defence residency

NEW DELHI: The United States (US) has handed over 14 combat aircraft, 59 military trainer jets and 374 armoured personnel carriers to Pakistan which were earlier used in Afghanistan and Iran. As the US withdraws its forces from neighbouring Afghanistan, the major defence articles have been transferred to Pakistan under its ‘Excessive Defence Article’ category, an internal Congressional report says, according to the Economic Times. In the past, India has opposed the transfer of such arms to Pakistan as it believes Islamabad would eventually use the fighter jets against it.Pakistan has either made full payment or will make payments from its national funds towards the purchase of 18 new F-16C/D Block 52 Fighting Falcons combat aircraft worth $1.43 billion, according to the internal report prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), an independent research wing of the Congress. This includes F-16 armaments including 500 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, 1,450 2,000-pound bombs, 500 JDAMTail Kits for gravity bombs and 1,600 Enhanced Pave way laser-guided kits. These have cost Pakistan $629 million. Pakistan has also paid $298 million for 100 harpoon anti-ship missiles, 500 sidewinder air-to-air missiles ($ 95 million) and seven Phalanx Close-In Weapons System naval guns ($80 million). Pakistan received 26 Bell 412EP utility helicopters along with related parts and maintenance, valued at $235 million under the Coalition Support.Pakistan is also receiving military equipment with a mix of its national funds and America’s foreign military funding. These include 60 Mid-Life Update kits for F-16A/B combat aircraft.Pakistan has purchased 45 such kits, with all upgrades completed to date. This includes 115 M-109 self-propelled howitzers. Under Frontier Corps and Pakistan Counterinsurgency Fund authorities, the US has provided four Mi-17 multi-role helicopters (another six were provided temporarily at no cost), four King Air 350 surveillance aircraft, and 450 vehicles. In place of yesterday's analogue voice and messaging are today's digital video, voice and data capabilities. Line-of-sight communications are now augmented with satellite and broadband communications capabilities that keep soldiers connected to HQ even in the last tactical mile. Every asset is continuously feeding into the network, pumping in images, video, health and usage data, location and mapping information, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and target acquisition information, creating a situational awareness picture more complete than ever before. The challenge The difficulty with this increasingly digitised battlefield is the need to render the enormous amounts of data in the network manageable and accessible. Command and control (C2) solutions must be able to process raw data into intelligence that informs, rather than overwhelms, the user. Users are seeking C2 solutions that organise data in innovative ways and take the analytics burden off the operator to ensure that data does not lose meaning or context when disseminated throughout the battlespace. "In the current operating environment data that comes into a tactical operating command operations centre is all provided by disparate systems," said Gary Raven of Textron Systems Advanced Information Solutions. "So for a clear picture of the battlespace commanders and operators have to look at the information in all these silo systems - all displayed on different displays - and actually try to bring all that information together in one place in their head. This need to cognitively combine that data to get a clear picture of what is going on in the operation slows down the decision making cycle." Potential solutions Textron Systems Advanced Information Solutions' iCommand cloud-based information management capability is one of a number of new systems emerging from the industry that are designed to tackle these key issues. iCommand provides a full picture of the battlespace in a map-centric view - both in real time and replay for post-mission analysis, connecting users with an organisation's platforms, sensors and data feeds to create a fully interactive and collaborative environment for managing intelligence. All information is brought together in a single display and is interactive, editable and collaborative within an individual operating centre or across multiple sites, giving users a single view of the battlespace. At the other end of the scale – the business-as-usual border management at airports and shipping ports for the general public – effective border management can be enhanced by data capture, analysis and dissemination, which must be balanced with, ultimately, a good passenger experience. New biometric, automated and integrated technologies are revolutionising security and efficiency at borders but more can and must be done to continue improving services and ward off future challenges resulting from the pressures of increased migration. The Smarter Borders conference took place in London, UK in March earlier this year but given the rapidly evolving technologies and changeable market structure it has become apparent that there is a compelling requirement from policymakers, end users and industry to host the conference again this year. So what’s changed in the last few months and what are the critical challenges facing border agencies and governments that need addressing? 1. Fight or Flight The flow of Western brothers, sisters and even whole families to Syria and Iraq, often via Turkey, is becoming an increasingly grave issue and frequent occurrence. More and more British-born residents – as well as French, Belgian and other European nationals – are fleeing to fight for ISIL and other related terrorist cells in the Middle East. Furthermore, and of arguably greater concern in the mid- to long-term, is when extremists cross the border without the authorities knowing in order to receive terrorist training and then returning to their homes in the West. Identifying and closely monitoring these individuals is one of the more significant challenges for border agencies. Recognising those that are thought to be a high-risk before they reach the departure lounge is possible, but difficult. Monitoring them in Europe is conceivable, but requires high levels of inter-agency cooperation. The process of stopping them crossing the Syrian border should be more efficient. This will require a comprehensive multi-national programme and significant investment from governments in the region. The European Agency for Large-Scale IT Systems (eu-LISA) programme is one example of the work being done in this area. The programme will deliver a pilot analysing technical options for the proposed entry-exit system and registered traveller programme in 2015. In November, Krum Garkov, Executive Director for eu-LISA, will set out the challenges to the pilot going forward and what more needs to be done in order to achieve the implementation of the ‘Smarter Borders’ initiative Europe-wide. Other projects in Europe include Finland’s use of ABC systems to process Russian citizens at Helskini port; Germany’s ABC processing of third country nationals; and the Happy Flow project in Aruba by the Netherlands, which is looking at a new means of facilitating secure travel in the future. The UK’s BSP project failed but it is expected that out of this a new, fully-funded programme will emerge later this year, possibly following the strategic security review by the UK MoD and other government departments in the next SDSR. 2. Chunnel Trouble In July a record number of migrants attempted to break into the tunnel terminal and illegally enter the UK. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond chaired emergency Cobra committee meetings following the reports. At the time the British government announced an extra £7 million of funding for measures to improve security at Calais and the entrance to the Channel Tunnel, including the addition of another 100 border security guards. French worker strikes have compounded the problem, toping off a summer of bad PR for Eurotunnel culminating in a picture of a wall of burning tyres hitting the front pages. Aside from the wider security implications of this crisis, on of the key concerns for Eurotunnel is ensuring the crossing continues to operate as efficiently as possible and to keep providing a good passenger experience. Security is always the first and main objective of any border agency so investment in the latest surveillance technologies and border control checks and systems is necessary in order to keep an enormous operation such as Eurotunnel running smoothly. Eurotunnel announced that it expects to increase flow by 30% over the next five years. 3. Med Alert Moreover, the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean continues to spiral out of control as the political situation in Africa and the Middle East further deteriorates. A number of rescue missions and operations have deployed in recent months to attempt to ease the flow and save the lives of thousands of migrants attempting to cross the Med. Some public investment has gone towards efforts but many privately funded operations, such as MOAS – the Migrant Offshore Aid Station, have committed to saving lives at sea. Between May and October 2015, MOAS intended to position its 40 metre (130 feet) ‘Phoenix’ vessel in major migrant shipping lanes. Using Remote Piloted Aircraft with sonar, thermal, and night imaging the crew are monitoring the area to locate migrant vessels in distress. But a more permanent, secure and agile solution must be found. The mass migration attempts across the Med are not expected to ebb any time soon.