BAE Systems signed a MOU with the Malaysian company Airod at DSA 2016

On April 20th, AIROD signed an Memorandum Of Understanding with BAE Systems for the covering upgrade of avionic systems on the RMAF Hawk aircraft at DSA 2016. 

Lockheed Martin lands a $116mn contract from USAF for JASSM-ER missiles production

Lockheed Martin received a $116.8 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for continued production of Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), the US-based defense giant announced Thursday April 21, 2016. 

UK, US and France Recognize Militaries' Cultural Differences

PARIS — An open dialogue about cultural and technological differences among allies is key to having effective command and control, a British Royal Air Force (RAF) officer has said.

Air Vice Marshal Paul Atherton said he came to this conclusion during Griffin Strike, a large Anglo-French exercise held in Britain.

“Awareness is key and dialogue is the tool to fix it,” he said April 21 at a conference about the future of air forces, organized by France. The high-level conference, Air Forces in 2030: Trends and Possible Shocks, followed two days of meetings held by staff officers from the American, British and French air forces partnered in the trilateral strategic initiative.

There was a need to cut red tape and understand cultural and technology differences, and the British and French acquisition of the A400M airlifter opened opportunities for cooperation, according to Atherton, who is the RAF chief of staff operations.

Griffin Strike showed the British practice of giving verbal orders, while other nations, such as France, relied on written orders, he said. “The written order is entirely valid but it is important to understand the cultural difference,” he said.

“That came out loud and clear on Tuesday afternoon when there a little degree of confusion over exactly who was going to do what,” he said. “C2 is absolutely vital.”

In the Griffin Strike exercise, an officer in a “C2 land node” talked to a commander in the navy component, Atherton said. That required some six different nodes, four firewalls and three satellites for the land commander to talk to the navy commander, who was just some 75 miles off the coast of Cornwall, southwest Britain.

Those handling procurement “in the capability world” need to factor in the US, French and NATO forces, with whom the British use secure communications, he said. “All too often we miss that right at the outset.”

Griffen Strike consists of an April 10-23 exercise in Britain, with 5,500 personnel, of which some 2,000 are from the French Air Force, Army and Navy. Some 20 aircraft and 10 ships are committed, including the French Dixmude helicopter carrier.

The need to slash bureaucracy could be seen in British and French air-to-air refueling, a key “force multiplier,” Atherton said.

UK and France both will fly their fleets of Airbus A330 tanker aircraft. The French Air Force will clear Mirage and Rafale fighters to refuel off their tanker jets, but “why can’t they read that across to the UK?” he said.

“That would avoid a test, trials, clearance process that would take weeks if not months," he said. "There has got to be a better way of doing this.”

Bureaucracy hits other areas such as RAF arming the F-35 joint strike fighter with the Paveway 4 bomb, he said. That will take six to eight months of a trials process rather than an approval based on clearance for the US F-35.

“We’ve got to get smarter doing this,” he said.

The Italian Navy is co-hosting what could be described as a secondhand ship show in Italy next month as it retires dozens of seasoned vessels and brings new ships into service.

Officials from 11 navies around the world are due to attend the event at the Navy’s La Spezia base May 24-27 to scout for bargains among various classes of vessel, which Italy is hoping to make some much needed money by selling.

Also present at the event will be Italian companies offering their services for refits and upgrades to give the vessels a technological makeover.

The Seafuture & Maritime Technologies 2016 event has been running for five years, but this is the first time the Navy has stepped in as an official partner, according to the organizer.

“Up until now the Navy has negotiated the sale of its vessels on a one-to-one basis, so this is a new approach,” said Laura Parducci, an official with the local chamber of commerce, which organizes the event. “People coming will be able to sign deals there and then."

The Navy’s decision to put its ships in the shop window at La Spezia is due to the large number it is phasing out. After investing heavily in fleet renewal in the 1970s, a number of the vessels bought at the time are now due for retirement.

Government reserves the right to take military action without parliamentary approval

One of the more significant constitutional innovations of recent times is the assumption that the government must get parliament’s permission before committing British forces to military action. This precedent, set with the 2003 Iraq vote, has been upheld by this government; it famously resulted in Britain not bombing Syria in 2013 following the use of chemical weapons in the civil war.

There had been pressure on the government to formalise this new constitutional convention, to legislate that the government needs parliament’s permission before military action can be taken. But in a written ministerial statement today, the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon rejects that option. He makes clear that while the government will continue to consult parliament before action is taken, it wishes to reserve the freedom to act without prior approval in extraordinary circumstances. This strikes me as sensible. There are occasions on which the pre-emptive use of force would be justified; and that is, obviously, not compatible with a parliamentary vote.

Britain, France, Italy seek bolder EU naval mission in Libya

Britain, France and Italy urged their European partners on Monday to move the EU's Mediterranean naval mission into Libyan waters, if requested by a new government in Tripoli, to stop a new tide of migrants and uphold a U.N. arms embargo.

An expanded naval mission would be part of the EU's emerging support plan for Libya, which EU foreign and defence ministers discussed over dinner in Luxembourg, and could see Europe return to the country with 100 million euros ($113 million) in aid.

The mission could also work with the U.S.-led NATO alliance to build up a Libyan coastguard capable of stopping traffickers, but the European Union says it cannot act until the United Nations-backed Libyan government invites it to do so.

"It is indispensable to ensure Libya's stability, the security of Libyans and also its borders," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, after a weekend visit to Tripoli.

"We must do all we can to fight against the human smugglers and arms trafficking," he told reporters, referring to the United Nations arms embargo on Libya, in place since 2011

UK Government not considering sending ground troops to Libya at the moment, MPs told

The UK Government is not currently contemplating sending ground troops to Libya but a future decision to do so might not need the approval of MPs, Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, has said.

During Commons question-time, the minister said it was "too early" to say what kind of assistance Libya would be seeking in its fight against so-called Islamic State militants also known as Daesh.

Earlier today, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond visited Libya to show support for the country's new UN-backed government of national accord, meeting prime minister-designate Fayez Serraj.