Around 80 experts from European ministries of defence, EU bodies, industry and academia met on 26-27 April in Crete, Greece for the second thematic workshop of the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS) to discuss how to reduce the carbon emissions of defence installations.
CF SEDSS is part of the Agency’s efforts to help Member States and the defence sector contribute to the energy transition and develop more sustainable policies.
Organised by the European Defence Agency (EDA) and hosted by the Hellenic Ministry of National Defence, the two-day workshop in Chania brought together experts of the CF SEDSS Working Group 1 on Energy Efficiency and Buildings Performance and Working Group 2 on Renewable Energy Sources.
The objective was to examine the potential of renewable energy sources and building performance improvements to reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions and fossil fuel dependency. Ultimately, this should increase the defece sector’s energy efficiency and resilience. The workshop also explored how defence sector of measures - such as integration of renewable energy sources elements into structures, energy storage, nearly zero-emission buildings, smarts grids and the islanding of military installations – can contribute.
The CF SEDSS workshop included a site visit to 115 Combat Wing Airport at Souda Bay, where a project to create a net zero carbon emissions facility has been underway since 2021. Participants visited the photovoltaic park, the energy distributing hub and other areas of interest, which helped stimulate technical discussions that followed.
Beyond the national level
In his welcome speech, Col. Ilias Manolis, Head of Infrastructure and Environmental Protection Department, Hellenic Ministry of Defence (HMoD), shared his perspectives. Greece’s initiatives are based on the 2020 second revision of the HMoD’s Policy for Environmental Protection/Energy Management and Adaptation of the Armed Forces to Climate Change Impacts as well as the roadmap facilitating its implementation.
Col. Manolis also underlined the framework for developing suitable project ideas and specifically mentioned the HMoD’s intention “to explore all possibilities so that this pilot endeavour can be further exploited and implemented, not only at a national, but also at the EU level.”
Mr Panagiotis Kikiras, EDA Head of Unit Technology and Innovation, highlighted that the 115 Combat Wing Airport project was “one of the very first projects among the EU armed forces aiming to render military installations net zero emissions and carbon neutral using renewable energy and smart distribution.”
Mr Kikiras also said: “Examples such as these show us that the defence is making great strides towards greener, more energy efficient and resilient defence, while contributing to the overall EU climate targets. There is still a lot of work to do, but we hope that this workshop will provide some guidance on how to decarbonise defence installations more quickly and efficiently.”
He concluded by inviting ministries of defence to “join forces to come up with ways to ensure that military buildings and installations are healthier, greener and more resilient to extreme weather events.”
EDA’s wider role
EDA supports all EU Member States in improving their defence capabilities through European cooperation. Acting as an enabler and facilitator for Ministries of Defence willing to engage in collaborative capability projects, the Agency has become the hub for European defence cooperation with expertise and networks spanning the whole spectrum of defence capabilities.
Member States use EDA as an intergovernmental expert platform where their collaborative projects are supported, facilitated, and implemented. For more details, please see here
Brussels, 26 April 2023. Today, the European Defence Agency (EDA) and the Department of Defense of the United States of America (DoD) have formalised a framework for cooperation through the signing of an Administrative Arrangement (AA). The EDA-DoD AA provides for stronger transatlantic cooperation in defence in specific areas, including in the exchange of information.
The conclusion of this AA is a strong political signal, delivering on the tasking of EU and U.S. leaders in the June 2021 EU-US Summit Statement. The arrangement confirms the value of a transatlantic partnership in security and defense to confront shared security challenges, and the importance of a stronger and more capable European defence that is complementary to and interoperable with NATO.
Head of the Agency, High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell, said: “At a time when war has returned to Europe, we need to open every avenue for cooperation with our closest partners. The EDA-U.S. Administrative Arrangement provides another pillar to strengthen transatlantic cooperation and the link between the EU and the U.S. The European Defence Agency, as the hub for EU defence cooperation, plays a unique role in raising our level of defence cooperation and contributing to make the EU a stronger defence actor and partner.”
United States Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin said: “The signature of the Administrative Arrangement with EDA is evidence of the strengthening U.S.-European Union relationship. DoD and EDA’s dedicated dialogue and engagement will further contribute to transatlantic and global security. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine underlines the importance of strong U.S.-European ties in NATO and with the European Union. Deepening dialogue and cooperation will only strengthen this key strategic partnership moving forward.”
Scope, collaboration and exchange: Progressive development of the AAThe two parties have reached an understanding on an initial scope of cooperation, which may, upon mutual consent, progressively develop in the future.
The AA was signed today in Brussels by Jiři Šedivý, EDA Chief Executive, and Dr. William LaPlante, United States Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment.
Further InformationA project managed by the European Defence Agency (EDA), which aims to create a basis for a future European interoperability standard for military unmanned systems, has taken a step forward with the successful conclusion of a table-top exercise. The INTERACT (Interoperability Standards for Armed Forces Unmanned Systems) project demonstration was held over two days at the Swedish defence research centre, Totalförsvarets Forskningsinstitut (FOI). The table-top exercise marked a milestone for the project by linking the operational aspects demonstrated by simulation to the standards to be used in the frame of the NATO Architecture Framework V4.
INTERACTThe interoperability standard that is under development within INTERACT will allow unmanned assets to be deployed in flexible and varied configurations such as singular deployment, manned and unmanned teaming, hand over or autonomous swarm, and independent of organisational or national provenance. An enhanced level of interoperability will greatly increase responsiveness and flexibility and hence the warfighting capability of European armed forces.
Handover in all sensesDuring the tabletop demonstration, a small simulation session with live players was used to demonstrate the operational upgrade stemming from key interoperability aspects such as the handover of unmanned systems from one control station to another, even when belonging to another entity or allied nation.
In testing the execution of a handover, the tool used (Enterprise Architect from Sparx-EA) has proven invaluable for each operational phase. This has shown the best standards to use and the missing standards to develop. These results will be highlighted in the roadmap the project is producing to fully develop a European standard for interoperable unmanned systems.
While the full development of a new standard was out of the scope of this study, this roadmap is the first step to validate a complete standard in this area. This demonstration has validated the key elements of this first step, allowing for follow-on studies.
INTERACT backgroundINTERACT received 1.5 million euros for a two-year study from the PADR (Preparatory Action for Defence Research) in its 2019 call for projects. PADR is managed by the European Defence Agency, a role delegated by the European Commission.
Sweden’s FOI, the Netherlands’ Organisatie Voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek and Greece’s Institute of Communication and Computer Systems are the main beneficiaries of this project under the coordination of Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation. They are aided by the main European manufacturers of unmanned systems in the domains of air, land and sea, along with leading organisations.