DTN News – DEFENSE NEWS: Textron Awarded Contract To Produce Turrets And Provide Support For Colombia’s APCs

DTN News – DEFENSE NEWS: Textron Awarded Contract To Produce Turrets And Provide Support For Colombia’s APCs

 

Source: DTN News – – This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Defense News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada – March 21, 2013: Textron Marine & Land Systems (TM&LS), an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. company, announced today a $5.5 million contract award from the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) to provide 12 armored turrets, technical support services, vehicle repairs and spare parts for the Colombian Army’s (COLAR) Armored Personnel Carriers (APC).

The COLAR has 39 COMMANDO™ Advanced APCs in operation with its Armored Cavalry units and, under a separate U.S. Foreign Military Sales case, has requested to purchase additional APCs.

Since fielding its APCs in May 2010, the COLAR has employed them extensively while combating internal revolutionary forces in Colombia. These vehicles have provided the mobility, protection and firepower needed to meet all COLAR tactical armored vehicle requirements.

TM&LS’ APC is an extended version of the M1117 Armored Security Vehicle (ASV), combat proven over 10 years and used by the U.S. Army and other militaries in locations including Afghanistan and Iraq. The APC’s additional two feet in length and six inches in internal height allow greater troop carrying capacity in areas of operations. These vehicles are part of the COMMANDO™ Advanced line of armored vehicles, which offer excellent on-road and off-road mobility enabling them to operate in urban, jungle, desert and mountainous terrain. Crew protection is reinforced with a V-shaped hull bottom and 360-degree protection from direct fire.

“This contract is an extension of our positive working relationship with the Colombian Ministry of Defence and Army leadership, and an example of our capability as a full-spectrum armored vehicle provider,” said Textron Marine & Land Systems Senior Vice President and General Manager Tom Walmsley.

“Colombia’s APCs are performing exceptionally well in a variety of operational roles, while offering outstanding protection to COLAR soldiers. Building on this success, we’re working with Colombia to increase the number of APCs in COLAR units while sustaining its entire vehicle fleet with a coordinated program of maintenance, training and field service support,” Walmsley added.

Rigorously tested and proven in the toughest environments, the COMMANDO family of vehicles offers a range of protection options, unmatched on-road/off-road mobility and ample firepower. TM&LS produces four lines of COMMANDO four-wheeled vehicles – COMMANDO Utility, COMMANDO Advanced, COMMANDO Select and COMMANDO Elite.

As an end-to-end armored vehicle provider, TM&LS also offers its customers COMMANDO fielding, training, maintenance and logistics support throughout each vehicle’s life cycle.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Defense News
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*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News – DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Army Prepares For Next Network Integration Evaluation

DTN News – DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Army Prepares For Next Network Integration Evaluation

 

Source: DTN News – – This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Claire Heininger, U.S. Army

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada – March 16, 2013: With two units now readying for Afghanistan with the Army’s new tactical communications network, the service will continue to drive technology forward through its next Network Integration Evaluation this spring.

Soldier training, vehicle integration, system check-outs and other preparations are well underway in advance of Network Integration Evaluation, or NIE, 13.2, which begins in May at Fort Bliss and White Sands Missile Range, N.M. It is the fifth in the series of semi-annual field evaluations designed to keep pace with rapid advances in communications technologies and deliver proven and integrated network capabilities to Soldiers. 

The NIEs are not stand-alone events, but build on previous exercises by improving the Army’s integrated network baseline and incorporating Soldier feedback into system functionality and training methods. As the Army continues to field network capability sets with systems and doctrine vetted through the NIE, the events will further evolve to include joint and coalition involvement next year.

“The NIE offers us the ability to evaluate and improve the network incrementally,” said Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, the Deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, known as ASA(ALT). “It forces the community together in an environment where Soldiers are telling us what we did well and what we didn’t do well — very graphically, very visually, very obviously.”

From combined arms maneuver across more than 150 miles of desert to subterranean operations in mountain caves, NIE 13.2 includes mission threads designed to measure network performance at all echelons, from the brigade commander down to the dismounted Soldier. It will include an aerial tier to extend the range of communications and operational energy solutions to more efficiently power networked equipment.

“We’ve got some good questions, and the scenario will allow us to get at a lot of those operational pieces,” said Col. Elizabeth Bierden, chief of the Network Integration Division, Brigade Modernization Command, or BMC. “We’ve seen many of the systems before, but I think we just get the network better every single time.” 

The main focus for NIE 13.2 is the Follow-on Test and Evaluation, or FOT&E, for Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, known as WIN-T, Increment 2, the Army’s mobile network backbone. WIN-T Increment 2 provides an enhanced capability over the current Increment 1 version used today in Afghanistan, including unprecedented “on-the-move” communications capabilities down to the company level. A successful test will enable the Army to keep fielding WIN-T Increment 2 to operational units beyond Capability Set 13, which is now being delivered to select brigade combat teams, or BCTs, preparing for deployment.

During the FOT&E, the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division will conduct the full range of military operations — from movement to contact to peacekeeping — and stretch the WIN-T network over even greater distances than during NIE 12.2, which was the unit’s first formal chance to assess the system. Following that evaluation in May 2012, the Army aggressively pursued and implemented corrective actions to address the areas identified for improvement, and 2/1 AD Soldiers have also become more comfortable and proficient with the equipment.

“The training is more hands-on, and with the knowledge we already have we’re able to go more in-depth,” said Spc. Erik Liebhaber, who has participated in three NIEs and said training for 13.2 incorporated specific scenarios that Soldiers had previously encountered in the field. “That’s a big part of the continuity.” 

Other systems under formal test include Joint Battle Command-Platform (JBC-P), the Army’s next-generation situational awareness and blue force tracking technology; Nett Warrior, a smartphone-like system for dismounted leaders; the Area Mine Clearance System-Medium Flail, an armored vehicle designed for clearing large areas of anti-tank and anti-personnel landmines; and Tactical Communication and Protection System, designed to prevent hearing injury while allowing Soldiers to remain cognizant of their environment during combat. A dozen additional systems, such as those comprising the aerial tier, will receive less formal evaluations.

Both JBC-P and Nett Warrior have actively incorporated user feedback from several previous NIE cycles into their hardware and software designs.

“It’s gotten a lot simpler to use,” Staff Sgt. Lance Bradford said of JBC-P. “That was our largest suggestion to them — you’ve got to get this more user-friendly.”

Soldier feedback and lessons-learned from the NIEs not only affect the conduct of future NIE iterations, but have also been applied to the process of producing, fielding and training units on Capability Set (CS) 13, which is the Army’s first such communications package to provide integrated connectivity throughout the BCT. The NIEs informed all aspects of CS 13, from how network systems are installed onto a vehicle, to which training approach is most effective, to which Soldiers within a brigade are issued certain pieces of equipment. 

Two BCTs of the 10th Mountain Division, now in the final stages of training before deploying to Afghanistan later this year, are receiving lessons-learned and recommended operational uses for the equipment that were developed during the NIE process. Serving as Security Forces Advise and Assist Teams (SFAATs), the units will rely on the new network as they work closely with the Afghan forces, take down fixed infrastructure and become increasingly mobile and dispersed in their operations.

While NIE missions to date have confirmed that CS 13 can support such operations, they have not been limited to the Afghan mission. The NIE 13.2 scenario will set the stage for future exercises that will include new offensive and defensive operations replicating what units may face in other regions, including joint and coalition involvement beginning with NIE 14.2 next spring. 

“We are trying to set the stage for a joint and multinational effort in 14.2, and so we’re looking across functions at Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, close air support, air ground-integration, with the major objectives focused on joint entry operations and the joint network,” said Brig. Gen. Randal Dragon, BMC commander. “We’ll be in a position to look at a number of those joint functions and we’ll set the stage through the series of NIEs we have coming up.”

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Claire Heininger, U.S. Army
*Speaking Image – Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News – AFGHAN WAR NEWS: Female Car Bomber Kills 12 In Kabul

DTN News – AFGHAN WAR NEWS: Female Car Bomber Kills 12 In Kabul
*Revenge for an anti-Islam film made in America
Source: DTN News – – This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources by Sardar Ahmad Agence-France Presse
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada – September 18, 2012: A female suicide car bomber attacked a van in Kabul Tuesday, killing 12 people, including eight South Africans, in an assault insurgents said was in revenge for an anti-Islam film made in America.

The bombing on a highway leading to Kabul international airport was the second suicide attack in the heavily fortified city in 10 days, reviving questions about stability as NATO accelerates a troop withdrawal and hands over to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.
It came as officers revealed that Western troops are scaling back joint operations with Afghans after 51 NATO soldiers were shot dead this year by their local colleagues, a setback for the war strategy that focuses on training Afghans to take over.
An AFP photographer saw at least six bodies lying among the wreckage of a gutted minivan, and another vehicle destroyed by flames still burning in the middle of the highway, with debris flung all around.
“At around 6:45 am (0215 GMT) a suicide bomber using a sedan blew himself up along the airport road in District 15. As a result, nine workers of a foreign company and three Afghan civilians are dead, and two police are wounded,” police said in a statement.
An Afghan and a Western security official said nine foreigners were killed. The South African foreign ministry said eight of its citizens were among the dead.
“The foreigners were from a private company working at the airport,” the Afghan official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A spokesman for NATO’s US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it had no reports that its personnel were among the casualties.
Afghanistan’s second largest insurgent group, Hezb-i-Islami, claimed responsibility, saying it was carried out by a woman to avenge the “Innocence of Muslims” film, which has sparked a weekof furious anti-US riots across Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.
“The bombing was carried out by a woman named Fatima. The bombing was in retaliation for the insult to our Prophet,” spokesman Zubair Sidiqi in a telephone call to AFP from an undisclosed location.
It is extremely rare for the faction to claim a suicide attack in Afghanistan. It is also rare for women, few of whom drive in Afghanistan, to carry out suicide attacks.
A police investigator said he believed the bomber was female, after finding parts of a woman’s leg.
On Monday, protests turned violent for the first time in Afghanistan over the low-budget trailer for the film, which is believed to have been produced by extremist Christians, as hundreds hurled stones at a US military base and clashed with police.
In the northern city of Kunduz, several hundred university students threw stones at police and set fire to photographs of US President Barack Obama in a fresh protest on Tuesday.
Under new orders, most joint patrols and advisory work with Afghan troops — the cornerstone of NATO departure plans — will have to be approved by a regional commander.
Cooperation with smaller units will have to be “evaluated on a case-by-case basis and approved by RC (regional) commanders”, ISAF said in a statement.
NATO, which is helping the Afghan government fight a Taliban-led insurgency now in its 11th year, is gradually withdrawing its 112,600 remaining troops.
But as so-called insider attacks have grown, US commanders have gradually acknowledged the assaults pose a serious threat to the war effort and have struggled to stem the problem.
The commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, General John Allen, “has directed all operational commanders to review force protection and tactical activities in the light of the current circumstances”, a US military officer in Washington said in an email.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, speaking at a news conference in Beijing, said the attacks were worrisome but that he believed Allen had taken the right approach to counter the problem.
But he insisted the insider assaults would not delay or derail plans to complete a drawdown of troops by the end of 2014 as planned.
The decision came after six ISAF soldiers were shot dead by suspected Afghan police and after the Taliban destroyed six US fighter jets in an unprecedented assault on a major base in the south this weekend.
It was unclear how the new rules for joint patrols might affect the plan to pull out the bulk of NATO combat forces, as some Afghan units are considered ill-prepared to begin operating independently.
Afghanistan police and officials investigate the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on September 18, 2012. A suicide bomber blew himself up alongside a minivan carrying foreigners on a major highway leading to the international airport in the Afghan capital, police said, killing at least 12 people, including nine foreigners.
Map locating Kabul where at least 12 people were killed in a suicide attack on Tuesday
Supporters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group hold signs during a rally in Beirut to denounce a film mocking Islam on September 17, 2012. An eruption of Muslim anger over a trailer of the American-made film that appeared on the Internet has spread across the world, taking hold in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, the West Bank, the Philippines and Yemen.
A Pakistani activist from Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, a student wing of the hard line Sunni party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), throws a tear gas shell towards the police near the US consulate during a protest against an anti-Islam movie in Karachi.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah addresses thousands of supporters who took to the streets of southern Beirut to denounce a film mocking Islam on September 17, 2012. Nasrallah, who made a rare public appearance, has called for a week of protests across the country over the low-budget, US-made film, describing it as the “worst attack ever on Islam.”

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources by Sardar Ahmad Agence-France Presse
*Speaking Image – Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com
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