US sending 200 troops for drills in Ukraine: Pentagon: The United States will send about 200 troops to take part in a US-led annual exercise in Ukraine later this month, the Pentagon said Wednesday, in a show of solidarity with Kiev.
The presence of 200 soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade will mark the first deployment of US ground troops to Ukraine since the Kiev government's conflict with pro-Russia separatists erupted earlier this year.
Dubbed "Rapid Trident," the yearly exercise was set for September 13-26 and will involve more than a dozen countries, including "approximately 200 personnel" from the US military, spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said.
"It's a peacekeeping exercise," said Warren, and would focus in part on countering homemade bombs.
The drill was due to be held in Yavoriv, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from Lviv in western Ukraine.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
US sending 200 troops for drills in Ukraine: Pentagon
US sending 200 troops for drills in Ukraine: Pentagon: The United States will send about 200 troops to take part in a US-led annual exercise in Ukraine later this month, the Pentagon said Wednesday, in a show of solidarity with Kiev.
The presence of 200 soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade will mark the first deployment of US ground troops to Ukraine since the Kiev government's conflict with pro-Russia separatists erupted earlier this year.
Dubbed "Rapid Trident," the yearly exercise was set for September 13-26 and will involve more than a dozen countries, including "approximately 200 personnel" from the US military, spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said.
"It's a peacekeeping exercise," said Warren, and would focus in part on countering homemade bombs.
The drill was due to be held in Yavoriv, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from Lviv in western Ukraine.
The presence of 200 soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade will mark the first deployment of US ground troops to Ukraine since the Kiev government's conflict with pro-Russia separatists erupted earlier this year.
Dubbed "Rapid Trident," the yearly exercise was set for September 13-26 and will involve more than a dozen countries, including "approximately 200 personnel" from the US military, spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said.
"It's a peacekeeping exercise," said Warren, and would focus in part on countering homemade bombs.
The drill was due to be held in Yavoriv, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from Lviv in western Ukraine.
Enhanced grenade lethality: On target even when enemy is concealed | Article | The United States Army
Enhanced grenade lethality: On target even when enemy is concealed | Article | The United States Army
How does the warfighter launch a grenade at the enemy and ensure that it hits the target if the enemy is defiladed, or concealed, behind natural or artificial obstacles?
According to Steven Gilbert, the solution is simple. Use Small Arms Grenade Munitions, or SAGM.
SAGM is a munitions round that aims to provide warfighters with the capability of shooting a 40-mm low-velocity grenade from an M203 or M320 rifle-mounted grenade launcher with the certainty that, if their target is hiding or behind an object, damage will still be inflicted.
The round more than doubles the lethality of the current 40-mm grenade against defilade targets. It also does not require the user to carry extra weapon accessories, reducing the Soldier's load.
Gilbert is a project officer from the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey.
He and a team of about 10 engineers from the Joint Service Small Arms Program are in the third phase of the SAGM three-phase project.
The project began in 2011. The first phase of the project entailed making the fuze component smaller, while maintaining its functionality using a standard M433 grenade round. Gilbert described the round as being complementary to the XM25. The XM25 is a Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, which has an onboard laser system that determines the distance to the target.
"SAGM is complementary to that. We are not competing against it," Gilbert explained. "The XM25 provides direct fire. SAGM is indirect."
The second phase was to make the fuze "smart" by including sensors, so that the round detonates in what is known as "airburst"-- over and past defilade obstacles that are detected by the sensor.
During this phase, engineers worked to integrate sensors and logic devices that will help to scan and filter the environment and then autonomously airburst the fuze in the ideal spot.
Now, in the third phase, engineers are working to optimize the fuze sensor from phase two and improve its ballistic accuracy, as well as integrate the fuze with a live high-explosive warhead.
"Warfighters currently lack the ability to achieve desired accuracy and incapacitating effects against personnel targets in defilade at ranges from 51 to 500 meters," Gilbert explained.
With this new capability, much like a smart phone, the grenade can perform a task without being told to do so by the user.
Thus, when it is fired, it will recognize its surroundings and can detonate over an obstacle that might conceal the enemy.
The ballistic trajectory of legacy 40-mm ammunition inhibits optimal engagement of personnel threats under cover. For these reasons, engineers are also working to optimize ballistic trajectory and the overall accuracy and effectiveness of the grenade.
"There are three modes of firing," Gilbert said. "Airburst after detecting defilade is the first. Then, the default is point detonation or when it hits the target. Lastly there is a self-destruct feature which decreases collateral damage and reduces unexploded ordnance left on the battlefield or training ranges."
The team successfully demonstrated the Phase Two sensor technology, in November 2013.
"The technology demonstration was conducted at Redstone Arsenal (Alabama) and it was shown that the sensor correctly detected defilade and air-bursted the round behind the defilade. This capability will inflict maximum lethality to any enemy personnel seeking cover behind defilade."
However, the SAGM project is not expected to be in the hands of the Project Manager Ammunition Systems until July 2015.
How does the warfighter launch a grenade at the enemy and ensure that it hits the target if the enemy is defiladed, or concealed, behind natural or artificial obstacles?
According to Steven Gilbert, the solution is simple. Use Small Arms Grenade Munitions, or SAGM.
SAGM is a munitions round that aims to provide warfighters with the capability of shooting a 40-mm low-velocity grenade from an M203 or M320 rifle-mounted grenade launcher with the certainty that, if their target is hiding or behind an object, damage will still be inflicted.
The round more than doubles the lethality of the current 40-mm grenade against defilade targets. It also does not require the user to carry extra weapon accessories, reducing the Soldier's load.
Gilbert is a project officer from the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey.
He and a team of about 10 engineers from the Joint Service Small Arms Program are in the third phase of the SAGM three-phase project.
The project began in 2011. The first phase of the project entailed making the fuze component smaller, while maintaining its functionality using a standard M433 grenade round. Gilbert described the round as being complementary to the XM25. The XM25 is a Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, which has an onboard laser system that determines the distance to the target.
"SAGM is complementary to that. We are not competing against it," Gilbert explained. "The XM25 provides direct fire. SAGM is indirect."
The second phase was to make the fuze "smart" by including sensors, so that the round detonates in what is known as "airburst"-- over and past defilade obstacles that are detected by the sensor.
During this phase, engineers worked to integrate sensors and logic devices that will help to scan and filter the environment and then autonomously airburst the fuze in the ideal spot.
Now, in the third phase, engineers are working to optimize the fuze sensor from phase two and improve its ballistic accuracy, as well as integrate the fuze with a live high-explosive warhead.
"Warfighters currently lack the ability to achieve desired accuracy and incapacitating effects against personnel targets in defilade at ranges from 51 to 500 meters," Gilbert explained.
With this new capability, much like a smart phone, the grenade can perform a task without being told to do so by the user.
Thus, when it is fired, it will recognize its surroundings and can detonate over an obstacle that might conceal the enemy.
The ballistic trajectory of legacy 40-mm ammunition inhibits optimal engagement of personnel threats under cover. For these reasons, engineers are also working to optimize ballistic trajectory and the overall accuracy and effectiveness of the grenade.
"There are three modes of firing," Gilbert said. "Airburst after detecting defilade is the first. Then, the default is point detonation or when it hits the target. Lastly there is a self-destruct feature which decreases collateral damage and reduces unexploded ordnance left on the battlefield or training ranges."
The team successfully demonstrated the Phase Two sensor technology, in November 2013.
"The technology demonstration was conducted at Redstone Arsenal (Alabama) and it was shown that the sensor correctly detected defilade and air-bursted the round behind the defilade. This capability will inflict maximum lethality to any enemy personnel seeking cover behind defilade."
However, the SAGM project is not expected to be in the hands of the Project Manager Ammunition Systems until July 2015.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
NATO faces limited options over Ukraine conflict
NATO faces limited options over Ukraine conflict: Western leaders are planning a powerful show of unity at a NATO summit this week against what they see as Russian aggression in Ukraine, but the measures will remain limited due to a lack of political consensus on direct intervention.
The planned deployment of thousands of NATO troops and military equipment in Eastern Europe is intended to reassure NATO member states in the former Soviet bloc and is bound to anger Russia as it will challenge a key NATO-Russia deal.
But the summit in Wales on Thursday and Friday is likely to stop short of an outright challenge to Moscow on the spiralling conflict in eastern Ukraine, which is threatening to degenerate into all-out war between Russia and Ukraine.
"The likelihood of any type of overt military intervention is highly unlikely," said Robin Niblett, director of the Royal Institute for International Affairs (RIIA) in London.
"There is no support for it at an alliance level. No one is going to go on their own," he said, pointing out that there is no obligation on NATO to act as Ukraine is not a member and does not enjoy the same principle of "collective defence".
The planned deployment of thousands of NATO troops and military equipment in Eastern Europe is intended to reassure NATO member states in the former Soviet bloc and is bound to anger Russia as it will challenge a key NATO-Russia deal.
But the summit in Wales on Thursday and Friday is likely to stop short of an outright challenge to Moscow on the spiralling conflict in eastern Ukraine, which is threatening to degenerate into all-out war between Russia and Ukraine.
"The likelihood of any type of overt military intervention is highly unlikely," said Robin Niblett, director of the Royal Institute for International Affairs (RIIA) in London.
"There is no support for it at an alliance level. No one is going to go on their own," he said, pointing out that there is no obligation on NATO to act as Ukraine is not a member and does not enjoy the same principle of "collective defence".
Ukraine crisis forces NATO back to basics in Europe
Ukraine crisis forces NATO back to basics in Europe:
The Ukraine crisis is forcing NATO back to the basics of collective defence in Europe as Russia seeks to restore influence in its Soviet era backyard, analysts and officials said.
NATO leaders meeting Thursday and Friday in Wales must now ensure the alliance can react quickly and credibly after years spent well beyond its original remit -- the defence of western Europe against the Soviet Union, they said. "We now have NATO returning to it's basics, focusing primarily on collective defence and coming out of 20 years of operations with all the experience that that has given and facing new challenges that we did not expect," said Douglas Lute, the US Ambassador to the alliance in Brussels.
- Changed strategic environment -
The Ukraine crisis, NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen warns repeatedly, is the most serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security since the end of the Cold War.
Worse still, it comes as Russia has increased defence spending by 50 percent over the past five years while NATO countries have cut their's by some 20 percent, Ramussen said recently.
"We must reverse the trend," he said.
"NATO now faces a very changed strategic environment from just six months or a year ago," said one diplomat in Brussels, home to the alliance's HQ.
The Ukraine crisis is forcing NATO back to the basics of collective defence in Europe as Russia seeks to restore influence in its Soviet era backyard, analysts and officials said.
NATO leaders meeting Thursday and Friday in Wales must now ensure the alliance can react quickly and credibly after years spent well beyond its original remit -- the defence of western Europe against the Soviet Union, they said. "We now have NATO returning to it's basics, focusing primarily on collective defence and coming out of 20 years of operations with all the experience that that has given and facing new challenges that we did not expect," said Douglas Lute, the US Ambassador to the alliance in Brussels.
- Changed strategic environment -
The Ukraine crisis, NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen warns repeatedly, is the most serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security since the end of the Cold War.
Worse still, it comes as Russia has increased defence spending by 50 percent over the past five years while NATO countries have cut their's by some 20 percent, Ramussen said recently.
"We must reverse the trend," he said.
"NATO now faces a very changed strategic environment from just six months or a year ago," said one diplomat in Brussels, home to the alliance's HQ.
War could spread beyond Ukraine, warns Poland's Tusk
War could spread beyond Ukraine, warns Poland's Tusk: Poland's Prime Minister Donald warned on Monday that the war in eastern Ukraine risks spreading if NATO does not toughen its stance quickly.
Tusk, tipped as the European Union's next president, claimed that "our Western community is threatened by war, not just in eastern Ukraine", as Poles marked 75 years since the outbreak of World War II.
"There is still time to stop those for whom violence, force and aggression have again become part of their political arsenal," Tusk said in a clear reference to Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis during ceremonies to mark Nazi Germany's attack on Poland on September 1, 1939.
Tusk, tipped as the European Union's next president, claimed that "our Western community is threatened by war, not just in eastern Ukraine", as Poles marked 75 years since the outbreak of World War II.
"There is still time to stop those for whom violence, force and aggression have again become part of their political arsenal," Tusk said in a clear reference to Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis during ceremonies to mark Nazi Germany's attack on Poland on September 1, 1939.
NATO Set to Ratify Pledge on Joint Defense in Case of Major Cyberattack - NYTimes.com
NATO Set to Ratify Pledge on Joint Defense in Case of Major Cyberattack - NYTimes.com: When President Obama meets with other NATO leaders later this week, they are expected to ratify what seems, at first glance, a far-reaching change in the organization’s mission of collective defense: For the first time, a cyberattack on any of the 28 NATO nations could be declared an attack on all of them, much like a ground invasion or an airborne bombing.
The most obvious target of the new policy is Russia, which was believed behind computer attacks that disrupted financial and telecommunications systems in Estonia in 2007 and Georgia in 2008, and is believed to have used them in the early days of the Ukraine crisis as well.
But in interviews, NATO officials concede that so far their cyberskills are limited at best.
The most obvious target of the new policy is Russia, which was believed behind computer attacks that disrupted financial and telecommunications systems in Estonia in 2007 and Georgia in 2008, and is believed to have used them in the early days of the Ukraine crisis as well.
But in interviews, NATO officials concede that so far their cyberskills are limited at best.
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