capability development plan - European Defence Agency - Europa

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THREATS AND CHALLENGES DERIVING FROM
POTENTIAL ADVERSARIES
CATEGORY 1
A Category 1 state is considered to be at the forefront of military technology, industry and equipment.
The following points define a Category 1 state:
• Advanced industrial economy enabling procurement and replacement of antiquated technology if
required;
• Advanced industrial presence, particularly on the high technology and electronic end of industry;
ability to manufacture and produce advanced, next-generation military equipment and systems;
• Well equipped with modern equipment and participating in advanced, ongoing projects such as nextgeneration
platforms (F-35 for example);
• Has evolved beyond C2 and C3 into at least an early C4I environment, and is actively involved in
developing its Network Enabled Capacity and other advanced force multipliers;
• Fully professional military force, or in the process of moving towards one;
• High levels of training and technical aptitude among personnel, reflecting an ability to make the most
efficient use of advanced systems procured;
• Well established Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul procedures ensuring platforms and systems inuse
function up to and beyond their intended service life without significant loss in effectiveness.
1st International HELO Mountain Exercise
Gap-Tallard 2009 © EDA
Specifically, such adversaries may develop new and enhanced capabilities, for example:
• Qualitative improvements for ground forces are envisaged including the upgrade of existing MBTs by
the installation of active protection systems – a feature that could increase the usefulness of MBTs in
conventional and insurgency operations;
• They may procure heavy AFV with, for example V-shaped hull and sufficient armour to protect troops
against RPGs and ATGW, and with active defence systems. But as a whole, these initiatives may not
create new capabilities but rather increase and complement current capabilities.
• Battalions (armoured and infantry) will receive organic UAVs primarily for a tactical role. The
usefulness of such equipment is its complete mobility and ability to be mounted on a light vehicle or
similar platform, enabling direct control by units rather than
by rear-echelon controllers. With a wide range of electro-optic equipment it can provide rapid
deployment ISR capability to units on demand and is ideal for deployment in complicated and cluttered
environments.
• High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) and Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) platforms will be
introduced for use as communication and ISTAR relays to enhance coordination.
• UCAVs may be introduced in the next 15-20 years, although there may be greater concentration upon
the ISTAR abilities of UAVs rather than the combat capability. Advanced adversaries are not expected
to field UCAVs until appropriate advances have been made in the development of autonomous flight
and operation. This is not expected until early-2020s.
• The success of the attack helos in the recent insurgency operations has convinced countries to
procure or upgrade attack helicopters, which includes the installation of surveillance and target
acquisition radar systems to concentrate on their primary task in anti-armour and to support infantry
operations, including in urban environments.
• Procurements will likely focus on the upgrade of its existing fleets until the entry into service of the 5th
generation aircraft (F-35). This will include life extensions, fitting of advanced electronic systems,
including Advanced Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and a number of advanced weapons
and bombs.
• Significant capability boosts may be encouraged in areas of airborne SIGINT and AEW, as well as
improving missile defence capabilities to protect against rockets attacks etc.
FUTURE TRENDS FROM THE CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN