September 5, 2018 | International, C4ISR
By: Mark Pomerleau
The Army is making several changes to be in a better position to compete with adversaries in cyber, the electromagnetic spectrum and space.
Russia and China have begun to organize all information-related capability — to include cyber, electronic warfare, information operations and space — under singular entities. Now, Army leaders, say the service must do the same.
“Integrated formations will be innovative because they'll help us create novel approaches to problem solving by leveraging multiple skillsets,” David May, senior intelligence adviser at the Army Cyber Center of Excellence, said during a presentation at TechNet Augusta in August.
May outlined five force design updates the Army is implementing. Four of those five updates will begin immediately to provide competitive edge in multidomain operations.
1. The widespread introduction of cyber and electromagnetic activities
May said the Army will introduce cyber and electromagnetic activities, or CEMA sections, at every echelon from the brigade to service component commands. These sections will plan, synchronize and integrate cyber and EW operations as well as conduct spectrum management.
At the Army's cyber school, effective Oct. 1, all previous electronic warfare personnel in the functional area 29 will transition into the cyber branch to serve as these CEMA planners. That's important because it moves those staffers out from working as a functional area specialist and into an operational branch, Maj. Gen. John Morrison, commander of the Cyber Center of Excellence, the home of the cyber school, told C4ISRNET during an interview at TechNet.
May said Army leaders are expected to approve this plan in the next six weeks. Moreover, the update will not require any additional growth to the Army as it will reorganize existing workforce.
2. New electronic warfare platoons
Electronic warfare platoons will be stood up within brigades residing inside military intelligence companies working in tandem with signals intelligence teams and double the Army's sensing capability in the electromagnetic spectrum, May said.
June 23, 2024 | International, Naval, C4ISR
Lockheed Martin demonstrated it could integrate its digital command and control capability into U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's Joint Fires Network.
April 3, 2020 | International, Naval
By: Ben Werner The Navy exercised contract options with Boeing worth $84.7 million to buy three MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial refueling tankers as part of a modification to a previously awarded contract. The three MQ-25s covered by the contract options are to be completed by August 2024, according to the contract announcement released by the Pentagon late Thursday. For more than a decade, the Navy has conducted an on-again, off-again development process to build what will be the Navy's first unmanned carrier-based tankers. In 2018, Boeing beat Lockheed Martin and General Atomics to land the $805 million contract to build the first four MQ-25As. The Navy anticipates integrating MQ-25 aircraft into the carrier air wing for initial operational capability by 2024, according to a Navy's fact sheet about the program. The Navy's desire for an unmanned aerial refueling tanker is born out of necessity. Currently, between 20 and 30 percent of a carrier-based air wing's Super Hornet fleet is dedicated to aerial refueling operations. Introducing the MQ-25A Stingray will free those Super Hornets for strike missions. The MQ-25A is expected to deliver up to 15,000 pounds of fuel at 500 nautical miles. In September, Boeing conducted the first flight of its unmanned aerial refueling test aircraft the T1. Boeing tested both the T1's handling and the Navy's ability to fast-track the long-stalled program. Boeing first unveiled photos of the T1 prototype months before winning the contract award. Having the T1 available enabled the Navy and Boeing to perform tests much earlier in the development process than would be typical for a new build. The type of testing performed in September, a year after the contract award, usually doesn't start until the first engineering development models (EDM) are built. With the MQ-25 program, the first EDM airframes are expected to be ready for testing by the end of 2021, according to the Navy. Boeing previously announced plans to hoist the T1 onto an aircraft carrier and conduct deck handling tests this year. Boeing plans to shift to using the first EDM airframes for testing in 2021. The first carrier-based tests and sea trials are expected to occur in 2022 and 2023, the Navy previously stated. https://news.usni.org/2020/04/02/navy-exercises-84-7-million-option-with-boeing-for-three-mq-25a-stingrays
March 30, 2022 | International, Land
The Missile Defense Agency is prioritizing efforts to go up again evolving threats like hypersonic weapons and cruise missiles including funding for a new missile defense architecture on Guam and development of a glide-phase hypersonic weapon interceptor in its FY23 budget request.