April 19, 2021 | International, Aerospace
US Air Force HH-60W combat rescue helicopter finishes developmental tests
The US Air Force’s Sikorsky HH-60W Jolly Green II combat rescue helicopter finished its developmental test programme on 13 April.
February 5, 2019 | International, C4ISR
A tweaked DoD cloud strategy looks beyond Amazon
By: Jessie Bur
A recent Department of Defense memorandum indicates that the agency wants to pursue multiple commercial cloud vendors as it attempts to modernize its IT and data infrastructure, though a single provider will still have singular influence over the agency's “general purpose cloud.”
“DoD is driving toward an enterprise cloud environment that is composed of a general purpose cloud and multiple fit-for-purpose clouds,” the memorandum to Congress, released Feb. 4, said.
“In addition, it should be recognized that the Department will still need non-cloud data center capability for applications that are not suited for the cloud. Over time, with the adoption of an enduring enterprise cloud strategy, the non-cloud environment should become smaller.”
That general purpose slot will be filled by the awardee of the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract, which has been criticized for its single-award intent as giving the winner an outsized control of the defense cloud market.
Many companies vying to support the Pentagon's cloud requirements claimed that the odds were stacked in Amazon's favor. The approach spurred protests and a lawsuit in fact.
According to the memorandum, the fit-for-purpose environment will be made up of the Defense Information Systems Agency's milCloud suite, as well as other unnamed vendors.
Throughout the cloud migration process, DoD will stick to four guiding principles:
- War-fighter First — any cloud solution must at all times address the needs of improving lethality while not jeopardizing the safety and mission of American war fighters.
- Cloud-Smart, Data-Smart — cloud solutions must streamline transformation and embrace modern capabilities while enhancing data transparency and visibility.
- Leverage Commercial Industry Best Practices — the cloud strategy should promote competition and innovation while preventing lock-in of one particular solution or technology.
- Create a Culture Better Suited for Modern Technology Evolution — the strategy will need to create a culture of learning and innovation while discouraging custom, federated approaches.
This approach to commercial cloud is not entirely unexpected, as DoD Chief Information Officer Dana Deasey said during an October 2018 press event for the Defense Enterprise Office Solution cloud contractthat the agency would be delineating between general purpose and fit for purpose contracts.
"This marks a milestone in our efforts to adopt the cloud and also in our larger efforts to modernize information technology across the DOD enterprise," Deasy said in a statement on the memo to Congress.
“A modern digital infrastructure is critical to support the war fighter, defend against cyberattacks and enable the department to leverage emerging technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence.”
The new strategy also means that DoD will move away from a cybersecurity posture that focuses on perimeter defense and instead prioritize the protection of data and systems.
“DoD will produce a unified cybersecurity architecture that addresses cloud and the needs of classified and unclassified missions and data. The capabilities will be tested and assessed independently and frequently to ensure that cybersecurity attributes remain effective against developing threats,” the memo said, adding that the CIO will determine the command and control requirements between the agency and the cloud service providers.
Cloud contracts will also likely include requirements for training and workforce development to ensure that DoD can develop the expertise necessary to use and protect their new cloud environments.
And any potential migrations to cloud will have to come with thorough evaluations of legacy DoD applications.
“It is imperative that DoD has a cloud strategy to ensure that legacy applications are not moved to cloud without properly re-architecting them to make use of the data, security, resiliency and application advantages that cloud provides,” the memo said.
“Additionally, DoD should independently test and assess cloud network security to verify security compliance and incident response and review all contractor and third-party testing results to ensure that performance and security monitoring are sufficient.”
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October 26, 2018 | International, Aerospace
F-35 officially wins Belgian fighter contest
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Belgium has officially selected the F-35 as its next-generation fighter, becoming the 13th country to join the program, the Belgian government announced Thursday. With that decision, Lockheed Martin has defeated a bid by the governments of Spain, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom for the Eurofighter Typhoon, as well as an informal offer by France for the Dassault Rafale and an option for Belgium to upgrade its existing F-16s. Belgium plans to buy 34 F-35As to replace F-16 inventory, which numbers about 54 jets. The U.S. State Department has already approved the deal, which has an estimated value of $6.5 billion. According to Reuters, Belgian Defence Minister Steven Vandeput told reporters on Oct. 25 that the F-35 beat the other contenders in all seven selection criteria. “We are investing heavily in defense,” Vandeput tweeted, citing Belgium's decision to buy F-35s and new land vehicles. Meanwhile, U.S. stakeholders immediately began celebrating the outcome of the competition. “Lockheed Martin is honored by the Belgian government's selection of the F-35A Lightning II for their future national security needs,” the company said in a statement. “We look forward to supporting the U.S. government in delivering the F-35 program to meet the requirements of the Belgian government.” Vice Adm. Mat Winter, head of the the F-35 joint program executive office, said the decision to join the program will strengthen the U.S.-Belgian relationship. “We look forward to working closely with our Belgian teammates as they mature plans for purchasing their F-35s,” he said in a statement. The U.S. Embassy in Brussels tweeted a response to Vandeput, stressing how Belgium's F-35 selection would add to NATO interoperability. “Belgium will fly @thef35 alongside some of its closest @NATO allies & longtime partners in air defense. US is extremely proud of our enduring air partnership w/ Belgium,” it said. U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee's Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, said Belgium's F-35 buy “reaffirms Belgium's military and strategic partnership with the United States, as well as builds Belgium's defense capabilities as a strong NATO ally.” Turner had interfaced with Belgian officials over the past year, providing assurances that the U.S. Congress would support an F-35 sale to Brussels, he said in a statement. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/10/25/f-35-officially-wins-belgian-fighter-contest
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July 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Emmanuel Macron promet de tenir le cap budgétaire pour les armées
Le président de la République Emmanuel Macron a promis le 14 juillet de « tenir le cap » en matière de défense dans le cadre de la Loi de programmation militaire (LPM) 2019-2025, qui définit les budgets annuels des armées sur cette période. « Comptez sur moi, je tiendrai le cap comme je l'ai fait depuis trois ans dans le cadre de la loi de programmation militaire afin que vous puissiez toujours avoir les moyens d'accomplir vos missions aujourd'hui comme demain d'autant qu'en matière de défense, demain, vous le savez, se prépare aujourd'hui », a-t-il expliqué. La LPM a prévu en 2021 un budget de 39,3 milliards (contre 37,6 milliards en 2020), dont 22,3 milliards pour l'agrégat Équipement (contre 20,8 milliards en 2020). Soit une nouvelle marche budgétaire de 1,7 milliard d'euros après celle de 2020. La Tribune du 14 juillet 2020