Land Warfare, Sponsored Post

In this Q&A with Mike Coulter, senior vp of Corporate Business Development and president, International for Leonardo DRS, we focus on the protection wants of Middle East nations, notably the UAE, in addition to interoperability with the US and different nations.

Breaking Defense: What are the primary risk situations for the Middle East and the way can nations just like the UAE use enabling capabilities and applied sciences to deal with that risk?

Coulter: Thanks, Barry, it’s nice to be with you. Ukraine has captivated worldwide audiences previously 12 months, however I might inform you that our companions within the Middle East have been working on this complicated surroundings for years now. What we’re seeing for the primary time on information channels is what our companions within the UAE have been telling us about for five or 10 years.

I spotlight the plethora of unmanned aerial techniques on the market, which has pushed an pressing want for air protection capabilities and defending troopers from drones and bigger air threats. A dynamic battlefield consists of the electromagnetic spectrum in our on-line world, which is driving the necessity for capabilities like sign recognition, detection, and identification as a way to detect, exploit, and assault.

The key to every part is safe communication and safe battle administration that’s operable with each the host nation’s forces and associate forces.

Breaking Defense: You talked about threats resembling unmanned techniques, and I do know that Leonardo DRS is working carefully with the US Army on its counter UAS program. In reality, Leonard DRS gives the radar and sensors for the Army’s CUAS program of document. You even have a lot of vital navy partnerships with the UAE. Tell us a bit about these?

Michael Coulter, senior vp, Corporate Business Development & president, International Leonardo DRS.

Coulter: We’re pleased with our partnerships in UAE. People say worldwide enterprise is completely different and arduous, they usually’re proper. For that motive, DRS decided about 15 years in the past that we weren’t going to be doing worldwide enterprise; we had been going to be doing home-market enterprise, and we dedicated to creating UAE a house market.

For the previous 15 years we’ve developed deep relationships, each with the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces and notably with UAE protection business. We’ve labored with NIMR to ship succesful fight autos to the UAE Armed Forces, and with EARTH on electro-optics for the Emirate Armed Forces.

We’ve labored with EDGE to offer fight coaching to the Emirate Air Force, with Abu Dhabi Ship Building to offer Navy EW, and now with International Golden Group to offer the C4I system for the Emirate Navy. So we’ve these deep partnerships, and we’re trying ahead to increasing these.

You talked about we’re this system of document for Counter UAS within the United States, a program referred to as M-LIDS [Mobile-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System], in addition to the quick vary air protection program referred to as M-SHORAD. We’re at the moment speaking to Emirate companions about bringing these to the UAE.

We not too long ago acquired an organization referred to as RADA, which is the chief on this planet on tactical radars. They paved the way in defining unseen threats and really small threats related to counter UAS.

Lastly, as area has change into a precedence not only for the US however for the UAE, we’ve ongoing conversations with the UAE Space Agency to deliver area sensing functionality into the UAE.

At the top of the day, it’s about partnership, not gross sales.

Breaking Defense: As , the US is targeted on interoperability between its providers and allies. What are your ideas on how the UAE and others can use the enabling applied sciences that we’ve been speaking about to be extra interoperable with the US?

Coulter: At the top of the day, you don’t battle alone, you battle with pals and companions. So interoperability is vital. The US authorities has lengthy acknowledged this, and we’ve loved robust US authorities help — each in expertise launch and in addition in international navy financing into the area to broaden interoperability with allied forces.

We’re very pleased with the success that we’ve had on battle administration with EDGE within the UAE. There’s a program referred to as ELTS, Emirates Land Tactical System, which is the UAE’s battle administration program, and it’s the very same spine that the US makes use of on their program referred to as MFoCS [Mounted Family of Computer Systems] and that the UK makes use of on Bowman.

We’re now working with EDGE to export that functionality from UAE to different regional companions — having not too long ago executed so in Bahrain. So we’re very pleased with interoperability.

The subsequent step is what companions at the moment are calling interchangeability. So that’s when your associate is just not in a position to be there, how are you going to function after which help these techniques generally?

We have a big effort now going into UAE on the right way to help widespread techniques that each the US and the UAE are utilizing. We’re engaged on the ELTS program to help battle administration within the UAE. And equally, we’re working with EDGE to help all of our EOIR sensors within the UAE.

Breaking Defense: That was an attention-grabbing touch upon not essentially interoperability however interchangeability.

Thank you for taking part in the present day, Mike, and recognize everybody who’s watched.