Main Conference Day One (22 Jan)
7:10 - 8:00 REGISTRATION & COFFEE
7:55 - 8:30 CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS
General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, KCB, OBE, - DSACEUR (Mar 2014 - Mar 2017), Conference Chairman
8:30 - 9:00 RESERVED FOR OPENING KEYNOTE
9:00 - 10:30 PANEL DISCUSSION: LAND FORCE COMMANDERS PANEL DISCUSSION
Lieutenant General Tim Radford - Commander, Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, NATOMajor General Karl Engelbrektson - Commander, Army of Sweden
Major-General Marc Thys - Commander, Land Component, Belgian Armed Forces
Major General Johannessen Odin - Inspector General, Norwegian Army
Major General Hans-Christian Mathiesen - Chief of the Army Staff, Defence Command Denmark
Brigadier General Zsolt Sándor - Commander, Hungarian Ground Forces
An annual highlight – the discussion will analyse some of the key challenges that Commanders of Land Forces are facing in the contemporary environment and those anticipated through 2035 and beyond.
11:30 - 12:15 MORNING COFFEE AND NETWORKING
11:15 - 11:45 US ARMY’S MOBILE PROTECTED FIREPOWER PROGRAM
Mr. David Dopp - Program Manager, Mobile Protected Firepower, PEO-GCS,, U.S. Army· The current status of program and the anticipated award of two contracts for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase in early Fiscal Year 2019
· Why is the MPF programme so critical for the Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCT)?
· Deployment in austere and unpredictable locations allowing the avoidance of the enemy's strengths and enabling the rapid transition to offensive operations to exploit the initiative
11:45 - 12:30 INDUSTRY LEADERS PANEL DISCUSSION: IDENTIFYING TRENDS IN THE MARKET, FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS AND EXAMINING THE CHALLENGES FACED BY THE CUSTOMER
This panel discussion invites key industry players to debate the topics currently driving the community – questions will then be opened to the floor.
- Collaboration and partnerships among industry is important. How is industry doing this effectively to deliver military capability at an affordable price?
- Local content requirements are common in many nations. What case-studies demonstrate where this can be done to everyone’s advantage and where can local content make the biggest impact?
- What are the technological breakthroughs and performance requirements that vehicle users are now looking for/or should be looking for?
12:30 - 13:30 NETWORKING LUNCH
Survivability
13:30 - 14:00 IMPROVING THE SURVIVABILITY AND PROTECTION OF LAND ARMOURED VEHICLES THROUGH ACTIVE PROTECTION SYSTEMS (APS) Tom Newbery CPhys - Platform Survivability Group, Dstl· Conducting a proof of concept Technical Demonstrator Programme (TDP) to develop a Modular Integrated Protection System (MIPS)
· Developing an APS Electronic Architecture (EA) that is founded upon Modular Open System Architecture design principles
Survivability
14:00 - 14:30 SAAB, FORCE INTEGRATED SURVIVABILITY· Signature Managment, a truly disruptive technology for the STRIKE BDe.
· Local Situational Awareness Systems- see first act first
· Vehicle Electronics – System configurations according to you needs
Survivability
14:30 - 15:00 ISRAELI ACTIVE PROTECTION SYSTEM CAPABILITY Major Yanay Ish-Am - Weapons Development Department, Armored Branch, Israel Defence Force· Operating the only fully operational and combat-proven APS in the world
· Current APS capability which includes four fire-control radars to track incoming threats such as anti-tank-guided-missiles and rocket-propelled grenades
· Plans for further weapons development
Survivability
15:00 - 15:30 TROPHY - THE ONLY OPERATIONAL, COMBAT-PROVEN APS IN THE WORLD· Trophy-HV aimed to medium and heavy platforms and Trophy-LV for light and medium tactical vehicles
· Installed on over 3 brigades of the Israel Defense Forces Merkava MBTs and Namer IFVs
· Trophy, combined with Rafael’s other combat proven solutions, will enable greater survivability and greater lethality
Sponsored by: Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.
Survivability
15:30 - 16:00 AFTERNOON TEA AND NETWORKINGSurvivability
16:30 - 17:00 REVISION MILITARY – POWERING PROTECTION – THE RIGHT LITHIUM SOLUTION FOR YOUR PLATFORM NEEDS· Revision Military designs, develops and delivers innovative battlefield energy solutions to protect the soldier and the platform, to deliver Mission Survivability through signature and penetration management, reducing platform acoustic, thermal and logistic signatures
· Revision’s energy solutions provide prolonged performance at high loading, supplying high capacity and maintenance free, low cost of ownership, low logistic drag energy solutions delivering operational energy independence and self-reliance to expeditionary forces
· Revision powers protection and delivers tailorable, scalable and reconfigurable platform power solutions delivering improved power density, reduced platform weight and greater power to weight ratios
· Revision’s SWATPack and SWITCHPack; energy solutions for today’s and tomorrow’s Armoured Vehicles
Survivability
16:30 - 17:10 PANEL DISCUSSION: SURVIVABILITY General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, KCB, OBE, - DSACEUR (Mar 2014 - Mar 2017) Conference Chairman· Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) protection Vs. Active Protection Systems (APS)
· Future trends in survivability
· APS from drawing board to working systems; how developed are they?
· Soft kill vs Hard kill – different systems available and trade-offs; what are the effects on nearby infantry?
Survivability
17:00 - 17:10 TRANSMISSION TO BRING AUDIENCE TOGETHER FOR PLENARY SESSIONFirepower
13:30 - 14:00 DEVELOPING THE UK’S BATTLEGROUP ORGANIC ANTIARMOUR CAPABILITY Dr Mike Dalzell - Complex Weapons - Science Gateway, Directorate Strategic Programmes, WECA, UK Ministry of Defence· Strategic and operational drivers for mounted and dismounted antiarmour capability
· Technology assumptions and enabling research and development
· Route to delivery
Dr Mike Dalzell
Complex Weapons - Science Gateway, Directorate Strategic ProgrammesWECA, UK Ministry of Defence
Firepower
14:00 - 14:30 MAXIMIZING OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY, READINESS, AND LCC THROUGH COCKERILL® 3000 SERIES MODULARITY· Execute complete target set effectively
· Maintain extremely high readiness (Training and Maintenance)
· Do both economically, within today and tomorrow’s constraints
Sponsored by: CMI Defence
Firepower
14:30 - 15:00 DELIVERING THE BELGIAN CAMO PROGRAM Lieutenant Colonel Denis Servais - Directorate General Material Resources, Land, Systems, Belgian Ministry of Defence· Replacing the Belgian army's existing Piranha 3 6x6 and Dingo 2 4x4 armored vehicles with the Medium Brigade- Jaguar/Griffon vehicles will be purchased along with communications systems and spare parts
· Sharing common organisational structures, training programmes, and logistical support with France
Lieutenant Colonel Denis Servais
Directorate General Material Resources, Land, SystemsBelgian Ministry of Defence
Firepower
15:00 - 15:30 I SEE THE LIGHT· Providing ground vehicle operators with advanced warning when they are a target of laser-aided weapons
· Giving warfighters the precious time they need to act and defeat the adversary while enabling superior survivability
· Laser warning systems detect, prioritize in order of lethality, and characterize laser rangefinders, laser designators and laser beam-riding missile threats
Firepower
15:30 - 16:00 AFTERNOON TEA AND NETWORKINGFirepower
16:00 - 16:30 MX-GCS ABOVE ARMOR SENSOR FLEXIBILITY FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF COMBAT VEHICLES· The L3 Wescam MX-GCS is a light weight, advanced, high performance above armour sighting system specifically designed for combat vehicle applications
· The single common sight can be utilized as both a high accuracy gun-sight and / or 360 degree Commanders Independent Viewer (CIV)
· The systems modular scalable design enables it to meet and adapt to user requirements & budgets
Firepower
16:30 - 17:10 PANEL DISCUSSION: FIREPOWER· Remotely Controlled Weapon Stations; what are the disadvantages of these systems?
· What is the optimum combination of firepower, protection, mobility and operational readiness?
· Up-gunning APCs and integrating missile systems on to IFVs; what are the trade-offs?
Firepower
17:00 - 17:10 TRANSMISSION TO BRING AUDIENCE TOGETHER FOR PLENARY SESSIONMobility
13:30 - 14:00 SPANISH CONTRIBUTION TO VJTF (L), ARMOURED AND MECHANISED CAPABILITIES Brigadier General Aroldo Lazaro Saenz - Commander, “Brigada Guzman el Bueno” X, Spanish Army· Contributions by Spain to the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) of NATO in 2018
· Feedback from the ‘Resolute Action’" exercise, conducted San Gregorio Training Centre in Zaragoza
· Training for hybrid war operations inside a semi-desert environment and with the presence of civilian people
Mobility
14:00 - 14:30 THE FFG SYSTEM HOUSE APPROACH: EFFICIENT PARTNERSHIP SOLUTIONS· FFG Unique Company Perspective
· System House Verses Package Upgrades
· Vehicle Solutions
Sponsored by: FFG
Mobility
14:30 - 15:00 HEAVY FORCES: ITALIAN ARMY PERSPECTIVE AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS Brigadier General Angelo Minelli - Commander of the Cavalry School and Inspector of the Cavalry, Italian Army· Operational environment considerations: Focus toward warfighting campaigns
· Influence of land power and the expanding role of heavy forces
· Wheels vs tracks dilemma
· Italian Army perspective on heavy forces capabilities
Brigadier General Angelo Minelli
Commander of the Cavalry School and Inspector of the CavalryItalian Army
Mobility
15:00 - 15:30 COMPOSITE RUBBER TRACK OPERATE AT REACH - LOWER LOGISTIC NEED - FIGHT FOR LONGER· An overview of the Composite Rubber Track System
· Survivability benefits:
- Noise & vibration (troops fight for longer)
- Durability & maintainability
- Vehicle weight & manoeuvrability
- Ammunition & electronics
- Low logistic support & Life cycle costs
· Challenges for Integration and Maintainability
Sponsored by: Soucy Defense
Mobility
15:30 - 16:00 AFTERNOON TEA AND NETWORKINGMobility
16:00 - 16:30 ADDRESSING THE MARKET NEED FOR A HIGH PERFORMANCE AND AFFORDABLE REAL MILITARY 14- 18 TONES CHASSIS : FROM AXLE SUPPLY TO ROLLING CHASSIS SUPPLY· 14t to 18t Market demand
· Chassis technology
· Application for French Army
Mobility
16:30 - 17:10 PANEL DISCUSSION: MOBILITY Lieutenant General Ben Hodges (Ret.) - Commanding General U.S. Army Europe (2014-2017)· Gap crossing techniques and equipment to allow manoeuvre and firepower to occur
· Wheels Vs. tracks – all terrain capabilities and logistical trains; trade-offs and latest operational feedback
· Deployability and manoeuvrability; how quickly can vehicles arrive at the fight?
Mobility
17:00 - 17:10 TRANSMISSION TO BRING AUDIENCE TOGETHER FOR PLENARY SESSION17:20 - 17:50 THE U.S. ARMY’S NEXT GENERATION COMBAT VEHICLE
· Current program status, initial requirements and roadmap
· Developing requirements to bring the NGCV to life,with an initial fielding goal of 2035 that could replace potentially both the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and the Abrams tank
· Optimised for urban combat with an emphasis on lethality and power, whilst also being able to operate manned or unmanned
17:50 - 19:00 STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP DEBATE: A CHANGING WAR
General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, KCB, OBE, - DSACEUR (Mar 2014 - Mar 2017) Conference ChairmanLieutenant General Ben Hodges (Ret.) - Commanding General, U.S. Army Europe (2014-2017)
The current threat context can be defined by a multiplicity of new characteristics; cyber attacks, asymmetric warfare, terrorism at home and abroad, a resurgent Russia, the unpredictability of North Korea, a maturing Iranian nuclear capability, the numbers advantage of China and the clandestine operations of non-state actors. Arguably, we are only just beginning to adapt our forces to these new norms and the probable characteristics of the next war. What role can Command play in combating these threats and what responsibilities do vehicle operators have here?
The Vostok exercise mobilized a vast combined force, punctuated by an accelerated defence partnership between Russia and China that demonstrated the participants’ ability to deliver unprecedented combat mass and the logistical means to support it. What did we learn about the role of the approximated 36,000 armoured assets that took part in the exercise and how must NATO use its own assets to similar- or better- effect?
To enable a comprehensive breadth of debate and insight, both in a historic sense and with the required contemporary knowledge, this panel discussion will feature a selection of perspectives from our currently serving senior military leaders, alongside a selection of our retired greybeards.