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13 Aug 19. Pentagon gears up for new 5G leadership. Michael Griffin, the Defense Department undersecretary for research and engineering, said the department is in the midst of adding assistant directors to lead the “strategic shaping” of each of the Pentagon’s modernization efforts, specifically 5G.
“We will shortly be bringing on board an assistant director for 5G … and similarly for all our other [areas],” Griffin said during a Hudson Institute event Aug. 13.
Griffin said he came into office expecting to make hypersonics capability a priority and was less convinced of DOD’s need to foray into 5G, saying he was “less sensitive and educated” to issues like microelectronics and 5G.
He told Congress during March 28 hearing that the telecommunications technology was “in its infancy everywhere in the world.” It was too immature to be operationalized by DOD, he said, and it “encompasses both standards and hardware — and much of that is hardware that needs to be developed.”
Now, however, “we are aware that commercial initiatives in telecommunications far outstrips anything that we can do and would want to do in DOD,” Griffin said.
Deputy Research and Engineering Undersecretary Lisa Porter is leading the DOD’s 5G strategy and initiatives, including testing at military bases, Griffin said. Congress and the Office of Management and Budget are expected to review the plans this year.
Griffin indicated that when it comes to the network, everything is simultaneously a threat risk and a promise of something better.
“The advantage of 5G, succinctly stated, is everything is part of the network,” he said. “The disadvantage of 5G is everything is part of the system — everything is a part of the attack surface.”
To cope, Griffin said that DOD will have to get used to working in untrustworthy networks. “Everything electromagnetic now becomes a potential threat as well as a potential promise,” he said. “We’re going to have to learn to have trusted communications in untrusted networks because we will never be able to certify perfect hardware.”
12 Aug 19. Contractors question DOD’s cyber requirements. The Pentagon is making big moves in an effort to improve cybersecurity for its industrial base, but so far the department’s biggest roadblocks early on may be the same confusion, doubt and uneven compliance from contractors that led to the vulnerabilities in the first place. Officials from the Department of Defense and the National Institute of Standards and Technology gave updates on two nascent programs at an Aug. 8 Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board meeting: NIST’s new draft cybersecurity guidance for contractor systems deemed high value assets and the Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program.
Both are designed to shore up different aspects of DOD’s cybersecurity regime for contractors, and both are causing heartburn among companies who are still unclear about how best to comply.
The NIST draft guidance around high value assets recently went out for public comment earlier this year. The more than 600 responses reflect confusion scope and application of the requirements.
Every individual requirement listed in the draft received more than a dozen comments or critiques, according to NIST’s Victoria Pillitteri.
Cost, practicality and straightforward questions like “does this apply to me or my systems?” were among the most common sentiments expressed, while certain requirements, like one for a 24-hour security operations center, were painted as unrealistic and cost prohibitive expectations for small and mid-sized contractors.
Roger Wakimoto, a vice chancellor at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote that his research team successfully competed for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding in 2017 and expressed concerns that the enhanced requirements “may inflict unintended consequences on fundamental research” and are “unclear” about whether they apply to basic research or academic institutions that take federal research funding.
“Unless agencies are mandated to state applicability in funding announcements, this proposed change could be incredibly burdensome, as it is possible that applicants would not know that the award would fall under the new requirements until they are far along in the process of applying,” wrote Wakimoto.
Others, like CTIA, a trade association representing the wireless industry, questioned whether NIST’s cost assessments for compliance was too low, saying it “will likely be substantial.”
Stronghold Cybersecurity worried that a requirement to restrict access to systems and components to information resources owned, provisioned or issued by the organization would wreak havoc on an increasingly mobile IT workforce.
“Any [Bring Your Own Device] goes out the window with this one for sure,” wrote Jason McNew, the firm’s Certified Information Systems Security Professional.
Despite the complaints, the contracting community is unlikely to find sympathy among DOD officials or members of Congress, who have pushed for cybersecurity standards for the defense industrial base following a sustained campaign of digital espionage by China over the past 18 months that has hemorrhaged sensitive U.S. military secrets.
“Our adversaries aren’t looking at penetrating the nuclear triad at the highest point…they’re going to the lowest tier to gain access and they’re patient,” said Katie Arrington, a special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition at the same meeting while discussing CMMC.
The enhanced NIST security requirements would only apply to components on nonfederal systems that store, process or transmit CUI, or when designated in a critical program or high value asset. Crucially, while NIST’s baseline cybersecurity requirements are mandatory for all defense contractors, agencies must be sure to specifically include the requirements for high value assets in any contracting or procurement documents.
Just what constitutes a critical program or high value asset (and by whom) is another complicating factor. The clearest definition comes from the Department of Homeland Security, which adopted the phrase in a Binding Operational Directive and has cycled through two iterations of a definition thus far, while leaving it largely up to agencies to identify specific assets that fit the bill.
“We’re still refining [the definition], I don’t know that that will ever be perfect,” said Alan McClelland, an information security specialist at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “Really it’s open to interpretation, the agencies determine themselves based on these definitions what their high value assets are.”
While DHS has offered technical expertise to the endeavor, military assets are not covered under the agency’s Binding Operational Directive or its definition, though McClelland said after his briefing that officials in both agencies are in discussions to cooperate and further align their efforts down the road.
A question of maturity
If the new NIST guidance is designed to scope out the technical requirements necessary to protect contractor systems, DOD’s new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program is a way to ensure that contractors are in fact complying. Rather than allow contractors to self-certify, the program will bring in third-party auditors to review contractor systems to ensure they’re in fact implementing the protections they claim to the government.
The Pentagon’s desire for a stricter compliance regime received a boost earlier this year when the federal government successfully convinced a judge to allow a lawsuit against contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings to proceed for claims it violated the Civil False Claims Act by misrepresenting compliance with NIST’s baseline cybersecurity requirements listed in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement.
Like with NIST’s new guidance, defense contractors and experts have also expressed anxiety about how the CMMC will work, how it will apply to their systems and whether the military can work out the kinks and confusion before a contractor’s certification level begins affecting the kind of procurements it can pursue. The differing levels of maturity one can achieve (measured on a scale from 1-5) further clouds the picture as to what a particular contractor may need to do or implement to continue doing business with the military.
In addition, there are a number of contractors who may genuinely think they’re compliant when they’re not, a problem that again goes back to the general uncertainty and doubt that arises when general principles about security are applied to specific systems and programs in the defense contracting space.
Arrington was tapped by the Pentagon earlier this year to lead the CMMC and institute a broader cultural change among the defense contracting community. A former contractor, Arrington said she saw companies that falsely self-certified or embellished their compliance with contractor cybersecurity regulations in pursuit of business.
Those days must come to an end, she said, calling for the community to move away from its widespread fixation on cost, schedule and performance while ignoring security.
“It doesn’t matter how much I pay for something if it’s already been exfiltrated,” Arrington said. “If I’m worried about getting it on time, but by the time I get it delivered to me it’s worthless, why am I worrying about the schedule? Yeah, I wanted it to perform at this capacity, but if my adversaries already have it, they’re outperforming me before I get there. We have to change the culture.” (Source: Defense Systems)
09 Aug 19. USAF awards hackers $123K in 3-month bug bounty contest. The results are in for the Air Force’s newly completed vulnerability assessment for its internal cloud-based Common Computing Environment.
The Cloud One/CCE Program Office at Hanscom Air Force Base and Bugcrowd found 54 vulnerabilities, most notably from gaining access to certain roles or configurations to which they were not assigned, during a three-month continuous monitoring assessment that ran from March 18 to June 21.
The duration of the crowdsourced hacking event is what set this one apart from the other bug bounties the Air Force has run, James Thomas of Air Force Digital Services said via phone.
“We’ve been wondering how to use bug bounty from a continuous monitoring [perspective], but haven’t really done that to date,” Thomas said, noting that traditional bug bounty runs tend to last up to four weeks.
The bounty run doled out $123,000 in rewards with $20,000 being the top prize.
The Air Force’s Common Computing Environment centralizes application hosting on two cloud platforms: Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. The Air Force has been accelerating its cloud migrations, pushing its use of fast-track authority to operate and hopes to migrate more than 100 applications this year and the bug bounty program helps with security posture through a $34m contract extension.
Air Force Maj. Bryan Lewis, Air Force spokesperson, said via email, the latest assessment increased the service’s “confidence in our security architecture and exposed the cloud environments to a very thorough test.” Additionally, all issues Bugcrowd discovered have been remedied and the Air Force is employing a “different set of ‘hackers’ to perform additional testing against specific applications” to improve security posture.
“Cloud One/CCE intends to keep employing bug bounties and we’re pursuing contract vehicles to keep this as a part of our normal operations,” Lewis said.
The assessment had six parts: source code analysis; AWS environment testing; Azure environment testing; Black Box network-authentication assessment; social engineering engagement, which evaluated tier 1 and 2 support desk user access; and Air Force portal testing of applications already hosted inside the environment.
Zero-trust networking, the practice of automatically denying access except for approved requests, wasn’t tested during this assessment because the goal was to figure out how much users with Tier 1 or 2 support desk permissions could access.
While it’s unclear when the next bug bounty hunt will happen, the hope is that more shareholders take advantage of the full-source analysis program where it fits. “The more we run these bounties and stakeholders see the benefit, the more folks come to us,” said Clair Koroma,a Defense Digital Service expert with the title of bureaucracy hacker.
The Air Force plans “on using this as much as possible, a tool among many tools for finding risks inside the systems,” said Alex Romero another DDS bureaucracy hacker. “When we have hard problems,” he said, “this is a great way to test vulnerabilities and determine the risk left over.” (Source: Defense Systems)
14 Aug 19. The network tech that U.S. Special Operations Command likes. Connectivity is key to the success of U.S. Special Operations Command, so SOCOM wants cutting-edge technologies to help ensure safe and seamless communications. New tools allow leaders to better manage network traffic and help to meet the need for near-real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data. This in mind, SOCOM is exploring the potential for new radios and new tactical networked devices, among other key innovations. The organization’s chief information officer, Lisa Costa, spoke with C4ISRNET about how SOCOM is addressing the latest networking efforts.
C4ISRNET: What are the emerging capabilities and latest advances you are investigating?
LISA COSTA: Here are three:
* SOF hybrid cloud. SOCOM’s holistic cloud strategy is based around cloud development and application modernization. The command leverages hyperconverged infrastructure already on the network to host private cloud and take advantage of commercial cloud providers to host our containerized applications. We are cloud provider agnostic as a result of this approach.
* Software-defined networking. The capabilities offered by SD-WAN [software-defined wide-area networks] — particularly the dynamic load distributing and control-plane policy management — certainly pique our interest. Our management model for supporting a growing, global multisite enterprise is becoming obsolete. We have observed the maturation and quick adoption of SD-WAN technology in industry, and now believe we have a business case for it. SOCOM has partnered with a leading commercial vendor to begin experimental testing. With a growing customer base that is needing guaranteed network connection to critical applications, migrating to a SD-WAN architecture is the natural next step.
* Next-gen laptop. We are improving user access to the Special Operations Forces Information Environment network enclaves by removing the need to use an external retransmission device with mobile devices and the requirement for the user to carry a separate device for each security enclave. There is great potential to significantly reduce the complexity of access layer networks, centralize network monitoring and management functions, and reduce cost by making all-access network infrastructure available via an unclass, or black, laptop.
C4ISRNET: How about with space?
COSTA: SOCOM has taken advantage of some high-throughput satellite constellations for testing and even some operations. We have used the Intelsat EPIC constellation for airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance supporting higher throughput off the aircraft [up to 4Mbs] and are currently using Inmarsat Global Xpress for high-throughput testing to a DISA Gateway. The anticipation of low-Earth orbit is also an expected game-changer in the satellite industry. It appears to be closer to a reality as SpaceX got ahead of its competition by launching 60 LEO satellites in May. We expect to start testing in the continental United States in the first quarter of 2020; however, LEOs are not expected to have a global presence until approximately fourth quarter of 2021 and possibly not until 2022.
There is a caution with LEO as there has not been an antenna solution for the constellation at this time. Multiple companies are working on a single antenna solution and the expectation is someone will get a reliable antenna to market prior to the global coverage of LEO. As stated, LEO will be a game-changer for the commercial satellite world, not just DoD, as it is expected current GEO satellite providers will have to change their support and pricing model.
C4ISRNET: What are some of the challenges around networked communications and how are you addressing those?
COSTA: Let’s talk about three again.
* ISR backhaul. Demand for near-real-time ISR data is increasing. SOCOM established a commercial off-the-shelf tactical, deployable backhaul solution in response to global shortfalls — impacting SOF, as well as conventional forces. SOCOM integrated a tactical relay variant within its satellite deployable node family of systems. This capability can backhaul SOF-specific sensor data, as well as C2 communications services, eliminating duplicate systems and reducing the forward operating footprint.
* IPv6. SOCOM is determining the number of IPv6 IP addresses required to support the SOF Information Environment. Due to IP address management challenges, specifically the non-contiguous IP address ranges across the SIE, it is imperative to request the correct amount of IP address space required to support the SIE.
* Cybersecurity is a continuous challenge particularly with today’s near-peer adversaries and insider threats. SOCOM is the lead in the department’s pilot identity, credential and access management infrastructure implementation plan. SOCOM implemented multi-factor authentication — in direct coordination with the National Security Agency.
C4ISRNET: Do you have any specific networking initiatives under way? Any recent wins on the networking front?
COSTA: SOCOM is deploying application-centric infrastructure — in conjunction with the SOCOM data center capital equipment replacement program. ACI will provide orchestration capability, as well as a firewall-like capability to manage network traffic. The orchestration capability provides a repeatable process for deployment and configuration management of network equipment that delivers standardization across the SIE and will also contribute to increased network reliability. Increased network stability is needed to adopt enterprise data discoverability and artificial intelligence/machine learning solutions.
C4ISRNET: What are the latest evolutions in radio and how are these affecting SOCOM? What are you doing with software-defined radio? Size, weight and power improvements? Are there other advances that are proving useful?
COSTA: SOCOM led the development of the Link 16 AN/PRC-161 handheld tactical radio, which provides a critical piece in digitally aided close air support architecture, increasing situational awareness, decreasing kill-chain time, and decreasing the probability of fratricide. This radio integrates into the common operating picture between ground and air operators via the existing Link 16 network.
SOCOM is also leading the development of a next-generation handheld AN/PRC-163 and NG Manpack RF-345 tactical radios, both providing dual-channel, multiband capabilities that enable simultaneous communication over two channels hosting both narrowband, wideband voice and IP-based data waveforms.
These radios accept an attachable mission module, allowing for rapid integration of emerging technologies. For example, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance full-motion video mission modules enable operators to receive and disseminate full-motion video, chat and other data while maintaining voice communications without additional transceivers.
C4ISRNET: How are you making tactical use of tablets and other networked devices on the edge? Any new devices in the mix, or new uses for existing platforms?
COSTA: Because of their slim and lightweight profile, tablets can be carried and used by mounted and dismounted operators during missions. Tablet computers process and display software applications, providing operators real-time situational awareness. Tablets and networked devices allow us to collaborate on maps (including points), drawings and locations of interests. They also deliver on chat, file sharing, photo sharing and video streaming, and will offer control of military radio devices.
SOCOM is always experimenting with the latest in computer technology, including tactical mission networking advances. For example, SOCOM is currently coordinating and developing policy with its components regarding research and use of, among other things, new LTE technologies and MANET radios to facilitate high-bandwidth and long-range wireless communications requirements.
C4ISRNET: What plans are you making for 5G? How will it enhance SOCOM operations?
COSTA: Last year, SOCOM hosted a 5G capability assessment event, leveraging SOFWERX’s vast ecosystem in order to assess 5G products or technologies. It became evident that almost every layer of communications is being updated and/or changed in all aspects related to what will become 5G. SOCOM will continue to monitor the evolution of the 5G architecture and assess all next-generation technologies as they mature for use or application in Special Operations Forces communication systems. We especially look forward to the impact that 5G technology will have on tactical communications capabilities. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
14 Aug 19. AdaCore, a trusted provider of software development and verification tools, today announced the opening of AdaCore Ltd, which will serve as the company’s UK centre-of-excellence for the development of safety- and security-critical software tools.
AdaCore has a long and successful history serving customers in the UK. The company maintains relationships with many of the world’s major aerospace, defence and rail contractors. It is a member of ADS, the premier trade organisation for companies in the UK in Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space sectors. And it actively participates in standards-related working groups and committees (such as for DO-178C).
“The ATI welcomes the launch of AdaCore’s new operation, which will increase the UK’s capability in safety-critical software,” said Mark Scully, Head of Technology for Propulsion & Advanced Systems at the Aerospace Technology Institute. “The ATI has been working with AdaCore as we facilitate new software development projects and are delighted to see this lead to a new UK centre-of-excellence and more collaborations in the future.”
“Our decision to open AdaCore Ltd is part of a larger corporate strategy to invest our intellectual property, tools, and services in regions where the demand for secure software-based systems continues to grow,” said Cyrille Comar, AdaCore Group President. “This move will enable us to better support our existing customers in the UK; collaborate on new contractual, research, and mentorship opportunities within the British ecosystem; and share our expertise in product qualification and certification.”
As it does in other countries around the globe, AdaCore plans to expand its offering of public Ada training courses and events in the UK to help new users get up to speed with the Ada and SPARK languages.
“Many of the world’s top academic and global research universities reside in the UK, and we hope to collaborate with them regularly to broaden the reach of our GNAT Academic Program (GAP) and to address the need for safe, secure and reliable software,” said Emma Adby, AdaCore Ltd Managing Director.
13 Aug 19. Cyber experts from Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] developed and piloted a first-of-its-kind model that standardizes how to measure the cyber resiliency maturity of a weapon, mission, and/or training system anywhere in its lifecycle – the Cyber Resiliency Level™ model (CRL®).
The U.S. government defines “cyber resiliency” as the ability to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and adapt to changing conditions in order to maintain the functions necessary for mission effective capability. Until now, the aerospace and defense industry lacked a simple, common method to discuss cyber resiliency of a military system.
“Today’s software-based military systems and a global supply chain make securing military systems a complex problem to solve,” said Jim Keffer, director of Cyber, Lockheed Martin Government Affairs. “With the CRL, we can now leverage existing risk management frameworks to effectively measure and communicate resiliency across six categories we know are important to our customers. The release of this model builds on Lockheed Martin’s enduring commitment to mission assurance and will ultimately help the warfighter operate in cyber-contested environments.”
To use the model, engineers work with U.S. and allied military program stakeholders to conduct a series of risk and engineering assessments. The process provides increased visibility into the current state of risk and produces a customized, risk-mitigation roadmap that shows how to increase a system’s CRL to a more desirable level.
“In an era of scarce resources, the CRL model can help stakeholders make informed decisions and prioritize cyber spending on the most impactful solutions,” said Keffer.
To date, Lockheed Martin has used model-based assessments on several of its own systems across multiple domains and plans to conduct at least 10 CRL assessments by the end of 2019.
To learn more about CRL and how to apply it to your systems, visit: http://lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/cyber/crl.html
12 Aug 19. Pentagon plans to ask for more money for 5G. The Pentagon’s main technology steward is now making the deployment of a fifth-generation network, or 5G, its top priority.
Michael Griffin, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, told reporters at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, that 5G will now be among the technology projects his office shepherds.
“We’re looking at 5G, which is a Department of Defense initiative that was given to R&E to supervise. We’re evermore convinced, given especially all the news centering around [Chinese telecommunications giant] Huawei — who will and won’t buy their hardware, whether we will or won’t — [that] microelectronics [and] assured microelectronics is a key priority,” Griffin said.
“What we’re trying to do in the department with 5G is to make available our, broadly speaking, requirement set, whether it be depots or ports or airfields or autonomous vehicles or so on.”
From a military perspective, experts have identified the benefits of 5G in better enabling devices and systems on the internet of things that empower soldiers on the ground.
“5G will also enhance the Internet of Things (IoT) by increasing the amount and speed of data flowing between multiple devices, and may even replace the fiber-optic backbone relied upon by so many households,” the Defense Innovation Board wrote in an April 2019 report on 5G. The new technology will “produce a step-change improvement in data speed, volume, and latency (delay in data transfer) over fourth generation (4G and 4G LTE) networks.”
Griffin said his deputy, Lisa Porter, will take the lead on the subject and said he expects new money to be set aside for the technology in the fiscal 2021 budget.
“You’ll see that we’ve requested significant money, we’re actually requesting extra money in [FY20] for that and in the [Future Years Defense Program]. When those budgets are released, you’ll see all that,” he said. “This is a major initiative for us. It ties in, hand in glove, to the microelectronics initiative that I mentioned very briefly. We need trusted and assured microelectronics. So all of that ties together.”
The threat
Pentagon officials and members of Congress, however, have been increasingly concerned with China’s investment in the 5G marketplace. Specifically, leaders are worried that if China controls the majority of the global 5G network, the Chinese government could use that technology to spy on communications that cross the network. Worse, some fear that in a conflict or times of tension, China could cut off communications in certain areas as leverage.
Some in the private sector, however, argue that China and its telecoms firms, such as Huawei, are far ahead of the United States as well as companies from its partner nations, and that Beijing has an inherent advantage in deploying a global 5G network.
“It’s not like a race, like a running race where you reach the finish line and you collapse or win. The standards go through multiple releases,” Susie Armstrong, senior vice president of engineering at Qualcomm, said during a July event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Different features get added in over time, and then of course operators choose which features to actually deploy in the network.”
Armstrong suggested the United States should become a leader in 5G standards, which will help drive research and development, which in turn will provide the foundational technology on which the equipment is built. Otherwise, “the U.S. will immediately cede leadership in the R&D and ultimately in 5G and beyond to very competent people in China,” she said.
Chris Boyer, assistant vice president of global public policy at AT&T said during the same event that the United States is already a leader in the component and subcomponent level. However, where U.S. industry lags behind foreign firms such as Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson is in fully integrated solutions. But by playing on its strengths at the component level, Boyer said, organizations like AT&T could use best-of-breed suppliers for a more modular design to build their networks.
Griffin stressed that the Pentagon takes a different view of Huawei than some in the private sector or other federal agencies because the Department of Defense operates worldwide and doesn’t always have a choice of what infrastructure exists in the countries where it conducts operations.
“We have to be able to operate through networks that not only [we] suspect are hostile or compromised; we know they are hostile or compromised. So we have to figure out how to have trusted communications and trusted behaviors, even on untrusted networks,” he said. “The DoD automatically has to deal with the fact we get deployed in places where people don’t want us there. And we have to operate in the presence of, or maybe through, networks which are already there, built by people who are adversaries.”
From the State Department’s diplomatic and engagement view, the United States will continue to work with partner nations to develop trusted networks.
“We’re going to keep endeavoring to ensure that we see our partners develop trusted networks and trusted components, ensure that we have good pathways for our information of those networks,” Rob Strayer, deputy assistant secretary for cyber and international communications and information policy at the State Department, said during the same CSIS event. “Whether it’s DoD or State Department information … countries deploy unsecure vendors in 5G. That is a serious cause for concern for us and will cause us to reassess how we’re sharing information.” (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
12 Aug 19. Tecore Debuts First Tactical 5G-Ready Network in a Box at APCO 2019. Tecore Networks is pleased to announce that they will be exhibiting at the APCO International Exhibition in Baltimore beginning today. The requirements needed for tactical LTE solutions for Public Safety Personnel at the edge align perfectly with Tecore’s IOPS Network in Box® (NIB) capabilities. The IOPS NIB plays a crucial role for FirstNet’s dedicated public safety network by ensuring stable, seamless, and reliable network coverage in unfavorable environments. Tecore’s Industry Experts will be available at Booth No. 153 to expand on the range of deployment scenarios and requirement capabilities the IOPS NIB meets.
“Our Family of Network in Box solutions are proven and have been deployed by commercial and military networks globally under some of the harshest environmental and operational conditions. We pride ourselves on the multitude of capabilities and significant amount of experience we have accumulated specifically related to reliable mission critical communications,” said Timothy Smith – Vice President of Business Development for Tecore Networks. “We offer a straight-forward approach with one BOX that supplies the entire communications infrastructure in a highly portable package to offer a new level of service which supports multiple LTE bands and is 5G ready.”
During the design process particular attention was placed on Size, Weight, and Performance (SWaP) factors to provide a highly portable solution for the introduction or continuation of LTE coverage in isolated areas where there is an immediate and critical need for communications to support public safety or disaster related activities. All of the hardware and software components necessary for a complete 4G LTE network operation are self-contained in Tecore’s IOPS NIB solution. This strategic design allows it to operate as part of an integrated communication infrastructure or as an island of coverage delivering localized services and capabilities to an isolated group. When no backhaul connection is available or feasible due to environmental terrain, natural disaster or during a public crisis, a single IOPS NIB provides a dedicated network for coverage up to 1,000 subscribers to call, text, share multimedia and communicate in real-time. The small portable form factor also meets mission critical public safety needs by permitting communications where and when they are needed. The flexibility enables multiple deployment scenarios including man-packable, vehicle based (air, land and sea) deployments, mobile and central command center interoperability across all Public Safety departments and agencies. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
10 Aug 19. UK DASA seeks proposals for metasurface technology competition. The UK Government’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), along with the Ministry of Defence (MoD), is inviting proposals for phase two of the metasurface technology competition. The competition is looking for companies that can harness advances in metasurface technology to maintain an electromagnetic tactical advantage for the front-line.
DASA intends to integrate the innovative solutions into devices and onto platforms to maintain ‘effectiveness in the increasingly congested electromagnetic environment’.
In a statement, DASA said: “Advantage may be realised by sensing and communication superiority over an adversary. This applies equally to enhancing your own capabilities, degrading those of your adversaries, or being better able to differentiate your own signals from those in the congested environment.”
The advanced metasurfaces technology is expected to provide an improved understanding of the battlefield and facilitate secure communication by allowing better control of electromagnetic waves.
In addition, the solution will cut costs and reduce device footprint.
The competition seeks to invite experts in the private sector and academia to help develop the innovations.
Under the first phase of the competition, DASA awarded contracts to nine companies.
Companies looking to participate in phase two will have to submit proposals incorporating metasurface science for applications in defence and security.
The final round of the phase will require companies to make a practical demonstration of the work to defence and security end users.
DASA added: “We are keen to promote teaming between organisations from across industry, academia, and broader supply chains to develop the role of metasurfaces in relevant applications.”
The metasurfaces competition phase two is set to be launched at a demonstration day for phase one next month. The organisation will provide at least £500,000 in funding for the second phase. Contracts are expected to be awarded by February / March next year. (Source: army-technology.com)
08 Aug 19. ‘GEOINT Singularity:’ There’ll Be Nowhere For DoD To Hide. “[A]dversaries could track the movements of U.S. and allied military equipment, detecting patterns of training and operations; hyperspectral imaging can identify chemical compositions; short-wavelength infrared imaging can see through clouds; and SAR sensors can image at night. When determining risks to national security, one can define it as the risk of being seen or detected.”
America’s adversaries — and the general public — will soon be able to watch US troop movements, top secret weapons development and testing facilities (think Area 51), missile launch sites and nuclear laboratories as radical transparency is enabled by the nexus of commercial remote sensing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 5G networks, a new study by the Aerospace Corporation concludes.
The study, obtained by Breaking Defense, posits a not-so-far-off future dubbed the “Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) Singularity” where “realtime Earth observations with analytics are available globally” to everyone including the average citizen. This will be made feasible by the convergence of the trends in “global connectiveness, commercial remote sensing from space, and advances in artificial intelligence (AI),” which “point toward a future where information and overhead imagery will become available to the general public in near realtime.”
The study, authored by Josef Koller, former senior advisor on space policy to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, cites the “rise of large constellations with remote sensing satellites and capabilities ranging from synthetic aperture radar imaging, nighttime imaging, and infrared imaging” coupled with AI analytics that allow “data from different sensors can be combined, processed and made useful for a specific user’s needs on handheld devices worldwide” as creating a “nowhere to hide” scenario on Earth.
The enabler for all this will be 5G wireless communications that “will provide the data pipeline needed to reach users globally at broadband speeds.”
The study notes that the opportunities for civil, commercial and even military uses are tremendous — think about the US being able to track road-mobile nuclear missile launchers in Russia and China without interruption.
On the other hand, the downsides of “the availability of ubiquitous, realtime intelligence” are just as formidable for US military planning and operations. Risks to US national security from such developments are almost infinite, the study finds. “[A]dversaries could track the movements of U.S. and allied military equipment, detecting patterns of training and operations; hyperspectral imaging can identify chemical compositions; short-wavelength infrared imaging can see through clouds; and SAR sensors can image at night. When determining risks to national security, one can define it as the risk of being seen or detected.”
Despite the risks, the study suggests that the traditional approach of trying to regulate commercial remote sensing to “limit the imagery that can be taken from space” is flawed. For one reason, international capabilities cannot be significantly affected by US export controls.
For a half century, DRS has provided military forces around the world with advanced technologies and capabilities to meet their mission needs. Here are some highlights.
This is clearly evidenced by US regulations on the domestic and export sales of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites for national security reasons. For many years, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) was the only legal customer for such capability. This has resulted in a situation where US companies were shut out of the global market that is now dominated by European providers. Indeed, only recently — with the easing of the US regulatory restrictions — has a nascent US SAR satellite industry begun to emerge. The new US market dynamic was spurred only by a 180-degree turn around in US policy that allowed NRO and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to seek commercial vendors spurred by the technological innovations and cost reductions they might provide.
The Trump Administration has been looking at how to reduce regulatory restrictions and to free US commercial remote sensing companies to better compete on the international marketplace, as mandated in Space Policy Directive 2 (SPD-2) and the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) published in May by the Commerce Department.
Given all this, the Aerospace Corp study asks the fundamental question: “Has the time come for the military operator to find better ways to hide, rather than tell someone not to look?”
The study does not choose specific options, but it suggests a panoply of potential actions that could help the US military use this GEOINT singularity to its advantage. These include traditional “camouflage, concealment, and deception,” but with modern twists made possible by the very technologies that produce the threats themselves, such as hacking into the computer networks of adversaries integrating sensor data. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Breaking Defense)
10 Aug 19. DOD Cloud Has Leading Uses For Warfighter. Warfighters are “absolutely” waiting for the enterprise cloud so they can gain real-time data access and other tools, the Defense Department’s chief information officer told reporters in a media roundtable at the Pentagon.
“This is an imperative to what they need each and every day to defend and execute their missions,” Dana Deasy said.
“The warfighter needed the enterprise cloud yesterday,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. John N.T. “Jack” Shanahan, director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. “Dominance in [artificial intelligence] is not a question of software engineering, but instead, it’s a result of combining capabilities at multiple levels. For AI across DOD, enterprise cloud is existential.”
Shanahan said without enterprise cloud, there is no AI at scale. AI remains a series of small-scale, stovepiped projects. An enterprise cloud platform will provide on-demand compute capabilities and data at scale, and substantial network advantages at all classification levels, Shanahan noted.
“Enterprise cloud allows AI cycle speeds that can be measured in updates across an entire enterprise in hours, as opposed to in months, six months or maybe even a year,” Shanahan told reporters.
The top AI companies are first and foremost cloud-data-based, data-centric organizations with a continuous development culture where integrating, managing and analyzing data at scale is the lifeblood of the organization, the JAIC director said.
“That’s where we want to be and need to be an enterprise-cloud solution,” he added.
“Local military equipment that is connected to the JEDI cloud hardware, could still operate and be used to execute missions in a degraded, disrupted or denied environment, extending enterprise cloud, in other words, all the way out to the tactical edge,” Shanahan said.
“It is also about joint, all-domain warfighting,” Shanahan said. “Taking advantage of emerging technologies to develop new operating concepts for a kind of warfare will look completely different than what we’ve experienced for the past 20 years.”
In this future high-end environment, DOD envisions a world of algorithmic warfare and autonomy in which competitive advantage goes to the side that understands how to harness 5G, AI, enterprise cloud in quantum into a viable, operational model.
“This digital modernization is a warfighting imperative,” Shanahan said. “It’s one that will be fueled by enterprise cloud solutions.” (Source: US DoD)
08 Aug 19. IDF Home Front Command fields Shual C2 emergency database. The Israel Defense Force’s (IDF’s) Home Front Command (HFC) has begun using a new command-and-control (C2) system designed to create a nationwide geographic real-time database of emergency incidents, first responder locations, status of local authorities, and other critical updates.
The system is dubbed Shual, the Hebrew acronym for National Home Front Command and Control, and uses Esri geographic information system (GIS) software. The HFC is responsible for preparing for and assisting during national emergencies.
Captain Nir Eldan, head of the HFC’s Shual Program Branch, said the programme began in 2017 and evolved into a modernised national C2 system. “Two years ago, we understood we needed to create a national solution and develop the technological operational capabilities. We saw [first response] organisations working without these technological systems,” Capt Eldan said.
While Israel’s air, ground, and naval forces can speak with each other and interface C2 systems, the HFC lacked this ability for dealing with local authorities such as police, firefighters, and paramedics, he said. “The local authority is the most important response bloc – it is where the incident is happening,” said Capt Eldan.
Shual creates a visual picture that updates automatically in real time, linking local authorities and other agencies via a national HFC C2 system.
“During emergencies, we understand that the workload will be heavy. We want local authority heads to start talking about what to do – what the decisions will be – rather than trying to keep up with what is happening,” Capt Eldan said. “The local authority will not need to ask where the Home Front Command rescue battalion commander is, because it will see his location on the map,” he added, referring to incidents such as a rocket strike in a built-up area. Shual has a command messaging system to help move and manage forces on the ground. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
08 Aug 19. Digital Stiletto: US Army Pursues Precision Electronic Warfare. The US Army can’t match Russia’s battalions of powerful radio jammers. Instead, it’s trying to build a nimble high-tech David to defeat the EW Goliath. After decades of neglect, the Army is urgently rebuilding its electronic warfare arm in a radically different form from the Cold War. The US isn’t trying to replicate the high-powered Russia arsenal that has scrambled GPS, radar, and radio from Scandinavia and Ukraine to Syria and Israel. Instead, the Army intends to combine EW with cyber, signals intelligence, and artificial intelligence to counter Russian power with a new kind of precision.
“When the Russians emit like that, they’re letting the entire world known where they are,” Col. Mark Dotson, the Army’s capabilities manager for EW, told reporters in June. That makes the Russian transmitters easier targets for the new long-range precision missiles that the US is developing.
By contrast, Dotson continued, “we’re looking for much more discrete ways of conducting electronic attack, using low power to affect the signal — and to affect it in such a way it may not even be detectable that you’re interfering.”
Dotson told me in a follow-up interview that the Army has fielded fairly small numbers of several systems. The names are an alphabet soup of acronyms: TEWS, TEWL, TSIG, and the future TLIS, which will be mass-produced and is scheduled to enter service around 2022-2023.
With each step, the Army comes closer to the combination it sees as critical for future conflicts with major powers like Russia and China. On that high-tech battlefield, the Army believes, cyberspace, the electromagnetic spectrum, and satellites in orbit will be as important as the traditional domains of land, air, and sea — a concept called Multi-Domain Operations.
“The goal is really the integrated signal intelligence, electronic warfare, and cyber operations capability to fight multi-domain operations in the future,” Dotson told me in a follow-up interview. “What happens in the spectrum now is a lot different than what happened in the spectrum in the ’90s.”
For a half century, DRS has provided military forces around the world with advanced technologies and capabilities to meet their mission needs. Here are some highlights.
The New Precision EW
How will the new digital battlefield be different? “We’re talking about subtle attacks, we’re talking about cyber operations, we’re talking about refined signals intelligence,” Dotson told me, “things that we can do now that we couldn’t do back then.”
Traditionally, signals intelligence and electronic warfare have often been at odds. Both need to detect and understand foreign transmissions, so their skill sets and equipment overlap, but SIGINT wants to listen in on enemy communications, while EW wants to shut them down.
Precision EW, however, raises the possibility of eavesdropping on the enemy network even as you disrupt it. Instead of old-school jamming that just drowns an enemy transmission in noise, making it unintelligible to friend and foe alike, you can interfere more subtly, using signals carefully tailored to deceive an enemy system or even download a virus onto it. You might disrupt a drone’s control link so it crashes, for example; or spoof a navigation signal so precision-guided missiles miss and ground troops get lost; or trick radar into seeing ghosts instead of your real planes — and all the time you’re listening to their communications to see how they react.
Best of all, these subtler effects aren’t immediately obvious to the enemy. Even when the target realizes something’s wrong, they may think it’s just a glitch in their system, an internal malfunction rather external interference.
To use these new capabilities to the fullest, Dotson cautioned, “it will require more commander involvement.” In other words, Army commanders can’t delegate the electronic battle to their uniformed geek squad and forget it while they focus on guns and grunts. They and their staffs must learn to integrate electronic and cyber warfare into their battle plans alongside physical firepower and maneuver.
Sometimes the best way to neutralize an enemy might be to jam or hack them. Sometimes it might be to blow them up. Sometimes it might be a mix: for example, feint with your attack helicopters so the enemy anti-aircraft batteries turn on their radars and start talking to each other on radio, which you then jam.
“The commander really has a much wider range of options,” Dotson said. “It’s going to be a discussion, [and] initially, it’s not going to be a super clean process.” That will require a well-trained staff, he said, with specialists in different disciplines working closely together. For a start, Army headquarters at brigade level and above will now have a cyber/electronic warfare section.
But humans are not enough. The Army will probably need artificial intelligence as well. Modern radio-frequency transmitters — including EW jamming and spoofing tools as well as communication systems — are controlled by software that can change the frequency, wavelength, and other characteristics of their emissions in a matter of seconds. The radio waves themselves, of course, move at the speed of light. That’s radically faster than any physical weapon and a tremendous challenge for unaided human brains to keep up with.
“Even hypersonic weapons move incredibly slowly versus the electromagnetic spectrum,” Bill Conley, deputy director for electronic warfare under Pentagon R&D chief Mike Griffin, said at a conference this summer. “We have dramatically different schemes of maneuver and therefore dramatically different styles of C2 [command and control]. There will absolutely be automated decision-making.” (Source: glstrade.com/Breaking Defense.com)
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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.
Founded in 2002, the Company is based in Hereford, UK and holds ISO 9001:2015, ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation.
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