Minister Blair to announce investment in health care for Canadian Armed Forces members

On the same subject

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  March 18, 2020 | International, Naval

  With coronavirus on the loose, US shipyards make adjustments but keep building

  By: David B. Larter and Courtney Mabeus WASHINGTON — U.S. shipyards are adjusting to meet the new coronavirus threat, but work continues across the country. In the wake of news that Fincantieri's shipyards in Italy has suspended operations for two weeks to help stem the spread of the illness, US shipyards have responded with more modest changes: suspending international travel, limiting domestic travel and suspending participation in conferences and trade shows for shipyard employees. Yards are also changing leave policies to allow workers time to adjust to restrictions that have closed schools and businesses across the country. While to date the changes have been minor, several company officials told Defense News that the situation was evolving and more could be coming down the pike as the government responds to the unfolding crisis that has rocked the country over the past week. Huntington Ingalls Industries' president and CEO Mike Petters addressed employees in a video message posted to the company's website Monday. Peters said he is meeting regularly with division leadership and the company has posted links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which he urged employees to check for the most accurate information. Employees who are experiencing symptoms or believe they may have been exposed should let the company know, he said. “Now more than ever we need to work as a team and look out for each other,” Petters said. Also on Monday, HII's Newport News Shipbuilding division president Jennifer Boykin extended "liberal leave" policies through second shift on March 20. In a post on the company's website, Boykin added that work would be "minimized" during the weekend and that with some exceptions, parking lots at the yard – the nation's only aircraft carrier manufacturer – would be open through Friday with no reserved spaces. Newport News Shipbuilding spokesperson Duane Bourne said the health and safety of workers remained the primary focus, calling it "premature to speculate on the impact of COVID-19 on our contracts." "We are having ongoing discussions with our customers and will continue that dialogue in preparing contingencies and future plans," Bourne wrote in an email. Fincantieri's Marinette shipyard in Wisconsin has suspended all international travel, all noncritical domestic travel and has suspended intracompany travel to prevent any potential spread between shipyards, said Eric Dent, the company's spokesperson. However, to date the company has seen no delays in operations. “So far, we have experienced no production delays,” Dent said. “Obviously like other businesses and shipyards, we have to balance force health protection and production as we work through this.” At General Dynamics' shipyards, both Bath Iron Works and submarine builder Electric Boat are continuing work, though they – like all the other yards – are allowing anyone who can work from home to do so, said Jeff Davis, a GD spokesperson. GD has likewise curtailed travel and ceased company participation in trade shows, Davis said. Electric Boat spokesperson, Liz Power, said the submarine builder is following all government recommendations. “Electric Boat remains open for business,” Power said. "Our ongoing mission is to provide our Navy with the high-quality submarines they require to complete their missions. “We have initiated all government-recommended measures to mitigate spread of the disease and continue to work closely with our employees, customers, suppliers, stakeholders and our community to keep them informed.” The ship repair industry is also taking precautions. Colonna's Shipyard Vice President Bob Boyd said the company is also asking its estimated 700 employees to follow the CDC's guidelines and advising anyone who feels sick to stay home. The company is doing additional screening with non-employees at its entrance, asking about recent travel and contacts, and talking with subcontractors about policies, Boyd said. With schools closed throughout Virginia, Colonna's "just taking it day-by-day." Dock landing ship Gunston Hall left Colonna's Shipyard in Norfolk last week and the company is currently working on Coast Guard vessel as well as Military Sealift Command's expeditionary fast transport ship Burlington, Boyd said. He said he couldn't speculate on what an order to stop work to counter the spread of the virus could mean for federal contracts. “Obviously, if they're shut down or we're ordered not to perform work, then you know, we'll follow those orders and resume work once we're cleared, but you know, it hasn't happened,” Boyd said. "We can't speculate that it will. So, we don't really know what will happen if and when those types of decisions are made, but so far they have not. " https://www.defensenews.com/coronavirus/2020/03/16/with-coronavirus-on-the-loose-us-shipyards-make-adjustments-but-keep-building/

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  September 19, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security

  New "Raptor Train" IoT Botnet Compromises Over 200,000 Devices Worldwide

  Cybersecurity researchers uncover massive Chinese-linked IoT botnet "Raptor Train," infecting 200,000+ devices and targeting US and Taiwan sectors.

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  May 29, 2020 | International, C4ISR

  How Army Futures Command plans to grow soldiers’ artificial intelligence skills

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — With artificial intelligence expected to form the backbone of the U.S. military in the coming decades, the Army is launching a trio of new efforts to ensure it doesn't get left behind, according to the head of Army Futures Command. While speaking at an event Wednesday hosted by the Defense Writers Group, Gen. Mike Murray was asked about areas that need more attention as his command works to modernize the force. Murray pointed to a change in how the service does long-term planning, as well as two personnel efforts that could pay off in the long run. The first is something Murray has dubbed “Team Ignite,” which he described as “ad hoc, right now,” with a hope to formalize the process in the future. In essence, this means bringing in the teams that write the concept of operations for the military and having them work next to the technologists driving research and development efforts so that everything is incorporated early. “It has occurred to me for a long time that when we prepare concepts about how we will fight in the future, they are usually not informed by scientists and what is potentially out there in terms of technology,” Murray said. “And when we invest in technologies, rarely do we consult the concept writers to understand what type of technology will fundamentally change the way we fight in the future.” In Murray's vision, this means soon there will be “a concept writer saying, ‘If only I could [do something we can't do now], this would fundamentally change the way we would fight,' and a scientist or technologist saying, ‘Well, actually we can, you know, another 10-15 years,' and then vice versa,” he said. “Really using that to drive where we're investing our science and technology dollars, so that in 10 or 15 years we actually can fundamentally change the way we're going to fight.” The Futures Command chief also laid out two new efforts to seed understanding of AI throughout the force, saying that “a key component of the Army moving more and more into the area of artificial intelligence is the talent that we're going to need in the formation to do that.” Murray described a ”recently approved” masters program to be run through Carnegie Mellon University, focusing on bringing in “young officers, noncommissioned officers and warrant officers” to teach them about artificial intelligence. The course features four to five months of actual learning in the classroom, followed by five or six months working for the Army's AI Task Force. After that, the officers are sent back the force, bringing with them their AI experience. Additionally, Murray is in the early stages of standing up what he described as a “software factory” to try and identify individual service members who have some computer skills, pull them out of their normal rotations and give them training on “basic coding skills” before sending them back to the force. “We're going to need a lot of these types of people. This is just [the] beginning, to seed the Army with the types of talent we're going to need in the future if we're going to take advantage of data, if we're going to take advantage of artificial intelligence in the future,” he said. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/05/28/how-army-futures-command-plans-to-grow-ai-skills-in-the-service/