RUSI Defence Systems

Issue: Feb 2008, Vol. 10, No. 3

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Index

Editorial Notes Bill Kincaid

Agility and Innovation in Acquistion Following on from the ‘contention’ section in our last edition, we focus on agility and innovation, particularly in the C4ISTAR sector where technology generations threaten to, and often do, outpace our acquisition decision-making processes.
Nicholas Whittall, Philip Boxer, Danny Flack et al

Defence Acquisition After Drayson With the resignation of Lord Drayson, the future for defence equipment acquisition would appear to many to have suffered a setback, for Drayson had the much needed commercial background for pushing forward many reforms. The Focus looks at his legacy.
RUSI Acquisition Focus

The Debate: Expensive Ineffectiveness Debate discussing the critical lack adequate funding for defence in the UK, and whether the tax-payer is getting the defence it needs.
Philip Pugh

Retuning ‘The Orchestra of Fire’ In this article, Jonathan Bailey argues the case for loitering munitions and illustrates his case with possible scenarios.
Jonathan Bailey

Loitering Munitions: Revolutionising Indirect Fire Support In this article, Dr Akram Ghulam, looks at the need for Loitering Munitions, the way in which they could be used and an incremental approach to their acquisition.
Akram Ghulam

Cannons, Missiles and Mortars: Cost-Effectiveness of Precision In this article, Alan L. Moore, Jr, looks at the comparative cost-effectiveness of cannon, rocket and mortar precision capabilities, and comes to a contentious conclusion.
Alan Moore

Modernising the American Army in an Era of Persistent Conflict In this article, the authors outline the key aspects of the transformation of the US Army.
Stephen Speakes and Gregory Martin

‘So, You Want to Buy a Battlecruiser?’: Rethinking the Requirement for FRES Specialist Variants In this article, Jim Storr challenges the MoD’s thinking on the specialist variants of the UK’s Future Rapid Effect System (FRES).
Dr Jim Storr

Enhancing the UK’s Rapid Intervention Options: The Joint Medium Weight Capability In his role as the Senior Responsible Owner for the Joint Medium Weight Capability Chris Wilson provides an update on how the UK plans to close its current shortfall in rapid intervention capabilities to meet the demands of the changing strategic context.
Chris Wilson

Assessing Assumptions: The Challenge of Through-life Support for FRES Here Christopher Dabrowski challenges three key MoD assumptions about the through-life support of the UK’s Future Rapid Effect System (FRES).
Christopher Dabrowski

Hybrid Electric Drive In this article Sandy Wilson looks at the history of Hybrid Electric Drive and the benefits and challenges it brings, suggesting that it is a technology whose time may have come.
Sandy Wilson

The Imperative to Recapitalise and Modernise Michael Moseley looks at the need for modernisation of the US Air Force and how it is being carried out.
Michael Moseley

The Future Air Equipment Capability: An Italian Perspective In this article, Vincenzo Camporini discusses some of the driving factors that characterise the equipment procurement process and how these affect the Italian Air Force future equipment programme.
Vincenzo Camporini

Flexible, Expeditionary and Effective: The Australian Air Power Aspiration In this article, John Quaife looks at the development of the Royal Australian Air Force to meet the tasks that lie ahead in expeditionary operations both far and near.
John Quaife

Air Power from the Sea: Next Steps In this article, Adrian Johns discusses how the Royal Navy is focusing its efforts to develop and deliver the capability of providing airpower from the sea in today’s strategic environment, and he covers naval air programmes, infrastructure, and people and training.
Adrian Johns

Royal Air Force Transformation In this article, Peter Dye defines the Royal Air Force Transformation programme that, at its heart, is about creating capacity, at both individual and organisational levels, and focusing resources on where they are most needed.
Peter Dye

The Next Generation of Air Mobility: Where Do We Go from Here? Frank Cappuccio describes the history and effectiveness of the Hercules and Super Hercules aircraft and the difficulty of replacing them.
Frank Cappuccio

The Challenges Today of Supporting Both Land and Sea Operations In this article, Paul Boissier discusses the challenges of sustaining operations in countries with limited organic infrastructure and the importance of further developing sea-basing as part of the Joint logistics support.
Paul Boissier

Supporting Joint & Combined Operations: How Do We Improve Performance? Klaus-Peter Treche describes the steps Germany is taking towards a fully effective Joint and Combined logistcs structure for support of UN, NATO and EU operations.
Klaus-Peter Treche

Military Sealift Command: Sealift for the Defence Distribution Process In this article, Robert D. Reilly Jr explains the US Navy's MSC’s current organisation and capabilities.
Robert Reilly Jr

Defence Equipment and Support: Equipping and Supporting our Armed Forces for Operations In this article Dick Applegate describes the organisation and responsibilities of the UK’s new Defence Equipment and Support and how the link between it and the front line is being strengthened.
Dick Applegate

Situational Cognition In this article, Vice Admiral (retd) Yedidia Groll-Yaari, looks at the difficulties for the operator in the field of real-time understanding of visual data from several moving sources with different lines of sight, particularly when one or more of the sources is airborne. He believes that networked situational awareness is contingent on the situational cognition of its constituent parts.
Yedidia Groll-Yaari

Defence Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance: Decision Confidence for the Future Force In this article,Stephen Hledik describes linking capability development of ISR to the Australian future concept for Joint operations.
Stephen Hledik

The State of Eastern European Defence Industries In this article, Eugene Kogan compares the defence industries of Eastern European members of NATO and the EU and suggests the ways they might develop.
Eugene Kogan

Root Causes of Delay: Have They Still Not Been Identified? John Dowdy compares the predictions of future UK acquisition performance he made in 2003 against the reality reported by the National Audit Office in 2007.
John Dowdy

A Tale of Two Cities: Transatlantic Defence Acquisition Priorities In this article Jeffrey Bradford compares the acquisition priorities of the UK MoD and the US DoD in terms of large programmes, rapid acquisition in support of operations and in-service support.
Jeffrey Bradford

The Maritime Trade Dynamic: Reshaping the US Coast Guard Role In this article Robbin Laird looks at two alternative futures for the US Coast Guard and calls for decisions to be made now.
Robbin Laird

The Design of Coastguard Vessels In this article, Richard White examines marine coastguard duties and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) management, which cover a wide range of activities, discusses factors that drive ship design, and shows how vessels designed and equipped by Rolls-Royce can meet the various demands.
Richard White

The Future French Air Force Stephane Abrial examines the importance of air power in today’s defence environment, discusses the new aircraft that are now coming into service and pinpoints the gaps that will still exist.
Stephane Abrial

A Complex Weapons Fantasy? In a letter home, a miliitary technician of the future describes the battlefield impact of advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and laser-guided munitions.
Steve Altman

The RDS Acquisition Interview The UK’s Defence Manufacturers’ Association (DMA) is a UK defence trade association and the voice of the UK Defence Industry. It has over 615 members (in the DMA and APPSS (Association of Police and Public Security Suppliers)). Rees Ward was Director General of the Defence Communication Services Agency (DCSA) from January 2002 until July 2007 and assumed the post of Director General of the DMA in July 2007. He talked to Bill Kincaid on 4 December 2007.