Sponsored by Spectra Group
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19 Oct 23. ABS Consulting and Dragos Expand Strategic Partnership to Strengthen OT Defenses.
ABSG Consulting Inc. (ABS Consulting), a leading global operational risk management company, and Dragos Inc. (Dragos), the global leader in cybersecurity for industrial controls systems, today announced the expansion of their strategic partnership to provide industry-leading operational technology (OT) cybersecurity solutions, services and training to federal and commercial organizations. This strategic partnership will build on the companies’ existing work together, further integrating Dragos’ world-class OT cybersecurity technology with ABS Consulting’s award-winning OT risk management expertise to address the market-wide demand for a comprehensive, well-resourced approach to cyber defense.
“As cyber attacks on critical industries become more frequent and severe, securing the facilities and equipment that support our infrastructure is paramount to both business operations and community health and safety,” said Ryan Moody, President and CEO of ABS Group, ABS Consulting’s parent company. “For far too long, operators have been digitalizing legacy equipment and expanding attack surfaces without tightening up their cybersecurity alongside it, and that approach can expose operations, reputations and communities to significant risk.”
ABS Consulting and Dragos are already working together to support the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Maritime Security Risk Analysis Model (MSRAM). By working with the USCG and constituents, our teams are creating a near real-time cyber threat/intel tool that evaluates risk to the United States’ ports. With 90% of the global economy depending on goods transported on ships in the maritime transportation system, protecting the ports of the United States is of the utmost importance.
“ABS Consulting is an important strategic partner in helping to safeguard critical infrastructure and this expanded partnership will allow our companies to help even more organizations faster,” said Robert M. Lee, CEO of Dragos. “Amid an evolving threat landscape, tightening regulations and the widening cybersecurity talent gap, C-suite leaders are overwhelmed by the cybersecurity challenges industrial organizations, especially critical infrastructure, face. Expanding our strategic partnership with ABS Consulting will simplify the complicated task of securing both public and private infrastructure, helping to bring better protection within reach for more organizations.”
Through the expanded alliance, Dragos customers will have access to ABS Consulting’s industrial cybersecurity managed services and 24/7 Industrial Security Operations Center (ISOC) monitoring, cybersecurity assessments and consulting services designed to meet customer’s needs, as well as the company’s deep expertise in industrial risk management. In turn, ABS Consulting clients will get access to the Dragos Platform, a leading cybersecurity technology tailored specifically to OT environments.
About ABS Consulting
ABSG Consulting Inc. (ABS Consulting) is a subsidiary of ABS Group of Companies, Inc. (www.abs-group.com), which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ABS (www.eagle.org), one of the world’s leading marine and offshore classification societies. ABS Consulting was named one of America’s Best Consulting Firms of 2022 by Forbes. With over 50 years of risk management and safety experience, ABS Consulting provides data-driven risk and reliability solutions and technical services that help clients confirm the integrity, quality and efficiency of critical assets and operations. Headquartered in Spring, Texas, ABS Consulting operates with more than 1,000 professionals across the globe serving the marine and offshore, oil, gas and chemical, government, power, and energy and industrial sectors.
About Dragos
Dragos Inc., is the global leader in cybersecurity for industrial controls systems (ICS)/operational technology (OT) environments. The Dragos Platform offers the most effective industrial cybersecurity technology, giving customers visibility into their ICS/OT assets, vulnerabilities, threats, and response actions. The strength behind the Dragos Platform comes from the ability to codify Dragos’s industry-leading OT threat intelligence, and insights from the Dragos services team, into the software. The company’s community-focused approach gives customers access to the largest array of industrial organizations participating in collective defense, with the broadest visibility available. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
18 Oct 23. US Army and LM Conduct Successful Test of MFEW-AL System.
- The results will help shape future capabilities for the multi-domain operational force
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today announced a successful flight test of the Multi-Function Electronic Warfare-Air Large (MFEW-AL), an airborne electronic payload with attack and support capability. This MFEW-AL test represented the first time in decades U.S. Army Electronic Warfare (EW) Soldiers successfully conducted a series of airborne electronic warfare against a variety of threat emitters. Additionally, this test marked a key milestone that moves the system closer from system development to initial production.
The Big Picture
MFEW-AL is designed to detect, identify, locate, deny, disrupt and degrade enemy communications and radars. This flight test provided data on MFEW-AL’s extended range capabilities, exposing it to a series of tests designed to evaluate its ability to sense and affect a wide range of signals of interest at various distances.
Previously flown on an MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system, this test used an Army fixed wing aircraft, MC-12W, allowing the team to demonstrate the system is platform agnostic and can be tailored to a variety of configurations.
Strategic Perspectives
“MFEW-AL is an innovative converged technology that addresses our customer’s vision for combined cyber and electronic warfare capability and dominance,” said Deon Viergutz, vice president of Spectrum Convergence at Lockheed Martin. “In collaboration with the U.S. Army, this demonstration expanded upon all testing of the MFEW-AL system to date, bringing to bear a more complete hardware and software configuration that gets us closer to delivering this technology to our EW Soldiers.”
Dive Deeper
- The MFEW-AL is a single, self-contained, airborne electronic warfare pod able to be equipped on a variety of aircraft based on mission requirements.
- MFEW-AL sees and shoots the farthest of all U.S. Army electronic warfare systems and is a key enabler of the Army’s Modernization Priorities.
- The system utilizes advanced technology with a system architecture based on the C5ISR/EW Modular Open Suite of Standards and provides the essential aerial component of the integrated EW system in Multi-Domain Operations.
What’s Next
More flight tests and demonstrations are planned over the next several months and Lockheed Martin will use the results and continue to refine system performance.
(Source: ASD Network)
18 Oct 23. Aging IT burdens Pentagon leaders seeking change, Google’s Dahut says. A week after Karen Dahut discussed digital transformation and information-technology investments at the Association of the U.S. Army convention, she was back on stage. This time, though, it was on home turf: The Google Public Sector Forum.
Dahut leads Google Public Sector, launched in June 2022 to target government modernization and the tech-centric needs of national security. She previously worked as the president of Booz Allen Hamilton’s global defense business.
Dahut sat down with C4ISRNET on the sidelines of the Oct. 17 forum to discuss her experience with the company, government adoption of artificial intelligence and cloud, and the ever-changing landscape of cyber. Google Public Sector the same day announced it was collaborating with Accenture Federal Services on a cybersecurity center of excellence.
Portions of the interview below were edited for length and clarity.
How is Google Public Sector shaping up a little more than one year after its launch? Who or what have been some of its biggest focus areas?
I’ve spent the last year, really, traveling around, visiting with customers and prospective customers. There are three things they say, resoundingly, that they need and want.
One is they need to move quickly. They need to move boldly, and they need to transition out of legacy IT.
Two is that they need security built in. I don’t know if you saw Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia speak earlier this morning, but the number of cyber incidents are quadrupling, the number of zero-day incidents are just growing extraordinarily, and our public-sector customers are experiencing that and seeing that. They need security built in.
Then, the last thing is that they don’t want to do this by themselves; they need really strong technology partners to support them.
I use that as a foundation to say we’re really trying to address those needs for our public-sector customers. Bringing modern cloud to the table, bringing an IL5-compliant cloud that is truly differentiated, because we are accrediting U.S. Google Cloud entirely at IL5, and it has security and AI built in by design. By default, security is built in.
What we have been really evangelizing with our customers is we’re the right partner for you. We’re the fastest growing cloud in industry for a reason. We want to bring this cloud and these feature sets to you to really help you, whether it’s security challenges that you have or to digitally transform using AI.
In your experience, how well are government or defense agencies adopting cloud, something like the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability? What more can be done?
First of all, it’s quite variable, dependent on the technology leaders that lead the different agencies, how quickly they have moved to the cloud. I think the number is somewhere less than 20% in all of government that have actually transitioned to the cloud and are using the cloud in a meaningful way.
JWCC is a great contract vehicle, right? It’s a contract vehicle that all of the Department of Defense can access and leverage. But the technology leaders inside the agencies need to, first of all, commit that they want to move to the cloud and they want to use cloud and AI and security as a way of modernizing or digitally transforming.
You were at AUSA. If you look at the way the Army is, really, evaluating cloud, moving to a multi-cloud type of organization, really adopting AI and developing use cases to accelerate the mission, it’s super exciting.
There are other agencies that are not nearly as far along, so it really runs a continuum, depending upon who you’re talking to.
How has your defense experience — at Booz Allen, for example — shaped Google Public Sector’s pursuits thus far?
I ran the defense business at Booz Allen for a really long time. And what I know to be true is there are a lot of really earnest defense leaders that want to modernize and move quickly.
I think they are burdened with legacy IT and technical debt that they can’t resolve in a single budget year. They have incumbent providers that are super aggressive. So how can they overcome that? And then, thirdly, there’s a risk paradigm around technology, and particularly AI, that needs to be overcome.
As Jinyoung Englund said on the stage this morning — she’s the chief strategy officer for the algorithmic warfare directorate for the chief digital and AI office — there’s risk in everything.
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Let’s not get mired in evaluating all of the risks. Let’s pick some use cases that are not complicated, that don’t create high level of risk for your organization. Maybe it’s a back-office use case, maybe it’s a security use case. It’s something. Let’s get started that way.
My advice for all of our customers has been ‘get started and move quickly.’
Now, to the point you made about drawing a distinction between an integrator and a Google, I think integrators own a lot of the dollars that are spent on technology on an annual basis. Our commitment is to partner very closely with integrators and be partner-first, so that we can really help them bring best-of-breed technology to their customers.
How would you assess the state of AI today, particularly for your government or defense consumers?
Well, I’ll back up and say the state of AI, globally, is that commercial companies are adopting it very, very quickly. I think that should tell you something about, No. 1, the economic benefit that it provides, as well as the mission benefit that it provides.
A significant number of our commercial companies, they’re not experimenting with AI, they are implementing and adopting it. When we have those conversations with federal and state and local customers, we’re like, ‘Let’s take some of the use cases that we’re seeing in our commercial sector, and let’s just apply them, and use them, in the government sector,’ because we think that there’s not a lot of risk in some of those proven use cases.
Now, where they are challenged is, in some cases, they’re not yet transitioned to the cloud. In order to really leverage the benefit of AI, you have to be in the cloud, because that’s where the compute power is.
Sometimes they have to back up and say, OK, in order to do what Company A, B, or C is doing, we need to first transition to the cloud, to get our data into the cloud, to be able to leverage our data enterprise to apply AI.
It might be a longer pathway for them, but it’s still very doable.
What is the cause of that adoption lag between private and public sectors? The Defense Department has been dinged, for awhile, for its slow adoption of new tech.
I think it’s what I talked about earlier.
It’s technical debt. They have to move to the cloud and get there rapidly. It’s a risk conversation that they have.
It’s great to do prototypes, but they have a scale issue, as well. So you need to move from prototypes and pilots to real, scaled implementations. And that scale within DoD is a very dramatically different scale. So leveraging the lessons learned from like a large Fortune 50 company — how did they do it — and applying that same approach.
What’s your read on the shift to zero-trust cybersecurity? Do you feel it’s as bulletproof or revolutionary as some officials make it out to be?
Google is a zero-trust company. We became a zero-trust company, we were really the pioneers in zero trust, because we were hacked in 2008, 2009. Well-known story. We can send you the YouTube links.
But we, Google, decided at that point in time that we needed to adopt an entirely different security architecture, because it was an existential threat to the company. We, over the past 13 years, have really been adopting and implementing zero trust across the board.
It starts with identity and access. That is a really hard thing, sometimes, for the government to get its head around.
If I can identify you as a user — what your appropriate accesses are, and that you are sitting at the computer you say you are sitting at — that is the trifecta of security. Now, do I believe that, at some point down the road, somebody would find a way to hack into that? Quite possibly. But right now, it is the most secure architecture there is.
That’s why we’re working, actually, with DoD to help them think through their zero-trust architecture and how they could move to it.
It’s not easy. I mean, Google has been migrating to this over a long period of time, and we are now in that architecture. It takes time, effort, resources to really dedicate to doing it right.
Is zero trust the right fit for everyone, for commercial companies and these massive government agencies?
The way I think about government and government transformation, if you will, you have to take it in its piece parts. If you look at it with the big picture, it seems overwhelming.
I always talk to our customers about what is the first step you can take today to modernize. I know that if you go out 20 years, this is where you want to be. But let’s back up to today: What is the first step you would take? Let’s take that step.
Maybe the first step is moving to the cloud. Then, once you’re in the cloud, securing your data in a secure way, so that the entire enterprise can leverage that data. So, just taking those incremental steps but with a bold vision.
‘Is zero trust right for everybody?’ is your question. I don’t know that it’s right for everybody, but I also don’t know that it’s not right for everybody.
If you look at the number of security incidents we’ve had as a company since moving there, it’s none. So, what is the value of being able to secure your enterprise in a way that you sleep at night?
(Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
19 Oct 23. NATO Says Yes To ESSOR. It seems highly likely that NATO will adopt the pan-European High Data Rate Waveform to satisfy the alliance’s outstanding requirement for a wideband networking waveform to enhance alliance interoperability.
NATO’s long-standing quest to introduce a secure, wideband networking waveform to be used across its membership may be nearing conclusion.
It seems highly likely that NATO will adopt the pan-European High Data Rate Waveform to satisfy the alliance’s outstanding requirement for a wideband networking waveform to enhance alliance interoperability.
Sources close to the pan-European ESSOR (European Secure Software Defined Radio) waveform project have told Armada that this waveform will be adopted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The key deliverable for the ESSOR programme is its High Data Rate Waveform (HDRWF). The HDRWF is an ultra-high frequency waveform using a waveband of 225 megahertz/MHz to 400MHz. Up to 200 nodes can be housed on a single HDRWF network. The waveform can handle data rates of up to one megabit-per-second. It can sustain full duplex data and voice-over-internet-protocol communications. Transmission security includes fast frequency hopping, and it can work in environments where global navigation satellite signals are badly degraded or denied.
The ESSOR project is being realised via an international effort involving Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal. All six countries will be introducing the HDRWF into their tactical communications over the coming years. The A4ESSOR consortium is the industrial element of the programme involving Bittium, Indra, Leonardo, Radmor, Rohde and Schwarz, and Thales.
NATO has an outstanding requirement for a secure wideband waveform as articulated in its Standardisation Agreement 5651 (STANAG 5651). STANAG 5651 covers the specifications for a high data rate networking waveform to be used across the alliance. The waveform will enable the high-volume movement of voice and data traffic between NATO land forces. The waveform’s adoption would be a major step forward to enhance interoperability across alliance land forces. NATO has had a long-standing requirement for a waveform with these attributes to have been satisfied by the COALWNW (Coalition Wideband Networking Waveform) initiative. However, Armada has been told that the COALWNW initiative has all but terminated. Despite the demise of COALWNW, NATO’s requirement has not dissipated and ESSOR is in pole position to satisfy this.
ESSOR Deconstructed
The OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en Matière d’Armement/Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation) pan-European defence procurement agency announced in April that the HDRWF was undergoing ratification to satisfy STANAG 5651. Armada understands that, as of mid-September, this process is expected to conclude imminently. Once ratification is complete, NATO nations could use the HDRWF to satisfy high data rate waveform requirements. Armada was told that nations would then be free to use the waveform to enhance intra-force and inter-force connectivity within and between other NATO land forces. Several nations have requirements to this end such as the United Kingdom.
The UK had previously ruled out joining ESSOR or adopting the waveform. Instead, UK officials told Armada they were waiting to see how COALWNW would develop. ESSOR’s adoption for STANAG 5651 would seem to imply that COALWNW is now dead. This may open the way for the HDRWF’s adoption across the alliance, marking an important step forward in NATO’s quest to deepen coalition networking.
(Source: Armada)
19 Oct 23. Holy Trinity. The British Army’s Falcon trunk communications system, elements of which are shown here, will be replaced by the new Trinity ensemble which will include ultra-high frequency and satellite communications links.
UK land forces are receiving a new trunk communications system courtesy of the Project Trinity initiative.
On 22nd August, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) awarded BAE Systems a contract worth $111 million to provide the Trinity trunk communications system to equip the country’s land forces. Trinity will replace the British Army’s existing Falcon trunk radio network. BAE Systems was also the prime contractor for Falcon which provides secure internet protocol voice and data traffic. Falcon is expected to leave service from circa 2030. Officials close to the Trinity programme told Armada there is likely to be some overlap between the retirement of Falcon and Trinity’s introduction.
Architecture
Although BAE Systems is the prime contractor for Trinity, L3Harris will deliver the hardware and much of the software. From a hardware perspective, the Trinity architecture will comprise the company’s new RF-9800W Ultra High Frequency (UHF: 300 megahertz to three gigahertz) radio. A Satellite Communications (SATCOM) terminal is also included in the Trinity ensemble. L3Harris officials told Armada that the SATCOM bandwidths to be used by Trinity are awaiting formal selection by the MOD. Confirmation of the frequencies will determine which terminal is selected.
Both the SATCOM terminal and the RF-9800W will be linked to L3Harris’ RF-9800W-AT300 electronically steerable antenna. This antenna will handle both conventional radio and SATCOM traffic and will do so when stationary or while mobile. L3Harris provides its MissionOps system management software while BAE Systems provides the ensemble’s NetVipr switching software.
Into Service
L3Harris officials said that Trinity will provide connectivity from the operational level to the brigade level, although they added that it could also provide trunk communications down to a battlegroup if required. The next stage for the programme is a demonstration of the potential architecture scheduled for 2024. After this, the MOD will select the specific system elements it wants for the architecture. It is likely that the exact specifications for the SATCOM terminal could be determined at this point. Trinity’s initial operational capability is expected for 2025, with a full operational capability likely to be declared circa two-to-three years after.
Unlike the erstwhile Falcon system, Trinity will not provide brigade headquarters with any Command and Control (C2) system. Instead, the MOD is expected to provide this separately via the ministry’s OpSys programme.
The Trinity contract award is a step in the right direction. All being well, the programme will enter service on time and on budget. This is a communications success the MOD badly needs at a time when its Morpheus tactical communications and C2 system for the UK’s land forces is suffering considerable strain amidst delays. (Source: Armada)
19 Oct 23. Millimetres Make A Difference. The US Army is moving forward with its Army 2030 vision which will see an overarching modernisation of its manoeuvre force which could include the acquisition of millimetric wave communications.
The US Army may begin procuring millimetric wave communications systems for its land manoeuvre force from 2025.
Officials from Blu Wireless told Armada that the US Army may potentially acquire Millimetric Wave (MMW) communications systems for its land manoeuvre force from circa 2025. The officials were speaking during this year’s DSEI exhibition held in London between 12th and 15th September.
MMW communications use frequencies well above traditional High Frequency (HF: three megahertz/MHz to 30MHz) and Very/Ultra High Frequency (V/UHF: 30MHz to three gigahertz/GHz) radio. HF and V/UHF are used for the lion’s share of the tactical communications performed by land forces. Millimetric wave frequencies are found much further up the radio segment of the electromagnetic spectrum. Typically, MMW includes frequencies of 57GHZ to 71GHz.
Such frequencies offer several advantages not typically found in frequencies lower down in the radio spectrum. For example, MMW signals have a very narrow beamwidth of around eight degrees, the officials said. These narrow beamwidths are challenging to detect with conventional Electronic Support Measures (ESMs). Most ESMs cannot detect and identify frequencies above 40GHz with MMW signals falling well beyond this.
A second advantage concerns how MMW signals perform in the atmosphere. These signals have exceptionally narrow wavelengths of between 5.2mm (57GHz) and 4.2mm (71GHz). As a result of their narrow wavelengths, MMW signals can suffer ‘rain fade’. Rain fade is a phenomenon where precipitation in the atmosphere like rain and snow absorb some of an MMW signal and reduce its energy. This absorption can happen because the size of the rain drops or snowflakes are similar to the wavelengths of the particles.
Rain fade can give MMW signals a short range when compared to those achievable with conventional HF or V/UHF communications. However, an advantage of this is that short ranges of under ten kilometres (5.4 miles) which are achievable with MMW signals make them hard to detect with ESMs. Thus narrow beams and the short ranges offered by MMW communications means an ESM must be relatively close to the transmitting antenna to detect, identify and locate it. Such proximity is understandably undesirable at the tactical edge.
Another advantage offered by MMW concerns data carriage. Blu Wireless officials told Armada that millimetric wave communications can handle traffic at rates of circa three gigabits-per-second. Data rates like these can eclipse those offered by conventional V/UHF communications.
Into service?
The officials said that the US Army’s Futures Command could perform the MMW procurement. In its own words Futures Command “transforms the Army to ensure war-winning future readiness.” Communications modernisation is one area of interest for Futures Command. Army 2030 is an overarching, ongoing modernisation initiative being pursued by the force for which Futures Command has key responsibilities. Army 2030 is intended to ensure that the force retains strategic, operational and tactical overmatch against near-peer adversaries. Part of this effort includes the force being secure from “enemy cyber and electronic attacks in order to reliably communicate and share data with ourselves, sister services and coalition partners.” This vision dovetails with the US Department of Defence’s wider focus on Multi-Domain Operations (MDO). MDO works to achieve the inter- and intra-service connectivity of every military asset across all levels of warfighting to achieve a better quality and pace of decision-making vis-à-vis one’s adversary.
Assuming the MMW acquisition by the US Army goes ahead, the advent of millimetric wave communications in the land manoeuvre force will be an important step in meeting both Army 2030 and wider MDO goals. (Source: Armada)
19 Oct 23. October Radio Roundup. Armada’s monthly round-up of all the latest military communications news in the product, programme and operational domains.
New Antennas
This year’s DSEI exhibition held in London between 12th and 15th September showcased several new products in the tactical communications domain. Alaris Holdings exhibited its Cojot steerable antenna which the company says is now in service with undisclosed North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) customers. The Cojot product family includes several steerable antennas, each of which cover specific wavebands. The family as a whole covers a range of frequencies from one gigahertz/GHz up to six gigahertz. These wavebands make them ideal for land forces communications applications. The electrically steerable antennas cover a 360-degree radius and are housed in a cylindrical covering. Company officials told Armada that Alaris is looking to expand the Cojot offering into the maritime and uninhabited aerial vehicle domains. The officials continued that these applications could be available to customers within the next six months. Plans are also afoot to expand the wavebands covered by the antenna family downwards to 400 megahertz and upwards to eight gigahertz.
New Barrett Handheld
Other new products in the tactical communications domain showcased during this year’s DSEI exhibition included Barrett Communications’ new 4080 dual-channel Very High Frequency (VHF) radio. Covering a waveband of 30 Megahertz/MHz to 147.5 MHz, the handheld radio can be used with several different amplifiers. On its own, the handheld radio produces five watts/W of power. When teamed with the backpack amplifier this increases to 20W and then 50W for the fixed base station amplifier. Company officials told Armada that data rates of up to 192 kilobits-per-second are achievable. They added that the radio can host an array of waveforms, although declined to provide specifics and said that undisclosed customers are receiving deliveries. The officials mooted several applications for the 4080. These include supporting troops who need to regularly use two channels for their mission such as forward air controllers. (Source: Armada)
19 Oct 23. Northrop Grumman and LIG Nex1 forge dynamic partnership in Korea’s EW arena. A memorandum of understanding at ADEX 2023 sets the stage for Northrop Grumman and LIG Nex1 to change airborne electronic warfare systems in South Korea jointly. In a collaboration that aims to redefine the landscape of electronic warfare in South Korea, Northrop Grumman and LIG Nex1 have joined forces.
Their partnership has been marked by a memorandum of understanding signed at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition 2023.
The stage is set for Northrop Grumman, an aerospace and defence technology company, to team up with LIG Nex1 to pursue airborne electronic warfare and targeting systems. This collaboration comes with Northrop Grumman’s background in delivering defence solutions to South Korea.
Northrop Grumman has collaborated with South Korean company LIG Nex1 to develop the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System – Korea (JSTARS-K) solution.
Northrop Grumman has recently inked a contract with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) to supply the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) and technical support for South Korea’s Korean mine countermeasures helicopter (KMCH) programme, strengthening South Korea’s naval mine detection capabilities.
According to GlobalData’s Thematic Research – Electronic Warfare (2021) report, Northrop Grumman’s solutions find applications in the aerospace, electronics and information systems sectors. It manufactures acoustic sensors for aircraft carriers and submarines, spacecraft systems, mission-critical computer systems and wireless communications infrastructure. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
19 Oct 23. Ukraine-Papua New Guinea: Software vulnerability increases espionage risks to government entities. Multiple state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) groups are actively exploiting a software vulnerability (CVE-2023-38831) in the legitimate Windows archiver tool, WinRAR, in espionage-focused operations. The Russian APT groups ‘Sandworm’ and ‘APT28’ exploited this vulnerability in phishing campaigns targeting Ukrainian government entities to install information stealers and exfiltrate sensitive information. Similarly, the Chinese APT ‘APT40′ also was observed using the vulnerability to target organisations in Papua New Guinea, while North Korean actors have reportedly exploited the vulnerability. This vulnerability has been actively exploited since April 2023, despite patches being available, highlighting the ongoing security risks unpatched software flaws can pose to government entities. Software vulnerabilities will continue to elevate exploitation risks to organisations, particularly to the public sector. (Source: Sibylline)
17 Oct 23. Leonardo, Internet 2.0 to partner on UK ‘Cloaking Firewall’ distribution. Italian defence and aerospace company Leonardo has announced an exclusive UK partnership with Internet 2.0 to bring the company’s Australian-developed “Cloaking Firewall” product to the UK market.
This exclusive deal means that Leonardo will be the only company authorised to provide the product in the UK market.
Cloaking Firewall is a patented technology that removes the ability of cyber attackers to find networks by hiding them from internet-wide scanning.
Allan Leggetter, managing director cyber and security solutions, Leonardo UK, welcomed the exclusive contract, highlighting the importance of closer technology collaboration between Australia and the UK, saying, “The AUKUS trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States has heralded an even closer partnership between our nations and this is one of many examples where we’re able to benefit from each other’s cutting-edge capabilities.
“We’re excited to be working with Internet 2.0 to bring this outstanding capability, already deployed in Australia, to the UK market,” Leggetter added.
This defeats cyber reconnaissance tools used by hackers to identify and exploit networks.
David Robinson, co-founder of Internet 2.0, echoed the sentiments of Leggetter, saying, “This partnership with Leonardo rounds out our AUKUS footprint. It is a game changer for us because Leonardo’s substantial onshore cyber defence capability will allow them to provide network cloaking at scale inside the United Kingdom.”
While the technology has already been deployed in the commercial sector, the military grade Cloaking Internet Gateway is a tightly export-controlled cyber technology. (Source: Defence Connect)
17 Oct 23. Defence Leaders Recognise Need to Adapt to Win in ‘Information Battlespace’, Reveals BAE Systems. New research has found that 95% of military and defence industry decision-makers recognise that ongoing digitalisation has led to a more dynamic and complex ‘information battlespace’ and a further 93% agree defence will require increased integration across domains.
A report by BAE Systems’ Digital Intelligence business, Decision Making in the Battlespace of the Future, gathered insights on how 400 defence and aerospace leaders are facing the challenge of maintaining a digital edge over adversaries in a rapidly evolving environment.
It found that greater levels of Multi-Domain Integration – across land, sea, air, cyber and space – will be key as the defence landscape becomes increasingly digitalised. Nine out of ten respondents said better Multi-Domain Integration would enable a more effective response to grey zone threats, cybersecurity attacks and AI developments with 83% saying it would reduce uncertainty and volatility.
Researchers gathered views of senior business and IT decision-makers from military and private industry defence and aerospace organisations across the UK, Canada, Australia, the Nordics and the Middle East. It sheds light on the recent significant changes in the defence landscape and highlights areas the sector must focus on to overcome emerging threats.
Areas of focus highlighted in the report include:
- Collaboration across military departments – breaking down siloes to enable integration and unified strategies
- Regulatory standards for Multi-Domain Integration programmes – to streamline implementation and coordination
- Integrated technology development – while innovations increase across the board, technology integration can reduce siloes
The information battlespace
With 86% agreeing that future wars will be fought in an ‘information battlespace’, it’s clear that digital capabilities are central to modern military strategies. Almost all respondents (98%) acknowledged an evolution of processes will be essential for navigating the complexities of modern defence.
The report highlights that, in addition to the challenge of digitalisation, the defence sector faces rapid evolution due to a number of geopolitical factors. These include the return to conventional war in Europe and the requirement to protect against operations within the so-called ‘grey zone’, which consist of activities that sit just beneath the threshold of an act of war.
Embracing Multi-Domain Integration – whereby every part of defence operates seamlessly together – promotes unified action that allows for more effective responses to cyber-attacks and Artificial Intelligence (AI) developments (93% agree).
Mivy James, Digital Transformation Director, BAE Systems’ Digital Intelligence business, said: “One of the main benefits of Multi-Domain Integration is operational effectiveness and the ability to access a holistic view of a situation. We’re seeing a decline in the clear distinction between traditional domains in modern warfare and we need to differentiate less between the physical and digital space and create digital threads between domains to manage this evolving threat.”
Bolstering our defences
As adversaries employ increasingly sophisticated digital strategies, 79% of respondents recognise Multi-Domain Integration’s critical role in shaping today’s military operations. They acknowledge the intricate nature of Multi-Domain Integration while simultaneously deeming it indispensable – with 91% of those surveyed agreeing Multi-Domain Integration is difficult to implement but essential.
Sidharth Kaushal, Research Fellow, Sea Power – Military Sciences, RUSI, added: “System integration, spanning domains, nations and industries, inevitably raises cybersecurity concerns. While there’s unanimous agreement on the need for greater integration, particularly in our collaboration with allies, we must be prepared for the inherent challenges this brings.
“Integration at this scale isn’t just about technology; it’s a transformative journey prompting us to revisit and potentially disrupt long-standing procedures. It’s essential that we approach this evolution with caution, ensuring we balance the promise of unified systems with the potential risks they might introduce.”
BAE Systems’ Digital Intelligence business delivers digital, data and cyber solutions to connect the deployed battlespace across land, air, maritime cyber and space domains, enabling rapid decision making and preparing military customers for the battlespace of the future.
To delve deeper into the intricacies and strategies surrounding Multi-Domain Integration in the evolving battlespace, access the full report by BAE Systems Digital Intelligence: https://www.baesystems.com/en/digital/feature/decision-making-in-the-battlespace-of-the-future?utm_campaign=c5isr_mdi_report_23&utm_medium=press_release&utm_source=external_comms (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
16 Oct 23. Australia Picks Lockheed Martin for Joint Air Battle Management System (JABMS). Lockheed Martin Australia has been announced as the strategic partner for Defence’s multi-m-dollar Joint Air Battle Management System (JABMS), which will deliver the core command-and-control architecture for the Australian Defence Force’s growing Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) capability.
The announcement marks the start of a new phase for Australia’s IAMD capability.
AIR6500 Project Manager Wing Commander Lachlan Melville said the announcement was a milestone for the Air Defence Systems Branch within Defence’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) and industry partners who have worked on the project.
“The Defence Strategic Review made it very clear that Defence must deliver a layered integrated air and missile defence operational capability urgently and this is exactly what we are pursuing,” Wing Commander Melville said.
JABMS will change the way Air Force plans and executes air power contributions to joint operations. It will improve the ability to fuse data from various sources and will enhance real-time decision-making.
Alongside the advanced sensors already being delivered by CEA Technologies under AIR6500 Tranche One, JABMS will allow a foundational layer to be built for future IAMD investments.
Beyond the technological aspect, AIR6500 is also pursuing a tailored capability delivery approach based on modern commercial ‘agile’ engineering processes.
“At its core, this approach focuses on building a collaborative team with industry, prioritising continuous delivery of operational value to our warfighters, and reducing and removing unnecessary and wasteful processes,” WGCDR Melville said.
“This approach is more appropriate for a complex command-and-control system when compared to the more traditional ‘waterfall’ design process that acquires capability through larger deliveries after all development work has been completed.”
WGCDR Melville also recognised Northrop Grumman Australia for its commitment and collaborative engagement throughout the competitive evaluation process.
“Northrop Grumman Australia, alongside Boeing Defence Australia and Raytheon Australia, have contributed significant expertise to the Commonwealth and their ongoing support through the Industry Advisory Team remains critical to the project’s success,” he said.
“In AIR6500 we have built something unique with four exceptional industry partners, all with significant experience in the IAMD domain and all committed to the ongoing success of the IAMD program.”
(Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/ Australian Department of Defence)
13 Oct 23. US Army to build electronic warfare training ground at Fort Gordon. An electronic-warfare testing range is slated for construction at Fort Gordon in Georgia, a development U.S. Army officials said will greatly bolster troop readiness.
The plans come as the service, the military’s largest, reinvests in electronic warfare and electromagnetic mastery after years of neglect. The renewed interest is spurred by threats posed by Russia and China after years spent in the Middle East.
Maj. Gen. Paul Stanton, Fort Gordon’s commanding officer, on Oct. 11 said the facilities will be a place where soldiers can get familiar with their jamming and sensing gear in realistic settings.
“It’s a fantastic training area to leverage EW capabilities,” Stanton told reporters on the sidelines of the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington. “It is heavily wooded, it’s undulated terrain. It has an airstrip built into it — lots of things that will benefit our ability to look at distances that matter in large-scale maneuver environments, in terrain that the Army would likely find itself fighting in.”
The sensitive nature of EW has long rendered full-strength testing and training tricky. Defense officials have said they do not want to harm neighbors on the spectrum and do not want to tip their hand to faraway observers, like Moscow and Beijing.
Todd Boudreau, the deputy commandant of the Army cyber school, in August said the project was approved by service leadership and “already” in the program objective memorandum, a layout of future spending plans.
The outdoor range, he told reporters the AFCEA TechNet Augusta conference in Georgia, will give students an opportunity to engage with “the environment, movement and maneuver, light discipline and noise discipline in a combat environment.”
Fort Gordon will be formally renamed Fort Eisenhower this month.
(Source: Defense News)
17 Oct 23. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) was selected by the U.S. Air Force for multiple awards to support the first Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) home station in the continental United States. Built on Northrop Grumman’s lineage in delivering end-to-end communications, networking solutions and proven experience keeping fleets flying across the globe, the awards include:
- Home station activation to establish the BACN ground and payload operations and support at Robins Air Force Base (AFB), Georgia.
- Training for Air Force personnel to operate the BACN payload and platform.
- Global sustainment and operations for technology-infused contract logistics support for worldwide deployment of both the platform and the BACN payload capabilities, including associated support equipment.
- Modernization with Ka-Band SATCOM upgrades overseas which will enable new missions for the warfighter, enhance command and control beyond line-of- sight to nearly global coverage and provide highly resilient communications with increased bandwidth and quality of service.
Expert:
Jenna Paukstis, vice president and general manager, networked information solutions, Northrop Grumman: “We view the activation of the BACN home station as a testament to the operational relevancy and strategic capability of our gateway technology. This is the next step in delivering persistent battlespace command and control for the U.S. and its allies.”
Details on BACN:
The BACN E-11A provides a high-altitude, airborne communications gateway that translates and distributes voice and tactical data from disparate elements to enhance situational awareness, communications and coordination for joint warfighters operating across all domains.
Most recently, Northrop Grumman delivered the first BACN E-11A to its new home at Robins AFB.
Since the platform’s first deployment in 2008, Northrop Grumman delivered six BACN payloads and provided around-the-clock support to maintain readiness for BACN E-11A operations spanning more than 223,000 combat and non-combat flight hours.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world, and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 98,000 employees define possible every day.
17 Oct 23. Asia: New backdoor increases cyber espionage risks to ASEAN government entities. On 13 October, researchers from Elastic Security Labs reported on the use of a novel backdoor (‘BLOODALCHEMY’) in a recent campaign against government entities and other sectors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. The backdoor reportedly forms part of the REF5961 intrusion set, which a Chinese-linked threat group is suspected to use. The REF5961 intrusion set has been used previously in a cyber espionage campaign against the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, indicating particular political interest in the region. The REF5961 intrusion set also contains three other malware families, aside from BLOODALCHEMY, which have been used in another intrusion set (REF2924) that is linked to Chinese state-sponsored actor ‘TA428’. As the ASEAN region continues to be of strategic interest for Beijing, government entities in the region will likely remain a target in espionage operations. (Source: Sibylline)
16 Oct 23. Norway Preparing Strategy for Military Use of Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence in the Defense Sector. The government has adopted a strategy that deals with how the defense sector will utilize artificial intelligence to promote Norway’s security and defense policy goals. “The defense sector must identify, develop, implement and adopt artificial intelligence in a responsible manner,” says Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp).
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) is happening quickly and has great potential for increased efficiency and operational effectiveness in the Armed Forces. When used correctly, AI can perform tasks better and faster than humans and reduce or eliminate margins of error. The resources saved by getting machines to take over tasks can be used in other areas.
“Today, the amount of information we have as a basis for decision support is so overwhelming that it is difficult to utilize it. AI can be used to compile and analyze information and give us a better understanding of the situation and a better basis for decisions,” says the Minister of Defence.
The objectives are to be able to identify needs and opportunities for the use of AI in the defense sector. Use of AI where it produces the greatest operational effect – and implementation of AI that requires little adaptation in the short term and measures that have great potential in the long term – must be prioritised. Both national and international cooperation will be crucial for the defense sector to succeed in adopting AI. The sector must therefore become very good in selected areas of use so that it becomes an attractive partner, internationally and nationally.
“Artificial intelligence is a technology that can have a very big impact on how military organizations solve their tasks. The rate of introduction is increasing both with our closest allies and with our potential adversaries. The nations that succeed in exploiting the potential can gain a competitive advantage through increased capability and efficiency. It is therefore strategically important that our defense sector also manages to utilize artificial intelligence. This will require a gradual implementation of the technology, but also ongoing operational innovation and organizational adaptation. An increase in competence will be necessary to succeed in making the defense sector AI-ready, but it is also necessary to strengthen the culture for continuous improvement,” says the Minister of Defence.
Although artificial intelligence can lead to significant benefits for both the military and civilian sectors, it also entails a number of challenges related to international law and ethical, humanitarian and military considerations. Development and use of AI must be in accordance with applicable international humanitarian law.
Principles have therefore been drawn up which the defense sector undertakes to adhere to so that the defense sector’s development and use of AI takes place in a responsible manner. These principles are based on NATO’s principles which lay the foundation for cooperation and interoperability with our allies.
A better defense
Access to good, standardized and representative data is a fundamental prerequisite for the development of artificial intelligence. Seen in light of this, the defense sector will establish a strategy or policy for data that will define and identify how data can support the development of, among other things, artificial intelligence in the sector.
Artificial intelligence can have a major impact in areas such as preventive security, situational awareness, intelligence and the improvement of weapons systems. It will make our defense better, but it will also make the opposition’s defense better. Norway must take seriously the fact that opponents’ use of AI can pose a threat.
The AI strategy will facilitate the sector to identify and implement measures that can help reduce risk and protect us from the threats to our national security interests, including threats that arise through potential adversaries’ use of AI.
“The use of the technology must be protected, among other things by regulating exports and the necessary awareness in research collaboration and thus prevent adversaries from using the technology to develop their own military capabilities. We must ensure both national regulations and close cooperation with allies on the protection of the technology,” says the Minister of Defence. (Unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com) (Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/ Norwegian Ministry of Defence; issued Oct 13, 2023)
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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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