IED Hit Rate Demands More Action Against the Human Network

Michael Oates, the recently retired director of JIEDDO, has admitted that efforts to counter the IED threat are not working effectively in the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, where US troops have stepped up the fight to clear a concentrated network of Taliban strongholds.

According to official figures, insurgents planted 14,661 IEDs last year – a rise of over 60% on 2009 – with the total coalition death toll at 1882, but the issue seems to have become less about the level of training that troops undergo or of their understanding of these devices as it is about a shortfall in combating those burying them in the sand.

Bolstering MRAP
Included among the recent boost in US efforts to combat the threat are a $7 billion injection into MRAP vehicle development, an increase of around 70 “route-clearance” teams, and a more concentrated effort to blanket the skies with surveillance UAVs and blimps over Afghanistan, the total number of which is likely to double by the end of the year.

Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Oates explained a few home truths when it comes to the intricacies of dealing with a type of insurgency that is at once well-trodden and tricky to identify.

For one, a regional variance exists throughout Afghanistan, revealing that the materials, methods and sophistication of the devices varies dramatically.

Read and watch the full interview here: http://www.defenceiq.com/land/articles/ied-hit-rate-demands-more-action-against-the-human/

US and UK Formalise the Cyber Terror Risk to National Security

It's official - national security strategies in the US and the UK have formally acknowledge the role of cyber security in the national security hierarchy. Dr Dan Kuehl is director of the Information Strategies Concentration Program at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. He specialises in information operations and warfare as well as military doctrine for IO. In this interview, he explores the Stuxnet threat and how this impacts the west's 'cyber dependency' predicament. Dr Kuehl chaired this year's Cyber Warfare event in London.

Watch the full video here: http://ping.fm/itXf6

How is conflict reporting evolving? Robert Young Pelton on Libya, Somalia and the changing face of conflict journalism- http://bit.ly/g6Zgrc

Robert Young Pelton on Libya, Africa and the Evolution of Conflict Reporting

We caught up with Robert Young Pelton on his recent venture in Somalia. He describes the changing face of conflict reporting - and his work in building information gathering networks at the grass roots level. His new indigenous reporting network, Somalia Report, takes on the challenge of increasing situational awareness in these areas - both for the benefit of the public and for politicians. We press him on the Libya media 'whiteout' - what news is getting out compared to what may really be happening on the ground - and he walks us through the steps of getting information out of Libya. RYP also gives us his own long term forecast of how Libya will react to the current violence.

Listen to the full interview at: http://ping.fm/5h0Fw

Anglo-Canadian Naval Cooperation Stalls Over 'Global Combat Ship' Debate

The coalition government’s recent public disclosure that they were in consultation with the Canadians over joint warship design has arrested a potential deal which could have created hundreds of high technology engineering jobs in both countries.

“The global combat ship frigate programme does indeed present a tremendous opportunity for the United Kingdom to put the policy into practice. I am delighted to say that we are in close discussion with the Canadians”, stated Gerald Howarth, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence, to the House of Commons in January.

Be it naivety or hubris, Gerald Howarth’s disclosure, on 31 Jan 2011, that Canada was in close partnership with the UK dropped a boulder into the Canadian political pond and stalled further progress in what was predicted to be a mutually beneficial venture. Yet this need not have been the case had his Canadian counterpart directly addressed two potential public flashpoints – saving Canadian dollars versus saving Canadian jobs.

Peter Mackay’s failure to articulate the arguments for collaboration to both the media and unions was yet another hiccup in what many have come to refer to as a less-than-consistent political tenure - and ran counter to much he had said in support of Canadian collaboration with the US over the JSF F-35 project.

Read the full article at: http://ping.fm/3PJqZ

Can NATO Agree on the Next Phase for Libya Operations?

With the first use - in anger - of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft over Libya, and the imminent handing over of control by the US to NATO commanders, the Libyan No Fly Zone, though less than a week old, is entering a new phase. Heavy bombardment has so far eliminated the vast majority of the country’s air defence networks, but all reports indicated that government ground forces are still on the move, and still attacking democratic rebel forces where they can.

Decisions must soon be made about a way forward. The Arab League protests that the bombardment was not what it had envisaged when it asked the international community to intervene; experience in Iraq in the mid-1990s makes it clear that unless all means of co-ordination and control are removed from the state’s capabilities, efforts to suppress the populace (in Saddam Hussein’s case, by helicopter) will continue.

While some military commanders have claimed that Col. Qaddafi himself is not a target, politicians continue to stress that forceful removal of the leader is not entirely out of the question. In any case, it has been made eminently clear that Qaddafi must leave office. What has not been made clear is how that is expected to happen.

Options including ground troops?
Options for dealing with the situation in Libya stretch from supporting a de facto partitioning of the country through to assassination. The most satisfactory outcome in terms of legality and legitimacy would be to deliver top regime elements to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, where investigations into the regime’s abuse of civilians have already begun. This would send a clear and united message to regimes across the Middle East which are currently the target of democratic protests; that the protests themselves are legitimate, that grievances need to be addressed and that violent suppression of expressions of liberty will not be tolerated by the international community at large.

Delivering this outcome can only be achieved in one of two ways. Either rebel forces must prevail completely or NATO troops must be deployed in order to capture top regime members. The language of UNSC 1973 makes it clear that an occupying force is not an option; however, as top British politicians made clear yesterday, a ground force is not necessarily an occupying force. A multilateral split on an acceptable way forward is becoming apparent and, at the moment, this is not a politically feasible event. To deploy ground troops to the region would be admitting the failure of the NFZ in keeping civilians safe, and would constitute another intervention on top of Afghanistan and Iraq that could very easily lose strategic focus and international support...

Read the full article at: http://ping.fm/7wSmx

Operations Ellamy and Odyssey Dawn: Day 4 Libyan Battle Assessment

Libya - Day 4 - with intent clear, second phase of international mission aims to formalise command structures and integrate a broad range of partners

In a time-frame that was, by the standard of previous UN debates, lightning fast, the ratification of Resolution 1973 has dramatically instigated an international military operation to stop the internal suppression of the Libyan revolt. Mandated to execute “all necessary measures” required to stop the onslaught of the state military against civilians, including the beleaguered rebel-held stronghold of Benghazi, the response by North American and European forces has been far more robust than commentators predicted.

How has this operation unfolded so far, and what political and strategic considerations will influence how the coalition deployment progresses?

Signaling intent - the initial phase

For the three primary backers of the intervention (France, the UK and US), the clear strategic imperative has been for a rapid and robust display of force. Whilst the mere passing of Resolution 1973 strikes a massive blow to Gaddafi’s claims of legitimacy, by placing the responsibility to cease attacks firmly on his shoulders, the internal military balance of power remains in his favour. The previous fortnight has seen rebel forces pushed back almost 200km to the outskirts of Benghazi, hounded by aerial attacks, armour and artillery. Worse still, previous evidence of bombardment at Zawiya and Misratahas indicated that the regime has few qualms about bombarding urban areas prior to an assault.

Read the full article at: http://ping.fm/nUDip

How can contractors improve support for armoured vehicle programmes? http://ping.fm/8rtuE

Defence Procurement Showdown: Armoured Vehicle Programme Officers Demand Improved Contractor Support

This multinational panel discussion features key regional viewpoints on armour upgrades. The key question put to these four panellists is, 'How does one prioritise armoured vehicle upgrades whilst balancing requirements for armour, mobility and firepower. Featured here are General Jayasuriya of the Sri Lanka Army; Dr Lusardi, representing the US Marine Corps; Brigadier General Tuilan of the Indonesian MoD and Major Reynolds of the UK MoD. Delivering to increased future expeditionary warfare demands, providing for more UOR focused procurement, safe-guarding cost-effectiveness: these are just a few of the broad range of speaking points delivered from these four experts. Find out what questions their audience poses to them on what has become a controversial subject.

You can watch the panel discussion here: http://ping.fm/v1JmM

Defence Minister Luff Addresses Successes and Failures of Defence Review Process

Peter Luff MP
Minister for Defence Equipment Support and Technology
15 March 2011

Speech delivered to the RUSI/ Cranfield conference on Defence Acquisition Reform at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham.

Challenges that lie ahead
I’m delighted that RUSI and Cranfield University have come together to bring us this important conference on acquisition reform. It’s a seamless match.

Bernard and I will try to do justice to that ethos of seamlessness as we open this first session... That’s because, together with Lord Levene, we are the coalface team that the Prime Minister and Liam Fox have charged with responsibility for making Defence acquisition work.

We have an enormous opportunity. Genuine acquisition reform will mean better value for money for the British taxpayer; greater stability and clarity for industry; and our Armed Forces will have the equipment they need, when they need it – now and in the future.

We also have two enormous challenges. First, even in the best of times, Defence acquisition is not easy. Procuring and supporting everything from the most basic supplies to the most complex engineering and technology on the planet, and deploying and supporting it in the harshest global conditions, is a task of epic proportions.

We spend £20 billion on contracts each year, or 54% of the core Defence budget – though of course much less than that is on actual equipment. Contrary to public perception, we deliver the vast majority of around 2,000 equipment and support projects at any one time to performance, time, and cost...

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.defenceiq.com/defence-technology/articles/defence-minister-luff-highlights-successes-and-fai/

Is It Time to Figure China Into the 'World Military Power' Equation?

China’s phenomenal economic growth over the last decade has shadowed an equally rapid increase in the level of sophistication of its armed forces. Modernisation programmes, defence manufacturing and aerospace research and development are accelerating, and nowhere has this been more apparent in recent months than with the unveiling of China’s new J-20 stealth jet .

Noteworthy beginnings
The J-20 Chengdu has recently passed the first of a series of air worthiness tests. These tests were carried out in January and gathered initial data about the airframe’s operational limits. They have certified that the aircraft is able to transition through phases of flight and execute simple aerobatic manoeuvres. This marks the first successful internal production of an advanced airframe by an Asian nation, but the aircraft itself is a long way from being complete, although observers have been surprised at the relatively short amount of time it has taken to go from blueprints to the first phase of testing...

Read the full article at: http://ping.fm/SOLRF

The Fabric of Protection: Armoured Vehicles Designed to Survive

From ceramics to composite materials, there is a broad range of technologies used to manufacture ballistic protection. This is a vital consideration when constructing the armoured vehicle 'iron triangle'. Performance is now no longer measured merely in terms of blast or small arms protection, but also in weight reduction. What's better than polyethylene woven ballistic fabrics? Cross weave technologies. Alex Yong presents to Armoured Vehicles Asia on behalf of DSM Dyneema on these protective materials. Watch to find out how this is matching up to the competition.

Read the full article at: http://ping.fm/njhXe

Should Western Powers Opt for Further 'No-Fly Zone' in Libya? http://ping.fm/b8f8v

Western Powers Opt for Further 'No-Fly Zone' Talks as Libyan Crisis Escalates

As the humanitarian situation in Libya deteriorates, forces loyal to Col Gaddafi have retaken both initiative and ground lost in the first round of protests. Counterattacks against rebel forces have been widespread in the last week, culminating in the recapture of Bin Jawad, an important stepping stone towards Ras Lanuf, a rebel-held oil town. Latest reports confirm that the town is under air and ground attack.

The international stage

As plans for an internationally implemented no-fly zone look set to be discussed by NATO on Thursday, the focus has shifted to the international forum. Col Gaddafi has agreed to let a human rights assessment team into Tripoli, after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said that the UN was worried that “...civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence, and [it] calls for an immediate halt to the government's disproportionate use of force and indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets". More than a thousand people have died in the violence and almost a quarter of a million have fled into neighbouring countries.

Read the full article: http://ping.fm/UULIe

Polish Defence Build-up Trumps Eastern Alliances as Bidding Wars Commence

Poland is unique among major European states in that its most pressing defence priority is homeland security. Relatively recent memories of Nazi and Soviet domination are kept alive by assertive rumblings from Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Knowing it cannot counter Russia’s economy and force structure unilaterally, Poland has therefore looked to alliances as a guarantor of security.

Read the whole article: http://ping.fm/wcieA

'It's a Great Sadness': Are Britain's Forces Being Held Back by MoD Politics?

Are Tories weak on defence? It's a tough question we've put to Peter Luff, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology. In our probing interview, he admits to a tangible downside in removing the Harrier and Nimrod from service - and he talks through the MoD's decision to juggle Britain's commitment to Afghanistan with widespread budget cuts. Mr Luff also speaks to the 'Equipment, Support, and Technology for Defence and Security consultation' that the MoD plans to release at the end of March 2011. There are some expected - and some surprising - components of this new policy directive. But will this be enough to distract the UK from the latest round of fiscal 'belt-tightening'?

Listen to the interview: http://ping.fm/GiBO9

Lieutenant General Gary Coward CB OBE, UK MoD, to speak at Defence Logistics Europe 2011

It has just been confirmed that Lieutenant General Gary Coward CB OBE, Director of Materiel (Land) and Quartermaster-General to the Forces, UK MOD, will be speaking at Europe’s pre-eminent military logistics and procurement event, Defence Logistics Europe.

Lieutenant General Gary Coward CB OBE will be joining an exceptional and unparalleled speaker panel of senior military professionals including Major General Jeff Mason MBE, ACDS Log Ops, UK MoD, Major General Ian Copeland, Director, Joint Support Chain, Defence Equipment & Support and Co-Chair of Joint Information Group, UK MOD, Major General Mark E. McQuillan, CD Commander, CANOSCOM, Canadian Ministry of Defence, Commodore Chris Gardner, Head of Capability Improvement RN, UK MOD and Commodore Michael Bath RN, ACOS J1/J4, PJHQ, UK MOD.

In addition to the high-profile speaker panel, high-ranking military professionals will come from all over the world to gather in London this month. Senior decision makers from the Canadian Forces, New Zealand Defence Force, Royal Norwegian Navy, Netherlands MoD, Swedish Defence Material Administration FMV and MoD Chinook Project Team will also be there to discuss important logistics requirements. The defence logistics event will also take a look at prime contractor needs and will have eminent representatives from Boeing and BAE Systems.

Defence Logistics Europe will be taking place on 21st-22nd March and will cover the latest challenged and opportunities that lie ahead for third party logistics. The timely event comes as the UK MoD is planning major cutbacks due to the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) and looking to outsource to 3PL companies. Defence Logistics Europe will bring together the leading military and industry to discuss the future of military logistics in order to examine to the current and future requirements for the defence logistics industry in an intimate networking environment.

Defence Logistics Europe will be taking place on 21st-22nd March at The Radisson Edwardian Hotel, London Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom. To get involved in the event or to see a full list of speakers and sessions, please visit http://ping.fm/IVweE

Job cuts loom large as Armed Forces Redundancy Calculator becomes available online

An Armed Forces Redundancy Calculator is available on the MOD website which gives a forecast of benefits for prospective redundees under the Armed Forces Redundancy Programme announced last week.

The calculator allows Service personnel to input their details to provide a forecast of their redundancy and pension benefits based on the redundancy exit date and the promulgated redundancy rules.

Read the rest of the article here: http://ping.fm/aWqkr

'Take Charge and Move Out': VX-20 Launches E-6B TACAMO Into 21st Century Air Order of Battle

Featured in this interview is US Navy Commander Adam Scott, who is a platform coordinator at VX-20 Air Test and Evaluation Squadron in Pax River, Maryland. Included in his remit are the E-6 Mercury, T-6 Texan and the T-34 Mentor, and this discussion zeroes in on E-6B TACAMO development, and particularly the US Navy's Block I Upgrade programme. There are some very difficult issues at play here; especially when it comes to dealing with upgrading the platform's highly classified capabilities, as well as addressing the greater focus on broadly deployed software components.

You can listen to the interview at: http://ping.fm/OaHMO

Opinion: 'What Can the European Union Do for Libya?'

This opinion piece is contributed by Jonathan Dowdall of Defence Dateline Group

With the French foreign minister departing in scandal, Italian arms sales under scrutiny and UK efforts to evacuate its citizens unfavourably compared to the likes of Turkey and Switzerland, Europe’s big players are facing harsh criticism over their handling of the Libyan emergency. Paralysed by indecision; and terrified of appearing either too pushy or too timid in a region vital to their economic and migration control interests, the traditional movers and shakers of European foreign and defence policy have been struck dumb.

Filling the power vacuum
The lack of a strong unilateralist voice from either the US or a European UN Security Council member has left a vacuum that the EU could, or even better should, fill. It provides an opportunity for the nascent structures of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) to be tested in a real crisis, not because member states do not desire action, but precisely because they are looking for an appropriate vehicle through which to act. The EU, through united policy statements, a unified civil-military vision and a “brand” un-tainted by recent failures in Libya; could help the emerging response to this crisis reboot its stature and utility on the world stage.

Read the rest of the opinion piece here: http://ping.fm/nidOF