Defence`s Feeds

EDA’s 2019 Military Airworthiness Conference, a two-days event organised with the support of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence, was opened today in Vilnius by EDA’s Deputy Chief Executive Olli Ruutu. 

The conference brings together key stakeholders from national authorities, industry, European agencies and international organisations, to exchange views and best practices related to the harmonisation of European military airworthiness rules and standards. Common airworthiness approaches and standards are viewed as critical enablers for enhanced European defence cooperation.  

Over the two days, four main topics are being addressed through specific sessions: i) the impact of European Military Airworthiness Requirements (EMARs) on military aviation; ii) opportunities and challenges related to that; iii) lessons learned from EMARs implementation so far; iv) and the experiences made by third-party stakeholders.
 

Good progress made over past 10 years

In his opening speech, EDA Deputy Chief Olli Ruutu thanked the Lithuanian Armed Forces for hosting the event and for their strong interest in the work of the Military Airworthiness Authorities (MAWA) Forum and the harmonisation of airworthiness approaches.  

Since work started ten years ago on the harmonisation of airworthiness approaches in Europe, much has been achieved, Mr Ruutu said.  “The majority of EDA participating Member States have already implemented or are in the process of implementing European Military Airworthiness Requirements in their national regulations. But as you all are aware, the implementation of EMARs is not only about translating them in regulations but also about turning them into practice. And that makes EMAR implementation the most important phase in the harmonisation process and crucial for gaining the full benefits”, he stressed. Implementing the EMARs often means a different approach to military airworthiness that requires a change in safety culture, the Deputy Chief Executive stated. 

Further progress is also required as regards the cooperation between the national military airworthiness authorities in Europe, a topic which is already in the focus of the MAWA Forum.  “Since last year when the MAWA Forum adopted a new airworthiness roadmap, the forum has started several activities to develop harmonised practices and procedures with the objective to increase the level of standardisation and cooperation in the area of initial approvals of and oversight over organisations that provide services in the military airworthiness domain”, Mr Ruutu recalled. In parallel, Member States are engaged in mutual recognitions. “At this stage, 35 active recognitions are already in place between EDA pMS and several recognitions have been concluded with Military Airworthiness Authorities from other countries worldwide. These recognitions familiarise nations with each other’s airworthiness systems. It facilitates the exchange of lessons learned and the development of best practices and helps to build mutual trust and confidence, which are the cornerstones for cooperation”, Mr Ruutu welcomed. 
 

Towards aligning the national airworthiness systems

Based on this, Member States should now consider which additional cooperation steps they could take in the area of military airworthiness in line with their PESCO commitments, he said. “I believe it is now good to reflect on the best cooperative working structures for military airworthiness authorities; keeping in mind that we need to ensure that we are as effective as possible in aligning the national airworthiness systems towards a single reference without affecting national sovereignty as regards airworthiness risk acceptance. We need to facilitate an increased efficiency in certification, approval and oversight activities but also provide industry with a single framework to meet the requirements of all participating Member States”, Mr Ruutu said.
 

Background

The Military Airworthiness Authorities (MAWA) Forum oversees the development and maintenance of the European Military Airworthiness Requirements (EMARs) and promotes ways and means to harmonise the military airworthiness oversight across Europe.

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Picture: Bundeswehr Technical Center for Information Technology and Electronics in Greding (Germany)

With its final working group meeting held at the Agency premises on 26 September, EDA’s European Network on Electro Magnetic Effects Test & Evaluation capabilities Rationalisation (ENTER) project has been officially concluded. 

Launched in 2014 as a so-called Category B project within the EDA’s Defence Test and Evaluation Base (DTEB) initiative, it was supported by eight Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands. The main objective of ENTER has been achieved: the creation of a coordinated network of EME (Electro-Magnetic Effects) test centres in the participating countries, which will facilitate the future cooperation among them based on a shared technical understanding and background. The various centres attached to the network are: 

• Armament and Defence Technology Agency, Electrical Engineering Division (Vienna, Austria)
• Royal Military Academy, Department of Communication Information Systems & Sensors (Brussels, Belgium)
• Military Technical Institute (Prague, Czech Republic)
• WTD 81 - Bundeswehr Technical Center for Information Technology and Electronics (Greding, Germany)
• CISAM - Centro Interforze Studi Applicazioni Militari (Pisa, Italy)
• INTA - Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aerospacial (Torrejon de Ardoz - Madrid, Spain)
• FMV - Swedish Defence Materiel Administration – T&E Division (Ostersund, Sweden)
• RNLM/DMI/MT Sensors and Weapon Systems (Den Helder, The Netherland).

The network of EME test centres and related national experts will now continue to cooperate in the specific EME sector within the DTEB framework. The damaging effects of electromagnetic interference pose unacceptable risks in military technologies. Against this backdrop, the ENTER network will jointly develop ways and means in order to mitigate the risks of fatal electromagnetic interference during EU missions, among other things by examining the hazardous impact of civil equipment on military operations and vice versa.

Besides working on the network, the ENTER project also allowed participating Member States to conduct joint tests, to promote the use of harmonised test procedures, maintain and develop T&E capabilities and expertise and share knowledge, expertise and equipment. ENTER’s results and final recommendations will be further exploited to improve the EME section of the DTEB database.
 

More information:

• Defence Test and Evaluation Base (DTEB) – EDA project page

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EDA’s Steering Board has just approved the launch of a 4-year CAT B project aimed at developing a swarm of biomimetic underwater vehicles for underwater intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (SABUVIS II). It builds upon previous collaboration carried out under the SABUVIS I project which was completed in 2019. So far, two Member States (Poland, Germany) are contributing to this new project for which a project arrangement is expected to be signed later next year.

The new project is important for defence as Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are being increasingly utilised for a variety of differing tasks in the maritime environment. They represent a viable alternative to the operation of manned platforms and are particularly well suited to the rigours of an inhospitable domain that places a premium on technical advancements. 

Taking the natural world as its template, this collaborative project seeks to replicate some of the key features of marine life, principally those of propulsion and behaviour, so as to ensure the successful completion of underwater operations. A key feature of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions (ISR) for example, is the necessity to undertake these missions covertly, and those systems that are difficult to detect, both visually and audibly, provide the optimum solution. 

 

Building on the findings of SABUVIS I

This project is a continuation of the successful collaboration enjoyed between Poland, Germany and Portugal in the first SABUVIS project. In this first iteration, three different Biomimetic Underwater Vehicles (BUVs) were constructed with the resulting conclusion that BUVs can be designed with varying degrees of similarity with living organisms. Some of the identified benefits are that undulating propulsion consumes less electrical energy than conventional propulsion systems utilising screw based propellers, and different hydroacoustic signatures are produced with a corresponding lower noise level. 

This second phase will now expand upon, and investigate further, the swarm aspects with more tightly cooperating vehicles, moving in formations and consisting of vehicles having specific functions or tasks to perform. The project in particular will focus on the lead vehicles, who are responsible for the navigation function. 

The expected advantages of utilising vehicles in a swarm are reliability and efficiency. Firstly, the swarm system can incorporate redundant elements, essentially extra vehicles, which increases reliability in performing a task – the loss of one element does not result in the mission being abandoned. Secondly, the distribution of sensors and devices necessary to perform the mission across a number of vehicles makes it possible to reduce the size and complexity of vehicles and thus ensures simpler construction. Technological areas that the project will also focus on are in the area of navigation and principally in GPS denied areas, optical surface coastal navigation systems and new biomimetic drives.  

The principle organisations planned to undertake this project are the Polish Naval Academy and also the Wehrtechnische Dienststelle für Schiffe und Marinewaffen der Bundeswehr, Maritime Technologie und Forschung (WTD 71) in Germany. The project is as a result of the successful cooperation in EDA’s Maritime Capability Technology Group. 

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The Cooperative Financial Mechanism (CFM), an innovative programme initiated by EDA with a view to facilitating the financing of collaborative defence capability and research projects – for instance if unsynchronised defence budgets in participating Member States hinder or impede the launch of such projects – is now in the starting blocks. The final version of the CFM’s Programme Arrangement (PA), negotiated over the past two years, has been sent out this week to Member States for signing.

Eleven Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain) have already declared their firm willingness to sign and to join the CFM in the near future. More countries might join the programme in the coming weeks. The CFM will enter into force when the last country having declared its intention to join will have signed the PA. 

Developed as a so-called ‘Category A’ programme of the Agency, the CFM is entirely voluntary. Member States can freely decide if they wish to participate, contribute and support projects.

The CFM will be structured in two pillars:

• the first pillar foresees the European Investment Bank (EIB) as the sole lender through the conclusion of bilateral framework loan agreements between EIB and the interested Member State. To obtain the EIB’s financial support, projects submitted must respect the eligibility requirements set by the Bank lending policy, while the volume of the lending facility and the interest rate applied are negotiated on a case-by-case basis by the EIB and the interested MS and set out under each individual Framework Loan Agreement. The EIB involvement is supported and facilitated by the EDA which will act as the ‘Facility Agent’ on behalf of EIB under its instructions and responsibility, serving as a primary point of contact between the EIB and the beneficiary country in the technical assessment of the feasibility of each project;
• the second pillar provides for a State-to-State support facility, structured as a system of reimbursable advances and deferred payments. It can be used to support any defence related project, in full compliance with national and European law. The facility is structured as a set of individual bank accounts which are opened and managed by the EDA under the control of the CFM participating Member States. Within that pillar, any CFM Member can submit a request for financial support to the CFM programme. While the Programme Arrangement provides the overarching legal framework setting the general requirements and conditions for State-to-State support, the specific conditions of each advance will be set out in separate agreements to be concluded between the supporting CFM Member State, the beneficiary country and the EDA, as facilitator.
  The administrative and operational costs of the CFM will be covered by existing EDA resources meaning CFM members will not have to bear additional costs for the management of the mechanism. Notwithstanding any financial support granted under the CFM, projects or programmes subject to such financial support will remain at all times governed and managed according to their own rules.
  
  

 More information:

• European Defence Agency and European Investment Bank sign cooperation agreement (EDA webnews February 2018)

 

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