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DEFENCE

France recruits 1,800 extra staff to cyber warfare unit

The French defence ministry on Wednesday announced plans to significantly boost the country's four-year-old cyber warfare force, citing the "growing number and gravity" of hacking attacks on the country.

France recruits 1,800 extra staff to cyber warfare unit
French defence minister Florence Parly. Photo: Alain Jocard/AFP

The government had already planned to add an additional 1,100 recruits to a unit created in response to the growing number of cyber attacks on the West, mostly blamed on Russia and China.

Defence Minister Florence Parly told a cyber security conference in the city of Lille on Wednesday she had decided to go further to try make France “a cyber security champion”.

Warning of a “Cold War in cyberspace” she said she would hire an extra 770 cyber combattants on top of an additional 1,100 already planned, bringing the force’s staffing level to 5,000 by 2025.

France and other Western countries are alarmed over a growing number of increasingly aggressive cyber attacks, including data breaches and ransomware attacks, which typically see hackers encrypting victims’ data and then demanding money for restored access.

Recent high-profile targets have included a US oil pipeline, Ireland’s health service and India’s flag carrier Air India.

Parly said that the French army needed to increase it use of the “cyber weapon”.

“Our opponents do not shy away from doing so, whether state powers, terrorist groups or their backers,” she said.

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DEFENCE

Danish air force buys electric planes to cut emissions

The Danish air force will acquire two light electric planes, the defence ministry announced Thursday in what it said was a world first for a military force and part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Danish air force buys electric planes to cut emissions
The Velis Electro is the only electric aircraft that has been certified or authorised to fly by the EU's Aviation Safety Agency. Photo: Pipistrel

The two Velis Electro propeller-driven planes made by the Slovenian company Pipistrel will supplement existing training aircraft.

“Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to climate chang, and this also applies to ​​defence,” Denmark’s defence minister, Trine Bramsen, said in a statement. “That is why we have decided to procure electric aircraft for our air force. The electric planes will be used for training, among other things. The experience will be important for future equipment acquisitions in the field of defence.”

The potential for electric aircraft will now be evaluated over a two-year period. 

The Velis Electro is the only electric aircraft that has been certified or authorised to fly by the EU’s Aviation Safety Agency, EASA.

The Danish defence ministry announced in May a plan to reduce its emissions, but that has so far consisted largely of equipping buildings and ships with LED light bulbs and encouraging biodiversity on military bases.

The two electric aircraft will similarly only make a symbolic dent in the 42 million litres of fuel the Danish military consumes each year, emitting some 90,000 tonnes of CO2.

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