Defence`s Feeds

Syria's telecommunications sector is still working to fill the gaps after the Damascus administrative court placed operator MTN under judicial

The IDEX defence fair in Abu Dhabi on 21-25 February brought to light a new trend in the Gulf towards

Sergey Lavrov's visit to Riyadh on 10 March to meet the crown prince and defence minister Mohammed bin Salman and

As Intelligence Online can reveal, Doha is about to unveil its new spy plane manufactured by Barzan Aeronautical, the US subsidiary of Qatari defense conglomerate Barzan Holdings. The new drone, dubbed Nightwarden, is based on Textron's Aerosonde model, with whom it

Chipmaker Geochip, which closed a €13m fundraising round on 8 March, is looking to quickly establish itself as a top

Length of video : 95'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The Subcommittee on Security and Defence and the Committee on Foreign Affairs will go over ways of strengthening EU-NATO cooperation to better respond to common security and defence challenges in providing security to citizens in the Euro-Atlantic area. The meeting will take place on 15 March, with the participation of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Security challenges potentially stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and opportunities for closer cooperation on military mobility, the fight against hybrid threats and the use of disruptive and emerging technologies are some of the key issues that are expected to be addressed during the debate. In the current context, the question of enhancing cohesion among the Allies, when unilateral initiatives threaten the security of all partners, are also set to be discussed.
Live streaming
Meeting agenda and documents
Open remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
EU Fact Sheets: External relations policy
EU Fact Sheets: Security and defence
Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Americas

Lockheed Martin Space won a $558.8 million contract modification for Trident II (D5) missile production and deployed systems support. The UGM-133A Trident II, or Trident D5 is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), built by Lockheed Martin Space in Sunnyvale, California, and deployed with the American and British navies. Work is expected to be completed September 30, 2026. Fiscal 2021 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $477,091,291; United Kingdom funds in the amount of $73,747,000; and fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) in the amount of $8,003,070 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Bell Boeing Joint Project Office won a $25.7 million order, which provides flight test support for the V-22 aircraft in support of the Navy, Air Force, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft developed by Boeing and Bell Helicopters. Boeing is responsible for the fuselage, landing gear, avionics, electrical and hydraulic systems, performance and flying qualities. Work under the new contract will take place in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida. Estimated completion date is in March 2026.

Middle East & Africa

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), international arms exports in the years 2015-2020 remained at the same level as in the years between 2011 and 2016. While the US, France and Germany increased its exports, these were offset by fewer exports from Russia and China. There was a strong growth in exports to the Middle East. The Middle East was the fastest growing market for arms, importing 25% more in 2016-20 compared to the previous five year period. The biggest increases came from Saudi Arabia (61%), Egypt (136%) and Qatar (361%).

The German Air Force has delivered a replacement Heron unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Israel to Afghanistan in order to replace one that was forced to make a controlled landing on March 5. Germany leases two Heron drones from Israel for its mission in Afghanistan.

Europe

According to The Telegraph, Britain is set to announce that it is increasing the number of nuclear warheads it can stockpile. The final details of this will be revealed on March the 16th in the Integrated Review. The review was previously described by Boris Johnson as the largest review of its kind since the Cold War and will be published later this month. It is expected next week to signal a potential increase of the number of Trident nuclear warheads for the first time since the end of the cold war.The UK’s stockpile of nuclear weapons peaked at about 500 in the late 70s, but had been gradually decreasing ever since as the perceived threat from the Soviet Union and now Russia had been assumed to be decreasing.

Asia-Pacific

Israel and South Korea are to co-operate in the field of unmanned airborne intelligence, surveillance, targeting and reconnaissance (ISTAR). A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed on March 15. The MOU between Elbit Systems and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is geared at developing future unmanned airborne ISTAR capabilities for the Republic of Korea (RoK) Armed Forces and potential international customers.

Today’s Video

Watch: Elbit Systems / Shore Protection Missile System (SPMS)

An image of the F-22 shared on social media shows the Raptor sitting on its nose on the tarmac at Eglin AFB. An F-22 Raptor, assigned to the 325th Fighter Wing, experienced a ground mishap [...]

The post F-22 Raptor Experiences An Apparent Nose-Gear Failure After Emergency Landing At Eglin Air Force Base appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s launched the Storm Shadow cruise missiles on Daesh terrorist targets for the first time last week. On Mar. 10, 2021, RAF Typhoon FGR4s supporting Operation Shader, the UK’s contribution [...]

The post RAF Typhoon FGR4s Carry Out Air Strike On Daesh In Iraq Using Storm Shadow Cruise Missiles For The First Time appeared first on The Aviationist.

Length of video : 60'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Length of video : 68'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

In the context of the exponential growth of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the President of the European Parliament has announced a number of measures to contain the spread of epidemic and to safeguard Parliament's core activities.

The current precautionary measures adopted by the European Parliament to contain the spread of COVID-19 do not affect work on legislative priorities. Core activities are reduced, but maintained to ensure that the institution's legislative, budgetary, scrutiny functions are maintained.

The meetings will be with remote participation for Members (being able to view and listen to proceedings, ask for the floor and intervene in the meeting). Other participants are invited to follow the meeting through webstreaming.

Following these decisions, the next meeting of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) will take place on 15 and 16 March 2021 (online).
The meeting agenda and documents will be published here.

SEDE meetings' calendar 2021
EP calendar 2021
Press release: Debate with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency - 16 March 2021
Press release: Exchange of views with the NATO Secretary General - 15 March 2021
Press release: Instability in the Central African Republic - 24 February 2021
Press release: Chair of the Security and Defence Subcommittee welcomes extension of the New START Treaty - 5 February 2021
Press release: MEPs to discuss security and defence priorities with Minister Gomes Cravinho - 28 January 2021
Press release: MEPs call for unity in Common Security and Defence Policy - 4 December 2020
Press release: MEPS to examine prospects of the EU space defence sector - 27 November 2020
Press release: Common Security and Defence Policy: Disinformation targeting EU missions and operations - 16 November 2020
Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The Southern Transitional Council (STC), the Abu Dhabi-backed secessionist entity that took control of Socotra last June, has given the

The head of Tracfin's terrorism financing unit, police commander Arnaud B., has been swifltly removed from Tracfin, France's financial intelligence

DGSE chief Bernard Emié (IOL 851) met Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and the country's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel

Igor Lopatonok, the filmmaker born in Ukraine in 1968 and made a US citizen after moving to Los Angeles in

A slick monthly magazine produced by Chinese state-backed media and a small publishing house in Paris and linked to a

In a contract award notice published on 3 March, Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) acknowledges serious shortcomings in its capacity to exploit data collected by the British forces for intelligence purposes. For MoD strategists, data at the ministry's disposal is

EDA today issued a call for applications from parties interested in participating in the ‘EDA Defence Innovation Prize 2021’ which is dedicated this year to the topic: Innovative solutions & technologies on Human-Machine Interfaces enabling Human-Machine-Teaming for Defence.

The EDA contest is rewarding companies and research entities who come up with innovative and ground-breaking technologies, products, processes or services applicable in the defence domain.

Applicants are called to come up with stimulating innovative solutions & technologies on Human Machine Interfaces to enable Human Machine Teaming for Defence Applications in Air, Land and Maritime platforms. 

Examples of these technologies are:

• Gesture commands
• Head and tracking; eye gesture and wide area eye tracking
• Voice commands and 3-D audio
• Immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality
• Wearable human-machine-interfaces
• Human multi-asset interaction
• Haptic control and feedback
• Virtual Assistants
• Crew Monitoring System such as brain computing interface and pilot sensing and monitoring
• Stress and health monitoring
• Autonomous decision-making functions such as human-AI interaction.

Medical and casualties evacuation, supply chain and precision air drop or intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance (ISR) are only some examples of domains where the innovation on these technologies could enable Human Machine Teaming for Defence operations.

The winning idea/concept will be worth 30,000€.

How to apply?

The deadline for submitting applications is 31 August 2021. 

The contest rules and application criteria/details can be found here (plus the annexes to the call for applications here).

The prize winner will be selected by an evaluation committee composed of EDA staff. The prize will be handed over during the 2021 EDA Annual Conference in Brussels later this year.

Submitted innovations must be the applicants’ own intellectual property. However, submissions may include improvements of already existing ideas, new combinations or adaptations of them applicable in a different context. The applicants must demonstrate the innovative added-value of their ideas, compared to what exists already. Proposals must be innovative, implementable through a collaborative project and financially affordable in terms of future development and exploitation.

Who can apply?

The contest is especially (but not exclusively) aimed at non-traditional defence industries (civil or dual-use producers) and researchers as they play a growing role in inventing and creating the disruptive capabilities that Member States’ Armed Forces will need tomorrow. The contest also provides a good opportunity for small and medium sized enterprises, research organisations and universities involved in defence R&D activities to demonstrate their know-how, maximize dual-use synergies and create partnerships with key players in the defence field.

Background

Since 2018, the Agency organises the 'EDA Defence Innovation Prize' which rewards companies and research entities who come up with ground-breaking technologies, products, processes or services applicable in the defence domain. The contest aims to stimulate defence innovation in Europe and provide non-traditional defence stakeholders (civil industries, SMEs, research organisations, universities, etc.) with an opportunity to showcase their know-how in domains relevant for defence.

More information

• Call for applications
• Annexes to call for applications
• EDA Defence Innovation Prize Work Programme 2021
• EDA Defence Innovation Prize webpage
• 2020 EDA Defence Innovation Prize Winners