Armada International - June/July 2019

June/july 2019. Issue 03.

SeaGuardian

THE WORLD’S BENCHMARK • Cost-effective, multi-role, multi-domain MALE UAS • Responsive, persistent and long-range • Capable of securing Malaysia’s vast territory • Maritime superiority • Reconfigurable payload options • Assured networking and interoperability across defence and civil C4ISR networks • Trusted and proven systems backed by 5.5 million flight hours

ga-asi.com ©2019 GENERAL ATOMICS AERONAUTICAL SYSTEMS, INC.

Leading The Situational Awareness Revolution

JUNE/JULY 2019 www.armadainternational.com

06 land warfare

12

14

DETECT, DETER OR DESTROY Soldiers on the battlefield now require counter UAS capabilities to protect their movement and location from enemies, explains Stephen W. Miller.

saab exercise ARCTIC GUARDIANS The biennial Artic Challenge Exercise (ACE) allows Scandanavian and NATO air forces to test their metal over one of Europe’s largest air training areas.

Andrew Drwiega reports.

18 SEA POWER

22

26

AUSTRALAIN NAVY TRIALS AUTONOMOUS MARTIME SYSTEMS Dr Lee Willett reports on the Royal Australian Navy’s demonstration of unmanned systems and concepts of operation.

LAND WARFARE SEEING TO SHOOT - ADVANCES IN NIGHT VISION Michael J Gething scans night vision technology and the latest updates available to today’s infanty.

air POWER FRIENDS OVERHEAD Jon Lake examines the development of close air support and takes a look at the widening types of aircraft now being considered for this role.

Special Ops and Expeditionary Forces Debrief SOF SEEK SIMULATION TO OPTIMISE TRAINING

Special operations soldiers are increasingly looking to synthetic real-world training to give a greater edge to mission planning as Andrew White finds out.

ICLES IALENVDIUEMHSUPPLEMENT ER DTIOANA L COMP ADANINNTERENA UNARM MA AN

0 2019/2 rce for

30 COUNTRY ANALYSIS

NATO’s Baltic Front NATO forces have strengthened the Baltic states while a wave of equipment updates are being put into place as David Oliver discovers.

34 armada commentary

: The

UAV 01

AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS Andrew Hunter looks at how the military and industry are adapting to the rise of autonomous systems in defence.

Cover

Jun/Jul

19.indd

sou TrusTed

lysis

logy ana

e Techno

defenc

2 BE

5/30/256

2:57 PM

1

Compendium CENTRE PULL OUT UNMANNED AERIAL VEHILE COMPENDIUM Armada’s annual examination of military unmanned aerial vehicles. By Peter Donaldson.

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

3

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

June/July 2019. Issue 03.

ARMADA 01 Cover Jun/Jul 19.indd 1

5/31/2562 BE 9:14 AM

ON THE COVER: US Army soldiers assigned to Viper Company, 1-26 Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), with the East Africa Response Force (EARF), prepare for night vision training at Grand Bara, Djibouti, 14 December, 2018. (US Air Force)

Volume 43, Issue No.3, JUNE/JULY 2019 Published bi-monthly by Media Transasia Ltd. Copyright 2012 by Media Transasia Ltd. Publishing Office: Media Transasia Ltd., 1603, 16/F, Island PL Tower, 510 Kings Road, Hong Kong Editor-in-Chief: Andrew Drwiega General Manager: Jakhongir Djalmetov International Marketing Manager: Roman Durksen Digital Manager: David Siriphonphutakun Sales & Marketing Coordinator: Wajiraprakan Punyajai Art Director: Hatsada Tirawutsakul Circulation Officer: Yupadee Seabea Chairman: J.S. Uberoi President: Egasith Chotpakditrakul Chief Financial Officer: Gaurav Kumar

AERONAUTICS

5

MSPO COVER 3

DSA 25

MTU 11

DSEI

33

ROHDE & SCHWARZ

DSEI JAPAN

33

SAAB 13

D & S THAILAND

17

SCHIEBEL

COVER 2

EUROSATORY

21

SINGAPORE AIRSHOW

29

EXPODEFENSA

19

SRC COVER 4

GENERAL ATOMICS COVER 2, COVER 4 IAI 7

UNMANNED SYSTEMS DEFENCE

9

COVER 3

*ENTIRES HIGHLIGHTED WITH RED NUMBER ARE FOUND IN COMPENDIUM

MODERN DAY MARINE 15

THIS MONTH ON ARMADAINTERNATIONAL.COM

Advertising Sales Offices France/Spain Stephane de Remusat, REM International Tel: (33) 5 3427 0130 E-Mail: sremusat@rem-intl.com Germany Sam Baird, Whitehill Media Tel: (44-1883) 715 697 Mobile: (44-7770) 237 646 E-Mail: sam@whitehillmedia.com TURKEY/EASTERN EUROPE/UK Zena Coupé Tel: +44 1923 852537, zena@expomedia.biz Nordic Countries/Italy/Switzerland Emanuela Castagnetti-Gillberg Tel: (46) 31 799 9028 E-Mail: emanuela.armada@gmail.com Russia Alla Butova, NOVO-Media Ltd, Tel/Fax: (7 3832) 180 885 Mobile : (7 960) 783 6653 Email :alla@mediatransasia.com USA (East/South East)/Canada (East) Margie Brown, Blessall Media, LLC. Tel : (+1 540) 341 7581 Email: margiespub@rcn.com

■ Staying ahead of the game Andrew Drwiega – How do Israeli companies within the nation’s defence sector retain their momentum in terms of developing battlefield ready equipment?

Andrew Drwiega finds out in discussions with representatives from Elbit Systems, Rafael and UVision among others.

■ Winds of change in the Fighter market Andrew Hunter – Very little stirs the blood in defence quite like a good fighter competition.

Fighters are glamorous, eye-catching, and expensive.

They are the crown jewels of military gear. This means that fighter competitions, when they are actually held, are fiercely competed.

USA (West/South West)/Brazil/Canada (West) Diane Obright, Blackrock Media Inc Tel : (+1 858) 759 3557 Email: blackrockmediainc@icloud.com All Other Countries Jakhongir Djalmetov Media Transasia Limited Tel: +66 2204 2370, Mobile: +66 81 6455654 Email: joha@mediatransasia.com Roman Durksen Media Transasia Limited Tel: +66 2204 2370, Mobile +66 83 6037989 E-Mail: roman@mediatransasia.com

Controlled circulation: 26,050 (average per issue) certified by ABC Hong Kong, for the period 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2018.

Printed by Media Transasia Ltd., 75/8, 14th Floor, Ocean Tower II, Soi Sukhumvit 19, Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110, Thailand.

Tel: 66 (0)-2204 2370, Fax: 66 (0)-2204 2390 -1 Annual subscription rates: Europe: CHF 222 (including postage) Rest of the World: USD 222 (including postage) Subscription Information: Readers should contact the following address: Subscription Department, Media Transasia Ltd., 75/8, 14th Floor, Ocean Tower II, Soi Sukhumvit 19, Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110, Thailand.

Tel +66 2204 2370 Fax: +66 2204 2387 Email: accounts@mediatransasia.com

4

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

■ China’s Jiangkai frigate roll-out delivers global reach

■ BAE Systems unveiled its 360 Multifunction Vehicle

Dr. Lee Willett – Like any navy seeking global presence, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will use its surface forces to project influence. A primary platform in building this forward presence is the Jiangkai II frigate.

BAE Systems’ Vehicle Protection Systems Provide Layered Defense for Armored Vehicles

Protection (MVP) Sensor as part of the company’s integrated vehicle protection system (VPS) suite, which provides improved visibility, situational awareness, threat warning, and countermeasures to protect armored vehicles and crews.

Editorial REACTING TO

RUSSIA

S

weden has long had a reputation for fairness, ethics, transparency, low corruption and a balanced consideration of other people from around the world. It was well known for its neutral stance during the Second World War and has a grounded belief in self-defence to the extent that its defence budget has been around one percent of Gross Domestic Product for over a decade. So why is there now a general consensus that the defence budget needs to be increased, conscription of young people re-established, and its armed forces brought up-to-date with modern military equipment?

“Developments in the Baltic Sea have become worse since 2008…with increased Russian exercises [in the northern Baltic and Scandinavia]. They have also invested in greater military weapons systems,” Swedish Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist told Armada during a media briefing on 21 May at the Defence Ministry in Stockholm.

“Regular provocations have included flying dangerously close to Swedish military aircraft and close to naval vessels,” he noted, adding that Sweden too has seen a “noticeable increase in disinformation and propaganda.” There was a report in March of the discovery by Norwegian fisherman of a white whale wearing a harness; with the inference that it could have been trained by Russian intelligence to conduct information gathering in Baltic / Norwegian waters (Russia has previously dabbled in training

animals for military purposes, as indeed have other countries). This Norwegian story could of course be another case of managed disinformation by Russia, but what it shows is that the spread of this story in the western media indicated that many would be prepared to find it credible and not dismiss it out of hand. Hultqvist revealed that his government had formed a special unit to address the issue of disinformation, particularly from Russia.

More seriously, a suspected Russian technology spy was arrested in Stockholm on 27 February, released a month later and promptly left the country. Swedes are also used to reports of suspected Russian mini-submarines lurking in Swedish territorial waters.

Stories such as these have undoubtably helped the Swedish government to raise the general public awareness that Russia has more than a passing interest in their country. Hultqvist underlined that his government takes defence seriously and said that it would “uphold sanctions made by the European Union on Russia. This is important to make sure that Russia’s actions are not repeated elsewhere,” he stated. NATO is already strengthening its smaller Baltic members states (see feature page 30) which are perceived as particularly vulnerable to the type of Russian subterfuge as witnessed in the invasions of Crimea and Ukraine.

Faced with this perceived growing threat from the East, Hultqvist stated: “Our trend is to increase military capability as well as deepening cooperation with other

countries. This is particularly evident through recent exercises such as Northern Wind held in late March where the Swedish Army was joined by troops from Norway and Finland. By contributing around 4,600 participants, this was the largest Norwegian participation in an exercise with Sweden in recent times.

NATO member countries including the United States and the United Kingdom are regular participants in these Scandinavian / Baltic exercises as they did with Northern Wind and the following Arctic Challenge Exercise (special report page 12).

Hultqvist concluded that although there were no current plans for Sweden to become a full NATO member, multi-national exercises would continue. Swedish industry too had “its own particular skills in producing jet fighters, submarines, telecommunications and radar, but was also content to buy what was needed on the international market.” He added that Sweden’s manufacturers could also consider involvement in joint development projects such as BAE Systems’ proposed next generation Tempest fighter (although he stated that there had been no specific discussions on this to date). Saab has already proved what could be a growing trend, through its joint partnership with Boeing over the T-X advanced trainer.

Andrew Drwiega, Editor-in-Chief

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

5

LAND WARFARE

DETECT, DETER OR DESTROY

Countering unmanned aerial systems is becoming an equal focus to that of employing them on the battlefield.

Stephen W. Miller 6

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

USMC

LAND WARFARE

US Marines test Drone Killer Counter-UAS Technology during Urban Advanced Naval Technology Exercise 2018 (ANTX-18) at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, 21 March, 2018.

U

nmanned aerial systems (UAS) have proliferated over the battlefield and are increasing in variety and range, from units flying for extended periods at high altitudes to those small enough to be carried and used by platoons and sections - even operated by an individual soldier. These ‘tactical UAS’ (TUAS) present a significant challenge to the security of fixed sites and field forces.

Operating under local control the TUAS can not only provide valuable real-time information about the disposition of opposing forces but are increasingly being considered as an attack weapon. Designed for stealth and using discrete flight paths,

they are difficult to detect and to destroy using traditional fielded weapon systems.

In addition, their simplicity and ready commercial availability allows them to be used not only by military and government forces but by relatively untrained insurgents and terrorists.

Recognising this, industry has responded by developing counter UAS (CUAS) that can detect, identify and destroy or neutralise these unmanned threats.

CUAS Technologies Countering the TUAS presents two primary challenges. The first is in actually detecting the system. The second is in engaging what is typically a difficult target which maybe in situations where there is risk of unintended collateral damage. The TUAS is designed to operate either flying quite low to blend in with the terrain, trees and building of its surroundings, or flying well above the ground where its small size and quiet operation make it inconspicuous.

The complexity of this environment and the need to identify the CUAS often requires the use of multiple sensors. With a positive threat confirmation the UAS must be neutralised by either disrupting its operation by jamming or deceiving its controls or operator data link, forcing it to abort its mission or crash, or physically engaging and destroying it.

UAS Detection Don Sullivan, chief technologist at Raytheon Missile Systems explained that “the TUAS is particularly difficult to find and track. Not only are TUAS often a small target but they fly at low altitudes that present clutter or false signal returns for radar which is typically the primary search and detection method. The KuRFS [Ku-band radio frequency] radar already used in detecting and tracking incoming projectiles in C-RAM [Counter Rocket Artillery and Mortar] has provided particularly effective against the small UAS as well.” Complementing radar with other sensors like electro-optics is necessary to verify the target.

The company LiteEye with its CounterUAS Detection and Identification System (ADIS) combines electronic-scanning radar target detection with electro-optical (EO) tracking/classification. Ryan Hurt, vice president of business development said that “ADIS uses Blighter’s A400 series air security radars to detect the UAS even when

flying in urban areas or near the horizon.

It also has the Chess Dynamics Hawkeye system and EO video tracker, which has both a long range colour camera and a high sensitivity thermal imager. These are tied to a video tracking technology, allowing it to track the UAS. Combining EO with radar target information permits not only classifying the target but also pin pointing the location of the operator.” The radar has a range of 8 kilometers and can pick out a target as small as 0.01m². The ADIS can be employed on vehicles or used in fixed sites. It has been deployed by the US Army mounted on a mast on the Oshkosh MATV 4x4 tactical truck. It has also been demonstrated on other combat vehicles like the Stryker where it was integrated with either a non-kinetic radio frequency (RF) drone disruptor or a gun or missile.

Radar is an active system that requires transmission of RF energy, thus, it can be detected allowing countermeasures by the UAS. The acoustic UAS detector is fully passive utilising highly sensitive receivers and analysing software to detect and classify the UAS based on its noise signature. The Polish company Advanced Protection Systems (APS) includes an acoustic detector in the multi-sensor array used in its Ctrl+Sky counter-drone system.

The acoustic sensor also can classify a specific drone type by drawing from its library of signatures. With 2,000 meters range the system also includes an RF signal detector (also passive) and X-band radar to direct a high resolution camera with 30x zoom. This allows the operator to positively identify the UAS and then initiate neutralising it by jamming its control signals using a multi-band directional jammer.

CUAS by Disruption The ‘soft kill’ offered by disruptor systems has particular application where concerns exist over unintended damage that might be caused by physically destroying the drone.

This may also allow the targeted drone to be retrieved.

Battelle Labs DroneDefender is a non-kinetic CUAS solution developed to instantaneously defend airspace against commercial drones without compromising safety or risking collateral damage. The device uses radio waves to quickly disrupt an adversary’s control of a drone, neutralising it so that no remote action, including detonation, can occur.” The system is offered in both handheld and

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

7

LAND WARFARE

fixed site versions. The former weighs 6.8kg (15lbs) and has a range of 400m.

Two other handheld UAS disruptors are the DroneGun Tactical designed by DroneShield of Australia and IXI DroneKiller. These use a rifle style system carried by a single person which instantaneously disables multiple functions essential for the UAS to operate. They simultaneously disrupt RF control frequency bands (433MHz, 915MHz, 2.4GHz & 5.8GHz), the GNSS capability (GPS, GLONASS), and can cut off the video link to the UAS controller. These are man portable systems for frontline use. The former’s DroneCannon is a modular version that can be mounted on a vehicle remote weapon station to add a CUAS capability. Oleg Vornik, chief executive officer stated that “the system forces single or swarm attack drones into a fail-safe mode where they will either hover or slowly descend. This allows the operator to utilise the RWS weapon for kinetic kill or other mounted equipment to neutralise the target”.

The US Marines have been testing the Marine Air Defence Integrated System (MADIS) to detect and neutralise drones by integrating radars, optics, jammers and passive detection sensors. Referred to as a system of systems by Don Kelley, programme manager at PEO Land Systems, he said that “it can be adapted as threats change”. Currently the Light MADIS is mounted on the Polaris MRZR with a sensor vehicle and command vehicle.

Another CUAS weapon approach is Raytheon’s use of high powered microwave (HMP) energy to disrupt drone guidance systems. Operators can focus the beam on multiple targets in succession to defeat drone swarms. “With a consistent power supply”, Dr. Don Sullivan from Missile Systems pointed out “a HPM system can engage virtually unlimited targets”. If fact, the company sees HMP and high energy lasers as complementary systems. It demonstrated this is US Air Force (USAF) field experiments in April 2018 where the two were used together to successfully defeat a range of class I and II UAS targets.

Kinetic Kill In combat scenarios the complete disabling of the UAS is more often the objective, including targeting and eliminating the operator. This is the kinetic kill. Once the UAS is detected and identified the operator utilises a weapon system to track,

8

The US Army is acquiring the Mobile Low, Slow Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Integrated Defence System (MLIDS) as an interim CUAS. It uses Leonardo DRS’s mast mounted Surveillance and Battlefield Reconnaissance Equipment (SABRE) (shown integrated onto the Stryker vehicle).

engage and destroy it. Leonardo DHS was awarded a contract in 2018 by the US Army to provide its Mobile Low, Slow Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Integrated Defence System (MLIDS). The integrates the Leonardo DRS’s mast-mounted Surveillance and Battlefield Reconnaissance Equipment (SABRE) with Moog’s Reconfigurable Integrated-weapons Platform (RIwP) turret. It uses two M-ATV 4x4 vehicles, one for each system. SABRE detects and can jam the TUS while the RlwP uses either its

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

30mm auto-cannon, firing proximity fused ammunition or a missile to engage the target using its day/thermal sights.

As suggested earlier, Raytheon has a CUAS system that employs a laser kill mechanism. Dr. Sullivan explained: “Ours is a modular system that uses KuRFS radar to initially detect a possible target. It then sends contacts of interest to an advanced variant of our company’s fielded multispectral targeting system, a suite of optical sensors, to determine if it a threat. If it is,

Turning military communications into a sovereign territory

Leonardo DRS

LAND WARFARE

Rohde & Schwarz capabilities for system design, development, production and integration of secure communication architectures and networks are summarized under the SOVERON® concept. SOVERON® takes national interests into account and contributes to digital sovereignty and technological independence. www.rohde-schwarz.com/soveron

A secure communications architecture is best implemented by a partner who combines the key components radio, cryptology and routing into a coherent whole.

the system’s beam director tells the laser where to zap the target.”

In a field demonstration a unit fit onto a light all-terrain Polaris MRZR vehicle downed 12 airborne Class I and Class II UASs. Major investments are also being made in lasers as a counter particularly to smaller TUAS. The US Army fitted a 5kW laser developed by Boeing onto the General Dynamics Stryker 8x8 armoured vehicle as the Mobile Expeditionary High Energy Laser (MEHEL). The system has been demonstrated in field tests and deployed to Europe where it participated in a Joint Warfighting Assessment in 2018. The system, in the form of the Compact Laser Weapon System (CLWS) has also been shown integrated onto lighter 4x4 vehicles like the M-ATV and JLTV. According to Boeing, using

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

9

LAND WARFARE

vehicle power CLWS can engage 10 targets in a matter of minutes. CLWS was developed for the US Marines. The company is working on a 10kW laser as well which it expects to demonstrate shortly.

The US Marines are also looking at a laser based CUAS as part of its GBAD (Ground Based Air Defence) programme.

It could be mounted on the JLTV vehicle but remains in testing.

The US Marines are testing a mobile CUAS called the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS). It integrates radars, optics, jammers and passive detection sensors onto a Polaris MZRZ Quad ATV.

UAS v UAS The best defence against a UAS could well be another UAS. With this in mind Raytheon developed its Coyote, a small expendable UAS with up to 60 minutes flight time and is launched from a tube/pod. Dave Gulla, Raytheon Mission Systems and Sensors vice president shared that “In the CUAS role our system utilises the KuRFS small, precision radar that can both detect and track targets. Once the threat is verified the Coyote with an advanced seeker and warhead will be launched to identify and directly eliminate threat UAVs.” The Dutch firm Delft Dynamics has taken UAS v UAS in another direction. Its Drone Catcher is a quad-copter UAS that has an integrated on to it a camera with image recognition and tracking and a special pneumatic net gun. Their UAS is manoeuvred to with 20m of the targeted UAS where it locks-on and then launches a net that captures the target. The capture can then be brought back by Drone Catcher slung from a cable or dropped via parachute.

Integrated Area Coverage UAVs can appear from multiple directions and this requires broad area coverage and integration of detection, identification, assessment and neutralisation assets.

This capability is particularly important in CUAS of fixed sites including airfields, forward bases and high value installations.

With insurgents and terrorists utilising the UAS as a platform to carry and deploy essentially airborne Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) this can even be a concern for civil and general government sites.

Sensofusion of Finland has introduced its AIRFENCE to provide area coverage against UAS intrusion. The system ties together RF radio signal detection sensors with 10km and greater range, direction finding and demodulation UAS locating, and both automatic and manual early warning and critical alert notification.

Already begin used at commercial airfields

IS IT A BIRD OR IS IT A UAS?

Saab has been working to differentiate between low and slow moving targets such as small UAS flying low, and flocks of birds which can be around the same size.

Using Saab’s Giraffe ELSS (Enhanced Low, Slow and Small) capability, the company has successfully separated micro and mini UAS. “High performance classification is paramount to find small drones among other targets,” said Stefan Eriksson, Saab’s technical product manager for surface radars.

“We can distinguish bird behaviour from other types of behaviour, such as a UAS” he stated. That is down to the ability of software to learn the flight patterns of its potential targets. According to Eriksson, the Giraffe was able to positively identify a DJI Phontom at 4km and a DJI Inspire at 8km from a background of up to 580 birds.

Again, positive affirmation is achieved by using an EO sensor.

10 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

Steven Miller

LAND WARFARE

and other sights its application to forward bases and expeditionary airfields is being considered by the USMC..

TUAS and CUAS Future The TUAS is both a useful asset and a significant threat for the foreseeable future. As highlighted in a February 2018 report from The Centre for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, “the fact is that drone technology itself is not standing still.” UAS systems will face new designs with features intended to reduce their vulnerability.

“Drones might be designed to reduce their radar signature.

Counter-laser systems could protect drones from directed-energy attacks. Finally, forces might seek to deploy drone swarms, which present a range of vexing technical challenges”.

As a result CUAS can be expected to be a continuing process as the UAS designs and tactics in employment evolve.

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019 11

SAaB EXERCISE

ARCTIC GUARDIANS The mutual protection of Scandinavia’s northern flank brought the air force’s of nine countries together to test their skills and operating procedures during this year’s Arctic Challenge Exercise.

T

Andrew Drwiega

he 2019 Arctic Challenge Ex ercise (ACE) is the fourth of its kind that Finland, Norway and Sweden have organised together. It comprises over 100 fighters from nine different nations, backed by an additional 25 support aircraft.

ACE was held from 22 May to 4 June with aircraft based in three main locations: Bodø in Norway, Kallax in Sweden, and Rovaniemi in Finland. The Swedish training area being used is one of the biggest in Europe at over 400 nautical miles from north to south and ranging over 700x350km from ground to unlimited altitude.

The objective of ACE 19 is to bring aircrews and aircraft of several nations together to conduct dissimilar basic flighting manoeuvres (DBFM) with and against aircraft of different capabilities.

Those nations participating are either part of the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) alliance between Sweden, Norway and Finland, or part of the wider NATO alliance who are also likely to be part of any multinational defence force for the region should the requirement arise. These countries include the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, France and Germany.

Pilots are expected to apply agreed rules of engagement (ROE). Their engagement scenarios are supported by a NATO airborne warning and control aircraft (AWACS) together with a Royal Air Force E3, both flying out of Ørlanti, Norway.

A ground based 3D AN/TPS-59A radar from US Marine Corps Marine Air Control

The shoulder patch worn by those participating in Arctic Challenge Exercise 19.

Squadron 24 (MACS-24), detachment commanded by Major Eric Haegele, was also employed as a search and classification radar. This was located at Jokkmokk Air Base, Sweden with LtCol Christopher Toland acting as exercise planner from USMC Forces Europe and Africa (MARFOREUR/AF).

Aircraft based at Kallax Air Base, Luleå, Sweden, included US Air Force F-16C Block 52 Fighting Falcons from the South Carolina Air National Guard’s 169th Fighter Wing, under the command of Commander Lt Col Michael Ferrari; Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s from 6 Squadron (Quick

12 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

(Left to right) Three of the main aircraft based at the Kallax Air Base during ACE19: the Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4, the Swedish Air Force JAS 39 Gripen, and the US National Guard F-16C.

Reaction Alert) based at Lossimouth, Scotland, under the command of Wing Commander Matthew D’Aubyn; and Swedish Air Force JAS 39 Gripen Cs from 211 and 212 Fighter Squadrons, F21 Norrbotten Wing, represented by Wing Commander Flying, LtCol Tobhias Wikström.

“Cross Border Training (CBT) has grown since we started around 2001 and now we conduct it nearly every week,” said LtCol Wikström. He said that by operating out of bases in Sweden, Norway and Finland is a very cost-effective way of conducting mutually beneficial and cost-effective training, which can now be applied on a much larger scale as witnessed by the multinational participation in ACE19.

ACE has taken place on a bi-ennial basis since 2013 and has grown accordingly.

LtCol Wikström said that he has seen the progress of the Swedish Air Force from flying in the Saab 37 Viggen to the JAS 39C Gripen. “When aircraft come together for a multinational exercise you have to adapt to whatever aircraft is the weakest link: one might not have Link 16, one might only do air-to-air, another air-to-ground. We have become less limited with every new aircraft type we have fielded,” he confirmed.

Wing Commander Matthew D’Aubyn, lead of the RAF’s Typhoon detachment said that an exercise such as ACE provided a unique scale and complexity, which required complete preparation, good execution and then precise debriefing.

“This is the first time that we have taken Typhoon with Project Centurion enhancements overseas,” he said. The modernisation enabled Typhoon to carry

SAaB EXERCISE

Swedish Air Force Colonel Claes Isoz standing in front of an F21 Wing Saab Gripen JAS 39C.

US National Guard F-16C returning from a sortie.

MBDA’s Meteor beyond-visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) and its Storm Shadow cruise missile. One of the National Guard F-16 pilots volunteered that “going toe-to-toe with the Typhoons had resulted in a very busy morning.” He said that he had not fought against Lockheed Martin F-35s or F-22 Raptors, so could not judge them against either the Typhoons or Gripens.

Fighters, during the exercise, also had the opportunity to practise air-to-air refuelling from the RAF’s own Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) and the US National Guard Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.

Other aircraft participating in the exercise included a number practising

electronic warfare in addition to other tactical delivery tasks. These included the Royal Norwegian Falcon DA-20s, RAF C-130Js and German Air Force Learjets. A number of NH-90 helicopters were also involved in Personnel Recovery tasking during the duration of the exercise.

Swedish Air Force Colonel Claes Isoz, acted as ACE19 exercise director. He told Armada that safety and pre-planning were a prerequisite to staging a safe and successful exercise, especially with so many aircraft participating from different air bases in three countries - and coming from outside the area. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) have to be identified and understood by all participating he stated.

US Air National Guard

air Power

Members of the 146th Air Support Operations Squadron and Estonian tactical air control party are overflown by a 442nd Fighter Wing A-10 Thunderbolt II after completing close air support training at Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range in Kansas, USA in 2017.

FRIENDS OVERHEAD The variety of air platforms capable of conducting close air support for troops in contact is evolving from traditional ground attack fighters.

C

lose air support (CAS) may be defined as the application of air power to directly support ground forces, attacking an enemy in close proximity to friendly troops. This requires great accuracy, and careful and close co-ordination and integration with artillery fire and the movement of these friendly forces. This differentiates the CAS mission from the ‘battlefield air interdiction’ role, which does not necessitate the same type of close co-ordination.

During the Second World War, purposebuilt, dedicated CAS aircraft achieved some prominence. Russia’s Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik became the most widely

Jon Lake produced military aircraft of all time, while the German Luftwaffe fielded a succession of dedicated close support aircraft, from the biplane Henschel Hs 123 to the heavy cannon equipped Hs 129. But the bulk of close air support was performed by aircraft adapted from other roles, including Britain’s Hawker Typhoon and Tempest, the US Republic P-47 ‘Thunderbolt’ and North American P-51 ‘Mustang’, and German Messerschmitt Bf109 and Focke Wulf Fw 190 ‘Jabo’ fighters.

In many ways, World War Two also served as the proving ground for close air support tactics. In North Africa, the RAF’s Desert Air Force pioneered the ‘cab rank’ system, under which a trio of aircraft, all

14 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

controlled by radio, would be used to ensure continuous cover. One aircraft would be attacking, with another en route to the battle area, while a third was being refuelled and re-armed at a forward airstrip. If a first attack did not destroy a target, the second aircraft would be directed to continue the attack. The first aircraft would then land to refuel and rearm once the third aircraft had taken off. These tactics were steadily refined and perfected during the campaigns in Italy and Normandy and then served as the basis for the CAS campaign supporting the final push into Germany.

The British Army and the Royal Air Force (RAF) established Forward Air Support Links, an early form of Forward

USAF Lockheed Martin’s Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod.

Air Control (FAC), during the North African Campaign in 1941, using ‘Mobile Fighter Controllers’ attached to the forward troops, riding in the lead tank or armoured car.

They pre-dated the forward air controllers (FACs), Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs), and Joint Fires Observers (JFOs) who control and direct today’s CAS aircraft.

CAS has continued to be a role undertaken by a mix of dedicated aircraft and by a range of other tactical aircraft, some of them converted or adapted to fly CAS missions, others simply pressed into service to perform the task. The CAS role has also increasingly been undertaken by attack helicopters. During the Cold War, CAS was most often carried out by older fighters or by fighter-bombers that had been rendered obsolete in their original role, though the high speed of jet fighters meant that they were not well suited to the role, particularly as greater accuracy was demanded and as the reduction of collateral damage became a priority.

There were some specialised CAS and Counter Insurgency (COIN) aircraft developed during the Cold War years.

The US Marine Corps (USMC) issued the requirement that led to the development of the Rockwell OV-10 Bronco as a dedicated COIN aircraft, while Argentina produced the FMA IA-58 Pucara for the same role.

Although the COIN mission is not the same as close air support, in a benign threat environment, COIN aircraft can be used, and have been used to provide CAS. The Soviet Air Forces drew up a specification for a jet-powered shturmovik or armoured ground attack aircraft in 1967, resulting in the development of the Sukhoi Su-25 ‘Frogfoot’.

The USAF issued the A-X requirement for a specialised CAS aircraft in late 1966, and detailed specifications were drawn up in 1969. These led to the development of the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II, which

became more dedicated to the anti-tank role, though since the end of the Cold War, the type has been used with great success as a CAS platform in Afghanistan and Iraq. iNCREASED PRECISION The development of new precision-guided and stand-off weapons has transformed CAS. Aircraft no longer need to operate at very low altitude, close to their targets, but instead can operate at medium altitude, outside the range of small arms, and even beyond the reach of AAA and MANPADS. Unguided rockets – once viewed as being accurate direct fire weapons suitable for use in the CAS role – are now viewed as being area weapons, while strafe is less commonly employed, due to the necessity to fly closer to the ground and the target. Instead, laser-guided rockets and laser- and GPSguided bombs represent a more precise and surgical means of engaging and destroying enemy targets.

It is not just accurate weapons that enable and facilitate modern CAS. Targeting pods like the Rafael AN/AAQ-28(V) Litening or Lockheed Martin Sniper provide high resolution imagery in the infra-red (IR) and visible spectra and this can be used by aircrew to identify targets, and to gain better situational awareness. Used in conjunction with the ROVER (Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver) Litening can provide forces on the ground with a real time picture from the aircraft, improving target identification. Ground forces can use ROVER to cue a target they would like the CAS aircraft to engage.

Symetrics’ Improved Data Modem (IDM) offers similar capabilities, passing near real-time targeting data to and from airborne platforms. It’s all a far cry from simply being able to pass a ‘Nine Line’ brief to a pilot over the radio!

The use of these weapons, sensors and datalinks has allowed the emergence of

air Power

what might be termed as non-traditional CAS platforms, including UCAVs and UAVs like the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper and heavy bombers like the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and Rockwell B-1B Lancer. The UCAVs offer tremendous persistence, and can loiter for hours over the battle area, though they cannot re-position as rapidly as tactical fast jets.

The big bombers offer a compelling mix of long loiter times, enormous range, and huge weapons capacity, and can also transit rapidly from one target area to another.

Heavy bombers can also operate from secure bases outside the immediate combat area, and can engage multiple targets in a single sortie, and this made them especially useful during the early phases of the war in Afghanistan.

After the defeat of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, allied aircraft were able to use Afghan airfields for continuing operations against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, and the later phases of the campaign saw the ex tensive use of tactical fast jet/fighterbomber aircraft like the Lockheed Martin F-16 (operated by Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway, as well as the USAF), the Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle, the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the Fairchild A-10, the Boeing AV-8B Harrier II and the BAE Systems Harrier GR.Mk 7, and GR.Mk 9, as well as the Dassault Mirage 2000D and Panavia Tornado GR.Mk 4.

But in other asymmetric CAS and COIN operations, armed trainers, including Nigeria’s Alpha Jets and Iraq’s L-159s and T-50IQs have proved more useful than high performance fast jets.

ASYMMETRIC ALTERNATIVES In the kind of asymmetric warfare operations that have dominated recent campaigns, the line between close air support and counter insurgency has become increasingly blurred, and in the face of a relatively benign threat environment a wider variety of aircraft types have been used to provide close air support. In its long-running campaign against Boko Haram, the Nigerian Air Force has increasingly moved towards making ‘every sensor (platform) a shooter, and also making every shooter a sensor platform’, in order to be able to engage fleeting targets.

This reflects a wider tendency towards the use of armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and ISTAR aircraft,

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019 15

Iomaxb Block 2 Archangel can deliver close air support in the form of GBU-12/58 laser guided bombs, AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, and CIRIT 2.75” laser guided rockets.

with EO/IR sensor turrets becoming a routine piece of equipment on singleengined helicopters and fixed wing aircraft like the Cessna Caravan, or light twins like the Beech 350. These aircraft can carry a variety of weapons, including machine guns, rocket pods, and light anti-tank guided missiles, and can be used for CAS, where the threat environment allows this.

A new generation of armed light attack/ ISR aircraft has emerged to support such asymmetric warfare operations, sometimes based on turboprop trainers, like the Textron AT-6 Wolverine, TAI’s Hürkuş-B, and the Embraer/Sierra Nevada A-29 Super Tucano, or even on crop-duster designs, like L3’s Longsword or Iomax’s innovative BPA and Archangel aircraft.

Today’s asymmetric warfare operations have also seen a resurgence for gunship aircraft. The vulnerability of the gunship in near-peer operations was demonstrated during the battle for Khafji in the first Gulf War (1991), when a USAF AC-130H that stayed on station as dawn broke was downed by a shoulder-launched 9K32 Strela-2 (NATO reporting name SA-7 ‘Grail’) MANPADS. But in a more permissive environment, gunships can still provide formidable firepower in support of friendly forces.

The USAF has now retired its ageing Lockheed Martin AC-130H Spectre gunships, but still operates a fleet of 17 AC-130U Spooky, 14 AC-130W Dragon Spear and the first of 16 planned AC-130J Ghostrider aircraft. The AC-130Ws and AC-130Js are equipped with the ‘Gunslinger’ weapons system with launch tubes for

Iomax

air Power

AGM-176 Griffin missiles and/or GBU-44/B Viper Strike munitions (in 10 round magazines), and wing-mounted, AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, or GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) or GBU-53/B SDB IIs. The AC-130W is also armed with a single 30mm ATK GAU-23/A autocannon, to which the AC-130J adds a 105-mm M102 howitzer.

Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) plans to add a directed-energy weapon to the AC-130J by 2020.

The USMC has acquired three Harvest HAWK (Hercules Airborne Weapons Kit) systems for each of its active-duty KC-130J squadrons. Harvest HAWK transforms the CC-130J tanker into an effective armed ISR/ overwatch and ground support platform using Hellfire or Griffin missiles, and precision-guided bombs, and will eventually receive a 30mm cannon. Harvest HAWK was first deployed in October 2010 with VMGR-352.

Many operators would find a gunship Hercules prohibitively expensive, and a number of smaller tactical transports have been converted to gunship configuration.

TRANSFORMERS In 2008, $32 million was allocated for the purchase of 16 AC-27J Stinger II gunships for delivery between 2011 and 2015, but these were cancelled after the AFSOC decided to standardise on the AC-130. But Alenia Aermacchi built on work carried out on the AC-27J to develop the MC-27J upgrade programme, under which existing C-27Js can be converted to Praetorian armed ISR aircraft using roll-on/roll-off kits. The Italian Air Force was the launch customer

16 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

for the Praetorian system.

The rivalry between the C-27J and the Airbus/CASA CN-235 in the tactical transport role is echoed in the gunship role. The US company Orbital ATK teamed with Jordan’s King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau to convert two CN-235 transports into AC-235 gunships for the Royal Jordanian Air Force. The aircraft gained integrated weapons pylons to allow them to carry 70mm rocket pods or AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and gained a side-firing M230 link-fed 30mm Chain gun similar to that used by the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The new aircraft also gained a new synthetic aperture radar for targeting.

The first was delivered in April 2014, but despite proving useful in the battle against Daesh (so-called Islamic State) both were put up for sale in December 2018.

Airbus now offers ISR, gunship and light attack versions of the larger C295.

Using a converted C295 tactical transport for these missions, rather than a typical light attack aircraft allows a greater range of sensors, and self-protection systems and weapons to be carried, over longer ranges and with double the endurance.

Armed ISR C295s use a derivative of the Airbus FITS (fully integrated tactical system) mission system previously installed in maritime reconnaissance CN-235s and C295s.

Armed ISR versions of the C295 are typically equipped with electro-optical sensors in an under-nose turret, and with a surveillance radar under the fuselage, as well as a variety of weapons options, including twin 12.7mm light machine guns mounted in the paratroop side doors, or a Rheinmetall BK 27 autocannon.

Airbus are offering up to four underwing hardpoints allowing a wider range of weapons options. Roketsan’s L-UMTAS anti-tank missile has been trialled, and the Turkish company is also offering its Cirit laser-guided missile and Teber-82 LGB bomb-guidance kit.

There are some even lighter and cheaper gunship possibilities. In 2013, AFSOC reportedly tested a C-145A Skytruck armed with a twin-mounted GAU-18 .50-calibre machine gun system, while Canada’s Basler has provided gunship versions of its Basler BT-67 ‘Turbo Dak’. The Colombian Air Force’s seven Basler AC-47T Fantasma aircraft are each armed with three side-firing .50-caliber GAU-19 Gatling guns and are equipped with an infrared sensor ball.

The UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory MAST unmanned surface vessel (USV) (left) passes the Ocius Bluebottle USV during Australia’s ‘Autonomous Warrior’ unmanned vehicle exercise in November 2018.

Commonwealth of Australia

sea power

AUSTRALAIN NAVY TRIALS AUTONOMOUS MARTIME SYSTEMS Australia’s major maritime unmanned systems exercise demonstrated how the international naval community is focused on maximising operational value from unmanned concepts and technologies.

O

Dr Lee Willett

ver the last decade, Western navies have steadily been increasing their focus on developing unmanned system capabilities to provide greater operational capacity at sea at a time of reducing platform and personnel numbers. This has been evident in tasks such as mine counter-measures (MCM) operations with navies introducing unmanned capabilities in order to replace obsolescent platforms, reduce risk to personnel by taking operators out of the minefield, and augment capacity for sustained operations at distance.

More recently, the requirement for unmanned systems has been highlighted with the return of state-based rivalry at sea.

As navies re-generate focus on high-end outputs such as blue-water sea control,

anti-submarine warfare (ASW), and task group operations, unmanned systems can provide sustained surveillance presence, including to support ASW and to help sanitise task group transit routes.

As a result of this steady but sure increase in emphasis on unmanned systems, individual navies are now hosting trials and exercise series focused exclusively on unmanned vehicles. In October 2016, the UK Royal Navy (RN) hosted ‘Unmanned Warrior’ off the Scottish coast. In November 2018, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) hosted ‘Autonomous Warrior’ at HMAS Creswell, Jervis Bay, in New South Wales.

Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in late November 2018, Australia’s Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Michael Noonan said ‘Autonomous

18 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

Warrior’ was a “major exercise … where we co-operatively looked at emerging technologies in the autonomous field.”

“Our research and development [R&D] of autonomous vehicles is world class,” he argued, noting the importance to Australia of both innovation and the need to maintain leading-edge capability to defend the global maritime commons. “In this endeavour,” Vice Admiral Noonan continued, “partnerships are absolutely critical.”

‘Autonomous Warrior’ was co-hosted by the RAN and Australia’s Defence Science and Technology (DST) group.

Commander Paul Hornsby, the RAN’s lead for the exercise and for autonomous warfare capability more widely, told Armada that ‘Autonomous Warrior 2018’ was the culmination of five years of work, including the Hell Bay trials series that led up to ‘Unmanned Warrior’ in 2016 and the ‘Wizard of Aus’ trials construct leading up to and feeding into ‘Autonomous Warrior’ itself.

According to DST, “the purpose of [‘Autonomous Warrior’] was to demonstrate the potential of uninhabited systems to transform Defence capability”. As noted in information released on the exercise, the 77 unmanned platforms present included 38 dynamic platforms, such as a Boeing-Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a Blue Zone Group Blue Whale large-displacement unmanned underwater vehicle (LDUUV), two Hydroid REMUS UUVs (a 100 version provided by Blue Zone Group, and a 600 version from DST itself), a Boeing Echo Voyager extra-large UUV (XLUUV), and a Liquid Robotics Wave Glider autonomous surface vessel (ASV).

Cdr Hornsby argued that, “Building on the success of ‘Unmanned Warrior’, ‘Autonomous Warrior’ was the largest activity of its kind in terms of platforms, people, and connectivity.” 26 organisations and more than 45 companies participated.

Over 1,000 people also were involved overall, with 600 or more of these directly involved each day. Personnel present included operators, scientists, technicians, support staff, and industry representatives.

Reflecting the emphasis on partnerships, the RAN said ‘Autonomous Warrior’ was part of a wider activity – called The Technical Co-operation Programme (TTCP) – involving Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States – five countries that work together under a collective

sea power

RAN requirement Under his ‘Headmark’ guidance for the RAN, set out in ‘Plan Pelorus 2022’ (a reference tool to help the RAN maintain its developmental and operational bearings), Vice Adm Noonan underlined the need for the RAN to be both a thinking navy and a fighting navy. This emphasis – alongside a naval force structure re-capitalised around (amongst other platforms) two Canberra-class landing helicopter dock (LHD) amphibious ships, three air warfare-focused Hobart-class guidedmissile destroyers, nine Hunter-class ASW frigates (based on the UK Type 26 ASW frigate design), and 12 Attack-class dieselelectric submarines – provides a capability template within which the RAN can address

affected peoples. Such trust will only be achieved by shared risks; and shared risk equals being there.” “As such,” he explained, “we approach the application of RAS as a means to enhance, not replace, platforms and people.”

“However, the technology is developing so rapidly that traditional capability life-cycles that work for major platforms do not work for RAS,” Cdr Hornsby continued. “By running an activity such as ‘Autonomous Warrior’ every two years, it helps set a ‘battle rhythm’ for Defence, various science and technology [S&T] programmes, industry, and academia”

Commonwealth of Australia

construct known as the ‘Five Eyes’ information-sharing concept.

Participation in ‘Autonomous Warrior’ enabled these and other partners to achieve a range of aims, including understanding ways to use unmanned systems to build a common operating picture, to understand new technologies being developed in Australia, and to understand the challenges of operating in the region. The UK, for example, is looking to increase its strategic footprint – largely through the RN – in the Indo-Pacific region, so understanding how the RN can use unmanned capabilities and to what effect in the region’s maritime environment would be a particular benefit of participating in an activity like ‘Autonomous Warrior’ for the UK.

Commonwealth of Australia

A Hydroid REMUS 100 unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) is pictured returning to the surface after completing sonar and oceanographic survey serials during ‘Autonomous Warrior’.

Two different REMUS variants were present for the exercise.

Pictured are several USVs and UUVs deployed for serials during ‘Autonomous Warrior’.

The exercise included international naval and industrial participation.

its strategic challenges.

Reflecting the problem faced by many navies in matching assets to commitments and geography, Cdr Hornsby told Armada International “At the most fundamental level, Australia is a big island with a small population. Strategically, we could never have enough unmanned systems,” whether for defence or other national applications.

With unmanned capabilities accessible on a global scale, Cdr Hornsby said developments in the field are occurring “at a formidable pace … [and] will change the way we do business”.

However, Cdr Hornsby continued, “the Australian Defence Force [ADF] is ever-cognisant of the limitations of robotic and autonomous systems [RAS]. At the strategic level, winning a conflict and establishing an enduring outcome will always require maintaining the trust of

in terms of testing opportunities for taking unmanned capabilities forward.

Exercise aims As regards the exercise’s aims and operational requirements. ‘Autonomous Warrior’ reflected again the emphasis on collaboration between partners, and on building continuity in capability developments and operational outputs. In particular, said Cdr Hornsby, the ‘Five Eyes’ community wanted to use ‘Autonomous Warrior’ to build on work undertaken in ‘Unmanned Warrior’.

‘Unmanned Warrior’ had addressed the themes of ASW; command and control (C2); intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); geointelligence; and MCM. “At ‘Autonomous Warrior 2018’, the ‘Five Eyes’ community wanted to take this to the

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019 19

Experts and officials from participating countries, including the Royal Australian Navy’s exercise lead Commander Paul Hornsby (second from right), assess activity at sea from a shore facility at HMAS Creswell during ‘Autonomous Warrior’.

next level and run sequenced scenarios that a littoral force might be expected to undertake, and exploit all domains (air, surface, sub-surface, ground, and cyber) in order to achieve them,” Cdr Hornsby explained, highlighting that such a scenario structure included the application of joint warfare concepts.

In terms of specific RAN interest in what the technologies demonstrated at the exercise could offer, “All of it had readily identifiable applications to littoral warfare,” said Cdr Hornsby. Littoral warfare concepts are a central element of high-end capability development for the RAN. The establishment of an amphibious task group (ATG), based around the Canberra-class LHDs and designed to project combat power ashore, mandates a core role for unmanned systems in securing transit and access routes in contested and congested littoral environments.

For ‘Autonomous Warrior’, specific exercise scenarios included: countering submarine attacks on critical off-shore infrastructure; defending bases from attack; MCM and rapid environmental assessment operations; countering smuggling and piracy; and providing support to forces ashore.

For the RAN and other exercise participants, Cdr Hornsby argued that “’Autonomous Warrior’ was a unique allied activity that combined leading edge trials, industry demonstrations, and the

Commonwealth of Australia

sea power

exercising of in-service RAS systems.” “At its core,” he continued, “was the application and near real-time development of C2 and artificial intelligence [AI] systems.”

Given the RAN’s emphasis on using RAS to enhance the role of platforms and people, ‘Autonomous Warrior’ also set out to test and demonstrate particular technology and operational outputs. “The key technological aim was to demonstrate human-autonomy teaming concepts,” said Cdr Hornsby.

In what Cdr Hornsby said was an unprecedented development, ‘Autonomous Warrior’ saw “the operation of multiple vehicles in all domains by one person”.

Demonstrating this capability, Cdr Hornsby explained that “For example, in counter-piracy we can track suspected pirates with a UAV and launch an unmanned surface vessel [USV] to investigate.

If [the pirates] endeavour to dispose of weapons into the water, we can activate either an AUV [autonomous underwater vehicle] or USV to confirm the location. If [the pirates] attempt to evade by escaping ashore, we can pursue with an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) or smaller UAVs.” Industry relations As well as operational output, ‘Autonomous Warrior’ was also designed to strengthen Australia’s technological and industrial construct for delivering unmanned systems. “Beyond the multiple RAS projects the RAN is undertaking, it is

20 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

very important to develop certain sovereign industries as fundamental inputs to defence capability,” said Cdr Hornsby.

“In terms of [RAS] platforms, it is key that these [platforms] can handle the extreme conditions common to Australia.

This is particularly the case with respect to undersea conditions and very strong currents,” said Cdr Hornsby. “In terms of robotic and autonomous systems [operations],” he argued, “if you can make it here you can make it anywhere.”

During ‘Autonomous Warrior’ itself, Cdr Hornsby said that “Integration of systems was a particular success, with full integration of 22 components developed by 14 organisations from all five of the TTCP countries over the course of the exercise.”

“This was more than double that expected,” he added. Here, different subordinate systems were integrated to work together in particular serials, for example.

Lessons learned As regards implementing lessons learned from ‘Autonomous Warrior’ into technological requirement work and other exercise series, and even into current operational concepts, Cdr Hornsby said such lessons are being fed into such processes, adding that “Notwithstanding the requirement to always be ethical in the application [of RAS capabilities and outputs], I would say that the question is not what we might do with robotic and autonomous systems, but what can’t we do with them.”

The key lesson, Cdr Hornsby concluded, was that “RAS is important, the ‘Five Eyes’ community are good at it, but substantial investment is required to remain ahead of the curve.” In terms of retaining dominance in technology and capability in unmanned systems and reflecting Vice Admiral Noonan’s comments on the importance of R&D, the international academic research community (for example) is widely regarded as providing an effective test-bed for game-changing technologies and capabilities in areas such as unmanned systems.

While it is not yet confirmed if another ‘Autonomous Warrior’ exercise will occur, Cdr Hornsby said “The ‘Five Eyes’ community are currently reviewing the next objectives with a view to building on the achievements of ‘Autonomous Warrior 2018’ in late 2020” with an as-yet undetermined follow-up activity.

LAND AND AIRLAND DEFENCE AND SECURITY EXHIBITION

08-12 JUNE 2020 / PARIS THE UNMISSABLE

WORLDWIDE

EXHIBITION 1,802

exhibitors

+14,7%

from 63 countries 65,9% of international

65 startups at Eurosatory LAB

98,721

Total attendance (exhibitors, visitors, press, organisers)

227 Official delegations from 94 countries and 4 organisations (representing 760 delegates)

696

journalists

from 44 countries

75 Conferences 2 102 Business meetings made 2018 key figures

Photonis

LAND WARFARE

SEEING TO SHOOT ADVANCES IN NIGHT VISION The ability to see in the dark has many advantages and to the military in particular, it allows combat to be extended beyond the daylight hours.

B

oth Germany and the United States made limited use of early night-vision devices (NVDs) during the Second World War. These early devices required infrared (IR) illumination of the target. It was not until the United States introduced the AN/PVS-1 and AN/PVS-2 Starlight scopes that used ambient light rather than an IR illuminator during the Vietnam war, that NVDs as we know them today emerged.

This article will focus on the night vision goggle (NVG) and weapon night sights.

The driving force behind the subsequent development of NVDs has been for land forces, predominantly the infantryman.

Their use was brought to the fore during the first Gulf war of 1991 and in subsequent on-going conflicts. Today, military NVD capability is centred around two parallel technologies: the intensification of ambient light, produced by an image intensification (II) tube using a microchannel plate; and the detection of IR (heat) sources, produced by a thermal imager (TI) using an array of heat-detecting elements.

By far the biggest customer for night-vision devices has been, and remains, the US Army. The development of night vision technology and its application resides with the Night Vision and

Michael J. Gething Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) of the US Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Communications and Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC), based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

These organisations have been responsible for many of the advances in this field, either through sponsored industrial work or through direct development.

IMAGE INTENSIFICATION The most common form of NVD is the night-vision goggle (NVG) used by infantry and Special Forces (SOF), available in one of three configurations: the NV binocular with a pair of II tubes; the NV bi-ocular with one II tube feeding a binocular eyepiece; and the NV monocular, which (in some forms) can also double as an infantry weapon night sight. Most devices use the standard 18mm diameter II tube (although some low-profile or wide field-of-view products use a 16mm diameter tube). Where the NVD is used in weapon sight applications (hand-held rifle or crew-served weapon) the II tubes are either the 18mm or 25mm diameter type.

During the 1970s and 1980s, II-powered NVDs were used on armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) of all categories to provide driver night vision and, in the case of main

22 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

battle tanks (MBTs) and infantry fighting or combat vehicles (IFVs/ICVs), by the commander and gunner. In these applications the 25mm diameter II tube predominated. However for the latter two crew members, TI has now replaced II; while for driver night vision, the improved performance of 18mm tubes has seen the 25mm tube all but disappear.

Without going into a catalogic listing, the lead US manufacturers of II tubes today are L3 Warrior Systems (which had acquired Northrop Grumman Electro-Optic Systems – previously Litton EOS) with its Ultra range, and the Harris Corporation (which had absorbed what was ITT Night Vision via Exelis) with its Pinnacle range. However, at the time of writing, it emerged that the Harris night vision operation is to be acquired by Elbit Systems of America.

These two companies shared split production of the II tubes (together with the NVDs themselves) based on annual competitive bids.

In Europe (and, effectively, the restof-the-world) the Franco-Dutch company Photonis has emerged as a developer and producer of a whole range of II tubes, adopted by many users, especially where ITAR-free products are required. The most recent contract announced by Photonis will

see the company provide the German Army with state-of-the-art 4G high-FOM (Figure of Merit) II tubes for 1,700 Theon Sensors NYX NV binoculars to improve night driving manoeuvrability.

As for the II-based NVDs themselves, the most numerous legacy products are probably the AN/PVS-7 and AN/PVS-14 NVGs, or derivatives thereof, produced by L3 Warrior Systems and Harris. Speaking to Armada, Harris’ senior director of global business development for night vision said that “our legacy PVS-14 is still a big seller”.

He noted that the company had recently received “a large foreign order” for this product; and, also, that its new F5032 lightweight NV binocular “had received a lot of traction in the last six months”.

However, there are more manufacturers of II-based NVDs than of tubes. Apart from L3 Warrior Systems and Harris in the US, other major players include OIP Sensor Systems (Belgium), the Opticoelectron Group (Bulgaria), Newcon Optik (Canada), Meopta-Optika (the Czech Republic), Millog Oy (Finland), SAFRAN’s Sagem division (France), Thales Optronique (France), Theon Sensors (Greece), Hensoldt of Germany (which acquired Airbus DS Optronics, formerly Cassidian Optronics, in 2017), Meprolight (Israel), Vinghog AS (Norway), the Institute of Optronics (Pakistan), Bumar PCO (Poland) and Shvabe Defence and Protection of Russia (formerly the Novosibirsk Instrument and Manufacturing Plant - NIMP).

THERMAL IMAGERS The early days of night vision saw II technology predominate, as thermal imagery technology was much bulkier and heavier, due to the need for their focal plane arrays (FPAs) to be cooled. Initial applications were for crew-served weapons and observation devices, and within AFV fire-control systems. However, since the turn of the century, TI has become much lighter and more capable with uncooled detectors becoming available and more efficient. These have been integrated into hand-held observation/surveillance/ targeting systems and individual weapon sights.

Depending on the application (i.e. the required spectral response), the actual detector materials functioned in either mid-wave (MWIR – 3-5 microns) or long-wave (LWIR – 8-12 microns). Twenty years ago, FPAs with a resolution of 320×240 pixels were the norm, but by 2010, improved FPAs of 640×480 had become the baseline.

This reflected the reduction in pixel pitch (the size of each detector element in the array) from 30 or 25 microns down to 20 microns.

Since then, pixel pitches have continued to fall rapidly. By 2014, full (or true) High Definition (HD) resolution has arrived with FPAs of 1,280×1,024, 1,280×720, 1,024×766 and being becoming available, thanks to the ongoing reduction of the pixel pitch, with 17 and 15 microns being achieved and, today, 12 micron pitches emerging.

In the same timeframe, new detector materials have emerged, offering better performance in specific spectral ranges, of lower cost and/or easier to produce.

Application usually dictates the detector/ waveband selection, with MWIR and LWIR remaining prominent. However, short-wave (SWIR – 0.7-2.5 microns) detectors are now emerging as a regular sensor option. Although SWIR is not strictly “thermal”, as it uses reflected moonlight, starlight and starglow in passive mode, with laser-illumination it becomes an active sensor.

On the “cooled versus uncooled” front, improved detector material response and FPA pixel-count has allowed uncooled microbolometer to be applied as clip-on thermal imaging for NVGs and weapons sights, as well as applications in image fusion.

IMAGE FUSION Probably the most important breakthrough for land-based night vision has been image fusion (or blending).

The so-called ‘Holy Grail’ of infantry NV capability, it brings together the best of both worlds: II for clear target identification, TI for improved target detection.

Development, however, has been protracted, with the-then ITT AN/PSQ-20 Enhanced NVG (ENVG) being ordered in 2004, entering limited US service in March 2009.

This basically projected a thermal image as an overlay on the II image. Product evolution continued and, in August 2010, ITT (now Harris) was contracted for the AN/PSQ-20A Spiral-Enhanced NVG

US Army

The new F5062 lightweight NV binocular from Harris.

Harris Corp.

LAND WARFARE

Sample imagery from the ENVG, showing fused II and thermal imagery.

(SENVG), while Northrop Grumman EOS (now L3 Warrior Systems) was also contracted to produce an SENVG, under the designation AN/PSQ-20B. This phase tidied-up the design and applied ‘regular’ 18mm diameter II tubes (making the resupply logistics less complex).

During this period, communications entered the digital age and the network-centric environment emerged and the ability to offer the infantryman an equivalent of a fighter pilot’s head-up display saw the addition of data transfer and display devolve to the NVD. One example of such a programme is the ITT (Harris) “i-Aware” retrofittable data insertion capability for NVDs, which was also incorporated into its AN/PSQ-20A SENVG, launched in 2011.

Alongside these developments, all using the optical fusion concept, was the desire for a practical digitally-fused goggle and work is ongoing at BAE Systems Electronic Systems, DRS Leonardo, Harris and L3 Warrior Systems. However, although prototypes have been developed and tested, a production model is still awaited. Harris’s Darrell Hackler told Armada that the company was working on a binocularconfigured ENVG-B, while BAE Systems and DRS Leonardo are also working on an equivalent project. However, pure digital fusion, one understands, involves vast processor and software capability and is highly classified, so it may be some time before a cost-effective solution evolves.

In the meantime, while as US-developed ENVG/SENVG is not yet widely exportable, how does the rest-of-the-world acquire this image-fused capability, without junking existing II-based legacy NV devices. The

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019 23

LAND WARFARE

Qioptiq

The SAKER fused weapon sight.

Meprolight

The NYX multi-spectral weapon sight.

realisation that uncooled LWIR detectors had shrunk in size and increased in resolution, caused some non-US companies to revisit the pure ‘optical overlay’ concept.

As a result, the clip-on thermal imager, which injects a small thermal image over a light-intensified image, was born.

Three examples of this eminently sensible solution were revealed at IDEX 2011: the Vectronix TACS-M (Thermal Acquisition Clip-On System – Miniature) using a thermal module from Optics 1 of the United States; the Thermoteknix (UK) SCOTI (Small Clip-On Thermal Imager), subsequently rebranded as ClipIR, and the M-32C COTI (Clip-On Thermal Imager) from FLIR Systems. Others have since emerged.

Meanwhile, another solution to fusing (or blending) light and thermal imagery digitally has evolved, using a low-light TV-type camera in place of II. This has seen applications in the weapon night sights.

A typical example would be the NYX-200 series from Meprolight of Israel, which uses a LWIR 640 × 480 microbolometer with a 17 micron pixel pitch and a 1280 × 640 low-light camera.

WEAPON SIGHTS The initial application of night vision to weapons sights was to clip an II tube assembly to the weapon’s regular optical/ telescopic sight. Typical of such sights available today are the AN/PVS-22 Universal Night Sight (from OmniTech Partners, now part of FLIR Systems) and the Merlin range from Qioptiq of the UK. The integral II night sight, typified by the AN/PVS-4, soon emerged and current equivalents today are instanced by the AN/ PVS-10 Sniper Night Scope and AN/PVS17 Miniature Night Sight, both available through L3 Warrior Systems, and Meprolight’s Hunter.

Early thermal sights, such as the AN/ PAS-13B Thermal Weapon Sight (TWS), initiated in 1981 with light, medium and heavy variants, were rather ‘clunky’ to begin with but over the years, technology has refined and shrunk the device, the latest models being the -13E and -13G ‘clip-on’ variant. Several companies have produced different models at different times, including BAE Systems, DRS Leonardo, L3 Warrior Systems and Raytheon and it remains in use worldwide.

Across the Atlantic, Sagem (part of the Safran grouping) continues to market its range of Sword thermal sights, based on those supplied to the French Army under the FELIN programme. Three main versions are available: Sword Light, Sword T&D, and Sword Sniper. All use uncooled, LWIR detectors, sourced from ULIS, a subsidiary of France’s Sofradir specialising in uncooled detectors, known to be working on 12 micron pixel-pitch detectors.

Thermal weapon sights are available from a variety of companies including Poland’s Bumar PCO (SCT Rubin); Shvabe Defence and Protection from Russia (formerly the Novosibirsk Instrument Making Plant) with its PT3 thermal sight (with a 640×480 FPA and 17 micron pixel pitch); Aselsan of Turkey (Python and Boa thermal sights); Qioptiq’s Dragon range from the UK; and, from Israel, the Lily family of thermal sights from Elbit Systems, as well as the Hunter series from Meprolight. Also, while information remains sporadic, Poly Technologies of Beijing is marketing the IR 160X thermal sight, using an uncooled LWIR detector with a 160×120 FPA on a 25 micron pixel pitch.

Another example of the image-fused or multi-spectral sight, in addition to the Meprolight NYX mentioned above, is the Qioptiq SAKER clip-on sight, which combines the a standard 18mm CMOS-type

24 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

II tube (such as the Photonis INTENS) with a 640×480 (17 micron pitch) uncooled thermal imager in order to provide a blended image that can be adjusted to suit the target scene conditions.

Meanwhile, the US Army is developing the successor to the AN/PAS-13, in the form of the Family of Weapon Systems (FWS), managed by the product manager Soldier Manoeuvre Sensors (SMS) within the Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier. It is described as “a family of weapon sights that enable combat forces to acquire and engage targets with small arms and to conduct surveillance and Enhanced Target Engagement under day/night obscurants, no-light, and adverse weather conditions.”

It leverages advances in thermal and low-light level sensors to produce three variants: Individual (FWS-I), Crew-Served (FWS-CS), and Sniper (FWS-S) weapon sights which can be mounted in-line with a day optic or used in stand-alone mode.

WHERE NEXT? As can be obvious, this article has only skimmed the surface of a multi-layered subject, in both technology and application. New materials emerge, such as white phosphor being developed for II tubes by companies such as Harris and Photonis, to produce a black-and-white, rather than a green image. Low-light and SWIR cameras are being shrunk, aiding the packaging of multi-spectral application. Digital data communications can now be transmitted to soldier’s eyepieces.

Perhaps the simplest summary came from a Meprolight spokesman, who told Armada that “the future is about getting information to the soldier: accurate target location and situational awareness, through weapon sights or observation devices”.

New products or retrofit option for legacy products will continue to be evolved.

special ops and expeditionary forces debrief

Cubic is designing a Syn-ISR programme to integrate live role players into a simulated full motion video environment.

SOF SEEK SIMULATION TO OPTIMISE TRAINING

Preferring to ‘train as they fight’, special operations forces (SOF) are infamous for replicating real-world environments to prepare for the execution of the full spectrum of mission sets.

S

Andrew White

pecial operations forces (SOF) routinely use live ammunition to support hostage rescue operations (HRO) and direct action (DA) training in shooting houses as well as urban warfare centres. Military assistance (MA) and special reconnaissance (SR) missions are also often conducted in real-world environments of town and city centres as well as rural areas to provide as realistic a training environment as possible.

Nevertheless, SOF still demand a variety of simulation and training (S&T) technology and real estate to support more specialist roles including aviation; combat medicine; cultural and linguistics training as they seek to further optimise operational effectiveness across an increasingly complex battlespace.

In the air environment, training continues to revolve around a mix of realworld and simulated training mechanisms.

Examples include the establishment of the Multinational Special Aviation Programme (MSAP) - a joint venture being developed by SOF components from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia- which aims to train SOF rotary wing crews in special operations.

Announced on 4 October by NATO, MSAP will be located at a centralised facility in Zadar, Croatia. Still in development, NATO sources associated with the projected were unable to confirm to Armada International precisely what type of S&T equipment will be used to support training in addition to physical air frames.

The MSAP Centre, which will be open

26 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

for business by the start of 2020, will provide SOF pilots and air crews with the opportunity to train across a variety of rotary wing air frames including Russian Mi-17, Mi-8 and Sikorsky UH-60 troop transport platforms as well as Airbus H215 Super Puma and H215M Cougar helicopters.

According to a NATO statement, the MSAP Centre will aim to support ‘NATO adaptability and readiness in a gradual, step-by-step manner, expanding the training opportunities offered over time…. [which would] create an important and unique new asset within NATO.’ USSOCOM Similar efforts continue to be undertaken to support high demand in the SOF community for real-world training solutions for the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

On 25 January 2019, the US Army Special Operations Command’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) published a solicitation calling for a Multi-Use Helicopter Training (MUHT) facility to enable S&T for a variety of rotary wing air frames.

According to the solicitation, the MUHT facility will be located at the SOAR’s headquarters at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where a 1,858 square metre (20,000 square foot) facility is required. SOAR’s infrastructure requirements call for a mock-up of a surface vessel’s deck space including control tower; as well as trainer solutions and elevated platforms to support Fast Rope Insertion/Extraction System (FRIES) training.

The MUHT centre, which has been funded up to $10 million, will support SOAR S&T requirements for Boeing’s MH/AH-6M Little Bird attack helicopter (used by US SOF for airborne sniper serials, close air support and rapid insertion onto buildings and surface vessels); as well as Boeing’s MH-47G Chinook and Sikorsky’s MH-60M Black Hawk troop transport helicopters used to insert, extract and resupply small unit teams.

However, as stipulated in the US SOF Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) Center’s Capability Areas of Interest for 2019 and onwards, SOF aviation training will also remain highly dependent upon S&T systems to train pilots and air crew of rotary wing, fixed wing and autonomous air vehicles.

Speaking to Armada, SOF AT&L

special ops and expeditionary forces debrief

Left to right: NATO Deputy Sectetary General Rose Gottemoeller; Atanas Zaprianov (Deputy Minister of Defence, Belgaria0; Damir Krsticevic (Minister of Defence, Croatia; Tibor Benko (Minister of Defence, Hungary); Karl Erjaved (Minister of Defence, Slovenia).

officials described how USSOCOM requires a “compliant and scalable, virtual reality aircraft simulation capability [which] should be scalable to execute missions from low fidelity route rehearsals to high fidelity collective training exercises with multiple devices on a common terrain database.”

Such demand for S&T support of SOF aviation crews was demonstrated by the US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) in March 2018 with the selection of Lockheed Martin as industry partner for the Air Commando Training and Support (ACTS) programme.

According to the contract, announced on 15 March, Lockheed Martin will support schoolhouse training for SOF aviation crews across the full inventory of AFSOC special operations air frames including fixed wing platforms.

In a contract worth more than $200m, the ACTS will usurp the legacy Aircrew Training and Rehearsal Support programme ATARS II, providing crews with S&T across a networked mission training system capable of recreating specific mission scenarios. The solution will also be tasked with logistical support of AFSOC air frames.

Fixed wing aircraft falling under the ACTS include Lockheed Martin’s C-130J Hercules tactical transport aircraft; and Bell/Boeing’s CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor, both of which have training equipment already supported by CAE and FlightSafety International.

ACTS will also be networked to Kirtland/Davis-Monthan Joint Base Andrews/ Moody (KDAM) which has supported ATARS since a contract award to Alpha Omega Change Engineering (AOCE) in 2016 with services including aircrew qualification; refresher training; logistics support; and concurrency between supported air frames.

According to Lockheed Martin’s vice president for Training and Simulation Solutions, Tom Gordon, the ACTS programme will provide AFSOC with “realistic, concurrent, resilient and cost-effective” systems to support rapidly evolving operational requirements from across the modern battlespace.

Additional solutions to support SOF air crews, which continue to be pursued by the US Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO), include the Virtual Reality Part Task Trainer (VRPTT).

As a CTTSO spokesperson described to Armada, special operations aircraft remain in high demand across multiple theatres, which can subsequently limit the availability of training aircraft at home air bases.

“Many training readiness capabilities and methodologies currently in use were developed over 40 years ago. As a result, they are limited in terms of fidelity, immersion and portability, cannot be easily modified based on changes to real world systems, and are often not affordable,” the spokesperson warned.

The VRPTT has been designed by Vertex Solutions to overcome many of these

‘limitations’. Comprising an untethered, wearable and lightweight heads up display, the VRPTT is networked to a central processing unit which can immerse students into a three-dimension and high definition virtual reality cockpit.

Instruction is provided by an ‘ automated, intelligent virtual tutor’ although students are able to manipulate virtual images of mission systems and components (including exploded views of components) in the cockpit through ‘bare-handed interactive functions that provide real time feedback’.

“The automated and interactive intelligent tutoring programme adjusts in complexity based on graduated skill development and includes task performance evaluation and remediation,” said the CTTSO spokesperson.

A total of four VRPTT systems were recently fielded with AFSOC. Vertex Solutions is currently working on a nextgeneration product to support the virtual training of additional crew positions.

Syn-ISR In the ground environment, S&T continues to support SOF across a variety of mission capabilities including SR; linguistics and regional culture training; combat medicine; as well as small arms and situation awareness training.

S&T requirements include Synthetic Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (Syn-ISR) tools capable of integrating together multiple sources of live and dynamic actions on the ground with high-definition ISR simulation.

As a SOF source suggested to Armada, legacy virtual reality ISR simulation systems, featuring expensive full motion video feeds make training “unfeasible, thereby preventing forces from training as they fight”.

“The best of breed technologies pre-script avatar actions and assume role players will do exactly what actions have been anticipated. Therefore, a more realistic and dynamic training capability is needed,” the source said.

In response, Cubic is designing a SynISR programme to integrate live role-player activities into a simulated full motion video feed which is ‘nearly indistinguishable from real world’ activities.

According to Cubic, Syn-ISR is ‘responsive to immediate tasking and quickly adjusts to changing environmental conditions

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019 27

Lockheed Martin’s Air Commando Training and Support (ACTS) programme provides AFSOC with aircrew instruction and distributed, fully-networked mission rehearsal and training capabilities, as well as logistics support for numerous AFSOC weapon systems.

(e.g. weather, sea state, traffic), providing geographic combatant commanders and their special operations forces with a highly realistic tool that ensures their forces are prepared for every aspect of combat operations.’

Describing desired levels in S&T support of irregular warfare, the SOF AT&L Centre’s capability areas of interest for 2019 include demand for tailored virtual training for language and regional expertise to provide operators with the ‘ability to more rapidly and effectively learn the language and cultural skills needed to effectively operate in foreign operational environments’.

As USASOC sources highlighted to Armada, such a capability could support US Army Special Forces Groups and Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) Teams which can be tasked with Military Assistance (MA) operations in and amongst indigenous populations around the world.

“This type of S&T technology would train personnel and develop leaders to more effectively operate in support of host nation personnel,” sources confirmed.

Of similar interest to USASOC is the City Life virtual reality environment programme which uses simulation-based training to immerse operators into dense urban environments to support SR and force protection serials.

Capable of providing operators with indoor and outdoor infrastructures of generic cityscapes, CTTSO’s City Life

Lockheed Martin

special ops and expeditionary forces debrief

software is capable of accommodating up to 10,000 unique and non-player characters in a single scenario which also features unpredictable human behaviours to test students.

Student-controlled avatars are able to observe and engage with non-player characters. An undisclosed number of programmes have been delivered to the US Department of Defense (DoD).

In the area of combat medicine, the SOF AT&L Centre also called for research and development into S&T solutions associated with the enhancement of pre-hospital combat casualty training with an emphasis on the SOF pre-hospital providers.

Specifically, the Centre is interested in identifying technology-based approaches; advanced generation trauma task trainers; and robotic training systems to include validation and evaluation of system and training metrics and outcomes compared to currently used models.

“The effort includes research into best practices and new technologies for improved critical lifesaving skills and a cognitive behavioural approach to maximise training effectiveness,” a SOF AT&L Centre official described. “Priority will be given to submissions that result in a working prototype that can be field tested in cooperation with SOF training sites.”

Finally, the SOF AT&L Centre has identified virtual training requirements to support SOF operators training across

28 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

a variety of soldier systems, particularly relating to SR and DA operations. Specifically, this includes next-generation S&T technologies capable of supporting small unit teams in mission training, preparation and rehearsals.

Seeking an “immersive three-dimensional environment”, the centre is interested in the design, development and acquisition of a virtual training system capable of adapting to the individual operator’s particular skill level in order to “hone and maintain critical skill sets such as weapons training using current weapon systems”.

Ergonomic Solutions Critical to the optimisation of SOF training is an understanding of physical and cognitive burdens placed upon operators during high-stress scenarios.

As a result, Titus Human Performance Solutions is supporting the CTTSO’s SPEAR Cognitive Performance programme which has been initiated to better understand the ‘complex array of physical and cognitive factors’ associated with the engagement of significant challenges.

“Historically, due to technological limitations, the collection, analysis, and representation of cognitive performance data has been irregular and accomplished through disparate systems of varying levels of automation, rather than an ongoing, unified, and automated process,” a Titus official stated.

“The SPEAR Cognitive Performance effort will enhance the current SPEAR platform to incorporate metrics from cognitive performance correlates, such as stress, motivation, and fatigue, into the existing USSOCOM-sponsored SPEAR applications.

“The enhanced application will provide a common language for instructors, psychologists, and human performance coaches to more wholly evaluate personnel readiness, more accurately target precision training and intervention methods, and ultimately, improve mission success rates,” it was added.

Conclusion S&T for SOF looks set to remain focused on a hybrid mix of real-world and simulated solutions as air crews and small unit teams alike seek to optimise their operational effectiveness and maintenance of tactical overmatch over near peer adversaries.

Where high-flying deals await your arrival

SINGAPORE AIRSHOW 2020 Asia’s largest aerospace and defence event This is the single most influential platform for you to leave an indelible mark on potential business partners.

Amidst an audience of the best minds and leaders in the global aviation industry, Singapore Airshow 2020 offers you the opportunity to showcase your latest technologies and innovations. Sign on the dotted line and reserve your space today!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SINGAPORE AIRSHOW 2018

1,062

participating companies from 50 countries

287

VIP delegations from 91 countries and regions

SECURE A CHOICE SPOT NOW AT SALES@SINGAPOREAIRSHOW.COM

Organised by:

Official Media Partner:

54,151

trade attendees from 147 countries and regions

1,464

meetings conducted during the exhibition

SINGAPOREAIRSHOW.COM

Supporting Media Partners:

Held in:

Crown Copyright

Country Analysis special report

An RAF Typhoon wearing the NATO badge operating from Ämari Airbase in Estonia as part of the UK’s Operation Azotize to protect Baltic airspace.

NATO’s BALTIC Front

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland are being bolstered with troops and assisted with the modernisation of their forces.

A

David Oliver

n important component of NATO’s strengthened deterrence and defence posture is military presence in the eastern parts of Alliance territory. In January 2019 NATO allies implemented the 2016 Warsaw Summit and has enhanced its forward presence in the eastern part of the Alliance, with four multinational battalion-size battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, on a rotational basis.

These battlegroups, led by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the United States respectively, are combat-ready forces that reenforce the basic principle that an attack on one ally would be considered an attack on the whole Alliance.

The UK and eight partner nations have developed the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) that reinforces the close ties between this group of northern European states in order to meet the challenges of uncertain times particularly since Russia’s illegal military intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea in 2014. Five of the JEF partner nations - Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - share a

land border with Russia, while Sweden and Denmark are Baltic Sea states.

Non NATO countries Finland and Sweden are Partnership for Peace (PfP) members that are focused on ensuring the full interoperability of their air and naval forces. This cooperation includes an advanced exercise programme, the ability to use each other’s bases and territory, and the capability to build a combined unit and to transfer operational command.

The Air Forces of Sweden, Finland and Norway hosted Arctic Challenge Exercise 2019 (ACE 19) from 22 May to 4 June 2019.

More than one hundred aircraft from nine nations including the United Kingdom and United States participated in the largest European air power exercise carried out in a 400 nautical miles airspace training area over the northern areas of the host countries (see report on page 18).

Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist told Armada that “the situation in the Baltic region is at its worst since the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, with more Russian exercises, its aircraft flying close to our ships and aircraft, and increased propaganda.” In response, the

30 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

Swedish Defence Commission’s White Book on Sweden’s Security Policy and the Development of the Military Defence 2021—2025 has recommended increased investment in personnel, equipment, systems of systems and organisation.

Hultqvist said that the government will take six months to review the White Book, but there is support for increasing investment in the Swedish military.

As part of the UK’s air support to the Baltic nations, in April 2019, 3 Regiment Army Air Corps (AAC) deployed to Estonia for three months, with Boeing Apache AH.1s of 663 Squadron that worked in with the AAC’s Leonardo AW159 Wildcat AH.1 battlefield reconnaissance helicopters to provide valuable training opportunities to NATO allies during Estonia’s annual Exercise Spring Storm and to the UK-led battlegroup deployed on NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence (eFP). The helicopter deployment boosted the UK’s presence in the Baltics – known as Operation Cabrit to around 1,000 personnel, making the UK the largest contributor to eFP. AIR POLICING On 3 May four RAF Eurofighter Typhoons from XI(F) Squadron arrived at Ämari Airbase in Estonia replacing German Eurofighters to begin a four-month Estonian airspace protection mission.

NATO Baltic Air Policing is a peacetime defensive mission under the UK title of Operation Azotize to deter any threats against NATO allies. These were introduced in 2014 when NATO authorised additional fighter detachments to deploy to the region in response to Russia’s occupation of Ukraine.

Earlier this year the Estonian government released a defence development plan for 2020–23 focused on improving the readiness of forces and increasing investment across several technology areas. The plan outlines the resources required to meet Estonia’s national responsibilities as well as its commitment to NATO objectives.

In April 2019 Estonia received the last of 44 CV9035NL infantry fighting vehicles from the Netherlands following an extensive maintenance and refurbishment programme conducted in the Netherlands that will be supported in Estonian service by Patria’s subsidiary Milrem LCM under a contract signed with BAE Systems in April 2018. The company

Country Analysis

Michigan National Guard

Patria’s subsidiary Milrem LCM provides maintenance and repair works for the Estonian Defence Force XA-180 APCs.

USMC

the Russian Federation had conducted an observation flight on a Russian An-30B over the territory of the Estonia.

The Latvian Air Force’s Mi-8MTV-1 ‘Hip’ helicopters are being replaced by Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks.

also provides maintenance and repair works for the Estonian Defence Force XA-180 and XA-188 APCs and CV90 IFVs as well as other military vehicles in Tallinn and Võru. By 2023 K9 Thunder self-propelled 155mm artillery units acquired from South Korea’s Hanwha Land Systems will have been delivered and long-range anti-tank systems will also be acquired. The Estonia Air Force has also received the first of two former US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) C-145A tactical transport aircraft to replace its two Soviet-era An-2 transport aircraft and will be located at Ämari. At the end of 2018 Babcock International completed the installation of a capability upgrade on the first of three Estonian Navy mine hunter vessels at its Rosyth facilities, the Estonian Navy flagship EML Admiral Cowan which is part of its minesweeping flotilla assigned to

the Baltic Naval Squadron (BALTRON).

Under contract by Thales UK, an upgraded mission package was carried out by Babcock on the former Royal Navy Sandown-class mine hunter, that included fitting the Thales Sonar 2193, an upgraded navigation system, as well as the Thales M-CUBE command and control system. The second Estonian Navy mine hunter, EML Sakala, arrived at the Babcock Rosyth site in December 2018 to undergo the same upgrade package. This will be followed by EML Ugandi in mid-2019.

The Estonian Navy is a regular participant in Exercise Baltops, the premier annual maritime-focused exercise in the Baltic Region and one of the largest naval exercises in Northern Europe.

In May 2019 Sergei Ryzhkov, head of the Russian Nuclear Risk Reduction Centre, announced that under the terms of the 2002 international Treaty of Open Skies,

Latvia’s Defence Investment Latvia is one of the few NATO countries to increase its defence budget to more than two percent of GDP in 2019. Most of the capability development project funding will be invested in the indirect fire support and reconnaissance, further mechanisation of the Land Force Mechanised Infantry Brigade, rearming of the army and stockpiling of ammunition, crisis management command, control and communications assurance.

The National Armed Forces (NAF) has already been taking delivery of 123 surplus British Army Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance Tracked (CVR/T) vehicles including Spartan armoured personnel carriers, Samson armoured recovery and Samaritan ambulance vehicles.

Refurbished by Babcock, deliveries will be completed by 2020.

In April 2019 Milrem LCM signed an eight-year agreement for the maintenance and repair of the Latvian NAF BV206 all-terrain tracked vehicles.

The Latvian NAF takes part in numerous NATO exercises in the Baltic region and in November 2018 its personnel combined with US National Guard airmen from the 127th Wing from Selfridge ANG Base in Michigan, in an emergency response exercise at Lielvārde Air Base. The exercise tested force protection, medical, fire protection, and airfield operations capabilities for the base, a major hub for NATO air operations in the region.

The airfield is also the base for Latvia’s small air force equipped only with Soviet-era helicopters. In August 2018 the United States cleared the Baltic nation to acquire four Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, along with equipment including Talon Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) systems, spares, support, for an estimated cost of $200 million. They will replace the air force’s Mi-8MTV-1 ‘Hip’ helicopters by 2021.

Latvia’s Navel Flotilla of mine counter-measures vessels have been equipped with the Controp iSea-30HD Day/ Night observation system to enhance the navy’s maritime surveillance capabilities.

The iSea-30HD system enables a stable, continuous and uninterrupted line-of-sight (LOS) ensuring a very clear picture even

armadainternational.com - june/july 2019 31

NATO

Country Analysis special report

The Lithuanian Navy’s mine hunter LNS Skalvis at Tallinn naval base during the annual NATO naval Exercise Open Spirit.

in the roughest of seas and the harshest environmental conditions including fog, salinity, and moisture. The Latvian Naval Flotilla is also assigned to BATRON in order to establish closer co-operation with the navies of Estonia and Lithuania.

Reflecting the tension in the Baltic region, in April 2019 Lithuania’s Ambassador to Russia was recalled from Moscow over the threats that targeted him and members of embassy staff, according to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry.

Lithuania’s National Defence Systems Development Programme 2014-2023 was approved to modernise its land forces which are in the process of acquiring a large quantity of surplus weapons and equipment from Germany. This includes 21 PzH-2000 155mm SP howitzers, 168 M577 armoured tracked vehicles and 84 Boxer 8x8 IFVs. Lithuania is part of the joint military unit LITPOLUKRBRIG with Poland and Ukraine comprising an infantry battalion and special-purpose units from each country that was established in 2016.

In January 2019, the commander of the Polish Army General Wiesław Kukuła, signed a co-operation agreement with Lithuanian Army commander Colonel Dainius Pašvenskas to conduct joint training and exercises, which would include the Polish exercises Dragon-19 and Defender-19. The agreement will be implemented mainly by Poland’s 1st Podlaska Territorial Defence Brigade and based in the Podlaskie province bordering Lithuania. LITPOLUKRBRIG battle staff

training will also be conducted during the two Polish exercises.

Exercise Eagar Leopard, a multinational training exercise conducted by the eFP Battle Group in Lithuania in the Pabrade training area, took place in April 2019.

Around 650 soldiers from Germany, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Norway, along with Spanish and Slovenian troops from eFP Latvia, took part in the exercise.

The battlegroup conducted three training sequences of 36 hours, testing defensive and offensive tactics in order to prepare for the Level 3 Field training Exercise Iron Wolf, which was conducted with Lithuania in June.

The Lithuanian Air Force (LAF) is the largest and best equipped of the Baltic air forces with three Leonardo C-27J tactical transport and three Airbus Helicopters Dauphin AS365 N3+ search and rescue helicopters in its inventory. The LAF has renewed its HCare Infinite material management contract with Airbus Helicopters for its fleet of Dauphins.

The helicopters entered service performing SAR missions in 2015 with a three-year full warranty and Airbus Helicopter’s commitment to maintaining at least an 80 percent fleet availability rate.

Lithuanian forces will be equipped with an anti-drone system from the United States although neither the name of the system nor the number of units has been disclosed. The $1.3m contract will be funded by the US Department of State's security assistance programme.

32 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

In response to NATO’s increasing commitment to the Baltic region the Russian Minister of Defence, General Sergei Shoigu in a recent speech stressed that “at present, the international situation is characterised by increased competition between global power centres, increased uncertainty factors, bursts of instability and violence in different regions of the planet, and an increase in conflict potential in areas of Russia’s traditional interests.”

He also paid special attention to the fact that the development of the forward-based system of the NATO in the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe continues. General Shoigu claimed that more than 200 aircrew from 13 countries of the alliance have acquired the skills of flying over the territory of the Baltic countries and the Baltic Sea and that such actions wreck the existing security system in the world. “In such a situation, we are forced to respond adequately, combining strategic deterrence measures with a planned increase in the combat capabilities of the formations and military units,” the Minister of Defence emphasised.

Under the approved Action Plan for 2019, in Russia’s Western Military District the main efforts will be focused on the formation of a mobile reserve anti-aircraft missile regiment covering military and government facilities in the Baltic operational theatre, and establishing a coastal missile division within the Baltic Fleet.

In April 2019 Russia’s largest missile cruisers, long-range bombers, anti-submarine aircraft, helicopters and fighter jets all took part in an anti-submarine exercise in the Norwegian Sea intended to send a signal to NATO that Russia is capable of conducting sea denial operations in the maritime spaces of north western Europe.

However, only a month later Russia’s Northern Fleet rescue forces took part in the annual exercise Barents with Norwegian coastguard and naval forces.

The main objectives of the exercise was to improve skills in the search and rescue of those in distress at sea, and to prevent oil pollution of the marine areas in the conditions of the industrial development in the Arctic region. The exercise is held in accordance with the 1995 Barents SAR Agreement between the Russian and the Norwegian governments for cooperation in search and rescue in the Barents Sea.

REGISTER TODAY FOR THE WORLD LEADING DEFENCE & SECURITY EVENT Defence & Security Equipment International is the world leading event that connects governments, national armed forces, industry thought leaders and the global defence & security supply chain on an unrivalled scale. With a range of valuable opportunities for networking, a platform for business, access to relevant content & live-action demonstrations, the DSEI community can innovate, share knowledge, discover & experience the latest capabilities across the Aerospace, Land, Naval, Security & Joint domains.

REGISTER NOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR EARLY BIRD RATE WWW.DSEI.CO.UK/REGISTER Supported by

Platinum Partner

Follow us on

Follow us on

DSEI

@DSEI_event

Organised by

ARMADA special COMMENTARY report

AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS - A NEW PATH FOR THE MILITARY AND INDUSTRY Andrew Hunter

W

ar always drives invention, and today’s wars are no different.

Recent conflicts are increasingly driving the development of more and more capable robotic and autonomous systems.

Autonomous systems are being used extensively in current conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine including many types of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and increasingly, robotic vehicles. Some of these are armed and some are used purely in an unarmed capacity, but their use is proliferating fast. The necessary technologies are widely available. They are being used not only by forces working with Russia or with the United States and its allies, but also by Daesh and other groups without access to nation state capabilities.

Much of what is required can be accomplished with a combination of commercial products and software based on open source modules, which are then ‘kluged’ together to deliver militarised capabilities.

This trend is interesting for a number of reasons. Much popular focus is placed on the potential for autonomous systems to evolve into fully autonomous lethal weapons, which raises profound issues of ethics and law that rightly need to be examined. However, the focus on the potential for these systems to act independently from humans obscures a more immediate development, the emergence of techniques for autonomous systems to operate closely and cooperatively with humans, integrated with other, older

military capabilities. It is this development that is likely to truly transform warfare, changing the very nature of how missions are performed, as well as military concepts and organisations.

Current systems have already shown the potential for unmanned capabilities to significantly change military operations.

Russian-backed forces in Ukraine have demonstrated the ability for unmanned systems, both air and ground, to allow relatively small ground combat forces to unleash devastating fires on a more traditional ground force. The US military demonstrated that networks of relatively small ground units could carry out distributed operations over a very wide area when supported by UAS that could provide them directly with situational awareness, logistical support, and even when necessary, combat air support.

Several advanced militaries are also now experimenting with unmanned ground vehicles, creating the potential for even more radical changes and new concepts to emerge. The Netherlands has created an experimental cell for just this purpose that is experimenting with autonomous systems operating within a light infantry brigade. These experiments probably won’t deliver radical change immediately as they appear to be following the principle of crawl, walk, run. The early focus appears to be on missions like logistics and combat service support that are similar to ongoing developments in the commercial sector and that present fewer of the most complex policy issues. But the inherent potential to use these capabilities not just as substitutes

34 armadainternational.com - june/july 2019

for manned vehicles, but as enablers of broader changes in military organisation is likely to emerge from their work. The fact that they are doing this work outside of an immediate war-zone, and in close proximity to industrial partners, means that they can also target changes relevant to future operations, including potentially high intensity conflicts, that aren’t occurring in today’s conflict zones.

The organisational change that is beginning to take shape around autonomous systems is a case study in innovation, but it remains one with uncertain prospects. I have full confidence that the innovators engaged in this work will deliver meaningful insights and important new concepts through their efforts. The harder question is whether those successes will be adopted and spread more broadly throughout the world’s militaries. Resistance to change is omnipresent and autonomous systems may struggle to get funding for production and iterative development when experimentation shows that they are ready to deliver. This barrier is likely to be especially high when autonomous systems threaten to compete with more traditional systems that are top service priorities and have a significant established constituency behind them (i.e. when traditional industry perceives, accurately, that a new technology is a threat to its existence). It is at this point that the success of the effort will depend less on the ingenuity of experimenters and innovators and more on the ability of service leadership and their support bureaucracies to take risks. The Netherlands has formally incorporated a commitment to this risk taking into their defence strategy stating that they want their armed forces to become an ‘adaptive force.’ This sets a high bar for the military leadership to live up to, and rightly so. I look forward to seeing if they achieve their ambitions, and which other leading militaries will join them.

The Honorary Patronage of the Republic of Poland President Mr. Andrzej Duda

27th International Defence Industry Exhibition USA LEAD NATION

3-6.09.2019, Kielce, Poland Strategic Partner

www.mspo.pl

COUNTER-UAS TECHNOLOGY CHOSEN BY THE U.S. MILITARY srcinc.com/silentarcher