EDA News

EDA’s 7th Helicopter Tactics Instructors Course (HTIC), which ran over seven weeks at Airbase No1 in Sintra (Portugal) and Pápa Air Base in Hungary, was successfully completed last week.

The course began on 30th of August with a four-week classroom phase, which included simulator training at Airbase No1 in Sintra, followed by a tree-week deployment to the Pápa Air Base in Hungary where participants engaged in live flying exercises.  Supported by personnel from the Hungarian Defence Force and Pápa Air Base, the flying phase included a complex operational scenario employing dissimilar formation flying, evasion training against a range of airborne threats, Electronic Warfare (EW) against both ground-based and airborne systems and a variety of additional tasks such as Helicopter Assault, Convoy Escort and Mutual Support. The course was led by EDA’s HTIC chief instructor team and followed by Austrian, Czech, German, Hungarian, Portuguese and Swedish crews flying on six different types of helicopters: AW-109, EH-101, H145M, Mi-171, OH-58 and UH-60.

The staff instructors came from Austria, Germany and Sweden, together with some contracted support provided by Inzpire Ltd. Also, fixed wing support was provided by units of the Czech Alca Jets and the Hungarians Gripens, acting mainly as threats during the helicopter training. In addition, EW assets and personnel were provided by Austria and Hungary.

In total, 18 Bronze, 7 Silver and 3 Gold qualifications were awarded ensuring an important contribution to the international cadre of Helicopter Tactics Instructors (HTI).

Background

The Helicopter Tactics Instructors Course (HTIC) is an advanced helicopter training activity aimed at creating helicopter tactics instructors which are enable train nationally standardised tactics procedures to foster interoperability of the European helicopter units, their level of preparation, and to facilitate readiness for future deployments. This is done independently of the type of helicopter used. It is delivered since 2013. Since 2021, its location changed to Airbase No1 in Sintra (Portugal), where the ground and simulator of the course is executed, and to Pápa Air Base (Hungary), where the flying phase is delivered.

HTIC provides aircrew from participating nations with the skills and knowledge to teach advanced tactics to front-line aircrews from within their own national organisations and to assist in delivering the EDA’s Helicopter Exercise Programme (HEP), the Helicopter Tactics Course (HTC) and future HTIC. Successful graduates from the course are awarded a qualification recognised by other Member States.  HTIC development courses run over two years: in the first year, prospective instructors refine their own knowledge of advanced helicopter tactics to the maximum degree. In the second year, the emphasis shifts to develop the participants’ ability to teach those tactics. In turn, Instructors who have demonstrated excellent abilities in delivering the course will be individually selected to come back a third time and teach alongside the existing instructional staff to finally achieve their Gold instructor qualification to become supervising instructors for future HTIC and/or components of the HTIC Chief Instructor Team.

The three main elements of HTIC include Evasion Training, Electronic Warfare and advanced Operations.  They are initially taught as stand-alone skills before being brought together in a complex, non-permissive environment in the framework of the planning and execution of Composite Air Operations (COMAO).

More information

• Video of exercise
• EDA Helicopter initiatives

BISON COUNTER, the periodic EDA-supported multinational live exercise bringing together Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED) teams from Europe and the US, kicked off today in Sardinia, Italy, with some 650 staff participating. The exercise’s objectives are to exchange and train technical skills, integrate and use available technical enablers at a tactical level and implement the full C-IED operational cycle with a view to improving interoperability and resilience among European and allied C-IED capabilities in their fight against evolving IED threats, both in military and counter-terrorism operations. 

BISON COUNTER is today the largest and most relevant EU exercise of the C-IED community. After 2013 (The Netherlands) and 2016 (Sweden), it is the third time this exercise is organised under the auspices of EDA. A total of 650 military staff from 10 EU Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden), as well as Norway and the United States participate in this year’s event hosted by the Italian Armed Forces.

As in previous editions, EDA is closely involved in the organisation and running of BISON COUNTER 21 which integrates EDA projects such as the Joint Deployable Exploitation and Analysis Laboratory (JDEAL), the European Centre for Manual Neutralisation Capabilities (ECMAN) and the Military Search Capability Building (MSCB). It can also count on the support of NATO’s C-IED Centre of Excellence.

BISON COUNTER 21 gathers dedicated teams specialised in the following enabler capabilities:

• Military Search
• Military Working Dogs
• Combat Engineering
• Route Clearance
• Explosive Ordnance Disposal/Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (EOD/IEDD)
• EOD Divers
• EOD Manual Neutralization Techniques (MNT) Teams
• Weapons Intelligence Teams (WIT)
• Level 2 Technical Exploitation, fully manned and operational Laboratory
• Combined Joint Task Force Headquarters.

The aim is to develop common processes, techniques, procedures and interoperability requirements. Lessons learned from previous BISON COUNTER editions will also be raised and included in the operational part. In the same vein, the exercise will also serve as an experimentation and testing ground for IED related assets, equipment and technologies.

Exercise scenario

As one of the key objectives is to increase responsiveness and operational readiness for EU crises management, the exercise scenario is built up on a Crisis Management Operation (CMO) and spread around different locations in order to meet the specific requirements of the different technical domains. The geographical dispersion also allows to replicate the real-life challenges that operations have to face in terms of Command and Control and Reporting, the handling and transportation of evidence collected from IED incidents, as well as their exploitation.

More information

• Bison Counter 21 factsheet
• Bison Counter 16 successfully closed (Aug 2016)
• EDA project page C-IED activities

 

Two major collaborative defence research (R&T) projects, launched under the European Commission’s Preparatory Acton on Defence Research (PADR) and implemented by the European Defence Agency (EDA), came to a close end of October. The results of both projects - OCEAN 2020 and VESTLIFE – will contribute significantly to enhancing European Member States’ defence capabilities in two important domains: maritime situational awareness and soldier protection.

OCEAN 2020

The OCEAN 2020 (Open Cooperation for European mAritime awareNess) project, launched in 2018 and co-funded by the EU with €35.48 million, achieved its main objective which was to demonstrate enhanced situational awareness in a maritime environment through the integration of legacy and new technologies for unmanned systems, ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance) payloads and effectors, by pulling together the technical specialists in the maritime domain covering the ‘observing, orienting, deciding and acting’ operational tasks.  As the biggest of all PADR projects with no less than 43 entities from 15 European countries involved, OCEAN 2020 also successfully addressed the problems of integrating EU systems and individual organisations into a coherent framework to increase cost effectiveness and interoperability for joint missions. The variety of assets involved in the project highlighted how a global integration of multi-domain unmanned systems in an operational task force can provide a force multiplier.

The project implementation culminated in two major demonstrations in the Mediterranean (November 2019) and Baltic seas (2021). All in all, the OCEAN 2020 confirmed the EU’s ability to lead innovation in support of Europe’s strategic autonomy in the maritime domain.

Information on the OCEAN 2020 consortium (led by Leonardo) and its 43 members can be found on the dedicated OCEAN2020 website.

VESTLIFE

The second project now accomplished, called VESTLIFE, was signed in April 2018 and granted an EU grant of €2.43 million to develop an ultralight modular bullet proof integral solution for dismounted soldier protection, including a CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological Nuclear) detection system. The new protective gear provides an increased coverage area whilst maintaining comfort, plus a weight reduction of the ballistic panels. It therefore ensures an optimum balance between protection and comfort, tailoring such a protective surface to the forecasted mission risk. The protection system developed in this project consists of soft panels and hard plates.

 

 

The VESTLIFE consortium Led by AITEX (Spain), also encompassed 5 other participants from 5 countries: CITEVE (Portugal), Brapa Consultancy (the Netherlands), TECNALIA (Spain), Petroceramics (Italy) and FYComposites (Finland).

 

Additive Manufacturing (AM) – commonly known as 3D-Printing – has been identified as a technology that could significantly reduce the logistic footprint of armed forces deployed on missions. As part of its work to enhance the use of AM in the armed forces, EDA supported the first European Military Additive Manufacturing Symposium which took place in Bonn, Germany on 12-13 October. The conference heard that AM offers unique opportunities for the armed forces especially in logistic support, but its advantages are yet to be fully embraced within the military and faces several hurdles impeding fuller implementation in defence.

In his keynote speech to the 2-day event, EDA Deputy Chief Executive, Olli Ruutu spoke on how EDA supports its Member States in their efforts to employ AM by sustaining newest technical developments and the necessary elaboration of common standards to enhance interoperability.

“AM technologies can be highly promising for enhancing defence capabilities such Logistic Support for Deployed Forces in remote or hostile environments. Having AM technologies in the area of operation might significantly impact the course of CSDP missions. Time between failure and restoring the availability of platforms, transportation and storage of significant quantities of spares can be decreased, reducing the logistic footprint of an operation” Mr. Ruutu said. 

He also pointed to the important transfer of EDA’s work on AM from research and technology to capability development.

   

Additive Manufacturing for Logistic Support (AMLS)

Building on the results of its 2018 R&T project on AM, a new project, Additive Manufacturing for Logistic Support (AMLS) was launched by EDA within the area of Capability Development. Eight areas of activities were identified for this project, including technology aspects, training and education, as well as procurement processes. The ultimate objective is to elaborate and determine solutions in the eight areas which will foster the cooperation and enhance the interoperability among participants. 

A dedicated panel on Best Practice, moderated by EDA, addressed some of the practicalities and hurdles for the AMLS project to overcome. The panel underscored the distinction that AM is not a capability shortfall but an important skill which has the potential to reduce the logistics footprint. Two EDA supported R&T projects were also presented in this panel, which are aiming to enhance the performances of ballistic protections and energic material development for AM respectively. 

Emergence of Circular Economy and AM  A second panel discussion also moderated by EDA, discussed the emergence of AM as one of the key contributors to the circular economy. The event heard how AM is a means to intensify the use of materials and expand systems’ lifetime by providing on-demand solutions for repair, remanufacturing and recycling. The panel also pointed to EDA’s new Incubation Forum on Circular Economy in European Defence (IF CEED) to create common initiatives to make the most of AM’s potential for circularity: both technical and logistics aspects will be addressed in the next two years.   A first European AM Symposium

The conference was organed by the German Association for Defence Technology (DWT) and supported by EDA. Attended by over 160 representatives of industry, armed forces, academia and institutions, the event offered a unique European overview on the rapid development of AM in industry and opportunities on offer for military.

 

 

 

The European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) today agreed to further deepen their already close cooperation in the cyber domain. The objective of the enhanced cooperation, approved today through an Exchange of Letter between EDA Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý and ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, is to further expand the cyber resilience cooperation between the two organisations.

EDA and ESA have established a close working relationship on the basis of the Administrative Agreement signed in June 2011 which covers important domains of mutual interest, such as space-based Earth observation, unmanned vehicles, whether on sea or air, critical technologies for non-dependence, CBRNe, Guidance, Navigation and Control, and cyber resilience. In 2016, EDA and ESA signed an Implementing Arrangement on their cooperation for the Cyber Defence for Space Project. In the field of capability research and development, ESA and EDA are jointly investing in the Space and Cyber Defence Joint Study, now concentrating on Cyber Threat Intelligence, and cooperating on an ESA-led Cyber security and space-based services study, which involves other key actors such as the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Eurocontrol and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA). In December 2020, the Joint ESA-EDA Cyber Resilience Task Force was tasked to explore new and further areas of relevance and potential cooperation or coordination. ESA is also an observer in EDA’s Cyber Ranges Federation Programme Arrangement Management Committee (PAMC).

New level of cyber cooperation

As cyber threats are constantly growing in numbers and sophistication, cyber resilience is essential to EDA and ESA stakeholders alike. Cyber-attacks can target individuals, companies and public institutions or services (e.g. energy grids, financial markets, unmanned vehicles etc.), but also democracies namely though hybrid threats. Space systems being a central link in this new intertwined security continuum, the information and data collected, managed and exchanged by ESA and EDA Member States are of critical value to Europe’s security.

Hence the need for EDA and ESA, acknowledged in today’s Exchange of Letters, to cooperate even closer to improve the cyber-resilience of space systems, notably by:

• sharing relevant policy and technical elements to shape and orient respective activities and strengthen the partnership;
• having EDA to act as a facilitator between ESA and EDA communities while ESA proposes to invite EDA to all Council or Sub-Committee meetings of relevance under this partnership;
• regularly updating the list of priority cooperative avenues to be further explored, exploited and implemented. The Joint ESA-EDA cyber resilience task force will also issue a yearly implementation report;
• exploring how EDA and ESA could expand their coordinated and cooperative approach to other key cyber security actors such as, the European Commission, the External Action Service, and namely its Space Task Force, ENISA, the European Security and Defence College, the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre and Network, the Hybrid Fusion Cell and Hybrid Centre of Excellence, or the EU Satellite Centre.

EDA Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý said: “Space and cyber defence are intrinsically linked. Therefore, it is only natural that the European Space Agency and the European Defence Agency work closely together to strengthen their respective Member States’ cyber resilience and, subsequently, Europe’s security. The new enhanced cooperation launched by today’s Exchange of Letters is another practical step towards achieving this important common goal”.  

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said: “In today’s world, space creates and relays critical data, which we need to protect. We are now facing an ever increasing dependence on space infrastructure and services, and this dependence increases the impact of these being disrupted, even from natural occurrences. This is the very reason why ESA is committed to securing its space assets as well as those of its Member States and partners from cyber interference. In doing so, we also strive to build cooperation avenues with our partners, and one such longstanding partner in cyber resilience has been EDA. »

More information

• EDA and ESA cooperate on Next-Generation Secure Satellite Communication
• ESA and EDA joint research: advancing into the unknown (Jan. 2020)

EDA Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý was in Cyprus this week (11-12 October) for meetings with Defence Minister Charalambos Petrides and Chief of Defence, Lieutenant General Dimokritos Zervakis. He also had talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Christodoulides. The visit was part of the CE’s ongoing ‘tour des capitales’ which has him visiting all 26 EDA Member States.  

The ongoing work on the EU’s Strategic Compass, the implementation of the recommendations made in the first Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), the state of play of the various PESCO projects with Cypriot participation, EDA’s current and future role as the European hub for collaborative capability development and driver of defence innovation, Cyprus’ involvement in EDA projects and programmes as well as EU-NATO cooperation were among the main topics discussed. The Agency’s practical support to CSDP missions and operations was also discussed, with a particular focus on maritime surveillance (MARSUR project).  

Mr Sedivy also had a discussion with representatives from Cypriot R&D companies and entities involved in EDA and EDIDP projects. He also visited the KIOS Centre of Excellence at the University of Cyprus. 

“I had the opportunity to express to Minister Petrides and Chief of Defence Lt General Zervakis my sincere appreciation for the fact that Cyprus is not only a very active stakeholder and contributor to EDA projects and programmes, but also a constant and committed supporter of deeper European defence cooperation. I am thankful for the good and positive talks I had over the past two days with all my interlocutors and look forward to continuing the Agency’s close cooperation with Cyprus”, Mr Šedivý commented. 

“Jiří Šedivý’s visit to Cyprus was really timely in the midst of the ongoing discussions and deliberations on the various defence related European initiatives. We had the chance to exchange views on an array of issues of mutual interest, including on Cyprus’ contribution and active engagement with the EDA and in a number of defence capabilities projects. I also highlighted the important role and contribution of the EDA to this end and the significant added value and experience that the Agency to the benefit of the European defence industry, research and technology. Following our joint meeting with Cypriot companies and research centres involved in EDA and EDIDP projects, I am confident that we will be able to increase Cypriot participation in future projects”, Minister Petrides added. 

Climate Change and Security Conference

On Monday (11 October), Minister Petrides and the EDA Chief Executive jointly inaugurated the Climate Change and Security Conference organised by the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) and the Cyprus Institute.  

The ‘European Spartan Exercise’ 2021, an annual flying exercise organised by the C-27J community with the support of EDA and hosted this year by the Bulgarian Air Force, is currently underway at Plovdiv (27 Sep.-8. Oct). The aim of the exercise is to increase interoperability among European countries operating the C-27J Spartan military aircraft. It is one of the concrete outcomes of the European Air Transport Fleet (EATF) partnership signed in 2011 by 20 EDA Member States.
 
Five countries (Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia) are participating in this year’s event, with four aircraft. The exercise is part of EDA’s dedicated C-27J project (Cat.B) where the five participating Member States C-27J users identify and develop common projects in the domains of operations, training, logistics, procurement, airworthiness and SESAR (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research) to achieve a high level of interoperability and cost-efficient operating and maintenance models. It’s the 5th edition of the exercise the last of which took place in Romania in 2019 (the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic).

Tactical training

The C-27J Spartan aircraft is designed to perform tactical missions in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, providing direct air transport to the theatre, day and night. The Spartan Exercise is also focused on those types of operations, training C-27J crews to fly low level, tactical navigations in different scenarios. Several airfields in Bulgaria have been chosen for training: at Cheshnegirovo airfield, crews are performing Tactical Approaches, Personnel Airdrops and Aerial Cargo Delivery, whereas Bezmer Air Base was chosen to simulate EROs (engine running operations) for medical evacuations. Operators from the Bulgarian Joint Special Operation Command as well as a Combat Control Team from the Special Forces of the Italian Air Force also take part in the exercise. 

More information

• EDA’s C-27J cooperation concept 

 

Cyber Phalanx 2021 a one-week combined course and exercise for operations planners has successfully concluded in Lisbon, Portugal. Co-organised by EDA and Portugal, the training aims to raise the awareness of cyber and hybrid threats among operation planners, in the Operations Planning Process (OPP) on both the strategic and operational levels. 

During the week, more than 130 operations planners, cyber and hybrid experts from 15 EDA Member States as well as Switzerland, EU institutions, partners  and NATO were challenged to plan an EU CSDP operation based on a fictitious scenario, taking cyber and hybrid attacks into account during the Operations Planning Process.

 

The training focused on the cyber implications in the OPP, including military cyber and hybrid threat awareness, countering hybrid threats, EU cyber diplomacy toolbox, EU military strategic planning and the legal context of cyber operations. Cyber Phalanx 21 underscored the importance of cross-interaction and communication between cyber/hybrid threat experts and operations planners. The exercise also confirmed the necessity and value of cross-domain thinking, including cyber and information environments, in synchronised operations planning.

Addressing the opening of the exercise, EDA Deputy Chief Executive, Mr Olli Ruutu said; “Cyber Phalanx 2021 will play an important role as a final proof-of-concept and for evolving Cyber Phalanx further, covering the full operational military planning cycle towards a series of operations planning exercises, be it at EU level, at Headquarters level (OHQ/FHQ) or as national exercises in Member States.”   Originally launched in 2018, Cyber Phalanx 2021 was the second and enhanced iteration of the exercise. Cyber Phalanx 2021  demonstrated again that this type of training in a course-exercise combination enables targeted and operations-oriented training of EU armed forces on a strategic (OHQ) and operational (FHQ) level. 

 

Going forward, national preparatory training courses will also benefit from Cyber Phalanx based training and foster a cross-domain-approach, including within the cyber domain and the information environment in operations planning.   During the Distinguished Visitors Day on 30 Sep 2021, Vice Admiral António Henrique Gomes, acting head for Planning and Coordination of the General Staff of the Portuguese Armed Forces pointed out that “Member States can make better use of Cyber Phalanx by targeting operations planners instead cyber personnel to the exercise.”  

MULTINATIONAL AND INTERAGENCY TRAINING   
One of the unique aspects of CYBER PHALANX was the diversity of Member States and organisations present among the 130 participants. 15 EU Member States  (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania) plus Switzerland were represented. Officials from EU institutions and organisations; such as EDA, EEAS, EUMS, MPCC, ESDC, EU OHQ Rome, EU Hybrid CoE were also joined by NATO (ACT, HQ & CCDCOE) colleagues. 

MORE INFORMATION 

Fact sheet 
Cyber defence brochure 
EDA Cyber Programme video 

   

First preliminary results of EDA’s Technology Foresight Exercise 2021 are now available in our website: details of the innovative methodology applied, the so-called ‘Futures Narratives’ and some key trends and developments likely to occur in the future. In the meantime, the final analysis of the exercise findings is still underway with the objective to be completed by the end of this year. 

The methodology applied and activities developed throughout 2021 were designed to support the central objective of EDA’s Technology Foresight Exercise: the identification of new technologies, weak signals and innovative trends to support the R&T and capability planning processes and inform future defence policies and programmes of the EU and its Member States. To achieve that, the exercise looked up to 20 years into the future, to provide a strategic vision of the possible impact those new technologies will have on defence in 2040 and beyond.

From Future Narratives to Divergent Thinking to Convergent Thinking 

The exercise stretched over 2021, with successive sessions that brought together different experts, know-how and foresight creativity. Thanks to the wide variety of ideas provided by a multidisciplinary group of foresight experts, so-called ‘Futures Tellers’, multiple possible futures were described in the Futures Narratives. Initially created as food-for-thought to spark the initial discussions among the participating experts, the narratives were meant to widen our vision and imagination about what could be possible towards 2040+, and also what kind of challenges this would entail. Descriptions of the Futures Narratives are now available on EDA’s dedicated website on the Technology Foresight activities.

Based on these narratives, other experts then engaged into a ‘Divergent Thinking’ process with the aim of narrowing down what the afore-mentioned narratives could potentially mean for security and defence in the future.  As a result, a set of 14 key challenges and developments has been identified, providing a general and high-level a vision of the future in 2040. A summary of the Divergent Thinking results are also available on the exercise website.

Final analysis still ongoing

The security and defence-related trends identified in the Divergent Thinking process are currently being analysed and converged into clusters (‘Convergent Thinking’ process) with the aim to deduct from them hints about potential disruptive technologies and innovations that will be needed in the future to cope with those developments. A report about the final outcome of the whole foresight exercise is due to be published before the end of this year. 

Next steps

The exercise findings will eventually:  

• provide a high-level, long-term vision on multiple possible futures with defence relevance, with a special focus of the impact of emerging disruptive technologies;
• inform the 2022 review of the EU’s Capability Development Plan (CDP), in particular the CDP’s Strand B (long term);
• produce an input for future updates of the other EDA prioritisation tools such as the Overarching Strategic Research Agenda (OSRA) or the Key Strategic Activities (KSAs), as well as the preparative work for the EU’s Strategic Compass.

Methodology

The exercise was based on a new EDA technology foresight methodology which combines different existing methods and processes, along with best practices and lessons learned from the wider EDA community of foresight practitioners. To facilitate outside-the-box thinking, the methodology foresaw different activities, which were taken place along 2021, involving experts from different international organisations, Ministries of Defence, as, as well as from non-governmental bodies, academia, industry, and civil society. 

 

 

OCEAN2020, the largest EU funded defence research project, has concluded two successful days of testing in the Hanö Bay, Sweden. The sea trial brought together 12 unmanned systems, 4 naval vessels, 5 tactical command and control systems, one earth observation satellite system plus a prototype of an EU Maritime Operations Centre, installed at the EDA. The live demonstration marks a major milestone for the project in demonstrating enhanced situational awareness in a maritime environment through the integration of new technologies for unmanned systems. 

The Second Baltic Sea Demonstration tested how the information collected from the assets deployed in the area of operations can be integrated to create a Recognised Maritime Picture (RMP). The execution of two scenarios was based on the utilisation of the twelve different unmanned systems that proved their capacity of patrolling, detection, identification, and classification of threats thanks to the information acquired by different types of sensors. Some unmanned systems were deployed for patrolling and threat detection, while others tracked the threat up to interception and dissuasion.

OCEAN2020 aims to achieve operational and technical objectives, ranging from enhanced situational awareness, autonomy, cost effectiveness and increased interoperability for joint missions. The variety of assets involved in OCEAN2020 highlights how collaborative autonomy between multi-domain unmanned vehicles can provide a force multiplier.

Coordinated by Saab, the sea demonstration ran two scenarios: a high-speed surface threat and an unknown submerged activity scenario. While the first scenario combined surveillance, interdiction, and engagement of multiple high speed unmanned surface threats with all types of UxV´s, with Persistent Wide Area Surveillance and Maritime Interdiction actions including radar detection and EO/IR video, the focus of the second scenario was to detect and identify underwater threats (e.g., sea mines or IED), laid from hostile submarines and to detect the insertion of hostile Special Forces on a friendly coast.

BUILDING ON FIRST SEA DEMONSTRATION

Building on the experience and lessons of the first sea demonstration in the Gulf of Taranto (Italy 2019), the second sea demonstration focussed on the verification of objectives, such as the launch and recovery of Unmanned Systems (UUV) from a vessel, integration between tactical systems and naval Combat Management Systems, coordination between unmanned assets operating in squad with the use of AI and demonstration of how data fusion can improve the tactical picture at the tactical and operational level.

ASSETS INVOLVED

The following assets participated in the second sea demonstration. 12 different Unmanned Systems from Saab (3), Leonardo, Safran, Bluebear, IOSB (2), TNO (2), CMRE and GMV. 4 naval units; Swedish Navy HMS Pelikanen; Lithuanian Navy P11 Žemaitis; German MOD R/V Planet (WTD 71) and Polish Navy Minehunter Czajka of Krogulec. The satellite systems are COSMO SkyMed. Finally, the EU MOC (Maritime Operation Centre) coordinated by Indra & IOSB including connectivity with the Spanish MOC through MARSUR network.

BACKGROUND

Funded from the European Union’s Preparatory Action on Defence Research under grant agreement No 801697, OCEAN2020 received funding of €35.48 Million. Since its launch in April 2018 the project has carried out extensive research and technology work to reach the point of undertaking two live sea demonstrations. The consortium has been involved in a significant amount of solution analysis, system design, technical development and system integration of individual assets and trials. Information on the 43 consortium members can be found on the OCEAN2020 website.

EDA Chief Executive, Jiří Šedivý, visited Slovakia this week (25-26 August) for high-level talks with Minister of Defence Jaroslav Naď, State Secretary Marian Majer, Chief of Defence General Daniel Zmeko as well as several officials from the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs. Mr Šedivý also visited the International Defence Exhibition Bratislava 2021 (IDEB) and met with representatives of Slovakian defence industry associations.

Discussions with Minister Naď focused on opportunities for Slovakia to grow its engagement with EDA. Mr. Šedivý took the opportunity to further present EDA’s work and projects, with a special focus on the cooperation opportunities identified in the first Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and the state of play in PESCO implementation where Slovakia is coordinating one project (EuroArtillery) and participates in six.  

Speaking on the occasion, Defence Minister of the Slovak Republic Jaroslav Naď said: “Promoting and strengthening European cooperation in the field of defence is also an important area for our country where we can improve the capabilities of our armed forces and at the same time help our domestic companies to compete internationally. I consider this a highly important factor in their overall development and I am open to deepening cooperation both at the international level and within the EDA.” 

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to personally present the work and role of the EDA to Slovakia. I believe with the challenges that Europe is facing, cooperation remains the best and most effective way of addressing them. There is much potential in defence cooperation and the EDA for Slovakia to exploit. I particularly welcome the opportunity to encourage the Slovakian authorities to benefit further from collaborative opportunities in defence, especially using the Agency to their full potential”, Mr Šedivý commented.

The Chief Executive began his visit at the International Defence Exhibition Bratislava (IDEB) 2021. Speaking at the event, Mr. Šedivý presented EDA’s industry engagement approach and related opportunities for industry to participate in and benefit from EDA’s activities. He encouraged strong participation of industry in EDA R&T&I activities and hoped to attract innovative industries to the defence sector.

Mr Šedivý had also talks with National Armaments Director Jozef Zekucia, DEFPOL Director Martin Sklenár, Designated Capability Director Dalibor Pavolka and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Policy Director Roman Bužek. Among the industry representatives met by Mr Šedivý were President of NDIA (National Defence Industry Association) Tibor Straka and President of AFCEA (Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association) Miroslav Brvnišťan.

 

EDA Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý was in Italy this week (20-21 July) for high-level talks with Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini, Chief of Defence General Enzo Vecciarelli as well as several high officials from the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs. He also met with senior representatives of the Italian defence industry. The trip to Rome was part of Mr Šedivý’s ‘tour des capitales’ that will see him visiting all EDA Member States (last week he was in Greece).  

Discussions with Minister Guerini on Tuesday (20 July) particularly focused on Italy’s strong involvement in EDA’s current and future activities (the country participates in more than 50 Agency projects and programmes), the follow-up on the conclusions and recommendations of the first Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) presented last November, the state of play in the PESCO implementation and the preparation of the next round of new project proposals (Italy currently participates in 24 PESCO projects of which it leads nine, two in the maritime domain including the European Patrol Corvette one) as well as the set-up and functioning of the new European Defence Fund (EDF). 

“I am particularly grateful for Italy’s very active involvement in the Agency’s work and for its strong commitment to EU defence cooperation in general, as it is also reflected in the high number of PESCO projects in which it participates or even coordinates. I can only encourage the Italian authorities to pursue with their leading role and further contribute to making use of the many cooperation opportunities that were identified in last year’s first Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), especially in the maritime focus area where Italy has proven leadership expertise”, Mr Šedivý commented. 

Mr Šedivý had also talks with the Military advisor to Prime Minister Mario Draghi, General Luigi de Leverano, Defence Policy and Capability Director General Giovanni M. Iannucci, Secretary General of Defence and National Armaments Director Nicolò Falsaperna, Deputy Secretary General of Defence Admiral Dario Giacomin, R&T Director Luisa Riccardi, EDA Central PoC and Director for industrial policy and international relations General Fortunato Di Marzio, Director General for Political and Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Pasquale Ferrara, and the Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, Dr. Nathalie Tocci. 

Among the industry representatives met by Mr Šedivý were Alessandro Profumo (CEO Leonardo), Giuseppe Giordo (General Manager Naval Vessels Division, Fincantieri), Enzo Benigni (Elettronica) and Carlo Festucci (Secretary General, AIAD, Federation of Italian Companies for Aerospace, Defence and Security).  

Europe’s defence research programme - PADR - has launched a new project. The CROWN project will focus on European active electronically scanned array with combined radar, communications and electronic warfare functions for military applications. 

The project, with a budget of approximately €10 million and a duration of 30 months, was selected under the 2019 call for proposals for ‘Electromagnetic Spectrum Dominance’ under the EDA-managed EU Preparatory Action on Defence Research (PADR). The CROWN consortium is coordinated by Indra (Spain) and brings together 11 leading industry members, research centres and an SME from seven EU countries. The project was officially launched at an online kick-off meeting on 6 and 7 July 2021, with the participation of the consortium members, EDA and European Commission representatives. 

CROWN will lay the foundation for designing and building a next-generation multifunction radiofrequency (RF) system based on Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESA) technology for a broad range of applications, to become available in several military domains within the next decade. 

The planned activities include R&D assessment and recommendations on critical technologies, R&T activities on system and component level as well as designing, manufacturing and testing of a small-scale prototype. 

CROWN CONSORTIUM

CROWN - European active electronically scanned array with Combined Radar, cOmmunications, and electronic Warfare fuNctions for military applications - brings together 11 participants from 7 countries:

Indra (Spain), Thales (France), Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales - ONERA (France), Hensoldt Sensors (Germany), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Germany), Saab (Sweden), Totalforsvarets Forskningsinstitut - FOI (Sweden) Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek - TNO (Netherlands), Leonardo (Italy), Elettronica (Italy) and Baltijos Pazangiu Technologiju Institutas - BPTI (Lithuania). 

BACKGROUND

Being part of the PADR programme, CROWN will support the European Commission, EDA and Member States and will contribute to the long-term critical capability for European Strategic Autonomy. The project is also closely linked to the activities conducted under EDA’s Capability Technology Groups, namely CapTech Radar and CapTech Components.

 

ABOUT THE PADR

The CROWN project is part of the Preparatory Action on Defence Research (PADR) launched by the European Commission in 2017 to assess and demonstrate the added-value of EU supported defence research and technology (R&T). It paved the way for a proper European Defence Programme to come as part of the European Defence Fund (EDF), under the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027).

The PADR implementation is run by EDA following the mandate via a Delegation Agreement between the European Commission and EDA signed on 31 May 2017. By this agreement the Commission entrusts EDA with the management and implementation of the research projects launched within the PADR.  

FURTHER INFORMATION

• CROWN project page

 

EDA Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý was in Greece this week (12-14 July) for high-level talks with the Minister of National Defence, Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, the Chief of National Defence, General Konstantinos Floros, the National Armaments Director, Aristeidis Alexopoulos and several senior representatives of the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs. He also attended the Greek defence exhibition DEFEA and participated in an industry workshop co-organised by the Agency and the Greek Ministry of Defence. 

The ongoing work on the EU’s Strategic Compass, the implementation of the recommendations made in the first Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), the state of play of the various PESCO projects with Greek involvement (the country participates in 16 PESCO projects, one of the highest numbers among participating Member States, and coordinates five of them), EDA’s role as the European hub for collaborative capability development and driver of defence innovation, Greece’s involvement in EDA projects and programmes as well as EU-NATO cooperation were among the main topics discussed. 

“I am delighted to have this opportunity to visit Greece as it is an important stakeholder and active contributor to EDA’s projects and programmes. With Minister Panagiotopoulos, I expressed my gratitude for Greece’s particularly active role in PESCO as well as its valuable contributions to the Agency’s activities, especially in areas such as maritime surveillance (MARSUR project), research and development (R&D) or the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS). In these challenging times, I particularly welcome the strong support from Greece to EDA and European defence cooperation”, Mr Šedivý commented.

Industry workshop, ministerial round-table

On Tuesday, the Chief Executive attended the opening ceremony of the Defence Exhibition Athens (DEFEA, from 13-15 July) where international companies present land, naval, aerospace, national and cyber security defence systems. 

In the margins of the exhibition, Mr Šedivý participated in an industry workshop co-organised by EDA and the Greek Ministry of Defence where he spoke about EDA’s support to innovative capability development.

Also in the margins of the DEFEA exhibition, the EDA Chief Executive furthermore moderated a ministerial round-table focused on the state of implementation of the EU defence initiatives - CARD, PESCO, EDF - in which participated four acting Defence Ministers: Greece’s Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, Cyprus’ Charalambos Petrides, Portugal’s João Gomes Cravinho and Slovenia’s Matej Tonin.

 

 EDA’s so-called ‘J1 Functional Area Service’ (J1FAS), a specialist software tool aimed at facilitating and supporting the management of human resources (HR) in national and international military missions, has recently been deployed to two additional EU CSDP operations:  the European Union Naval Force Mediterranean Operation IRINI (EUNAVFOR MED IRINI) which aims to enforce the United Nations arms embargo to Libya, and counter-piracy military operation ATALANTA at sea off the Horn of Africa.  

Over the last two weeks, EDA staff and contractors were present at the Operational Headquarters (OHQ) of both operations (Rome/Italy for IRINI and Rota/Spain for ATALANTA) to install the newly developed and certified software, deliver workshops and train the operations’ HR staff.  Previous, less developed versions had already been deployed before in other OHQ, including the Greek-led EUFOR RCA OHQ in Larissa in 2014, the Italian OHQ in Rome for EUNAVFOR MED operation SOPHIA in 2016 as well as several other exercises. To date, some 3,000 staff have been in and out-processed via J1FAS (about 50% in operations and 50% in exercises).  

J1FAS is a digital staff management tool developed at EDA with support from EU Military Staff (EUMS) and EU OHQs. It is a highly customised application that allows CSDP missions and operations (which traditionally have to deal with high staff turnover), but also exercises, to manage personnel data in a paperless and transparent yet secured way.  

The very first prototype was implemented by the EDA IT department and then extended by a contractor in 2011 to encompass a workflow management system which was then deployed to EUFOR RCA OHQ in Larissa in 2014. A second, slightly upgraded version followed in 2015 to be installed at Operation SOPHIA until December 2019. The latest and most powerful version of J1FAS, version 3, was only finalised and certified in the first half of 2021 and has now been deployed to Operation IRINI and Operation ATALANTA (July 2021). The software covers all three HR-management phases of a mission or operation, i.e. staff pre-processing, in-processing and out-processing. This is crucial as HR management is an essential - albeit not very publicised - aspect of operations, missions and exercises which need to be able to quickly and safely acquire, integrate, train and administer new staff if circumstances require it. 

© Operation IRINI Main functionalities and benefits of J1FAS 

More precisely, the latest version of the tool now deployed to operations IRINI and ATALANTA allows for:  

• pre-processing, in-processing and out-processing of augmentees 
• securely storing and processing personal data  
• creating workflows for operations/missions individual processes creating roles to work on a need-to-know basis  
• tracking information such as training records for compliance  
• monitoring data changes for audit trails
• facilitating data verification and standardisation   
• uploading of data prior to physical presence of an augmentee  
• mirroring the organigramme/chart  
• role mapping tailored to operations/missions requirements  
• vacancy management
• management of security passes. 

The benefits for the operation commanders are obvious: the system uses an open source software which does not require the payment of licence fees (meaning usage is free of charge as it is an EDA project),  mitigation of human errors, streamlined transparent processes, improved sustainability of data records, easy accessibility of data by authorised staff, more accurate analytics and statistics, etc.. 

Way ahead 

The J1FAS service is available to all CSDP missions and operations. EDA is looking forward to deploying the software to more missions or operations to help Member States foster digital harmonised remote pre-processing, in-processing and out-processing of personnel. 

HOT BLADE 21 (HB21), the 15th Blade exercise organised under EDA’s Helicopter Exercise Programme (HEP) came to a close last week at Beja Airbase, Portugal. Over a period of two weeks (16-30 June) and in strict respect of all applicable COVID measures, the exercise involved a total of 21 air assets from Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Portugal as well as some 1,500 military staff.

Observers had been sent by Italy and Slovakia as well as Switzerland and Serbia (two countries which have concluded Administrative Agreements with EDA). Other capabilities involved were a multinational Joint Tactical Air Controller (JTAC) team and an Electronic Warfare (EW) emulator system from Slovenia. Additionally, a mentor team involving Helicopter Tactics Instructors (HTI) from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden supported the delivery of academic lessons and provided mentoring during the planning and execution of all Composite Air Operations (COMAO) missions.

The main objective of HB21 was the performance of eight day/night COMAO missions in a realistic, harsh and complex environment, with the participation of all countries and assets involved. Furthermore, other national and multinational training activities such as formation flights, evasion manoeuvre training, sling load, helocast, rappelling and fast roping were also trained, resulting in 208 sorties amounting to around 500 flight hours. To maximise the training sorties, two Forward Arming and Refueling Points (FARP) were placed, to allow for ‘hot refuelling’ of the helicopters.

A Distinguished Visitors Day was organized on the 24th of June, with the participation of the Portuguese State Secretary of Defense, Human Resources and Veterans, Catarina Sarmento e Castro, as well as other military and civilian authorities. 

During the closing ceremony, EDA’s Project Officer for Rotary Wing, José Pablo Romera, thanked the Portuguese Air Force, in particular the Air Command, Airbase Nº11 and the Excon team for the outstanding organisation and execution of the exercise, as well as all the participants for their proactive involvement and cooperative mindset which resulted in the achievement of the expected training objectives.

The next EDA helicopter exercise, the Fire Blade 2022, will take place from 7th to 24th of June 2022 and will be hosted by Hungary, in Papa Air Base.

Background

Since 2009, 15 ‘BLADE’ exercises were held in eight different European countries (France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Portugal). In addition to that, 10 helicopter tactics symposiums, 67 Helicopter Tactics Courses, 6 Helicopter Tactics Instructors Courses and several other training activities, as Composite Air Operations (COMAO) planning courses and the Electronic Warfare (EW) courses have been carried out under EDA management, involving a total of 15 EDA Member States. Those trainings and exercises have contributed to enhancing the level of operational interoperability and helicopter cooperation among the helicopter crews of a large number of EDA Member States. Those programmes (HEP, HTC, HTIC) are now mature enough to be transferred to the future Multinational Helicopter Training Centre (MHTC) by the end of 2023.

More information:

• Hot Blade 21 website
• HB21 Flickr
• HB21 Video 
• EDA helicopter initiatives

The third and final event within the European Defence Agency’s (EDA) Technology Foresight Exercise 2021 closed last week. During these events, multiple possible futures have been discussed with a multidisciplinary group of experts. These will now be taken forward to identify new potentially disruptive technologies, weak signals and trends relevant for European defence.

These events have been part of a wider defence technology foresight exercise which was launched by the Agency in January and will run until the end of this year. The three events have been attended by experts from EDA Member States (and the countries associated with the Agency), as well as by several international organizations, in different technological and non-technological domains, civil and military, from different generations and backgrounds, from governmental and international organisations, research centres, academia, and industry. 

In closing the final virtual event, Jean-François Ripoche, EDA Director Research, Technology and Innovation, said: “The Technology Foresight Exercise will provide tangible results to support the EDA R&T Planning process, as the main outcomes will be in a form of foresight report and online products, containing the weak signals and the most interesting technologies towards 2040+ identified. The report will be complemented by the futures narratives, weak signals report, and back-casting conclusions”. 

The outcomes from the exercise will contribute to:  

• provide a high-level, long-term vision on multiple possible futures with defence relevance, with a special focus of the impact of emerging and emerged disruptive technologies;
• take advantage of the synergies between technology foresight and the Capability Development Plan (CDP) Strand B, in order to produce an input for any future updates of the EDA Prioritization tools such as the Overarching Strategic Research Agenda (OSRA), CDP or Key Strategic Activities (KSAs), as well as the creation of the Strategic Compass;
• contribute broadly to the European Union’s resilience building and strategic autonomy efforts, while also informing future technology foresight workshops, the OSRA process and, in general, all the R&T activities within EDA.

The exercise is innovative as it combines different methodologies and processes, along with best practices and lessons learned from the wider EDA community of foresight practitioners. The exercise looked into technologies, and also on sociology, ethics, economy, medicine, history, international relations, defence capabilities and operational needs, philosophy, biosciences, etc.

Next steps

The report will be complemented by the futures narratives, weak signals report, and back-casting conclusions. These outcomes will be ready in the second semester 2021.

The Agency has a new Director in charge of its Corporate Services Directorate (CSD): Ginette Manderscheid who joined EDA in April 2017 as Deputy Director Corporate Services and Head of Human Resources, has taken over from Luigi Sandrin as of today, 1 July 2021.

Ginette Manderscheid, a Luxembourgish citizen, has vast international experience including at the Permanent Representation of Luxembourg to the Western European Union (WEU), the Security Policy Section of WEU and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) in Thessaloniki (Greece) which she joined in 2000. In December 2005, she took up duties as Head of Human Resources and General Support in Cedefop, ensuring delivery of comprehensive HR services, financial management of staff-related expenditure as well as general support. She also served as an EU Agencies representative for negotiations with the European Commission after the 2014 Reform of the EU Staff Regulations.

“It is a privilege for me to lead the Corporate Services Directorate at a particularly challenging time for European defence in general, and for the Agency in particular. EDA plays a central role in implementing the various EU defence initiatives as well as in the prioritisation of EU defence capabilities and I look forward to contributing to this important work, together with my highly qualified, experienced and engaged colleagues”, Ginette Manderscheid stated when she took up her new post.

Ginette Manderscheid holds a B.A. in Philosophy from York University (UK), an M.Phil. in International Relations from Oxford University and an M.Sc. in International Human Resource Management from Birkbeck College (London University).

More information:

• CV Ginette Manderscheid

 

Last week, EDA hosted a virtual workshop on ‘Defence Applications of Artificial Intelligence’ (DAAI 2021) which, as part of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovations (AIAI 2021), brought together experts and scientists from  Member States who shared insight on the impact and potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in defence applications. With the AI work strand, EDA is entering a promising territory as it prepares to foster further integration of AI in R&T projects for defence applications.

To pursue a more structured and focused dialogue with industry and the research community, EDA is organising a series of workshops with industry and academia on a number of capability development and R&T areas in support of its wider work related to the Overarching Strategic Research Agenda (OSRA), the revised Capability Development Plan (CDP) and the associated Strategic Context Cases (SCC) through which the priorities are being implemented, as well as the Key Strategic Activities (KSA).

Artificial Intelligence has become a strategically important topic as many countries and entities are investing in it and because it is among the top priorities for research and development of future systems and concepts. EDA is very active in this domain and has provided a number of  papers and presentations to its Steering Board, with a view to developing an action plan and a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) on Artificial Intelligence for defence.

Last week’s scientific workshop was one of several steps taken by the Agency to work towards the action plan and the SRA. The following steps will be the development of AI based ad hoc projects and technology building block (TBB) roadmaps to further stimulate the application of AI in future defence applications.

The ambition of last week’s first DAAI workshop was to evaluate the various possibilities in which AI can be integrated to further support defence capability needs and EU research initiatives, and to present recent AI developments which have a potential to be used in defense and security applications.

The workshop lasted two days and encompassed a total of six sessions, including three keynote speeches delivered by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), the European Union Satellite Centre (SatCen) and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX). Conference participants also witnessed a roundtable discussion on current trends and future research goals for AI in security and defence sectors with the participation of representatives of EDA, ENISA, FRONTEX and highly reputed university professors. In addition, two scientific sessions were organised: one showcasing EDA AI projects in different domains and another one dedicated to state of the art AI research. Finally, EDA presented elements of the upcoming AI action plan focusing on areas where academia, industry and research organisations can contribute. 

 

The latest European Defence Matters magazine (N°21) is now available, with a special focus on EDA’s support to EU CSDP missions and operations. The magazine also features exclusive Opinion Editorials by European Council President Charles Michel on the importance of EU Defence, as well as by the new Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), Josef Aschbacher.  You can read the magazine in PDF here or in digital format here. 

In the magazine’s cover story, we put the spotlight on the various support tools and services the Agency is already (or could be) providing to current and future EU CSDP missions and operations - ranging from commercially procured satellite communication solutions and the pooling & sharing of governmental satcom services to geospatial information support, maritime surveillance, air medical evacuation, diplomatic clearances and the organisation of cyber awareness seminars for mission headquarters, to name only them. In a series of articles, we explain how those support tools came about, where and how they are currently used and how they could be further developed in the future. We also give the floor to the users, Member States and EU mission and operation commanders, to hear their views and recommendations for the future.

We also sat down with the CEO of Naval Group, Pierre Eric Pommelet, for our traditional ‘Industry Talk’, this time focussed on the current state and future prospects of Europe’s military naval sector. In the ‘Innovation Corner’, we took a look at how modern and innovative Cloud computing will most probably impact the defence sector.

Have a look immediately – and enjoy!

More information:

• EDM Magazine Nr.21 (PDF)
• Digital (webzine) version of EDM Magazine Nr.21
• Video teaser “EDA support to operations”