August 7, 2018 | International, Aerospace
By: Jen Judson
WASHINGTON — House and Senate lawmakers have authorized an injection of about $51 million in funding to cyber-harden missile defense systems, according to the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act conference report, and appropriators are expected to follow suit in the defense spending bill with roughly $100 million in additional funding.
Congressional authorizers noted in a summary of the NDAA conference report, released July 23, that the conferees were supporting an increase in funding to address cyberthreats to U.S. missile defense systems.
WASHINGTON — House and Senate lawmakers have authorized an injection of about $51 million in funding to cyber-harden missile defense systems, according to the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act conference report, and appropriators are expected to follow suit in the defense spending bill with roughly $100 million in additional funding.
Congressional authorizers noted in a summary of the NDAA conference report, released July 23, that the conferees were supporting an increase in funding to address cyberthreats to U.S. missile defense systems.
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What the new defense bill means for cyber
U.S. House and Senate negotiators boosted funding for cybersecurity in the annual defense authorization bill, which serves as a repudiation of the Trump administration's foreign policy.
By: Justin Lynch
The U.S. military and its allies are reliant on missile defense systems both regionally and to defend the homeland. Such a capability will require a more robust level of protection against cyberattacks as adversaries grow in their ability to take down systems through jamming and other electronic warfare capabilities.
The strategy to disarm enemy systems using jamming and electronic attack already plays a major role in war gaming against possible peer adversaries in the future. Using cyber and electronic attack is seen, at times, as the first line of offense to take down enemy air defense systems, so as to allow the injection of friendly forces into denied territory.
And since that's part of the strategy to penetrate enemy systems, it will be and already is a part of the adversaries' strategies, too.
Full Article: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2018/07/27/congress-offers-millions-in-budget-to-cyber-harden-missile-defense-systems/
July 13, 2021 | International, Land
Companies with commercial experience want to show the Army how capable electric-powered vehicles can be and overcome the challenges of operating them on the battlefield.
April 16, 2020 | International, Naval
ByChristen McCurdy April 15 (UPI) -- The Navy has awarded Hensel Phelps Construction a $54.3 million contract for design and construction of an undersea operational facility, the Pentagon said Wednesday. According to the contract announcement, the training center will be constructed in Oahu, Hawaii, and will support a variety of functions, including operator and undersea vehicle training, applied instruction and laboratories and computer laboratories. The contract also includes a line item for furniture, repairs and equipment. The center will also include diver support spaces, administrative spaces, maintenance and repair spaces and operator's gear storage lockers and maintenance and support spaces. Construction is expected to be complete by April 2022. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/04/15/Hensel-Phelps-Construction-nabs-543M-for-undersea-training-center/4831586995292
October 16, 2020 | International, C4ISR
Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army's tactical network modernization office released a request for information Wednesday for commercial satellite communications as a service. The RFI, released by Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical, will give the Army tactical network team an improved understanding of existing industry best practices, technological advancements and innovative business models for commercially managed satellites that could replace the operating design of its logistics network, known as the sustainment tactical network. “We are looking to our industry partners to provide us with inventive approaches to meet our logistics transport capabilities needs,” said Col. Shane Taylor, the Army's project manager for Tactical Network (PM TN), in a press release. “This includes both end item material solutions, as well as what corresponding leasing cost models could look like to enable the Army to maximize capabilities while balancing long-term affordability.” Commercially managed SATCOM would be an improvement over the standard SATCOM capabilities because currently the Army must purchase all the hardware, software, maintenance and sustainment needs, along with other related capabilities, on independent, standalone contracts, the press release said. With SATCOM as a service, the PEO C3T will procure all the capabilities under a single contract, paying for each leased Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) ground satellite terminal. "We want to deliver the right STN SATCOM capability at the right price, while keeping current with technology and ahead of obsolescence,” said Lt. Col. Natashia Coleman, product lead for Unified Network Capabilities and Integration. “To do that we need to better understand how and what industry can provide, what their different managed services models would look like, how they could each best support our hardware and support services requirements, and then compare that to the more traditional way we are providing the capability now and determine which would work best. “Whatever the outcome, taking the time upfront to review all of the options will enable us to deliver the best solution for the Army,” she added. According to Paul Mehney, communications director for PEO C3T, the program office expects industry to demonstrate their SATCOM as a service capabilities for engineer and operational assessment. Mehney said that the office will consider the companies' ability to provide and maintain terminals, obtain host nation agreements for use of bandwidth, provide a help desk to address network access issues, and technical support to users and VSAT systems. Mehney also said that the logistics network modernization efforts aligns with increased capacity, resiliency and convergence goals of Capability Set '23, the next iteration of new network tools set to be delivered in fiscal 2023. “We are looking to incorporate STN design goals as part of CS23 and beyond; providing initial STN elements for CS23 (such as modernized VSAT and Local Transport capabilities) to support CS priorities over time,” Mehney said. Responses are due Nov. 6. https://www.c4isrnet.com/show-reporter/ausa/2020/10/14/army-tactical-network-office-released-rfi-for-satcom-as-a-service/