Sponsored by Spectra Group
https://tacs.at/Spectra
——————————————————————–
14 June 22. French military turns to sci-fi to fight Russia hacking, spur innovation. In November, a team of French science fiction writers working with the country’s military dreamed up a new program, known as Myriade, to head off future threats: one that would help nations detect the manipulation of public opinion. The move quickly proved prescient.
In March, a deepfake of Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskyy surfaced on social media and one of the country’s hacked news sites. The altered video appeared to show Zelenskyy telling Ukrainian soldiers to surrender to Russia.
It was exactly the type of cognitive warfare that the group of writers known as the Red Team want to render meaningless.
After French military leaders watched the broadcast, they accelerated the program’s timeline, Emmanuel Chiva, the head of France’s defense innovation agency, said Monday. He declined to offer more details, citing the program’s classified nature. Myriade is expected to launch in three years with a methodology to counter such threats.
The program is an example of how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is forcing nations around the world to reconsider how they invest in future technologies.
In the U.S., the conflict is driving a greater emphasis on commercial technologies, such as satellite imagery from companies including Planet and Maxar. French and U.S. military leaders said Tuesday at the conference that officials need to invest in war games and capabilities that challenge long-held assumptions. For France, the conflict means a focus on fast, low-cost and resilient systems without sacrificing technological advancements.
“Yes, we have a crisis right now,” Chiva said on the first day of the Eurosatory conference in Paris. “We should also prepare for the future.”
Chiva, whose agency works to bridge new technology to military applications, pointed to the need for continued investments in artificial intelligence, robotics, space, drones and directed energy. He also called out the need for funding in less frequently discussed areas such as hypervelocity and seabed warfare.
In an interview with Defense News, Chiva pointed to a pair of projects from recent months that the invasion in Ukraine helped shape. In May, his office announced programs known as Colibri and Larinae, French names for hummingbirds and seagulls. The office wants to find ways for drones, once used only for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, to carry payloads that can help take out armored vehicles.
“The idea is to have a low-cost solution to be able to target and neutralize an armored vehicle within 5 kilometers or within 50 kilometers,” he said. (Source: Defense News)
15 June 22. A step forward for communications between European Armed Forces with the completion of ESSOR HDR waveform interoperability qualification tests.
The milestone marks a major new achievement for the ESSOR project, with the new a4ESSOR technology proven to facilitate safe and effective joint operations between European land forces ?
Paris, 14 – 06 – 2022 – The European a4ESSOR consortium has successfully performed interoperability tests using the new ESSOR High Data Rate (ESSOR HDRWF) waveform. These tests are part of the ESSOR (European Secure Software defined Radio) project, launched at the end of 2017 by a4ESSOR and OCCAR (Organization Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement) on behalf of Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland.
The testing took place in Poland, with Software Defined Radios (SDRs) from a4ESSOR’s industry partners (Bittium, Indra, Leonardo, Radmor and Thales) equipped with the ESSOR HDRWF, all connected to an automated test environment. This made it possible to verify that the ESSOR HDRWF could handle a number of operational use scenarios, demonstrating full interoperability. The same environment was previously used to conduct testing and preliminary validation activities for participating nations’ SDR platforms.
The tests demonstrated ESSOR HDRWF’s excellent performance, including its networking (MANET – Mobile Adhoc Network), data transmission (IP), security, push-to-talk, radio silence mode and co-habitation (spectrum sharing) features.
“The successful completion of the HDRWF interoperability tests highlights the work done over the last four years. Four different SDRs from four different vendors of four different nations proved to be interoperable thanks to the ESSOR HDRWF and architecture. We are providing European nations with an excellent product that will enable land-based armed forces to operate jointly and in an increasingly integrated manner. This result underlines the importance of the European industrial collaboration implemented through a4ESSOR. It is our hope that NATO will adopt the ESSOR HDRWF as an interoperability standard, allowing for more integrated land communications across all Alliance members”, said Lino Laganà, President and General Manager of a4ESSOR.
The ESSOR project’s next milestone will be to test the ESSOR HDRWF on a radio from G
——————————————————————-
Spectra Group Plc
Spectra has a proven record of accomplishment – with over 15 years of experience in delivering secure communications and cybersecurity solutions for governments around the globe; elite militaries; and private enterprises of all sizes.
As a dynamic, agile, security accredited organisation, Spectra can leverage this experience to deliver Cyber Advisory and secure Hosted and Managed Solutions on time, to spec and on budget, ensuring compliance with industry standards and best practices.
Spectra’s SlingShot® is a unique low SWaP system that enables in-service U/VHF tactical radios to utilise Inmarsat’s commercial satellite network for BLOS COTM. Including omnidirectional antenna for the man, vehicle, maritime and aviation platforms, the tactical net can broadcast over 1000s miles between forward units and a rear HQ, no matter how or where the deployment. Unlike many BLOS options, SlingShot maintains full COTM (Communications On The Move) capability and low size and weight
On 23 November 2017, Spectra Group (UK) Ltd announced that it had recently been listed as a Top 100 Government SME Supplier for 2015-2016 by the UK Crown Commercial Services
Spectra’s CEO, Simon Davies, was awarded 2017 BATTLESPACE Businessman of the Year by BATTLESPACE magazine and is a finalist in the inaugural British Ex-Forces In Business Awards in the Innovator Of The Year category.
————————————————————————-