Sponsored by Spectra Group
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21 Sep 23. Spirit of Cooperation. The ability to receive new mission data while on a sortie forms an essential part of the retargeting posture of the USAF’s B-2A Spirit strategic bombers.
The USAF’s Boeing B-2A Spirit strategic bombers are getting communications enhancements which will help them obtain new mission information during their sorties.
On 9th August, the US Air Force revealed it had completed a successful demonstration of its new Integrated Airborne Mission Transfer (IAMT) system. The IAMT forms part of Northrop Grumman’s B-2 Collaborative Combat Communications (B2C2) Spiral-1 programme, according to a company press release.
B2C2 Spiral-1 takes the form of a software upgrade for the aircraft’s communications systems. The IAMT enables dynamic re-tasking of the aircraft while in flight. Mission data is transmitted directly into the bomber via the IAMT. The IAMT in turn is integrated onto the aircraft’s Multi Mission Domain (MMD) architecture. MMD, according to the company, is an open standards system. The architecture is used on the B-2A to allow it to be updated with new capabilities but without interfering with safety or flight-critical systems. MND will greatly ease and accelerate the introduction of new capabilities onto the aircraft.
Adaptable Communications Suite
The IAMT works with the aircraft’s Adaptable Communications Suite (ACS). The ACS has a corresponding ground station. Mission data is loaded into the ground-based ACS. The data are then sent to the aircraft and into the IAMT. Once in the IAMT aircrew can see new mission taskings or new data pertaining to their current sortie on their standard cockpit displays.
Reports say the ACS uses a standard Link-16 (960 megahertz – 1.215gigahertz) tactical datalink to move traffic from the ground to the aircraft. The key attraction of the ACS/IAMT combination is that it avoids the crew having to manually enter new data into their mission management systems. By adopting this process crew workload is reduced and margins for error when entering data are reduced. During the recent demonstrations of the ACS/IAMT combination 50 mission updates were performed across this link.
Dynamic Retargeting
From a concept of operations perspective, using the ACS/IAMT combination will greatly accelerate the aircraft’s dynamic retargeting. For example, the coordinates of mobile targets which may have been spotted by satellites or reconnaissance aircraft can now be fed directly to the bomber. Dynamic retargeting is highly relevant for a ‘first day or war’ asset like the B-2A. These bombers, which have a low radar cross section design are likely to be sent deep into contested airspace. The aircraft may be tasked with prosecuting difficult-to-find targets like mobile ballistic missile launchers. Adding the ACS/IAMT capability to the aircraft should ease missions like these. Given the B-2A is also tasked with part of the US nuclear strike mission, it seems plausible that the ACS/IAMT could help the dynamic retargeting of strategic missions.
Moreover, ACS/IAMT dovetails well with the US Air Force’s prevailing move towards Multi-Domain Operations (MDO). MDO strives for the inter- and intra-force connectivity of all military assets to perform synchronous operations at all levels of war using a better quality and pace of decision-making than one’s adversary. The US Department of Defence is fostering MDO via several overarching force-wide command and control initiatives of which the air force’s Air Battle Management System (ABMS) is one. (Source: Armada)
21 Sep 23. September Radio Roundup.
Spectra Group’s STOC system has been enhanced with the addition of a low-band commercial ultra-high frequency communications link.
STOCs and Shares
Spectra Group’s SlingShot Tactical Operations Centre (STOC) is being enhanced with the addition of a low-band, commercial Ultra High Frequency (UHF: 300 megahertz to three gigahertz) communications link. The company told Armada in a written statement that STOC provides communications at static locations. Such locations can include fixed or temporary bases. Spectra Group added that it took the decision to provide this new UHF adornment because this waveband is “very prevalent as the band of choice for defence customers outside the United States and European markets.” Deliveries of STOC variants with the new UHF enhancements are being made to customers in the Asia-Pacific, the statement added. This frequency option supplements the UHF military band and Very High Frequency (VHF: 30MHz to 300MHz) commercial and military bands already offered with STOC.
Satcom Direct Avionics is to provide broadband SATCOM services to the Canadian government. These services will enhance connectivity for Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft like this Airbus A310-300 tanker.
New SATCOM for Canada
On 15th August, Satcom Direct Avionics announced it had won a competitive tender to supply broadband Satellite Communications (SATCOM) services to the Canadian government. Specifically, the company will provide “datalink services, hardware, hosting, and infrastructure services to support global aeronautical missions” according to a press release. SATCOM links will be carried across Ka-band (26.5 gigahertz/GHz to 40GHz uplink/18GHz to 20GHz downlink), Ku-band (14GHz uplink/10.9GHz to 12.75GHz downlink) and X-band (7.9GHz to 8.4GHz uplink/7.25GHz to 7.75GHz downlink) conduits. Satcom Direct Avionics told Armada via a written statement that its “services will or can be used by all branches of the Canadian Department of National Defence as well as Canadian civil government agencies.” The statement continued that the contract also sees the supply of routers and gateways, software, colocation and hosting services.
(Source: Armada)
21 Sep 23. Project Radiate Delivers. The South African military is receiving a host of new tactical radios replacing a raft of systems, some of which have been in service since the 1970s.
The South African National Defence Force is finally receiving a surfeit of new tactical radios allowing it to retire a raft of legacy systems.
Reports in early July said the South African Army had received new Reutech tactical radios for operational testing and evaluation. Testing and evaluation represents the final stage before the radios are deployed across the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). The work will be performed by the South African Army’s Signal Formation.
The delivery of the new radios to the Signal Formation is an important milestone in the SANDF’s Project Radiate. This initiative commenced last decade with a view to rolling out new tactical radios across the South African Army and the country’s navy and air force. Reports continued that full-scale production was to have commenced in 2012, with deliveries of the new radios to follow in 2013. It appears that Project Radiate has experienced significant delays given that deployment only now seems to be taking place.
The new radios replace four standard transceivers the SANDF has used for several decades. These radios include the Very High Frequency (VHF: 26 megahertz/MHz to 75.975MHz) A53 and A55 backpack systems. These two radios were joined by the vehicular VHF B56 and B57, all of which entered service in the mid-1970s and were built by Barlows. The company is now called Barloworld but has divested from defence. VHF radios were supplemented by the High Frequency (1.6MHz to 30MHz) Reutech C21 transceiver in the 1990s.
New Radios
Reutech is introducing several new radios into the SANDF via Project Radiate. New backpack transceivers include the ten watt/W Very/Ultra High Frequency (V/UHF: 118MHz to 400MHz) MCR3005. The MCR3005 is to be used primarily for ground-to-air/air-to-ground communications. The ten-watt MCR2005 is also a VHF backpack system but covers frequencies of 30MHz to 88MHz. New backpack HF radios include Reutech’s MCR1025. The SANDF is receiving new vehicular systems including Reutech’s 50W VHF VCR2050 (30MHz – 88MHz) and 20W VCR3020 (118MHz – 400MHz). A vehicular HF radio in the guise of the VCR1100 is also being delivered. The 50W FCR5050 (30MHz – 400MHz) and HF FCR1100 radios will equip fixed installations. Finally, Reutech’s PCR4001 is a UHF (410MHz – 510MHz) one-watt personal role radio. The vehicular VCR4001 has similar characteristics.
All these new radios are compatible with South Africa’s Link-ZA HF and V/UHF Tactical Datalink (TDL). Open sources say a Link-ZA network can support up to 31 active nodes hosting unlimited subscribers. Development of Link-ZA commenced in the 1990s and it entered service in 2012. Link-ZA was conceived as an alternative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) Link-11 and Link-16 TDLs. South Africa had reportedly been refused permission by NATO to acquire these TDL protocols. All military communications equipment used by the SANDF must by Link-ZA compliant.
Some of Project Radiate radios have already been supplied to the South African military and were deployed to support the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Deploying the radios to the DRC provided valuable lessons regarding radio performance in hot and humid environments. While Project Radiate has taken some time to fruition, it is now finally yielding the tactical communications the SANDF so badly needs. (Source: Armada)
19 Sep 23. Europe-Asia: Cyber espionage campaign exploiting vulnerable servers elevates security risk for government sector. On 18 September, the cyber security firm TrendMicro released a report outlining a new malware being used by the China-affiliated threat actor ‘Earth Lusca’ in a recent cyber espionage campaign. In this campaign, Earth Lusca targeted public-facing servers to exploit pre-existing vulnerabilities for initial access to victims’ networks. Earth Lusca also deployed ‘ShadowPad’ and a Linux version of the ‘Winnti’ malware, which are known to be shared among Chinese state-sponsored threat actors. Researchers discovered at least two different versions of the backdoor (‘SprySOCKS’), indicating that the threat group is actively developing the malware for future operations. Earth Lusca primarily targets the government sector in the Balkans, Central Asia and Southeast Asia, with a focus on government departments dealing with foreign affairs, technology and telecommunications. As the group continues to aggressively target public-facing servers with known vulnerabilities, organisations in the government sector within Eastern Europe and Asia will face elevated risks of cyber espionage campaigns in the medium to long term. (Source: Sibylline)
18 Sep 23. Global: Ransomware-as-a-Service affiliates pose sustained operational, financial risks to businesses. On 15 September, the cyber security firm Mandiant released a report on a financially-motivated threat group, ‘UNC3944’, pivoting to using ransomware. UNC3944 has shifted its focus towards stealing large amounts of sensitive data to extort companies, particularly Western organisations, in an expansion of its profit strategy. The group initially relied on phone-based social engineering tactics and smishing to obtain employee credentials, similar to another cyber criminal group known as ‘Lapsus$’. The group predominantly targets organisations in the telecommunications, hospitality, retail, media and financial services sectors. Most recently, the group has emerged as an affiliate of the ‘BlackCat’ (aka ‘ALPHV’) ransomware group, and BlackCat’s ransomware to breach MGM Resorts in Las Vegas on 8 September. The use of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) indicates that UNC3944 is likely escalating the frequency of its operations and will likely target increasing numbers of business-critical systems with ransomware operations, sustaining operational and financial risks to organisations in the medium-to-long term. (Source: Sibylline)
18 Sep 23. Radiocoms forges international alliance with Modirum
to widen UK offer to include for secure video broadcasting and management for emergency and other key sectors. The boards of Radiocoms Systems Limited, a leading UK emergency communications provider, and Modirum, an international video-streaming and data business, are pleased to announce a joint service offering, building on Radiocoms´ existing voice and data services excellence in critical environments, on Android and IOS to include video-streaming and other essential digital services.
The shared offering will be focused first on the UK Emergency Services Show, being held at the NEC Birmingham from 19-20 September.
Modirum Securities Technologies, headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, brings world-leading capabilities in tactical command and control solutions, based on mission-proven software. Its technologies are currently deployed in a range of NATO and EU environments. It operates with the strapline ´ when a second is a lifetime´.
Radiocoms is initially working with UK opportunities unless agreed with Modirum. The company see this technology primarily for mission critical customers such as the MoD, the emergency services and other government bodies.
Mark Blythe, Managing Director of Radiocomms, said:
“Many of Radiocoms’ customers already have Android or IOS devices which are being utilised for Radiocoms voice and data services. The addition of real time video streaming is a natural addition to the portfolio which allows Radiocoms´ customers to add services to its existing equipment without any additional capital expenditure. Radiocoms´ project engineers and sales staff have been provided training on the new application and expects to see its first customers on the platform in Quarter 1 2024.
We maintain a range of services which includes digital voice and data, press to talk over cellular and body worn data, video.”
The Modirum video streaming technology enables Radiocoms to offer its mission critical customers real time video streaming utilising the same device that the company is providing for voice, data and video streaming services.
Tomi Virtanen, CEO of Modirum Securities Technologies, said: “We have long regarded the UK market as of high interest, and in Radiocoms have found the ideal partner and platform with which jointly to market an enhanced offering to the UK emergency services, defence and related markets. We bring established tier one credibility with NATO forces, and other environments where security and speed are of the essence of delivery. We each have long-established cultures of excellence and client-focus.
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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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