25.06.2015 par Philippe Chapleau - Lignes de Défense

Le ministère de l'Intérieur vient de lancer un appel d'offres pour la "fournitures de micro-drones au profit de la Gendarmerie Nationale, maintien en condition opérationnelle des micro-drones acquis et formation pour la fonction de télé-pilote". Cet appel d'offres est à consulter ici.

L'avis précise que "chaque micro-drone est un système d'aéronef sans pilote de type quadri-rotor à décollage vertical, de taille réduite et compacte, facilement transportable et très discret. Chaque système est équipé d'un vecteur aérien, d'une station de réception et de visualisation sol et d'un moyen de transport et de stockage. Les spécificités techniques propre à chaque lot sont précisées au cahier des charges techniques particulières (Cctp)."

Combien de drones:
- 4 (max: 6) micro-drones haut de gamme (vitesse, autonomie) ou durci de type VTOL, avec zoom d'au moins X10, pour le lot 1
- 19 (jusqu'à 30) micro-drones grand public pour le lot 2.

BEIJING, 8 octobre (Xinhua)

La Chine lancera une nouvelle "constellation" de satellites maritimes de surveillance en 2019 pour surveiller les bateaux, les plates-formes pétrolières, les catastrophes maritimes et les ressources terrestres.

D'après Lin Mingsen, directeur adjoint du Service national de l'application des satellites à l'océan, la "constellation HY-3" comprendra une série de satellites équipés de la technologie de radar à synthèse d'ouverture qui seront "capables de fonctionner pendant la journée ou la nuit... et dans toutes les conditions météorologiques."

Ces satellites pourront voir un objet d'un mètre de long depuis l'espace et de produire des images de la surface de la terre ou de l'océan en haute définition, a indiqué M. Lin.

"Ils vont jouer un rôle important dans le renforcement de la protection des droits maritimes de la Chine, l'application et la supervision de la loi maritime, la surveillance de ses eaux littorales, les secours maritimes et la réduction des catastrophes maritimes," a ajouté M. Lin

16.06.2014 Thales

Positioned right above the company's stand, the tethered aerostat developed by Thales is designed for surveillance of theatres of operation, crisis situations and large-scale events. While this technology is nothing new, the Thales aerostat takes advantage of the latest advances in miniaturisation of communication technologies, affording an innovative solution with small balloon/aerostat capacity to guarantee reliable observation and communication services in all circumstances for both military and civil protection operations.
Fitted with a high-definition camera and a miniaturised 4G/LTE tactical modem for a total payload not heavier than 3 kilograms, the tethered aerostat can maintain surveillance over a radius of several kilometres and downlinks the video stream in real time. The latter is displayed on the Thales stand in live streaming and can also be received on TeSquad tactical terminals in near-real-time.

13 May 2014 defenceWeb

The United States has deployed manned surveillance aircraft over Nigeria and is sharing satellite imagery with the Nigerian government to find more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Islamist insurgents, a senior Obama administration official said on Monday.

Washington has sent military, law-enforcement and development experts to Nigeria to help search for the missing girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants from a secondary school in Chibok in remote northeastern Nigeria on April 14.

"We have shared commercial satellite imagery with the Nigerians and are flying manned ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) assets over Nigeria with the government's permission," the U.S. official said.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a news briefing on Monday that the U.S. was providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnassance support. She said U.S. teams on the ground "are digging in on the search and coordinating closely with the Nigerian government as well as international partners and allies." Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was also considering deploying unmanned, drone aircraft to aid the search.

One of the U.S. officials told Reuters the United States had been carrying out the manned surveillance flights “for a few days” but did not elaborate. Last week, U.S. Undersecretary for Africa Linda Thomas-Greenfield told Reuters in an interview that Nigeria had requested surveillance and intelligence from the United States.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has said he believes the girls are still in Nigeria. The leader of Boko Haram has offered to release them in exchange for members of its group being detained, according to a video posted on YouTube on Monday.

04/02/2014 Richard de Silva – Defence IQ

The Canadian government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper is prioritising sovereignty as the top focus for its Arctic strategy, according to a public statement made this year at the World Economic Forum. It is also looking to strengthen regulations of the oil-and-gas and mining sectors and ocean shippers in the region.

To achieve this, a robust surveillance and communications network is a must but, with budgets as tight as they are, there remains anxiety over the ability to meet full expectations. In efforts to lower long-term costs and provide the widest coverage available, Canadians are looking to the stars. The RADARSAT Constellation Mission, an initiative to cover surveillance requirements from national defence through to environmental protection, continues to receive strong backing ahead of its completion deadline of 2018.

RADARSAT-2

As one of Canada’s most sophisticated satellites, RADARSAT-2 offers a next-generation synthetic aperture radar (SAR) earth observation satellite. Launched in December 2007, it provides all-weather, day-and-night coverage of the entire globe to support fishing, shipping, oil and gas exploration, offshore drilling, mapping and ocean research. To date, it has become an essential resource for protecting Canada’s territories, including its interests in the Arctic, a region that has a notorious lack of surveillance infrastructure compared to much of the other corners of the world.

There are some recent concerns that the success of RADARSAT-2 is proving to be a headache for the Canadian government. According to a November 2012 admission by the Department of National Defence (DND), estimates by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have indicated that the government’s “data allocation will expire by August 2017” due to the exponential growth of the demand for information in maritime domain awareness, a statement that has since been contradicted by sources at the CSA.

Federal departments had initially agreed to an allotment of $445 million worth of data in exchange for financial contribution to building the satellite, which is owned and operated by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. of British Columbia. The company is open to selling more credits but budget approval is always an uphill struggle and other international organisations are also demanding a share.

Canada’s case for space

Canadian space assets are already used extensively in support of both domestic and expeditionary maritime domain awareness operations. Space-derived data, especially RADARSAT-2 and space-based collection from the automatic identification system (AIS) – including its integration into the terrestrial AIS and the occasional use of commercial electro-optical imagery – are all key components of Canada’s maritime domain awareness programme. It is therefore an undeniably integrated approach.

In essence, radars detect the majority of the targets within the country’s area of interest and the AIS is a key to identifying the targets detected. As an example, there are approximately 7,000 ships criss-crossing between Gibraltar and Halifax. If those trying to view the big picture were to use radar exclusively, they would not be able to discern which of those 7,000 targets are actually of a security concern. By overlaying the AIS on top of that, analysts are able to identify vessels. The problematic targets then can be the subject of additional scrutiny through the input of intelligence sources or civil agencies.

Of course, a ship may have a technical issue with its AIS which would prevent identification, so near real-time vessel detection is achieved through strategically placed satellite ground infrastructure and special radar processors that allow for the very rapid generation of ship detection reports.

While the Armed Forces are naturally concerned most with sovereignty issues, the same capabilities can be used to support whole of government missions, including safety and navigation resource monitoring, pollution control and so on. In particular, ice monitoring is a critical necessity for the safety of navigation.

Enhancing satellite value

Next to demand, the amount of SAR data that RADARSAT-2 collects per orbit has increased in recent years. Since the surveillance satellite programme first began, programme managers have anticipated this trend and have focussed efforts on automation. Analysts working in the maritime domain awareness area can collect and download within the Canadian AOR in an almost real-time fashion. The SAR processor and the software that it runs through to automatically detect ships first determines the characteristics of that ship and then converts it into an OTH-Gold track message that can be sent on to a recognised maritime picture command and control system. From the beginning of that process to the end, the system can guarantee to its end users, the Canadian Navy, that they will receive data within 30 minutes. On the vast majority of occasions, the time is less than 15 minutes and even running as little as 8 minutes.

The process is as efficient and as quick as one can get to using a common radar to see a ship in the ocean and then populating it on a radar plot. The upside of the OTH-Gold messages is that with each track, instead of being a 150 megabit image, offers a 30 kilobit OTH-Gold track, which includes an image chip so the Navy has some idea of what the ship looks like. This track can be easily moved through normal communications or even emailed to ships not connected to the command and control system, as demonstrated during a recent RIMPAC exercise. The dissemination of data can therefore be done in a flexible way, but the key remains in an automation process that boasts a very low error rate. Currently, the Canadian system has an error rate far less than 10 per cent.

Meeting the launch date

According to the CSA and DND, the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) “remains on target for a 2018 launch”. The paradigm shift compared to earlier methods lies in the deployment of three satellites, but with a constellation designed to be scalable up to six, should future requirements demand. In this way, the capabilities of the system are distributed across several satellites, increasing revisit, and introducing a more robust, flexible system that can be maintained at lower cost and launched into orbit using smaller, less expensive launch vehicles. RCM will provide complete coverage of Canada's land and oceans at least once a day, as well as daily access to 95 per cent of the world to Canadian and International users.

“In the majority of our area of interest, we will get ship reports at least every 12 hours and, in the strategically important Arctic, we will get the ship reports every eight hours,” says Colonel Andre Dupuis, Director of Space Requirements at the DND.

“That's all the way out to 2,000 nautical miles and that is, frankly, unheard of in the maritime domain awareness world, where your entire AOR can get a refresh to provide commanders and decision-makers with a real understanding of what the maritime environment looks like from a security and defence perspective.

“It will completely revolutionise how allied navies look at monitoring the open ocean.”

RCM developments will mean that 50 per cent of radar coverage is available to support expeditionary operations, be they in the Arctic or in the South China Sea, which will monitor ship traffic for both cooperative vessels using AIS or uncooperative targets. Everything that Canada is undertaking in the field of maritime domain awareness, particularly in its use of space assets, can be enacted at the unclassified side. Thus, a huge capability will emerge to allow for easily consumable information sharing between partners, allies, governments and private organisations.

C-140 Aurora (Flickr/boegh)

March 25, 2014 By Richard Tomkins (UPI)

The Canadian Department of National Defense, which has ordered the upgrading of additional surveillance aircraft, has ordered new radar for the planes.

The Canadian Department of National Defense has contracted MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. to provide radar surveillance systems.

The eight systems to be provided under the $57 million contract will be for integration aboard CP-140 Aurora fleet, which Canada is upgrading.

MDA's said its surveillance system for theCP-140 provides high-resolution imaging capability to detect, locate, and classify, land and marine-based objects.

"Canada's DND and MDA have developed a successful working relationship based on quality, reliability and value,” said Don Osborne, an MDA vice president. “We are pleased to support DND with this repeat business and provide additional high-performance airborne radar surveillance systems.

"This contract underscores the global need for critical multi-mission intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities that aid in the detection of illegal or hostile activity in maritime approaches or remote regions."

The CP-140 Aurora is Canada's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance Aircraft. The Lockheed Martin aircraft is based on the P-3 Orion airframe. Canada currently operates a fleet of 14 updated Auroras but announced last week it is investing in four more modernized CP-140s.

Modernization will be conducted under existing competitively awarded industry contracts and will include new avionics and missions systems.

Sep. 24, 2013  MARCUS WEISGERBER - c4isrnet.com

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon plans to shrink its organization tasked with defeating roadside bombs and reorganize other quick-reaction task forces born out of more than a decade of counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The decision by senior U.S. Defense Department officials to truncate the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) and realign the Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Task Force comes after a year of debate over how to institutionalize these entities.

The reorganizations were set in motion by Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in a memo earlier this month.

DoD officials had been contemplating three options for JIEDDO’s future: Eliminate the organization; break up its duties among the military services through a process called disaggregation; or restructure JIEDDO into a smaller office within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).

JIEDDO’s mission will continue to evolve, a defense official said. The organization’s “evolution will continue to support DoD efforts to retain a flexible and an agile force and also the ability to respond to urgent warfighter needs as they may arise.”

Defense officials are still determining the specifics of the downsizing, and the final path forward is still to be determined and pending the budget review process.

Senior JIEDDO officials, during a recent visit to Afghanistan, said the organization will be smaller but should maintain some of its most important capabilities, according to a DoD press article.

“If you look at the mission statement for JIEDDO, it’s to defeat the IED as a weapon of strategic influence,” Maj. Gen. Patrick Higgins, JIEDDO’s deputy director, said in the article. “Now I’m not ready to come out yet and say ‘mission accomplished,’ but if you look at the work over the last decade of war, what we have done in Iraq and what we are in the process of doing here, that is demonstratively proven.”

JIEDDO officials must submit a drawdown plan to OSD in the their 2015 budget proposal. JIEDDO should reach its lower staff level in 2017.

As for the ISR Task Force, Michael Vickers, the undersecretary for intelligence, must submit a plan to align the organization as a “permanent entity” within his directorate.

“The transitioned organization will be staffed appropriately to enable rapid fielding of new ISR capabilities in support of global warfighter requirement,” Carter wrote in a memo.

In addition, Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale and the head of the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell have been tasked with institutionalizing the funding process for urgent battlefield needs.

3/7/2013 EU source: European Commission-  Ref: SP13-074EN

Summary: 3 July 2013, Strasbourg - Speech by Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission, EU Commissioner for Justice, on "U.S. and EU Member State surveillance programmes: National security does not mean that anything goes" at a Plenary Session of the European Parliament

MAIN MESSAGES

1/ On the NSA spying allegations:

It is a matter of mutual trust and good practices in relations between friends and allies. It is clear that for negotiations on the trade agreement with the US to succeed, there needs to be confidence, transparency and clarity among the negotiating partners. This excludes spying on EU institutions.

2/ On the US PRISM programme:

The purpose [of the transatlantic working group] is to establish the facts and for the Commission to be able to assess the proportionality of the programmes with regard to the data protection of EU citizens.

The US appears to take our concerns regarding PRISM seriously. Attorney General Eric Holder committed, in a letter to me yesterday, to set up the expert group. We spoke yesterday evening on the phone and we agreed that the group will have its first meeting this month, and a second one in Washington in September. The Commission will report about the findings of the group to Parliament and Council in October.

3/ On the UK's TEMPORA programme:

The message is clear: the fact that the programmes are said to relate to national security does not mean that anything goes. A balance needs to be struck between the policy objective pursued and the impact on fundamental rights, in particular the right to privacy. It is a question of proportionality.

As regards next steps, we will continue the discussion with the UK on the Tempora project.

4/ On the EU's data protection reform:

PRISM and Tempora are a wake-up call for us to advance on our data protection reform for both the private and the public sector. A strong framework for data protection is neither a constraint nor a luxury but a necessity.

Various elements of the reform are of particular relevance. It will clarify the territorial application of the law, including to companies operating in the EU. It will have a broad definition of personal data. It will clarify regime for international transfers. It will impose obligations and responsibilities on processors as well as controllers of data.

[I]t has become urgent to proceed on a solid piece of legislation. Any delay in the data protection reform only plays in the hands of those who do not share the objective of a high level of data protection.

SPEECH

The news over the past weeks and days has been deeply disturbing. Revelations, claims and counter-claims have been made at a dizzying speed. This debate is a useful opportunity to explain the different strands of the issue and to make sense of what the EU can do to address the situation.

I believe that we should carefully distinguish between two aspects to the problem. The first concerns international diplomatic relations. The second concerns the rights of EU citizens.

As regards the first matter of alleged spying on EU and EU Member States' diplomatic premises, the Commission has raised its serious concerns with the US. Yesterday, the President made a statement to this House in the context of the debate on the European Council Conclusions. The issue was also discussed by Vice-President Ashton directly with State Secretary Kerry. It is a matter of mutual trust and good practices in relations between friends and allies.

It is clear that for negotiations on the trade agreement with the US to succeed, there needs to be confidence, transparency and clarity among the negotiating partners. This excludes spying on EU institutions.

The second issue, related to the right of EU citizens, was debated here one month ago. I am happy to update you on latest developments.

In relation to the revelations on the PRISM programme and the Verizon case, I asked a series of questions in a letter to my US counterpart, Attorney-General Eric Holder, on 10 June. I have also spoken with him at the EU-US Justice Ministerial on 14 June in Dublin.

I raised our concerns regarding the impact of Verizon and PRISM on the fundamental rights of EU citizens. I asked for clarifications on the different levels of protection that apply to US and EU citizens. And I asked about the conflict companies can find themselves in when they are faced with competing obligations under US and EU law.

Some explanations for which I am awaiting written confirmation were given. But all questions have not been answered so far. This is why after the Ministerial I have written again, together with my colleague Cecilia Malmström, to our US counterpart asking for answers in particular on the volume of the data collected, the scope of the programmes and the judicial oversight for Europeans.

At the Ministerial in Dublin, we agreed with the US to set up a transatlantic group of experts to establish the facts surrounding these programmes. The purpose is to establish the facts and for the Commission to be able to assess the proportionality of the programmes with regard to the data protection of EU citizens.

The US appears to take our concerns regarding PRISM seriously. Attorney General Eric Holder committed, in a letter to me yesterday, to set up the expert group. We spoke yesterday evening on the phone and we agreed that the group will have its first meeting this month, and a second one in Washington in September. The Commission will report about the findings of the group to Parliament and Council in October.

At the EU-US Ministerial, I called once again for the conclusion of the negotiations for an EU-US Umbrella Agreement on data transfer for law enforcement purposes. An agreement that would guarantee equal treatment of EU and US citizens when their data is processed for law enforcement purposes. I urged my US counterpart to take the necessary steps to ensure real progress.

In response to media reports about the UK Tempora Programme, I have addressed a letter to Foreign Secretary William Hague and asked to clarify the scope of the programme, its proportionality and the extent of judicial oversight that applies.

The message is clear: the fact that the programmes are said to relate to national security does not mean that anything goes. A balance needs to be struck between the policy objective pursued and the impact on fundamental rights, in particular the right to privacy. It is a question of proportionality.

As many of you said in our last debate in June, programmes such as PRISM and Tempora are a wake-up call for us to advance on our data protection reform for both the private and the public sector.

A strong framework for data protection is neither a constraint nor a luxury but a necessity. It will help reverse the trend of falling trust in the way in which data is handled by companies to which it is entrusted.

That's why our proposed reform is an important part of the answer. It will maintain the current high level of data protection in the EU by updating citizens' rights, guaranteeing they know when their privacy has been violated and making sure that when their consent is required, the consent is real.

Various elements of the reform are of particular relevance. It will clarify the territorial application of the law, including to companies operating in the EU. It will have a broad definition of personal data. It will clarify regime for international transfers. It will impose obligations and responsibilities on processors as well as controllers of data.

Only a strong data protection regime can bring this trust both for EU citizens and for businesses and contribute to stability and growth of the digital economy. And trust is also the basis for EU-US cooperation in the field of law enforcement.

As many of you said in June, it has become urgent to proceed on a solid piece of legislation. Any delay in the data protection reform only plays in the hands of those who do not share the objective of a high level of data protection.

The whole world is watching us on this. And the debate on PRISM and similar programmes only reinforces that we have a chance to set a gold standard for data protection.

As regards next steps, we will continue the discussion with theUKon the Tempora project.

Together with the Presidency, we have started the discussion on the transatlantic expert group which will include experts from Member States. Based on the information gathered, the Commission will report back to the European Parliament and to the Council in October.

13 juin 2013 Romandie.com (AFP)

GENEVE - Les programmes de surveillance qui empiètent sur la sphère privée des citoyens au nom de la lutte contre le terrorisme peuvent être contre-productifs, a estimé jeudi la responsable des droits de l'Homme à l'ONU.

Des préoccupations ont été exprimées au sujet des régimes de surveillance adoptés par certains Etats sans garanties suffisantes pour protéger le droit des individus à la vie privée, a déclaré la Haut Commissaire de l'ONU aux droits de l'Homme, Navi Pillay, lors d'une conférence de l'ONU sur la lutte antiterroriste.

Elle a estimé que de telles pratiques -- ainsi que d'autres mesures répressives -- sont contre-productives et peuvent provoquer la rage et le désespoir, ainsi qu'un sentiment d'injustice et de persécution.

Ses propos interviennent alors le directeur du FBI, Robert Mueller, a confirmé jeudi qu'une enquête pénale avait été lancée contre Edward Snowden, l'ex-employé de l'agence d'espionnage américaine NSA à l'origine des fuites sur les programmes de surveillance américains.

Le chef de l'Agence nationale de sécurité (NSA), le général Keith Alexander, avait vigoureusement défendu mercredi les programmes de surveillance des communications révélés par un ex-consultant de 29 ans, Edward Snowden, réfugié à Hong Kong. Le général Alexander avait assuré que ces programmes avaient permis de déjouer des dizaines d'actes terroristes.

Néanmoins, Mme Pillay n'a pas été la seule à s'en prendre -- sans toutefois mentionner de pays -- à ces programmes de surveillance.

Le chef de la diplomatie suisse a également affirmé jeudi que la lutte contre le terrorisme ne doit pas permettre aux administrations d'empiéter sur la sphère privée des citoyens.

Aurons-nous une meilleure société si les honnêtes citoyens sont constamment sous la loupe des administrations avec tous les excès que cela peut engendrer? Certainement pas, la Suisse en est convaincue!, a affirmé le ministre suisse des Affaires étrangères, Didier Burkhalter.

Nous devons (...) nous rappeler que la recherche de la sécurité ne doit pas empiéter à l'excès sur le droit à la protection de la sphère privée, un fondement de la liberté individuelle, a-t-il aussi dit.

Il a aussi souligné l'importance du respect des droits de l'Homme et de l'Etat de droit comme valeurs fondamentales dans le combat contre les terroristes.

Cette semaine, la Suisse a demandé des éclaircissements aux Etats-Unis dans l'affaire Snowden, l'ex-consultant, qui a travaillé à la mission diplomatique américaine de Genève de 2007 à 2009, ayant accusé la CIA d'avoir piégé un banquier dans la ville suisse.

18 June 2012 by defenceWeb

The Kenyan military has denied that the United States is using its territory or airspace to conduct surveillance flights over Africa, but confirmed the presence of US troops at the Manda Bay naval base.

Last week the Washington Post ran a story on US spy flights in Africa and stated that the US military had plans to establish a surveillance base in Kenya, as well as South Sudan. The newspaper went on to say that an engineering battalion of Navy Seabees has been assigned to complete a US$10 million runway upgrade at the Manda Bay naval base.

An Africa Command (Africom) spokeswoman said the runway extension was necessary so US C-130 Hercules can land at night and during bad weather. The newspaper said that about 120 US military personnel and contractors are stationed at Manda Bay, which Navy SEALs and other commandos have used as a base from which to conduct raids against Somali pirates and al-Shabaab fighters.

The US military in a statement in response to the Washington Post article confirmed that it runs ‘broad ranging’ intelligence operations on the continent and that “the United States routinely works with its African partner nations to counter those who would threaten regional security and stability in Africa.”

The US military said it employs its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets in Africa “based on security threats of mutual concern.”

A spokesman for the Kenyan Defence Forces, Colonel Cyrus Oguna, said he had no knowledge of a US surveillance programme in Kenya. “As far as we are concerned, the US is not using any Kenyan airspace or any bases from where they can be able to launch observation vessels,” Oguna said. “However, I know that we do have bilateral arrangements in terms of sharing information and intelligence to fight terror.”

The Washington Post article stated that the United States has established a dozen air bases on the continent since 2007, mainly for surveillance purposes. Most are small operations run out of secluded hangars at African military bases or civilian airports. Surveillance is overseen by US Special Operations forces but relies to a large extent on private military contractors and support from African troops. This allows these operations to fly below the radar. Using Pilatus PC-12 (U-28) surveillance aircraft rather than unmanned aerial vehicles also keeps the profile of these operations low.

Africa has emerged as a greater priority for the US government because terrorist groups there have become an increasing threat to US and regional security. The US is concerned about al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), insurgents in Mali, Boko Haram extremists in Nigeria and al Shabaab militia in Somalia. In central Africa, around 100 US special forces are assisting in the hunt for warlord Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

The United States has launched air strikes in Somalia and Yemen using unmanned aerial vehicles, but has also deployed F-15E Strike Eagles to Djibouti. However, elsewhere in Africa, military commanders told the Washington Post that their role is generally limited to intelligence gathering and sharing.

Some of the bases are in Ethiopia, the Seychelles, Burkina Faso and Uganda. Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, is the only permanent US base in Africa. About 2 000 US personnel are deployed there as part of Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, many from the Army National Guard.

"It's a great strategic location," US Africa Command chief General Carter Ham told the American Forces Press Service. "It facilitates not only our operations for US Africa Command, but also US Central Command and US Transportation Command. It is a very key hub and important node for us, a good location that allows us to extend our reach in East Africa and partner with the countries of East Africa."

Ham asked the US Congress last year to support the command’s efforts to expand its intelligence-gathering capabilities in order to monitor terror threats across Africa. He said the main targets are al-Shabab in Somalia, the Lord’s Resistance Army across central Africa and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in the west.

In February this year Ham told the House Armed Services Committee that the United States has no plans to seek permanent bases in Africa, and, in the spirit of the new defence strategic guidance, will continue to maintain a "light footprint" on the continent.

With no troops directly assigned to it, Africa Command relies heavily on its service components: US Army Africa based in Vicenza, Italy; US Air Forces Africa, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany; US Marine Forces Africa and Special Operations Command Africa, both based in Stuttgart, Germany. Ham said that there are no plans to relocate Africom’s headquarters to the African continent.

Ham said he recognizes concerns among some African countries about an increased U.S. presence on the continent, but emphasized that cost alone would preclude the United States from establishing more permanent bases there.

Ham told the American Forces Press Service that a safe, secure and stable Africa is in the United States' national interests, and that Africans are best suited to address African security challenges. "Countering the threats posed by al-Qaeda affiliates in East and Northwest Africa remains my number 1 priority," Ham said.

But for security to take hold in Africa for the long-term, Ham also recognizes the importance of strengthening African partners' defence capabilities so they can address their own security challenges. He noted ongoing efforts to increase capacity in peacekeeping, maritime security, disaster response and other key areas. The general noted the value of this investment, from "train-the-trainer" sessions conducted at the tactical level to leader development programs that will have positive long-term strategic implications.

"We are planting seeds, if you will, and allowing those to develop and grow," he said, noting that it's all being done with no permanently assigned forces and limited forces on the ground.

"I think we get a disproportionate positive effect for a relatively small investment," Ham said. "We don't use lots of troops. Generally, our exercises and engagements are pretty small-scale." They typically involve an individual ship, a small group of Marines, Seabees or veterinarians, or a maintenance detachment, he explained.

Earlier it was reported that the United States will have 3 000 soldiers serving in Africa next. The US Army last month announced it would deploy a brigade to Africa in 2013 as part of a pilot programme that assigns brigades on a rotational basis to regions around the globe. At least 3 000 soldiers will serve tours across the continent next year, training foreign militaries and aiding locals.