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July 15, 2022 | International, C4ISR

US defense firm ends talks to buy Israeli spyware from controversial firm

U.S. defense contractor L3Harris has reportedly ended its bid to buy spyware and hacking tools from Israeli tech company NSO Group.  According to news reports, L3Harris ended the talks following security concerns raised by the Biden administration last month that the acquisition of the spyware would “pose a serious counterintelligence and security risk to U.S.…

https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/3553399-us-defense-firm-ends-talks-to-buy-israeli-spyware-from-controversial-firm/

On the same subject

  • Killing programs is ‘like working out,’ says acting US Army secretary

    September 6, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    Killing programs is ‘like working out,’ says acting US Army secretary

    By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army's program-killing project known as “night court” will continue and become more aggressive in the coming years as demands for the service's modernization effort increase, the Army's acting secretary said Wednesday. Named after the 1980s-era sitcom and a nod to the long hours worked by staff to pull it off, night court in 2018 identified $25 billion in savings and scrapped modernization efforts that the Army plans to use to finance new technologies. Acting Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy announced another $10 billion of savings in May. But keeping night court alive will require a deliberate effort until it becomes routine, McCarthy told the audience at the third annual Defense News Conference. “Night court is kind of like working out: You've got to get up, you've got to get after it,” McCarthy said. “It's hard. It wears you out. You think: ‘Boy, it would be easier to just stay in bed.' But it's necessary to keep the institution strong. We believe it has been institutionalized. ... But we've got to keep up the repetitions, and over time it will become a behavior, like a reflex.” McCarthy, who is expected to face a confirmation hearing to become Army secretary later this month, said as Army Futures Command's cross-functional teams identify requirements for the next generation of Army systems, the effort must become more aggressive. “What we've done in the cross-functional teams, those efforts have been successful,” McCarthy said. "So as we continue to go down the development pipe, they are going to come back with a requirement we are going to need X numbers of systems to lay in across our formations. And as we scale that out over time, that will cost more money. “So, when you look at where are the opportunities, you have to make choices — divestiture. Legacy systems that we have enjoyed for decades that have performed for us in combat operations for going on 18 years now, some of them will have to go away.” Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who formerly served as the Army secretary and championed the service's effort, signaled he will continue night court Pentagon-wide, something that will test his political clout as services are often loathed to give up reliable legacy systems, and lawmakers is even less willing to give up jobs in their districts that would be threatened by program cuts. But, McCarthy said, the effort is necessary to finance the new technologies the Pentagon needs to gain an advantage over China and Russia. “Night court will continue. In fact, night court is going prime time with Secretary Esper down the hall,” he said. “It's necessary to find as much trade space within that [$741 billion] in the '20 and '21 budgets to find every penny we can to finance our ambitions. Every investment program has a divestiture.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense-news-conference/2019/09/05/killing-programs-is-like-working-out-acting-army-secretary-says

  • Space Development Agency wants someone to launch its first 28 satellites

    October 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    Space Development Agency wants someone to launch its first 28 satellites

    Christina Mackenzie PARIS – The French government is to order by year-end another 12 Rafale fighter aircraft for its Air and Space Force to replace the 12 in its current inventory of 102 that are being sold to Greece. “We have the intention, between now and the end of the year, to place an order, in parallel with the orders for Greece, of 12 aircraft for the Air & Space Force," Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly told parliamentarians at the National Assembly's Defence Commission during a hearing on the defense budget. When Greece announced that it would be buying 18 Rafales from France, of which 12 would be second-hand, the French government had said that each Rafale removed from the inventory would be replaced in order not to impact operations. “I'd like to reassure you. Together we've agreed that by 2025, in conformity with the military program law, we would have 129 Rafale aircraft and I have every intention of abiding by that,” Parly said. The purchase of these new Rafales cannot be paid for with the funds that Greece will pay for their 18 aircraft. The Hellenic order is valued at “between €1 billion and €2 billion,” according to Parly's Cabinet. She explained that these monies technically would go straight into the state budget and not into her ministry's. That means a new battle is afoot with the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Recovery about the transfer of funds into defense coffers to pay for the replacements, she admitted. In addition to this order for 12, Dassault Aviation, manufacturer of the Rafale, still has 28 aircraft to deliver to France between 2022 and 2024. The 12 new ones would be delivered “immediately after this,” according to Parly. And by 2023 the Armed Forces Ministry plans to order a further 30 which would be delivered from 2027. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/10/08/france-moves-to-replace-the-12-rafales-sold-to-greece/

  • Oshkosh Defense receives JLTV order for $208 Million

    November 7, 2023 | International, Land

    Oshkosh Defense receives JLTV order for $208 Million

    The order is valued at $208 million and includes JLTVs for the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force.

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