Archive: September 19, 2024

How the Navy’s top officer will prep the service for war with China

WASHINGTON — The Navy is taking lessons from its combat in the Red Sea over the past year and what Ukraine has done to hold off the Russians in the Black Sea to help U.S. military leaders prepare the service for a potential future conflict with China.

From drones and unmanned surface vessels to the more advanced operation of ship-board guns, the Navy is expanding its combat skills and broadening training. It is also working to overcome recruiting struggles so it can have the sailors it needs to fight the next war.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti is laying out a series of goals, including several that will be highly challenging to meet, in a new navigation plan, or NAVPLAN, she described in an interview with The Associated Press. The objective is to be ready to face what the Pentagon calls its key national security challenge — China.

“I’m very focused on 2027. It’s the year that that President Xi (Jinping) told his forces to be ready to invade Taiwan,” Franchetti said. “We need to be more ready.”

The new plan includes what she considers seven priority goals, ranging from removing delays in ship depot maintenance to improving Navy infrastructure, recruiting and the use of drones and autonomous systems.

One significant challenge is to have 80% of the force be ready enough at any given time to deploy for combat if needed — something she acknowledged is a “stretch goal.” The key, she said, is to get to a level of combat readiness where “if the nation calls us, we can push the ‘go’ button and we can surge our forces to be able to meet the call.”

What the Navy is learning from its fight in the Red Sea

The announcement of the goals comes as U.S. leaders are treading a fine line, pledging a commitment to the defense of Taiwan while also working to keep communication open with Beijing to deter greater conflict.

Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy that split from communist China in 1949, has rejected Beijing’s demands that it accept unification. China says it will do so by force if necessary. The United States is obligated under domestic law to help defend Taiwan and give it weapons and technology to deter invasion.

An important element in any Asia-Pacific conflict will be the need to control the seas. Franchetti said the U.S. can learn from how the Ukrainians have used drones, airstrikes and long-range unmanned vessels to limit Russian ship activity in the western Black Sea and keep access open to critical ports.

“If you look at the Ukrainian success in really keeping the Russian Black Sea fleet pushed all the way over into the east, that’s all about sea denial and that’s very important,” Franchetti said.

She added that Ukraine has been innovating on the battlefield by using existing systems, such as drones, in different ways.

The Navy’s monthslong battle with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen has provided other lessons.

“I think probably no one is learning more than the Navy, because really, this is the first time we’ve been in a weapons engagement zone for this sustained period,” she said.

She said sailors are watching their attacks and analyzing the data as ships respond.

Earlier this year, the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower was stationed in the Red Sea to respond to help Israel and to defend commercial and military ships from Houthi attacks. The carrier returned home after an eight-month-plus deployment that the Navy said was the most intense running sea battle since World War II.

F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets routinely launched off the carrier’s deck to take out Houthi weapons, and Navy destroyers persistently fired rounds of missiles and used on-board guns to shoot down incoming strikes and drones.

On board the destroyer Mason, which was stationed with the Eisenhower, Franchetti in August met and promoted one of the destroyer’s fire control sailors who worked on its large, fully automatic artillery gun. Unlike missiles, many of the drones launched by the Houthis were more complicated and challenging to target and shoot down, and he was able to adjust the gun to better defeat them.

“He could see how it was performing against the Houthi threat,” Franchetti said, “and he came up with a different way to use the gun to make it more effective in these engagements.”

She did not identify the sailor and declined to provide details on the exact changes he recommended. But it resulted in new formal military tactics and procedures that were distributed to all other ships.

Another key effort will be to improve Navy development of unmanned and autonomous systems and weapons and integrate them into training and combat. As the military brings on new technologies, including unmanned surface vessels, the Navy needs to ensure it has trained sailors who can use and repair them.

The new navigation plan notes that the Navy is now working on concepts and requirements for larger robotic systems and the artificial intelligence applications they could use to understand and control the battlespace.

Navy leaders also understand the financial restraints they will likely face from Congress — limits that rivals such as China do not have. China outpaces the U.S. in the number of ships and is expected to do so into the future.

Navy officials said that while they would like a bigger naval force, they need to offset that by working more effectively with the Army, Air Force, Space Force and Marines, which is something the U.S. has historically done very well.

A challenge will be eliminating the maintenance overruns that often prevent ships from being able to deploy on time. Getting ships in and out of depots on time, Franchetti said, is critical to having a combat-ready Navy.

“These are the things that we know that we need to be able to do to have the force that’s going to be more ready every single day,” she said.

Senators offer new bill to sanction backers of China maritime militia

A bipartisan pair of senators is introducing a bill that would let the U.S. sanction countries that support the Chinese Maritime Militia — one of Beijing’s tools for “gray zone” operations, or those that fall below the threshold of war.

The legislation comes from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Mitt Romney, R-Ut., who is retiring in January. It’s modeled after an amendment Romney proposed to Congress’ annual defense policy bill — the National Defense Authorization Act — which still hasn’t passed with lawmakers caught in an election-year morass.

The bill would give any administration the authority to put financial penalties on outside backers of the maritime militia, ostensibly a fleet of commercial fishing vessels but one that is trained by, and often operates alongside, China’s military.

A decade ago, the group helped China take control over Scarborough Shoal, a disputed feature in the South China Sea. It’s also harassed American naval ships before.

A 2021 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that the maritime militia includes around 300 vessels operating around the Spratly Islands, which also sit in the South China Sea, every day. Their goal is mainly to enforce China’s expansive claims over the area, denying access to other countries that also assert sovereignty there.

Such behavior from the Chinese Coast Guard, another part of Beijing’s fleet, has flared up this year around Second Thomas Shoal and other features in the sea, where Chinese ships have intercepted, rammed or seized resupply missions from the Philippines to sailors stationed in the area.

This summer, president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the death of a Filipino sailor in such a clash would approach an “act of war” from China, which could potentially drag the U.S. into the conflict, given its defense treaty with Manila.

A Republican congressional aide likened the new bill to preventative care. After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. rushed to tighten sanctions on Moscow in an effort to punish and eventually degrade the war effort. Those sanctions have since expanded to other supportive countries, a network that has broadened as Iran, North Korea and China increasingly back Russia’s military or defense industry.

Were a conflict in the western Pacific to break out, the Senators don’t want the administration to lack authority to punish such behavior.

“By providing the necessary authority to sanction the entities that provide support to this militia fleet, Congress can equip the administration with a tool to send a message that the United States will not allow China’s increased aggression in the region to go unchecked,” Romney said in a statement.

The aide said that the administration did not specifically request the authority, and noted that its use is entirely up to the discretion of the administration.

China’s gray zone activity has been a consistent challenge for the U.S. and its partners in the region, who either don’t have a large enough coast guard or navy to respond or don’t know how to do so without appearing to overreact.

“Ensuring freedom of navigation is critical to our national security, the security of our allies and the global economy. But over the past decade, the People’s Republic of China has sought to extend its control in the South China Sea by expanding its maritime militia,” Kaine said in a statement, explaining his rationale for the bill.

Rheinmetall unveils UK’s upgraded Challenger 3 battle tank

PARIS — Rheinmetall unveiled the U.K.’s new Challenger 3 main battle tank to the public at a British Army event this week, with upgraded armor and a 120mm smoothbore cannon for what the company calls the most advanced tank in NATO.

The U.K. is getting its improved tank as allies including France and Germany are still considering whether and how to adapt their heavy armor to evolving battlefield threats including drones, which have been ubiquitous tank killers in the war in Ukraine. The Challenger 3 with the Ajax fighting vehicles and Boxer infantry vehicles is set to form the backbone of the Army’s Future Soldier concept, which seeks to modernize the British forces for beyond 2030.

“The Challenger 3 will bring unmatched lethality to future battlefields,” the U.K. Ministry of Defence said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Alongside Ajax and Boxer, Challenger 3 will form the British Army’s future fleet of armored vehicles.”

Rheinmetall is upgrading the tank in a joint venture with BAE Systems, after buying 55% of the BAE business that supplies combat vehicles to the British Army in 2019. The Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) joint venture signed a £800 million contract (US$1 billion) with the U.K. Ministry of Defence in May 2021 to upgrade 148 Challenger 2 tanks.

Rheinmetall said two Challenger 3 prototypes have already rolled out of the RBSL site in Telford, England, with another six to be delivered in coming months. Testing is underway to validate the performance of the prototypes and make adjustments, before the remaining 140 tanks are built and delivered to the British Army.

The tank was on show at the British Army’s Defence Vehicle Dynamics event at UTAC Millbrook, a land-vehicle proving ground that includes off-road tracks for testing of military vehicles.

The Rheinmetall-BAE joint venture in April last year conducted firing tests of the smoothbore gun, which replaces a rifled cannon that had left Britain the only user of rifled tank ammunition among NATO members. Rheinmetall’s 120mm smoothbore guns are used on tanks including the Leopard 2 and the U.S. Abrams.

RBSL and the U.K.’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory have developed a modular armor system for the Challenger 3 which the company said is “a step change in survivability” for the tank, with trials successful so far and more planned in 2025.

“The RBSL team is making great strides, with Challenger 3 completing successful non-destructive testing, and further capability trials are to come,” the joint venture’s Managing Director Will Gibby said in a statement. He said the new battle tank is “the most advanced and capable” in NATO.

The upgraded 66-tonne tank, with a crew of four, features 24-hour all-weather sights, engine improvements, a hydro-gas suspension, better communications and increased electrical power that will allow for adding more power-hungry equipment in the future.

The Challenger 3 will further be equipped with the Trophy active protection system from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, designed to protect against rockets and missiles, after the U.K. tested the system in late 2022.

France and Germany are working on a future battle-tank system dubbed the Main Ground Combat System, though that’s not expected to be ready before the 2040s, and military-vehicle makers Rheinmetall and KNDS showed off competing tank concepts at the Eurosatory defense show in June here that could plug the gap.

Gibby said capabilities used for the Challenger 3 program, including personnel, tools and facilities, are the building blocks needed for “new customers solutions,” and “we look forward to RBSL helping shape the future of military vehicle design and production with international allies.”

Rheinmetall and Finland’s Patria showed off a prototype mortar variant of the Boxer at the British Army event. The armored carrier mounted with Patria’s NEMO 120mm turreted mortar system has a maximum fire rate of 10 rounds per minute and a range of up to 10 kilometers, while able to fire on the move, the companies said in a statement on Sept. 19.

The Boxer mortar variant can provide both direct and indirect fire for greater versatility in combat scenarios, while the turret means operators stay protected, according to Rheinmetall. Patria called the variant “a significant leap” forward in terms of battlefield capabilities.

U.K. firm Babcock, in a partnership with ST Engineering, also presented a 120mm mortar system, consisting of a barrel on a ground plate deployed using a hinged system at the back of a vehicle. The system unveiled at the Army event in Millbrook was developed to “address the urgent requirement” to boost the weaponry of the U.K.’s armed forces, and would be built at the company’s site in Devonport, England, Babcock said.

The Netherlands in June picked BAE’s 120mm mortar system to equip its CV90 armored vehicles. The double-barreled turreted mortar has a maximum range of 13 kilometers, and can fire as many as 16 rounds a minute, with a sustained rate of 6 shells a minute, according to the spec sheet.

Australian Army to grow, diversify its drone fleet

MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian Army seeks to lean more heavily on aerial drones, with a comprehensive upgrade program for all size classes now in the pipeline, according to a service official.

“My prediction, ahead of any formal requirement being provided, is that future warfighting will see an increase in platforms with increased sophistication and capabilities,” Col. Helen Mammino, Director Battlefield Aviation Program of the Army Aviation Command, said here on Sept. 11 at the Australian Association for Uncrewed Systems conference, held in conjunction with the Land Forces 2024 event.

The opportunity arises because advances in robotics and autonomy are converging with new drone developments, according to Mammino.

“One of the key features for our objective-force operating environment will be the abundance and proliferation of uncrewed aerial systems,” or UAS, she added.

Kongsberg to set up missile plant in Australia, joins local ammo push

The ground service has combined various army efforts under the umbrella program DEF 129, divided into four size categories: nano-UAS, small drones (SUAS), SUAS-plus, and tactical drones (TUAS).

Beginning with the larger, brigade-level TUAS, the Australian Army is in the process of fielding Insitu RQ-21A Integrators to replace Textron’s Shadow 200 aircraft. “The delivery of the RQ-21 is currently underway, with an end state being a full complement of six systems introduced … by the end of 2025,” Mommino said. Each system contains four aircraft, with their indigenous content levels reaching 82%.

Concerning the SUAS-plus category for combat teams, Elbit Systems has been on contract since late 20222 for the Skylark I-LEX, but systems are only now reaching Australia. Designed for domestic use, they will be tasked with assisting civilian authorities, for instance.

The army also presently uses AeroVironment’s Puma AE in the same size category, and efforts to replace these will not occur before the early 2030s.

The DEF 129 program’s phase 4B targets the platoon-level SUAS segment, where the AeroVironment Wasp AE is being replaced by a mixed fleet comprising the Quantum-Systems Vector 2-in-1 for mounted operations, and the Sypaq Systems CorvoX for dismounted use. An contract exceeding $100 million Australian (US$68 million) announced in mid-July will see delivery of both types from the third quarter of 2025.

The Australian Army currently uses the Black Hornet 3 as a nano-UAS in infantry sections. Officials are also experimenting with numerous other types, and Mammino said ten nano variants would be in use by 2025.

Last year, the government suddenly canceled the Navy’s selection of Schiebel’s S-100 Camcopter. The Army is now responsible for the maritime UAS mission, and Mammino said her command is “working through the early stages of requirements for those systems, and understanding what the acquisition pathway will look like.”

Meanwhile, Army Aviation Command is also responsible for introduction of 29 AH-64E Apaches and 40 UH-60M Black Hawks into Australian service. Mammino said eight Black Hawks are already in Australia, with four more due before year’s end.

Canada kicks off submarine tender after survey of global vendors

VICTORIA, British Columbia — The Canadian military has formally begun its efforts to acquire a fleet of up to 12 conventionally powered submarines.

The Canadian government has requested submarine builders submit information on their boats by Nov. 18 in what is seen as a first step in the eventual purchase.

Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair issued a statement Sept. 16 noting that submarines are crucial to maintaining the country’s sovereignty. “As an Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific nation with the world’s longest coastline, Canada needs a new fleet of submarines,” Blair said.

The current fleet of Victoria-class submarines operated by the Royal Canadian Navy will be decommissioned in the mid-2030s, he added.

“To avoid any gap in Canadian submarine capabilities, Canada anticipates a contract award by 2028 with the delivery of the first replacement submarine no later than 2035,” Blair noted in his message.

In a statement also released Sept. 16 on X, Blair said the purchase would involve acquiring up to 12 conventionally-powered, under-ice capable submarines. No cost figures were released at this time.

Canada is open to submarines that are currently in service or in production.

The submarines would be capable of conducting “precision attacks” and would equipped with heavyweight torpedoes, anti-ship missiles and long-range precision land attack missiles, according to the initial information provided to industry.

Blair said the request for information will also open the door for Canadian industry on in-service support, training and infrastructure for the new fleet. Canada does not build its own submarines so any boats will be constructed in another nation.

Blair originally highlighted Canada’s interest in new submarines on July 10 at the NATO summit in Washington but did not provide specific details at that time. Canadian government officials, however, have suggested that the submarine purchase could help Canada meet its goal of spending at least 2% of GDP on defense as required by NATO. Canada has been under increasing pressure from its allies to do more on defense.

To prepare for the acquisition the Royal Canadian Navy had already created the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), which was gathering information, and conducting an analysis of potential submarines capable of meeting the service’s requirements.

In 2023 the CPSP project team conducted initial engagements and fact finding with countries, companies, and navies that currently have or are in the process of building submarines that meet Canada’s needs. The team has engaged with France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Spain, and Sweden.

The request for information will allow Canada to receive specific information it needs to put together a bid package and supporting documents for the future purchase.

The four Victoria-class boats, originally known as the Upholder-class, were purchased second-hand from the U.K. Royal Navy. The first three Victoria-class submarines were accepted into Royal Canadian Navy service between 2000 and 2003. The fourth submarine suffered a fire in transit to Canada in 2004, which delayed its acceptance into RCN service until 2015.

The submarines are currently undergoing various improvements and upgrades to keep them operating until the mid to late 2030s.

US has accepted 36 upgraded F-35s since lifting delivery pause

The U.S. has officially accepted 36 new Lockheed Martin-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighters since lifting a yearlong delivery halt in July, 29 of which have so far been ferried to their new homes.

Beginning in July 2023, the Pentagon refused to accept enhanced F-35s due to problems with the aircraft’s upgraded Technology Refresh 3 hardware and software, which include new and improved displays, computer memory and processing power. The modifications are also needed for a more expansive upgrade package — known as Block 4 — that will allow the F-35 to carry more weapons, better identify targets and conduct electronic warfare.

Those restrictions were lifted after the development of a “truncated” version of the software that would allow the delivery of the jets and enable them to fly combat training missions.

Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, the F-35′s program executive officer, said on Tuesday that those aircraft are now being safely rolled out from their storage at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

The military has not said exactly how many F-35s were built and then stored during the delivery halt, but the jets number in the dozens.

But with the militaries of multiple nations and three U.S. services awaiting their long-overdue F-35s, it’s not easy figuring out who should get their aircraft first, Schmidt said at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air Space Cyber conference outside Washington.

“You could have quite the debate on how that order should look,” Schmidt said.

After such a long delay, following the established contract order might not be the most efficient and effective way to organize deliveries, Schmidt said. So, Schmidt brought together officials from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as international partners flying the F-35, to sort out a revised delivery schedule based on each of their training and capability requirements.

However, the new fighter aircraft are not yet able to fly in actual combat. Schmidt said he is hopeful these F-35s will be combat-capable in 2025, but noted there is “a little bit of work to do” to make sure such issues don’t arise again.

“We need to hold the industry accountable, and we need to change the future for the F-35 program,” Schmidt said.

Participants in the F-35 program haven’t properly invested in labs to develop capabilities for the jet, he said. Fixing that is a priority.

The F-35 Joint Program Office in February brought in an independent review team to analyze the status of the F-35 program’s software development and assess how to expand its capabilities. The JPO earlier this year told Lockheed to “kickstart” its investment in software development as part of the negotiations over the truncated software.

“I really wanted to make it clear to everybody that we need to change the way we do development in the F-35 program, and get ourselves to a place where we can truly deliver on our promises,” Schmidt said.

The JPO is also withholding about $5 million in payments, per aircraft, from Lockheed Martin until TR-3′s combat capability is qualified and delivered.

But the TR-3 holdups have had ripple effects on the F-35 program. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said at a July air show in England that Block 4 upgrades have been “delayed substantially.”

And the F-35 program is rethinking Block 4 to ensure it has the right strategy for the upgrades.

Some of the roughly 80 capability requirements making up Block 4 are crucial for the jet, Schmidt said, but are also uniquely challenging.

So, the F-35 program is taking another look at each capability to reassess what kind of technical maturity they would need, whether the program can deliver them and how much they will cost, he said.

Schmidt said he hopes to have a Block 4 plan next spring that will meet the needs of warfighters, but there are still program costs and capacity constraints to overcome.

“This is the best fighter in the world,” he said. “We need to continue to keep it the best fighter in the world.”

DOD must accelerate AI adoption amid growing threats: PrimerAI CEO

The CEO of a prominent AI company called for the faster adoption of powerful software, particularly by the military, to address growing global threats.

Speaking Tuesday at an Axios event in National Harbor, Maryland, on AI’s emerging defense capabilities, Sean Moriarty, CEO of artificial intelligence and data analysis firm PrimerAI, urged the Defense Department to accelerate its efforts to adapt to the rapidly changing threat landscape by taking advantage of existing technology.

The commercial world is far ahead of the government in the world of artificial intelligence, Moriarty said at the event, which was just a short walk away from the Air and Space Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference.

“The gap is enormous,” he said.

The significant divide is between what’s available and what’s being used, he explained.

How an AI company parsed misinformation early in Israel-Hamas war

PrimerAI creates AI products that help users, including the U.S. government and commercial companies, parse through and analyze information.

Notably, the company’s technology proved adept at identifying misleading or false information that spread rapidly online in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The events of Oct. 7 underscored the complexity and dangers of the world, Moriarty said at Tuesday’s event. While the world has always been perilous, he argued, challenges were compounded by the nonstop flow of information, misinformation and disinformation.

AI was a useful tool in helping the US government mitigate this constant stream, Moriarty said, with the ability to uncover the truth and then use it to drive action.

He expressed hope AI could help the Defense Department prevent the spread of distorted facts, but acknowledged that, if prevention isn’t possible, containing misinformation and disinformation was a viable outcome.

If there’s hesitation about relying on technology to make important decisions, Moriarty argued, people should consider the trust they’ve already placed in machines such as calculators, autopilot systems and software.

Regardless, Moriarity noted adopting AI technology will require a collective Defense Department approach — a challenging task to implement. He wondered what could realistically bring about the change he believes the department urgently needs.

“If you look at the nation’s finest hours, it’s typically been on the receiving end of some profoundly negative externality which gave us no choice but to respond to the threat,” Moriarty said. “I think the big challenge upon us now is we recognize the world is increasingly dangerous. Can we actually get ahead, or is the necessary forcing function a terrible event which allows us to just rip out these barriers to innovation and response?”

The right conversations are happening, according to Moriarty, but the country needs to move faster.

“People are singing from the same song sheet and it is the right song,” he said.

France and Italy order upgraded SAMP/T air-defense systems

PARIS and ROME — France and Italy ordered the next generation of the SAMP/T air-defense system as they seek better protection against threats including hypersonic missiles, with French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu touting the “fully European” nature of the system.

Lecornu announced an order for eight SAMP/T NG systems, with the first ones to enter the armed forces in 2026, while Italy ordered ten systems, the country’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Tuesday. Neither country provided a value for the order, though France included a spending authorization of €674 million (US$750 million) for the purchase in its 2024 military budget.

The French are still smarting from Germany proposing Diehl Defence’s IRIS-T and the U.S.-made Patriot as the backbone of the European Sky Shield Initiative, rather than the SAMP/T developed by Thales and missile maker MBDA. The next-generation upgrade gives the French-Italian system an intercept range of more than 150 kilometers (93 miles), similar to the range reported for RTX’s Patriot, and improved capability to intercept hypersonic missiles.

“This fully European system is capable of dealing with more significant threats, in particular short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, including hypersonic,” the French Armed Forces Ministry said. “European air defense is central to the security of all Europeans.”

French President Emmanuel Macron last year warned against European countries rushing to buy air-defense capabilities in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying that purchasing off-the-shelf would mean buying a lot of equipment from outside the continent.

Lecornu and Crosetto attended a conference on European air and missile defense organized by Italy in Rome, after a similar meeting in Paris last year, and the French minister called for continuation of the effort ‘to deploy sovereign and innovative European technologies” with a third conference.

“We have ordered ten SAMP/T new-generation systems and we are improving the Aster missile,” Crosetto said on Tuesday. “Like the French we are focusing on national security.”

Italy earlier this year already signed a contract for four of the systems with Europe’s Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation, with main contractor Eurosam saying the system would be delivered from 2025. OCCAR last year signed for the purchase of five SAMP/T NG systems for the Italian Air Force, with a value of about €700 million.

Italy confirmed in June it would send a second SAMP/T air defense battery to Ukraine in response to urgent appeals by Kyiv to help defeat Russian missile attacks. The battery due to be sent was one of five operated by Italy. At the time, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Italy would not allow Ukraine to use Italian weaponry to strike targets inside Russia.

Italy and France jointly supplied a first battery to Ukraine last year that has been defending the Kyiv area. SAMP/T is a truck-based tactical antimissile system designed to destroy cruise missiles, manned and unmanned aircraft and tactical ballistic missiles.

A complete SAMP/T NG system includes a radar providing 360-degree coverage with a range of more than 350 kilometers, a command-and-control module, and as many as six launchers, each fitted with eight Aster 30 missiles, with a battery typically requiring 20 crew members, according to the manufacturers. Each launcher can fire its eight missiles in about 10 seconds.

Discussing Italy’s new SAMP/T order, Crosetto said on Tuesday that European democracies were struggling to procure and produce weapons in a hurry.

“This is only the start and we are already late because we are not ready to face today’s challenge,” he said, adding, “We are slow because we live in a world of democracies that will always lose out to dictatorships.”

France aims to have eight SAMP/T NG systems by the end of 2030, with a goal of 12 systems around 2035. The defense committee of the National Assembly in 2022 advised buying four more systems, saying the country needed a total of 16 to be able to meet its commitments. The French typically deploy several systems to secure major international events, such as the Paris Olympics.

The country plans to invest €5 billion to strengthen its air defenses as part of the 2024-2030 military planning law.

Swiss federal armaments office armasuisse also attended the conference in Rome, saying its aim for the visit was to discuss new technological developments in integrated air defense and the opportunities there, as well as possible future threats and challenges.

MBDA and Norway’s Kongsberg told armasuisse earlier this year that they won’t submit offers for a Swiss tender for a new medium-range air-defense system, leaving the door open for Diehl as the sole potential bidder.

Marines reopen second WWII-era airfield to prep for future combat

A recently refurbished, World War II-era airfield is the second such site the Marine Corps has reactivated this year for air training and operations.

The Marine Corps in August announced the $28 million overhaul of the airfield at Camp Davis, North Carolina, less than 25 miles from Camp Lejeune. That move followed the service’s June recertification of an airfield on the Pacific island of Peleliu.

The two locations are crucial for Marine plans to improve the service’s aviation capabilities, both in future operations and in training.

A particular challenge for Marines is to effectively execute the service’s Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations mission, which seeks to disperse small Marine units across vast distances. This approach relies heavily on aircraft support, from precision strike and reconnaissance to refueling and resupply.

Marines make first landing on renovated WWII airfield in the Pacific

“Aviation and ground units across the region will be able to use this runway to exercise the full spectrum of training capabilities in preparation for missions around the globe, to include simulating austere airfield conditions in conjunction with Expeditionary Advanced Basing Operations,” said Col. Ralph Rizzo, Marine Corps Installations East commander.

While the North Carolina location adds more air options for training, the Peleliu airstrip puts Marine and joint military aircraft within 1,000 miles of Manila, Philippines, and 1,400 miles from the bulk of Marine forces in Okinawa, Japan.

That positioning gives units flowing into the region an aircraft refit and refuel point just beyond the first island chain surrounding China.

The 18-month Camp Davis revamp, meanwhile, saw the aged runway “torn up, raised and resurfaced with three layers of rock, gravel and asphalt,” according to the installation release.

Workers then installed concrete landing pads and an apron designed to handle “high-intensity heat generated during hovering, landing and turning maneuvers.”

Those features are especially important because the Corps plans to use the airfield, located north of Holly Ridge in the Greater Sandy Run Training Area, as a multipurpose landing field.

That means it will have to handle every Marine airframe, from the KC-130 Hercules to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, MV-22 Osprey, other rotary wing aircraft and the Air Force’s heavy lift C-17.

The 4,525-foot airstrip holds a 3,600-foot asphalt runway and concrete turnarounds at each end for vertical take-offs and landings, such as those conducted by the Osprey.

The entire airfield occupies about 275 acres.

The Camp Davis airfield was originally an Army installation, built in 1941 for use as an anti-aircraft artillery training center during World War II, according to the Marine release.

The Army ceased using the installation in 1946. The property was absorbed into the Navy’s Greater Sandy Run Training Area in 1992, and used primarily by rotary wing units at Marine Air Station New River.

US special ops cuts armed overwatch buy, still needs to justify need

U.S. Special Operations Command cut its desired purchase of 75 armed overwatch aircraft to 62 following a recommendation last year from a government watchdog to slow down the program’s acquisition.

Now, in a recent update to its recommendation, the Government Accountability Office noted that while the number of requested aircraft had been reduced, U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, or AFSOC, officials still hadn’t justified why they need that many aircraft.

The armed overwatch program aims to field fixed-wing aircraft for AFSOC to deploy to austere locations, Defense News previously reported. The current aircraft at the program’s center is the AT-802U Sky Warden, a single-engine, two-person platform made by L3Harris Technologies and Air Tractor.

The command expected to spend $2.2 billion to buy the originally requested 75 aircraft, which replaces the U-28 Draco.

Here’s the Air Force’s plan to train armed overwatch pilots

SOCOM had purchased 16 Sky Wardens as of last year, with plans to purchase another dozen this year, Defense News reported.

The most recent update, published Sept. 5, notes SOCOM has plans to divest two of its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, platforms. However, those platforms were used to support armed overwatch.

The watchdog “found that SOCOM has not taken steps to plan for, or add, critical ISR capabilities provided by soon-to-be divested aircraft,” according to the GAO report.

SOCOM also failed to address risks associated with losing those capabilities if the new armed overwatch aircraft didn’t have them as part of the platform’s fielding, the report found.

The armed overwatch program’s austere mission means that developers must provide an aircraft with minimal logistics and support needs.

The aircraft itself must be able to give ground troops close air support, precision strike and ISR capabilities, according to the report. It’s primarily expected to be used in such roles in counterterrorism and irregular warfare missions, according to program information.

The GAO report stated SOCOM “concurred” or “partially concurred” with its six major recommendations.

Those recommendations included reevaluating the number of aircraft needed; limiting procurement to the minimum needed for testing until the fleet size is determined; assessing risks to missions if the ISR capabilities are not added; identify challenges to operate and deploy the aircraft; and assess whether the program remains an affordable priority; and update concepts for the types of operations the aircraft might conduct.

Fiscal 2026 is marked in the GAO report as a key year for deadlines such as completing the operational test and evaluation, making a full rate production decision and reaching initial operational capability.

The U.S. Air Force began a capability assessment in 2017 to evaluate potential light attack aerial platforms for use with coalition partners. At the time, then-Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told Congress that the purpose was to free up more advanced and costly assets for other tasks.

Wilson cited an example of F-22 fighter jets being used to strike a drug laboratory in Afghanistan — a mission that could have been accomplished with a less sophisticated platform at a lower cost.

After a series of experiments, the program transferred to SOCOM. In 2021, the command filed its request for 75 aircraft, according to a Congressional Research Services report.

The per-hour operating cost of an aircraft like the Sky Warden is about 2% to 4% of that of advanced fighters, the report noted.