NATO Military news , pictures & videos thread

[Miragedriver]

Holland displays one of his new "Holland" class patrol vessel in Operation Atalanta

(Defensa.com) The Koninklijke Marine, Royal Netherlands Navy, internationally known for its Dutch abbreviated designation KM, has just started deploying one of its new next-generation patrol the so-called Zr. Ms. Groningen in the Atalanta operation. Groningen is a patrolman latest generation of so-called Ocean Patrol Vessel (OPV), the Holland class, consisting of four ships that were delivered between July 2012 and November 2013, and noted for its integrated mast I-Mast 400 Thales Nederland that integrates multiple sensors, that signature.

We are witnessing the first time a public offering of this kind it is displayed in the operation sponsored by the European Union against piracy affecting the coasts of the Indian and the Red Sea close to the Somalia problem. The ship left the Dutch port of Den Helder last August 9th, so I'd be next to put under the command of Admiral Alfonso Gomez Fernandez de Cordoba, who from the amphibious ship Galicia assumes command of Operation Atalanta. The mission will last four months, in addition to the usual complement of Groningen consists of fifty people, who force Korps Mariniers (Marines), a medical team, translators and endowments of the NH90, adds the bringing the number of Dutch personnel deployed aboard 98 men and women.

The Groningen was delivered in November 2013, and from the outset has had an active life, so in the spring of 2014 was deployed in the Caribbean Sea and especially in the autonomous territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Curacao. Subsequent to the end of December 2014 the IPO escorted in the North Sea in the Netherlands close to water to several units of the fleet destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov, and support vessel Vikr.

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The StratCom center in Riga is the third such center in the Baltic States. Previously, a NATO Cyber Security Centre opened in Estonia and the NATO Energy Security Center set up an office in Lithuania.

The StratCom center based in Riga is part of NATO’s military structure. It has a status of international military organization. Its task is to develop NATO’s strategic communications capabilities within the Alliance and conduct research and experimentation to find practical solutions to existing challenges.

Latvia announced its plans to set up a specialized NATO center as early as in 2012. On July 1, 2014, Latvia, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Britain and Germany signed memorandums on creation of a NATO Strategic Communications Center in Riga at the NATO Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk (USA). The center received NATO accreditation on September 1, 2014 and became operational on January 1, 2015. Previously deployed at the Latvian Defense Ministry’s building, the StartCom center has now moved into a separate building.

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[Miragedriver]

France, Germany and Italy launch the 2020 European MALE UAV

France, Germany and Italy have signed a Declaration of Intent (DoI) for the definition study of a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Medium Altitude Long Endurance European (Medium Altitude Long Endurance or MALE). The three countries signed the document sets up a definition study two years to develop a European capability in the area of unmanned aircraft systems for surveillance missions, reconnaissance and intelligence (ISR) yesterday.

The definition phase of the call MALE 2020 will serve to unite the customer requirements and reduce technical and financial risks of the program. If everything progresses as expected, following this period, it was decided to develop and acquire this system by the three countries.

Major European countries have for years claiming a European capability in areas how are you own instead of buying Israeli or American systems origin to consider this as a strategic capability. This sovereign solution would both surveillance and reconnaissance missions of a military nature to civil security applications. The decision has been welcomed by the three companies that participate in this program: Airbus Defence and Space by Germany, Dassault Aviation by France and

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from Italy. These companies agreed in May last year to make a proposal for the definition of 24 months after which there will be the stage of development and ultimately the delivery, which would begin in 2020 .

Spain, for the moment, apart
In March the Spanish Ministry of Defence presented the Director of RPAs Plan which presented its intentions in this area, act in which he predicted that Spain would stay out, at least initially, of this program. This week it was announced the joint development of a Class III RPAS by Germany, France and Italy, which have already positioned the Airbus Defence and Space company, Dassault Aviation and

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representing each of these countries and now is formally launched. It is planned that an agreement between the three countries in the Paris Air Show to be held in June is signed. The Spanish Ministry of Defense is studying the adoption of an interim or transitional solution to meet your needs of a MALE or RPAS Class III . This would cover the current shortcomings and would define the requirements for Spanish participation in a European program that does not materialize before 2025. The European program should be

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participation as soon as possible, preferably in the feasibility phase. The Ministry of Spanish defense office there is a program for strategic MALE and HALE has already launched the RFI (Request For Information) and a feasibility study. The main candidates are the Predator / Reaper US General Atomics (associated in Spain with Sener and Hero of

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, evaluated by the Civil Guard in Spain. (JNG)

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[Miragedriver]

US weapon bases set for Poland in mid-2016
US heavy military equipment will arrive in Poland in mid-2016 to be based in the north-east and west of the country.

Polish Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak told the Polish press agency (PAP) that Polish-US talks on the issue have entered a decisive phase.

"After talks with our US partners we chose two places for the bases of heavy equipment from the US Army - one in western Poland and one in north-eastern Poland. For now, we do not want yet give further details of where these places are," the minister said.

He added that the centre for exercises between US and Polish troops will remain the training ground in Drawsko Pomorskie in north-western Poland.

"We anticipate that the deployment will take place in mid-2016,” Siemoniak said.

Asked about the deadline for completion of negotiations with the Americans, the defence minister said he expected to "dot the Is" at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels in early October. "I want these cases to be closed by the beginning of October," said Siemoniak.

The distribution of US heavy weapons and military equipment was a topic of conversation during the May meeting between Siemoniak and US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter in Washington.

The move will be the first time the US has stored heavy military equipment in the newer NATO member states in the region. It comes amid growing concern about Russia's foreign policy intentions and calls from Poland to have a stronger NATO presence.

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[Miragedriver]

The extended military operation "Strade Sicure" guarantees security in Italy

(Defensa.com) this summer The presence of Italian troops in the streets of the main cities of the country are evident, especially in Milan, where the Expo 2015. The deployment is part of the operation called it develops "Strade Sicure "(safer roads), which provides for the deployment of the Italian armed forces in major cities in the country to strengthen control of the territory and monitor sensitive targets. In late June, the Italian Government extended the operation proposal of Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, and Defense, Roberta Pinotti, a decree law that finances the device ending December 31, 2015.

The origins of "Strade Sicure" date back to August 2008 when the then government headed by Silvio Berlusconi launched the first operation to strengthen security in the south, in the area of so-called Highway Salerno- Calabri Reggia, which justifies the name of the device. From those beginnings, marked character of support to the fight against mafia organizations that offend the south, the operation was subsequently extended to the whole Italian territory to confront the threat of international terrorism of radical Islamic origin.

Thus, in 2014 the operation was a device of 4,200 troops, mostly from Esercito Italiano (Army), but also of the Italian Navy, Aeronautica Militare and the Carabinieri. The device is under the operational control of the Chief of Staff of Esercito, a position he currently holds the four-star general (equivalent to our Army General) Danilo Errico. An important device for 2015 and before the start of the Expo 2015, which is taking place between May 1 and October 31, has been enhanced to add 4,800 troops of which 600 are ensuring the safety of Milan . So you can see the Italian soldiers on board both vehicles and foot patrols in most Italian cities. Equally effective the Esercito, in this case the Alpini, you can see these days making access controls emblematic of the city of Milan buildings. In sum, the Government of Italy is supporting its military security, in an operation that creates a particularly important effect of deterrence and protection of the public.

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[Miragedriver]

NATO relieve their air assets in the Baltic, which could be reinforced with F-22

(Defensa.com) Coinciding with the end of August eight NATO bombers, Germans and Hungarians, have been deployed in separate foundations for the Baltic relieved of participating air forces in the so-called Baltic Air Policing (BAP) . This mission of NATO's main objective is the protection of the airspace of the three countries of the Alliance in the region (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) border with Russia, lacking interceptor devices.

Thus, Ämari airbase in Estonia, have been redeployed German fighter Eurofighter, which have given relief to many other devices of the same model with the RAF (Royal Air Force) was fulfilling the mission. This base is becoming almost an installation for such apparatus. If at the end of 2014, the German Luftwaffe Eurofighter were relieved by the Spanish Air Force and these, in turn, by the RAF said that during these four months have been at the forefront. With the advent of new German will be chained a full year with the presence of the Eurofighter in the Latvian facility, from which the flights of Russian aircraft from bases in the area of St. Petersburg are controlled, sometimes they skip air legislation.

Further south, in Siauliai (Lithuania) have it come four Saab JAS 39C Gripen Air Force of Hungary, giving relieved four Italian Eurofighter and F-16AM as many Norwegians. In the spring of 2014, following the initiated the crisis in Ukraine, NATO increased BAP 4 fighters to 16, and from September after restructuring the defense system in the area will go to said eight bombers, according to advance one NATO spokesman assigned to the mission in early August in Lithuania. What if maintained continuous deployments are devices USAF (United States Air Force) in Poland and to last July 10 was made public the presence of a dozen attack aircraft Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II the 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (354th EFS) at Lask Air Base, very close to the city Lodz.

Remember that these twelve A-10, over 300 members of the 355th Fighter Wing unit which depends the 354th EFS, arrived in Europe, initially to Germany, last February from Air Force Base Davis-Monthan (Arizona) for a deployment that ended with the return of the equipment to the United States on August 4. Similarly, from day 31, according to the Polish average G years Wielkopolski, said Polish base would welcome the deployment of four F-22A Raptor 95th Fighter Squadron, which from its base Tyndall (Florida), reached the German base in Spangdahlem on the 28th of August. Without leaving the Baltic scenario, another force of eight A-10 of the 303rd Fighter Squadron, 442nd Fighter Wing, a unit of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), which is based in Whiteman Air Force Base (Missouri), accompanied by 170 reservists arrived on August 22 to Ämari. The mission of this force of reservists is to conduct a training deployment in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, with which Washington supports its NATO allies in Eastern Europe.

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[Miragedriver]

The Neuron successfully complete the flight test campaign in Italy

(Defensa.com) The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Combat (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle, UCAV) Neuron has taken a significant step with the completion of the phase of flight testing, a breakthrough for this important multinational European defense system. The Neuron is basically a full-scale demonstrator system with which reliably subsequently develop an operational European UCAV, a project jointly involved major aeronautical industries of the Continent, led by France's Dassault Aviation and with the collaboration of the Italian Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi, the Swedish Saab, the multinational Airbus Defence and Space (ADS), the RUAG Swiss and Greek HAI.

To conduct test flights, the aircraft was deployed at the base of the Italian Aaérea Force Decimomannu, in Sardinia, which has in its vicinity with a bounded air traffic areas for flight testing and training .During the campaign training flights the Neuron has fulfilled a number of test runs twelve flights very sensitive in that there has been combat capability of the apparatus, being able to check its low radar signature (technically radar cross-section) and infrared. The tests were done flying at different altitudes and with different flight profiles, and the threat of locating both ground radar stations and interceptor high-performance devices, such as a Eurofighter who participated in the trial test of the "ghosts" capabilities that incorporates technologies Neuron. During deployment of the system in Sardinia it has confirmed its superb performance and operational reliability to these threats.

Last summer, for the next phase of testing, the unit will move to Sweden, more exactly Vidsel Air Base, where, in Annex Proving Ground Defence Ministry of Sweden, held a new series of flight tests . Thus, in a scenario so radically different, you can check flight capacity in low visibility conditions, and additionally its performance when carrying the hold open arms, when it is easier to detect these technology devices "ghost".

These phases of Neuron tests are a key step in the maturation of the technology system, especially helping to reduce risk levels and very important future investment must provide European countries in the field of technologies for UAS "ghosts ", as a prelude to later acquire fully operational systems UCAS.

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[Miragedriver]

The French Air Force created the Center for Military Air Information

(Defensa.com) The Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, General Denis Mercier, will open today in the Nº118 Air Base in Mont-de-Marsan, the Center for Military Air Waybill or CEAM-AWC (Centre d ' Expertise Aérienne Militaire-Air Warfare Center). The initiative stems from a decision in January 2015 to merge into a single organization the Center for Military Experimentation Air CEAM (Centre d'Expériences Aériennes Militaires) with Tactical Air CENTAC Centre (Centre Tactique Air), which will allow more dynamic execution capabilities so far offered by both. Doctrinal, technical, operational and tactical knowledge thereby Fighter combines in a single facility.

This will allow a global approach to aviation capacity and act as a tool for the analysis of military service in the Air Force aviation matters, approaching from the analysis for the acquisition of new capabilities, future equipment, doctrine, etc., and being a point connection between the needs of the Air Force, industry and other organizations such as research centers and universities.

CEAM-AWC will have 706 specialists and 23 units organized into six divisions, three of them dedicated to the capabilities of command and control and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and intervention. The remaining three, functional character, act in the field of doctrine, experience, knowledge tactical fighter and equipment area. The Nº118 Air Base "Colonel Rozanoff" is currently the home of the famous Fighter Squadron 2/30 "Normandie Niemen", equipped with Dassault Aviation Rafale F3 aircraft, the Fighter Squadron 05 330 Experimentation and "Côte d'argent", and Squadron Air Defence Anti-EDSA 12,950 "Tursan", armed with mobile system Eurosam Mamba SAMP-T. The air base is also preparing to welcome a new fighter squadron equipped with the Rafale F3.

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[FORBIN]

UK Fort Victoria and a NL Holland OPV withe her its sophisticated Integrated Mast

 

[FORBIN]

German Sachsen FFG overflown by Greek F-16