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12 Aug 20. US Navy completes first flight test of new jamming pod. The U.S. Navy announced the first successful fight test of its new upgraded airborne electronic warfare system. The Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band pod was mounted and flown on an EA-18G Growler aircraft at Patuxent River, Maryland, on Aug. 7, the Navy said in an Aug. 10 news release.
The jammer is the Navy’s and, by extension, the joint force’s premier aerial electronic attack platform. It will replace the ALQ-99 jamming pod and has been broken up into three pods covering three portions of the electromagnetic spectrum: mid, low and high.
Raytheon was awarded the mid-band pod in 2016. Bids for the low-band pod are currently out with Northrop Grumman and L3 Technologies selected to conduct a demonstration of existing systems. The timeline and funding for a high-band post is unclear at this time.
To date, much of the testing for mid band had been conducted in labs to evaluate the electronics in the pod, but the flight test is a milestone for seeing how the system integrates with the aircraft and the pilot.
“There was a lot of discussion on how the NGJ-MB pod would affect how the Growler handles and it was exciting to have the jet feel like any other flight,” said Lt. Jonathan Williams, a VX-23 test pilot. “We have a great test team to thank for making today happen and I look forward to seeing how the Growler team brings out the full potential of the NGJ-MB pod.”
The recent flight test validated “the last four years of development and the extensive efforts of these last several months in preparation,” said Capt. Michael Orr, AEA Systems (PMA-234) program manager.
Government and industry officials have explained how much more powerful and agile the upgraded suite of the next-gen jammer will be.
“The [airborne electronic attack] AEA community has been relying on the ALQ-99 [tactical jamming system] for decades,” said Lt. Jonathon Parry, NGJ-MB Aeromechanical Project Officer. “Gone are the days of isolated Surface-to-Air Missile systems that operate on a small frequency spectrum and do not integrate into a larger Integrated Air Defense System. Modern adversaries are developing complex emitters that use advanced techniques to defeat legacy jamming. NGJ-MB will provide new capabilities to the fleet to ensure spectrum dominance against current and future threats.”
The Senate’s version of the annual defense bill seeks a clearer strategy from the Navy on the jammer and its three pods regarding procurement strategy; analysis of the capability to meet frequency ranges identified in the National Defense Strategy; an assessment of the pod’s compatibility and ability to synchronize non-kinetic effects using other joint electronic warfare platforms; and a future model of interdependent electronic warfare options for tactical, operational and strategic commanders.
This is all in the name of determining how the jammer will help ensure full-spectrum electromagnetic superiority, as Congress in recent years has taken aim at the Defense Department’s capabilities and potential deficiencies in the electromagnetic spectrum versus top competitors. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
12 Aug 20. Deloitte wins $106m contract with the Pentagon’s AI hub. The Defense Information Systems Agency awarded a $106m contract to Deloitte Consulting to build the Pentagon’s artificial intelligence hub’s AI development platform, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Aug. 12.
The company will “design and build” the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center’s Joint Common Foundation, a capability that DoD AI leadership has stated will be integral in developing, testing and fielding AI capabilities. The contract has a one-year base period worth $31m with three option years through August 2024.
Work is scheduled to start Aug. 17, according to Lt. Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, spokesperson for the JAIC.
“The Joint Common Foundation will provide an AI development environment to test, validate and field AI capabilities at scale across the Department of Defense,” Abrahamson said. “The impact of the JCF will come from enterprise‐wide access to AI tools and data for AI developers across the Department and its partners that will help synchronize AI projects, reduce development redundancy and enable the broad deployment of AI-enabled solutions to the tactical edge where front line operators can benefit from these capabilities.”
Deloitte will serve as the lead system integrator for all contractor solutions for the JCF, he said. It will “provide, operate, maintain, secure and enhance the JCF with platforms and tools that can be shared and distributed to end-users across the Department of Defense enterprise,” according to the press release.
The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center is the DoD’s lead organization on accelerating AI adoption across the department. The center has undertaken several projects since being stood up in 2018, including predictive maintenance and disaster relief work. Its portfolio continues to expand, this year taking on its first lethality project—known as the joint warfighting initiative—and entering the information warfare fight as well. The JAIC also awarded a five-year contract potentially worth up to $800 million to Booz Allen Hamilton in May for work related to the joint war fighting initiative.
The award of the JCF contract is an important step as the JAIC continues to mature. For the center, “the end state is an AI development environment that will accelerate the testing, validation and fielding of AI capabilities across the U.S. military,” Abrahamson said. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
12 Aug 20. Access to Actionable Data Key to Future Fight. The next adversarial confrontation will begin in the digital world of the space and cyberspace domains, Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.
Personnel working in those domains will “become the front line of the fight.”
“It’s critical that we look at that structure as a warfighting problem, and that’s what the CIO is doing now, so that’s tremendous,” he said, referring to the Defense Department’s Office of the Chief Information Officer.
The vice chairman spoke at today’s chief information officer global town hall, via commercial virtual remote, which was attended by cybersecurity and information technology personnel from across the department.
The CIO has been effectively partnering with the joint community, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council and other elements within the Pentagon, he said.
“Because of that, we’re in a much better position,” he continued. “It’s going to be critically important that we work together to define the future of the digital world.”
“In the past, preparing for battle meant drawing lines of responsibility for the air component, maritime component, land component and allies and partners component,” he said. “Then we figured out how all those things are going to come together.”
“In the battlefield of the future, the biggest thing that changes is there are no lines anymore,” he said, explaining that Army, Navy, Air Force and partner assets will be used to support each other rather than operating separately.
“If you can do that all at the same time, then the adversary has no idea where the next strike is coming from, and you’ve then created a problem for the adversary that is so significant they will not risk attacking you,” Hyten said.
But in order for that to happen, the key becomes the data, he said. The data has to be able to work. Every sensor on the battlefield, every sensor in space, every sensor on the ground has to be able to take the data and feed it into a common environment.
That common environment then has to be able to take the data and provide it to anybody who needs that element of the data, he said. Each component commander will have the ability to access this data.
“When they access the data and pull that information out, then we have to figure out how to command and control it, so we can de-conflict the fire from one element to the other, he said. “When that happens, everything changes, and our adversary will not be able to keep up. That’s the ultimate deterrent.”
Everything is about the data, he reiterated.
“We have to be able to build software quickly and reliably and adjust it quickly,” he continued. “We have to be able to manage the entire digital infrastructure that we’re going through. That’s all true, but when it comes down to the basics, it’s all about the data.” (Source: US DoD)
11 Aug 20. KoolSpan Delivers Secure Mobile Communications Solution to NGA’s GEOINT App Store for Department of Defense and Intelligence Community Users. KoolSpan and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) today announced the availability of TrustCall, a secure mobile communications application, to all DoD and IC users for download here for iOS, here for Android, via the GEOINT App Store. The app is made available through the Innovative GEOINT Application Provider Program (IGAPP).
Global telecommunications networks are inherently insecure as has been well documented by cyber security experts in the US Government and across the private sector. The threats are posed by systemic vulnerabilities in the global telecommunications infrastructure that readily enable interception and monitoring of mobile communications, both voice and data. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), “Due to the nature of carrier networks no voice or data should depend solely on the network for confidentiality of integrity protection.” The only viable solution to this problem is to “Ensure devices use end-to-end encryption for all communication paths.”
While these issues receive a great deal of attention as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the mass migration to remote / tele-work, the adoption of end-to-end encryption for mobile communications will continue onward as a best practice post-pandemic.
Remote employees can easily take advantage of TrustCall’s high fidelity audio via an intuitive, easy-to-use solution that installs in minutes and requires no user training. Unlike others, TrustCall is designed from the ground up as an enterprise-grade solution that delivers high performance and reliable FIPS 140-2 validated encrypted audio, text messaging, and file sharing, combined with policy enforcement, control, management, and APIs available in flexible deployment configurations (as-a-Service in a public/private cloud, on premise, hybrid).
TrustCall will be hosted and run in an IL 4+ Government Cloud. Anyone with a CAC PIV can access and download the KoolSpan TrustCall application for secure communications leveraging the back end infrastructure hosted by NGA.
“We are thrilled to partner with NGA’s IGAPP to make this important solution available,” said Nigel Jones, KoolSpan CEO. “We take not only great pride but also responsibility to help DoD and IC employees protect their communications and are working with our partners to do everything to make it easy for them to deploy TrustCall to their organizations and people.” (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
11 Aug 20. RQ-170 Practices Evading Air Defenses with B-2, F-35. Some of the Air Force’s most advanced, secretive aircraft flew together in a large-scale event this week to vet the service’s methods for destroying enemy air defenses, and to see how well older planes work with more advanced airframes.
The 53rd Test and Evaluation Group’s exercise ran from Aug. 4-6 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., bringing together the F-35A, F-22, and F-15E fighters, B-2 bomber, RQ-170 reconnaissance drone, a Navy E/A-18G electronic attack plane, and command-and-control systems from various testing and operations squadrons.
Together, they represent some of the most important capabilities the Air Force says it needs to have the upper hand against adversaries with improved anti-aircraft missiles and weapons that block or confuse electronic signals.
Airmen wanted to prove whether the F-35 could suppress enemy air defenses so the stealthy B-2 and the RQ-170 could sneak by unharmed. Scenarios partnered the fifth-generation F-35 and F-22 with the fourth-generation F-15E and others to see how aircraft could wield new, unique electronic attack capabilities, according to an Aug. 6 53rd Wing release. Tools like signal jamming can help the Joint Strike Fighter move more freely in areas where it might be attacked.
The test included tactics, techniques, and procedures established at the service’s Weapons and Tactics Conference that had never been tried in flight tests. That involves using more advanced planes to support the B-2, complex ingress tactics using stealth, shaping how fourth- and fifth-generation planes talk to each other when taking on air defenses, and checking whether various electronic attack procedures are effective.
“Through events like these, we continue to improve our joint fourth- and fifth-generation tactics, which enhances our abilities in an advanced threat environment,” Maj. Theodore Ellis, weapons chief at the 53rd Wing Weapons, said in the release.
Running the large force test cost $1.4m, according to the Air Force.
“The investment and trust in our team allowed the 53rd Wing to evaluate the interoperability of leading-edge capabilities and develop [tactics, techniques, and procedures] that will ultimately strengthen our nation’s air dominance,” said Col. Bill Creeden, commander of the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group. (Source: UAS VISION/Air Force Magazine)
11 Aug 20. Pentagon requests 30-day extension for re-awarding JEDI. The U.S. Department of Defense has requested 30 extra days to review vendor proposals as it prepares to make another award decision for its massive enterprise cloud contract, according to a Monday night court filing.
The DoD is currently reviewing new revised proposals for its Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract, which it awarded to Microsoft over Amazon Web Services in October last year. In the filing, the DoD said that it “recently identified the need to reopen limited discussions related to certain aspects of the offerors’ pricing proposals.”
The request, made in the Court of Federal Claims, is yet another delay for the controversial JEDI cloud. The department was supposed to re-award the contract by Aug. 17 after receiving a 120-day stay to take corrective action on the contract. It’s now asking to delay that decision to Sept. 16.
“During the remand, DoD has identified areas of concern with respect to the revised proposals received from both offerors, resulting in multiple solicitation amendments, rounds of proposal revisions, and exchanges with the offerors,” the court filing said.
AWS, which filed the protest late last year in the Court of Federal Claims after losing the contract, argues that the department made several technical errors while evaluating its proposal and also accuses President Donald Trump of political interference in the contract.
AWS does not oppose the Pentagon’s new motion, the court document said.
In late July, DoD CIO Dana Deasy told reporters that the DoD would “probably sometimes towards the very end of August, barring any last minute, unforeseen additional issues that are raised.” The court filing says that the department “anticipates” that the re-evaluation process will wrap up in early September.
The JEDI cloud has been delayed continuously throughout the entirety of the procurement process. Last year, the initial award decision was delayed for months due to a pre-award protest by Oracle. Earlier this year work on JEDI was further delayed when the court placed a temporary restraining order on any work on the JEDI cloud, finding that AWS was “likely to succeed” in proving DoD erred in the evaluation process. (Source: Defense News)
11 Aug 20. US NSA to unveil hybrid cloud programme by end of 2020. Programme engineers at the US National Security Agency (NSA) are poised to launch the agency’s long-awaited hybrid cloud system by the end of the year, marking a significant departure from the organisation’s traditional technology development standards and practices, according to NSA Chief Information Officer Greg Smithberger.
The Hybrid Compute Initiative (HCI), scheduled to go live later this year, will be a two-pronged approach to hybrid cloud computing, Smithberger said on 5 August. The main thrust of HCI will focus on operationalising classified, commercial-based cloud computing capabilities to meet the agency’s requirements for capacity and scalability, he said.
The optimised commercial cloud networks, acquired through acquisition bulk-buys by NSA, will constitute the “next generation of IC GovCloud on top of classified cloud services”, Smithberger said, referring to the agency’s current classified cloud computing platform. The second prong of the HCI will focus on required networking and computing elements for NSA operations that cannot be supported by commercial-based cloud networks, he said.
“There are some of the [network] pieces that are a little more exotic … there are pieces of this that are a little too hard to re-factor and move into a [commercial] cloud service,” he said. NSA officials are in the midst of informal talks with an “industry player, one of the bigger players” to handle those elements of NSA operations via a “hardware as a service” deal, he added. “You can think of that as a much less exotic cloud service where we are effectively renting the hardware, we are not owning the hardware … but we are running our software without modification in that environment,” Smithberger explained, declining to identify the company NSA officials are in talks with. (Source: Jane’s)
11 Aug 20. Australia expands US partnership to develop EA-18G Growler NGJ. The Australian Government has signed two new agreements to expand its partnership with the US for the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) system development.
The NGJ is a programme that will replace older ALQ-99 tactical jamming system pods on the EA-18G Growler aircraft.
The advanced electronic attack system has the capability to deny, disrupt, and degrade enemy’s technology, including radars, air defence systems, and communication tools.
During operations, the system supports electromagnetic spectrum dominance, provides pilots of Growler aircraft an edge, and counters low frequency adversary systems.
The NGJ-Low Band enhances the fourth and fifth-generation platforms’ survivability and lethality.
Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said: “Australia entered an initial agreement in October 2017 to work with the US Navy to develop the NGJ, which will supersede the current system. We’ve now signed two new agreements to expand this partnership.
“The first includes production, sustainment and follow-on development of the ALQ-249(V)1 NGJ -Mid Band, which supports the introduction of advanced electronic jamming technology and will ensure Australia’s Growler aircraft retain commonality with their US counterparts.
“The second agreement enables the development of the next variant, the NGJ-Low Band. These systems will augment, and ultimately replace, most legacy ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming Systems currently used on the Growler.”
In a separate development, more than 1,000 US Marines personnel have joined the annual Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D), following the completion of a quarantine period in the Northern Territory.
The US Marines are currently undertaking a modified training programme at various defence training facilities in Mount Bundey and Kangaroo Flats. (Source: naval-technology.com)
11 Aug 20. EM Solutions joins C4 EDGE defence industry partnership. Recently launched defence industry partnership C4 EDGE has welcomed its latest industry partner, Queensland-based EM Solutions, leveraging the company’s expertise in the satellite communications and microwave communications capabilities.
Headquartered in Brisbane, EM Solutions is a trusted technology developer of innovative microwave and on-the-move radio and satellite products that help to deliver high speed telecommunications anywhere in the world.
Commenting on C4 EDGE, Dr Rowan Gilmore, CEO of EM Solutions, said, “EM Solutions is delighted to be participating in C4 EDGE. For two decades we have been exporting our locally designed and manufactured satellite communications equipment, but only in the past five years has the Australian Defence Force started to deploy ours.
“As evident with C4 EDGE, we applaud the continuation of the recent Defence Industry Policy to buy Australian, build national resilience and grow Australian jobs, whenever local industry is able to demonstrate its capability to do so in a cost effective way.”
C4 EDGE (Evolutionary Digital Ground Environment) is a defence industry cooperative of C4 subject matter experts leading a communications program scoping the demonstration of a sovereign land battlegroup and below communications environment for the Australian Army.
The C4 EDGE program will leverage internationally agreed open standards to grow and demonstrate Australian C4 (command control communications and computers) industry capacity and ability to deliver a battlegroup and below C4 capability demonstration.
Ultimately, by the end of 2021 the program will have delivered a proof of concept demonstration that shows the capability of Australian industry to further develop a protected, integrated and supportable sovereign system: one that delivers agile and resilient C2 functionality to meet the flexible, scalable and interoperability needs of a battlegroup operating independently or with partners.
EM Solutions joins NSW partners GME and 3ME, and ACT partners 1LM, Insitec, Kord Defence, Outlander Solutions, Penten, Skykraft, and XTEK.
EM Solutions is a technology developer of innovative microwave and on-the-move radio and satellite products that help to deliver high speed telecommunications anywhere in the world.
Since 1998, the company has produced integrated RF modules used in low noise receivers and solid-state high power transmitters. These sophisticated components form the core subsystems used primarily in microwave terrestrial and satellite links, or in other applications such as radar, radio-astronomy, and remote sensing.
Today, the company’s principal activity is the design, assembly, test, and support of high end, broadband satellite transceivers and complete communications-on-the-move terminals. Its most discerning customers typically serve the national interest and require resilient and assured systems operable in high threat environments.
For its innovation, EM Solutions has won many awards, including the Australian Industrial Research Group 2012 Medal for Innovation and the Lord Mayor’s Most Innovative Business Award 2016.
In August 2018, EM Solutions won the Australian Department of Defence Essington Lewis Award for “SME Defence Team of the Year” for its collaboration with the Royal Australian Navy on the development of the Cobra Tri-band Maritime Terminal. The company partners with UQ, Defence Science and Technology (DST), and numerous global defence system integrators. (Source: Defence Connect)
10 Aug 20. White House and DOD Announce Additional Mid-Band Spectrum Available for 5G by the end of the Summer. The White House and Department of Defense announced today that 100 megahertz (MHz) of contiguous mid-band spectrum, in the 3450-3550 MHz band, will be available for 5G by the end of the summer.
DOD worked closely with the Services, as part of America’s Mid-Band Initiative Team (AMBIT), and leveraged technical work performed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to devise a spectrum sharing framework that supports industry’s need for additional mid-band spectrum while protecting critical national security requirements.
“With this additional 100 MHz, the U.S. now has a contiguous 530 megahertz of mid-band spectrum from 3450-3980 MHz to enable higher capacity 5G networks,” said Honorable Dana Deasy, DOD Chief Information Officer in remarks to media.
The Federal Communications Commission will auction the spectrum after service rules are adopted.
DoD is proud of the success of the AMBIT and is committed to working closely with industry after the FCC auction to ensure timely access to the band while protecting national security. (Source: US DoD)
10 Aug 20. AMBIT Gambit Pays Off, Advances U.S. 5G Efforts. Thanks to efforts by the White House and the Defense Department, a newly devised spectrum-sharing plan will make 100 megahertz of mid-band spectrum currently used by the military available for sharing with the private sector for use in development of 5G technologies.
Earlier this year, the White House and DOD formed “America’s Mid-Band Initiative Team,” or AMBIT, with the goal of making a contiguous, 100 MHz segment of mid-band spectrum available for use in 5G development by the end of the summer.
Today, after just 15 weeks of work, that effort has been realized. The AMBIT has identified a segment of spectrum from 3450-3550 MHz as available for sharing. Coupled with already available spectrum from 3550-3980 MHz, this creates a contiguous 530 MHz band for use by the U.S. technology sector.
5G networks require a mix of high-, mid- and low-band spectrum. The low band carries signals over long distances, whereas the high band travels shorter distances but is good for data intensive tasks. Mid-band spectrum is attractive for 5G because it can deliver high capacity and reliability over larger geographic areas.
The Defense Department uses the segment of spectrum from 3450-3550 MHz for such things as radar operations that support missile defense, countermortar capabilities, weapons control, electronic warfare, air defense and air traffic control. The spectrum-sharing solution proposed by AMBIT will ensure the spectrum band continues to be available to the department, while it also becomes available for use by the private sector in the lower 48 states.
As part of the U.S. military’s participation, the department established a Mid-Band Spectrum Working Group that included experts in fields such as ship, ground, electronic warfare, test and training capabilities. All four services, as well as representatives from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, were represented.
The AMBIT also leveraged technical work performed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to develop a spectrum-sharing solution that would allow 5G development to progress in the private sector, while at the same time, allow the U.S. military to continue to use that spectrum to meet national security requirements.
After additional work by the services, the Federal Communications Commission will auction off use of the newly available spectrum to the private sector to support 5G network deployments.
Advancement of 5G technology and networks, and having the United States be a leader in that development, isn’t just of interest to the private sector. DOD also has an interest in 5G development. 5G networks are one the department’s 11 modernization efforts, and 5G is key to departmental efforts to increase the lethality of the U.S. military, as spelled out in the National Defense Strategy.
Already, the department is or will be testing and evaluating 5G technologies at a dozen U.S. military installations around the country.
At Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and its associated Yakima Training Center, for example, the department has 5G evaluations underway for how to enhance augmented reality and virtual reality training. At Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia, evaluations are underway for using 5G technology to enhance the warehousing of vehicles such as the Humvee.
Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows co-chaired the White House steering group that oversaw the AMBIT. They were supported in their efforts by Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council; DOD Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy; and Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Source: US DoD)
10 Aug 20. EDA/ESA AUDROS CBRNe Demo Trials Come Next. The European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have been cooperating over ways to detect and identify chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNe) threats.
AUDROS (Autonomous Drone Services in the CBRNe operations) is the result. The joint EDA/ESA project that combines satellite-based services with Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) technologies.
The AUDROS one-year feasibility study was awarded a €350,000 contract. Its consortium comprised four partners: the two Czech companies BizGarden (as prime) and GINA Software, the Polish company Cervi Robotics, and the Czech Ministry of Defence research institution known as VTU.
“The main purpose of the study was to look at AUDROS’s technical analysis, economic viability, the added value brought by the space-based data, new possible applications and, of course, the crucial ability to deal with CBRNe threats,” observed Shahzad Ali, EDA moderator for CapTech CBRN & Human Factors1.
Proof of concept was demonstrated in late 2018, comprising a modified off-the-shelf quadcopter RPAS with a maximum take-off weight of 25kg (including payload of up to 9kg). It was equipped with lightweight sensors for radiation and gas detection.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has fortunately not adversely impacted the rolling out of the project, namely because AUDROS’s demonstration budget had been earmarked,” said Ali. “Thus, this 18-month contract will go ahead as planned, with the idea of signing off on it by the summer.”
The next step is a fully operational trial scenario. The payload will be modular in design and industrially scalable for commercial production. (Source: Armada)
07 Aug 20. Military Radios of the Future: Collins Aerospace Developing Open Architecture Terminal for USAF. New approach to radio development that allows rapid fielding of new capabilities to meet mission needs. Collins Aerospace Systems, a unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp. (NYSE: RTX), is developing a Software Programmable Open Mission Systems (OMS) Compliant (SPOC) radio for the U.S. Air Force as part of a $18.9m competitive contract awarded in 2019. The SPOC radio program calls for an open-architecture approach to military radio development that will allow the Air Force to rapidly insert new communications waveforms, cybersecurity updates and integrate third-party software to meet the needs of the mission. The program has completed both major milestones Preliminary Design Review and Critical Design Review on time and on schedule and ready for the 1Q21 demonstration.
“We’ve been delivering open architecture solutions for military avionics for decades, and we’ve leveraged that expertise to develop more open, modular communications and connectivity systems that will help our customers keep pace with evolving threats and technologies,” said Ryan Bunge, vice president and general manager, Communication, Navigation and Guidance Solutions for Collins Aerospace.
The Collins Aerospace three-channel SPOC radio will be capable of operating three different radio waveforms simultaneously to maintain critical connectivity. These waveforms include Link 16, a mesh network Advanced Tactical Data Link (ATDL), Bandwidth Efficient Common Data Link (BE-CDL) and Mobile User Objective System (MUOS).
The SPOC radio will enable the Air Force to field new capabilities while maintaining connectivity to legacy systems on air and ground platforms with a single unit through the added flexibility of field reprogrammability. This consolidation of legacy systems into a single unit will reduce mission weight associated with data link and communication systems while reducing lifecycle costs.
For over 85 years, Collins Aerospace has remained a world leader in the design, development, expertise and integration of airborne and ground communication systems including over 20 years of providing data link equipment to the U.S. military. (Source: ASD Network)
10 Aug 20. US DOD Prepares For Widespread Cyber Threats To November Election. The US Cyber Command and the National Security Agency are looking at more cyber threats to the US election process than simply that which was already demonstrated by Russia in 2016.
“We’re looking at the spectrum of all of our adversaries, Russia, China, Iran, and ransomware actors,” said Dave Imbordino, the election security lead with the National Security Agency, during a panel discussion on Friday 7 August, part of the 2020 DEF CON convention.
“They’re learning from each other. Influence is a cheap game to get into now with social media. It doesn’t cost a lot of money. You can try to launder your narratives online through different media outlets,” he continued. Online influencing is a major concern. Actors with malicious intent often create proxy groups to hide their identity. According to Imbordino, “the Russian-operated Internet Research Agency, for instance, has set up operations overseas to generate misleading and divisive information to influence voter opinion.”He added that China had been focused on its own regional narrative, particularly regarding Taiwan and Hong Kong. But he said that the way in which China conducted its cyber activities was “a little bit different in terms of the scale and breadth of the targets they go after. Every US citizen is a target of China, just because of the big data, the PII [personally identifiable information] that they’re interested in collecting … I think that sets them uniquely apart.” (Source: Armada)
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Spectra Group Plc
Spectra Group (UK) Ltd, internationally renowned award-winning information security and communications specialist with a proven record of accomplishment.
Spectra is a dynamic, agile and security-accredited organisation that offers secure Hosted and Managed Solutions and Cyber Advisory Services with a track record of delivering on time, to spec and on budget.
With over 15 years of experience in delivering solutions for governments around the globe, elite militaries and private enterprises of all sizes, Spectra’s platinum and gold-level partnerships with third-party vendors ensure the supply of best value leading-edge technology.
Spectra was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise (Innovation) in 2019 for SlingShot.
In November 2017, Spectra Group (UK) Ltd announced its listing as a Top 100 Government SME Supplier by the UK Crown Commercial Services.
Spectra’s CEO, Simon Davies, was awarded 2017 Businessman of the Year by Battlespace magazine.
Founded in 2002, the Company is based in Hereford, UK and holds ISO 9001:2015, ISO 27001:2013 and Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation.
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