This DEFTECH SCAN reports on and assesses occurrences in military technology and capability development taking place from late January 2021 through to late March. It contains reporting on recent activities and announcements in the United Kingdom (UK), United States (U.S.), Finland, Sweden, Australia, Israel, Germany. India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Armenia, and the Republic of South Africa.

This report contains also new features that will be incorporated into DEFTECH SCANS going forward. First, where appropriate, it seeks to highlight how defence and security communities are meeting the challenge of Covid-19 both in terms of mitigating the current risks to personnel, societies, and operations and preparing to better meet the biological threats of the future.

Closely related to the increased attention to how technology is supporting defence and security community responses to Covid-19 is the paper’s emphasis on the importance of resilience—again, in response to Covid-19 and other biological and environmental threats as well as prioritized military capabilities, such as space architectures.

Finally, the Executive Summary boxes for two sections in this report include descriptions of articles or papers published on topics that are regularly covered in DEFTECH SCANS, but that are not featured in the text of the section. This approach allows for high-level updates of general reporting on key topics— for example, growing interest in hybrid engines—in a more efficient manner.

Source : DEFTECH