Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, was today joined by the Federal Member for Brisbane, Trevor Evans MP, when she opened Harris Defence Australia’s new Headquarters building located in Hamilton, Brisbane. 
 

WASHINGTON --- Readiness in the short term is not good enough, said Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, during an Association of the U.S. Army breakfast here, Jan. 17. 
 

NEWTOWN, Conn. --- As broadband data connections become an increasingly important part of society, satellite operators are working to expand their presence in the market. There are a number of innovative ways to achieve this. Some companies are relying on large GEO satellites with frequency re-use and spot beams to provide coverage. O3b uses satellites in medium-Earth orbit (MEO) to provide coverage. 
 

PARIS --- Airbus has been awarded the Symphonie contract by the French joint services directorate for defence infrastructure networks and information systems (DIRISI) for a period of seven years. It is part of the Descartes programme designed to modernise the telecommunication networks of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. 
 

FORT IRWIN, Calif. --- In support of on-going efforts to make command posts more resilient, mobile and survivable, the Army is pushing to get Secure Wi-Fi to the field to help gain an operational edge against potential peer and near-peer adversaries. 
 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Curtiss-Wright Corporation today announced that it has been awarded a five-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract valued at $86 million by Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) – Air Force Test Center (AFTC) to provide its aerospace instrumentation technology for use on the High Speed Data Acquisition System (HSDAS) program. 
 

The Network Centric Warfare conference takes place on 1-2 February 2018 and will feature 20+ expert presentations, a topical panel discussion, an exclusive workshop and dedicated sessions for networking, the conference is a one-of-a-kind event which will provide delegates an intelligent forum to explore strategic integration of networked systems and military forces to achieve operational superiority. The SMi Group have recently welcomed a number of new speakers and presentations which include Major General Angelo Palmieri, 6th Division, C4i and Transformation, Italian Army; Brigadier General Francesco Bruno, Commander Pinerolo Brigade, Italian Army; Colonel Mark Parsons, G6/Director of Land Command Information, Canadian Armed Forces; Mr Robert Schena, CEO, Rajant Corporation, plus many more.

SMi Group has recently announced that Colonel Mark Parsons, G6 / Director Land Command Information, Canadian Armed Forces, will be speaking at the Network Centric Warfare 2018 conference in Rome next February.Speaking on Day 2 of the event, Colonel Parsons will present an exclusive session entitled 'Maximising Canadian Emergency Response Capability Through Utilisation of Network Enabled Technologies'. His presentation will provide an overview of how robustly networked forces can respond with more versatility to emerging threats and crises. 

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. --- The Northrop Grumman Corporation developed Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS), the foundation of the U.S. Army IAMD, has successfully demonstrated extraordinary capabilities for improving joint force operational effectiveness. 
 

FAIRFAX, Va. --- General Dynamics Information Technology, a business unit of General Dynamics was awarded the Distributed Mission Operations Center – Infrastructure, Development and Engineering support contract by the U.S. Air Force. The single award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract has a potential value of approximately $47 million for one base year with four option years. 
 

SMi Group has recently announced that Colonel Joachim Neumueller, Head of Federated Mission Networking, J6, at NATO SHAPE, will be speaking at the Network Centric Warfare 2018 conference in Rome next February. With the rise of a multipolar world, balancing near-peer adversaries and asymmetrical combat threats, the need to build joint operational capability is now essential. NATO's Federated Mission Networking (FMN) represents a significant contribution towards building tactical interoperability and operational effectiveness through common equipment, doctrine and architectures. As a key component of the Connected Forces Initiative (CFI), which helps NATO allies and partner forces to maintain quality of communications, training exercises and operations, NATO’s FMN is driving standardisation and connectivity within allied forces.

SMi Group is proud to confirm that Major General Angelo Palmieri, Chief of 6th Division C4i and Transformation and Chief Information Officer of the Italian Army has joined the expert speaker line-up for the Network Centric Warfare 2018 Conference taking place in Rome next February.

BRUSSELS --- EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq this afternoon closed the Agency’s Annual Conference 2017 with a call to use the EU’s new defence tools and the EDA’s full potential for enhancing cyber cooperation and helping Member States’ armed forces to plan, develop, acquire and use the required defence capabilities. 
 

Italy continues to become a key player in the development of network-enabled systems. Just recently, the Pinerolo Brigade concluded Sessione di Integrazione Operativa 2017 and Aquila 6/2017 in line with the Armed Forces' FORZA NEC Program. The exercises explored how operational tactical acts with functional verification tests were defined on new software versions of C2 systems In line with this, SMi has announced that Brigadier General Francesco Bruno, Commander of the Pinerolo Brigade, will be presenting a session at the Network Centric Warfare conference on Improving the Operational Effectiveness of Italian Ground Forces Through Technological Innovation.

Now featuring 19 exclusive presentations, a pre-conference workshop, and dedicated networking sessions, SMi’s Network Centric Warfare 2018 aims to providing delegates an intelligent forum to explore strategic integration of networked systems and military forces to achieve operational superiority. Day 1 will provide updates on digital fire support, communication interoperability and digitalisation of the battlespace. Day 2 will provide briefings on networked enabled systems within US Army Europe, strategies to build situational awareness through networked data, and netcentric approaches to operations.

Defence officials in Finland Russia have launched a direct phone link between the two countries. Army top brass on both sides say the round-the-clock connection will support communication during unexpected situations. 
 

WASHINGTON --- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg previewed the NATO Defense Ministers meeting, saying the alliance will continue to adapt to the challenges of the 21st century. 
 

British Army to present exclusive session at SMi’s Network Centric Warfare conference which will take place on 1-2 February 2018 in Rome, Italy. As recently published by the UK MoD, one of the nine challenges identified and agreed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Joint Concept Note Future Force Concept is a focus on delivering agile command and control. This is critical to enhancing joint operational capability and is also seen as a fundamental requirement to develop the joint future forces vision.

USAREUR to present exclusive session at SMi’s Network Centric Warfare conference which will take place on 1-2 February 2018 in Rome, Italy. Earlier this year, the US Army Europe conducte "Exercise Dynamic Front" involving nine NATO nations with aims of coordinating mass artillery files to test interoperability to further the alliance's readiness for inherent threats. A big goal of the exercise was to promote Artillery Systems Cooperation Activities (ASCA), a software-based program used to digitally communicate real-time, linking field artillery and command and control systems.

High level representatives to speak at SMi’s Network Centric Warfare conference which will take place on 1-2 February 2018 in Rome, Italy. As Italy continues to become a key player in the development of network-enabled systems, SMi’s Network Centric Warfare 2018 will feature senior representation from the Italian Armed Forces with key updates on the FORZA NEC Program it moves from development to production phase in 2018. Returning as this year's conference chair is esteemed Lieutenant General (Ret'd) Giorgio Battisti, Commander of Italian Army Training and Doctrine Command, Italian Army.

WASHINGTON --- As the Army introduces concepts such as the multi-domain battle (MDB) into joint operations, it also examines how its current network requires modification in order to support warfighters from multiple services in varying areas of operations and with numerous network and cyber challenges. 
 

MELBOURNE, Fla. --- Harris Corporation has received a $260 million order to develop an integrated tactical communications network as part of an Asia-Pacific country’s modernization program. The order was received in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. 
 

Registration is now open for SMi’s Network Centric Warfare conference which will take place on 1-2 February 2018 in Rome, Italy. SMi Group has released the agenda for its Network Centric Warfare 2018 Conference. As militaries continue to operate in increasingly complex and asymmetrical environments, effective communications and system interoperability has become more critical to ensure forces remain agile and versatile.

SMi’s  Network Centric Warfare conference will focus on key aspects challenging and enhancing joint operations - in particular, utilisation of digital fire support, interoperability between air and ground based communication systems, digitalisation of battlespace, improving technical education and the Forza NEC programme.