How NASA launches - and delays - hurt US defense innovation

On the same subject

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  March 10, 2023 | International, Land

  Antsy about its aging tanks, Italy is mulling a rush purchase

  The move could entail a lease of German-made Leopard tanks from allied nations.

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  July 26, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Strategic Command will now oversee nuclear communications

  By: Andrew C. Jarocki   The communication system which keeps the president in touch with the nuclear triad during a crisis will now be the responsibility of the head of U.S. Strategic Command. The change came about from concerns that the nuclear command, control and communications systems, or NC3, lacked a clear chain of command under the current structure. The system is comprised of satellites, radars and fixed or mobile command posts. “The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has appointed the commander of U.S. Strategic Command to be the NC3 enterprise lead, with increased responsibilities for operations, requirements, and systems engineering and integration,” a U.S. STRATCOM spokeswoman told SpaceNews. The Pentagon's 2018 Nuclear Posture Review found the NC3 system “subject to challenges from both aging system components and new, growing 21st century threats” such as cyber warfare. The report also warned that “Russian nuclear or non-nuclear strategic attacks could now include attacks against U.S. NC3." “The Secretary [of Defense] has told me multiple times," Gen. John Hyten, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, said in a recent speech at the nuclear submarine base in King's Bay, Georgia. "Besides your day-to-day operational responsibilities ... your next highest priority is to make sure we get nuclear command and control right.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2018/07/25/strategic-command-will-now-oversee-nuclear-communications/

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  November 12, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land

  Germany cautious as France leads European defense initiative

  France is leading a 10-country defense initiative in a bid to "face new threats" outside existing structures. Germany is wary that the project could entangle its military in foreign interventions and undermine the EU. Defense ministers from 10 European countries gathered in Paris on Wednesday to set the agenda for the European Intervention Initiative (EI2), a defense coalition spearheaded by French President Emmanuel Macron. "To face new threats, Europe needs a strong defense," the French Defense Ministry said in a tweet after the meeting. "With the European Intervention Initiative, 10 European countries are committed to its protection." EI2's goal is to create a results-based common strategic culture that allows for rapid response joint military operations, including in humanitarian efforts. As such, it is not aimed at establishing a supranational European army. However, as an initiative outside EU and NATO frameworks, the French Defense Ministry has tried to alleviate concerns that it would undermine defense structures in the bloc and alliance. "With the European Intervention Initiative, the whole European Union and the European pillar in NATO will also be strengthened," it added. 'Germany felt pressured' But France's efforts have done little to placate concerns in Berlin, which Paris sees as a pivotal actor in the initiative. Claudia Major, senior international security associate at the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), told DW that German officials are wary because "it's explicitly and deliberately organized and set up outside the European Union's structures." "For the Germans, making a deliberate attempt to setting up something meaningful outside the EU's structures — and outside NATO — is not seen as a positive move but rather as undermining the EU," Major said. "In the end, Germany felt pressured to agree and engage in the initiative, because otherwise all the talk about France and Germany being the engine of Europe and the heart of Europe, and driving European integration and cooperation forward, would look cheap, wouldn't it?" Full article: https://amp.dw.com/en/germany-cautious-as-france-leads-european-defense-initiative/a-46201409