EDR Magazine #61 January/February 2022

N° 61 • January/ February 2022

MAGAZINE European Defence Review S HORAD, evolving towards medium range capacity France: Titan, one step further Rehearsing for Invasion: China vs Taiwan air assets Dominating the electromagnetic spectrum at sea North Korea’s weapons of great significance

I S S U E N°

61

2022

Publisher: Joseph Roukoz Editor-in-chief: Paolo Valpolini Aviation & Space Editor: David Oliver Naval Editor: Luca Peruzzi European Defence Review (EDR) is published by European Defence Publishing SAS www.edrmagazine.eu

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An artist impression of a possible GBAD system based on MBDA’s CAMM family of missiles. The UK and Italy already selected respectively the CAMM and CAMM-ER for their new SHORAD systems. ©️ MBDA

SHORAD, evolving towards medium range capacity

By Luca Peruzzi

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France: Titan, one step further

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Rehearsing for Invasion: China vs Taiwan air assets

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Dominating the electromagnetic spectrum at sea

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North Korea’s weapons of great significance

By Marc Chassillan

By David Oliver

By Luca Peruzzi

By David Oliver

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SHORAD, evolving towards medium range capacity

By Luca Peruzzi

The IRIS-T SLM medium-range ground based air defence system developed by Diehl Defence. From left to right, two launchers, the radar, the tactical operations centre and the third launcher. © Diehl Defence

The evolution of the manned, unmanned and missile threats from the air and ground platforms, capable of longer ranges and characterized by small radar and thermal cross section, is putting an increasing burden on ground based air defence systems (GBADs). Short range air defence systems need to increase their reach up to about 40 km and to feature more capable sensors to detect smaller threats; they must be mobile and capable of 360 degrees defence, in addition to be networked with higher echelon in order to reduce the possibility that new air and missiles threats can penetrate the boundaries of the established defence, as the more recent conflicts and crises demonstrated. The European, US and Israeli industries are answering these challenging requirements which have been neglected by even the most capable operators.

Diehl Defence Towards late 2021 Diehl Defence demonstrated the operational efficiency of its IRIS-T SLM (Surface Launched Medium-range) 4

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GBAD system under realistic operating conditions, during several successful test firings which confirmed, according to the German group, the technical and operational capa-

bility of the overall system in line with customers’ and market expectations. The IRIS-T SLM complements the shorter range IRIS-T SLS (Surface Launched Short-range) GBAD system in the Diehl Defence product portfolio, which has been successfully in operation for several years with Scandinavian customers. The IRIS-T SLS uses the IRIS-T air-to-air guided missile, to provide a short and very-short air defence system. For this purpose, an adapted software is installed automatically on the IRIS-T munition when loaded onto the launcher. The IRIS-T SLM uses a specific munition designed for GBAD applications, known as IRIS-T SL. This features selective adaptations in aerodynamic and an enhanced rocket motor, which allow to reach an extended range of 40 km and an altitude coverage of 20 km. The IRIS-T SL has been qualified for in-service use in 2017, and compared to the basic version, this longer munition features a newly introduced data-link for target data transmission and mission abort (via uplink), which together with a GPS-based inertial navigation system, allows the missile to receive updated information on the target and the mission.

During the terminal flight phase, the missile guides itself thanks to the imaging IR (IIR) seeker permitting a high-precision terminal approach with elevated direct hit probability.

Thrust-vector control enables maximum lateral acceleration directly after launch, allowing short range engagements. The IRIS-T SL munition is vertically launched from a multi-function container (for storage, transport and firing) of which eight are accommodated on the baseline launcher module, offering a 360° protection, high firing rate and quick response capability.

The latest test firing proved, in particular, the higher range, the hit accuracy as well as the interaction of all system components and the ground infrastructure. In its capacity as prime contractor, Diehl Defence offers a complete GBAD system with IRIS-T SLM from a single source, which consists of the firing C2 unit, radar and three or more missile launchers, reloaders, all installed on Rheinmetall high mobility trucks, as well as a completely integrated logistics and support concept (ILSC). The C2 also known as Tactical Operation Centre (TOC) 20-foot shelter is provided by Airbus Defence and Space and

Towards late 2021, Diehl Defence demonstrated the operational efficiency of its IRIS-T SLM GBAD system under realistic operating conditions, during several successful test firings. The first known customer of the IRIS-T SLM is the Egyptian MoD, according to German Government export documentation. © Diehl Defence

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incorporates the same company’s Integrated Battle Management System (IBMS) software and Diehl fire control computers. Managed by up to three operators, it provides data exchange and communications with higherlevel command posts and as an integral system part of IRIS-T SLM, it interconnects sensors and the Diehl launchers thanks to the plug-and-flight technology. The Hensoldt group provides the TRML-4D multi-function 3D AESA radar with integrated IFF, featuring a maximum instrumented range of 250 km and elevation tracking coverage up to 90°. According to information provided by the German Government, the first known customer of the IRIS-T SLM in this configuration is the Egyptian MoD that has purchased seven systems, of which the first batch, according to local sources, was delivered in 2021. German Government recent export documentation also refers to the sale of six IRIS-T SL systems and 10 IRIS-T SLX, the latter being an undetailed 80 km-range version of the missile.

IAI Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Systems Missile & Space Group offers the Barak MX missile system which is intended for land- and naval-based applications and is

centred on the Barak family of surface-toair interceptors. The Barak MX system is a software-based, modular and scalable airand missile-defence concept characterized by a single but flexible open architecture that can be tailored to meet specific requirements, and is designed to network and integrate a range of diverse sensors, launchers, and Barak variant effectors.

The latter currently include the mediumrange (MRAD) up to 35 km, the long-range (LRAD) up to 70 km and the extended-range (ER) with a stated maximum intercept range of 150 km. The Barak MX missile family features vertically-launched, all-weather, 50 g manoeuvring interceptors equipped with advanced active seekers and capable of 360° engagements. The Barak MX is designed to operate identically whether configured for maritime or land-based operations, and offers a system architecture centred on three main components: the Barak Battle Management Centre (BMC); the Barak MX eight-missile launcher and interceptor variants; and the IAI Elta Systems-developed scalable digital phased-array radar. The IAIdeveloped BMC provides and manages a unified air picture created by multiple sensor data, coordinating force operation networks and managing the launch arrays, where land-based versions are available in mobile,

Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Systems Missile & Space Group offers the Barak MX missile system which is intended for land- and naval-based applications and is centred on the Barak family of surface-to-air interceptors. © IAI

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Raytheon Missiles & Defense and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace conducted in 2021 the first live-fire tests of the newly designed Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile – Extended Range (AMRAAM-ER) variant for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS). This adds to the AMRAAM version here depicted during a live firing. © Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace

transportable, and stationary platforms. As for the deployed sensors, IAI is offering the IAI/Elta Systems scalable and digital 3D multibeam AESA mobile ELM-2084 Multi-Mission Radar (MMR) employing gallium nitride (GaN) technology. The Barak MRAD interceptor is powered by a single pulse solid propellant rocket motor, which provides a maximum intercept range of 35 km and a maximum intercept altitude of 20 km. The missile can manoeuvre at 50g and is provided with a guidance suite including a GPS/inertial navigation system alongside a radiofrequency datalink allowing communications between the BMC and the interceptor-missile, together with an active high-end seeker to engage targets with low radar cross-section and high manoeuvrability. The Barak MX missile employs a smart launcher which can plug into the network and can obtain the required information to engage targets, without requiring a dedicated C2 or radar.

Kongsberg/Raytheon In May 2021, Raytheon Missiles & Defense and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) unveiled to have completed the first live-fire tests of the newly designed Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile - Extended Range (AMRAAM-ER) variant for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS). Developed jointly by the US and Norwegian groups, the NASAMS is a highly adaptable mid-range air defence solution which is in service, being delivered or acquired by 12 operators (US, Norway, Finland, Spain, the Netherlands, Oman, Lithuania, Indonesia, Australia, Qatar, Hungary and one undisclosed customer), and has been integrated into the US National Capital Region’s air defence system since 2005. A standard NASAMS fire unit (FU) has a modular design comprising Kongsberg’s developed Fire Distribution Center (FDC), a Raytheon AN/MPQ-64F1 Sentinel active EDR | Jenuary/February 2022

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The open architecture Fire Distribution Centre (FDC) developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace is a proven and fielded BMC4I for air defence with two 30-inch full-colour touch-screen flat display operator consoles, networked-equipped to perform different missions including higher echelon GBAD C2 unit. © Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace

3D radar, a Rheinmetall Defence Electronics MSP 500 passive electro-optic/infrared (EO/ IR) multi-sensor and a number of launchers, each equipped with six inclined canisters for the Raytheon AMRAAM missiles. In his latest iteration, NASAMS will employ a new Mk 2 lengthened and strengthened canister launcher capable to fire not only the AIM120 AMRAAM B/C5/C7 but also the new AMRAAM-ER and the AIM-9X Sidewinder Block 2. Specifically designed for GBAD applications, this lengthened AMRAAM version is powered by a larger diameter Nammo Raufoss-manufactured rocket motor, which together with a new control actuator system by KDA gives the missile an expanded engagement envelope characterized by a 50% increase in maximum range, and a 70% increase in maximum altitude, no figures being provided. To date, Qatar and Hungary are the first two customers that have publicly disclosed orders for the AMRAAM-ER for their latest generation NASAMS solutions, but the AMRAAM will be made available as an extended-range interceptor option to all NASAMS users. Production deliveries are expected in 2022 to the Qatari customer, which was the first to have selected this capability. The interceptor can also be used with the latest variant of Raytheon’s HighMobility Launcher (HML), a rail-launcher 8

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option for high-mobility, all-terrain platforms.

The open architecture Fire Distribution Center (FDC) is a proven and fielded BMC4I for air defence with two 30-inch full-colour touchscreen flat display operator consoles, networked-equipped to perform different missions including higher echelon GBAD C2 unit. The firing unit components can be deployed over a large area separated by up to 25 km. To better cope with present and future threats, including manned and unmanned platforms, and cruise missiles, Raytheon is proposing for the NASAMS the new GhostEye MR (Medium Range), which was unveiled during the AUSA exhibition in October 2021. The new radar offers increased range and altitude coverage, maximizing the capabilities of the employed family of effectors. The GhostEye MR is a variant of the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor that the company is building for the US Army. It is a scalable AESA radar providing 360-degree surveillance and advanced fire control capabilities. The sensor’s capabilities and performance were tested through a series of modelling and simulation-based threat scenarios. The radar will undergo open air testing in 2022, followed by customer demonstrations. The Australian ‘Enhanced NASAMS’ version also employs new AESA radars provided by Australian CEA Technologies for respectively fire direction control and higher-level surveillance missions, alongside new EO/IR, Mk 2 and HML launchers.

MBDA In March 2021, as part of Eurosam consortium, the European missile company launched the SAMP/T NG GBAD, based on the Aster 30 Block 1NT interceptor, designed for countering a wider range of threats including more capable ballistic missiles. Beside this high-tier system, MBDA has pushed forward the development of its family of Enhanced Modular Air Defence Solutions (EMADS).

The latter offer land-based forces rapidly deployable point and area defence systems

Being developed under a contract signed in late 2019 with the Italian MoD for both Air Force and Army Ground-Based Air Defence applications, the CAMM ER ammunition development, qualification and integration with the Italian Air Force MAADS (Medium Advanced Air Defence System) GBAD is to be completed by late 2023, according to Italian MoD documentation. © MBDA

to protect mobile and static high-value assets. Capable to operate as stand-alone unit or integrated within a battlespace network with third party target information, allowing the system to engage targets that are nonline-of-sight from the local sensors, the EMDAS utilizes the Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) family of air-defence missiles, including both shorter-range CAMM and CAMM ER (Extended Range) munitions.

The CAMM family offers operational advantages and reduces procurement, logistic and lifetime management costs compared to different air-defence system networked solutions. Initially developed with company funding, and today continued under a contract signed in late 2019 with the Italian MoD for both Air Force and Army GBAD applications, the CAMM ER munition has been conceived to retain the maximum commonality with the short-range CAMM variant, with the insertion of airframe and components modification due to the longer range and national customisation. The ER variant maintains all the benefits of the CAMM’s soft vertical-launch system, which has several ad-

vantages over ‘hot’ vertical-launch systems such as reduced minimum engagement range, launch signature and system complexity, in addition to lower maintenance and life-cycle costs. While retaining the CAMM’s basic architecture and electronics, the ER variant is longer (4.2 vs 3.2 meters) to incorporate an extended booster/sustainer rocket motor by Italian Avio, in a larger calibre (190 mm) propulsion section, with an overall weight increment from 99 to 160 kg. Together with the interceptor’s aerodynamics improvement, these enhancements increase the maximum range to the over 40 km official range, this being however considered a conservative figure according to different industrial sources. The CAMM/CAMM ER family of munitions is equipped with the same solid-state digital active radar seeker, offering true all-weather performances with excellent clutter rejection capabilities.

According to Italian MoD documentation issued to the Parliament, the ammunition development, qualification and integration with the Italian Air Force MAADS (Medium Advanced Air Defence System) GBAD should be completed by late 2023, to be followed by same activities for the Italian Army Grifo GBAD. The MAADS will feature an evolved

The CAMM ER system features a derivative of the CAMM launcher with two pods of four lengthened canisters to accommodate the longer missiles. The launcher module also includes a new, more capable platform data-link terminal developed by MBDA Italia. © MBDA

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The full compatibility of the MICA NG (Missile d’Interception, de Combat et d’Autodéfense Nouvelle Génération) air-to-air missile, currently under development, with existing vertical-launch systems will allow both current and new customers to benefit from the MICA NG advanced capabilities against current and future threats in both naval and ground operational scenarios. © MBDA

BMC4 (Battle Management Command, Control, Communication and Computer) Sirius mobile centre which integrates a command post with three operator consoles and the Leonardo Kronos Land 3D multifunction radar on a telescopic mast, alongside three launchers each equipped with eight canisters. The Italian Army Grifo system is composed of the mobile PCMI (Posto Comando Modulo d’Ingaggio, engagement module command post) integrating the command post with three operators consoles and the Rheinmetall Italia X-TAR 3D multifunction radar, alongside two launchers of the same type used by the MAADS system.

MBDA is also developing the new generation of the VL MICA missile system. The VL MICA NG is based on the integration of the MICA NG (Missile d’Interception, de Combat et d’Autodéfense Nouvelle Génération) air-toair missile under development for existing French air platforms, into the existing family of VL MICA system, now adopted, in its naval and land-based versions, by 15 Armed Forces around the world. The MICA NG full compatibility with existing verticallaunch systems will allow both current and new customers to benefit from the MICA NG advanced capabilities against current and future threats in both naval and ground 10

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operational scenarios. The NG programme is centred on an extensive redesign of the current MICA family while keeping the same aerodynamics and control surfaces, dimensions and weight, alongside the unique concept which characterizes the MICA missile success: the option of two different seekers, infrared and radio frequency, and two launch modes, rail and ejection, in a single missile airframe. The main evolution regards a new Roxel dual-pulse rocket motor that, combined with a reduction in the volume of the electronic components inside the missile to enable it to carry more propellant, will deliver an increased maximum 40 km interception range for the VL MICA NG as well as improved manoeuvrability and endgame performance. The RF variant features a new radar seeker with an AESA antenna developed by Thales, which represents for the MBDA group the first application of such technology in the air-to-air and groundto-air missile arenas. In the IR variant, the MICA NG introduces a new focal plane array passive IIR seeker developed by Safran in collaboration with MBDA, an enhanced inertial reference unit for both variants, a new warhead, a hybrid proximity fuse and a two-way data-link. With a 30 year servicelife, the MICA NG maintains both the lock-

Mantaining the same dimensions, weight and dual seeker (radiofrequency and infrared) capability, the MICA NG uses a new Roxel dual-pulse rocket motor with more propellant, allowing for an increased maximum interception range of 40 km. © MBDA

on before launch (LOBL) and lock-on after launch (LOAL) modes.

Rafael

The SPYDER (Surface-to-Air Python & Derby) family of GBAD systems uses Rafael-developed and combat proven air-to-air missiles: the Python 5, equipped with dual-band Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) and CCD seeker, the I-Derby with active radar seeker, and the I-Derby ER, with a two pulse rocket motor for longer ranges. © Rafael

The Rafael group is offering the SPYDER (Surface-to-Air Python & Derby), which is indicated as a quick reaction, low-to-high surface-to-air missile system designed to counter attacks by a variety of aerial threats including aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, UAVs and stand-off weapons. It provides effective protection of valuable assets, as well as first-class defence for manoeuvring forces located in combat areas. The SPYDER family includes SPYDER-SR (Short Range) and SPYDER-ER (Extended Range) systems, which uses Rafael-developed and combat proven air-to-air missiles: the Python 5, equipped with dual-band Imaging InfraRed (IIR) and CCD seeker, the I-Derby with active radar seeker, and the I-Derby ER, with a two pulse rocket motor for longer ranges.

The SPYDER-MR and SPYDER-LR use the same missiles as the SPYDER-SR/ER, plus an additional booster assembly. Due to the longer and heavier weapon, the latter missile systems are mounted on more capable high mobility trucks. According to Rafael documentation, the Spyder SR and ER employ missiles with a range of respectively of over 20 km and almost 40 km while the

Spyder MR and LR can reach respectively almost 60 km and 80 km. These missiles can reach an altitude varying from less than 10 km and up to 20 km, and can also be used for air-to-air missions. A standard Spyder battery includes one truck-mounted command and control unit (CCU); in the Spyder SR/ER versions it incorporates an ELM-2106 ATAR 3D surveillance radar, while in the Spyder MR/LR versions the radar is deployed on a separate truck. Characterized by an open architecture, allowing the integration of other sensors, the battery C2 can control 3 to 6 missile firing units (MFUs), all with an embedded Toplite EO/IR sensor.

Being mobile and transportable by aircraft such as the C-130, the SPYDER family of systems has autonomous capabilities.

The system detects threats while on-themove, with firing performed instantly after halt. The SPYDER-SR and SPYDER-ER have a 360° slant launching that provides low-level quick-reaction, Lock-On-BeforeLaunch (LOBL) and Lock-On-After-Launch (LOAL) capabilities. The SPYDER-MR and SPYDER-LR offer medium- and long-range target interceptions through a near vertical launch. Both systems enable a 360° launch within seconds after the target is declared hostile, and provide all-weather, multilaunch, netcentric capabilities. According to available information, the Spyder family has been sold to Georgia, India and Singapore, and is being acquired by the Philippines and Czech Republic.

A standard SPYDER battery is composed of a command and control unit (CCU), a co-mounted or separately carried ELM-2106 ATAR 3D surveillance radar, and between 3 to 6 missile firing units, here depicted. © Rafael

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Rehearsing for Invasion: China vs Taiwan air assets

By David Oliver

PLAAF J-11 multirole fighter aircraft have been flown on most of the recent Taiwan ADIZ sorties. © CMC/Tang Jun

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) formed its first squadron at the Beijing Nanyuan airfield on 15 August 1949 with six North American P-51D Mustangs left behind when Nationalist forces fled to the island of Formosa, now Taiwan.

From that day China has regarded Taiwan as a breakaway province, which it has vowed to retake, by force if necessary. In 2004, China passed a so-called anti-secession law, stating China’s right to use “non-peaceful means” against Taiwan if it tried to “secede” from China.

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ive decades after its formation, the PLAAF has been at the forefront of China’s increased threatening stance, with near-daily sorties into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) that covers most of the Taiwan Strait, part of the Chinese province of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi and part of the East China Sea and adjacent airspace, and frequent military drills in nearby maritime areas.

Almost 10 percent of Taiwan’s national defence budget currently goes into response to PLAAF sorties which usually involve flights inside the southwest part of the ADIZ adjacent to the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, which provides access to deep water ideal for China’s submarines. Speculation has been growing that China will try to mount an invasion at anytime within the next few years.

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Eastern Theatre Command H-6 nuclear bombers are part of the PLAAF packages involved in exercises close to Taiwan. © CMC

The PLAAF has begun operating its new Xian Y-20U tanker aircraft on ADIZ missions. © Alert4

Large-scale PLAAF activities around Taiwan are often connected to specific events such as China’s patriotic holiday, National Day on 1 October 2021, or signaling Beijing’s grievances with a recent incident. After the US condemned the incursions of 38 planes on 4 October and 39 the next day, China sent more aircraft into the Taiwan ADIZ. The first package of 52 aircraft included 34 Shenyang J-16 fighter aircraft, derived from the Russian Su-27, and 12 Xian H-6H bombers, derived from the Russian Tu-16, among other aircraft, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence.

Later, four more PLAAF J-16s flew towards the south-western part of Taiwan’s ADIZ followed on the night of 9 October by another PLAAF package of four J-16s, a Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft and a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Y-8Q antisubmarine warfare aircraft.

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package of 27 PLAAF aircraft that entered the ADIZ, Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said, as tension across the Taiwan Strait had increased as the Chinese President met his top generals. H-6H bombers and six J-16 fighter aircraft flew close to Taiwan, cutting across the island country’s south-western ADIZ but without crossing into its national air space. The operation itself was not unusual as the PLAAF and the PLAN routinely send fighters, bombers and patrol planes around Taiwan ostensibly for training and as a show of force.

On 14 November, Chinese military forces held a series of air exercises near Taiwan in response to a visit by a US congressional delegation to the island. The Chinese Defence Ministry said that the joint war preparedness patrol by the PLAAF Eastern Theatre Command was induced by the serious situation prompted by the US mission.

This mission was special in at least one regard. It was the first time the PLAAF had operated one of its new Xian Y-20U air-refuelling tanker aircraft on an ADIZ mission. The US Air Force has more than 500 strategic tankers, most of them Boeing KC-135s, by contrast, the PLAAF had only three Russian Il-78MP Midas tankers until recently, as well as more than 10 tanker-conversions of the H-6 bomber, the H-6U. The Il-78MPs can each offload up to 100 tons of fuel per mission, while the H-6U has an internal fuel payload of some 20 tons, half of which is available for refuelling operations. It is not clear how much fuel a Y-20U, which is a tanker version of the large military transport, can give away, but the figure is likely to be at least 60 tons.

Taiwan’s Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) scrambled again on November 28 in response to a

China’s vast infrastructure of mainland air bases, not to mention its dozen or so major island

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outposts plus the PLAN’s growing fleet of aircraft carriers, mitigates the range penalty resulting from the PLAAF’s lack of large tanker aircraft for any operations China might conduct along its periphery, such as an attack across the Taiwan Strait.

The PLAN’s two operational aircraft carriers, the former Soviet Liaoning and the domestically built Shandong, will be joined by a third under construction which is due to be commissioned in 2024. The Shenyang J-15 is the PLAN’s carrier-borne multirole fighter aircraft that was developed from the Russian Sukhoi Su-33.

However, the PLAN has had a shortage of carrier qualified pilots and it was not until 2021 that China preliminarily possessed the capability of full-time training of carrier-borne fighter pilots.

According to Wang Yong, head of a training group under the PLA Naval Aviation University, China has completed the certifications of dayand-night deck-landing qualification for carrierborne fighter pilots, realised multiple fighter sorties in batches, and successfully established a dual-track pilot’s development mode combining the training of experienced pilots and high school recruits. Wang said that the training of carrier-borne fighter pilots has been regarded as an important matter of advancing the transformation and construction of the Chinese Navy. When the PLAN’s second aircraft carrier, Shandong, completed her first maritime test mission in April 2018, the requirement to train

the carrier-borne fighter pilots on a large scale became ever more urgent.

Recent tracking data of these incursions into the Taiwan ADIZ show a change in the makeup of the PLAAF missions. While surveillance aircraft were the most frequently observed in the past, the balance has now tipped to see fighter aircraft dominating while the use of Xian H-6 bomber aircraft, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, has also increased. In 2021 a total of 746 PLAAF aircraft had operated near Taiwan borders.

The Eastern Theatre Command (ETC) of the Chinese PLA continuously sent naval and air forces to conduct combat-readiness alert patrols in the direction of the Taiwan Strait during November 2021. Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson for the ETC, said that relevant actions taken by it were necessary to deal with the current situation in the Taiwan Strait. He claimed that Taiwan is part of China’s territory, and it is the sacred mission of the PLA to safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Troops of the ETC will stay on high alert at all times and take all necessary measures to counter any interference by outside forces and “Taiwan independence” separatist plots at any time, said Col. Shi. PLA operations have been backed up with veiled threats from the Chinese government. When

A Shenyang J-15 carrierborne multirole fighter aircraft landing on the PLAN’s aircraft carrier Liaoning. © www.81.cn

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The PLA 81st Army Group Z-19 armed reconnaissance helicopters in a mass take-off prior to a training exercise. © CMC/Chen Kai

Taiwan launched a new submarine project in 2017, formally known as the Indigenous Defence Submarine programme codenamed Hai Chang, which means “Sea Prosperity” in Chinese, it discreetly recruited foreign specialists and sourced key-components from international suppliers, in order to avoid political pressures from Beijing. At least seven countries have been reported to be helping Taiwan with its submarine programme including Australia, Canada, India, South Korea, the UK and the USA. In December 2021, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry said, “These countries are playing with fire, and those who play with fire will get burned themselves”.

The ROCAF that bears the brunt of monitoring the PLAAF sorties and protecting Taiwan’s airspace has a current inventory of some 400 combat aircraft. These include the Taiwan Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) F-CK-1A/B Ching-kou Indigenous Defence Fighter (IDF), 130 of which were built in Taiwan by 1999. Seventy-one F-CK-1 A/Bs were upgraded to F-CK-1 C/D under a US$ 500 million contract with the AIDC, the last being delivered to Ching Chuang Kang Air Force Base in 2018.

The Lockheed Martin F-16 and Dassault Mirage 2000-5EI provide the ROCAF’s most formidable air defence capabilities. In December 2021 the ROCAF signed a US$ 15.5 million contract with Seventy-one ROCAF F-CK-1 A/B Ching-kou Indigenous Defence Fighter have been upgraded to F-CK-1 C/D by AIDC. © Chang Song Wang

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French-based MBDA to service the missile systems for its 45 Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft based at Hsinchu Air Force Base. Taiwan bought 60 of the fighters from France in 1992, along with 480 MICA medium-range air-to-air missiles and 960 Magic 2 short-range missiles.

The new contract, which is valid from January 2022 to the end of 2026, covers technical assistance service for both the ROCAF’s extant MICA and Magic missiles.

As part of a US$ 3.8 billion military modernisation project by Lockheed Martin launched in 2016, the ROCAF is upgrading 141 of its F-16A/Bs based at Chiayi Air Force Base to the F-16V variant, which is equipped with more advanced avionics, including the Helmet Mounted Cueing System, the APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar, and other electronic warfare systems. In addition to the upgrade programme, Taiwan is also buying another 66 new-build F-16V Block 70/72 aircraft from the United States to replace its obsolete fleet of 25 Northrop F/RF-5E Tiger II interceptors. On 11 January 2022 one of the upgraded ROCAF F-16V crashed into the sea near Chiyi killing its pilot.

On 4 January 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the

ROCAF Mirage 2000-5EI multirole fighter aircraft are being boosted by a weapons upgrade by MBDA. © Taiwan MoD

Central Military Commission (CMC), signed a mobilisation order for the military training of the armed forces in 2022.

At the mobilisation ceremony organised by the PLA, officers and soldiers of an army aviation brigade of the 81st Army Group began a demonstration of the PLA’s continuous upgrading of transformation and reconstruction in recent years. Troops with new combat capabilities have become increasingly prominent as the PLA’s forces. The special operations force, long-range firepower strike force, intelligence reconnaissance, electronic countermeasures and air assault and army aviation assault have seen considerable expansion in recent years. The

improvement of a long-distance striking capacity, the utilisation of more unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters and long-range firepower strike force all bring the PLA closer to the strategic requirements of being able to perform mobile operations and multi-dimensional offence and defence capabilities.

Last year at the Reagan National Defense Forum, US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, had warned that China’s air incursions by fighter jets, bombers and other warplanes near Taiwan appeared to be rehearsals for military operations against the country. “It looks a lot like them exploring their true capabilities and sure it looks a lot like rehearsals.”

The ROCAF is upgrading its fleet of 141 F-16A/Bs and acquiring 66 new built aircraft. © Taiwan MoD

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A pictorial representation of the future land battlefield according to French Army studies, left, and a graphic description of the Titan concept, right. © French Army

France: Titan, one step further

By Marc Chassillan Whilst the French Scorpion programme is on tracks with the consortium Nexter-Thales-Arquus delivering Griffon, Jaguar and Serval, and Nexter delivering soon the first modernised Leclerc MBTs, the Armée de Terre (French land forces) is preparing the next step through the Titan study. Titan is not a programme, not even an armament operation like Scorpion. It is a capability study process intended to prepare for the renewal of the decision component, or heavy force in a more prosaic vocabulary. The materialization of Titan as new, in-service hardware will take place between 2030 and 2050.

Why Titan?

The M2MC (Multi-Milieux, Multi-Champs that can be translated as multi-environment, multifields or multi-domain) battlefield is part of a “competition-contestation-confrontation” continuum that replaces the classic “peace-crisiswar”. This means that, according to the French Chief of Staff general Burkhardt, we are entering a period of great instability since peace in the classic sense of the term has already disappeared. Sub-threshold aggressions, which some of our competitors have made a specialty of, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea to name but a few, can quickly degenerate once western governments make decisions based on manipulated, erroneous or incomplete information. The return of cover-up and decoy, troll factories and obedi-

ent media are participating in this infowar, crucial to breaking the will of the enemy. France has finally woken up and Madame Parly, the French minister of defence, recently introduced “la lutte informatique d’influence” L2I (or computer-aided struggle for influence). L2I will be implemented by COMCYBER, the French Cyber Defence Command.

However, these aforementioned competitors all have comprehensive, powerful, and numerous military resources. The French Army, one of the most capable expeditionary armies in the world, is not equipped today to face them over time and in any terrain. Titan must propose the technological and organizational paths that will lead to a new level of capability. The MoD has therefore launched the Titan approach which brings together several working groups formed by senior officers and engineers from Army staff and DGA, EDR | Jenuary/February 2022

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the Directorate General of Armaments. From the threat assessment, major geopolitical inputs, lessons learned from current conflicts and the future trends in technologies, these working groups carry out operational research, tactical simulations, and wargames to find the best possible configuration for the land force equipped with renewed capabilities. From 2022 on, the DGA should notify some technical and operational studies to the French industry to shed industrial light and to grip good innovative ideas.

Six high priorities

The logo of the Titan programme. © French Army

Nevertheless, Titan has already identified several crucial capabilities. The most publicized is the Main Ground Combat System, the lion king. The French Army wants platforms under 50 tonnes.

The anticipated system would be designed around four variants, a large calibre gun carrier, an escort system armed with a medium calibre cannon and a laser, a BLOS missile launcher and a command post. A purely “paper” phase, called SADS, entrusted to Nexter, KMW and Rheinmetall, will end at Q2-2022 and should theoretically lead to a phase of demonstration with ten technology demonstrators, the first of which are expected around 2025-26. Discussions between Nexter and Rheinmetall are very hard because they are about the future weapon system of the MGCS. The German company is promoting its new 130 mm smoothbore gun while Nexter has recently disclosed its Ascalon 140 mm system that comprises a gun, a set of semi-telescoped ammunitions and an autoloader. The commissioning of the MGCS should take place between 2035 and 2040 if the Armée de Terre and the Bundeswehr agree on a common requirement and if industrial companies find a fair workshare.

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The second component, critical because it affects the Army’s very ability to survive in a contested environment, concerns air defence, particularly at low and medium altitude. Main threats are fighters, combat helicopters, UAVs, rockets, mortars shells and guided munitions. It is likely that this capability will be implemented as early as 2028 according to recent statements of the Army staff. With such a schedule, the only option is to assemble off-the-shelf solutions such as MBDA Mistral, MICA VL or CAMM missiles, Nexter 40CTA gun, CILAS Helma laser and anti-drone jammers. As regards sensors, Thales and Safran portfolios include a full range of state-of-the-art radars and electro-optics devices. The choice of the platform will be an important part of the system engineering because the Armée de Terre needs a highly mobile vehicle able to keep up with MBTs and VBCI on rough terrains. Mobile air defence systems have almost disappeared from European inventories since the end of the Cold War. Over the last 30 years, western armies have benefited from total air superiority, and they have never faced any serious artillery shelling.

Rebuild a full air defence capability will require new training and doctrine and more important, a new coordination between land and air forces.

The 3D space management is key in the process.

The third requirement is about deep strike. The Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace (French Air and Space Force) will never venture its precious Rafale and its equally precious pilots into a bubble

A picture of the Leclerc XLR, the upgraded version developed within the Scorpion programme. France is working with Germany on the MGCS, the future heavyweight system that will be made of a main battle tank and other manned and unmanned elements. © M. Chassillan

MRO of the AMX30 chassis will soon come to an end. Interestingly, the Bundeswehr has recently ordered 44 Rheinmetall Kodiaks on Leopard 2 chassis to partially fulfil this mission. The British have got the BAE Trojan-Titan pair on Challenger 2 chassis. The heavy breaching capability will not be the exclusivity of land systems. To open access into contested areas, air assets and artillery will be part of the combined arms team in charge of the job too.

The DGA, the French defence procurement agency, and Nexter are developing the Chamaleon adaptive camouflage system, that might be well adopted on future vehicles, part of the Titan programme. © M. Chassillan

saturated with ground-air systems to drop few bombs. The land forces will be in charge of the mission. The future system should be able to strike high value targets ideally up to 300 km.

The French industry has all the technologies to quickly develop a product that meets the needs.

Plan B can only be a purchase of the US Deep Strike Missile, South Korean Hyunmoo-3 / Chun Mu or Israeli Lora, the latter having demonstrated its performances in Nagorno-Karabakh. The deadlines for entry into service of the systems would also be around 2030. This sudden, but salutary, priority given to deep strike capabilities is at odds with other official statements pushing the Common Indirect Fire System back to 2045.

The CIFS is one of the five programmes which were planned to be developed in cooperation with Germany.

Land access to heavily defended areas protected by powerful Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) forces will require heavy specific breaching systems. The Army working groups identify minefields and urban space disrupted by destruction and obstacles to be addressed as a matter of priority. Nothing has yet been said about the platforms that will integrate its capabilities, specific like armoured Caterpillar D9 bulldozers or those that will be eventually selected for the MGCS. The Armée de Terre is currently fielding remotely operated AMX30B2DT assault mine clearing vehicles as well as SDPMAC operating Israeli made Carpet thermobaric rocket launchers from Rafael. Those systems are getting old and the

Titan also identified the need for electromagnetic support to neutralize enemy C3I assets as the fifth main requirement. Several aerial or ground platforms will be eligible, some of which may be robotic. The increasing importance of warfare in immaterial domains will lead the Army to dramatically increase its EW capabilities to deny opponents from using its C3I/cyber assets. EW systems will largely be distributed from lower to higher echelons throughout the combat division organization.

Since the Cold War era western armies have neglected the self-propelled air defence issue. Looking at near-peer confrontations new assets have to be developed to ensure protection against drones and other threats coming from the third dimension. © M. Chassillan

Robotics is considered as a key factor of massification. Massification is required to fight symmetrical threats in high intensity conflicts.

The Arrmy has set up a dedicated team called Vulcain to build a comprehensive capability with a doctrine, trained soldiers, aerial and ground robotic systems and adapted logistics. Vulcain has a lab and can use all fully digitized training ranges to carry out trials and experiments. The French industry is working in close connection with Vulcain as solutions and technology provider.

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The OPTIO-X20 armed unmanned ground vehicle developed by Nexter and based on Milrem Robotics’ Themis tracked platform. UGVs will become an increasingly important asset in the near future. © M. Chassillan

Finally, Titan formulates the need to replace Tiger combat helicopters potentially with a multiplatform system combining aircraft and drones.

By this time, the American Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft will have been chosen and the European work on the Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) carried out by France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom may bring some concepts and technologies. In the meantime, the upgraded Tiger Mk-3s, a joint programme between France and Spain, will have to hold out until 2040.

Priority to connectivity Titan’s ultimate goal is to achieve connectivity at all levels, inter-arms, inter-service and inter-allies. A huge challenge at a time when two infantry sections engaged on the same terrain and belonging to two different NATO armies are not capable of automatically exchanging tactical data! The keystone of collaborative combat is based on the rapid and fluid broadcasting of information, made possible by the Système d’Information et de Combat Scorpion (Scorpion BMS) and the Thales Contact software radio set. For the record, a full year was not enough for seven European countries to agree on the definition of collaborative combat! The road will be long and 22

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strewn with pitfalls for officers and engineers in charge of setting new communication protocols and communication software within NATO and the EU. The Army has therefore determined two objectives for the current decade: extend and amplify Scorpion connectivity to the entire land force, vigorously initiate actions intended to obtain inter-service connectivity with the Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace and the Marine Nationale (French Navy) and finally have a minimum but usable connectivity with local actors. For the latter, the Army focuses on African armies in particular, with limited C3I resources. The Army staff specifies that high-speed tactical Internet everywhere, at all levels and all the time, is useless and that the means to achieve it are either outside the scope of technology or too expensive. One of Titan’s goals is to carefully define requirements by echelon, arm, and mission.

The contributions of Artificial Intelligence to Titan The exponential growth of the volume of data to be processed will inevitably lead to automated processing by algorithms and therefore by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The scope of AI is immense in the military. The Army is considering seven fields of application for AI. Not surpris-

Among its various robots, Nexter developed the ULTRO, a 4x4 autonomous platform that can support soldiers mostly in the logistic field. Unmanned platforms will allow reducing risks for the soldiers on the future battlefield. © M. Chassillan

ingly, operations planning comes first because many mechanisms and principles can be easily digested by an AI that can quickly present several options that humans can interpret, modify, and stabilize. Logistics and scheduled maintenance follow similar logic. Collaborative combat and intelligence are the third and fourth applications.

The data collected by the multiple sensors will have to be treated with care because the enemy, using cunning and deception, will multiply false leads to attract fires on false targets. AI will be instrumental in helping to guess enemy intentions and true positions. The AI will optimize the fire plans, their timing, and the management of 3D space. With the establishment of L2I, AI will help combat in immaterial domains. Cyberwar and influence (or softpower) need AI. Countering attacks, crafting retorts, exploiting opportunities, and gaining local dominance are vital to our defence. Robotics and autonomy will consume a lot of AI because it will take a lot of algorithms on board the autonomous platforms to fly, roll, detect, shoot, and defend. The same will

be needed to guide swarms, manage automatic logistics convoys, optimize communication flows so as not to congest radio networks, and manage the movements of unmanned vehicles.

Finally, the support services (human resources, general administration, medical, etc.) see AI as a powerful support in leaving soldiers or agents only noble tasks.

There is no approach similar to Titan in Europe, any more than there was for the construction of the Scorpion medium force and the concept of collaborative combat. The only equivalent undertaking is arguably the US Joint All-Domain aimed at countering China regardless of the engagement scenario.

According to the Titan study the Tiger combat helicopter will be replaced by a multiplatform system combining aircraft and drones. © M. Chassillan

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Dominating the electromagnetic spectrum at sea

By Luca Peruzzi

The Aselsan group is providing the Turkish Navy with the latest generation of ARES RESM and AREAS RECM solutions. The Istanbul-class frigate, here depicted in model during IDEF 2021, will receive the ARES-2N(V)2 RESM and a more capable AREAS-2NC RECM. © Paolo Valpolini

The latest generation of fast moving and low-visibility missile threats together with the increasing congested electromagnetic operational environments characterized by electronic attack and asymmetric threats, mixed with expanding civil signals, are pushing the worldwide main navies towards more sophisticated and tactical/strategic situational awareness capable EW systems with Electronic Attack (EA) capabilities, while more affordable solutions are envisaged to equip offshore armed patrol vessels. European, Israeli and US electronic warfare providers are responding to these operational requirements, boosting integrated Electronic Surveillance (ES), radar and communication electronic support measures (RESM and CESM) and countermeasures (RECM and CECM) equipment, with dedicated command and control (C2) systems capable of multi-platform and multi-domain EW operations, in addition to a wider use of off-board RESM/RECM for extended self-protection, electronic attack (EA) and cyber defence.

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With the Mid-Life Upgrade activities on the in-service Barbaros frigate, these platforms will receive the ARES-2N(V)2 RESM and AREAS-2NC RECM. The Anadolu LHD will receive the same RESM and the AREAS-2N RECM equipped with AESA antennas. © Aselsan

Aselsan Through national resources and with the support and knowledge of the Turkish Navy Naval Forces Command, the Aselsan group developed its family of naval EW, which today features an integrated and scalable RESM/RECM package solution with different frequency coverage and jamming capabilities, managed by a central processing unit, together with other self-protection equipment. The latest ARES-2N(V)2 RESM is providing more advanced capabilities including an extended 2-40 GHz frequency coverage (further expandable to 0.5-2 GHz bands) thanks to new generation digital wideband receiver technology. According to Aselsan, the ARES-2N(V)2 RESM is capable of Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) emitters detection, high Probability Of Intercept (POI), low probability of false alarm and very high direction-finding accuracy. The AREAS-2 RECM comes in two main versions, the AREAS-2NC characterized by a baseline configuration with two electronic jamming heads based on a mechanically directed and stabilized Cassegrain antenna, and the AREAS-2N with four active electronically scanned array (AESA) antennas. Covering 7.5-18 GHz frequencies and capable to deal with multiple threats simultaneously in a

dual or multiple antennas configuration, the AREAS-2NC is understood being the standard for national and international applications. Featuring digital receivers, digital radio-frequency memory (DRFM) and solid-state power amplifiers, the AREAS-2N comes with two mounts, each equipped with two antennas (each covering a 90° field of view and incorporating hundreds of T/R modules) in order to provide a 360° coverage around the protected platform against multiple and simultaneous threats.

While the ARES-2N RESM is installed on board the MILGEM-class of corvettes, the ARES-2N(V)2 has been selected for both the Turkish Navy new Istanbul-class frigates and the Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) of the Barbaros-class frigates, both of which are also equipped with the AREAS-2NC RECM suite in two different configurations, the new frigate class being equipped with the more capable one. The latest ARES-2N(V)2RESM and AREAS-2N RECM with AESA antennas, central management system and decoy launchers was installed on board the LHD Anadolu. Aselsan also acknowledged the delivery to the Pakistan Navy of a customized RESM configuration identified as ‘ARES2NCL Extended’ of undisclosed capabilities, for two unidentified platforms.

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An Industrial team led by Babcock and including Elbit Systems UK and QinetiQ will provide the Royal Navy with new EW capabilities under Increment 1 of the MEWSIC programme. The new EW equipment will be installed on future and in-service ships, like Type 26 frigates. © BAE Systems

Elbit Systems In November 2021 the UK MoD awarded the industrial team led by the Babcock group, and including Elbit Systems UK and QinetiQ, a £ 100 million contract to provide the Royal Navy with new EW capabilities under Increment 1 of the Maritime Electronic Warfare System Integrated Capability (MEWSIC) programme. The latter is the first phase of the Maritime Electronics Warfare Programme (MEWP) to deliver battle-winning operational advantage on Type 45-class destroyers, Type 26- and 31-class frigates, as well as Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, according to the UK MoD. Under the contract, Elbit Systems UK will design, manufacture and deliver tailored and sovereign variants of the new generation fully digital eM-e EW suite. According to Elbit Systems, at this stage as part of the MEWP Increment 1 the eM-e includes the eM-esense Electronic Surveillance (ES)/Radar ESM (RESM) with Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) capabilities and the eM-econtrol Electronic Warfare Command and Control (EWC2) including mission planning functions. The eM-e is a new generation EW suite based on the Aqua Marine suite evolution architecture using the last available technology. The Aqua Marine 26

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suite is an all-digital modular and open architecture which consists of naval RESM, CESM, laser warning system (LWS) and ECM, suitable for all types of platform and customizable to any customer operational needs. Together, eM-esense and eM-econtrol, with or without eM-edefeat, the latter including EW counter-measures, Electronic Attack and effectors activation, combine to form eM-edominate, the Elbit Systems endto-end EW solution. The eM-econtrol fuses the advantages and benefits of an operational-proven modern maritime EW solution, with the advantages and benefits of an operational-modern C2 capability already deployed in various tactical disciplines, according to the Israeli group. No information was provided on the eM-esense ES/RESM tailored configuration; however according to Elbit Systems baseline capabilities this includes a very high sensitivity interferometric Direction Finding (DF) phased array antenna with very low radar cross-section profile, a full digital and utilizing direct sampling, multi-bit, channelized wideband panoramic receiver, and an advanced signal processing including time overlapping pulse (Co-pulse) reception, immunity and resilience mechanisms, designed to withstand environmental, offensive and co-site interference.

The Elettronica group has developed an integrated EW suite for new generation Italian Navy combatant platforms, like the Pattugliatori Polivalenti d’Altura, incorporating the company’s latest developments and technologies available on the market. © Giorgio Arra

Elettronica

construction for the same service, EDR Magazine understood. Elettronica has also been contracted by Rohde & Schwarz of Germany to contribute to the new generation KORA EW suite which the latter group is developing for the German Navy’s new surface ship programmes. EDR Magazine understood that Elettronica is contributing with RESM subsystem components and know-how. Although not officially disclosed, EDR Magazine also understood the Italian company provided the EW suite for the new

The investments in seven decades of activities in new technologies and know-how together with an expanding international footprint, allowed the Elettronica group to maintain a leading position in the EW naval domain, among other sectors. The latest developments in the surface and underwater segment, based on the Italian Navy’s demanding EW warfare requirements and the service’s latest fleet renewal programme, created new business opportunities both in Europe and other regions worldwide. In December 2021, Elettronica announced the award of the contract by the United Arab Emirates MoD to equip the new Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding-built Falaj 3-class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) for the UAE Navy with an EW suite including RESM and CESM equipment. Although not officially disclosed, this follows the procurement and installation of the RESM/CESM suite of the same family on the Exploiting the EW developments for the Italian Navy new generation platforms, two Naval Group Bani Yas-class Elettronica equipped the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces new corvettes, OPVs and LPD being Gowind 2500 corvettes under delivery by Fincantieri with latest generation integrated EW suites. © Giorgio Arra EDR | Jenuary/February 2022

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Turkmenistan Navy’s C92 design corvettes built locally by the Turkish Dearsan/Gulhan consortium. The solutions offered by Elettronica for the new procurements are based on the modular integrated EW suite, characterized by scalable architecture, lightweight, and capable to support the full spectrum of military/crisis management/ homeland security operations, which derives from equipment developed for Italian Navy’s new generation platforms under delivery. The same family of EW suites also equips the new Al Zubarah-class corvettes, Musherib-class OPVs and the LPD that Fincantieri is building and delivering to the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces. Managed by the company’s ELT/950 EW command and control application, the new generation integrated EW suite provides RESM (in C-K band), RECM (E-J band) and CESM functions as a baseline, with an open architecture to integrate decoy launchers with passive and off-board active decoys, directional countermeasures against electro-optical/infrared threats and off-board R/CESM-equipped unmanned platforms, to enhance the over-the-horizon surveillance. Centered on Elettronica’s Zeus “all-in-one” fully integrated ESM-ECM system architecture, it includes AESA-based RECM with Electronic Attack capabilities, CESM and cyber defence solutions.

IAI In October 2021 Elta Systems, part of the IAI Group, unveiled the new family of Scorpius EW systems for land, airborne and naval applications, based on AESA technology, which according to the Israeli company provides a breakthrough in EW performance, enabling a new generation of EW capabilities. The naval version, or Scorpius-N (ELL-8256SB), is a powerful state-of-the-art long-distance ES/RESM and RECM system based on the advanced and innovative technology featuring Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESAs) with Gallium-Nitride (GaN)-equipped solid state amplifiers (SSA). The Scorpius-N baseline 28

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Elta Systems, part of the IAI Group, offers the new generation family of Scorpius EW systems for land, airborne and naval applications, based on AESA technology, which according to the Israeli company provides a breakthrough in EW performance. © IAI

solution comprises four conformallymounted antennas on the central mast. The system minimizes the contribution to the vessel’s radar cross-section (RCS) thanks to the small size of its AESA arrays, its conformal installation, and the use of a single aperture for both ESM and ECM functions.

According to Elta Systems, the novel design provides exceptional receiver sensitivity and Effective Radiated Power (ERP) transmission, far exceeding those of legacy EW solutions. The enhanced sensitivity and ERP enable the Scorpius-N to detect, distort and degrade enemy radars even through their side lobes, greatly increasing the system’s jamming effectiveness. The AESA technology allows narrow and simultaneous multi-beam operation. Multi-beam forming provides unprecedented sensitivity and the ability to target multiple threats individually.

The system can detect very low signals and simultaneously jam numerous emitters over its entire frequency range, while covering a wide geographic sector, and displays an Electronic Order of Battle (EOB). It is

Rafael

Indra has developed a new generation integrated EW suite dubbed ‘REW CEW’ for equipping the latest generation F-110 frigates, which includes RESM/CESM and RECM/CECM subsystems. © Navantia

driven by a pre-programmed Mission Data File (MDF) and can operate automatically, being capable to be networked with other vessels, providing enhanced ESM and ECM capabilities. According to the Israeli company, the Scorpius family of systems has already been contracted by unidentified customers for unidentified applications.

Indra In July 2020, Navantia as prime contractor has assigned to Indra a comprehensive contract for equipping the new generation F-110 frigates with radars and EW equipment, to find accommodation into the integrated mast and superstructures. Indra is developing a new generation RESM/RECM/CESM/CECM integrated suite dubbed ‘REW CEW’. Thanks to the development of new algorithms for massive data collection, artificial intelligence and a modular ECM antenna, the new Rigel i100 RESM/RECM suite will allow the detection of complex radar signals and will provide countermeasures to deal with these threats simultaneously. The new modular and scalable Regulus i100 CESM will feature enhanced performances, increasing the frequency band, scanning speed, dynamic range and instantaneous bandwidth for detection, location and classification of emitters in the communications band. Indra is however continuing to successfully offer its current generation Rigel integrated RESM/ RECM suite and Regulus CESM/CECM on the international market.

The Israeli company offers the SEWSDV naval EW suite which incorporates both digital RESM and RECM, optimized to handle very dense electromagnetic environments. It incorporates the C-PEARLDV digital wide-band, multi-bit receivers that directly sample RF and automatically analyse radar signals. Integrated with the C-PEARL-DV is the Digital-Shark DRFMbased RECM, incorporating solid-state amplifiers (SSA) with Gallium Nitride (GaN) based amplifiers, which according to Rafael achieves exceptional reliability, high Effective Radiated Power (ERP) and enables simultaneous handling of multiple ASM threats over the 6-40 GHz frequency band. The Israeli company also provides the C-GEM off-board active decoy, which was designed to deceive the most advanced seekers of modern anti-ship missiles.

Rohde & Schwarz In September 2021, the German group announced the contract award by Thales to provide the KORA EW suite for the new German Navy’s F126 frigates being built, equipped and delivered by an industrial team lead by the Dutch Damen shipbuilding group together with the German NVL shipbuilder and the Thales group. The integrated KORA RESM/CESM suite, according to Rohde & Schwarz (R&S), is a powerful intercept and analysis system that detects, identifies and tracks complex and broadband radar emissions, as well as communications transmissions. An evolution of the KORA (KOmmunikations- und RAdarerfassungssystem, communications and radar intercept system in German) suite installed on board the in-service F125-class of German Navy frigates, according to R&S, the new suite is a modular and scalable solution, which can be adjusted for different platforms. The system combines detection results from different signals for a comprehensive picture of the situation, covering the entire electroEDR | Jenuary/February 2022

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The Rohde & Schwarz group has been awarded a contract by Thales to provide the KORA EW suite for the new German Navy’s F126 frigates being built, equipped and delivered by an industrial team led by the Dutch Damen shipbuilding group together with the German NVL shipbuilder and the Thales group. © Damen

magnetic spectrum with high sensitivity and a long detection range. The integrated suite comprises both RESM and CESM where the former, according to the contract awarded to Elettronica in December 2021, includes main components and know-how provided by the Italian Group, EDR Magazine understood.

Although not officially confirmed, the suite should include a C2 system capable to manage both RECM and decoy launchers or other effectors. According to the German Navy, the new suite is designated KORA 40 (vs KORA 18 for the F125-class frigates), which EDR Magazine understood being referred to the RF frequency band coverage up to 40 GHz. Presentations provided by the German Navy during the IQPC Surface Warships virtual conference in January 2021 mentioned the KORA 40 not only for the F126 but also for the upgrading programmes of both the F123- and F124-class frigates. The F123 midlife upgrade programme presentation also referred to the KORA 40 as a suite including both RESM/CESM and RECM, which opens the possibility to the additional procurement of RECM equipment. In June 2021, Rohde & Schwarz and Elettronica signed a cooperation agreement for the development of RESM/ CESM and RECM systems in Germany, with a focus on the domestic market. During 2021 R&S was also awarded a contract by the Brazilian MoD to provide a CESM system for the Tamandaré-class corvettes.

Saab The Saab group is promoting its family of SME and UME RESM and ELINT suites 30

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families for respectively surface vessels and submarines. The most sophisticated application is the SME-250 characterised by a digital analysis receiver, which enriches the ME-150 capabilities providing multiband coverage (0.5-18 GHZ and option for millimetric wave), ELINT and situational awareness in parallel, digital receiver analysis capability, higher resolution ELINT analysis and LPI detection analysis. Saab Deutschland offers a range of applied technologies and solutions in the CESM, COMINT domain for both surface vessels and submarines.

Thales The Thales group is leveraging the continuous technological evolution of its families of Vigile RESM and Altesse CESM/ COMINT to offer unrivalled performance in the Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO) and further expand its portfolio of customers. In addition to the top-end Vigile D solution, also offered with extended capabilities in the lower and higher bands (0.5-40 GHz), and in final acceptance tests for unspecified customers, which EDR Magazine understood being the Netherlands and Portuguese navies which acquired the system in 2019, the RESM family also includes the Vigile Mk2 and a lightweight version of the latter, to satisfy less demanding missions, from combat to surveillance and protection of the Economic Exclusive Zone. Offering a sensitivity similar to that of the Vigile D, but with a different packaging and ship installation principle, a new RESM version has been developed by Thales to satisfy the

Thales has developed a new RESM version to satisfy the high demanding requirements of the French MoD for naval applications. It will be initially installed as part of the new generation Sentinel integrated EW naval suite on board the French Navy’s Frégates de Défense et d’Intervention platforms. © Naval Group

high demanding requirements of the French MoD for naval applications. It will be initially installed as part of the new generation Sentinel integrated EW naval suite on board the French Navy’s Frégates de Défense et d’Intervention (FDI) platforms. Described as an advanced all-digital system capable of precisely identifying fast maneuvering threats in complex RF environments encountered in littoral waters, the RESM must process instantaneously the full E to J bandwidth and cope with several signals at the same time.

This presents several advantages in terms of ensuring compatibility with other increasingly numerous on-board emitters, dealing with a dense off-board electromagnetic environment close to the coast, enabling to cope with higher-speed and less-detectable threats like supersonic missiles. In order to implement that requirement, Thales has been using COTS digitizer boards, which combine analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) with top of the class Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). System development and testing of the latter is on track, with the first set delivered in 2021 and installed on the FDI mast integration platform at the French MoD site of Saint Mandrier. In addition to the RESM, the new EW suite also includes an

advanced EW C2 capable to manage other dedicated sensors and countermeasures, including the latest derivative of the Thales Altesse CESM family. The Altesse H is the high-end CESM and COMINT solution for alert, situational awareness and strategic missions in high-density environments to cover the HF, V/UHF and SHF bands. Thanks to automatic processing capabilities, such as the automatic identification function, the ALTESSE-H facilitates the operator tasks and allows detecting and alerting earlier about potential threats. Exploiting the experience and technologies developed with the UK Accolade and more recent French Defense Innovative Agency initiatives, Thales is working on an RF countermeasure payload solution for an off-board active decoy, designed to cope with latest generation missile threats, this solution attracting the interest of both UK and French customers, as well as that of other NATO navies. In the meantime, the Scorpion RECM solution is continuously being upgraded (power amplifier assembly, overall reduction of Size, Weight and Power) to find new customers, according to Thales.

US companies The US Navy launched in 2002 the Surface Warfare Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP), which is segmented into Block 1B, 2 and 3 upgrades of the AN/SLQ32(V) EW system, Soft Kill Coordination (SKCS) and a planned Block 4 providing EO/ IR surveillance/countermeasures. The Block 2, also known as AN/SLQ-32(V)6, falls under the responsibility of Lockheed Martin, which already delivered over 100 systems.

The Block 2 is the latest operational upgrade deployed on Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and on the future FFG-62 Constellation-class frigates, providing improved Anti-Ship Missile Defence (ASMD) and situational awareness through enhanced Electronic Support (ES) receiver, antenna and open combat system interface. In 2021 Lockheed Martin began deliveries of the SEWIP Lite, a scaledEDR | Jenuary/February 2022

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Thales Vigile D is in final acceptance tests for unspecified customers, which EDR Magazine understood being the Netherlands and Portuguese navies that acquired the system in 2019. © Netherlands MoD

down version of the Block 2, about half the size of the latter, which still provides a significant ES capability to smaller surface combatants at a lower per system cost. Known as AN/SLQ-32C(V)6, the SEWIP Lite is aimed at smaller US Navy’s platforms, including Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) and Coast Guard’s new offshore patrol cutters (OPC) under construction, and has already attracted the interest of some international customers. There are currently 225 AN/SLQ-32 systems deployed worldwide: 116 on USN Ships (CVN, DDG, CG, LCC, LHA, LHD, LPD and LSD), 22 systems on USCG cutters and 87 through FMS (Foreign Military Sales) on naval platforms of 11 coun-

The US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are being equipped with the latest available SEWIP (Surface Warfare Electronic Warfare Improvement Program) Block 2 version of the AN/SLQ-32(V) integrated EW suite. A scaled-down version of the AN/SLQ-32(V)6 will equip smaller US Navy’s and US Coast Guard’s vessels, including Littoral Combat Ships. © U.S. Navy

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tries. The SEWIP Block 3 falls under the responsibility of Northrop Grumman, which in June 2021 delivered the first AN/SLQ-32(V)7 SEWIP Block 3 Engineering and Development Model (EDM) equipment to the US Navy for land-based testing. Providing enhanced Electronic Attack (EA) capability via the addition of an upgraded EA transmitter and receiver array, the new generation open architecture and software-defined Block 3 suite features multifunctional apertures that support simultaneous engagements, rapid responsive, advanced waveform generation and advanced techniques to keep pace with the evolving ASM threat. With first lowrate initial production installation on DDG Flight IIA in process, and conduct of technical evaluation and IOT&E planned for FY 2023, the AN/SLQ-32(V)7 will be fielded on DDG51-, LHD- and CVN-class ships, while a Lite version is being considered. Thanks to a soft kill coordination system (SKCS) and data-link, the SEWIP Block 2/3 also manages both on- and off-board present and future RF countermeasures including the current Australian/US Nulka decoy and the future AN/ALQ-248 Active Mission Payload (AMP) being developed, delivered and integrated

by Lockheed Martin on board US Navy’s MH-60R/S helicopters under the Advanced Offboard EW (AOEW) programme.

In June 2021 Northrop Grumman delivered the first Engineering and Development Model (EDM) equipment of the AN/SLQ-32(V)7 SEWIP Block 3 to the US Navy for land-based testing. The suite provides enhanced Electronic Attack (EA) capability to cope with present and future threats. © Northrop Grumman

North Korea’s weapons of great significance

By David Oliver

In September 2021 North Korea (DPRK) launched what it described as a newly developed long-range cruise missile. © KCNA

In September 2021 the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) claimed to have successfully launched what it described as a newly developed long-range cruise missile, as it continued to expand its military capacity despite crippling sanctions from the West and a stalemate in negotiations with the United States.

State media, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said that the missile, which have been under development for two years, hit targets 1,500 km (932 miles) away during two days of test flights.

This was the first high-profile missile trial since March 2021 when a new tactical shortrange ballistic missile was tested.

T

he new land-launched cruise missile, which DPRK media described as “a strategic weapon of great significance,” was the latest in a long line of increasingly advanced strategic weapons developed by the North Korean regime, and could potentially provide the country with an important new capability, with a low-flying standoff weapon able to strike anywhere in South Korea, and even as far as Japan. In this context, the use of the word

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“strategic” normally implies the carriage of a nuclear warhead.

What is so far unknown is whether North Korea has already developed a nuclear warhead small enough to arm a weapon in this class, although there have been persistent reports of its efforts to miniaturise nuclear warheads that could be accommodated within the relatively small dimensions of a typical cruise missile. This

the aircraft has continued to feature in recent military exercises, and has reportedly found a second lease of life as an anti-ship or cruisemissile launch platform.

The Korean People’s Army Air Force obsolete Harbin H-5 bomber could be used as a cruise missile launch aircraft. © Jerry Gunner

challenge has to be overcome if the missile is to be air-launched.

The Korean People’s Army Air Force (KPAF) has only one bomber aircraft capable of carrying a cruise missile, the Harbin H-5, a Chinese licensebuilt variant of the Soviet Ilyushin Il-28 that first flew in 1948. Some 1,000 H-5s were built in China, the last being completed in 1982. The twin-jet light bomber has a maximum speed of 902 km/h (560 mph) and can carry a 3 ton payload over and range of 2,180 km (I,355 miles).

Uiju Airfield, close to the Chinese border, had been the base for around half of the country’s estimated 80 H-5 fleet until early 2021, when they were relocated to Sondok Airport in the East of the country and others apparently flew to Changjin Air Base in central North Korea. While there remains uncertainty around the overall numbers still in service, the fact that so many of these 60-year-old aircraft were made airworthy remains noteworthy. Despite its obsolescence,

North Korea’s new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was shown at the military parade on the 75th anniversary of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party. © KRTV

The announcement of last year’s DPRK cruise missile tests was made to coincide with a meeting between officials from the United States, South Korea, and Japan to discuss the North Korean nuclear stalemate due to begin in Tokyo. Talks with North Korea about lifting US sanctions in return for nuclear concessions have been stalled since 2019.

Since the nuclear talks broke down, the DPRK has, however, pressed ahead with its nuclear weapons development, with a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) designs unveiled. An August 2021 report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggested that North Korea had restarted a nuclear reactor believed to provide plutonium for its nuclear weapons.

Following the DPRK’s nuclear tests in 2006, 2009, 2013, 2016 and 2017, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions demanding the DPRK return at an early date to the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. It decided that the DPRK should abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and immediately cease all related activities and act strictly in accordance with the obligations applicable to parties under the NPT and the terms and conditions of its NPT Safeguards Agreement. The UN also decided that the DPRK shall provide the IAEA with transparency measures extending beyond these requirements, including access to individuals, documentation, equipment and facilities as may be required and deemed necessary by the Agency.

Contrary to the requirements of those resolutions, the DPRK has not abandoned its existing nuclear programme in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner or ceased all related activities.

In 2022 the DPRK’s nuclear activities continue EDR | Jenuary/February 2022

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On 11 January 2022 North Korea tested-fired its third hypersonic missile from land. © KCNA

to be a cause for serious international concern.

Furthermore, the new indications of the operation at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Centre’s 5 MWe reactor, which is capable of producing up to six kilograms of plutonium per year, and at the Radiochemical Laboratory, are deeply troubling and the continuation of the DPRK’s nuclear programme is a clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

more than a dozen visits to North Korea where nuclear technology was believed to have been exchanged for expertise on missile technology.

With these agreements, one of the key mysteries has always been the extent to which Khan was acting alone or under the orders of his government. Particularly with the North Korean deal, all the signs were that the leadership was not just aware of it, but was closely involved.

Only two months after the IAEA report was published, the man regarded as the “father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb”, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, died. Khan was reported to have made

In October 2021 at the Defence Development Exhibition, Self-Defence-2021, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to build an “invincible” military as he accused the United

USAF F-16Cs of the 8th Fighter Wing based at Kunsan Air Base and a ROKAF F-16D, in formation during a Friendship Flight mission. © USAF

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States of creating tensions and not taking action to prove it has no hostile intent toward the North. And nine days later North Korea tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), ostensibly putting the hermit kingdom one step closer to fielding a combat-ready ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) fleet.

In November 2021, amid attempts to resume diplomatic dialogue with North Korea, the United States and South Korea began a joint aerial exercise. The exercise, previously called “Vigilant Ace”, once mobilised tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of cutting-edge fighter aircraft, bombers and other warplanes.

For nine years, the two countries hosted Vigilant Ace, described as an exercise to “enhance interoperability between United States and Republic of Korea forces and ensure local peace and security.”

However, the programme was scaled back

since 2017 to facilitate talks aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes in return for US sanctions relief.

The 2021 exercise began the drills, which lasted five days, without announcing or naming them.

Some 100 aircraft were involved from each side, including South Korea’s Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) F-15K Slam Eagle and F-16C/ Ds multirole fighter aircraft and USAF F-16s of the 8th Fighter Wing, “The Wolf Pack”, currently based at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea, but no equipment or troops from the US mainland joined the exercises.

The inventory of North Korea’s KPAF includes more than 100 Chengdu J-7 and Shengyang J-6 fighter aircraft, which are Chinese licensebuilt Soviet MiG-21s and MiG-19s respectively, and small numbers of MiG-29 multirole fighters and MiG-23 fighter-bombers. However, due to North Korea’s economic problems, fewer than 50 percent of it combat aircraft are thought to

A Lockheed Martin F-16C of the ROKAF’s 38th Fighter Group based at Kunsan Air Base. © ROKAF

EDR | Jenuary/February 2022

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The ROKAF operates a total of 59 capable Boeing F-15K Slam Eagle fighter aircraft with the 11th Fighter Wing at Daegu. © ROK Defense Media Agency

be airworthy while the flying hours of their pilots, other than those flying the MiG-29s, are severely restricted.

In a conventional warfare scenario, the KPAF would be unable to threaten the ROKAF which is taking delivery of the fifth-generation F-35A Lightning II multirole combat aircraft in addition to its F-15Ks and F-16Cs which would be supported

by USAF fighter units.

However, contrary to predictions of major policy shifts, Kim Jong Un offered no hint of diplomatic outreach or moderating North Korea’s ongoing arms buildup. In his 2022 New Year message at the five-day plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, he said, “The increasingly unstable military environment on the Korean Peninsula and international politics have instigated calls to vigorously push forward with our national defence build-up plans without any delay.”

He also stated that he had ordered the production of powerful, modern weapon systems to improve his military forces and called for the military’s “absolute loyalty and allegiance” to the ruling party led by him.

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In reply, on 5 January 2022, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that his government will pursue “an irreversible path to peace until the end” in his New Year’s address. However, such a development can only occur when the United States and China work closely together to tackle the North Korea issue. As the rising tensions between Beijing and Washington give unlimited time to North Korea to gain more leverage by building up more advanced weapons and improving the economy, the US and South Korea should encourage China to engage in denuclearisation negotiations more actively rather than providing help to North Korea behind the scenes.

Shortly after six countries had issued a statement urging North Korea to cease its destabilising actions, it launched a suspected ballistic missile on 11 January 2022. “Our military detected a suspected ballistic missile fired by North Korea from land towards the East China Sea,” South Korea’s Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) said, adding that intelligence authorities from South Korea and the US were in the process of conducting a detailed analysis.

The latest launch appeared to underscore North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s pledge to bolster the country’s defences as part of its policy priorities for 2022, which were outlined during a key meeting in December. The US mission to the United Nations, joined by Albania, France, the Irish Republic, Japan, and the United Kingdom, issued a joint statement condemning the latest test.

miles) away. The agency claimed that the missile had made a 600 km (375 mile) “glide jump flight,” followed by 240 km (149 miles) of “corkscrew manoeuvring” before hitting its target.

“These actions increase the risk of miscalculation and escalation and pose a significant threat to regional stability,” said US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield. The group called for North Korea “to refrain from further destabilising actions and engage in meaningful dialogue towards our shared goal of complete denuclearisation.”

South Korea’s military is capable of both detecting and intercepting what North Korea claims to be a hypersonic missile, Seoul’s defence ministry said.

KCNA reported that the missile fired on 11 January had successfully made a turn before hitting its target in the sea some 1,000 km (621

It marked North Korea’s third reported test of a hypersonic missile, which can avoid detection for longer than ballistic missiles.

After the North Korea’s third hypersonic missile test, South Korea’s defence ministry spokesman, Boo Seung-chan said, “Let me make it clear that South Korea’s military possesses capabilities to not only detect this projectile but also intercept it,” Boo told a regular press briefing. “We have also been continuously strengthening our system to respond.”

Thirty-six Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II multirole fighter aircraft are being delivered to ROKAF’s 17th Fighter Wing at Cheongju. © Lockheed Martin

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Orion-E at the Dubai Airshow-2021 © N.Novichkov

Russia Orion-E MALE reconnaissance/strike UCAV Recently exhibited in the Rosoboronexport booth at the Dubai Airshow, the Orion-E MALE UAV marked a number of premieres. Designed by Kronshtadt, the high-tech company with headquarters in Moscow, its production will soon be transferred into the new plant in Dubna, some 100 km north of Moscow, which should soon be ready.

The system shown at the Dubai 2021 event was the very last version of the Orion-E UCAV, the “C” letter (for combat) showing the shift to a weaponised version. Beside the addition of the armament the Orion-E MALE drone in the reconnaissance/strike configuration shown in the Middle-East exhibition also featured a satellite communication system that allows operators controlling the UCAV almost from any point of the world, independently of the distance.

The air platform maintains its architecture, with a V-tail and the two-blade pushing propeller driven by a 115 hp engine. The maximum take-off weight is 1,150 kg, 250 kg of which being dedicated to the payload. In the reconnaissance/strike configuration this can include weaponry, bombs and/or missiles, which is attached to the centreline pylon and the underwing pylons, one per side.

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Kronshtadt’s automated ground control station for drones © N.Novichkov

Kronshtadt proposes different weapons configurations. One sees a single 100 kg aerial bomb on the centreline pylon, the second six 20 kg guided bombs, two per each of the three pylons, or four 50 kg antitank missiles, two under each of the underwing pylons, or three 50 kg guided bombs, one per each pylon.

The company is continuously working on the integration of new weapon types on its UCAV. Looking at the export market, these must get approval from the Russian Ministry of Defence. Among those we find the OFAB-100-120 unguided aerial bomb, the KAB-50 air bomb that can be fitted with TV, laser or satellite guidance systems, the KAB-20 air bomb that can be equipped with a satellite or a laser guidance system, and the 9K121 Vikhr laser beam-riding anti-tank missile, the latter recently added to the export catalogue. In the early future the Orion-E should carry out tests with the modernised version of that antitank missile, the 9A1472 Vikhr-M. Other weapon systems might be added in the future, as soon as the Russian Ministry of Defence will allow their export. However Kronshtadt is not limiting the integration of new weapons to those produced in Russia, and is ready to integrate on its UCAV systems proposed by its customers, providing they respect size and weight limits. This was shown during the MILEX exhibition that took place in late June 2021 in Minsk, where the Orion-E was shown fitted with a payload manufactured in the Republic of Belarus.

Development will continue. The Orion-E was designed from inception with an open architecture, that favours easy integration of new sensors and weapons, while its optimal aerodynamic design ensures that the Russian UCAV will be capable to remain among the best performing unmanned platforms, the system ensuring also a long service life.

Beside being the first ever exhibition of the Orion-E in the UCAV configuration at a major international airshow, and its first presentation in the Middle East, the recent exhibition of the Kronshtadt system also marked the first appearance of the new automated workplace for multiple UAV operations, an item already seen in Summer 2021 at MAKS and Army exhibitions in Russia. This new system is designed for automated mission planning and control, allowing a single operator to handle simultaneously up to 20 drones, the system being able to support the decision making process, to automatically detect targets in real-time, and to classify them with the help of Artificial Intelligence. It increases the autonomy of the drones that can operate in collaborative mode when launched in swarms, this capability to be tested in early 2022 at company level.

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