July 4, 2019 | International, Security, Other Defence

U.S. Security Requires Multiple Elements of Deterrence

In the context of U.S. defense policy, "deterrence" is typically understood to mean "nuclear." And America's nuclear triad — ground-based missiles, air-delivered bombs, and submarine-launched missiles — serves as America's biggest form of deterrence, which underwrites everything its men and women in uniform do.

But according to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John M. Richardson, nuclear weapons are just one of multiple elements of deterrence the U.S. must consider either for itself, or for being aware that other nations might be using them. During a July 2 breakfast presentation hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in Washington, Richardson laid out five such elements of deterrence already in use or that must be considered more deeply.

Nuclear

"It's an incredibly powerful military capability where potentially everybody gets destroyed," Richardson said. "We must maintain our ability to be competitive and relevant in this domain ... [and] strike back at anybody who can pose an existential nuclear threat to the homeland."

The triad itself includes ground-based missiles — commonly referred to as intercontinental ballistic missiles; submarine-launched ballistic missiles; and air-launched cruise missiles dropped from bomber aircraft. In all three areas the U.S. is underway with modernization efforts.

But the nuclear environment globally is changing, Richardson said.

"More nations are seeking to join the club," he said. Some of those nations can bring high-tech weapons, while some are using low-tech, including dirty bombs and systems that can be manufactured with 3-D printers. Additionally, not all nuclear weapons are "strategic" in nature. Some are smaller "tactical" weapons.

"The nuclear element of this mix remains very relevant, very active, and deserves a lot more attention in my mind," Richardson said.

Cyber

Richardson said when it comes to cyber as a deterrent, the U.S. can't maintain only defensive capabilities. "We have to have an ability for offensive cyber to truly achieve a sense of deterrence there," he said.

Recent cyber provocations, he said, are "multidimensional in ways that may or may not have been expected." Included there, he said, are theft of intellectual property, invasion of privacy, invasion of identity, distortion of identity, "and most recently, perception management. This perception management idea ... might be kind of our new Sputnik moment."

Space

"The competition is absolutely heating up in space," Richardson said. "Of these elements that are going to constitute a tailored strategic deterrent approach, space has got to be one of those."

Richard posited that in space, it might become apparent that, using directed energy weapons, it proves far easier to destroy something in space than it is to put something back up into space. "These things operate really fast ... and space goes away as an asset," he said. "You can see kind of a mutually assured destruction scenario in space pretty easily. Have we thought about that going forward?"

Chemical, Biological Capabilities

Increasingly, Richardson said, chemical and biological deterrence will come into the mix, especially as technologies such as CRISPR — a genome editing tool — allow for more tailored capabilities.

"One of the self-deterrent aspects of chemical/biological is that it's very hard to control. It goes viral, if you will," he said. "But with these tailoring things, you can get a lot more specific. It becomes a lot more targetable. And so, it's something we have to mind."

Conventional Weapons

U.S. deterrence advantages in conventional weapons have relied, so far, on superior targeting ability, Richardson said. But that may become less important.

"We have better sensors, better satellites, better ways to connect that data with our command and control systems, our targeting systems," he said. "We had an advantage in terms of precision."

Now, he said, such sensors are ubiquitous, and commercial and military sensors are going up into space. There are cameras everywhere.

"This idea of being able to locate things with precision is becoming more ubiquitous," he said. "It's less of an advantage. It's really the team that can manage that information better that's going to achieve the advantage."

https://www.defense.gov/explore/story/Article/1896147/us-security-requires-multiple-elements-of-deterrence/

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July 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace

F-35, F-22, F-16 and E3 Sentry Planes Linked in Multiplayer Combat Simulator
Lockheed Martin, the Joint Program Office and the U.S. Air Force successfully connected the F-35, F-22, F-16 and E3 Sentry in a “highly contested simulated environment” during a Distributed Mission Training (DMT) final acceptance test at Nellis AFB, Nevada. This simulated training event was the first time these platforms were connected virtually. Additional platforms such as the F-15 can also connect into this shared virtual environment. The F-35 DMT capability creates interoperability across military platforms for continuation training and large force exercises. The initial delivery at Nellis AFB is a major step forward as it establishes the framework for F-35 simulators around the world to interconnect, Lockheed said in a release Wednesday. Previously, F-35 simulators allowed up to four pilots at a facility to fly together in simulated combat. DMT links pilots at Nellis AFB to pilots at other bases through an existing distributed network enabling simulated training events with existing 4th generation and 5th generation platforms. This is the first of many fielded DMT solutions for the F-35 training enterprise. “This base capability lays the foundation for pilots to truly train like they fight by enabling advanced tactics training through multi-domain operations in a simulated environment,” said Chauncey McIntosh, Lockheed Martin, vice president of F-35 Training and Logistics. As a next step, the DMT capability is expected to be rolled out to other USAF bases worldwide. The Navy is expected to receive the DMT capability through an accelerated delivery at NAS Lemoore by the end of the year. https://www.defenseworld.net/news/27334#.XwNVpyhKg2w
December 14, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 11, 2018
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U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QY-19-C-0014). Raytheon Lockheed Martin Javelin JV, Tucson, Arizona, was awarded a $12,055,715 cost contract for Javelin engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 30, 2019. Fiscal 2018 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $12,055,715, were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-19-C-0038). The Protective Group, A Point Blank Co.,* Miami Lakes, Florida, was awarded an $11,924,240 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of enhanced ballistic armor protection system kits. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 10, 2022. 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November 25, 2019 | International, Aerospace

United Technologies awarded $762.5M for Air Force, Marine Corps F-35 engines
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