Archive: June 11, 2024

Air Force, Space Force unveil tool for AI experimentation

The Air Force and Space Force launched a generative AI tool on Monday, encouraging airmen and guardians to experiment with using the technology for tasks like summarizing reports, IT assistance and coding.

The services want to use the tool, which it’s calling the Non-classified Internet Protocol Generative Pre-training Transformer, or NIPRGPT, to better understand how AI could improve access to information and to gauge whether there’s demand within the force for the capability.

Alexis Bonnell, chief information officers and director of digital capabilities at the Air Force Research Laboratory, said the overarching goal is to make data more accessible and customizable within the services and to determine whether generative AI can facilitate that.

“Our goal is always to be able to say what technologies are relevant to our mission now and in the future,” Bonnell told reporters in a June 10 briefing. “NIPRGPT will really provide a place where people can exercise that curiosity in a safe and appropriate manner, where they can understand what parts of their work can potentially be complemented.”

The Defense Department has been exploring how it might use generative AI tools like ChatGPT to make daily tasks like finding files and answering questions more efficient. The Navy in 2023 rolled out a conversational AI program called “Amelia” that sailors could use to troubleshoot problems or provide tech support.

Collen Roller, senior computer scientist at AFRL, said in the briefing that his team at the lab has made a concerted effort in recent years to research how the Air Force and Space Force might use the technology for administrative tasks, but also for tactical operations.

“The area’s changing so rapidly and fast, we have to be able to adapt to these new things that are coming out,” he said. “It’s super important from a [research and development] standpoint that we’re able to adapt to whatever’s coming out so that we can evaluate these things for our specific use cases.”

AFRL developed NIPRGPT using publicly available AU models and Bonnell noted that the service hasn’t committed to a particular approach or vendor as it builds on that baseline. As airmen and guardians begin using the system, AFRL will work with commercial partners to test and integrate their tools and determine whether they have utility for the services.

“We’re hoping that not only will this kick off the curiosity and experimentation that we can see in our users, but it will also, for those providers that have models, it will give us a way to actually test those,” she said. “We fully expect that some models are going to be great at some use cases and not so great at others.”

Along with helping companies experiment with different tools and models, the effort will also help the Air Force and Space Force determine the best approach for buying theses capabilities, Bonnell noted. The right strategy, she said, will likely depend on how the services use NIPRGPT and whether there’s sufficient demand.

“I expect the interest to be robust and hopefully to be able to drive a lot of our learning in a very quick way,” Bonnell said. “This tool helps us understand what we want the end state to look like. And so as commercial tools come down and navigate our process or our system or security flow, then we are all the more smart when we buy them.”

Italian Navy starts doling out money for sub-sea drone technologies

ROME — Italy’s bid to master underwater drone technology has taken a step forward as local firms team up to respond to series of sub-sea Navy tenders, although an industry spokesman has said investment still needs a big boost.

Firms including Fincantieri, Leonardo and civil energy company Saipem are forming groups to give joint responses to four Navy tenders seeking cutting edge undersea technology, a Fincantieri spokesperson told Defense News.

“We are interested, and the responses to all four tenders will be made by clusters of companies,” the spokesperson said.

Covering propulsion, communications, launch and recovery of drones and target location, the tenders are the first concrete sign that work is getting underway at a new sub-sea centre in La Spezia, Italy, which was launched last year to pool efforts made in the sector made by industry,the Italian navy and academia.

State shipyard Fincantieri and Italian defense giant Leonardo signed their own deal last year to work on sub-sea technology as interest grows in using drones to protect internet cables and energy pipelines on the sea bed.

The first Navy tender, worth €3.4 million ($3.7 million) over two years, covers launch and recovery systems to be based on land, ships and on the sea bed, which can house drones up to six meters long and weighing 1,000kg, and can relay the data the drones download.

A second, two-year, €2.9 million tender covers algorithms required for target acquisition and data fusion by the drones, while a third, €3.4 million tender deals with communications, including the need to let swarms of drones speak to each other.

A fourth, €2.65 million tender covers energy sources for drones, including the ability to produce energy from sea currents.

Fincantieri has been boosting its under-sea activity with partnerships and acquisitions. This year the firm signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation with Saipem, which markets a drone able to remain underwater for 12 months using docking stations linked to the surface for recharging and relaying data.

Last year Fincantieri purchased Italian firm Remazel which offers launch and recovery systems for sub-sea mining robots.

The new tenders mean money is now available to breathe life into the La Spezia research center where winning industry teams could work on the technology the Navy seeks.

But Carlo Festucci, the general secretary of Italian defense industry association AIAD said the cash on offer was not enough.

“We need €50 million a year to make the center work,” he said, adding that other Italian ministries, apart from the defense ministry, needed to chip in.

“This technology will help the sourcing of rare earths from the sea bed as well as protecting critical infrastructure,” he said, adding that Italy’s Foreign and Industry ministries should be adding funds.

Ukraine says it struck SU-57 stealth fighter deep inside Russia

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine on Sunday said its forces hit an ultra-modern Russian warplane stationed on an air base nearly 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the front lines.

Kyiv’s main military intelligence service shared satellite photos it said showed the aftermath of the attack. If confirmed, it would mark Ukraine’s first known successful strike on a twin-engine Su-57 stealth jet, lauded as Moscow’s most advanced fighter plane.

In one photo, black soot marks and small craters can be seen dotting a concrete strip around the parked aircraft. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, the strike took place on Saturday at the Akhtubinsk base in southern Russia, some 589 kilometers (366 miles) from the front line.

The Ukrainian agency said the plane, which is capable of carrying stealth missiles across hundreds of kilometers (miles), was among “a countable few” of its type in Moscow’s arsenal. According to reports by Russian agencies, Moscow’s air force obtained “more than 10″ new Su-57s last year, and has placed an order for a total of 76 to be delivered by 2028.

A spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence, Andriy Yusov, hours later said on Ukrainian TV that the attack may have damaged two Su-57 jets parked at the base, and also wounded Russian personnel. He did not immediately give any evidence to support the claim.

Ilya Yevlash, a spokesman for Ukraine’s air force, told Ukrainian media in April that Moscow was trying to keep its Su-57 fleet “at a safe distance” from Ukrainian firepower.

The strike comes after the United States and Germany recently authorized Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they are supplying to Kyiv. Ukraine has already used U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia under newly approved guidance from President Joe Biden that allows American arms to be used for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

But the airstrip’s distance from Ukraine, as well as unofficial comments from Russia, point to the likely use of Ukrainian-made drones. Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion more than two years ago, Kyiv has ramped up domestic drone production and used the munitions to strike deep inside Russia. In January, drones hit a gas terminal near St. Petersburg that lies over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of the border.

A popular pro-Kremlin Telegram channel, thought to be run by a retired Russian army pilot, claimed that three Ukrainian drones struck the Akhtubinsk airstrip on Saturday and that flying shrapnel damaged the jet.

“It is now being determined whether it can be restored or not. If not, it would be the first combat loss of a Su-57 in history,” the Fighterbomber channel reported.

A military correspondent for Russia’s state-run RIA news agency, Aleksandr Kharchenko, in a Telegram post Sunday denounced Moscow’s failure to build hangars to protect its aircraft. But the post stopped short of directly acknowledging the strike.

Russia’s so-called “military bloggers” like Fighterbomber are often seen as sources of information on military losses in the absence of an official Kremlin comment. Russia’s Defense Ministry or senior political figures did not comment Sunday.

The ministry on Saturday claimed its forces downed three Ukrainian drones in the Astrakhan region, home to the Akhtubinsk airstrip. Igor Babushkin, the governor of Astrakhan, that same day reported that Ukraine attempted to strike an unspecified facility there, but claimed the attack was unsuccessful.

Russia’s Su-57 fleet has been largely absent from the skies over Ukraine, and has instead been used to fire long-range missiles across the border. The U.K. Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence briefing last year that Russia is likely trying to avoid “reputational damage, reduced export prospects, and the compromise of sensitive technology” that would come from losing any Su-57 jets in enemy territory.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces kept up drone attacks on Russia’s southern border regions, according to local Russian officials.

Three drones hit Belgorod province late on Saturday, damaging a power line and blowing out windows but causing no casualties, said Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov. Another five drones and a Ukrainian-made missile were brought down over the region on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

According to an update by Pepel (Ashes), a channel run by Belgorod journalists now based outside Russia, Ukrainian drones on Sunday afternoon struck an ammunition depot outside the town of Rakitnoye, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) from Ukraine. Footage circulating on social media showed thick plumes of smoke rising into the sky. In one video, a woman’s voice is heard, saying “I wonder if soldiers lived there?”

Gladkov, the governor, did not directly comment on those claims, but confirmed that a blaze had broken out in a “non-residential building” near Rakitnoye. He said no one was hurt.

Across Ukraine’s front-line provinces, Russian shelling killed at least three civilians and wounded at least nine others on Saturday and overnight, according to reports by regional officials.

A man died and two women suffered wounds in the village of Khotimlya, east of Kharkiv, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. Shelling also damaged the local school, a council building, a shop and private homes, Syniehubov said.

Heavy battles continued in the area as Ukrainian troops try to beat back Russia’s invading forces after a weekslong push by Moscow that sparked fears for Kharkiv, located just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Russian border, and a wave of civilian evacuations.

Russia’s coordinated new offensive has centered on the Kharkiv region, but seems to include testing Ukrainian defenses in Donetsk farther south, while also launching incursions in the northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions.

The easing of restrictions on the use of Western weapons will help Ukraine protect Kharkiv by targeting Russian capabilities across the border, according to Ukrainian and Western officials. It is unclear what other impact it may have on the direction of the war, in what is proving to be a critical period.

The move drew a furious response from Moscow, and warnings it could embroil NATO in a war with Russia. But Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, described it as “common sense.”

“What was happening up around Kharkiv … was a Russian offensive where they were moving from one side of the border directly to the other side of the border, and it simply didn’t make sense not to allow the Ukrainians to fire across that border, to hit Russian guns and emplacements that were firing at (them),” Sullivan said Sunday in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

US Army debates path to buy long-range precision munitions

The U.S. Army has spent roughly five years assessing what a helicopter-fired, long-range precision munition would look like. But during that time other options have emerged that could achieve greater commonality with weapons that can be launched from a greater number of platforms, according to the service’s lead for force development.

“Frankly, I have a lot of questions in this space, as the G-8, that I’ve asked for,” Lt. Gen. Karl Gingrich told Defense News in a recent interview.

The Army has procured an interim system for its Long-Range Precision Munition program, or LRPM — Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ Spike non-line-of-site missile. The service is fielding it on a portion of its AH-64 Apache attack helicopters.

The service was expected to choose an industry team to provide a new LRPM in fiscal 2023 following a shoot-off that included the Spike weapon in the fall of 2022, but that decision was delayed.

The Spike “has inherent qualities to it: range, great; sensor, maybe not what we need in the long term,” Gingrich said.

“Is that the solution to proliferate across all Apaches? I’m not sold yet. I need to do some more work,” he added. “LRPM actually is looking an awful lot like a Launched Effects-Medium Range.” Launched effects are expected to deliver capabilities such as targeting, reconnaissance, surveillance, network extension and lethality in a complex environment.

Gingrich said he is considering commonality as a factor. There is a possibility, he noted, that LPRM “just gets pushed into Launched Effects-Medium Range and then now, potentially, we could have a common capability at that range in that form factor that could be air-delivered or ground-delivered from a platform.”

One attribute under consideration, according to Gingrich, is the missile’s speed. A loitering munition is slower. “Do you still need that direct attack that comes in at a higher rate of speed?” he asked. “I don’t know.”

Indeed, the Army still needs something that can achieve extended ranges when considering current battlefields, Gingrich said. “We still have Hellfire [missiles]. We still have [the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile] JAGM, but we’ve never been able to really get the range that we need out of JAGM, which is a great system,” he noted.

The Army is prioritizing the development and acquisition of launched effects that are capable of flying at different ranges and deploying from a variety of air and ground vehicles, particularly with the cancellation of the service’ crewed Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, which made available funding to pursue those programs.

Gingrich is preparing for a session with the Army Requirements Oversight Council to solidify requirements for launched effects. That meeting is scheduled for June 28.

A year ago, the strategy for launched effects was murky. The Army was considering several size classes for launched effects and was prototyping the first version of a small capability. This version was meant to help the service decide how to procure and employ these systems on the battlefield.

There is a great deal of interest from industry. The service held an event in February for launched effects with a large turnout from businesses. The service also plans to experiment with a heavy focus on launched effects at its aviation experimentation event, known as Edge, this fall.

The medium-range launched effects prototype is the result of contributions from five companies that teamed up. The Army plans to wrap up evaluation of the prototypes in September and will then weigh a number of options, from rapid fielding to low-rate initial production to more prototyping.

The service also released a request for proposals in March for a short-range launched effect. A prototyping process for that effort will begin in early FY25.

A long-range version is considered more of a corps-level asset, and prototyping will begin to develop the capability at the tail end of FY25.

House bill funds new tranche of Philippines, Taiwan military aid

House Appropriations Committee Republicans released their fiscal year 2025 State Department spending bill this week, which will be considered by the full committee next Wednesday, with sections demonstrating the continued U.S. interest in countering China’s growing threat in the Indo-Pacific region.

A subcommittee approved the measure during its markup Tuesday after some Democrat members voiced concerns that proposed funding cuts for international financial institutions including the UN Development Program harm U.S. national security. While the Democrats argue the bill underfunds the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, there is bipartisan support for an increase in overseas military aid to both the Philippines and Taiwan.

The bill, which is $12 billion below the Biden administration’s State Department budget request for FY25, would reduce overall funding by 6%. At the same time, it allocates $100 million in Foreign Military Financing for the Philippines and another $500 million in Taiwan FMF. That’s well above the State Department’s FY25 budget request, which asked for $42.2 billion in FMF for the Philippines and $100 million for Taiwan.

The FMF program grants U.S. allies and partners cash assistance to buy defense equipment, training and services to ensure they can work toward common security goals together — in this case, the threat of China in the region.

“The legislation makes clear that we will not retreat from the cause of freedom,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said during the bill’s markup Tuesday. “It confronts the growing creep of hostile regimes by countering Communist China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region and intimidation of Taiwan and our other partners in the area.”

Both the Philippines and Taiwan need to defend their territory from China, and the U.S. is there to help.

In the South China Sea’s Scarborough Shoal, China’s Coast Guard attacked Philippine fishing vessels in late April. But this is not the only instance of Chinese aggression in the area.

More recently, China put the pressure on Taiwan, the country that China considers a province, when they commenced a military drill around the island after the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te.

“My view is that we should principally focus on Taiwan and the Philippines right now,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told Defense News in an interview at the Shangri-la dialogue in Singapore last week. “But look, even $20 [million] or $40 million in [foreign military financing] for some of our partners out here would be significant.”

As chair of the Senate’s State Department’s spending panel — the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs subcommittee — Coons oversees FMF. Unlike the House, the Senate panel has not released its FY25 bill yet.

China’s aggressive activity in the area is causing the U.S. to pay more attention and give FMF to those countries in need, like the Philippines and Taiwan, to counter their growing competitor.

To deter China, the U.S. has relied on partnerships with allies in the Indo-Pacific.

“There are a whole series of conversations underway between the United States and Taiwan, the United States and the Philippines, and a half dozen other regional actors,” Coons said. “Those conversations should then inform the final downselect in terms of how much for each and for what purpose.”

The U.S. and Philippines have ramped up their joint military exercises, called Balikatan, because of the acknowledgment that the Philippines’ territorial defense needs improvement.

Balikatan, the Tagalog word meaning “shoulder to shoulder,” has expanded over the years under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. The U.S. and the Philippines used this 2014 agreement to boost their alliance.

The agreement allows the U.S. to deploy troops and fund Philippine military bases’ improvement and construction. As of 2023, there are 10 sites under this agreement.

Other legislation the U.S. has approved to counter the influence of China in the Indo-Pacific includes the foreign aid bill that Congress passed in April.

That bill included $2 billion in FMF for Taiwan and other allies that are “confronting Chinese aggression,” as well as $1.9 billion to transfer weapons to Taiwan from U.S. stockpiles.

US test-fires two unarmed Minuteman III ballistic missiles

The U.S. military test-fired two unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles this week, with the Air Force noting they were not driven by “current world events.”

The tests, which involved the Air Force and Space Force, took place June 4 and June 6 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, Air Force Global Strike Command noted in its news releases. That command is tasked with handling two legs of the United States’ nuclear triad, which is made up of land-, submarine- and bomber-launched nuclear weapons.

A spokesperson for the command told Defense News both tests were “successful.”

“The U.S. nuclear enterprise is the cornerstone of security for our allies and partners across the globe,” Col. Chris Cruise, the head of the 377th Test and Evaluation Group, said in the June 4 announcement. “Today’s test launch is just one example of how our nation’s ICBMs, and the professional Airmen who maintain and operate them, demonstrate the readiness and reliability of the weapon system. It showcases our commitment to deterrence as we stand on continuous alert, 24/7/365.”

The reentry vehicle of each missile traveled approximately 4,200 miles to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on the Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Reentry vehicles are the top part of the ICBM that carry the nuclear warhead. They are designed to detach from the missile, arc in space and then reenter Earth’s atmosphere to hit their intended target.

The Minuteman III ICBM system first became operational in the 1970s and was expected to be in service for a decade. But now, about 50 years later, the weapons are still in use and will be until the 2030s, according to a November statement by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., who chairs the House Armed Service Committee.

The military had intentionally destroyed an unarmed ICBM earlier in the month during a test due to an anomaly, the Air Force said at the time.

“We must modernize our aging nuclear deterrent and replace the Minuteman III missile — as well as the rest of our nuclear enterprise — with modern systems,” Rogers said in response to the aborted test.

Indeed, the Air Force intends to field its next ICBM, dubbed Sentinel, though the program is behind schedule and its cost has grown beyond what was anticipated. After a delay, the missile’s first test flight is expected to take place in February 2026, according to the Air Force’s budget documents.

In a joint March news release, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. John Garamendi of California noted inconsistencies in the Air Force’s timeline for replacing the Minuteman III.

“The Sentinel program would replace the Minuteman III program ICBM, which had been deemed viable until the mid-2030s by Air Force leaders with no potential extension of its service life. However, this timeline is inconsistent with the Air Force’s plans to continue to maintain the Minuteman III program for the next 15 to 20 years while the Sentinel program is rolled out in stages,” the two Democrats said. “Even assuming the Air Force is able to meet its intended timeline, the Air Force must rely on the Minuteman III until at least 2036.”

This story was updated June 7, 2024, at 1:08 p.m. ET with a statement from Air Force Global Strike Command.

KNDS will set up shop in Ukraine to repair heavy weapons, make ammo

PARIS — KNDS, the French-German maker of the Leopard tank and the Caesar howitzer, will set up a unit in Ukraine that will work with local firms to set up equipment maintenance, manufacture spare parts using 3D printing, and produce 155mm artillery shells.

KNDS hopes to establish the subsidiary in Ukraine later in June, following months of talks, Chairman Philippe Petitcolin said on the sidelines of a signing ceremony in Paris attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu and KNDS France CEO Nicolas Chamussy.

“The signature marks the beginning of a new era between us and Ukraine, since we’ll have a full subsidiary of KNDS, both the German and French parts, and from there we’ll be able to cooperate with Ukrainian companies,” Petitcolin said. “We’re in discussions with a lot of companies.”

Ukraine operates 386 pieces of KNDS equipment, particularly Leopard tanks and Caesar cannons, and the company still has 250 pieces to deliver based on orders received, which translates to a requirement for “lots and lots of support” according to Petitcolin.

KNDS France CEO Chamussy signed letters of intent with Ukraine’s ENMEK to set up a maintenance center for Caesar cannons and for 3D printing of spare parts, as well as a contract with KZVV to transfer production of 155mm shells.

The maintenance center won’t require any French technicians, as Ukraine is already handling Caesar maintenance with replacement parts shipped from France, according to Chamussy. “The Ukrainians know how to do this very well,” he said.

KNDS France is currently producing one Caesar truck-mounted howitzer a week, according to Petitcolin. The company is on track with plans to lift the manufacturing pace to six per month from four, said Chamussy.

“If there’s sustained demand, we know how to step up the pace from one a week. We know how to do better, we know how to do more, but of course it all depends on the demands we get,” Petitcolin said. He said the company has concrete Caesar orders for 2024, but not yet for 2025, though “there will no doubt be some contracts” at the Eurosatory defense show that starts June 17.

KNDS France has the capacity to increase total artillery production to 12 cannons a month, according to Chamussy. In addition to the Caesar self-propelled gun, the firm also makes the 105mm LG1 towed artillery piece.

KNDS plans to start ammunition manufacture with its local Ukrainian partner within 12 months, according to Petitcolin. In a next step, the company could start manufacturing system modules or even entire systems in Ukraine, the chairman said.

French Armed Forces Minister Lecornu commented on plans to transfer Mirage 2000-5 jets to Ukraine, saying the aircraft in question are in service with the French Air Force right now, including for NATO air-policing missions in Estonia and Romania. The aircraft are gradually being withdrawn from service through 2030 to be replaced by the Rafale.

“So we’re talking about fighter jets that are fully operational,” Lecornu said. He declined to say how many aircraft France will transfer, or which countries might join in a Mirage coalition.

Lecornu said the urgency is to start training Ukrainian pilots on the Mirage 2000. He said France has been training pilots on the French-German Alpha Jet for several months, but the Mirage “is a different category.” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that training normally takes five to six months, meaning Ukrainian pilots could be able to fly the Mirage 2000-5s by the end of the year.

Lecornu also discussed French plans to train a brigade of 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers, saying rebuilding capacity is “the big priority” for the Ukrainian army. The country faces a challenge of training 15 to 20 brigades, which he described as an “absolutely considerable effort.”

Italy approves French firm Safran’s purchase of Microtecnica

ROME — Italy has approved French defense company Safran’s purchase of Italian firm Microtecnica after promising to safeguard Italy’s national interests, Safran announced.

The Italian government blocked the sale in November, with officials warning Safran’s management could endanger vital work Microtecnica performs on the Eurofighter jet, which is built by Italy, Germany, Spain and the U.K.

Explaining the Italian government’s change of heart, Safran said it had made “a number of commitments, which are compatible with the targeted objectives of this acquisition, and which address the concerns expressed in the initial Italian decree of Nov. 16, 2023 and provide adequate safeguards of the Italian national interests.”

In a statement on Thursday, the firm said it had been “informed by the Italian government of its decision ultimately to approve the sale to Safran of Microtecnica.”

Owned by U.S. firm Collins Aerospace, which is in turn owned by the large American defense contractor RTX, Microtecnica was part of Collins’ flight controls business, which Safran was to buy in a $1.8 billion deal announced in July.

Italy blocked the deal by using its so-called Golden Power legislation, which grants it the right to halt purchases of strategic firms by overseas buyers. It is often used to counter Chinese acquisitions in Italy.

Reuters reported at the time that Germany had shared with Italy its concerns about supplies of components to the Eurofighter.

In January, RTX and Safran said they were preparing to challenge the veto in court, but noted they were ready to offer more guarantees of protecting Italy’s national interests to make the deal go ahead.

“We look forward to the opportunity to resolve the matter through a constructive dialogue with the Italian Government outside of the appeal process,” an RTX spokesman said at the time.

US announces first batch of Ukraine aid since pivot on Russia strikes

PARIS — The U.S. announced another package of security aid to Ukraine, including munitions that can now be fired across the border into Russia to help stabilize a section of the front line.

The batch is worth an estimated $225 million and is made up of artillery rounds, armored vehicles, patrol boats, anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems and munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS.

This last system is key for Ukraine, defending against a new offensive on Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city and less than two dozen miles from the border with Russia. In a major policy shift, the U.S. decided late in May to allow Ukraine’s armed forces to hit forces inside Russia that were preparing to attack. They can use HIMARS to do so.

But that permission is limited to these defensive strikes around Kharkiv — restrictions Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said last week that he would like to see lifted.

“Is that sufficient? No,” Zelenskyy said of the policy change.

On Friday Zelenskyy met with U.S. President Joe Biden in Paris, a day after both visited Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. In a speech at the Thursday event, Biden affirmed the U.S. commitment to Ukraine’s defense as its forces continue to struggle against Russian attacks in the east.

“We will not walk away,” Biden said, “because if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated.”

This is the latest round of aid sent to Ukraine since the U.S. passed a further $60 billion in economic and security aid for Kyiv. The largest of those recent packages, though, is $6 billion in long-term assistance through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Much of the equipment ordered through that package won’t arrive for years.

“It’s so necessary for the feeling of our people that we are not alone,” Zelenskyy said while meeting with Biden Friday. “We are with you, our strategic partner.”

Australia fast-tracks its hunt for replacement frigates

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Australia has approached several foreign shipbuilders in an urgent quest to procure general-purpose frigates under Project Sea 3000, the Defence Department told Defense News.

The government sent requests for information to German, Japanese, South Korean and Spanish shipbuilders on May 24, the department said. However, a spokesperson for the department declined to provide further details “while the evaluation is underway, due to [the] commercial, procurement and probity process.”

A government review unveiled in February, titled “Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Fleet,” recommended 11 general-purpose frigates replace eight existing Anzac-class frigates. To speed up the process, the first three would undergo construction overseas and the remainder in Western Australia.

The review pinpointed Germany’s MEKO A-200, Japan’s version 30FFM, South Korea’s FFX from the second and third batches, and Spain’s Alfa 3000 as contenders. It cites the two FFX batches as a single platform type, though it’s unclear why.

The shipbuilders were reportedly given four weeks to respond to the initial request, plus another three weeks to explain how follow-on frigates can be built in Australia.

Selection is expected to occur next year, with commissioning of the first overseas-built ship to take place in 2030. The fourth through sixth vessels, build in Australia, are to have an identical baseline. No decision has been made on the design of the seventh through eleventh frigates.

The Royal Australian Navy’s surface combatant fleet will feature a total of nine hulls in 2026, underscoring the looming capability gap before new frigates start arriving.

Shipbuilders approached by Defense News declined to go into detail regarding Australia’s procurement effort. For example, German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems confirmed it “participated in the tender” but added that “we’ll not comment on further details of the ongoing process.”

Ongoing construction of six Ulsan-class FFX-III vessels for the South Korean Navy is split between Hyundai Heavy Industries, SK Oceanplant and Hanwha Ocean. The construction of eight Daegu-class FFX-II ships concluded last year. A Hyundai Heavy Industries spokesperson confirmed it received the request for information.

“HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has great competitiveness with its rich experience in warship building, such as [research and development] and first ship of the latest Ulsan-class frigate,” the spokesperson said. “This will be an opportunity for HHI to show how they approach warship orders that fit the situation of each country.”

In reference to frigate designs, Rear Adm. Stephen Hughes, Australia’s head of naval capabilities, told the Combined Naval Event conference in the U.K. on May 23 that the country is using existing designs in order to quicken the introduction of the vessels into the fleet.

However, Australian frigates identical to the aforementioned parent ships — the exemplars have been built for Egypt, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea — raises potential difficulties because some of their weapons, sensors and systems were chosen by the original customers and could be unfamiliar to the Royal Australian Navy. Notably, Saab’s 9LB combat management system, which the Australian service uses across its fleet, isn’t incorporated into those ships. Likewise, the Australian-made CEA Technologies radars are also excluded.

“Whatever we choose, whatever standard we go with, we’re going to adopt that. We’re going to have discipline around that capability,” Hughes said, describing the acquisition process as “an opportunity, not a risk.”

“The risk is we don’t choose wisely and we don’t understand the designs.”