Avon U.S. Army News Article March 2019The M53A1 was developed to counter military unique and domestic threats encountered on the modern battlefield, the global war on terrorism, and peacekeeping operations around the world.https://defence-blog.com/army/u-s-army-awards-avon-protection-with-245m-contract-for-m53a1-gas-masks.html

CNIMCNIM - in partnership with Socarenam, Mauric and CNN MCO - has been awarded the contract to replace the French Navy's landing crafts. Fourteen new Standard Amphibious Landing Crafts (EDA-S) are to be built over a ten-year period. This contract reasserts CNIM's status as a key partner to the French Navy and a European leader in the area of amphibious operations, supplying the complementary innovative vessels: EDA-S and EDA-R (already in service in the French Navy, designed by CNIM). 

https://cnim.com/sites/default/files/2019-01/Press_Release_EDAS_amphibious_landing_craft.pdf

Chess TridentChess Dynamics Partnered with Kongsberg to Showcase New Technology during Trident Juncture 2018

“Trident Juncture - the largest NATO exercise since the end of the Cold War. Our security environment has become less predictable, NATO has become more capable. And Trident Juncture demonstrates that strength. With 65 ships at sea, 250 planes in the air, 10,000 vehicles on land, many experts in cyber, over 50,000 personnel from 29 Allies. As well as our close partners, Finland and Sweden.

This is a defensive exercise. It is not directed against any country. We are transparent in what we do. And we welcome the international observers - from Russia and from many other countries.

We exercise to strengthen our ability to operate together, to test and certify the NATO Response Force, and to send a clear message.

NATO's mission is to preserve the peace. Not to provoke a conflict, but to prevent a conflict. To do so, we provide credible deterrence. With the strength and the speed of our forces, and our ability to operate together.

This is what Trident Juncture is all about”.

With more than 50.000 soldiers from 29 different countries participating in the exercise, TRJE18 provided an environment for existing or new capabilities to be tested, refined, and further developed. A successful collaboration between FFI (Norwegian Defence Research Establishment), ACT (NATO Allied Command Transformation) and industry, demonstrated capabilities of autonomous and automatized systems within a complex environment.

The Chess Hawkeye air defence system was fully integrated in to the Kongsberg Integrated Combat System (ICS). Covering a large area, Chess Dynamics' primary role was to Detect and Deny Unmanned Aerial vehicles, Ground and Naval targets trying to operate within the Area of Responsibility. By using open standards and networked sensors within the location, targets that pose a significant threat are handed off to unified user interfaces allowing other assists and effectors to be cued instantaneously.  

https://vimeo.com/298120362

U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy Seabees jointly deployed a WFEL Medium Girder Bridge (MGB) in Norway recently

WFEL MGB Trident Junc 2018 002

The troops demonstrated their bridge-building skills in a constricted workspace in an extremely harsh weather environment and tested their ability to ensure mobility of forces during the scenario of an existing bridge over a gap becoming structurally unsound due to battle damage and unsafe for military vehicles to cross. The need for the new bridge was, therefore, critical.

Almost 100 U.S. Marine Light Armoured Vehicles and Norwegian Bandvagns (all-terrain tracked carrier vehicles) crossed the bridge immediately after its completion.

Gap crossing is a critical skill that engineers need to accomplish; the military acknowledge that being able to rapidly assess and breach a gap takes a great deal of planning and co-ordination - and is always a challenge.

In recent years, most US Forces operations have been carried out in warm or desert environments, eg Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Recently however, the focus has moved such, there has now become a priority for training between NATO allies in areas where temperatures often drop well below freezing.

The overall exercise, including bridge-building construction, helped to test and validate warfighting capabilities across the warfighting domains, better preparing them to help support NATO Allies and partners.

To assist with the logistics challenge, a strategic pre-positioning programme was called upon. Since 1981, equipment and supplies had been pre-positioned in Norway to enable a quicker response by the military in times of crisis. The U.S. Marine Corps Prepositioning Program has been used to support logistics for combat operations such as the war in Iraq and, during Trident Juncture 18, the U.S. Marines once again utilized this concept by withdrawing equipment from caves to build the WFEL Medium Girder Bridge. 

Around 50,000 participants from some 30 NATO and partner countries took part in exercise Trident Juncture 2018, the largest in a series of long-planned exercises to ensure that NATO forces are trained, able to operate seamlessly together and ready to respond to any threat, from any direction.

The exercise took place in central and eastern Norway and surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden.  Air, land, maritime, special operation forces and amphibious forces participated. Around 250 aircraft, 65 vessels and up to 10,000 vehicles were used during the exercise, including the British Army which deployed some 1600 soldiers and over 1000 vehicles and equipment. 

https://www.owenint.com.au/news-events/159-wfel-s-rapidly-installed-bridges-deployed-during-exercise-trident-junture

Invictus Games 2018

Owen International is very pleased to be a supporter of the Invictus Games both as a donor and in helping to promote awareness and support.

"Invictus" means "unconquered". It embodies the fighting spirit of wounded, injured and sick Service personnel and personifies what these tenacious men and women can achieve post injury.

The games are an international adaptive multi-sport event for wounded, sick and injured service personnel, and will take place in Sydney from 20 - 27 October 2018.

Owen International is not only providing financial support, but also involved in helping international family and friends spectate the sailing events on Sydney harbour.

https://www.invictusgames2018.org/