22 · MT 3/2022 Feature of full air superiority over Ukrainian territory. The resilience of Ukrainian batteries, even when operating in splendid isolation, allowed the government to buy time, to put in place an effective strategy and, eventually, to internationalise the crisis, with the objective of creating a favourable stalemate. According to provisional open source data, Russian forces have lost 120 aircraft, of which 95 were destroyed, two damaged, and 23 captured. Amongst them, 53 UAVs of various models – Orlan-10/20/30, Eleron-3, Orion, etc. Fortunately, in this field Europe has at least four valid products to offer: Raytheon-Kongsberg’s NASAMS III, MBDA’s CAMM-based solutions, Rafael’s Spyder-SR/MR/360 (not completely European but already selected by the Czech Republic), and Diehl’s IRIS-T SLM. These batteries are regarded as being resilient, operational in all weathers and in all types of terrain. According to industrial sources, unlike other land assets, air defence batteries can be produced, delivered, and placed into service rapidly – which may, indeed, be a viable path to imminent orders. German and Polish studies estimate that a minimum of 50 batteries will be required to plug the capability gap left by the indifference and inattention of recent decades in Europe – a significant market opportunity and one that, yet again, is time-critical. Conclusion From a purely technological point of view, the European defence industry possesses sound knowledge in all fields of land armaments. Some of its products aimed at this sector can be considered excellent, and superior to any competitor worldwide. However, European countries keep paying the price for their poor defence planning and industrial politics of the last two decades. Increasing investment is good news, but short-term decision-making will likely force the adoption of suboptimal resource allocation – as usual. In brief, in times of war Europe has all the ingredients necessary to mount an effective self-defence, but the recipe has significant room for improvement. Exhibitions such as Eurosatory this year will not only provide a barometer for the outlook over the short and medium terms, but will also demonstrate the extent to which lessons have truly been learned. One of the first pictures showing the components of a close air defence battery based on CAMM-ER missiles, here in the configuration chosen by the Italian Air Force. (Courtesy of MBDA). Milrem’s example has been followed recently by Rheinmetall, which has turned its utility Mission Master UGV into a fire support vehicle, thanks to a Thales/Rheinmetall Fieldranger Multi RCWS, armed with two Thales Belgium seven-tube 70mm rocket launchers, delivering effect on a vehicular target at a 4,000m range. Mission Master can also be equipped with other weapons, including 12.7mm machineguns, a Dillon Aero M134D gun, or 40mm grenade launchers. Notwithstanding these promising experiments, as long as vehicles remain tele-operated, rather than operating autonomously, there will be a vulnerable C2 centre hosting operators and communication antennas. The centre will need to be protected and brought close to the frontline in various ways – on trucks, APCs, in containers, etc, where it must also be resilient to enemy jamming and cyber-attacks in order to sustain control over the UGVs in question. The real game-changer will come from the application of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, turning tele-operated vehicles into autonomous warriors. Autonomous UGVs will validate the operational concepts for using UGVs as heavy as the Uran-9 to replace currently manned platforms. Naturally, this step forward requires an open mind and out-of-thebox thinking – which, potentially, could risk turning future procurement programmes into political nightmares. Furthermore, there are plenty of experts in the field who point out that a decade or more is yet required before the routine availability of the mature technologies needed for so radical a step forward. The current war might accelerate such a process and encourage investment, doctrinal debate, and new regulatory frameworks. Lastly, the war in Ukraine is nurturing the demand for short- and medium-range air defence missile systems. Neglected over the last three decades, they have proven to be indispensable assets on the Ukraine battlefield, holding the enemy at risk and rapidly denying the establishment Rheinmetall’s LYNX family is one of the most sophisticated AFVs in the world. Milrem Robotics’ TYPE-X is the first and most important European project for a large, combat UGV. (Courtesy of Milrem) f f h
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