November 27, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security
Researchers Discover "Bootkitty" – First UEFI Bootkit Targeting Linux Kernels
First Linux UEFI bootkit discovered: Bootkitty bypasses Secure Boot to exploit kernel integrity checks.
May 8, 2019 | International, Aerospace
The Air Force’s new trainer jet is attracting the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ interests
By: Valerie Insinna
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are monitoring the development of the Air Force's T-X training jet, but it may be years before they can launch their own competitions to replace the T-45, officials said Monday.
“We're watching the T-X. Obviously the Air Force is going through that process,” Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, the Marine Corps' deputy commandant for aviation, said during a panel at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space conference.
“At some point, we're going to have to replace the T-45. We're going to have to replace the F-5,” he said, referring to the T-45 Goshawk (used by the Navy and Marine Corps to train fighter pilots) and the F-5 (used to simulate adversaries during exercises).
“Our adversary requirement is not going away. It only increases. That's another one that with our Air Force counterparts we're watching closely on many different fronts,” he added.
Last year, the Air Force chose a Boeing-Saab team to build a new, clean-sheet trainer, awarding the firms a contract worth up to $9.2 billion. Although the service's program of record is 351 T-X jets and 46 simulators, the agreement gives it the flexibility to buy up to 475 aircraft and 120 simulators. A Navy and Marine Corps buy would add several hundred aircraft to the Air Force's eventual order — a massive financial win for Boeing, which bid extremely low on the T-X solicitation with the expectation of raking in big profits during the production stage.
Boeing is set to deliver the first simulators to Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, in 2023. In fiscal 2024, the Air Force will have enough simulators and trainers to declare its first squadron as operational.
Angie Knappenberger, the Navy's deputy director of air warfare, said the timing of a T-X buy could be “problematic” because of the current schedule of the TH-57 replacement, which is taking priority over a new jet trainer.
“Once we're able to accomplish that — the helicopter trainer replacement — then we're going to look more forward to something like the T-45 replacement. T-X would certainly be in the running as a candidate for something like that,” she said.https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/navy-league/2019/05/07/the-air-forces-new-trainer-jet-is-attracting-the-navys-and-marine-corps-interests
The Navy in January released a request for proposals for the TH-57 replacement, kick-starting a competition with Airbus, Bell and Leonardo that could potentially lead to a contract awarded this year. The service wants to buy 130 helicopter trainers from FY20 to FY23.
Knappenberger did not elaborate on why the timing of the T-X program could be challenging for the Navy, but the service plans to finish purchasing new helicopter trainers just as Boeing starts producing and delivering T-Xs to the Air Force. Another key factor may be whether the T-X can be outfitted with the gear necessary for taking off from and landing on aircraft carriers, and how quickly Boeing could complete the engineering work involved.
Like Rudder, Knappenberger noted the appeal of buying enough T-X trainers to fill the service's adversary air requirements, saying she's “curious to see” the jet's red air capabilities.
The Air Force is also assessing the T-X's ability to conduct other mission sets.
“You could imagine a version of the airframe that could be equipped as a light fighter. You can imagine a version that is equipped as an adversary air-training platform,” Air Combat Command head Gen. Mike Holmes told reporters in March.
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December 1, 2020 | International, Naval
Asia-Pacific militaries bet on unmanned systems to meet regional challenges
By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia — Asia-Pacific nations are embracing the use of unmanned solutions for maritime missions, with several nations bordering the Pacific Ocean and with extensive littorals either operating or planning to acquire unmanned systems for use in the domain. The countries' reasons for doing so vary, from a desire to monitor the activities of China's increasingly powerful and assertive Navy to watching for pirates or transnational criminals. And the platforms chosen range from Australia's Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton ― a high-altitude, long-endurance UAV ― to the more modest Insitu ScanEagle, which the U.S. government has donated to a number of Southeast Asian nations. Taiwan watches China In early November the Trump administration approved four separate arms sales requests from Taiwan, including one for four General Atomics MQ-9B “weapons-ready” unmanned aircraft, for an estimated value of $600 million. The package also includes the Raytheon SeaVue maritime multirole patrol radars, suggesting Taiwan will acquire the SeaGuardian variant of the MQ-9B. The package also includes two mobile ground control stations, 14 embedded inertial navigation/global positioning systems, and Wescam MX-20 multispectral targeting systems. No weapons were included in the package, although the SeaGuardian can carry laser-guided bombs and Hellfire air-to-ground missiles. The drone's manufacturer, General Atomics, has displayed artwork showing the aircraft carrying sonobuoy dispensers and lightweight torpedoes. The U.S. Defense Security and Cooperation Agency, in announcing the potential deal, said the “proposed sale will improve the recipient's capability to meet current and future threats by providing timely Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), target acquisition, and counter-land, counter-sea, and anti-submarine strike capabilities for its security and defense.” (DSCA announcements do not represent final sales. If there is no congressional objection, the customer can begin negotiating over price and quantities, which often change by the time a final sale is completed.) The SeaGuardian would certainly improve Taiwan's information-sharing capabilities with American forces, a critical consideration in the event of a potential invasion by China, which sees the self-governing island as a rogue province and has vowed to reincorporate it with the mainland, by force if necessary. Japan's Coast Guard operations U.S. ally Japan, which has warily eyed China's increasingly powerful military and paramilitary forces, has also shown interest in the SeaGuardian. General Atomics has been marketing the drone to Japan's Coast Guard, which is seeking an unmanned aerial system for the persistent monitoring of foreign vessels operating within Japan's vast exclusive economic zone, or EEZ. These foreign vessels include fishing boats suspected as being part of China's Maritime Militia or Coast Guard. These forces have frequently entered the contiguous zone of the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands that China also claims as its own. The SeaGuardian recently participated in a demonstration for the Japanese Coast Guard, which is the country's primary agency in charge of maritime safety during peacetime in its territorial waters and EEZ. When these bodies of water are combined, the area makes up the sixth largest of its kind in the world. According to the Coast Guard, the SeaGuardian flew a total of 150 hours over 13 flights during the demonstration, which showcased its various capabilities. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is also likely to seek a similar UAV to complement its manned aircraft and helicopters. The American footprint Meanwhile, in southeast Asia, several countries are receiving Insitu ScanEagle drones under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program. The region faces challenges ranging from the ongoing dispute between six neighbors — including China — over the ownership of the potentially resource-rich Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, to longstanding issues over piracy. A Pentagon contract announced in 2019 saw almost $48 million awarded to Boeing subsidiary Insitu for 34 ScanEagles destined for the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, which will take delivery of 12, eight, eight and six ScanEagles respectively by 2022. Deliveries have already started, with Malaysia receiving its first ScanEagle in May this year. It is unclear whether the funds for this contract came from the Pentagon's partner capacity-building program or the department's maritime security initiative for regional countries, announced in 2015. One potential application for unmanned aircraft in the maritime environment is search and rescue. Another U.S. Indo-Pacific ally, Australia, is developing artificial intelligence to assist in such missions. The algorithm is expected to help recognize life rafts and other vessels in the water. The Royal Australian Air Force has already run several test flights to trial its system, which is equipped with a sensor and processor built from commercial off-the-shelf components, such as GoPro cameras, that can potentially be fitted onto any manned and unmanned aircraft. During the trials, it was found the AI system performed better than humans in sighting and identifying objects in the water, such as life rafts. It was also able to recognize a black, upturned life raft 70 percent of the time — a notable outcome given the AI was trained to recognize the orange color of an upright life raft. https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2020/11/30/asia-pacific-militaries-bet-on-unmanned-systems-to-meet-regional-challenges/
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November 21, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Deal awarded for first permanent US F-35 jet facilities in Europe
By WILLIAM HOWARD | STARS AND STRIPES RAF LAKENHEATH, England — The British government has awarded a 160-million pound ($205 million) contract for construction work at RAF Lakenheath to prepare the base for the arrival of U.S. F-35A Lightning II stealth jets. The deal is the first in a much bigger program to support Air Force operations in the U.K., with a further $1 billion expected to be in invested in the U.K. over the next seven to 10 years, according to the British Defence Infrastructure Organisation. It signed the contract with the Kier-VolkerFitzpatrick joint venture on Monday. Work on the base, the first permanent facility for U.S. Air Force F-35s in Europe, will start in summer. The first F-35s are scheduled to arrive in 2021. “For more than one hundred years now our armed forces have fought in defence of our common values and interests. Our two countries have developed the deepest, broadest and most advanced relationship of any two nations,” Defense Minister Tobias Ellwood said in a statement. Full article: https://www.stripes.com/news/deal-awarded-for-first-permanent-us-f-35-jet-facilities-in-europe-1.557392