Navy to establish second surface drone unit this spring

On the same subject

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  August 1, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Cyber Command wants to partner with private sector to stop hacks

  By: Justin Lynch The head of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command is advocating for a more expansive partnership between the government and the private sector amid an array of cyberthreats. Gen. Paul Nakasone, speaking July 31 during the Department of Homeland Security National Cybersecurity Summit in New York City, said that partnerships are America's “advantage in cyberspace,” "We have tremendous, exquisite, foreign intelligence reporting,” Nakasone said, but added he wanted to understand what the private sector and firms who make up America's digital infrastructure were looking for “so we can really tailor the information.” Information from Cyber Command and the NSA will be used in a new National Risk Management Center that hopes to share cyberthreats between the government and the private sector, according to a department spokeswoman. ”Resiliency begins with a dialogue,” Nakasone said. The new center's announcement comes after DHS said that Russia was continuing to attackAmerica's electric grid. Last week, Sen. Claire McCaskill D-Mo., said that Russian hackers tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate her office. On the same day that Nakasone spoke, Facebook said that it removed 32 accounts in an apparent influence campaign. Ninety percent of America's critical infrastructure is in private hands, Nakasone said. Therefore, the Department of Defense is kicking off the new risk center with a “90 day sprint” to identify companies that are most essential to the U.S. way of life in an effort to protect them from foreign cyberattacks. “Not all risks are created equal,” Nakasone said of the initial effort. https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/cybercom/2018/07/31/cyber-command-wants-to-partner-with-private-sector-to-stop-hacks/

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  February 11, 2019 | International, C4ISR

  The military wants many systems to share one language

  By: Mark Pomerleau The Army, Navy and Air Force secretaries recently signed a memorandum that would establish common standards of information in future weapon systems, a move that will allow for greater coordination on a future battlefield that will require faster decision making. As the military is shifting its focus to so-called great powers and simultaneously each pursing its own version of multidomain operations — a concept of operating more seamlessly across the five domains of warfare — there is a recognition for the need for closer cooperation. According to an Air Force release Feb. 8, older weapon systems were not developed with common interface standards, which made interoperability more difficult. “This is vital to our success,” said Mark Esper, the secretary of the Army. “After reviewing the capabilities of common standards, we have collectively determined that continued implementation, and further development of modular open systems approaches are necessary to keep our competitive advantage.” In recent years, the services have developed, demonstrated and validated common data standards through a cooperative partnership with industry and academia to allow for a modular open systems approach, the release said. When the services follow the standards, contractors can build interoperable systems. This approach can lead significantly reduce development timelines and shrink costs by as much as 70 percent, the release said. “The ability for our systems and forces to exchange information and communicate effectively gives our war fighters the best capabilities to deliver the fight tonight,” Richard Spencer, the secretary of the Navy, said. “This reform will make us a highly integrated and more lethal fighting force.” With new approaches, such as multidomain operations, Pentagon leaders say it is critical for systems and forces to communicate across domains as well as cyber and land systems. "Victory in future conflict will in part be determined by our ability to rapidly share information across domains and platforms," Heather Wilson, secretary of the Air Force, said. "Sharing information from machine to machine requires common standards." Some in industry are helping the military answer some tough problems. “How do you take all the platforms that are out there and link them together and then be able to create decisions that happen a lot faster or get to decisions that you couldn't have gotten to if you were looking at each of the domains independently,” Rob Smith, vice president of C4ISR & UAS, Rotary and Mission Systems at Lockheed Martin, told reporters in July. While linking systems together may sound easy, Smith said differences in planning cycles, technologies and classifications is challenging. Going forward, the Air Force release said the joint memorandum directs service acquisition executives to publish specific implementation guidance for acquisition programs, continue to identify gaps and develop new standards when needed. Additionally, capability requirements officers must write modular open systems into future requirements documents as to be able to communicate across domains. https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2019/02/08/the-military-wants-many-systems-to-share-one-language

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  October 25, 2018 | International, Naval

  Naval Group, Fincantieri join forces to survive competitive global shipbuilding industry

  By: Tom Kington ROME — Defying reports that their planned partnership is doomed to fail, France's Naval Group and Italy's Fincantieri have announced a joint venture to build and export naval vessels. The two state-controlled shipyards said they were forming a 50-50 joint venture after months of talks to integrate their activities. The move comes as Europe's fractured shipbuilding industry faces stiffer global competition. The firms said in a statement that the deal would allow them to “jointly prepare winning offers for binational programs and export market,” as well as create joint supply chains, research and testing. Naval Group and Fincantieri first announced talks on cooperation last year after the latter negotiated a controlling share in French shipyard STX. But the deal was reportedly losing momentum due to resistance from French industry and a political row between France and Italy over migrants. The new deal falls short of the 10 percent share swap predicted by French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire earlier this year, and far short of the total integration envisaged by Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono. The statement called the joint venture the “first steps” toward the creation of an alliance that would create “a more efficient and competitive European shipbuilding industry.” Naval Group CEO Hervé Guillou, speaking at the Euronaval trade expo in Paris on Oct. 24, said the alliance is based on “two countries sharing a veritable naval ambition.” The joint venture is necessary because the “context of the global market has changed drastically,” he added, specifically mentioning new market entrants Russia, China, Singapore, Ukraine, India and Turkey. When asked about an initial product to be tackled under the alliance, Guillou acknowledged: “The answer is simple: there is nothing yet.” However, the firms said they are working toward a deal to build four logistics support ships for the French Navy, which will be based on an Italian design. The firms also plan to jointly bid next year on work for midlife upgrades for Horizon frigates, which were built by France and Italy and are in service with both navies. The work would include providing a common combat management system. The statement was cautious about future acceleration toward integration. “A Government-to-Government Agreement would be needed to ensure the protection of sovereign assets, a fluid collaboration between the French and Italian teams and encourage further coherence of the National assistance programs, which provide a framework and support export sales,” the statement said. But the firms were optimistic the deal would be “a great opportunity for both groups and their eco-systems, by enhancing their ability to better serve the Italian and French navies, to capture new export contracts, to increase research funding and, ultimately, improve the competitiveness of both French and Italian naval sectors.” Sebastian Sprenger in Paris contributed to this report. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/euronaval/2018/10/24/naval-group-fincantieri-join-forces-to-survive-competitive-global-shipbuilding-industry