22 juillet 2013 Aerobuzz.fr

Le radar I-Master de Thales a réalisé avec succès ses vols d’essai à bord d’un avion Diamond DA42MPP Guardian.

Réalisé en partenariat avec Diamond Aircraft Industries et Diamond Airborne Sensing sur le site de celui-ci à Wiener Neustadt, en Autriche, cet essai d’une semaine (juin 2013) portait sur différents modes de fonctionnement du radar à diverses altitudes et vitesses. Il consistait notamment à utiliser l’appareil embarqué pour transmettre des images radar à pleine résolution et des images électro-optiques/infrarouges (EO/IR) aux contrôleurs de la station au sol au moyen d’une liaison de données de ligne de visée à large bande.

Grâce à sa protection TKS de dégivrage, le DA42MPP NG peut voler par tous les temps, ce qui permet d’utiliser le radar I-Master de Thales pour détecter les cibles. Une fois détectées, les cibles peuvent être identifiées par la tourelle EO/IR, également montée sur la plate-forme, avant d’envoyer les images au quartier général en visibilité directe.

Le radar I-Master est un système tout-temps, léger, facile à installer sur un châssis gyrostabilisé classique de 15 pouces. Son système de radar à hautes performances possède deux modes de fonctionnement : indication de cibles terrestres mouvantes (GMTI) et radar à ouverture synthétique (SAR). L’imagerie GMTI sert à détecter les cibles mouvantes, qu’il s’agisse de véhicules rapides ou de cibles marchant au pas. Son champ de 360° couvre de larges étendues (déserts, savane, frontières, réseaux routiers...) et son utilisation prolongée permet d’obtenir une image des « présences vivantes  ».

L’imagerie SAR sert, quant à elle, à l’acquisition d’images fixes à longue portée, aussi bien des images focalisées à haute résolution que des « cartes en bandes  » étendues. Elle peut se substituer à l’acquisition par caméra. Sa longue portée permet aux avions d’éviter les situations dangereuses et son efficacité n’est altérée ni par les intempéries, ni par le manque de lumière.

Le Diamond DA42MPP (Multi-Purpose Platform) Guardian est un bimoteur innovant, spécialement conçu pour être équipé de capteurs multifonctions interchangeables. L’appareil utilisé pour l’essai du I- Master était configuré pour des missions aériennes de 7 à 9 heures avec deux membres d’équipage.

On 12 June 2012, the European Defence Agency together with the Austrian Ministry of Defence and Sports and the Austrian Defence and Security Industry Association was hosting a workshop on Doing Business with European Security and Defence Bodies in Vienna.

Co-organiser Karl-Heinz Dernoschegg from the Austrian Defence and Security Industry Association stated at the end of the event that this was a perfect way to bridge the gap between supply and demand in the area of defence and security. He continued by saying that his association would be happy to host events of this kind on a more regular basis and considers this a very good model for other countries and associations to follow.

Brussels | Jun 07, 2013 European Defence Agency

On 30 May, Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Finland, and the Netherlands signed a letter of intent to work towards the Pooling & Sharing of available and future resources for cyber defence training, exercise and testing. The project, called cyber ranges, aims at maintaining and improving cyber resilience as well as the levels of awareness, insight and expertise of personnel Member States. 
 
By signing the letter of intent, the Member States confirmed to participate and cooperate in the development of a Common Staff Target which will for example determine the functional requirements for cyber ranges. These requirements will have to be agreed by the EDA Steering Board at a later stage. The initiative on cyber ranges has also been recommended by the recently presented EDA cyber defence landscaping study as a viable opportunity with respect to the practical implementation of Pooling and Sharing.
 
Cyber ranges are multipurpose environments supporting three primary process: knowledge development, assurance and dissemination. Under the Pooling & Sharing initiative, cyber ranges may consist of three complementary functionality packages: Cyber Research Range, Cyber Simulation & Test Range as well as Cyber Training & Exercise Range. 

More information:

• Press release "EDA Study Identifies Cooperation Prospects in Cyber Defence" (7 June 2013)
• Factsheet on Cyber Defence (PDF file)
• News "EDA & Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre Of Excellence Establish Liaison" (10 April 2013)
• News "European Union Strategy for Cyber Security" (8 Feb 2013)
• News "EDA Participates in Cyber Defence Conferences" (6 Feb 2013)
• News "Cyber Defence Workshop coorganised by EDA, European Commission and European Space Agency" (25 Oct 2012)

Berne, 07.06.2013 - news.admin.ch

L’exercice « ALPENDREIECK » permet aux troupes sanitaires de trois armées de s’exercer à la collaboration à Kempten (DEU). L’accent est principalement mis sur le personnel, le matériel et les processus engagés. L’Armée suisse prend part à l’exercice qui se déroule du 3 au 14 juin 2013 en engageant 41 spécialistes et trois systèmes.

Pour la première fois, les trois domaines sanitaires des armées allemande, autrichienne et suisse ont l'occasion de tester en direct la compatibilité de leurs organisations en matière de gestion de blessés et de soins chirurgicaux d'urgence dans un centre de secours. L'exercice « Alpendreieck » est dirigé par le service sanitaire central de la Bundeswehr allemande.

L'Armée suisse y participe avec 41 personnes, parmi lesquelles se trouvent des médecins, des soldats sanitaires, des chauffeurs et du personnel professionnel militaire. Au niveau du matériel, il est prévu qu'un poste de secours sanitaire (ESM 2), des véhicules sanitaires légers, des chars sanitaires et le gestionnaire de poste de secours sanitaire avec le stylo numérique destiné à la gestion des données des patients soient engagés.

May 30, 2013: Strategy Page

A year ago a Japanese warship passed by a Chinese frigate that appeared to be flying a helicopter UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) off its helicopter pad. The Japanese took photos and passed them around. At first it was noted that the helicopter looked like the Schiebel S-100 Camcopter. Schiebel is an Austrian firm which markets the S-100 in many countries via the U.S. firm Boeing Aircraft. But Schiebel continues to sell the S-100 itself, and a little digging revealed that the Chinese had bought 18 S-100s in 2010. While the three S-100s seen on the aft deck of the Chinese frigate do look like the S-100, there also appear to be some differences. It appears that a Chinese firm copied the design of S-100 and created a workable S-100 clone.

European nations are not supposed to sell China weapons (because of an arms embargo), but the S-100s were apparently sold to Chinese police organizations (which is legal and the S-100 does have civilian users). One Chinese firm has since offered a helicopter UAV similar to the S-100. China has become more blatant in copying foreign designs, and then selling them to foreign customers and competing with the original. Suing the Chinese usually does not work, as Chinese courts favor the Chinese copycats, not the original creator of the technology.

The S-100 weighs 200 kg (440 pounds), can stay aloft six hours per sortie, and operates at a max altitude of 5,500 meters (18,000 feet). Max speed is 220 kilometers an hour. So far, some 200 S-100s have been sold to military and civilian customers.

Before the S-100 clone came along Chinese firms had already developed several helicopter UAV designs. For example, the Chinese V750 weighs 757 kg (1,665 pounds) and has a payload of 80 kg (176 pounds). Max speed is 161 kilometers an hour and endurance is four hours. The V750 can fly a pre-programmed route or be controlled by a ground operator (up to 150 kilometers away). The manufacturer is offering the V750 for civilian (scientific survey, search and rescue, police surveillance) and military uses. There are over a dozen other Chinese helicopter UAVs on the market, many of them very similar in appearance and performance to foreign designs.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has taken the lead in this area, with several models developed in the last decade. The one most similar to V750 is the MQ-8B Fire Scout which is operating in Afghanistan and aboard warships. The U.S. Navy developed, and put into use, the MQ-8B. A similar model, the RQ-8B, died because the U.S. Army already had plenty of UAVs that got the job done. The navy kept Fire Scout because helicopters are more practical on most navy ships (for landings and takeoffs). Navy Fire Scouts have been successfully used on frigates (in both the Atlantic and Pacific). There is a huge demand for UAVs in Afghanistan, so the navy sent some there.

The 1.5 ton Fire Scout is based upon the Schweitzer 333 unmanned helicopter, which in turn is derived from the Schweitzer 330 commercial lightweight manned helicopter. Fire Scout has a payload of 272 kg (600 pounds), a cruising speed of 200 kilometers an hour, max altitude of 6,100 meters (20,000 feet), and endurance of eight hours. The U.S. Navy plans to acquire over 160 Fire Scouts.

Several other navies have been testing helicopter UAVs on their warships, and this type of UAV seems destined to replace a lot of manned helicopters on warships and enable smaller warships (that cannot handle the larger manned helicopters) to operate unmanned helicopters.