Cybersecurity CPEs: Unraveling the What, Why & How

On the same subject

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  November 21, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  The ‘Replicator’ dilemma: When mass isn’t enough

  Opinion: The Pentagon should match its big investment in attritable autonomy with smarter targeting, the author argues.

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  August 21, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security

  US Cyber Command’s training platform can now use operational cyber tools

  Mark Pomerleau WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's virtual cyber-training platform has been successfully integrated with operational tools that will be used during missions, according to Col. Tanya Trout, the outgoing director of the Joint Cyber Training Enterprise. The Persistent Cyber Training Environment, or PCTE, is an online client that allows U.S. Cyber Command's warriors to log on from anywhere in the world to conduct individual or collective cyber training as well as mission rehearsal on par with the National Training Center, which did not previously exist for cyber warriors. The Army runs the program on behalf of the joint cyber force and Cyber Command. Given the inherent need for such a platform, U.S. Cyber Command and the subordinate service cyber components have actively sought the technology. The program office in charge of the effort delivered the first version in February. Prior to that, the office was creating prototypes to incrementally test the system. After the platform was first used in a large-scale, tier-one exercise in June, it joined an integration pilot program in July with the program offices of the Unified Platform system and the Joint Cyber Command and Control system, according to Trout, who spoke during a virtual industry day for PCTE on Aug. 19. Trout's Joint Cyber Training Enterprise is the nonmaterial component to PCTE at Cyber Command. It coordinates training of personnel through the platform. The Unified Platform system will consolidate and standardize the variety of big-data tools used by Cyber Command and its subordinate commands to allow forces to more easily share information, build common tools, and conduct mission planning and analysis. Joint Cyber Command and Control, or JCC2, currently in its nascent and amorphous stages, will help command cyber forces and plan their missions. Both programs are managed by the Air Force on behalf of Cyber Command and the joint cyber force. Unified Platform and JCC2, as well as PCTE, are components of the Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture. JCWA includes five capability categories and guides their development priorities. “This integration allowed for execution of small team tactics while performing active hunt of advanced persistent threat within a post-compromised range environment,” she said. Trout added that the pilot demonstrated PCTE's ability to integrate existing operational tools into training scenarios. “PCTE will integrate and be interoperable with these other five elements [of the JCWA] to enable teams to train and rehearse using available JCWA operational tools and capabilities, [which] gives us really the ability to train as we fight,” she said. Due to the ongoing pandemic and the need to practice social distancing while maintaining readiness, Trout said, there has been increased demand for PCTE. From March to May, the number of new accounts for PCTE doubled. Trout also explained that PCTE — which, since its delivery to Cyber Command, is used daily by the cyber mission force — participated in another pilot focused on mission rehearsal. Members of the Cyber National Mission Force, one of Cyber Command's elite units aligned against specific threat actors and charged with defending the nation in cyberspace, were able to expand their mission rehearsal scope, scale and fidelity in a virtualized adversarial network, which will help determine future requirements, she said. Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, commander of Army Cyber Command, told the industry day audience that the advantage the virtual cyber-training environment has over the National Training Center is its ability to replicate an actual opponent. The mission rehearsal capability allows users to input prior operations, such as those used against the Islamic State group, or to train against or upload malware discovered in operations. https://www.c4isrnet.com/cyber/2020/08/20/us-cyber-commands-training-platform-can-now-use-operational-cyber-tools/

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  February 17, 2021 | International, Aerospace

  Turkey hopes new engine deal will power future TF-X fighter jet

  By: Burak Ege Bekdil ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's procurement agency has commissioned a local company to develop critical technologies for an engine that the government hopes will power its first indigenous fighter jet. A contract was signed Feb. 14 between two state-controlled companies for the development program. Under the deal, TRMotor, an engine maker, will develop an auxiliary power unit and an air turbine start system for what Turkey hopes will be critical components of an indigenous engine to power the TF-X aircraft. TRMotor signed the deal with the prime contractor of the TF-X program, Turkish Aerospace Industries, another state-controlled defense company. “The program aims to develop critical technologies ... that will enable us [to] possess indigenous engines,” said Osman Dur, general manager of TRMotor. “The [indigenous] TF-X engine is at the moment at its concept design phase.” TRMotor is completely owned by SSTEK A.S., a defense technologies company owned by Turkey's defense procurement agency, the Presidency of Defense Industries, or SSB. This is a milestone contract for the TF-X program,” said TAI CEO Temel Kotil. The deal comes as SSB is holding talks to co-produce an engine with a consortium of the British company Rolls-Royce and Turkish firm Kale Group. In 2017, Kale Group and Rolls-Royce launched a joint venture to develop aircraft engines for Turkey, initially targeting the TF-X. But the £100 million (U.S. $139 million) deal was effectively put on hold due to uncertainties over technology transfer. A year before the partnership, TAI signed a $125 million heads of agreement with BAE Systems to collaborate on the first development phase of the TF-X. Turkey originally planned to fly the TF-X in 2023, but aerospace officials put off the target date to the 2025-2026 time frame. The TF-X program, or MMU in its Turkish acronym, has been crawling over the past years due to technological failures and know-how transfer. Turkish engineers must first select an engine for the planned aircraft before they finalize their designing phase. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2021/02/16/turkey-hopes-new-engine-deal-will-power-future-tf-x-fighter-jet/