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October 3, 2018 | International, C4ISR

US to offer cyberwar capabilities to NATO allies

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

BRUSSELS (AP) — Acting to counter Russia's aggressive use of cyberattacks across Europe and around the world, the U.S. is expected to announce that, if asked, it will use its formidable cyberwarfare capabilities on NATO's behalf, according to a senior U.S. official.

The announcement is expected in the coming days as U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis attends a meeting of NATO defense ministers on Wednesday and Thursday.

Katie Wheelbarger, the principal deputy assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, said the U.S. is committing to use offensive and defensive cyber operations for NATO allies, but America will maintain control over its own personnel and capabilities.

The decision comes on the heels of the NATO summit in July, when members agreed to allow the alliance to use cyber capabilities that are provided voluntarily by allies to protect networks and respond to cyberattacks. It reflects growing concerns by the U.S. and its allies over Moscow's use of cyber operations to influence elections in America and elsewhere.

“Russia is constantly pushing its cyber and information operations,” said Wheelbarger, adding that this is a way for the U.S. to show its continued commitment to NATO.

She told reporters traveling to NATO with Mattis that the move is a signal to other nations that NATO is prepared to counter cyberattacks waged against the alliance or its members.

Much like America's nuclear capabilities, the formal declaration of cyber support can help serve as a military deterrent to other nations and adversaries.

The U.S. has, for some time, considered cyber as a warfighting domain, much like air, sea, space and ground operations. In recent weeks the Pentagon released a new cybersecurity strategy that maps out a more aggressive use of military cyber capabilities. And it specifically calls out Russia and China for their use of cyberattacks.

China, it said, has been “persistently” stealing data from the public and private sector to gain an economic advantage. And it said Russia has use cyber information operations to “influence our population and challenge our diplomatic processes.” U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Moscow of interfering in the 2016 elections, including through online social media.

“We will conduct cyberspace operations to collect intelligence and prepare military cyber capabilities to be used in the event of a crisis or conflict,” the new strategy states, adding that the U.S. is prepared to use cyberwarfare along with other military weapons against its enemies when needed, including to counter malicious cyber activities targeting the country.

The document adds that the Pentagon will “work to strengthen the capacity” of allies and partners.

NATO has moved cautiously on offensive cyber capabilities. At the Warsaw Summit in 2016, allies recognized cyberspace as a warfighting domain. It has said that a computer-based attack on an ally would trigger NATO's commitment to defend its members. And last year the alliance agreed to create a new cyber operations center. But the focus has always been on defending NATO networks and those of its members, not offensive cyberwar.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that the defense ministers will have a working session this week to address cyber and other risks, and how allies can cooperate to counter such threats. He did not provide details.

https://www.apnews.com/292c4d08912c4e3f8ae29973e0ecfbbc/US-to-offer-cyberwar-capabilities-to-NATO-allies

On the same subject

  • Pentagon: We’re Buying Boeing F-15s to Keep 2 Fighter Makers in Business

    March 26, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    Pentagon: We’re Buying Boeing F-15s to Keep 2 Fighter Makers in Business

    BY MARCUS WEISGERBER The acting defense secretary's ties to the company had nothing to do with the decision, a senior defense official said Friday. The decision to buy new Boeing F-15s reflects the Pentagon's desire to keep two American companies making fighter jets into the next decade — and not the acting defense secretary's ties to the company, a senior defense official said Friday. The 2020 budget request contains $1.1 billion to buy eight F-15X jets, a new variant of an aircraft the Air Force last bought nearly a decade ago. The twin-tailed plane was chosen over Lockheed's cheaper single-engine F-16 in part to keep a second U.S. manufacturer in the tactical-jet business as the Pentagon begins exploring new technologies for a new generation of warplanes, the official said. “One of the considerations was the diversity of the industrial base,” the official said. “If we look at something as important as the tactical aircraft industrial base and we look forward into sixth-generation [fighter] production and competition and that kind of stuff,...gaining diversity in that industrial base is going to be critical.” The senior defense official emphasized that Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, who formerly worked as a Boeing executive, was not involved in the decision to buy the F-15X. Full article: https://www.defenseone.com/business/2019/03/pentagon-were-buying-f-15s-keep-2-fighter-makers-business/155773

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 31, 2019

    August 1, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 31, 2019

    ARMY Medico Industries Inc.,* Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, was awarded an $891,165,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract to manufacture and deliver 155mm M795 projectile metal parts and 120mm mortar shell bodies. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 23, 2029. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-19-D-0084). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Rolling Meadows, Illinois, was awarded a $481,576,687 hybrid (cost-no-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for Common Infrared Countermeasure Quick Reaction Capability 3. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 30, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-19-D-0110). 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Ltd., Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has been awarded a $57,806,293 contract modification (P00013) to previously awarded contract FA8730-16-C-0019 for the Royal Saudi Air Force F-15SA Cyber Protection System and Related Facilities program. This modification provides for the construction of a secure communications facility at the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) Headquarters. Work will be performed at RSAF Headquarters, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2022. This contract involves foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $57,806,293 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. IBM Corp., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded an $8,729,010 firm-fixed-price contract for advisory and assistance support. 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Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $25,345,439 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, is awarded $17,647,771 for firm-fixed-price delivery order N00019-19-F-2947 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-16-G-0001). This delivery order provides for the production and delivery of 27 Sixth Mission Crew Workstation (MCW) Retrofit B-kits for the Navy in support of P-8A Lots One through Three aircraft, and four Sixth MCW Retrofit B-kits for the government of Australia in support of P-8A Lot Six aircraft. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington (67.8%); Huntington Beach, California (21.7%); and San Antonio, Texas (10.5%), and is expected to be completed in January 2023. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy); and cooperative partner funds in the amount of $17,647,771 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, is awarded $16,853,707 for modification P00179 to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm contract (N00019-12-C-0112). This modification provides for the production and delivery of 29 Sixth Mission Crew Workstation Retrofit B-kits in support of P-8A production lots four and five. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington (67.8%); Huntington Beach, California (21.7%); and San Antonio, Texas (10.5%), and is expected to be completed in December 2021. Fiscal 2013 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,539,663 will be obligated at time of award, all of which has expired. Prior approval was granted to obligate expired funds. 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This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-19-D-0046). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Rolling Meadows, Illinois, is awarded $10,314,373 for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order N00019-19-F-4033 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0026). This delivery order provides for non-recurring engineering required to develop, qualify and test an updated APR-39D(V)2 processor configuration. In addition, this delivery order will procure 16 Digital Receiver Processor (DRP) 2 circuit card assemblies (CCA) for the Army and six for the Navy. Four of the six DRP2 CCAs procured for the Navy will be retrofitted into the APR-39D(V)2 processor establishing an updated configuration. Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and is expected to be completed in July 2021. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Army and Navy) in the amount of $10,314,373 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Military & Federal Construction Co.,* Jacksonville, North Carolina, is awarded $9,852,959 for firm-fixed-price task order N4008519-F-6226 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N40085-16-D-6303) for repairs to Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQ) 4199 at Marine Corp Air Station, Cherry Point. The work provides improvements and repairs to existing BEQ 4199, replacing windows and doors, replacing and providing new interior finishes, minor structural modifications, providing a sprinkler fire suppression system, fire alarm system modifications, replacement and repair of plumbing, mechanical and electrical systems, repairs and resurfacing of existing parking areas. 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The work provides for improvements and repairs to existing BEQ 4200, replacing windows and doors, replacing and providing new interior finishes, minor structural modifications, providing a sprinkler fire suppression system, fire alarm system modifications, replacement and repair of plumbing, mechanical and electrical systems, repairs and resurfacing of existing parking areas. Work will be performed in Havelock, North Carolina, and is expected to be completed by January 2021. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $8,870,147 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Five proposals were received for this task order. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Cherry Point, North Carolina, is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Rolling Meadows, Illinois, is awarded $8,723,882 for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order N00019-19-F-0306 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0026). This delivery order provides for non-recurring engineering required to modify software to correct software deficiencies identified by the Navy and Marine Corps aircrews and test community in the Navy Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures AN/AAQ-24 system. Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and is expected to be completed in May 2021. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,723,882 will be obligated at time of award, $3,199,581 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. TOTE Services Inc., Jacksonville, Florida, is being awarded an $8,065,927 modification under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N32205-18-C-3002) with reimbursable elements for operation and maintenance of the offshore petroleum discharge system vessels. Work will be performed at sea worldwide, and is expected to be completed July 2020. If all options are exercised, work will continue through July 31, 2023. Navy working capital funds in the amount of $8,065,927 are obligated at the time of award, and will not expire at the end of the fiscal years. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with four offers received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Coastal Enterprises of Jacksonville Inc.,* Jacksonville, North Carolina, is awarded an $8,054,652 modification under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N40085-16-D-6318) to exercise Option Three for grounds maintenance services at Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune; Marine Corps Air Station, New River; and other outlying locations. The work to be performed provides for grounds maintenance services that will maintain landscaping, mowing, trimming grass, weed control, and fire ant treatment for the Camp Lejeune complex which include commands such as the Naval Hospital, Marine Corps Special Operations Command and Department of Defense Dependent Schools. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $31,447,230. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and is expected to be completed July 2020. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $4,593,444 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the option period. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Nova Group Inc., Napa, California, is awarded $7,425,000 for firm-fixed-price task order N44255-19-F-4332 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N44255-14-D-9006). The work to be performed includes removing piles, installing piles, demolishing concrete deck, building roof sections, restoring concrete deck, repairing miscellaneous damaged utilities, repairing spalling piles and pile caps and replacing corroded or missing utility hangers. The work is located at the Naval Magazine, Indian Island. Work will be performed on the ammunition pier and will include the removal of nine existing concrete piles and the installation of nine new concrete piles. The total task order amount with the exercise of the option will be $7,425,000. Work will be performed in Port Hadlock, Washington, and is expected to be completed by March 15, 2021. Fiscal 2019 Commander Navy Installation Command contract funds in the amount of $7,425,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest, Silverdale, Washington, is the contracting activity. Quality Performance Inc., Fredericksburg, Virginia, was awarded $7,021,996 for modification P00003 to a previously awarded a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N68335-15-D-0031). This modification increases the ceiling of the contract to procure up to 14 additional Moriah Wind Systems as well as associated sub-components, ancillary components, repair services and as required, non-recurring engineering to support engineering change proposals for the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment Moriah program. Work will be performed in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and is expected to be completed in September 2021. No funds are being obligated at time of award, funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. (Awarded July 29, 2019) DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY Deloitte LLP, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a five-year contract (one-year base and four option periods) with an estimated value of $197,277,630. This contract supports the Defense Health Agency (DHA), Deputy Assistant Director for Information Operations, Solutions Delivery Division (SDD). This entails performing a variety of functions, such as configuration management, information assurance, training support, deployment activities, and other business, technical and administrative functions necessary for sustaining existing SDD products and project lines, including: Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application; the Composite Health Care System; the Clinical Data Repository; Essentris®; the Health Artifact and Image Management Solution; the Interagency Comprehensive Plan for Care Coordination Support; the Defense Medical Logistics Support System; and the Defense Occupational and Environmental Health Readiness System – Industrial Hygiene. This contract was competitively awarded under the General Services Administration's eBuy vehicle; DHA received three offers. Location of performance is inside the U.S. The base year will be funded with fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funding in the amount of $34,213,809. The Defense Health Agency, Professional Services Contracting Division, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HT0011-19-F-0068). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Viasat Inc., Carlsbad, California, has been awarded a maximum $28,379,192 firm‐fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite‐quantity contract for small tactical terminals. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a five‐year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is California, with a May 30, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA1-19-D-0070). Baxter Healthcare Corp., Deerfield, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $24,354,889 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for pharmaceutical products. This is a one-year base contract with nine one-year option periods. To date, this is the eighth contract awarded from standing solicitation SPE2D0-15-R-0002. Location of performance is Illinois, with a July 30, 2020, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 Warstopper funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D0-19-D-0004). South Alabama Regional Airport Authority, Andalusia, Alabama, has been awarded a minimum $11,474,983 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for fuel. This was a competitive acquisition with 148 responses received. This is a 44-month contract with one six-month option period. Location of performance is Alabama, with a March 31, 2023, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (SPE607-19-D-0112). Avfuel Corp., Ann Arbor, Michigan, has been awarded a maximum $8,611,528 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for fuel. This was a competitive acquisition with 155 responses received. This is a 43-month contract with one six-month option period. Locations of performance are Michigan and Texas, with a March 31, 2023, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (SPE607-19-D-0107). *Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1922486/source/GovDelivery/

  • Epirus, a venture-backed startup, inks deal with Northrop for counter-drone tech

    July 21, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

    Epirus, a venture-backed startup, inks deal with Northrop for counter-drone tech

    By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― Epirus, a venture-backed startup offering a counter-drone capability, launched quietly enough two years ago, but it's making noise by bringing together key veterans of Microsoft, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon ― and by landing its first deal with a name-brand defense prime contractor. Epirus chief executive Leigh Madden was general manager for Microsoft's national security business before he joined the Hawthorne, Calif.,-based firm two months ago, and its chief financial officer, Ken Bedingfield, is a former chief financial officer at Northrop. The former chairman of Epirus is Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of the Silicon Valley data-analytics company Palantir Technologies. Epirus, this week, is expected to announce a previously undisclosed strategic supplier agreement with Northrop to provide exclusive access to Epirus' software-defined electromagnetic pulse system, called Leonidas. The dollar value of the deal isn't being disclosed. Northrop said Leonidas would augment its own kinetic and non-kinetic solutions to counter small drones. The Army recently selected Northrop's Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control software, or FAAD-C2, as the interim C2 system to counter small drones. (DoD's FY21 budget request included $18.7 million for counter-drone enhancements for the system.) “UAS threats are proliferating across the modern battlespace,” said Kenn Todorov, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman's Combat Systems and Mission Readiness division. “By integrating the Epirus EMP weapon system into our C-UAS portfolio, we continue maturing our robust, integrated, layered approach to addressing and defeating these evolving threats.” Many companies have jumped into the $2 billion counter-UAS market, anticipating a boom as commercial drones have grown cheaper and more commonplace, posing an asymmetric threat on the battlefield as well as a threat to airports, sports stadiums, government buildings and urban areas. So many companies are in the field the Pentagon has been working to streamline the number of systems available across the department. Epirus executives said the company's technology is unique because its use of solid-state commercial semiconductor technology makes it lighter and smaller ― and because it can have narrow effects or be “adjusted to sanitize a volume of terrain or sky, creating a forcefield effect.” The company's systems involve a combination of high-power microwave technology and, for enhanced targeting, artificial intelligence. Epirus Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Bo Marr was a radio frequency engineer and technical lead on Raytheon's next-generation jammer program, under development by the U.S. Navy. Madden, a former U.S. Navy SEAL who spent eight years at Microsoft, and Bedingfield, who spent five years as Northrop's CFO, both said they joined Epirus because they were impressed by the technology and its potential. “Northrop and Microsoft are both multibillion-dollar defense businesses, and I think we bring a knowledge of how to operate around some of the larger opportunities and to make outsized impacts in the market,” Madden said. “We're taking that experience to a smaller, innovative company. I think that will allow us to really accelerate the pace of growth and have a more rapid and greater impact for our customers.” The Pentagon has attempted to shift toward working with smaller, more innovative companies to supplement its work with larger firms, which continue to dominate the marketplace. Flexible, non-traditional contact vehicles called “other transaction authorities” have grown more popular as the Pentagon has turned to Silicon Valley for cutting edge technologies. “One of the things that attracted me to come to Epirus is the ability to work in an agile enterprise that is trying to take some of the approaches of Silicon Valley and apply them to the defense world―to iterate quicker and to field faster, and to be able to respond to the urgent needs of the customer,” Bedingfield said. Bedingfield said the company is growing fast and generating revenue from working with customers on studies and technology demonstrations, but it's as yet unclear when it will begin to deliver products. The coronavirus pandemic has slowed its hiring, but the firm is looking to double in the next year, adding more than 50 employees in Hawthorne, and a planned office in Northern Virgina. Formed in 2018 and named after the magical bow of the Greek hero Theseus, Epirus was raising $17.8 million in new funding last November, according to its public filings. With Lonsdale and Marr, its co-founders include its previous CEO; current Vice Chairman John Tenet, from venture capitol firm 8VC; Chief Operating Officer Max Mednik, a Google veteran; UnitedHealthcare Chief Digital Officer Grant Verstandig is the current chairman. Palantir, which Lonsdale founded with billionaire Peter Thiel in 2005, appeared as an upstart when the Defense Department hadn't opened its arms as wide to Silicon Valley. Last year, Palantir beat Raytheon in a head-to-head competition to provide the Army a new version of its intelligence analysis system ― after a years long saga in which the Army rejected Palantir's offering and Palantir sued. In September, Epirus won a Small Business Innovation Research contract from the U.S. Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center as part of its AFWERX technology accelerator. The contract was for the company's novel architecture for using commercial off-the-shelf field programmable gate arrays, which are semiconductor devices commonly used in electronic circuits, as ultra-wideband radio frequency transceivers. While traditional systems use large vacuum tubes, Madden said Leonidas is based in microchips and software. “We believe there is no other solution on the market that allows for fully software defined precision targeting at digital speeds, enabling both precision targeting as well as large-area, counter-swarm targeting of many drones at the same time,” he said. Northrop and Epirus are expected to announce their partnership this week. “We're not just solving today's swarm threat, we're also looking to the future to understand how asymmetric threats will evolve,” Marr said in a statement. “Epirus is an agile startup, Northrop Grumman has defense prime contractor resources, and through this partnership we intend to deliver the best technology to the warfighter as fast as possible.” https://www.defensenews.com/2020/07/20/epirus-venture-backed-startup-inks-deal-with-northrop-for-counter-drone-tech

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