23 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité, Autre défense
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Hyten recently announced a new U.S. Department of Defense joint war-fighting concept will summarize capabilities needed for future all-domain operations and eliminate artificial lines on the battlefield used to deconflict U.S. operations in the past.
Hyten also noted the concept will seamlessly integrate “fires from all domains, including space and cyber,” to overwhelm an enemy.
While these aspirations are laudable, there are indications the concept could fall short of what is needed to inform cross-service trade-offs that must be made in an era of flat or declining defense budgets.
The DoD creates operating concepts to define preferred approaches to perform specific missions or execute a campaign to defeat an enemy. They also provide a foundation for the services to assess new technologies, force alternatives and resource priorities. Said another way, they are the tissue that connects top-level National Defense Strategy guidance to actual plans and programs.
While a joint all-domain war-fighting concept is urgently needed, Hyten has not made it clear the one in development will lead to trade-offs that maximize the DoD's war-fighting potential. For instance, Hyten has said it will call for every service to conduct long-range strikes: “A naval force can defend itself or strike deep. An air force can defend itself or strike deep. The Marines can defend itself or strike deep. ... Everybody.”
This could mean the concept will support a degree of redundancy across the services that has never existed. Setting aside tough trade-offs that eliminate excessively redundant programs will waste defense dollars and reduce capabilities available to U.S. commanders.
More specifically, the concept might endorse the Army's plan to buy 1,000-mile-plus, surface-to-surface missiles that cost millions of dollars each. Doing so would ignore analyses that have determined using large numbers of these weapons would be far more expensive than employing bombers that can strike any target on the planet for a fraction of the cost, then regenerate and fly more sorties. Furthermore, the Army's long-range missile investments could be at the expense of its ability to defend U.S. theater air bases against missile attacks.
Not only has air base missile defense long been an Army mission — it has long neglected and underfunded the mission. Chinese or Russian strikes against under-defended air bases could cripple the United States' primary combat sortie-generation operations.
If the concept does not consider these kinds of trade-offs, it could be due to the approach used to create it. The Joint Staff's doctrine development process is notorious for seeking consensus instead of making cross-service trade-offs necessary to maximize the DoD's war-fighting potential. Assuring bureaucratic service equities versus optimizing combat lethality can lead to operating concepts that fail to create clear priorities or — worse yet — declare everything a priority. If everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.
Moreover, each service was asked to develop a subordinate concept that will be integrated into the whole. This piece-part approach could result in the services ladening their subordinate concepts with their own equities instead of working together to develop the most effective, decisive options.
In short, a bottom-up, consensus-driven concept for all-domain warfare would not be an effective baseline to compare the DoD's force structure and capability alternatives. Three things could help to avoid this mistake.
First, the secretary of defense should approve a new all-domain war-fighting concept, and the secretary's staff should be deeply involved in its development. Some say the latter is inappropriate, believing the military, not DoD civilians, should create war-fighting concepts. However, it is entirely appropriate for the secretary's staff to be part of the concept's creation if its purpose is to shape the DoD's plans and programs.
Second, DoD leaders should rigorously examine the services' existing roles and missions during the concept's development, and make changes to reduce excessively redundant responsibilities, forces and capabilities. This may need to be driven by congressional language.
Finally, the DoD should jettison the word “joint” as part of the concept's title. This would stress the concept is focused on integrating operations across all domains, not on the services that provide forces to combatant commanders. The point is not for all to participate, but instead for all options to be considered, and those that provide best combat value be prioritized. Otherwise, it becomes a case analogous to all the kids chasing a soccer ball.
The 2018 National Defense Strategy was the beginning of the effort to shift the DoD toward preparing for peer conflict. Given that dollars and time are short, the DoD must now get a concept for all-domain warfare right. Like the National Defense Strategy, the concept must be top-down driven, not a bottom-up, consensus-driven product that fails to make trade-offs across the services and provides a rationale that supports what each service desires to buy. Rather, its ultimate objective should be to seek best-value capabilities and expand theater commander options to defeat peer adversaries.
3 décembre 2023 | International, Terrestre
Amazon on Friday said it booked three Falcon 9 launches with Elon Musk's SpaceX to help deploy the ecommerce giant's Project Kuiper satellite network, tapping a rival in the satellite internet business for its multi-billion dollar launch campaign.
31 août 2018 | International, Aérospatial
BY MARCUS WEISGERBER With a Raptor's body and the JSF's brain, the new jet would aim to answer the next decade's Russian and Chinese threats. Lockheed Martin is quietly pitching the U.S. Air Force a new variant of the F-22 Raptor, equipped with the F-35's more modern mission avionics and some structural changes, Defense Onehas learned. It is one of several options being shopped to the U.S. military and allies as Lockheed explores how it might upgrade its combat jets to counter Russian and Chinese threats anticipated by military officials in the coming decade, according to people with direct knowledge of the plan. “You're building a hybrid aircraft,” David Deptula, a retired Air Force lieutenant general who is now dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “It's not an F-22. It's not an F-35. It's a combination thereof. That can be done much, much more rapidly than introducing a new design.” The new variant — similar to one Lockheed is pitching to Japan— would incorporate the F-35's more modern mission system and “other advancements in the stealth coatings and things of that nature,” according to a person familiar with the proposal. Full article: https://www.defenseone.com/business/2018/08/lockheed-pitching-f-22f-35-hybrid-us-air-force/150943/
11 décembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR
December 10, 2020 - Netline Communications Technologies Ltd. - a leading developer and manufacturer of high-end electronic warfare and spectrum dominance systems for defense forces and homeland security agencies – is unveiling its new DroneNet RD Jammer - a rapid deployment (RD) tactical drone jamming solution that meets the US Military Standards (MIL-STD) and offers superior performance and fast, easy deployment, while being very compact. The DroneNet RD Jammer is the latest addition to the DroneNet family of comprehensive solutions designed to prevent unauthorized drones entering protected airspace, such as over deployed military forces, over strategic facilities, or in VIP protection arenas, whether on the move or stationary. Easy to operate, assemble and transport, the DroneNet RD jammer can be quickly deployed, mounted on a tripod mast, by a small tactical operating team. The DroneNet solution provides a multi-layered response to unauthorized drones. First, the DroneNet DF sensor detects the drone trying to enter protected airspace, identifies its type and the location from which it has arrived on the scene. The new SDR-based RD jammer then effectively jams communication between the drone and its operator on ISM bands, as well as the GPS signal used by the drone. Providing coverage of all relevant frequency bands used by commercially-available drones, each of its five bands addresses a different communication channel used by the drone for a different purpose: Disabling the drone's control & telemetry channel, resulting in loss of control over the drone Blocking the video downlink transmission Jamming the GPS signal to disable the drone's navigation and stabilization capabilities. Compact and rugged, the new DroneNet RD jammer has completed military standards qualification testing and is now ready to support operations in harsh weather conditions. “The new capability of the DroneNet RD jammer is based on the same building blocks as our proven jamming systems, which have been operational in many combat zones worldwide for over two decades,” says Yallon Bahat, CEO of Netline. “Developing a tactical drone jammer, with capabilities often available only in larger and heavier systems, is a challenge on its own. I'm very proud that Netline has achieved this, despite the global COVID 19 crisis. The company has proven its resilience and commitment to its customers by staying focused and attentive to their needs, even in these challenging times, giving tactical teams autonomy with a system that can be deployed within minutes, and most importantly keeping them safe.” The system can be supplied with either directional or omni-directional antennas. If required, more complex arrays can also be provided, such as mounted rotating directional antennas or switched antennas. Such installations can significantly increase energy efficiency and jamming power when combined with a direction-finding capability, either from Netline's DroneNet system or from an external source via the Application Programming Interface (API). About Netline Communications Technologies Ltd. Netline Communications Technologies Ltd. develops, manufactures and supplies high-end electronic warfare and spectrum dominance solutions for the world's leading defense forces and homeland security agencies. The company specializes in EW counter-IED systems, counter drone solutions (vehicular, portable, tactical and for fixed installations), military/ insurgency communication jamming, prison communication control, and intelligence solutions. Netline's equipment is battle proven, with hundreds of units operating 24/7 under harsh environmental conditions, protecting ground troops and forces, and supporting law enforcement and homeland security agencies worldwide. For more information on Netline Communications Technologies Ltd, please visit the company's website: http://www.netlinetech.com Contact Information Ms. Natalie Deutsch Marketing Communications Manager Netline Communications Technologies Ltd Email: natalied@netlinetech.com Mobile: + 972- 52-6461611