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24 June 21. ‘Just like your iPhone’: Marines need to connect battlefield to larger network for future conflicts. Marines on the future battlefield will need connections with the service’s enterprise network to make fires decisions and bolster command and control, a top Marine Corps general said Wednesday.
As the military services move forward on their plans to share data and connect relevant sensors to relevant shooters for the future war-fighting concept known as Joint All-Domain Command and Control, an important factor will be the ability to connect back to the enterprise network that has more data storage and processing power than devices available to users at the tactical edge.
“What’s different for the Marine Corps as we build our networks is we have to be able to have the power of the enterprise at the edge because as you’re inside the weapons engagement zone, we need the compute, the store, the analytics to be just like your iPhone,” said Brig. Gen. Lorna Mahlock, CIO of the Marines Corps and director of information, command, control, communications and computers. “As our Marines are maneuvering — really, really small maneuver elements — they have the power of the enterprise to be able to enable C2 and fires at the edge.”
Speaking at a Defense News Pathfinders event on Wednesday, Mahlock said that there is an “inextricable link” between the enterprise network and the tactical edge. To ensure that Marines — and the joint force — have a command and control advantage over adversaries, intelligence networks, business networks and war-fighting networks must be fused to make all necessary data available to war fighters who need it across the globe.
The Marine Corps is in the midst of a network modernization effort focused on IT consolidation to better integrate systems across the service. Mahlock stressed that the challenge in powering joint war-fighting and connecting enterprise networks to the tactical edge isn’t technological, rather cultural. For example, the Marines had to stop thinking about tactical, intelligence and business networks as separate entities.
“It’s about ensuring the data can pass seamlessly across all these systems,” Mahlock said, adding that “folks used to think that there is no interdependency between the enterprise and the tactical edge. That kind of thinking is passé.”
Mahlock emphasized the inherent joint nature of the Marine force: It is primarily naval but has a ground piece that needs to work with the Army and a Marine Air-Ground Task Force that needs to connect with the Air Force. That level of collaboration between the services is another cultural change underway while the services try to enable JADC2. The services are making efforts to include other services in their JADC2 experimentation, and top level officials at the Pentagon have stressed the importance of building systems capable of integrating into other platforms.
The advanced capabilities of militaries including Russia and China are driving new technological investments by the Marines. Like many branches, the Marines are exploring the benefits of commercial satellite constellations that offer higher throughput and lower latency. That move toward “SATCOM as a service,” in which the military would pay only for the transport it uses, is a “paradigm shift” to the way the Marines historically operate, she said.
“That is antithetical to how we have historically employed and deployed networks and C2 systems,” Mahlock said. “We’re used to building a tech stack and deploying that stack. And now we’re saying, hey, look, you just need to be able to tap into services wherever they are and consume their services, and obfuscate depending on the network that you’re pulling those services through.”
The Marine Corps also exploring 5G, as well as new encryption techniques and zero-trust cybersecurity architectures that inherently distrust users. With a web of interconnected networks accessed by the U.S. and allies, cybersecurity becomes a massive challenge.
“Wherever you are globally, you have to securely be able to consume all these services at all these different layers — at the unclassified, classified …. secret and top secret levels of the network,” Mahlock said. (Source: Defense News)
24 June 21. New high-tech 5G lab to boost network security and resilience. SONIC Labs is a new test facility for exploring new ways of building 5G networks.
- Lab will allow Britain’s brightest innovators to test technology in a ‘simulated’ real-world environment
- Central pillar in government strategy to build a more secure and innovative 5G supply chain
A new high-tech lab to speed up the development of 5G communication kit and help Britain diversify its supply chains will be launched today.
The government-backed £1m SONIC Labs will help accelerate the adoption of ‘Open RAN’ technology which is a major pillar of the government’s 5G Diversification Strategy.
The strategy aims to build a more secure and innovative supply chain which is fit for the future, less reliant on a small number of multinational suppliers and more accessible for new market entrants.
The lab will be a real-world testing facility that aims to bring in multiple providers to supply components for 5G radio equipment.
Open RAN technology will end situations where only one supplier’s technology can be used for a telecoms network to function. For example, it will allow components from different telecoms suppliers to be exchanged or used as replacements at masts that, until now, have been kitted out by a single supplier.
Based in London and Brighton, SONIC Labs will enable telecoms equipment manufacturers to examine how their kit behaves in a fully interoperable, technology-neutral mobile network. It also aims to encourage innovative vendors to enter the UK telecoms supply chain and drive innovation in public networks.
Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman will launch the centre at a virtual event this morning. He said, “I’m thrilled that SONIC Labs is opening its doors to the wealth of telecoms expertise we have in this country to explore new ways of building 5G networks.”
Our investment is a crucial element of our strategy to tackle the world’s over-reliance on a small number of telecoms vendors by growing our own cutting-edge solutions at home.
I look forward to seeing how the lab will help deliver the incredible social and economic benefits of new technology for people around the UK.
The lab is being run by Ofcom and Digital Catapult, who have built the facility using existing Digital Catapult infrastructure and capability, £1m of seed funding from DCMS, and a bespoke SONIC Labs branch as part of Ofcom’s Innovation Lab in Riverside House.
SONIC Labs will work with a diverse range of vendors to explore new open approaches to telecoms networks, including Accelleran, Mavenir, Radisys, Benetel, Phluido, Druid and Effnet.
Digital Catapult Chief Technology Officer Joe Butler said, “In SONIC Labs we are experimenting to make interoperability a reality. This effort supports our mission to drive UK capability in advanced digital technology and we are grateful to Ofcom for working with us in this partnership and to DCMS for the opportunity to leverage the 5G testbeds we have developed in this effort.”
Ofcom Chief Executive Dame Melanie Dawes said, “SONIC Labs is an exciting project that gives us the opportunity to explore how new telecoms technology could operate in the UK market. It’s all about bringing innovation to our communications networks – helping to support fast, secure and reliable connections for the future. A number of companies are already getting involved and we look forward to more joining too.”
In his speech at the SONIC Labs launch, Mr Warman also announced that DCMS is developing a long-term strategy for 5G and future wireless networks in the UK.
As part of this, the government will be considering the role of spectrum, the finite radio wave resource central to developing these technologies, and set out how the government will continue to ensure that wireless infrastructure plays an integral role in enabling the UK’s economy and society to build back better.
The government will be working closely with industry, Ofcom, academia and others to help shape its thinking and develop the evidence base. More detail on how we will develop this work will be announced later this year. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
22 June 21. Pentagon launches artificial intelligence effort to prep combatant commands for JADC2. The Pentagon’s No. 2 civilian announced a new initiative Tuesday to prepare combatant command networks for the data-heavy, artificial intelligence-driven reality of the future battlefield.
Speaking at the Defense Department AI Symposium, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks described the Artificial Intelligence and Data Acceleration Initiative, an effort that will deploy technical teams to combatant commands to prepare military networks for Joint All-Domain Command and Control, the Pentagon’s plan to quickly pass the best data from AI-backed systems to war fighters.
“Its goal is to rapidly advance data and AI-dependent concepts like Joint All-Domain Command Control,” Hicks said.
Though light on details, the initiative will rely on combatant commands’ experimentation events and exercises to test new artificial intelligence and data capabilities that could be critical to JADC2. Building the future war-fighting concept into reality will require top-tier artificial intelligence tools that can process data rapidly on a contested battlefield and speed up a commander’s decision-making.
“The AIDA initiative will generate foundational capabilities through a series of implementation experiments or exercises, each one purposefully building understanding through successive and incremental learning,” Hicks said. “Each exercise pushes the boundaries of the one before, building on the knowledge gained.”
The military plans to send “operational” data teams to the 11 combatant commands, Hicks said. These teams will provide the commands with expertise in cataloging, managing and automating data. According to Hicks, the teams will stay at a command until it can “leverage the data needed to create decision advantage.”
The initiative includes additional “flyaway” teams staffed by technical experts to assist combatant commands with integrating artificial intelligence to streamline and automate workflows. According to Hicks, the teams will build “real capabilities that can be evaluated in real operational environments.”
The information gathered by the teams and collected at the combatant command exercises will allow the department to update network infrastructure, remove policy barriers and ensure the “reliability and effectiveness of our global war-fighting capability,” she said.
“Through successive experiments, we seek to understand the obstacles and challenges that impair our current ability to rapidly scale AI across the department and the joint force,” Hicks said. “As we complete these episodic exercises and experiments, we intend to leave behind capability in our wake.”
The department will apply capabilities gained at one combatant command to other commands that face similar issues, she said.
“This will ultimately produce data and operational platforms designed for real-time sensor-data fusion, automated command and control tasking, and autonomous system integration. It will allow data to flow across both geographic and functional commands,” Hicks said.
Hicks’ announcement is significant given its emphasis on combatant commands. Much of the work on JADC2 so far has been driven by service projects, such as the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System.
The AI acceleration plan is a step toward achieving the DoD’s mission to link sensors and shooters on the battlefield. Most recently, the Pentagon announced that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin signed off on the Pentagon’s JADC2 strategy, though the document is classified.
At a separate event this week, Lt. Gen. Dennis Crall, the CIO/J6 and JADC2 lead for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Pentagon started an analysis to understand the technology gaps it needs to address to prepare for the battlefield of the future; however, its findings are classified.
“Despite all the capability that we have, there’s a pretty long list of things that we believe we need to improve upon and really fulfill,” Crall said. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
22 June 21. Hicks Announces New Artificial Intelligence Initiative. The integration of artificial intelligence technology is about trust, and a responsible AI ecosystem is the foundation for that trust, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks said today.
Speaking virtually to the opening of the Defense Department’s Artificial Intelligence Symposium and Tech Exchange, Hicks said DOD’s operators must come to trust the outputs of AI systems; its commanders must come to trust the legal, ethical and moral foundations of explainable AI; and the American people must come to trust the values DOD has i
“A key part of an AI-ready department is a strong data foundation,” Hicks said. “Data enables the creation of algorithmic models, and, with the right data, we are able to take concepts and ideas and turn them into reality.”
The deputy secretary said she recently set forth a series of data decrees for DOD that will help the U.S. achieve the AI superiority it needs.
“We will ensure that DOD data is visible, accessible, understandable, linked, trustworthy, interoperable and secure. To do so, I have directed key initial steps to ensure the department treats data as a strategic asset,” she said, adding these steps set DOD on a solid foundation — both ethically and organizationally.
“Today, I am proud to announce the DOD AI and Data Acceleration initiative, or ADA initiative. Its goal is to rapidly advance data and AI dependent concepts, like joint all-domain command and control, to the ADA initiative [to] generate foundational capabilities through a series of implementation experiments or exercises, each one purposefully building understanding through successive and incremental learning.”
Hicks said each exercise pushes the boundaries of the one before, building on the knowledge gained. She said this represents a software engineering approach that will iteratively gain and expand capabilities to different lines of effort:
- DOD is creating operational data teams that will be dispatched to all 11 combatant commands. The teams will rapidly work, catalog, manage and automate data feeds that inform decision making. These teams will remain to ensure data is captured, complete, curated and usable until combatant commands can leverage the data needed to create decision advantage.
- DOD will build on new sustained data relationships with additional “flyaway teams of technical experts” to help combatant commands streamline and automate workflows through the integration of AI. The teams will bring top-tier talent and technology, building real capabilities that can be evaluated in real operational environments.
- DOD will use the information gathered from the data teams, the AI flyaway teams and combatant command exercises to update network infrastructure, remove policy barriers and ensure the reliability and effectiveness of its global warfighting capabilities.
“Importantly, these events will be conducted in alignment with the busy combatant command experimentation and exercise cycle,” Hicks said. “Through successive experiments, we seek to understand the obstacles and challenges that impair our current ability to rapidly scale AI across the department and the Joint Force.”
As DOD completes these episodic exercises and experiments, it intends to leave behind capability, Hicks said. “True to our software engineering mindset, we aim to interactively gain capability and rapidly scale to other combatant command environments with similar challenges. This will ultimately produce data and operational platforms designed for real-time sensor data fusion, automated command-and-control tasking and autonomous system integration. It will allow data to flow across both geographic and functional commands.”
Hicks said DOD’s fourth line of effort will set the stage for advanced data management platforms consistent with the data decrees. These platforms will enable open data standard architecture and the production of scalable, testable and repeatable data workflows. This will facilitate cross-domain and cross-component experimentation and development. By generating centralized and scalable data, DOD will be accelerating the gains from leveraging AI, she explained.
The ADA initiative recognizes the challenges that DOD is facing and provides a systematized method to harness data and AI. It also creates a path forward for a mission space that has often appeared to be more rhetoric than action, Hicks said.
“You represent the department and its many partners who are rising to the competitive challenge of our future. [Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III] and I need your help to harness our innovation, build trust, modernize our processes, and serve our great nation,” Hicks said, thanking the group for its efforts.” (Source: US DoD)
21 June 21. Pentagon to reveal JEDI cloud computing contract’s future in coming weeks. As the Pentagon mulls whether to scrap the so-called JEDI cloud computing contract worth potentially $10bn, it will decide what’s next within a month or so, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said Monday.
“We’re very actively looking at our options right now, and we have a good sense of what our needs [are], and we’re working through what the potential solutions are,” Hicks said at a Defense One conference. “We’ll be moving in a direction over the next month or so, but I’m not going to get into where we might end up.”
The contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud for use across the DoD was awarded to Microsoft, but it’s been mired in legal challenges. Hicks, the Pentagon’s No. 2 civilian, said she could not discuss the matter in detail because of the ongoing litigation over the JEDI deal.
Hicks acknowledged that Pentagon’s centerpiece joint war-fighting strategy, Joint All-Domain Command and Control, hinges on its implementation of cloud computing ― and that using the technology at the “boardroom” level would enable efficiency measures such as internal audits and inventory control.
“There’s no doubt we have to have a pathway forward on cloud,” Hicks said.
The comments came as Pentagon officials have been pitching a $715bn defense budget on Capitol Hill that emphasizes technology development and divests from legacy platforms. That budget reflects a forward push, even as the administration is conducting a revamp of the national defense strategy to direct future modernization efforts.
Within DoD, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved some analyses of joint concepts, expected to inform future investments. At the same time, DoD has launched a new program called the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve, using the acronym RDER, pronounced “raider,” which Hicks mentioned Monday for the first time.
“To compete for the RDER, you have to have multiple components involved, you have to be tied into where we’re heading with our joint concepts, and we hope we can advance, ahead of the national defense strategy, some of those concepts and capabilities we want to see,” Hicks said. “We’re trying to move from rhetoric to reality, concepts to capabilities.”
A new AI and Data Accelerator Initiative, Hicks said, would have teams visiting each of the combatant commands to look at how to tie artificial intelligence and data sharing into operations “at the tactical edge in support of the war fighter.” The effort would also include teams of technical experts.
Hicks acknowledged that there is high-level work afoot, as part of the JADC2 effort, that would revamp requirements for weapons platforms and their manufacturers so DoD can harvest more data and share it across different platforms.
“The ability to share data is a key piece of how we think about decision advantage in the future, and also how we work with industry partners,” Hicks said.
In part to figure out new ways to compete with Silicon Valley for tech talent, Hicks set up a Deputy’s Workforce Council to elevate “people issues” to the Pentagon’s highest levels. As DoD looks at fluid and flexible arrangements between military services and private sector, one question is which of several ongoing pilot programs is appropriate to scale up.
“If you look at, for example the National Guard, and the ability to bring in private-sector expertise to augment what’s happening in the military … to create that permeability and fluidity back and forth to the private sectors, that’s a good example,” Hicks said, adding that Space Force is looking at tapping talent in the Reserve.
Asked how the Pentagon hopes to compete with China, whose civil-military fusion model allows it to move quickly, Hicks said the U.S. should employ “collaborative disruption” between the private sector and research institutions in the U.S. and allied countries.
“We have a very critical role to play in seeding, particularly in some exquisite areas, that research or that science and technology base, but in many areas, what we need to be is a good customer that ecosystem wants to work with so that we can disrupt, in a way that’s going to be much more innovative than what a [state-controlled] model like the Chinese are pursuing can do,” Hicks said.
Though some lawmakers have pushed back in defense of systems with local jobs attached, Hicks noted it’s always been challenging to make a case for potential for a future capability over existing capabilities. DoD can bring evidence, some classified, of the vulnerability of certain systems to Russian and Chinese capabilities, as well as the hefty sustainment costs associated other systems, she said.
“We are part of an administration that is all about bringing manufacturing jobs to the United States. We are all about securing our supply chains in the national security space and beyond,” Hicks said. “There’s a lot of opportunity in that for DoD, as we start to look ahead to the capabilities of the future and the type of workforce … that we really want to incept and generate here inside the United States.” (Source: glstrade.com/https://www.c4isrnet.com/)
21 June 21. Thales, Microsoft team up with SMEs to launch new tactical cloud platform. Thales Australia, Microsoft and Australian SMEs Myriad Technologies, archTIS and Fortifyedge have partnered to launch Nexium Defence Cloud Edge (NDC Edge), a secure Tactical cloud computing capability at the edge of the battlespace.
As military operations become increasingly data-driven, timely access to important information and applications is critical for the Australian Defence Force. The theatre level NDC Edge enables deployed forces to securely share critical information across domains, multinational coalitions and other agencies to allow a shared common operating picture. It enables the analysis and distribution of data in real time, from a strategic headquarters down to the dismounted soldier, accelerating the decision-making cycle to gain and maintain operational tempo.
Developed in Australia for the ADF, NDC Edge delivers a sovereign capability, built on Microsoft Azure Stack technology, that is designed to be compatible with Five Eyes nations, as well as humanitarian aid and civilian applications. Myriad Technologies, archTIS and Fortifyedge are integrating new technologies that enable this sovereign capability to run at the tactical edge for the ADF and coalition forces.
NDC Edge provides a complete, highly integrated and modular, sovereign solution that enables forces to operate autonomously in any theatre of operations. It offers a wide array of possible configurations, from very high-capacity and easily scalable infrastructure to all-in-one containerised systems that can establish a headquarters as a cloud node rapidly, and link it to deployed forces quickly and securely. It includes all the components of military command posts and meets performance requirements in terms of size, weight and power (SWaP) to simplify deployment and minimise the logistical footprint. (Source: http://rumourcontrol.com.au/)
21 June 21. Raytheon Australia, AOS create new air battle management capability. Raytheon Australia has partnered with Melbourne-based Agent Oriented Software Pty Ltd (AOS) to integrate its newly developed product Intelligent Battlespace Advisor (IBA) with the Raytheon Solipsys in-service Battlespace Command and Control Centre (BC3) as part of the Raytheon Missiles & Defense command and control portfolio.
This is the first time that a commercially developed third-party product has been successfully integrated with BC3 outside the United States (U.S.). The capability of BC3 will be increased by the new technology, providing Air Battle Managers with more comprehensive and accurate information.
IBA has been developed by AOS, a specialist in artificial intelligence and robotics, to provide time-critical information to Air Battle Managers about unusual airspace activity, enabling accelerated and informed decision making. IBA’s Intelligent Software Agents are able to continually monitor all tracks in the Asia-Pacific airspace to classify them as routine or flag them for further investigation by an Air Battle Manager.
BC3 has been in operation by the US Air Force since 2008 and aids complex airspace management by use of an advanced track fusion engine, multi-source correlator and tactical visualization framework.
Raytheon Australia Managing Director Michael Ward said the integration of these technologies demonstrates the calibre of Australia’s defence industry in sovereign complex systems integration, and that the combined effect of the two systems will assist Air Battle Managers to rapidly achieve decision superiority.
“Raytheon Australia has worked with AOS over the last year to successfully integrate IBA into Raytheon Missiles & Defense’s Solipsys BC3,” Ward said.
“Not only have we achieved this integration with BC3 for the first time outside the United States, but we have achieved it using Australian technology and Australian engineers,” he said. “This collaboration with AOS has allowed the integration and development of a new and never seen before capability for Air Battle Managers.
“The benefit of integrating these two systems enables a decision superiority for Air Battle Managers and they can now receive accurate information quickly and act on that information appropriately,” Ward said.
The success of integrating IBA with BC3 will now proceed to applying this new capability in the field, and potential export opportunities to other countries already using BC3. (Source: http://rumourcontrol.com.au/)
21 June 21. Funding boost for Cyber Infrastructure in NSW. NSW Government’s Defence Innovation Network (NSW DIN) is funding a world leading $850,000 technology project for civilian and military ISR applications. The initiative is being funded through Investment NSW, and Defence’s Next Generation Technologies Fund (NGTF). Image: TreasuryNSW
The NSW Government’s Defence Innovation Network (NSW DIN) is funding a world leading technology project for civilian and military ISR applications.
The $850,000 initiative is being funded by the NSW Government, through Investment NSW, and Defence’s Next Generation Technologies Fund (NGTF).
The DIN Director Professor Bradley Williams said the initiative exemplified the DIN’s drive to accelerate the commercialisation of new technologies by connecting NSW industry and academics within high-priority projects: “This ground-breaking project will have significant implications for both technical and economic sustainability of cyber infrastructure across Australia.”
NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer, Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte, said, “This innovative project will leverage untrusted and partially compromised distributed systems to provide timely and robust ISR solutions across civilian and military networks without propagating risks and vulnerabilities that would normally occur.”
Further details about Investment NSW are available at www.investment.nsw.gov.au, and for Defence NSW at www.defence.nsw.gov.au. (Source: http://rumourcontrol.com.au/)
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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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