The Shift to the Indo-Pacific: Australia Resets Its Defence Strategy

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on The Shift to the Indo-Pacific: Australia Resets Its Defence Strategy
10/30/2020

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the prime minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, launched a new defense and security strategy for Australia. This strategy reset puts Australia on the path of enhanced defense capabilities. The change represents a serious shift in its policies towards China, and in reworking alliance relationships going forward.

It is a shift several yers in the making, with Australia re-focusing on its region.

In this video, the ADF explains the shift with regard to the Middle East.

“Australia is reducing its maritime presence in the Middle East to enable greater focus on the Indo-Pacific region.

“The changes include ceasing the annual deployment of a Royal Australian Navy ship to the Middle East, and not extending Australia’s time-bound commitment to the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) beyond December 2020.”

The focus is a reinforcement of enhancing the working relationships in Indo-Pacific, both in terms of whole of government efforts as well as by the ADF itself.

In the slideshow below is shown the following:

“19-20 October 2020 HMAS Arunta conducted a passage exercise with Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force ship JS Kirisame in the South China Sea. HMAS Arunta sailed from the Port of Darwin on 11 October for a six-week East Asia Deployment.

“HMAS Arunta, which recently returned to Australia from a three-month regional deployment, will undertake a number of engagements as part of the East Asia Deployment. The ADF is committed to strengthening its longstanding security partnerships across the Indo-Pacific. Our relationships are based on mutual respect, trust and a shared vision for a secure, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific.”

Later this year, we are publishing a book on the evolution of Australian defence strategy.

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the prime minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, launched a new defense and security strategy for Australia. This strategy reset puts Australia on the path of enhanced defense capabilities.

The change represents a serious shift in its policies towards China, and in reworking alliance relationships going forward. “Joint by Design” is focused on Australian defence modernization and policy, but it is also about preparing liberal democracies around the world for the challenges of the future.

 

HMAS Arunta and JS Kirisame sail together in the South China Sea during a passage exercise between the two navies.
HMAS Arunta and JS Kirisame sail together in the South China Sea during a passage exercise between the two navies.
HMAS Arunta (foreground) conducts Officer of the Watch manoeuvres with Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force Ship JS Kirisame during a Passage Exercise as part of an East Asia Deployment.
HMAS Arunta, JS Kirisame and USS John S. McCain conduct a passage exercise as part of Trilateral engagement in the South China Sea.

The Second National French Lockdown: Not Just About COVID-19

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on The Second National French Lockdown: Not Just About COVID-19
10/29/2020

By Pierre Tran

Paris – A grim mood gripped France on the eve of the second national lock down to fight COVID 19, with the nation placed Oct. 29 on the highest security alert in the wake of two deadly incidents in the south of the country.

The police arrested an assailant who used a knife to decapitate a woman and kill two other people at a church in Nice, while police shot and killed a man wielding a handgun in the suburbs of Avignon.

President Emmanuel Macron flew down to Nice in the wake of the killings and denounced what he called a “terrorist Islamist attack.”

The head of state said the armed forces would deploy 7,000 troops to the nationwide Sentinel street patrols, up from the present 3,000, while he offered the “support of the whole nation to Catholics in France and elsewhere.”

The French constitution states the nation has a secular culture, yet the importance of Catholicism is such that France is called the oldest daughter of the church.

The bells of Notre Dame cathedral in the capital tolled at 3 pm, along with those of other churches across France, to mourn the killings inside the church in Nice.

Such was the strength of feeling, Cédric O, minister for digital affairs, called on Twitter to suspend the account of the former Malaysian prime minister, Mohamad Mahathir, who accused the French of killing “millions of people. Many were Muslims.”

A boosting of the military presence is intended to guard public places, such as churches, and patrol streets, which will be largely empty as people have been ordered to stay at home.

There will be three versions of the official document which allows people to leave home. Failure to show the document will lead to a fine. All those who leave home must wear face masks.

Even before the deadly incidents of Nice and Avignon, France was grappling with a social crisis stemming from the deadly second wave of the pandemic, with Macron Oct. 28 addressing the nation on television and announcing a lock down would start in two days’ time.

The lock down starts at midnight on Oct. 29, and will run for four weeks to Dec. 1, with the government to review the conditions. The government has sought to adapt the lock down, allowing children to go to school, but closing restaurants and cafés.

There is concern Christmas may be a sad affair, with little contact permitted among families and friends.

Companies are waiting to hear detailed instructions of the new lock down, an executive at an arms firm said. About a third of staff are working from home, and two thirds working in factories.

The concern is the pandemic will lead to a “slowdown in exports,” the executive said.

A cut in foreign sales will hit the order book, an industrial backlog which keeps  production lines open.The procurement office drafts contracts for arms programs factoring in export potential, as foreign sales are used to cut domestic prices.

The French public health authorities show that by Oct. 28, 35,785 had lost their lives due to the pandemic, with 244 deaths over 24 hours, and some 1.2 million cases, a rise of 36,437 patients.

Companies had to re-organize their work conditions after the first national lock down, which came into effect March 17. Office workers were told to work from home, while factories were initially closed down, work spaces cleaned, and production sites re-organized to allow greater distance between workers and teams split into shifts.

Featured Photo: French President Emmanuel Macron visits the scene of a knife attack at the Basilica in Nice | Pool photo by Eric Gaillard/AFP via Getty Images

Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/nice-a-islamist-terrorist-attack-says-macron/

 

Working the Left Side of the Kill Chain: MISR Comes to the Navy

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Working the Left Side of the Kill Chain: MISR Comes to the Navy

By Robbin Laird

Frankly, until I went to San Diego this February, I had never heard of Maritime ISR officers. And looking at the web, it is apparent that I am not alone. But now NAWDC is training MISR officers and they have their own warfighting patch as well.

The importance of MISR cannot be understated. As Vice Admiral Miller, the Navy’s Air Boss has put it: “The next war will be won or lost by the purple shirts.  You need to take MISR seriously, because the next fight is an ISR fight.”

During my visit to NAWDC in July 2020, I had a chance to continue the discussion of MISR with the Department head, CDR Pete “Two Times” Salvaggio as well as having lunch with students in the course as well.

What is entailed in “Two Times” perspective is a cultural shift. “We need a paradigm shift: The Navy needs to focus on the left side of the kill chain.” The kill chain is described as find, fix, target, engage and assess

Kill chain is to find, fix, track, target, engage and assess. For the US Navy, the weight of effort has been upon target and engage. As “Two Times” puts it “But if you cannot find, fix or track something, you never get to target.”

There is another challenge as well: in a crisis, knowing what to hit and what to avoid is crucial to crisis management. This clearly requires the kind of ISR management skills to inform the appropriate decision makers as well.

The ISR piece is particularly challenging as one operates across a multi-domain battlespace to be able to identify the best ISR information, even it is not contained within the ISR assets within your organic task force. And the training side of this is very challenging.

That challenge might be put this way: How does one build the skills in the Navy to do what you want to do with regard to managed ISR data and deliver it in the correct but timely manner and how to get the command level to understand the absolute centrality of having such skill sets?

“Two Times” identified a number of key parameters of change with the coming of MISR.

“We are finally breaking the old mindset; it is only now that the department heads at NAWDC are embracing the new role for ISR in the fight.”

“We are a unique organization at NAWDC for we do not own a platform. And the MISR school has both officers and enlisted in the team. We are not all aviators; we have intel specialists, we have cryptographers, pilots, crewmen etc.

“Aviators follow a more rapid pace of actions; non-aviators do not have the same pace of working rapidly within chaos. Our goal at MISR is to be comfortable to work in chaos.”

Another part of the shift is to get recognition that ISR does not SUPPORT the force; it is essential element of the combat capability for the force to be able to operate effectively. It is inherent to the force; not external to it.

The kill web approach is about breaking the practice of correlating specific sensors with specific weapons; it is about shaping a much broader understanding of how to work sensor networks to deliver the outcome one is seeking.

“Two Times” argued that the training within NAWDC to train MISR officers is not bad, but the big challenge is to work to break down habitual operational patterns of senior commanders, who really are not focused on how the ISR revolution is changing warfighting.

How to do a better job of linking up warfare training outside of NAWDC with the fleet?

They have deployed MISR officers on five CSGs to date; and the reaction of the senior officers is that they would never deploy again without this skill set. But it has taken 2-3 months during the deployment to get senior officers to gain appreciation of what a MISR officer can bring to the fight.

The kill web perspective is founded on a core combat platform or combat group understanding what adjacent forces, whether Navy, joint U.S. or coalition, can be leveraged for enhanced reach and combat effectiveness. The traditional CSG model focuses on its organic capabilities, and the skills are honed to get complete combat value from the integrated air wing working with the other elements of the carrier task force.

The kill web model is different. The CSG is operating in the extended battlespace. One is able to deliver multiple functionalities from the CSG but the focus then is upon contribution to the extended fleet or combat force, but not just in terms of what a tightly integrated CSG can provide  This means that it is important to understand what the assets outside of the CSG can bring to the fight and, conversely, how carrier based assets can contribute more broadly to a distributed fleet as well.

And according to Two Times, this is one of the key foci of what MISR officers are addressing. “That is what we teach; we are an effects focused contributor; not a platform focused effort. There are not enough platforms to go around; not everyone is going to have their own P-8 but they may well need the kind of information which a P-8 like asset can provide.

“That is where the MISR approach comes in.  You do not need to control the platform. Tell me what it is you need to know about, and we will reach out and find a way to get you that information. What critical pieces of information do you need to make the critical decision that you need to make. We will find a way to get you that information. And we work that entire process.”

“We work for C2. Because this skill set has not existed in the Navy, there is a lot of ad hoc solutions to close the ISR gap. Under the MISR approach, the elements of the Navy operating force can leverage the broader ISR assets rather than having a platform lassoed by a command element to provide only for its own needs.”

“The problem is that if that the command element is familiar with some platforms but not others which could deliver the desired information.”

In effect, the MISR officers are translators to the fleet of shaping requests for information to the kill web rather than to a specific Navy platform. “You can paint our uniforms into many colors. We are doing multi-domain ISR. We are building products for mission execution that get everyone on the same page.”

There is another aspect of the coming of MISR to the fleet which could have a significant impact on operational capabilities beyond what “Two Times” discussed. And that flowed from conversations at lunch with the MISR course participants.

There is a clear opportunity to add passive sensing to platforms operating within the force. For example, the CMV-22Bs will fly to the fleet for the logistics function, but why not place passive sensors on the aircraft to scoop up ISR information which can be distributed to an appropriate functional area. For example, the Romeo, P-8 and Triton communities are working to shape more effective integration. Clearly, MISR officers will know that ISR dynamics within that functional area and might be the perfect players to suggest what passive sensing on the CMV-22B might best provide to that force package or to one of the elements within that package.

The coming of MISR is a key part of reshaping the force and building out a kill web foundation for the maritime force. But being knowledgeable about ISR assets throughout the joint and coalition force and being able to tap into those either at the level of CSG or numbered fleet levels will be a significant training challenge. And new ways will have to be found to meet those challenges for sure.

22nd Battallion 3rd Marines

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on 22nd Battallion 3rd Marines

U.S. Marines with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, conduct live-fire and maneuver squad supported attacks on Range 10 during exercise Bougainville 2 at Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Oct. 21, 2020.

Bougainville II is the second phase of pre-deployment training conducted by the battalion designed to increase combat readiness through complex and realistic live-fire training.

POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA, HI, UNITED STATES

10.21.2020

Video by Cpl. Eric Tso

III Marine Expeditionary Force

Publication Announcement: The Return of Direct Defense in Europe: Meeting the 21st Century Authoritarian Challenge

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Publication Announcement: The Return of Direct Defense in Europe: Meeting the 21st Century Authoritarian Challenge
10/28/2020

We have just published our latest book which is entitled, The Return of Direct Defense in Europe: Meeting the 21st Century Authoritarian Challenge.

The book focuses on how the liberal democracies are addressing the challenges of the 21st century authoritarian powers, in terms of the evolving approaches and capabilities to deal with their direct defense.

As General (Rtd.) Jean-Paul Paloméros, former NATO Commander and head of the Allied Transformation Command put it with regard to the book:

“One of the many great values of The Return of Direct Defense in Europe is that (it addresses directly the need) to meet the challenge of XXIst century authoritarian powers. Because the great risks that lie in front of our democracies deserve to be named: national selfishness, divergence of strategic and economic interests, trampling on fundamental and commonly agreed values.

“The Return of Direct Defense in Europe  is both a moving testimony to those who have built and defended our democracies for seven decades but as well a vibrant appeal to resurrect the spirit and the will of the democratic Alliance’s founding fathers. It’s true that the future is unpredictable, but nevertheless, it’s our permanent duty to prepare for it and to learn from our history: as the Spanish-born U.S. philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952) put it: “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

“In writing this outstanding tribute to democracies and the crucial need to keep on fighting for their values, Robbin Laird and Murielle Delaporte do not only draw a very well informed and instructive historic perspective on the defense of Europe since the Second World War. They enlighten as well with regard to the crucial challenges of the present and even more of the future, with regard to the key choices that leaders of our democracies must make, and with regard to the key question that lies in front of new generations: How best to defend together democracy as a unique heritage built upon the sacrifices of their fathers?”

Professor Kenneth Maxwell underscored that “This is a fascinating and very timely account of the major shifts and challenges which have transformed post–Cold War Europe and outlines in troubling detail the formidable challenges which lie ahead in the post-COVID-19 pandemic world.

“It is essential reading for all those who forget that history must inform the present. It illustrates the need for a hard-headed evaluation of the continuities as well as the ruptures of the recent past which has transformed both the scope of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Community, and which has also created opportunities for enemies of democratic government to thrive in a resurgent Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Putin.

“These challenges will not go away any time soon.”

The book can be bought through our website:

Or on amazon and other booksellers below

The Return of Direct Defense in Europe: Meeting the 21st Century Authoritarian Challenge was published on October 28, 2020 on Amazon in e-book format and will be widely available with a number of booksellers in both e-book and paperback version in the next few weeks.

Thales and European Defense: October 2020

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Thales and European Defense: October 2020
10/27/2020

By Pierre Tran

Paris – There has been little interest in big consolidation moves in the European defense industry, with the creation of EADS the last time there was a major merger, said Thales executive chairman Patrice Caine.

The European Aeronautics Defence and Space company, the previous name for Airbus, was formed 20 years ago, and since then there have been small steps with the creation of joint ventures, he told Oct. 23 the Anglo-American Press Association.

Nexter and KMW have formed a JV in land weapons, while Naval Group and Fincantieri have partnered in a naval JV, he said.

There is also a German naval joint venture being set up by Lürssen and German Naval Yards, seen as a defensive move following Berlin’s pick of Damen, a Dutch shipbuilder, to build four MKS 180 warships.

Thales is partner with Damen on that German frigate deal, worth €4.6 billion ($5.4 billion), which includes an option for two more units. That German contract is expected to boost Thales’s orders in the fourth quarter, chief financial officer Pascal Bouchiat said Oct. 22, Reuters reported.

Apart from those joint ventures, there has not been a large scale consolidation move since the French, German and Spanish creation of EADS in response to a British mega-merger between BAE and GEC, an electronics company.

Consolidation moves have created large companies such as Airbus, BAE, Thales and Leonardo, with little scope for further deals, he said.

Thales holds 67 percent of a Franco-Italian satellite builder Thales Alenia Space, which competes directly with the Airbus space division. Calls for a rationalization in that sector have failed to deliver a merger.

Thales holds 35 percent of Naval Group (NG), with little sign of increasing that shareholding.

Asked about NG and Thales on their rival offers of naval combat systems, Caine said there was no competition between the two companies, as the former built ships and submarines, while the latter supplied electronics such as radar, sonar and electronic warfare systems.

NG describes itself as warship designer, builder and integrator, as well as providing service support and dismantling retired warships and submarines.

Caine said he sat on the board of directors of Naval Group when asked whether he talked often to Pierre Eric Pommellet, who became executive chairman of NG in April. Pommellet was a senior Thales executive before taking up the top job at NG.

France holds 62.25 percent of NG, with staff 1.88 percent, and Thales holding the rest.

The government holds 25.7 percent of Thales, with Dassault Aviation the second-largest shareholder with 24.6 percent. Staff hold 2.8 percent, with the rest traded on the stock market.

Thales sells naval combat management systems which are “platform neutral,” competing with NG in world markets for warships.

The electronics company teamed with Belgian and French partners Engine Deck Repair, Chantiers de l’Atlantique, and Socarenam, to form the Sea Naval Solutions consortium in the Belgian-Dutch tender for 12 mine hunters.

NG won that competition with its partner ECA in a JV dubbed Belgium Naval & Robotics.

Thales promoted its unmanned system for mine countermeasures during the virtual Euronaval trade show, publishing pictures of the naval system, which had completed one and a half months of sea trials. That autonomous underwater system is due to equip mine countermeasure systems for the British and French navies.

Euronaval closed on Oct. 22.

Thales will supply subsystems on the prospective French next generation aircraft carrier, but its share of the value will be less than on frigates, as the carrier will be much larger than the frigates, he said.

Greece appeared to have dropped plans to order two French frigates for defense and intervention (FDI), but the Greek market was not seen as a lost cause as Athens has said there were plans to order 18 Rafale fighter jets.

Six of those fighters will be new, while the remaining 12 will be second hand from the French air force. Thales supplies the active electronically scanned array radar and other electronics, accounting for some 25 percent of the value of the Rafale.

On the planned launch of a European Defense Fund (EDF), it was positive there will be backing from the European Union — even if it will be reduced — when previously there was none, he said.

“It’s good news,” he said.

The EU EDF is due to be launched with €8 billion of backing for research and development, compared to a previous plan of €13 billion.

Thales’s subsidiary in the UK is focused on the British market and exports mainly outside the EU, he said.

Asked about the UK prospects after Brexit, he said, “Anyone got a crystal ball?”

Featured Photo: Patrice Caine, chairman and CEO of Thales Group. [Photo/VCG]

RF Alaska 21-1

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on RF Alaska 21-1

RED FLAG-Alaska 21-1 is a two-week Pacific Air Forces-directed field training exercise simulating realistic air combat conditions.

This was the second RED FLAG-Alaska exercise of 2020 and the first iteration to include joint participants since the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing planners to build a more robust, well-rounded exercise.

EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, AK, UNITED STATES

10.12.2020

354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs