Title Publication Date Department News type Teaser Canada investing $211.6 million in Calgary’s Arcfield Canada to sustain the Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fleet

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  April 24, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Pentagon developing artificial intelligence center

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is working on a plan to stand up an artificial intelligence center in order to streamline the department's myriad AI programs. The idea, which comes as defense officials are increasingly concerned about China's investments in AI capabilities, has now been embraced by both Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Michael Griffin, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering. Speaking at the House Armed Services Committee April 12, Mattis said “we're looking at a joint office where we would concentrate all of DoD's efforts, since we have a number of AI efforts underway right now. We're looking at pulling them all together.” In hearings Tuesday and Wednesday, Griffin elaborated on the state of that AI center, saying it is very much in the early stages. “I'm working right now with folks on my staff to answer questions like ‘who should lead it, where should it be, what projects should it do, and most importantly how does such a center fit into the overall AI strategy for the department and the nation?'” Griffin said on April 18. He added that the department counts 592 projects as having some form of AI in them, but noted that not all of those make sense to tie into an AI center. And Griffin wants to make sure smaller projects that are close to completion get done and out into prototyping, rather than tied up in the broader AI project. On Tuesday, Eric Schmidt, the former Google executive who chairs the Defense Innovation Board, said he hoped the AI center would be stood up in conjunction with one or more universities, in order to maximize the number of cutting-edge voices involved. The biggest benefit from creating an AI center may come from creating a clearing house of information which can be input into training an artificial intelligence, something Schmidt, who has previously been critical of how DoD handles data, said is vital. “The DoD, broadly speaking, has a great deal of data, which is not stored anywhere. It's stored in places which the programmers are no longer alive, [that] kind of thing,” Schmidt said. “And getting all that data in a place that's usable and discoverable and useful for the mission at hand is crucial.” Artificial intelligence is one of the key technologies, along with hypersonics and directed energy, identified by Griffin as a major focus for his time as the R&E head for the department. Part of that drive comes from the reality that Russia and, in particular, China have made whole-of-government efforts to invest in and develop AI capabilities. Schmidt himself has warned that by 2025, China will have surpassed the U.S. in AI capabilities, and has called for a “Sputnik moment” around AI. Those comments have been echoed by former deputy secretary of defense Bob Work. Members of the defense committees appear open to the Pentagon's goal of getting an edge on AI, with Rep. Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, having already introduced a bill to develop a new all-of-government commission to AI. https://www.defensenews.com/intel-geoint/2018/04/18/pentagon-developing-artificial-intelligence-center/

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  July 22, 2020 | International, C4ISR

  To be competitive in 5G, the US must play offense, not defense

  Joel Thayer , Harold Feld , and Daniel Hoffman The Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation are far from the first to try to upend an independent agency's proceeding. However, these executive agencies have been far more aggressive than normal in that pursuit in response to the Federal Communications Commission's April 20 Ligado decision. This dispute significantly compromises the United States' leadership in global markets — by both undermining domestic initiatives and by undercutting our policy positions internationally. The recent dispute concerning Ligado pits the DoD and DOT on one side, and the Federal Communications Commission, the State Department and Attorney General Bill Barr on the other. This dispute involves the FCC's unanimous decision to grant new wireless entrant Ligado's request to modify its licenses to provide a national, low-power 5G network for Internet of Things services. The Ligado decision took nearly two decades, all told. It is not overstating to say that what should be a straightforward engineering decision has devolved into a watershed moment that, if Congress doesn't act, may prevent the U.S. from deploying 5G at a rate greater or equal to China or other international sovereigns. Worse, it will deprive Americans of competition, wireless innovation and related economic growth for years to come. IoT enabled by 5G will revolutionize everything from precision agriculture to self-driving cars. By focusing exclusively on IoT, Ligado can expedite the deployment of this technology while traditional wireless carriers focus on building out consumer-oriented 5G networks. This will accelerate deployment of 5G networks and introduce competition into the nascent IoT market. This is why Barr (whose Antitrust Division concentrates on competition) and the State Department (which wants to see the U.S. retain wireless leadership in global markets) have supported the FCC's decision. Ostensibly, the DoD and DOT say that Ligado will interfere with sensitive GPS operations. But its rationale does not survive even casual scrutiny. In recent weeks, internal emails from the DoD have surfaced showing that at least some of the DoD's own spectrum experts categorically agreed with the FCC that Ligado posed no threat, but were overruled by their superiors. The real issue is that the DoD and DOT are the largest and most powerful federal spectrum users. Any growth in 5G will require them to make further adjustments. Oddly, neither agency operates near Ligado's spectrum, and yet they seek to impede Ligado's ability to innovate in it. Put simply, Ligdao is just the unlucky party caught in the middle of their broader interagency spectrum fight. Congress made the FCC an independent, expert agency to prevent precisely this kind of situation. One of the most important reasons the FCC even exists is to set uniform rules for commercial wireless networks so that equipment can interoperate and companies can innovate, which ensures consumers ultimately reap the benefits of their products. Unfortunately, the Senate and House Armed Services committees intend to end run the agency by including provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that, in effect, prevent stakeholders that work with the Defense Department — either directly or indirectly — from using Ligado's network, which includes just about every major company in America. The U.S. squabbling with itself only yields an uncontested “win” for China. Our competitors are coordinated and not stumbling over themselves on petty spectrum disputes. They are certainly not waiting for the United States government to get its act together. To the contrary, as the House Appropriations Committee observed in its report on the FCC's budget: “The U.S. is falling behind other countries in the allocation of [5G] spectrum.” Chinese-owned companies Huawei and ZTE have already bought up significant wireless infrastructure for its 5G networks across the globe and have begun deploying IoT services in the same or similar bands the FCC authorized for Ligado. If that happens, it's China that sets the terms for 5G, which adversely affects our nation's security given China's penchant for international data aggregation. Upending the FCC would hand China a nearly insurmountable advantage in the race to 5G. Also, if Congress sides with the DoD and DOT instead of observing the FCC's 17-year-long rigorous testing and analysis, which included that of the DOT's and the Defense Department's own spectrum experts, then the FCC will be effectively paralyzed going forward. Congress needs to put a stop to these games before they do permanent damage and let the FCC do its job. Joel Thayer focuses his practice on telecommunications, regulatory and transaction matters, as well as privacy and cybersecurity issues. Harold Feld has worked in telecommunications law for more than 20 years. He is senior vice president of Public Knowledge, a 501(c) that advocates for policies to expand broadband access. Public Knowledge has provided support for Ligado several times in the FCC proceeding. Ligado sponsors its IP3 award at the $5,000 level. Daniel Hoffman worked in the CIA, where he was a three-time station chief and a senior executive clandestine services officer. He has been a Fox News contributor since May 2018. https://www.c4isrnet.com/opinion/2020/07/23/to-be-competitive-in-5g-the-us-must-play-offense-not-defense/

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  March 14, 2023 | International, Naval

  Canada on sidelines as U.S., Britain, Australia move ahead on new security deal | CBC News

  Experts are warning that, as the U.S., Britain and Australia move ahead on an expanded military pact, Canada's omission from that group suggests a larger problem with how this country is perceived by its friends.