Des parlementaires européens appellent à un budget de la défense renforcé

On the same subject

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  July 22, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Airbus signs contract with UK Ministry of Defence for Skynet 6A satellite

  Stevenage July 19, 2020 – Airbus Defence and Space has signed a contract with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) to extend and enhance the Skynet fleet. This will involve the development, manufacture, cyber protection, assembly, integration, test and launch, of a military communications satellite, Skynet 6A, planned for launch in 2025. The contract also covers technology development programmes, new secure telemetry, tracking and command systems, launch, in-orbit testing and ground segment updates to the current Skynet 5 system. The value of the contract is more than £500 million. Richard Franklin, Airbus Defence and Space UK Managing Director said: “Airbus is extremely proud to be awarded this critical UK defence contract continuing our long tradition as the UK national milsatcom end-to-end services provider. Satellite manufacturing, linked to support services, is a critical component of the Government-industry UK space strategy and this contract underpins the UK MOD's and industry's lead position in this sector. Building this military satellite will, like Skynet 5, lead to significant export opportunities in the years ahead, growing high value manufacturing jobs and supporting a diverse supply chain in this increasingly important sector. “This contract for 6A demonstrates the strong working partnership we have with UK MOD, built on the success we have jointly achieved on the Skynet 5 system since 2003. Airbus is fully committed to delivering world-class military communications services to our Armed Forces across the globe, and look forward to delivering this step change in capability to the MOD,” he continued. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “A new, more advanced satellite capability will provide continued communications support to the UK deployed forces for many years. British defence must continue to innovate and transform, particularly in cyber and space. Investment in first-class equipment like this new Skynet satellite will keep us safe from the threats we face both now and in the future.” The Skynet 5 programme, managed by Airbus, has provided the UK MOD with a suite of highly robust, reliable and secure military communications services, supporting global operations since 2003. Airbus has been involved in all Skynet phases since 1974 and this phase builds on a strong UK commitment to space manufacturing in the UK. The recent programme commenced by using the legacy Skynet 4 satellites and then augmenting them with a fully refurbished ground network before launching the Skynet 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D satellites between 2007 and 2012. The Skynet 5 programme has reduced or removed many of the technical and service risks for the MOD, whilst ensuring unrivalled secure satcoms and innovation to UK forces. Through the many years of delivering an exceptionally reliable Skynet service the Airbus teams have managed to significantly extend the lifespan of the Skynet satellites many years beyond their design life, offering significant additional value for money and capability to the UK. The Skynet 6A satellite will be based on Airbus' Eurostar Neo telecommunications satellite platform. It will utilise more of the radio frequency spectrum available for satellite communications and the latest digital processing to provide both more capacity and greater versatility than Skynet 5 satellites. The satellite will feature electric orbit raising propulsion as well as electric station keeping systems for maximum cost effectiveness. Complete satellite integration will take place at Airbus facilities in the UK followed by testing using RAL Space testing facilities at Harwell in Oxfordshire supporting the UK Space Agency initiative for sovereign UK end-to-end satellite production and support. Science Minister Amanda Solloway said: “Space technology plays an important role in supporting our military and keeping us safe, while also boosting the UK's economy and enabling world-leading science and research. “With this major investment in Skynet 6A, the development of the National Satellite Test Facility and the launch of a dedicated innovation programme, we are setting a bold new ambition for the UK in space.” The satellite is due for launch in 2025, and will have a minimum design lifetime of 15 years. Its orbital position will be announced closer to the launch date. Notes to editors: Airbus provides a range of space-based services to customers worldwide including supporting the UK Armed Forces, and its NATO Allies. Airbus has owned and operated the Skynet military communications system, providing 24/7 services across the world for more than 15 years on behalf of the UK MOD. Airbus recently announced its partnership with KBR, Leidos, Northrop Grumman and QinetiQ to work together for the next phase of proving secure milsatcoms for the UK MOD focusing on new thinking and greater involvement of SMEs. Your Contact Jeremy Close Media Relations Space Systems, UK +44 776 653 6572 Send an email View source version on Airbus: https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2020/07/airbus-signs-contract-with-uk-ministry-of-defence-for-skynet-6a-satellite.html

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  August 16, 2023 | International, C4ISR, Security

  US Army seeks industry input on AI bill of materials

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  February 7, 2019 | International, C4ISR

  DARPA: Defending Against Adversarial Artificial Intelligence

  Today, machine learning (ML) is coming into its own, ready to serve mankind in a diverse array of applications – from highly efficient manufacturing, medicine and massive information analysis to self-driving transportation, and beyond. However, if misapplied, misused or subverted, ML holds the potential for great harm – this is the double-edged sword of machine learning. “Over the last decade, researchers have focused on realizing practical ML capable of accomplishing real-world tasks and making them more efficient,” said Dr. Hava Siegelmann, program manager in DARPA's Information Innovation Office (I2O). “We're already benefitting from that work, and rapidly incorporating ML into a number of enterprises. But, in a very real way, we've rushed ahead, paying little attention to vulnerabilities inherent in ML platforms – particularly in terms of altering, corrupting or deceiving these systems.” In a commonly cited example, ML used by a self-driving car was tricked by visual alterations to a stop sign. While a human viewing the altered sign would have no difficulty interpreting its meaning, the ML erroneously interpreted the stop sign as a 45 mph speed limit posting. In a real-world attack like this, the self-driving car would accelerate through the stop sign, potentially causing a disastrous outcome. This is just one of many recently discovered attacks applicable to virtually any ML application. To get ahead of this acute safety challenge, DARPA created the Guaranteeing AI Robustness against Deception (GARD) program. GARD aims to develop a new generation of defenses against adversarial deception attacks on ML models. Current defense efforts were designed to protect against specific, pre-defined adversarial attacks and, remained vulnerable to attacks outside their design parameters when tested. GARD seeks to approach ML defense differently – by developing broad-based defenses that address the numerous possible attacks in a given scenario. “There is a critical need for ML defense as the technology is increasingly incorporated into some of our most critical infrastructure. The GARD program seeks to prevent the chaos that could ensue in the near future when attack methodologies, now in their infancy, have matured to a more destructive level. We must ensure ML is safe and incapable of being deceived,” stated Siegelmann. GARD's novel response to adversarial AI will focus on three main objectives: 1) the development of theoretical foundations for defensible ML and a lexicon of new defense mechanisms based on them; 2) the creation and testing of defensible systems in a diverse range of settings; and 3) the construction of a new testbed for characterizing ML defensibility relative to threat scenarios. Through these interdependent program elements, GARD aims to create deception-resistant ML technologies with stringent criteria for evaluating their robustness. GARD will explore many research directions for potential defenses, including biology. “The kind of broad scenario-based defense we're looking to generate can be seen, for example, in the immune system, which identifies attacks, wins and remembers the attack to create a more effective response during future engagements,” said Siegelmann. GARD will work on addressing present needs, but is keeping future challenges in mind as well. The program will initially concentrate on state-of-the-art image-based ML, then progress to video, audio and more complex systems – including multi-sensor and multi-modality variations. It will also seek to address ML capable of predictions, decisions and adapting during its lifetime. A Proposers Day will be held on February 6, 2019, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM (EST) at the DARPA Conference Center, located at 675 N. Randolph Street, Arlington, Virginia, 22203 to provide greater detail about the GARD program's technical goals and challenges. Additional information will be available in the forthcoming Broad Agency Announcement, which will be posted to www.fbo.gov. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2019-02-06