS Type 209/1400 SSKs from Germany in 2012. The Gowind procurement is part of a multi-billion-dollar arms package agreed with France, and includes two Mistral landing helicopter docks (LHD)—delivered in 2016—a DCNS FREMM multi-mission frigate and 24 Dassault Rafale fighters. Funding for the deal saw Paris provide a $3.76 billion loan to support 60% of the purchase, with Cairo coughing up 40% in upfront payments from the treasury.

• Denel Group of South Africa has given updates on its A-Darter high-off-boresight (HOBS) air-to-air missile (AAM) and Marlin radar-guided beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile programs. The firm said the A-Darter recently completed seeker performance qualification flight trials and is expected to complete final qualification tests by the end of the year ahead of entering serial production. Regarding the Marlin, Chief systems engineer Ivan Gibbons said the missile has completed various tests such as rocket motor firings and firing of a largely complete missile from the Denel Overberg Test Range two years ago by utilizing a ground-mounted launcher to test the missile’s manoeuvrability and flight characteristics. Target markets for the missiles include Algeria, Brazil, Kenya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Oman, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Europe

• The Greek government has replied to criticism surrounding the recent US State Department approval of an upgrade package for its fleet of F-16s. In a notice posted by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), 123 F-16s will be upgraded to the V-standard at a cost estimated to reach $2.4 billion. However, this figure has been criticised by the opposition New Democracy, who said the government was “offering jobs not in Greece but in the US,” and lamented the sale as “an expensive deal”. In response, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said that the budget ceiling for the program is only $1.3 billion and the “rest relates to subsidy packages and offsets.” While no offsets have so far been agreed to, the DSCA notice noted that Greece usually requests offsets, and that any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between Greece and the contractor—Lockheed Martin.

• A $18.2 million US Navy contract modification has been awarded to Orbital ATK to undertake conversion work of high-speed, anti-radiation missiles into advanced medium-range air-to-ground guided missiles with counter-enemy shutdown capability for the Italian government. The previous firm-fixed contract award called for the procurement and transition of AGM-88B High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM), to the latest generation of AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM). Differences between the two munitions is that the AARGM has an advanced guidance section and control abilities that use a multi-mode seeker to counter enemy shut-down capability, as well as an onboard Weapons Impact Assessment subsystem that supports battlefield commanders in conducting after-action battle damage assessments. It can also relay impact assessment data prior to the impact on target. The majority of the contract’s work will take place in California, with some to take place in Istrana, Italy. Contract conclusion is scheduled to March 2019.

Asia Pacific

• Shaking off the ongoing corruption allegations being investigated at the firm, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has been busy chasing sales at this year’s International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition (ADEX) in Seoul. The firm is currently looking to start negotiations with Thailand for an additional batch of four T-50TH trainer aircraft, adding to the eight initially procured by and delivered to Bangkok and a contract signed earlier this year for a further four aircraft scheduled to be delivered in 2018. Thailand had intended to acquire all of its planned 16 T-50s in a single go, but budget constraints forced the government to pursue a multi-batch procurement. The aircraft are scheduled to replace the Royal Thai Air Force’s Aero L-39 Albatros jet trainers. Other target nations for the T-50 include Botswana and Argentina, but these deals have been pushed back until at least 2018.

• The Japanese government is considering the inclusion of SM-6 interceptors—in conjunction with the anti-ballistic missile SM-3 Block IIA interceptor—at its proposed ground-based Aegis Ashore installations, giving the systems the capacity to counter cruise missiles. While a shorter-range will limit the SM-6’s coverage, Tokyo is deeming it a necessary procurement to counter the threat of Chinese bombers like the H-6, which can carry cruise missiles loaded with nuclear warheads that have a range of more than 1,500 kilometers. These aircraft are frequently sighted in the skies around Japan and current anti-air missiles in Japanese stocks are not designed to intercept cruise missiles until they are very close. While Aegis Ashore won’t be online until at least 2023, SM-6s will be deployed on Japan’s Aegis warships from next year.

Today’s Video

• Naval Group delivers Gowind 2500 to Egyptian Navy:

AARGM Concept
(click to view full)

The AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) is a medium range, supersonic, air-launched tactical missile whose primary job is to attack and kill enemy radars. AARGM is a US Navy major acquisition program, with around 1,750 expected orders from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The Italian Air Force is expected to buy up to 250 of these successors to the AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, and Germany may also join.

So, why is AARGM a big deal? Perhaps the story of how a Serbian unit using an antiquated SA-3 battery managed to survive the 1999 NATO air campaign – and shoot down an F-117 Nighthawk stealth plane – will help put things into perspective. DID recounts those events, explains the new weapon, and offers updates on contracts and key milestones.

Why AARGM? Rationale & Capabilities

Showdown Over Serbia: Demise of an F-117

SA-3 Goa/ Neva
(click to view full)

eDefense Online tells the story of Col. Dani Zoltan. In 1999, he was a Serbian commander of the 3rd battery of the 250th Missile Brigade near Beograd, when NATO intervened in the Kosovo War. The Serbs were equipped with 1960s era SA-3 SAMs:

“In addition to technical modifications to increase the probability of successful engagement of low-RCS targets, Col. Dani also trained his unit to fight against the NATO air armada. Engagements using the shortest possible radiation of the fire-control radar were practiced over and over, and Col. Dani indicated that they focused on engaging targets well within the possible launch zone to reduce the time of flight of the missiles and, therefore, the reaction time available to the target aircraft…”

Nighthawk Down, 1999
(click to view full scene)

The story – which is well worth reading in full as a testament to the importance of the human factor in war – adds:

“Beyond frequent relocation, RF discipline contributed to the 3rd battery’s eventual survival, and the unit suffered no human or materiel losses at all. Radiation time of the fire-control radar was kept to a minimum, although with the P-18 they could be more liberal, as this VHF radar – according to their experiences – could not be targeted by NATO’s High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARMs). Even with this precaution, though, they were forced to cease radiation and/or missile control 23 times when it became evident from the target-return fluctuations or other indications that a HARM had been launched at them. False transmitters in the vicinity of the battery’s location were also used to spoof the anti-radiation missiles. Dani added that the survivability of the VHF P-18 is the single biggest reason for the command-guided Neva[1] system’s success compared to the semi-active Kub [SA-6] system…”

Moving systems, decoys, intermittent radar emissions, and radars that are outside the missile’s target profile all make life difficult for ARMs that home in on enemy radars.

Fortunately, an age of advanced reconnaissance systems and UAV offers other ways of finding such targets, which may eventually include UAV swarms. Growing trends toward persistent surveillance are even offering the ability to track, remember, and distinguish between found objects. The design question is how to translate those opportunities into a new missile.

AGM-88E AARGM: Addressing the Gaps

ATK: AARGM
click for video

One obvious improvement option is 2-way communication throughout the missile’s flight, but that won’t always be reliable or possible on the battlefield. It’s nice to have, but not enough by itself. The ability to head to a precise area, and to find vehicles independent of their radar emissions, would also add important new ARM capabilities.

The AGM-88E AARGM adds all 3 of these features in order to counter radar shutdown tactics, and adds advanced capabilities that would foil many of Col. Zoltan’s other stratagems. It’s touted as a missile that can pick out and engage a variety of strike targets in addition to enemy air defenses, while providing near real-time Weapon Impact Assessments (WIA) to commanders.

AARGM production to date has involved the conversion and upgrades of existing Raytheon AGM-88B HARM missiles, which are currently used by American and allied fighters. It uses the existing HARM rocket motor and warhead sections, but swaps in a modified control section, and a new guidance section.

AARGM Block 0. Initial fielded variant. Incorporates a datalink, and GPS point-to-point weapon navigation so it can be directed toward known and last-seen targets. On top of that, its multi-sensor system includes passive digital Anti-Radiation Homing with an increased field of view and increased detection range, counter shutdown algorithms that remember where radars were, active Millimeter Wave radar guidance for final attack, and a Weapon Impact Assessment transmitter datalink that sends information back at appropriate times.

AARGM Block 1. Full combat capability. Corrects a number of classified deficiencies, and adds a netted targeting real-time feed via Integrated Broadcast System (IBS) prior to missile launch. The IBS Receiver interfaces lets the system receive national intelligence data directly.

AGM-88E AARGM: The Program

AARGM’s production phase may total up to $1.478 billion for 2,121 missiles, to equip the US Navy & US Marine Corps (1,871: 1,750 active missiles + 121 no-motor CATMs for training), plus up to 250 missiles for the Italian Air Force. Production could expand further if the partnership formally expands to include Germany, for instance, or other export sales materialize. Australia is about to buy EA-18Gs, and has placed some initial orders for AARGM training missiles.

The AGM-88E AARGM was developed by ATK with the US Navy’s AARGM Integrated Product Team, led by the Navy’s Direct and Time Sensitive Strike Program Office (PMA-242). The team also includes members from the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake, CA; the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, MD; the Italian Air Force, the US National Reconnaissance Office, and industry partners.

Initial Operational Capability involves F/A-18C/D Hornets only. In time, AARGM operational status on the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, and Tornado IDS/ECR fighters will follow. AARGM is also being designed for compatibility with the US Navy and USMC’s older EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, with USAF F-16CJs, and with allied F-16s.

Early Funding

AM Tornado IDS
(click to view full)

Developing these capabilities required assistance from a number of different funding sources. AARGM’s guidance section technology was developed under a series of Phase-I, II, and III US Navy Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract awards from 1990 – 1995. Its missile radome, precision radome machining techniques, and radar gimbal also come from other SBIR or science and technology research initiatives.

SBIR funding is limited, however, and ends at Phase III once the specific technologies being studied are deemed ready for use in commercial designs. Funding for that overall commercial design and development came through the “Quick Bolt” Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator (ACTD) program, which began in 1999. ACTD concluded in 2003 with very positive a Military Utility Assessment (MUA) from United States European Command (EUCOM), which described AARGM as “a resounding success for the warfighter and the DoD.” By 2006, the program had even secured foreign participation from Italy, and was in talks with Germany.

Timeline & Delays

Despite that promising beginning, AARGM’s subsequent development has been slower than expected.

By February 2011, the US Navy’s 2012 RDT&E Budget Item Justification [PDF] placed IOC at Q3 FY 2011, but Operational Evaluation started late, and was halted early. AARGM didn’t begin IOT&E testing until June 2010, then suffered 6 operational mission failures during captive-carry tests. The problems were traced to poor software and parts quality, and ultimately traced back to management of the program and engineering specifications by ATK. In September 2010, the Navy de-certified AARGM from IOT&E, and the Pentagon rescinded approval for the program’s operational test plan. IOT&E didn’t restart until August 2011, and the back stock of early-production AARGM missiles have had to be individually certified as fit for service.

The program was looking to achieve Initial Operational Capability on just the F/A-18C/D Hornet in Q2 2012, but Full Rate Production (FRP) was been forced back from early 2010 to Q4 2012, and Full Operational Capacity (FOC) was moved back from Q4 FY 2013 to Q3 2014. Even then the missiles aren’t completely fit for purpose. They have (classified) deficiencies that the Navy hopes to fix with software upgrades, at the very end of the testing and evaluation periods.

AARGM Contracts & Key Events

AARGM on EA-18G
(click to view full)

AARGM is a Department of the US Navy major acquisition program under PEO-W, the Program Executive Office, Strike Weapons & Unmanned Aviation. US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, MD manages the contracts.

Note that All-Up-Rounds are live missiles, including their storage containers. Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM) have the seeker and electronics, but remove the warhead and rocket motor in favor of ballast that maintains the same weight distribution.

FY 2015 – 2017

Italian Tornado ECRs to be upgraded by end 2015; Negative Pentagon DOT&E report.

F/A-18D launch
(click to view full)

October 20/17: A $18.2 million US Navy contract modification has been awarded to Orbital ATK to undertake conversion work of high-speed, anti-radiation missiles into advanced medium-range air-to-ground guided missiles with counter-enemy shutdown capability for the Italian government. The previous firm-fixed contract award called for the procurement and transition of AGM-88B High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM), to the latest generation of AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM). Differences between the two munitions is that the AARGM has an advanced guidance section and control abilities that use a multi-mode seeker to counter enemy shut-down capability, as well as an onboard Weapons Impact Assessment subsystem that supports battlefield commanders in conducting after-action battle damage assessments. It can also relay impact assessment data prior to the impact on target. The majority of the contract’s work will take place in California, with some to take place in Istrana, Italy. Contract conclusion is scheduled to March 2019.

September 29/17: Orbital ATK has announced the award of a $359 million contract from the US Navy to continue full-rate production of AGM-88E advanced anti-radiation guided missiles (AARGM). The initial contract includes a $157 million award for Lot Six full-rate production, as well as an option for Lot Seven, and covers all-up round missiles and captive air training missiles for the US Navy, Italian Air Force and other allies through Foreign Military Sales orders. The missile is integrated into the weapons systems on the FA-18C/D Hornet, FA-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft, and is anticipated to achieve Initial Operational Capability on the Italian Air Force’s Tornado ECR aircraft in 2018.

April 27/16: Orbital ATK has been awarded a $121.3 million contract by the US Navy to provide conversion services of old stocks of US government-provided AGM-88B high-speed anti-radiation missiles. The conversion will see the munitions turned into 145 full-rate production Lot 5 advanced anti-radiation guided missile all-up-rounds, and 12 captive air training missiles, including related supplies and services necessary for manufacture, sparing, and fleet deployment of the missiles, for the Navy and the government of Italy. Completion is expected by September 2018.

April 13/16: Orbital ATK’s production of the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) was ceased for five weeks due to bad resistors supplied by a sub-contractor. The supplier quality issue will likely result in delays to the delivery of the company’s second and third full-production contracts. Developed as an improvement on the HARM missile, the AGM-88E contains a more modern homing receiver and navigation system to detect the radar signals of both stationary and mobile air-defense systems.

March 29/16: Orbital ATK is to keep producing AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) multi-mode seekers until 2023. The extended orders were made by the US Navy, which requires 556 additional units. The addition, among some other changes, has caused a bump in the program’s cost by $484.8 million to over $2 billion. Jointly developed by the USA and Italy, the missile modification aims to improve the effectiveness of legacy Raytheon AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) variants against fixed and relocatable enemy radar and communications sites, particularly those that shut down to throw off incoming anti-radiation missiles.

September 25/15: The Navy and Orbital ATK successfully conducted a test-firing of the Block 1 AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) in August, the company announced on Thursday. A Super Hornet was used to launch the missile, which struck a moving ship target. Further tests are planned before the upgrade is rolled out. The US Marine Corps and Navy currently operate the missile, with the Italian Air Force scheduled to employ the weapon on its Tornado ECR attack aircraft from 2017.

FY 2013 – 2014

 

April 23/14: FRP-3. ATK Defense Electronic Systems in Northridge, CA receives an $83.4 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for AARGM Full Rate Production Lot 3: conversion of 110 AGM-88B high-speed anti-radiation missiles to a combination of AGM-88E all-up-rounds and captive air training missiles, plus include related supplies and services. An Aug 11/13 ATK release places the total contract value at $96.2 million instead.

All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2014 US Navy budgets. Work will be performed in Northridge, CA (90%); Fusaro, Italy (8%); and Ridgecrest, CA (2%), and is expected to be complete in December 2016. US NAVAIR in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-13-C-0162). See also ATK, “ATK’s Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile Earns Third Full-Rate Production Award from U.S. Navy”.

FRP Lot 3

March 4-11/14: FY15 Budget. The US military slowly files its budget documents, detailing planned spending from FY 2014 – 2019. From FY 2014 – 2016, the Navy has removed 221 AARGM missiles, compared with previous plans. See above for key charts etc. The new projections imagine that they’ll be able to buy 77 more missiles than planned in FY 2017 – 2018, but those kinds of future increases have a way of evaporating. Detailed budget documents add:

“The prior year quantity should be 186 due to the program procuring 10 additional missiles with FY 2012 funding at Full-Rate Production-2 (FRP-2) contract award in September 2013…. All-Up-Rounds (AURs) and Captive Air Training Missiles (CATMs) modification kit procurement quantity reduced in FY 2013 – FY 2016 due to Italian Air Force budget/funding restructuring, effects of sequestration reduction in FY 2013 through Future Years Defense Program and funding adjustments for other Navy priorities. Quantity increased in FY 2017 – FY 2019 in order to meet program of record. The quantity in FY 2015 is higher than FY 2014 due to the missile cost, which now includes Integrated Broadcast Service-Receiver (IBS-R) capability in FY 2015 and out years.”

Jan 28/14: DOT&E Testing Report. The Pentagon releases the FY 2013 Annual Report from its Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E). AARGM is included, and the verdict remains the same: changes have made it operationally suitable (usable/ maintainable), but not operationally effective due to classified deficiencies.

All relevant parties have agreed to a framework that will adequately test the AARGM Block 1 Upgrade, but funding reductions are pushing planned FOT&E testing out of FY 2014, and into FY 2015 or even FY 2016. When that’s all taken care of, the Navy intends to conduct software upgrades of all Block 0 FRP missiles to Block 1, conducted at the squadron level.

Sept 25/13: FRP-2. ATK Defense Electronic Systems in Woodland Hills, CA receives a $102.4 million firm-fixed-price contract for AARGM Full Rate Production Lot II. They’ll convert Raytheon’s AGM-88B HARM missiles to AGM-88E all-up-round operational missiles and captive air training missiles (CATMs) for the US Navy (97/ $80.3M/ 78%) and the Government of Italy (15/ $12.8M/ 13%), plus related supplies and services. As an export sale, They’ll also convert AGM-88B HARM missiles to AGM-88E AARGM CATMs for the Government of Australia (8/ $9.3M/ 9%), and provide related supplies and services.

All funds are committed immediately. Work will be performed in Northridge, CA (90%); Fusaro, Italy (8%); and Ridgecrest, CA (2%), and is expected to be complete in December 2015. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD, is the contracting activity (N00019-13-C-0162).

FRP Lot 2: USA, Italy, Australia

Aug 5/13: #100. A ceremony Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, CA marks the 100th AARGM missile delivery. Sources: US NAVAIR, Aug 8/13 release.

#100 delivered

May 31/13: Australia. The US Navy signs an agreement with the Australian Government to provide training related to Raytheon’s AGM-88 HARM (High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile) and ATK’s AGM-88E AARGM (Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile), as part of the RAAF’s EA-18G Growler buy. They’ll be able to support whichever missile the RAAF chooses, though AARGM seems to be the target.

While it’s just a training capability, its the 1st Foreign Military Sales agreement with any country regarding AARGM. Italy is something else: a co-development partner. Sources: US NAVAIR, June 18/13 release.

Australia agreement

Tornado ECR MLU
(click to view full)

May 9/13: Italian upgrades. Alenia Aermacchi, BAE Systems, and EADS Cassidian delivered the 1st upgraded Italian Tornado ECR (Electronic Combat/ Reconnaissance air defense suppression variant) to the Italian Air Force. Alenia Aermacchi is the technical and program leader for the program, which will upgrade 15 planes to “Tornado ECR MLU” standard for service to 2025, and possibly beyond.

The upgrades begin in the cockpit, using an array of color, night-vision compatible LCS displays to replace key instruments. The new communication and identification system improves communications security, and add Link-16 battlefield situational awareness system via a MIDS box that integrates TACAN navigation functionalities. An integrated IN-GPS navigation system, supported by a Multi-Mode Receiver (MMR) system for approaches and ILS blind landings.

GPS awareness extends to sensors and weapons, with ELS multi-ship ranging and other software improvements added to improve pickup, identification, and localization of enemy radar emitters. Ordnance-related software changes allow the aircraft to carry new sensors, and adds GPS-guided weapons like AARGM and JDAM. Alenia.

March 11/13: Italian upgrades. NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) signs the MET 27 contract annex with the Panavia Tornado consortium. The contract will integrate the AARGM missile and the GPS-guided GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb onto the Aeronautica Millitare’s Tornado RET 7 and RET 8 configurations.

This effort builds on a larger upgrade effort, which began in December 2010. Implementation will take 3 years plus flight test activity, and is expected by by December 2015 thanks to some advance work. Alenia.

Jan 17/13: DOT&E Report. The Pentagon releases the FY 2012 Annual Report from its Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E). AARGM is still rated as “not effective,” as “the current [Block 0] weapon configuration has multiple performance shortfalls that largely negate its ability to accomplish its mission.” 2012 was mostly about making fixes, many of which involved communications between the control sections and guidance section. The USN expects AARGM Block 1 to provide Full Operational Capability, with testing scheduled in FY 2014.

That’s after the Navy will be asked to make a decision to buy FRP Lot 2, in late FY 2013. DOT&E’s other concern is that the testing will cost more than the program has in reserve, and notes that a shortage of AARGM telemetry kits is already identified as a potential problem. Finally, this quote bears mention:

“Immediately preceding a February 2012 test event involving two other live-missile shots, the Navy notified DOT&E that the planned threat scenario would likely result in mission failure due to a classified AARGM deficiency (details available in the classified DOT&E IOT&E report). Without DOT&E consent, the Navy modified the approved test scenario to alleviate the classified deficiency and proceeded with live-missile testing. DOT&E disagreed with the adjusted threat representation and subsequently assessed these events as operational failures.”

FY 2011 – 2012

IOC delayed by testing problems, low quality parts; Full-Rate Production approved – conditionally; LRIP-3 multinational order.

F/A-18E test w. HARMs
(click to view full)

Sept 24/12: ATK’s Defense Electronic Systems in Woodland Hills, CA received an $8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order under AARGM’s basic ordering agreement for AARGM Block I software changes, improvements, and enhancements. It also covers other enhancements to the basic system, “implement [the] deferred Capability Production Document,” and change Common Munitions Built-in Test Reprogramming Equipment boxes 4 and 6 to correct Initial Operational Test & Evaluation deficiencies.

Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, CA, and is expected to be complete in January 2015. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/12 (N00019-11-G-0014).

Sept 10/12: FRP-1. ATK Defense Electronics Systems in Woodland Hills, CA receives a $70.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for AARGM Full Rate Production Lot 1. ATK will convert 53 AGM-88B HARM missiles provided by the US government, turning them into 49 AGM-88E AARGM All-Up Rounds for the US Navy, and 4 missiles for Italy. ATK will also provide 23 AGM-88E Captive Air Training Missile systems for the US Navy, which have seekers but no rocket motors, along with all related supplies and services.

Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, CA (90%); various locations in Italy (8.1%); Ridgecrest, CA (1.7%), and Clearwater, FL (0.2%), and is expected to be complete in December 2012. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. This contract combines purchases for the Navy ($65.0M / 92.06%) and the Government of Italy ($5.6M / 7.94%). US Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-12-C-0113).

FRP Lot 1: USA, Italy

Aug 29/12: FRP. US NAVAIR announces that the Department of the Navy has authorized Full-Rate Production (FRP) for AARGM. What they misleadingly fail to say is that only the first lot of FRP missiles are approved, with any other orders depending on a program review by the end of FY 2013.

The Navy plans to award an 81-missile FRP contract to ATK later in 2012: 72 missiles for the USN, and 9 for the Italian Air Force, to be delivered in late 2013. See also Everett Herald Business Journal, which questions the authorization in light of testing problems. The Pentagon’s DOT&E 2012 report subsequently explains the limited nature of that approval.

FRP

April 4/12: Block I fix. ATK Defense Electronic Systems in Woodland Hills, CA receives a $10.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order for the AARGM Block I upgrade. They’ll handle AARGM Block I software changes, improvements, and enhancements that will enable the AGM-88E, as well as the common munitions built-in test reprogramming equipment boxes 4 and 6, to correct initial operational test and evaluation deficiencies, implement deferred capability product documentation capability, and add capability enhancements.

Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, CA, and is expected to be complete in April 2015. All funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/12. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-11-G-0014).

March 30/12: GAO report. The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs” for 2012, which is very critical of ATK’s program management:

“[AARGM] entered production in September 2008 with its critical technologies mature and design stable, but without demonstrating its production processes were in control. The Navy halted operational testing in September 2010 after a series of missile failures… caused by both hardware and software issues. The hardware failures involved multiple subcontractors and were primarily attributed to poor parts quality… supplier assessments conducted in the aftermath of the program’s test failures found several problems with the prime contractor’s management of its suppliers. For example, not all program requirements had flowed down to the subcontractor level, nor had subcontractors received updated drawings as design changes were made.”

Recoverry from that situation has been rocky, but it’s making progress:

“…in July 2011, Navy test officials evaluating the program’s readiness to reenter operational testing reported that the reliability of the missiles coming out of the factory had not improved. The Navy has implemented additional controls to identify missiles of poor quality, in particular, requiring each missile to be flight tested for 3 hours before accepting them… the Navy noted that the AARGM program continues to pursue should cost initiatives, awarding low-rate production contracts within should cost targets for planned quantities… The Navy stated that reliability continues to improve and is now over twice the threshold requirement.”

Jan 17/12: DOT&E test report. The Pentagon releases the FY 2011 Annual Report from its Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E). AARGM is included. The program restarted IOT&E testing in August 2011, using low-rate initial production (LRIP) missiles per the restart approval. They expect to finish in Q2 2012, and deliver a report in Q3 2012 that will affect the program’s approval for full-rate production. How did they get here?

“AARGM commenced IOT&E in June 2010, but during initial captive-carry flight tests, it suffered six operational mission failures. In September 2010, the Navy subsequently de-certified AARGM from IOT&E, and DOT&E rescinded approval for the program’s operational test plan… DOT&E assessed that [4 / 6] operational mission failures encountered during the first IOT&E period were discoveries developmental testing should have identified. IT and dedicated IOT&E is appropriately scoped and resourced with 10 live-fire LRIP missiles, along with captive-carry, reliability, and compatibility testing in operational environments against threat-representative targets.”

Oct 31/11: LRIP-3. Alliant Techsystems in Woodland Hills, CA receives a $54.4 million firm-fixed-price contract for AARGM Low Rate Initial Production Lot 3. The LRIP-3 contract involves the conversion of 51 AGM-88B HARM missiles from the US government into 51 AGM-88E AARGM missiles: 44 all-up-round (AUR) and captive air training (CATM) missile systems for the U.S. Navy ($47.15M/ 87%); and 7 AURs/CATMs for the government of Italy ($7.25M/ 13%), including related supplies and services. LRIP-3 brings the total number of ordered AARGM missiles for the U.S. Navy and Italian Air Force to 115 so far.

AARGM remains in the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) phase and has undergone more than 300 hours of missile flight testing and multiple live fires. When IOT&E ends in early 2012, AARGM will achieve Initial Operational Capability (IOC) with the FA-18C/D Hornet, and Super Hornet family and Tornado ECR fighters will eventually follow.

Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, CA (89.2%); Fusaro, Italy (7.5%); Ridgecrest, CA (1.7%); Piacenza, Italy (1.4%); and Clearwater, FL (0.2%). Work is expected to be complete in May 2013, and $517,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/12. This contract was not competitively procured, pursuant to FAR 6.302-1, as the AARGM Italian Cooperative Program follows the Production Sustainment and Follow-On Development Memorandum of Agreement between the U.S. Navy and the Italian Ministry of Defense (N00019-12-C-2005). See also ATK release.

LRIP Lot 3: USA, Italy

August 2011: IOT&E resumes.

Aug 12/11: IOC delayed. AARGM Initial Operational Capability (IOC) faces a further 9-month delay to February 2012. Costs aren’t expected to rise significantly. DefenseNews.

May 25/11: EA-18G. AARGM successfully completes its 1st EA-18G Growler test, during a captive-carry flight at China Lake, CA. Work with the electronic attack fighter will continue, in parallel with the ongoing AARGM Integrated Test & Evaluation phase using FA-18C/D Hornets.

The test squadrons have also used Super Hornets, and Cmdr. Chad Reed, deputy program manager for Anti-Radiation Missiles within the Direct and Time Sensitive Strike program office (PMA-242), says that F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler testing since November 2010 totals 25 flight hours, compared to over 150 flight-hours on F/A-18C/D Hornets. US NAVAIR | ATK.

April 27/11: Back on track? Serious quality issues that had stopped AARGM combat testing and threatened a full production decision have supposedly been resolved. US Navy program manager Captain Brian Corey told Bloomberg News that:

“The anomalies experienced in the first operational test period have been corrected and verified… The weapon is performing very well and the team has been able to meet the affordability goals… We are confident we will successfully complete [combat testing/OpEval].”

The revised AARGM missile has flown more than 160 flight hours on aircraft since February 2011 to assess its readiness to resume combat testing. The Navy plans 100 flights to evaluate the missile’s effectiveness, with initial flights assessing missile guidance, internal diagnostics, and pre-launch communications with the pilot. See also Sept 3/10 entry.

FY 2008 – 2010

Milestone C approval; 1st delivery and LRIP orders; But testing failures force halt.

Stop.
(click to view larger)

Sept 3/10: Testing. The US Navy halts AARGM IOT&E testing, after 6 software or circuit-card failures in the first 12 trials. This is not a common occurrence. Later reports say that the hardware failures involved multiple subcontractors, and involved poor quality parts. Source.

Tests halted

July 30/10: LRIP-2. Alliant Techsystems (ATK) Mission Systems Group’s Defense Electronics Systems Division in Woodland Hills, CA receives a $50.1 million firm-fixed-price contract for AARGM Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Lot II manufacturing. This contract provides for the conversion of 37 government furnished AGM-88B HARM missiles into AGM-88E AARGM All-Up Round (AUR)/Captive Air Training (CATM) missile systems for the US Navy (33, $38.1 million, 76%) and the government of Italy (4, $11.9 million, 24%), including related supplies and services.

Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, CA (75%); Rocket Center, WVA (11%); Piacenza, La Spezia, Italy (6%); Rome, Italy (6%); Clearwater, FL (2%), and is expected to be complete in February 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-10-C-0065).

LRIP Lot 2: USA, Italy

July 14/10: Acceptance. ATK announces that the US Navy has accepted its 1st deliveries of AGM-88E AARGM production missiles. The missiles were handed over at ATK’s Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) facility in Rocket Center, WVA.

1st delivery

Aug 7/09: Test. The 8th and final development test (DT) firing of the AGM-88E AARGM takes place at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, CA. It used the final missile hardware and software configuration, intended for Navy Independent Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) later in 2009.

The test shot was launched from a US Navy FA-18C Hornet in a scenario designed to test the missile’s capabilities to maneuver and perform in a short time-of-flight profile under heavy enemy counter-measures. During missile flight, AARGM successfully detected, identified, and located an enemy air defense unit (ADU) using its anti-radiation-homing (ARH) receiver. It then demonstrated its designed ability to minimize collateral damage and friendly fire by navigating clear of pre-planned impact avoidance zones. In the terminal phase, AARGM used its multi-mode sensor suite to overcome advanced target countermeasures, accurately guiding towards and directly hitting the enemy target. ATK’s Sept 3/09 release.

July 30/09: The House addresses Rep. Jeff Flake’s [R-AZ-6] proposed amendments to the FY 2010 House defense budget, including “H.Amdt. 402: An amendment numbered 439 printed in Part B of House Report 111-233 to prohibit funding for AARGM Counter Air Defense Future Capabilities.”

The amendment fails, 348-78. Its failure is bipartisan, with Republicans and Democrats both opposed in numbers, but almost all of its supporters are from the Republican Party. Flake’s district is actually near Phoenix, AZ. The 2 House members whose districts are most closely tied to AARGM competitor Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ, actually voted against this amendment: Raul Grijalva [D-AZ-7] and Gabrielle Giffords [D-AZ-8]

April 13/08: Test. A successful test firing at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake marks the 12th successful live fire test, on top of 200 flight tests, and 58 “captive carry” tests of the guidance systems and receivers. This test is similar to the Aug 11/08 test, but adds discrimination among multiple targets, prioritization of the most important target, and a last-minute send-back transmission for use in battle damage assessment. ATK release.

Dec 22/08: LRIP-1. Alliant Techsystems Mission Systems Group, Advanced Weapons Division in Woodland Hills, CA received a fixed price incentive fee contract with a not-to-exceed value of $55.1 million for the low-rate initial production of AGM-88E AARGM missiles – to include conversion of 27 existing AGM-88B HARM missiles into 27 AGM-88E AARGM All-Up-Round (AUR)/Captive Air Training (CATM) missile systems. CATMs contain seekers, but no rocket motors.

Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, CA (87.5%); Rocket Center, WVa (11%); and Clearwater, FL (1.5%), and is expected to be complete in March 2011. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages this contract (N00019-09-C-0026).

LRIP Lot 1

Sept 30/08: Milestone C. The AGM-88E AARGM successfully completes its Milestone C review, paving the way for Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP). Mr. Sean J. Stackley, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, signed the Acquisition Decision Memorandum (ADM), following AARGM’s Operational Assessment (OA) in August 2008. NAVAIR release | ATK release.

Milestone C

Aug 11/08: Test. A 2nd test firing takes place at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, this time designed to test the missile against enemy “shutdown tactics.” Launched from an F/A-18D Hornet, the AARGM detected, identified, located, and guided toward the emitter target using its Anti-Radiation Homing (ARH) receiver. After target radar emissions were purposely shut-down during the missile’s flight profile, AARGM utilized its GPS/INS to guide to the final ARH cue-point. For final approach, it successfully employed active Millimeter Wave (MMW) radar tracking to pinpoint and target the air defense site. The firing was the 4th of 8 planned developmental firings, and the final missile live-fire event leading to a Milestone C LRIP decision for AARGM. ATK release.

Aug 3/08: Test. A successful test at China Lake marks the first of two “Operational Assessment” firings supporting a Milestone C Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) decision later in 2008.

The AARGM was launched off-axis at medium altitude from an FA-18D Hornet. In this realistic scenario, AARGM successfully picked out the air defense system target in a cluttered environment, using its precision navigation to stay clear of designated impact avoidance zones (which prevents strikes in sensitive, neutral, or friendly regions), and guiding itself to lethal range. ATK release.

FY 2003 – 2007

Development contract; Italy joins; Germany signs MoU but doesn’t join.

F/A-18D fires AARGM
(click to view larger)

July 20/07: Germany. Alliant Techsystems (ATK) announces a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with MBDA LFK-Lenkflugkorpersysteme GmbH, to assess potential work share opportunities with the German Ministry of Defense (MoD) on the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM). The MOU focuses on identifying opportunities for Germany in the production and product improvement phase of the AARGM program, as well as opportunities for additional derivatives of its predecessor the AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM).

This isn’t an MoU with the German government, but it’s the kind of activity usually precedes procurement decisions in multi-national projects. See our entries below, for instance, to observe that Italy became the first international partner of ATK and the U.S. Department of Defense when its Ministry of Defense signed a work share agreement in 2005. If the German MoD joins the AARGM cooperative team, LFK would be integrated into this industry team. ATK release.

May 25/07: 1st firing. The first Developmental Test (DT) firing of an AARGM missile takes place from an F/A-18 aircraft on the China Lake test ranges. The missile successfully achieves safe separation from the aircraft, navigates over an extended range to the designated target, and guides to a direct hit. The successful flight test meets all test objectives. These included AARGM’s compatibility with ATK’s Common Munitions Built-in-test/Reprogramming Equipment (CMBRE), compatibility with the Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS) and AWM-103, compatibility with the F/A-18C/D 21X Software Configuration Set, and the successful integration of AARGM hardware and software with legacy AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) components.

The missile also achieved 7 successful flights firing the Quick Bolt Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) and AARGM Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) phases of the program. A series of additional launches is planned during the SD&D phase.

April 5/06: CDR. The AARGM passes a Critical Design Review. During a CDR, all elements are reviewed to ensure that the weapon system’s predicted performance will meet warfighting requirements and that the program remains on schedule and on cost. The CDR was also the first major review attended by the Italian Air Force since signing a Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense to participate in AARGM development. See ATK release.

CDR

AM Tornado IDS
(click to view full)

Feb 3/06: Italy in. ATK Missile Systems Co. LLC in Woodland Hills, CA received a $19.3 million ceiling-priced modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. It covers risk reduction efforts and production of the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) for the Government of Italy under a Memorandum of Agreement.

Efforts to be provided under this specific contract include a point-to-point firing; modification of an aircraft to perform additional captive flight tests; real and surrogate targets for use during captive flight test program; development of software models of specific targets; and establishment of an Italian source to assemble common control sections. Work will be performed in Mantova, Italy (37%), Pratica di Mare, Italy (25%), La Spezia, Italy (6%), and Woodland Hills, CA (32%); and is expected to be completed in April 2009. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD issued the contract (N00019-03-C-0353).

November 2005: Italian MoU. The Italian Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense signed a Memorandum of Agreement on the joint development of the AGM-88E AARGM missile, which will equip their Tornado strike aircraft. Italy is providing $20 million of developmental funding as well as several millions worth material, equipment and related services.

Italy joins

June 19/03: SDD contract. ATK Missile Systems Co. LLC in Woodland Hills, CA receives a $222.6 million ceiling-priced, cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the system development and design of the AGM-88E advanced anti-radiation guided missile (AARGM). The scope of the contract is the design, development and demonstration of a multi-mode AGM-88E AARGM seeker that will include an anti-radiation homing receiver, global positioning system/ inertial measuring unit and terminal radar to meet current Navy operational requirements. In addition, the contract provides for 7 special test units; 9 engineering, development models for developmental testing and operational assessment; and 15 production representative AGM-88E AARGMs. The whole program through the production phase was valued at $1.55 billion.

Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, CA (88%); San Diego, CA (7%); Van Nuys, CA (2%); Santa Barbara, CA (1%); Torrance, CA (1%); and Bourges Cedex, France (1%), and is expected to be completed in September 2008. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD (N00019-03-C-0353). See also Deagel.

System Design & Development

Footnotes

1. Note that the SA-3 is known by more than one designation. SA-3 Goa is the NATO designation. S-125 is the Russian designation, and they call it the Neva or (if it’s the 2000 upgrade) S-125 Pechora.

Additional Readings

• US NAVAIR, via WayBack – NAWCWD AARGM Missile CRADA.

• US NAVAIR – AARGM.

• ATK – Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM).

• Raytheon – High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM). A new HARM HCSM retrofit adds a GPS receiver and an improved inertial measurement unit, and merges targeting solutions from navigation and seeker systems. That makes it a de facto AARGM competitor.

• Global Security – AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), AARGM’s predecessor.

It is 40 days since the historian, archivist and activist on behalf of Afghans, Nancy Hatch Dupree, died, aged 89. As a tribute to this remarkable woman, we are publishing two pieces. The first is an interview which Nancy gave in 2007 to Markus Hakansson for a book authored by Nancy and published by the Afghanistan Swedish Committee, which features 58 chronicles about Afghanistan. In this interview, Nancy tells how she came to Afghanistan and fell in love with the country and with her husband Louis. She describes the fifteen wonderful years they had, excavating archaeological sites and with her writing guide books. She tells of the 1978 coup, Louis’ imprisonment and there eventual exile to Pakistan where they set up a project to collect and collate information. The extract ends with her eventual return to Kabul. AAN will publish a second dispatch which will be a collection of tributes from people who knew Nancy.

Nancy Hatch Dupree moved back to the Afghan capital a few years after this interview took place. In 2013, she inaugurated the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University in 2013 (six years after she secured initial funding for it of two million dollars). A description of the centre, which houses the now 100,000 document archive and provides research facilities to all, can be found here). AAN’s obituary for Nancy can be read here.

The following is an extract from Markus Hakansson’s “A Chat with Afghanistan’s Grandmother”, taken from Afghanistan Over a Cup of Tea; 1995 – 2010, 58 chronicles by Nancy Hatch Dupree, translated by Norman Burns, Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, 2010 (2nd edition). 

“It’s important to remember that it is often simply chance that lies behind decisive things that happen in your life. That’s been the case in my life anyway. That I ended up in Afgha­nistan was nothing more than pure coincidence,” says Nancy Hatch Dupree, an American living in Peshawar in Pakistan, close to the border to Afghanistan. When she is not working, and that’s not very often, this cultural worker who lived in Kabul between 1962 and 1978 likes to relax and lean back with a good detective story, preferably one by Ian Rankin.

Holland House is the name of the building where the Country Director of the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan lives and it is here on the veranda that Nancy Dupree and I are sitting on the first day of our interview. It’s a nice, warm day. Not too hot. The cars honk as they drive by the closed gate, lacking up a little cloud of dust. But in our enclosed garden we can hear the pleasant chirping of birds. A thought comes to me that I mustn’t forget to ask about a special bird that means something special to Nancy. But I’ll wait for a while with that. Right now, I’ll/be content with underlining one of the points I have written down for this conversation: the hoopoe.

We are sitting right in the heart of Kabul, a city dominated by contrasts. It’s a beautiful city in all of its raggedness, genuine in spite of foreign military columns, hospitable but still strange. I have been here once before, in 2004. But since then, they have erected more buildings, and taller ones. Buildings with green or blue facades, just like in Dubai. But the neighbours of these glass giants are still small simple mud houses where people buy and sell, talk and make noise, live their lives. This is a city full of life but also a city where security has become much worse in the last few years, as it has in the country as a whole. Suicide bombers in the summer of 2007 are still a relatively new pheno­menon. For me as a westerner, restrictions are many and I can only imagine how the true Afghanistan really is and try to take in the impressions I experience in my immediate surroundings. Instead, it will have to be through Nancy’s stories that I will manage to see and feel the real Afghanistan. It is through her shrewd eyes that the brown dust is dissipated and the Afghanis­tan that once was makes its appearance.

“Why Afghanistan?” I ask when I finally get my technical gear in order – an mp3 player with dictaphone function. ‘“Why did you end up here and why is it that you have chosen to spend your entire adult life here?”

At first sight, Nancy looks like any sweet old grandmother. She is small and slender and speaks with a frail but self-confident voice. She could easily be taken for a person whose daily routine is filled with baking cookies and drinking coffee. But instead, here we have an eighty-year-old woman who is cherished and surrounded with such respect, such esteem that she has almost become a legend. And wearing a patterned tunic with matching wide trousers and scarf, she seems to hover over the streets of Kabul. Here, everyone knows who she is and when I tell people why I am here in Kabul this time, I am met with jealous glances and comments.

One day, and this was a long time ago, Nancy was standing with her [first] husband, an American diplomat in the Pakistan city of Lahore, at the Khyber Pass on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. “We ought to make a trip to Afghanistan next time we get some time off,” she said. He was not thinking of safety in those days. He liked the fashionable hot spots with zazzy nightlife.

However, back in Washington, it didn’t take more than a year or so before he came home from work one day and said: “Well, your wish has been fulfilled. I have been stationed in Kabul, Afghani­stan,” Nancy jumped for joy. He looked disgusted. That was in 1962.

As a young student at Barnard College, the women’s branch of Columbia University, Nancy had her sights aimed at a career in music. She played the harp and from what I understand, there were times when it really sounded quite good. Her parents had spent a lot of money on an expensive harp and soon she was a part of the professional world of music. Her music teacher obviously felt that Nancy had talent as she often took her along on her musical tours. They played duets and were especially sought after around Christmas and Easter when churches for some reason are particularly interested in harp music. Nancy and her teacher toured all over the United States, in and out of cars, trains and buses and always dragging those cumbersome instruments behind them.

“That was a very special period in my life but… it didn’t take me long to realize that this wasn’t what I wanted to do. This was not the way I wanted to live my life.”

Nancy wanted to travel overseas and told her parents of her plans of putting her harp playing aside for a while. Her musi­cal career was exchanged for studies in Chinese language, history, art history and economy.

It was during her student years at Columbia University that she met her [first] husband-to-be and they were soon to be stationed in Lahore. Her days were taken up simply enough by being a housewife. But she had actually had a job during an earlier stationing in Iraq as an editor for a small news bulletin with a limited circle of readers consisting of embassy staff.

Then came that day in 1962 when the big move was made to Afghanistan. After only a short period of time, Nancy’s husband was called upon to make his first field trip. A whole staff of people were to go along with him and they were all up in the air about the trip which was planned for Bamiyan. Nancy was de­signated to be the guide for the trip. Upon their return to Kabul, a great dinner party was thrown to celebrate the ambassador’s safe return.

That evening, Nancy found herself in conversation with two gentlemen. Mr Abdul Wahab Tarzi was the head of the newly established Department of Tourism. The other gentleman was a French archaeologist. Tarzi asked what she thought of Bamiyan. As the good wife of a diplomat, she was expected to respond with a fitting answer, something along the lines of how fantastic it was, the landscape, the culture and the people, eve­rything was just extraordinary. That would have been a suitable response. But Nancy is a person who doesn’t make a secret of what she thinks, whether it is fitting for the situation or not. “Mr Tarzi, it’s a scandal,” she said. “Bamiyan is one of the most beautiful places in the world. And you don’t even have a guide. I know I must have missed half of what there is to see there!”

Mr Tarzi responded in his kind Afghani manner: “You’re absolutely right. You ought to do something about that!” The Frenchman, who had up to now only stood in the background, steps into the discussion. He asks Nancy if she likes to have tea and gossip with the other diplomat wives. “Not at all,” she said. “A waste of time.” “Do you like to play bridge?” he continued. “That’s even worse.”

Mr Tarzi listened with interest and finally said: “Then I think you ought to take it upon yourself to write a travel guide on Bamiyan.”

Nancy could hardly conceal her excitement – a mixture of both pleasure and nervousness. “Okay, Mr Tarzi,” she said. “But I won’t write about anything I haven’t seen with my own eyes. You have to send me back there!”

And that’s the way she started writing her guide books. She soon had a manuscript finished, except for a few prehistoric details that she couldn’t get straight. She started asking around without any results until someone said “Ask Louis Dupree. He knows a lot about that sort of thing.” “Louis who?” was her only response.

I take a few pictures of Nancy as we are sitting there on the Holland House veranda and every time I click off a shot (or at least the first 30 to 40 pictures) she gives an audible sigh. She doesn’t seem to be very fond of being photographed. Suddenly I understand why she doesn’t have a single picture from her early years in Afghanistan. She has quite simply disliked the idea of being caught in the camera’s eye. After searching numerous photo archives, on the internet and in people’s computers, I have only found four or five usable pictures from Afghanistan of the 60s and 70s with Nancy in them.

Nancy and Louis examine an archeological find. Louis was determined that Nancy should work alongside him. “He kept pushing me to write,” she said, “to lecture and do research.” They had fifteen years of working and travelling all around Afghanistan before the 1978 coup forced them into ‘exile’.

After a number of persistent attempts, Nancy finally made contact with the great Louis Dupree. The American archaeolo­gist, who visited Afghanistan for the first time in 1948, had three degrees from Harvard and a Bronze Star for his efforts as a para­trooper in World War II. She left her manuscript with a few page references and two questions. Silence. Then one day, he finally got in touch with her and let her know that he had read through what she had written. Nancy was summoned up to his office, got the manuscript in her hand and saw immediately his notes up in the right hand corner of the first page: Adequate but nothing original. “I was furious but tried to keep calm,” she told me.

I have stopped reflecting over the surroundings, spellbound by Nancy’s tales just as anyone is when listening to someone who really knows how to tell a story. I kind of get the feeling that what she is saying is important and I listen intensively to every word. Besides, her descriptions are certainly not lacking in humour, far from that. Her choice of words, intonation and timing – everything just right. I glance at the dictaphone and see that it is ticking away — that’s good, I don’t want to miss anything.

“Dr Dupree,” Nancy said. “I am writing a guidebook and I’m extremely happy that you find what I have written adequate. This is not a doctoral dissertation and there is no need for it to be original.” She immediately turned around and made for the door.

But before she managed to leave the room, she heard a shout from behind the desk. “Hey, wait a minute! Get back here!” Nancy stopped, turned around and went back to the professor sitting there behind his big desk. And she never left…

I recall that I am supposed to ask about some kind of bird, a hoopoe, that played an important role in Nancy’s life.

After finishing her work with “The Valley of Bamiyan” in 1963, Nancy was commissioned to produce another guide book. Pu­blished in 1965, “An Historical Guide to Kabul” was to become a classic and it didn’t take long before a third book, “Herat – A Pictorial Guide” (1966) was on the way. During the next few years, Nancy wrote three more guide books well worth reading: “The Road to Balkh” (1967), “An Historical Guide to Afghani­stan” (1970) and “The National Museum of Afghanistan” (1974).

In order to obtain some peace and quiet, Nancy used to ride by horse to Paghman, a small mountain village outside of Kabul. Mr Tarzi was a bit puzzled by this un-Afghan behavior and thought that maybe something was wrong. Maybe she was suffe­ring from depression or something. He just couldn’t understand that she simply needed peace and quiet to be able to do her work, her writing. He often came by and checked up on her and one day when he was there, he saw a bird, a hoopoe, building its nest on the lawn where Nancy was sitting.

“Oh, look! A hoopoe,” said Mr Tarzi. “You know, in Afghani­stan we say that if a hoopoe visits you and builds its nest nearby, you’ll have good news before sunset.”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with me,” Nancy tried to fend him off. “That bird is one of my horse’s friends. Whenever I take my horse out for a ride she always comes along.” But she still couldn’t forget what Mr Tarzi had said about so­mething pleasant awaiting her. “Of course there isn’t anything in that story!”

But the same evening… Louis had left his diggings up in the north to come and pay a visit to Nancy. As always, it was a fond reunion and the same evening, Louis proposed to her. “I was head over heels, in love with that man and I almost fell over with happiness. And I never really could get rid of the thought of that special bird. I become quite fascinated by it and the myth surrounding it. I collected information and wrote an article called “An Interpretation of the Role of the Hoopoe in Afghan Folklore and Magic.” In this article, you can read about the Hoopoe’s im­portance for Afghanistan’s different ethnic groups, how it brought King Soloman and the Queen of Sheba together and how, not surprisingly, it got its name for its distinct call: hup-hup-hup.

Nancy and Louis were married in February of 1966 in Bagh-e Bala, a beautiful palace on the outskirts of Kabul, built in the 19th century. “It was a big, big wedding,” Nancy tells me. She wore a royal blue velvet dress and Kabul was clad in winter white. Snow on your wedding day brings happiness and prospe­rity to your marriage if you are to believe the Afghan tradition.

Unlike her previous marriage, Louis was determined that Nancy should work alongside him, and that’s the way it turned out. “He kept pushing me to write, to lecture and do research. If it hadn’t been for Louis, no one would ever have heard of me.” This may be true, but the statement gives a true picture of Nancy. So much experience, so much knowledge, so well appreciated and praised and still this unobtrusive profile when speaking of her own achievements.

The sound of Kabul traffic accompanies our conversation. Cars with mufflers in need of repair, screeching noises from trucks. People talking from every direction. Sometimes the noise level gets so high that we have to take a break in our little talk and then get back going when things calm down a bit. It wasn’t like this in the 60s.

“I guess we thought we knew about everything there was to know in those days, but really we didn’t know much at all. The 60s were really crazy. Parties, always parties! We were often in the company of the elite of Afghanistan but there were foreig­ners there too, mostly diplomats and researchers and so on and so forth. We thought we were in the swing but we didn’t know enough to understand that we were only a part of a facade. We drank and ate and figured we were terribly sophisticated. Seve­ral of us had horses and we rode a lot together.”

On the weekends they took pleasure trips to Paghman and in the winter they went skiing. Along the road to Ghazni there was a little ski cabin. Not many of them were much good at skiing but this was just one more way for them to get together. Af­ghans themselves were better skiers than most of the westerners.

“No, I can’t ski. I spent my time socializing up there in the cabin. Funny that we didn’t get tired of each other!”

Nancy and Louis made a lot of trips together all around Afghanistan to either Louis’s excavations or surveying to find new sites for his excavations. “It’s dangerous up there for you,” said many Afghans when we told them we would be going to Badakhshan for a few months of digging. “You can’t trust the people up there. Things are bad and there’s not much water or food. You’ll get sick.”

At the start, Nancy shared the prevailing view that Afghan women were repressed. She had all the stereotypes clear in her mind and thought she knew. She’d read books about this. Louis wasn’t any “Indiana Jones” – type and always wanted to live among the people. So Mr and Mrs Dupree usually rented a house in some small town way out in the country and in this way became a part of the village for a short time. It didn’t take long for Nancy to realize that all of these prejudices about Afghan women were 100 percent false. She learned to see the strength of the rural woman. She witnessed mutual respect between men and women. She heard women say to their husbands who wan­ted to have a meal put on the table: “I’m busy with something else, make your own lunch.”

Nancy tells about fantastic harvest times when everyone in the village – men, women and children – worked together out in the fields picking melons or peas. She began to understand that women in the countryside were considerably freer and more inde­pendent than women in the city. “I had to do a lot of re-thinking.”

Back in Kabul she told people about her new insights. “I proba­bly shouldn’t have done that because now I became a so-called expert in the area of women in Afghanistan and women’s role and position in the family and society and so on and so forth. And then there were a lot of lectures, articles and reports. I am not saying that everything was perfect and beautiful out in the countryside. Far from that. Most people lacked access to basic things like health care and education. But when it comes to women’s independence and their view of themselves, they were much better off than their sisters in Kabul.”

At this time, women in Kabul wore burqas but had begun to leave the home and were seen more and more often out in the city. At the same time, western media proclaimed the view of the repressed woman and how women were forced to wear clothing that covered them entirely with only a net in front of their face to see through. “Things were going in the right direction but westerners lacked insight and knowledge of the past and insisted on presenting a picture of the ‘repressed’ woman.”

And things did keep going in the right direction – many were the women who began leaving their burqa at home. Headscarves, jackets and skirts that reached down over the knees, dark, stretch tights and gloves were all the new thing – that was in the middle of the 60s. The next step was short skirts and hot pants, with stretch tights under of course, and high-legged boots. Towards the end of the 60s however, conservative elements started getting upset and talked about sexual allusions. The new style got to be too much for them and soon these ‘scantily clad’ ladies in lipstick were being the subjects of harassment.

When Nancy first came to Afghanistan, tourists were just begin­ning to discover the country. First came the hippies. But they were mainly only on their way through, in search of some guru in India or Nepal and only stopped long enough to get hold of some Afghan Black – hashish that was considered the very best brand. However, more affluent tourists soon began to be attracted to Afghanistan. It was people who had done some traveling in Outer Mongolia, Iran and China and were now looking for something else, something new and exotic. Package tours started to go to Afghanistan, a growing business.

“The first groups were quite demanding. They had come over here to Afghanistan to get a different experience but still demanded spacious single occupancy rooms, running water, electricity, hotel bars and the like. They wanted to rough it but still with every comfort you can imagine. In many countries around here, there is a lot to see everywhere. Afghanistan is not like that. It takes eight hours from Kabul to Bamiyan – eight hours of what? – nothing! And I didn’t want them to go home unsatisfied with their visit. That’s why in my guide books I try to keep my readers busy with sights every second or third mile – a building of a special style, folklore, popular traditions, agricul­ture etc – just to keep these rich tourists, who don’t have any patience, entertained. I think that’s the reason my guide books are still used. Roads have changed but the scenery is intact –people, traditions, clothing and homes still look very much the way they always have.”

Nancy and Louis had their own offices at home in the Shahr-e Nau area in Kabul. Nancy’s office was in the main house and Louis sat in one of the buildings in the courtyard. Many people came to visit, and they stayed so long, that in the end neither Louis nor Nancy got anything done during the daytime. They were forced to make a few simple rules: if you hadn’t booked a meeting, you weren’t admitted in by the guards.

“A lot of people probably thought that we were audacious but what were we to do? We decided to open the doors at five each af­ternoon – and then everybody was welcome. The 5 o’clock follies were born and became an institution that lasted for many years.”

In Kabul at this time you could go to jazz clubs, eat ice-cream in an ice-cream parlor or go bowling. As to “the Follies’, ‘Louis Dupree wrote the following in one of his chronicles from the 80s: “Nancy and I spent about 50 percent of our time away from home. But when we were at home in Kabul, we didn’t want to be disturbed. Both of us spent a lot of time writing, but at 5 o’clock every day we opened the bar. And most of the time lots of people came to our little parties. It became a tradition and even Russians came. But also Pakistanis, Indians, Koreans, Germans, Frenchmen, Swiss, Canadians and British.”

When the coup took place in 1978, the Duprees were in China. Under the surface, mobilization had been going on for a long time, something they would hardly have noticed if it hadn’t have been for Louis’ contacts with Kabul’s intelligentsia – university people and dissidents. When they returned to the country and applied for a renewal of their research permits, something which was abso­lutely necessary in order to receive a residence permit, they were refused. Afghanistan had a new regime, communists were at the helm and the Duprees were forced to leave the country. Banished.

“That was in August. We wound up in Pakistan for a few months but went back to our house once to fetch our winter clothes. That was when they picked up Louis and took him away. He was put in prison. They figured he was hooked up with the CIA and the situation was really serious. Louis saw several of his old friends from the Follies beaten up so badly that he could hardly recognize them. The interrogators kept shouting at him ‘Dupree – CIA, Dupree – CIA…’ They just couldn’t get it through their heads how anybody could stay in Afghanistan for 25 years with­out some ulterior motive – he must be a spy. As it turned out, the new regime had such specific information concerning our meetings and parties that it suddenly became quite evident that they had wormed their way into the Follies.

However, Louis was soon set free and they could return to Pakistan where they applied for a residence permit directly from the Minister of Interior, who was a close friend of theirs. But Af­ghan authorities had got there first and informed the Pakistani government that if they granted the Dupree’s a residence permit it would be regarded as an act of hostility towards Afghanistan.

“We were told to ‘go somewhere’ and keep quiet. Things would cool down we were told. And obviously they did because we soon had a permit to stay in Pakistan. Not in Peshawar, however, since that was so near the Afghan border and would have been regarded as too provocative. We settled down in Lahore but continued to drive to Peshawar. In the decision it didn’t say anything about visits being forbidden. We became regular guests at the old Dean’s Hotel in Peshawar. And they always let us stay in the same old room, number 22. Soon there was a plaque on the door, “The Dupree’s Suite’.” During this period of exile, Nancy and Louis also spent some time in the U.S. where they taught at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and Duke University.

Louis would never again see Kabul even though he was in Afgha­nistan with the Mujahideen several times. Nancy has never moved back but is a frequent visitor from her home in Peshawar. [Nancy moved back to Kabul in 2007/08.]

“A few months ago, I met an elegant elderly gentleman who had something to tell me. His tone of voice gave him away immedia­tely. This was important, at least for him. He said: ‘I just want to say I’m sorry. I have wanted to apologize for many years now. It was I who signed the document which meant that you would have to leave the country almost 30 years ago. I didn’t want to but I had to. Orders came down and there wasn’t anything else to do than just sign.’”

A similar thing had happened in Peshawar several years pre­viously when Nancy met the man who had been responsible for Louis’ imprisonment. “I was the one who informed on Louis,” said the old man. “I have lived all these years with a terrible pain in my heart.”

“People are forced to do strange things in strange situations,” Nancy says. “And this was truly a peculiar time. Revolution or military coup or whatever you want to call it. They were just in­struments. None of them had any personal reason for throwing us out and there is no reason for me to become upset after all these years. I don’t think people should carry around feelings of revenge with them. Life is too short for that sort of thing.”

In the beginning of the 80s, things were boiling under the surface in Peshawar – with the military coup that had just been carried out in Afghanistan, with Mujahideen soldiers and un­dercover activities. Dean’s Hotel became a sort of base for these activities. Founded in the 1920s by an Englishman, Mr Dean who was a good friend of Nancy’s father, the hotel had been built in classical colonial style. But time had taken its toll on the old hotel that was now only a shadow of what it once had been. Louis was working for international support for the Mujahideen movement in its struggle against the Soviet troops. Nancy’s ef­forts were focused on Afghan refugees whose numbers were in­creasing daily in the camps which just kept growing and growing during the entire ten-year Soviet occupation.

“In Peshawar I also got to know Carl Schonmeyr who was busy laying the first building stones for what would soon become the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan.”

An elderly man with a teapot comes out and fills our cups. It’s almost time for lunch. A police siren is heard coming closer and passes by just outside the gate. An electrical generator growls as it starts out on the yard and a couple of men in shalvar kamiz and pakhol begin to unload bricks from a truck for some building project in the area. They help each other and gesticulate and argue about where they should tip the bricks.

Louis died of lung cancer in 1989. After 23 years of shared hap­piness based on great mutual love and respect as well as all the work they had done together, suddenly he wasn’t there any longer.

“I took over his classes at Duke and Chapel Hill and it wasn’t un­til after the classes ended I realized fully what I had lost. I lapsed into a period of deep depression. Louis and I had worked so close to each other and the feeling of emptiness that I experienced got the better of me. I missed him so terribly and just couldn’t see a future without him. What shall I do? What will become of me? It felt like life was over for me. It was as if there wasn’t any sense in going on. But somehow I managed to get through this time even if deep feelings of loss and grief still come over me now and again.”

ACBAR, Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief, was founded in 1988, the year before Louis’ death. It was the result of the fact that there were so many volunteer organizations in Peshawar at the end of the 80s and they needed help with coor­dination. One organization had no idea of what the other was doing. “It was a complete mess,” Nancy recalls.

Nancy and Louis became involved in ACBAR and Louis was given the business of investigating the possibility of starting a center where it would be possible to obtain everything that had been written about Afghanistan – everything! Louis was sent home with the task of starting to make lists. When he presented his conclusions, a few days later, he said:

“Ladies and gentlemen. In the first place, so much has been writ­ten about Afghanistan that it would be impossible to get it all together in a single library. The second thing is that it would cost too much. And even if we could find all the literature and the money to buy it for, we wouldn’t be able to afford to store the collections safely. And most important of everything: if we did manage to get around the first three problems, only about one percent of these books would ever be used or opened. In short – this is the wrong way of doing things.”

Louis proposed instead that they should work on an investigative basis, collecting and listing new reports. Both internal reports and reports from the UN and other organizations. Only the most im­portant of the old works should be included as reference literature.

Nancy did not return to Afghanistan before April 1992 when the Mujahideen took over power [after which inter-factional fighting led to the destruction of a third of the city and damage to most other parts]. When she arrived, she thought that it could possibly be an emotional experience to drive around the city and see the old areas where she and Louis had lived and worked together. But to her great surprise, she didn’t feel anyth­ing. Everywhere ruins and dust – and all those sandbags.

“When I sat in the taxi that drove me around the city, I felt ab­solutely nothing – this wasn’t the Kabul I had left. It wasn’t my Kabul any longer.” The taxi driver asked Nancy if she wanted to see her old house. The thought had of course crossed her mind but she had pushed it away. “I didn’t want to destroy the inner picture I had of our former home. But that stubborn taxi driver insisted and soon we were there and I was knocking with the same old funny iron ring that still hung on the front door of Louis’ and my house in Shahr-e Naw.”

The door opened and they were met by two young women. The taxi driver told them who he had along with him and the young women smiled warmly and asked Nancy to enter. “I was relieved to see that our old house had escaped being damaged by all the rockets and grenades. The garden looked a little unkempt but I still recognized it.”

It was here the 5 o’clock Follies used to meet and discuss matters. That was a long time ago. “I looked especially for the geranium that I had planted a long time before next to the place I had buried my lovely old cat. I smiled when I saw that it stood there in full bloom.”

But she still didn’t feel anything. ”Was I emotionally dead? There must be something wrong with me.” Nancy drove on and visited an old friend. She entered a dazzling garden in fantastic, colors, well-cared-for and enchantingly beautiful.

“That was when I broke down completely and couldn’t get up from the bench I was sitting on. I just sat there and cried and cried. Everything came all at once. Memories, Louis, my Kabul, all the fun times of the past. It all just flowed over me. Then I realized without a doubt that I had some feelings left in my body.” That was Kabul as Nancy remembered it.

It was during the difficult time just after Louis’ death that ACBAR called and told her that they had accepted his idea on building a resource center with Afghan documents and litera­ture. They had started with the project but needed help getting things rolling. “Today we have 38,000 volumes in our collection. No, wait a minute, 40,000.” Nancy tells me proudly.

The collections were stored for a long time in Peshawar. It was only after the presidential election in Afghanistan in 2004 that she dared to take the risk of moving them over to Kabul, where they rightly belong. But where would everything be housed? One thing she was sure of: these collections must be in a place where Afghans themselves can study their own history. The obvious place was of course the university and soon a shipment left Peshawar with the destination of Kabul University. “It all went exactly as planned. We didn’t lose a single document in transit. 299 sacks, all transported over a period of several months with private Afghan trucks.”

The flow of new reports, documents and literature into the col­lections increases every day. The library has been full for a long time and now new premises are needed, and quick! Blueprints for the new building on the campus are finished. Land has been earmarked for the project and Nancy has a document with the sig­natures of all the important people, including President Karzai’s, which establishes the fact that the project will be a part of next year’s budget. But still, not much has happened. It has been outmaneuvered in the corridors of the bureaucracy. “I need two million dollars and I need them now,” Nancy almost shouts out these words as she brings her fist down on the table.

We eat lunch together. We go for a drive. We sit and talk together. Nancy constantly points at different buildings and tells me how they once looked and I try to take it all in. Traffic is frightful in Kabul nowadays with yellow taxis – Toyota Corollas – honking and crowding together in great flocks at every intersection. They mingle with white development aid jeeps with gigantic antennas on the front of the vehicle and here and there a Russian Lada or Volga. And right in the middle of all this, trudge old men and don­keys pulling their squeaky fruit carts apparently untroubled by all the racket. We are on our way to the university for a visit to The Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University, ACKU, which earlier, when it was in Peshawar, was called the Afghanistan Research and Information Centre, ARIC and fell under ACBAR.

I am quiet as I walk through the Kabul university library. An ingrained behavior. Some students sit with their heads buried deep in books opened on the table in front of them. Some of them look up, some of them make no notice of us. Grayish-brown Kabul dust has formed a light veil on every square inch of every shelf. There are a lot of books here but there are still some big holes on the shelves. There’s room for more literature, that’s good. We go through the library and in one corner we approach a glass door. We open it and step in, right into the col­lection of reports, documents, books newspapers and magazines. Right into the historical identity of Afghanistan. This is her lifetime achievement. Hers and Louis’.

It’s really cramped inside the ACKU and it didn’t take more than a fleeting glance for me to see that they are already outgrowing their allotted space. The new building that Nancy intends to build out on the campus area must be built as soon as possible, right now, in fact. A few employees are busy sorting through and scan­ning material in order to make it available via electronic media. I exchange a few words with some young IT-fellows who, from what I can see, seem to know what they are doing. Nancy shows me around. It’s so tight that I have to walk sideways in order not to pull down the books and document holders around me. She shows me a display case of a library box. These boxes held about 200 books and were sent out into the countryside so that those who had learned to read at one time wouldn’t forget what they had learned. The books were mostly technical literature that could be used in daily life. But they could also include books of a lighter nature such as storybooks and books on toy-making. Library boxes proved to be a lengthy success when they were introduced in the middle of the 90s.

Nancy needs to do a few things and asks me to wait outside the library. I sit down in the shade. It’s beginning to get a little war­mer now. The real heat of summer was long in coming this year and even if it is June it’s not over 25-26 degrees (about 80°F) in the middle of the day. But warmer weather is on its way they say and I wonder if it’s starting now. Some students hurry by. Girls in jeans, tunic and headscarf and boys in jeans and shirt. Decent and yet comfortable. The campus is attractive with extensive green areas that have run a bit wild. The trees growing here have managed to survive the struggles that have taken place in the area during the past few decades. Trees are worth a lot in Afgha­nistan – there aren’t so many of them.

On a couple of occasions during our conversation, mainly when we speak of Louis and his excavations, Nancy mentions a speci­fic object with an odd name.” What exactly is ‘Daddy’s head’?” I finally ask her.

“About this big,” says Nancy and measures up about 3 inches between her thumb and index finger. “In limestone. It depicts a head and is from the stone age. It’s the oldest artefact that has been dug up in this part of the world.”

When Louis found the little stone – the head – at one of his dig­gings, he took his time before telling the world about his unique discovery. It was first when five or six experts had taken a look at his find and confirmed its authenticity, first then did he go out with the news. That was in “1971. He asked the government for permission to take it with him to the U.S. in order to get the media attention it deserved. “Sure,” came the answer. “But if you lose it you’ll owe us half a million dollars.”

Louis put the head in the pocket of his jacket and nonchalantly threw it up on the shelf when he later got on the plane. Nancy was worried to death and kept her eye on Louis’ jacket the whole trip. She even asked their children to keep a sharp eye on it. In the States, the find was shown on television and received a large spread in several newspapers, including Time Magazine

“So we arrived in New York, the stone still in Louis’ jacket pocket. In an elevator full of people who looked like robots, all identical with dark suits, white shirts and briefcases, Sally says suddenly: ‘Daddy, do you still have your head in your pocket?’ The robots turned to life and the stone had got its name.”

On the way back to Afghanistan, in Teheran. Louis had put “Daddy’s head” in a matchbox, something which Nancy had some decided views about. “Louis,” she said. “Now you have let the world know about this fantastic little stone. Do you feel comfortable about returning so priceless an article to the state of Afghanistan in a matchbox?”

No sooner said than done. They visited a local jeweler who sho­wed them around in his shop. But all Nancy was looking for was a little velvet box. She finally found one, a red one, and “Daddy’s head” could be returned in what Nancy considered a worthy package. “Daddy’s head” in its new velvet box was locked in and a replica was used for exhibits.

“When we recently, only a couple of years ago, opened the vault where valuable museum pieces have been kept under years of war, everything was still there. Fantastic old artefacts of inde­scribable value, everything was there. We started by making an inventory of the gold.” The fact of the matter is that only a few people knew what actually was in the vault that had been locked for so many years. The “Bactrian gold” as it is called, includes 20,600 objects and not a single one was missing when the vault was opened.

“The museum staff are the real heroes. This treasure is intact today thanks to the fact that staff members didn’t say a word about what was hidden in the six vaults. The rest of the world was sure that the gold had been stolen when the museum was plundered during the war, but museum personnel knew better and have been able to keep their secret for all these years.” said Nancy in an interview with the New York Times journalist Carlotta Gall in June 2004, just after the opening of the vault.

But outside the vault there were still big sacks full of additional museum pieces. “I received an email recently from an old friend who told me she had been there when the first sack was opened. And there, right on top, she found a remarkable little bundle wrapped in brown paper. She tore off the paper only to come to another layer of paper, newspaper. She continued peeling the bundle and under the newspaper she found toilet paper and then tissue paper. And there, at the heart of this shapeless little bundle lay ‘Daddy’s head’. I had supposed that the little stone head had disappeared because even with a knowledge of ar­chaeology, ‘Daddy’s head’ could easily have been taken for any other uninteresting, insignificant stone. But some wise person obviously knew what he or she was doing when ‘Daddy’s head’ was wound into these many layers of paper.”

It’s a new day and we are sitting on the veranda of a house in southern Kabul. This house belongs to the New York Times, and it is here that Nancy most often stays when she visits Kabul. There is a fantastic garden around the house with a fine green lawn. I notice that the blades of grass are of a thicker quality than what we are used to in Sweden. Climbing grapevines and flowers in bright colors surround us. Nancy loves gardens and she says that Afghans do too. “Nowhere else do you find people so in love with their gardens as you do in Afghanistan.”

That’s the way it has been and still is in many respects, but on the way here I noticed a lot of newly constructed buildings used as show pieces where they seem to have completely forgotten about gardens. The buildings themselves take up almost the entire lot. Nancy doesn’t like that. But what is worse, a lot worse, is that many of these buildings are symbols for the widespread corruption that is found everywhere today.

“There was corruption before too, of course, but not in the same way as today. It’s become an epidemic. It’s terrible to see people completely unrestrained constructing such buildings when it is so obvious that they are being built with dirty money. Besides, they are ugly and for me it’s so un-Afghan to erect a building without a garden.”

In Durham in North Carolina in the US, Nancy has a beautiful garden – if you can call a lot of five acres for a garden. “It’s so peaceful there in spite of the fact that it lies in a built-up area, but it’s too big a house for me. Much too big. Our plans were that Louis and I would settle down and grow old together and finish up all of the projects we had started. I go over there now and again but not so often as before. Now I’ve got to get hold of those 2 million dollars for the new ACKU center so I can get things cleaned up here and get back to work on all the unfinis­hed projects in that house in Durham!” When I just recently asked Nancy to have a look at this text she wrote back: “We have the 2 million now and the drawings are complete so we can look forward to some action at the site before the end of the year.”

Nancy has three children. Actually they are Louis’ children from a previous marriage, but Nancy sees them as her own and treats them as if she were their real mother and the children treats her as a real mother. The oldest daughter is married with a Cana­dian, the youngest, the one who coined “Daddy’s head” grooms, dogs, and… you see … I am so old that my grandchildren are in college,” she says with a laugh followed by a minor attack of coughing. Nancy’ also has a sister, Sheri Mathias, eleven years’ younger. She lives in Mexico and is strangely enough a musician. Yes, that’s right a harpist. She started where Nancy left off.

Nancy’s mother, Emily Gilchrist, was a Broadway actress and li­ved with her husband, a developmental aid worker Duane Spen­ser Hatch, in India when she discovered that she was pregnant. That was in 1927. “My mother said to my father in a very definite way, ‘Duane. this child is going to be born in the U.S. Maybe it’ll be a boy and he may want to become president someday. I’m not going to let my child start out on the minus side.’ They took a train to Calcutta and then a ship to the U.S. To Cooperstown. My birthplace. I turned out to be a girl and besides a girl who couldn’t imagine anything worse than being the president of the United States. When my mother became pregnant again eleven years later, she wasn’t so particular and my sister was born in southern India.”

Nancy has often been asked the question why she chooses to stay on in Afghanistan in spite of all the problems she and others have to live with every day. I think it has something to do with the people here, the Afghans. She always speaks with esteem of Afghans, in a natural and respectful manner, as if she were talking about something that resembles the soul of a people or a national character.

“They are tolerant and full of respect as a people. They have a feeling for what is important in interaction with other people. Here they can look you in the eye and figure out whether or not you are genuine. If they detect that you are trying to ingratiate yourself with them, they are polite in return. If they discover that you are honest and sincere, you have a friend for life. This is a dis­tinguishing feature that I like and I see it around me all the time.”

Nancy is sometimes associated with a special epithet. It got its start in Peshawar. “The Diplomat was the name of a new magazine that had just come out. And on the cover of the first issue there was a picture of me. Under the picture I could read the text: Afghanistan’s Grandmother. I was furious. ‘Look what they’ve done,’ I said to the people at the office, I got no reaction at all. Finally, one of them said: ‘What’s the matter? You are like a grandmother to us. When we have problems we always go to you, no matter if they are personal or job related. We can always discuss things with you, just like we can with our own grand­mothers’. It dawned on me that that the whole thing was just a cultural clash.”

Confounded by the epithet, Nancy only saw a decrepit old lady in the grandmother image. But her colleagues saw a person with experience of life with whom they could willingly consult and discuss things. “Suddenly I felt extremely honored by such an epithet. And it stuck. ‘Hi grandma,’ is what I hear when one of Karzai’s top advisors calls.”

Nancy with three crazy Afghans in a car at Khyber Pass on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Their car is stopped at the roadblock and a guard takes a look in the car. The driver, a doctor says: “We’re all Afghans.”

The guard looks at Nancy and then back at the doctor again “Not her. She’s not Afghan.” The doctor demands to see the guard’s superior officer. Nancy pleads with him to take it easy and starts waving her permit in the air. Anything to prevent a dispute.

The doctor is called from the car and into a sentry box. He is soon back and when the car gets rolling again, she asks him what happened in there, what he had said. “Ah, take it easy,” the doctor answered. “I just told them that you’re my grandmother!”

When Nancy first heard of the Taliban she just dismissed them from her mind. She hardly figured they were worthy of any notice. They took Kabul before anybody really understood what was happening. Nobody seemed to believe they had the capacity to do such a thing. They occupied all governmental departments and if you wanted something, you had to go through them. “I had a good deal of contact with the Taliban since I was the acting director of ACBAR for a short while. It soon became evident that those who had taken over the minister posts had bitten off more than they could chew. They didn’t have a clue but they knew that they were the ones making the decisions.” When Nancy called on the Planning Minister on one occasion, he called in question the work she was doing. He was dubious about deve­lopmental aid organizations as a whole and claimed that this was his area. He was the one who made the decisions here.

“I explained to him that aid organizations work along with the government in a complimentary manner, providing what they were unable to provide and that we had no intentions of taking over and exercising power and so on and so forth. He listened carefully – you could see he wanted to understand. I had several meetings with him and in the end we became good friends. He was genuinely interested in understanding and finding the best solutions for us so that we could work together. And I wasn’t alone when it came to realizing that it actually was possible to cooperate with the Taliban,” Nancy says.

But soon, the Taliban became more radical and stricter in their views about things in general, more suspicious. Osama bin Laden’s influence increased and his men flowed into the city. The ministers whom Nancy had gotten along so well with were dismissed and exchanged by real hardliners. Al-Qaida took over more and more and she realized that the Taliban leader Mullah Omar had lost control of things when the Buddha statues in Bamiyan were blown up. “I was in Paris when it happened – a horrible event for the entire world. A part of our universal heri­tage just completely vanished.” But Nancy dismisses the idea of reconstructing the statues.

“They weren’t just statues or monuments. They represented something higher, something greater. If they are to be rebuilt without the religious conviction behind them, they will be just another tourist attraction. I’m simply against it. Build a museum there instead and show the world how it looked at one time. The residents of Hazarajat will lose income from the lack of tourists, but what is left, the empty niches and the fantastic landscape, are still inspiring. Already we see that interest for the place is still alive even if the Buddhas aren’t standing there any longer.”

On our third and last day together, it is time to make a visit to the Kabul museum. We drive toward Darulaman, where the bomb-shattered palace with the same name lies up on a hill right next to the newly restored museum. We drive through an area that was hard hit by battles around Kabul during the civil war.

Visiting the National Museum of Afghanistan with Nancy Hatch Dupree as a guide is a privilege granted to only a precious few – a better guide can’t be found anywhere. Her imprints on the muse­um are plain to see. Besides the fact that Louis has dug up a large number of the museum artefacts directly from Afghan soil, Nancy has been so intensely connected to the museum that she knows it as well as she knows her own living room. She knows everybody and tells me about which rooms that have been restored and about parts of the museum building that no longer exist, that have been blown to pieces. We step right into the room of the head of the museum. He receives Nancy with open arms and immediately sends for tea. A bowl with candy is already on the table. The tea comes after just a few minutes. I taste a strange, fluorescent and shapeless lump, almost without any form at all, from the candy bowl, it has a peculiar taste. Nancy and the head of the museum, a lean gentleman with kind eyes, talk about everything from old times to today’s exhibition. I mostly listen. They mention that an Italian team of archaeologists is in town working with the restoration of objects which have been broken during the wars.

A bit later, one flight up, we vi­sit the room where the Italians are rummaging about. Wooden cases everywhere, metal basins, plastic buckets containing what I would describe as gravel. On some of the tables, they have poured out the “gravel” – here they are trying to lay their three dimensional puzzles. And from what I can tell, they are making progress. Here and there stand complete and half-complete sculptures, statuettes and other objects. Just like they looked some time in the past. We meet some Italians who seem to be suffering from stress. They aren’t especially interested in our presence and greet us a little indifferently – mostly wanting to get back to their work. I realize that they don’t know who I have along with me and Nancy is in­troduced. Suddenly they drop everything they are doing and just stand there gaping. ”Is it really Nancy Dupree?” someone asks.

The Italian team, four or five persons, begins to swarm around her and shower words of praise over her and ask about old ti­mes. A new Italian joins the group. “This is Nancy Dupree,” says one of them to the new arrival.

“Is that true? Nancy Dupree! Is it possible?” I realize that I am walking around the room looking rather proud of myself. Take it easy now, Nancy is actually with me. “Come on Nancy, let’s go!” She guides me through the museum. We look at prehistoric sto­ne tools, wooden sculptures from Nuristan and an ugly Buddha replica in flesh colored plastic. Some large photos, a square yard in size, are hanging on the walls. Nancy stops and points to one of the photos, a little village with buildings of mud with funny roofs. “Louis used to call those ‘tittie houses’,” she says.

We laugh at the joke and I must admit that it is a pretty ac­curate name. The roofs of the houses really do have the form of a woman’s breast. I can’t help wondering about the prevailing view towards women on the one hand and these rooftops that openly depict a naked female breast in full sight on the other. I keep my thoughts to myself and let Nancy take me further into the museum.

Outside, quite near the museum, is an unusual collection of vehicles. A somewhat rusty steam locomotive from the 20s imported from Germany, that was to transport the king from Darulaman to Kabul stands next to a row of British luxury cars that have seen better days but which certainly at one time carried political leaders and other bigwigs around Kabul.

On the other side of the road lies the bomb-shattered former parliament building. Like a wounded giant, it lies there and looks down upon us with tired eyes. What once were copper domes are today just rusty iron skeletons. Life has taken its toll on this neoclassical colossus, built in the 1920s for King Amanullah Khan. The palace is a terrible but sadly telling reminder of Afghanistan’s history. But in spite of all the bullet-holes and rockets that have shattered great parts of the once so magnificent building, it is still standing. In the same way, Afghanistan and the Afghans are still standing up – in defiance of decades of nightmarish hardships.

“Over the years, Afghanistan has seen many setbacks and I have several times thought that now the Afghans have hit bottom. Now they’re going to have a hard time getting back on their feet. But then you wake up one morning and look around and in some miraculous way, the problems have solved themselves. Let’s just hope that it will turn out that way this time too,” says Nancy in the dry and hot wind that is blowing over the plain a few miles outside of Kabul.

The afternoon is getting late and it’s time for us to drive back to the city. It will be the last trip with Nancy for now. I give her a hug when I climb out of the car at an intersection. I walk the last stretch of the way, it’s only a few blocks. A few blocks in a throbbing and rapidly growing city of several millions. And in a fascinating country which by now ought to have earned the right to stability, security and peace.

Nancy Hatch Dupree now 81 years old, will probably continue working with the stubbornness of a child. I can’t really imagine her being content with slowing down. Nancy says she ended up here just by chance but it is no coincidence that she is still here. This is her life. I can’t help wondering what Nancy’s life would have looked like if a certain little bird hadn’t built its nest on the lawn where she was sitting and writing that day over 40 years ago. A bird that says hup-hup-hup and so on and so forth…

 

 

 

The EDA conference and exhibition “Exploring Additive Manufacturing Impact in Defence Capabilities” successfully demonstrated the many possible applications additive manufacturing technologies (also known as 3D-printing) can bring to the defence sector. Around 200 representatives from government institutions, industry, academia as well as research and technology centres participated in this unique forum which was held in Gijón (Spain) on 12 September 2017.

The event was structured in three different activities (conference sessions, exhibition and technical visit) with the aim of raising military awareness of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and their potential to improve military operations, logistic support or maintenance of platforms.

The conference session was opened by Mr. Rini Goos, Deputy Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency, who highlighted “3D-printing can become a game changer for defence. It allows for easy customisation of small series and opens the possibility to manufacture even very complex parts - on site and on demand. This is especially important for military operations and their logistic support”. The talks were focused on three central themes: additive manufacturing expectations from EDA and the European Commission, current 3D-printing experiences of the European Ministries of Defence and industry developments in the AM field from companies specialised in the defence sector. The results of the EDA AM project were also presented, highlighting the Agency’s capacity to supporting a capability from R&T to development. A main conclusion of the conference is that in spite of the fact that some organisations have already earned significant experience on AM, non-technical factors (IPR, training, standardisation and certification, health and safety, etc.) currently still impose limitations for AM implementation in defence. As reinforced during the exhibition, only with the inputs provided by all the attendees and via the EDA consultation to identify impact of 3D-printing technologies in defence all these factors will be identified, and the way ahead towards the full implementation of AM in defence could be depicted.

Attendees also had access to an exhibition area where 3D-printed prototypes and real parts were on display. The EDA’s deployable AM facility was on display as well. Industry, academia and research centres from eight different European countries participated as exhibitors.

Finally, a visit to PRODINTEC advance manufacturing centre’s facilities (contractor at the EDA AM project) was performed. There, attendees had the opportunity to see AM equipment in operation and its possible applications in several sectors from defence to health, aerospace or construction.

Background

The conference and exhibition were part of EDA’s “Additive Manufacturing Feasibility Study & Technology Demonstration” project which is expected to be finalised in December 2017. The project, initiated in the framework of the CapTech Materials & Structures within the EDA Research & Technology domain, is composed of three work strands: (i) a desktop study to place additive manufacturing and its potential in a defence context, (ii) a technology demonstration of the feasibility of deploying these technologies in support of a military operation, (iii) an exhibition to senior military staff concluded in the event celebrated at Gijón last 12th September.

 

Further information on 3D-printing at EDA

• See the videos of the EDA AM Exhibition and EDA AM Facility deployment
• Album of the Exhibition and of the AM Facility deployment
• Event web - Exploring Additive Manufacturing impact in Defence capabilities
• Successful test flight for EDA 3D-printing lab during deployment at EAATTC 17-3
• Defence experts meet to discuss implications of Additive Manufacturing
• 16.ESI.OP.144 — Additive manufacturing feasibility study and technology demonstration
• 3D printing: EDA launches new project to test feasibility in the defence field
• Latest EAATTC 2017-1
• EDA AM Project Fact sheet and EDA AM Facility Deployment Leaflet