June 23, 2022 | International, Aerospace
March 26, 2019 | International, Aerospace
The Air Force wants to start a new $35M offensive cyber program
By: Mark Pomerleau
The Air Force wants to start a new program to develop a series of offensive cyber tools, according to the White House's budget request for fiscal year 2020.
This project will provide advanced cyber warfare capabilities to the Air Force's cyber mission force personnel, who work on projects for U.S. Cyber Command. In the service's budget books, the program is named Cyber Mission Force Foundational Tools.
“Activities within the program deliver operations-ready cyberspace superiority capabilities through the research, development, testing, evaluation, accelerated prototyping, demonstration and fielding of cyber technologies and capabilities," Air Force research and development budget documents state. “This program enables Combatant Commanders the ability to operate in and through cyberspace to manipulate, disrupt, deny, degrade or destroy targeted computers, information systems and networks.”
In fiscal 2020, Air Force leaders want the program to expand on past efforts to produce a family of foundational tools, to develop additional tools and software factories and to deliver prototypes that are interoperable with Cyber Command's architecture. Cyber Command leaders have vowed that the services will no longer develop stove-piped tools or infrastructure for individual service use.
The budget documents note that these foundational tools will be incorporated into the Air Force's Distributed Cyber Warfare Operations portfolio.
“The DCWO portfolio enables delivery of cyber effects to Combatant Commanders to include cyber operational preparation of the environment, offensive counter-cyber, cyberattack, electronic warfare operations, mission planning, intelligence, cybersecurity products and services and Command and Control/Situational Awareness (C2SA) tools needed to attack enemy networks, telephony, Integrated Air Defense Systems (IADS), command and control systems, and create cyber effects through the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS),” the document state.
Budget documents note that the program leverages previous efforts from Cyber Command and the Air Force for foundational tool development and were funded in other programs.
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May 22, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Aviation Week Forecasts: Western Attack Helicopter Deliveries/Retirements 2020-2029
Aviation Week Network forecasts that over the next ten years, 706 new Western-designed attack helicopters will be built, 588 will be remanufactured, and 193 will be retired. Aviation Week defines attack helicopters as rotary-wing aircraft that are unable to carry cargo internally, are armed with a forward-firing cannon of at least 20mm, and that can carry and self-designate targets for anti-tank guided missiles. The dominance of the Boeing AH-64 in the attack helicopter market is clear, with 63.1%, of global deliveries over the forecast. The U.S. Army intends to continue to upgrade existing AH-64Ds to the AH-64E standard while procuring more newly built AH-64Es in the next decade as part of its plan to build up to the current program of record. The AH-64's future abroad is secured through continuing international popularity across Europe, the Middle East, and increasingly the Asia-Pacific in a second wave. The advanced age of the Bell AH-1 is leading to several high-profile operators in the Asia-Pacific finally retiring their oldest AH-1s, making it the most retired type. However, the latest version, the AH-1Z, shows that there is life still left in the platform, with the second most deliveries. The U.S. Marine Corps will acquire more AH-1Zs this decade, along with several smaller militaries looking for a reliable, but cheaper, AH-64 alternative. The AH-1Z's prospects as a “thrifty” procurement are further bolstered by the fact that its chief non-U.S. competitor, the AW129-based TAI T129, continues to face difficulties in obtaining a U.S. export license for its engine. Hover over charts for more information. Source: Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) 2020 Military Fleet & MRO Forecast For more information about the 2020 Forecast and other Aviation Week data products, please see: http://pages.aviationweek.com/Forecasts https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/z/aviation-week-forecasts-western-attack-helicopter-deliveriesretirements-2020-2029
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September 20, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
What are the regional reactions to the new US-UK-Australia security pact?
Japan, Indonesia and Singapore weigh in on the AUKUS agreement.