UK Contracts Elbit Systems for AI-Powered Detect and Destroy Battlefield System

 

The British Army has invested $137 million (£102-million) in an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered surveillance system built by Elbit Systems which allows frontline soldiers to detect and engage enemy targets.

The contract will be performed over a five-year period.

Elbit Systems UK (ESUK) will deliver the ‘sensor to shooter’ system to the Army. Utilising thermal sight technology, the Dismounted Joint Fires Integrator (DJFI) will enhance soldiers’ ability to find and identify targets on the Battlefield. It then provides the crucial targeting information necessary to fire more quickly and accurately than ever before, the UK Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Using specialist software on a tablet, information gathered by the DJFI is sent digitally to an artillery system or aircraft to instantly engage the target, while the soldier operating the system remains hidden.

ESUK has also confirmed all five subcontractors will also be UK-based.DJFI will deliver six distinct Fires Integration equipment suites – each tailored to specific battlefield mission roles – to be combined with existing hardware and software. The technology is designed to be integrated and used alongside similar equipment used by allied forces, meaning the UK can play a pivotal role in joint overseas operations.The D-JFI solution is a networked, passive and active target acquisition solution that acquires, generates and communicates target information to effector systems for effective engagement of joint precision and non-precision fires. The solution is empowered by Artificial Intelligence and will interface with the radio communication systems of the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines.

The solution draws on the Company’s operational experience in providing dismounted network combat solutions. It integrates several of its technologies, including: the TORCH-X Battle Management Application; the Hattorix system for undetectable generation of high-precision targets, the CORAL Multi-Spectral electro-optical payload for enhanced target acquisition in day and night and the Rattler XR long range laser designator.

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US Considering Australian-Designed Light Amphibious Warship

 

New amphibious vessels would each displace 1,000 to 8,000 tons and measure around 100 meters in length (image : ASPI Strategis)

US Navy and Marine Corps reimagine their future amphibious force, high-level discussions have focused on an innovative Australian-designed vessel to land troops and their equipment on unprepared beaches.

Gold Coast – based Sea Transport Solutions' stern landing vessel is one of several contenders vying for the US Navy's light amphibious warship program. The stern landing design overcomes problems of conventional landing craft, which features a large ramp in the bow that makes for poor handling in rough seas, reduces speed and obstructs visibility. Stern landing vessels are a mature capability and have been used extensively in Australia's mining industry.

After years of US marines waging granting counterinsurgency campaigns inland, Marine Corps Commandant General David Berger's 2019 planning guidance refocuses on 'exploiting positional advantage and defending key maritime terrain'. He encourages naval expeditionary forces to look to ‘unmanned platforms, stern landing vessels, other ocean-going connectors, and smaller more lethal and more risk-worthy platforms” when reconceiving the amphibious fleet.

Large US landing ships displace up to 45,000 tons and are intended to stand off a shoreline and launch their own bevy of landing craft from an internal well deck. The new amphibious vessels would each displace 1,000 to 8,000 tons and measure around 100 meters in length. With a range of 3,500 nautical miles and the ability to operate within a fleet or independently, they could serve as 'lilypads' for dispersing and relocating marine littoral regiments among western Pacific islands or along the Baltic coastline, for example.

Lieutenant General Eric Smith points out that such a light amphibious warship is 'much more able to hide in plain sight, much more affordable, much more numerous because of its cost'. Offloaded platoons could fire anti-ship cruise missiles at Chinese naval forces in a conflict scenario, or conduct other missions such as forward refueling and rearming of friendly aircraft, coastal surveillance and radar early warning or air defense.

The total planned buy of 28 to 30 ships, at US $ 100–130 million apiece, will be competitively awarded, but Sea Transport Solutions is considered to be in with a strong chance. The Department of the Navy's 2021 budget request explicitly calls for 'a stern landing vessel to support amphibious ship-to-shore operations', according to naval reporter Megan Eckstein, and the US Congressional Research Service indicates that the marines want the program expedited to ensure the vessels are operational by 2026.One option would be for the Australian company to partner with an American yard for construction of the vessels in the US. For instance, West Australia-based company Austal has such a shipyard in Alabama where it builds the Independence-class littoral combat ship and the expeditionary fast transport.

If that plays out, US marines could find themselves aboard fresh, Australian-designed amphibious vessels.

3 Black Hawk S-70i Helicopters Land At Tactical Operations Group 2 - Philippine Air Force (PAF)

 Three Black Hawk S-70i helicopters landed at Tactical Operations Group (TOG) 2 in Cuayan, Isabela, 92.9 Brigada News Cauayan City reported January 19.

TOG 2 is a Philippine Air Force (PAF) unit operating under Tactical Operations Wing (TOW) Northern Luzon.

Earlier this month, Black Hawk helicopters also landed at Loakan Airport in Baguio City for proficiency training and familiarization of landing zone for pilots. The said Black Hawk S-70i helicopters are part of the first six helicopters delivered under the 16-helicopter order from Polish company PZL Mielec.

Remaining helicopters are expected to be delivered this year.

“The purchase of 16 S-70i combat-utility helicopters manufactured by the Polish Aviation Works-Mielec (PZL-Mielec) is an excellent example of cooperation between our two countries,” said Jarosław Szczepankiewicz, chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Manila.The Polish embassy noted that 16 Black Hawks were ordered under PAF’s Combat Utility Helicopter (Phase 3) Acquisition Project, which is a Horizon 2 phase priority project under the current Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Project.