January 31, 2019 | International, C4ISR
By: Mark Pomerleau
Following a year of cyberspace strategizing, 2019 will be all about implementing rules and tools, according to the Department of Defense's top uniformed cyber policy adviser.
Appearing Jan. 29 before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Brig. Gen. Dennis Crall said the department knows where it needs to head following last year's DoD cyber strategy (the first in three years) and now is the time to show results.
“This is the year of outcomes and that's what we're focused on — delivering the capabilities and improvements that we've discussed for some time,” he told the committee, adding that the strategy process allowed them to take a look at some departmental gaps and get after them.
The strategy actually has actionable lines of effort and there are things they can do to measure progress, he said.
The document lays out five objectives and five areas of interest under its strategic approach. The five objectives include:
The five areas of interest under the guise of its strategic approach include building a more lethal joint force; competing and deterring in cyberspace; strengthening alliances and attracting new partners; reforming the department; and cultivating talent.
The strategy also notes DoD must take action in cyberspace during day-to-day competition to preserve U.S. military advantages and defend U.S. interests. The focus will be on nation states that can pose strategic threats to the United States, namely China and Russia.
“We will conduct cyberspace operations to collect intelligence and prepare military cyber capabilities to be used in the event of crisis or conflict,” the document says.
Dana Deasy, the department's chief information officer, told the same committee that the threat from Russia and China is so acute he is briefed weekly from U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency on them. This allows him to understand their offensive and defensive posture relative to the DoD.
“Suffice to say that these are very strong, capable adversaries, but at the same time we have some strong, capable abilities ourselves,” he said.
Cyber Command has now assembled a full force of cyberwarriors and received limited acquisition authority to start equipping them. However, there is much more work to be done.
In fact, aside from individual tools, the force is still in need of a training range where cyberwarriors can do individual and collective training, as well as mission rehearsal, similar to rifle ranges or national training centers in the physical world.
The Persistent Cyber Training Environment, being run by the Army for the joint force, will get after this; however, it is still in the prototype phase with a limited capability delivered to users.
Additionally, the force needs a large-scale command-and-control platform that will house tools, provide commanders global situational awareness of forces and enable forces to plug into operations from remote locations.
This is the goal of Unified Platform, which is also still in the prototype phase, though officials have said a limited product could be delivered as early as the spring.
https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/2019/01/30/for-dod-cyber-2019-is-the-year-of-doing
March 5, 2021 | International, Aerospace
D-Fend Solutions has confirmed that its EnforceAir counter-small unmanned aerial systems (C-sUAS) technology supports the legislation rule recently passed by...
December 21, 2020 | International, Aerospace
By Will Wade and Max Zimmerman Lockheed Martin Corp. agreed to acquire the defense industry supplier Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. in a deal valued at $4.4 billion. As part of the transaction, Aerojet declared a $5 per share special dividend, to be paid on March 24, to holders of record as of March 10. The payment of that special dividend will adjust the $56 per share consideration to be paid by Lockheed Martin, according to a statement Sunday. The shares surged in pre-market New York trading on Monday. At $51, Lockheed will be buying Aerojet at a 21% premium from the closing price on Friday. Chief Executive Officer Jim Taiclet, who stepped into the top job this year, has said he was keen to expand the world's largest defense contractor through acquisitions. With Aerojet, he's picking up a key U.S. supplier of propulsion systems for missiles, rockets and other space and defense applications. “Acquiring Aerojet Rocketdyne will preserve and strengthen an essential component of the domestic defense industrial base,” Taiclet said in the statement. Lockheed has been scouting for deals. In January, the company said it was flush with cash and open to deals as rival Raytheon Co. prepared to combine with United Technologies Corp. to create an aerospace-and-defense powerhouse. Lockheed has been seeking opportunities to “bring in the technologies faster into the company that we think are going to be crucial for the future,” Taiclet said during its October earnings call. “So we plan to be active, but we also plan to be very, very prudent.” The Aerojet transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021 after getting regulatory approvals and a nod from Aerojet's shareholders. Aerojet advanced to $54.44 Monday before markets opened in New York. That's up 29% from Friday's close, which gave the El Segundo, California-based company a market value of $3.25 billion. Lockheed was little changed from its Friday close, which valued the buyer at about $100 billion. At the end of last week, Aerojet's stock was trading at 25 times expected earnings, compared with 16 times for Lockheed. Aerojet's shares have fallen 7.9% this year and Lockheed dropped 8.6%, both underperforming the S&P 500 Index, which climbed 15%. Lockheed's space division is its third-largest business, contributing 18% of its 2019 revenue. The company competes with Elon Musk's SpaceX for U.S. government rocket launches through the United Launch Alliance, its joint venture with Boeing Co. Lockheed was advised by Goldman Sachs, Ardea Partners and Hogan Lovells, while Citigroup and Evercore, as well as Jenner & Block and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher represented Aerojet. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-21/lockheed-martin-to-buy-defense-supplier-aerojet-for-4-4-billion
June 20, 2018 | International, Naval
James LaPorta June 19 (UPI) -- The Department of Defense has awarded a contract to General Dynamics Electric Boat for work on the next nine Virginia-class attack submarines. The contract award from Naval Sea Systems Command, announced Monday, is worth $225 million under the terms of cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, which is a modification to a previous Pentagon award, the Defense Department said. The deal will see General Dynamics provide economic ordering quantity material -- parts ordered ahead of time -- for the next nine Virginia-class, nuclear-powered fast attack submarines, for work in fiscal 2019 through 2023. The nine vessels are part of the Block V generation of the Virginia class. The first four have been ordered by the U.S. Navy already, with General Dynamics set to construct SSN-802 and SSN-803 and Huntington Ingalls Industries tapped for SSN-804 and SSN-805. Work on the contract will occur in various locations throughout the United States and is expected to be complete in January 2019. The total cumulative value of the contract will be obligated to General Dynamics at time of award -- the obligated funds will be allocated from Navy fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion accounts and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year, said the Pentagon press release. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2018/06/19/GenDyn-contracted-for-parts-for-future-submarine-construction/8941529412778/