Avion de combat du futur: Dassault et Airbus appellent Paris et Berlin à avancer «sans plus attendre»

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  16 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Pentagon Officials to Industry: Bring Us Tech That is Easy to Integrate

  By Mila Jasper Information systems that are easy to integrate and build in cybersecurity practices at the foundation top officials' wishlist. The defense industry needs to focus on developing technology that is easy to integrate and meets cybersecurity norms from the get-go, according to military officials speaking at the 2020 Army Signal Conference. At the conference, hosted by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, officials urged industry partners to create products that build in standard security principles at the outset of development and allow for a wide range of use cases. “Don't give me a bespoke, unique solution for one small problem, so that I can add it to the 42 other devices that I'm hooking up,” Brig. Gen. Paul Stanton, deputy director of operations for U.S. Cyber Command, said. “That's not helpful.” Stanton spoke Tuesday—the first day of the conference—on a panel regarding the importance of getting meaningful data to the front lines in real time. Figuring out how to create an information advantage faster than opponents is “warfighting 101,” Stanton argued, but it's an area that needs improvement. “How do I integrate these components? How do I design them such that they are intended to be integrated?” Stanton said. “These are some of the challenges that we need our industry partners to help us with.” Speaking on the same panel, Maj. Adam Brinkman, deputy to the chief technology officer for the Army Special Operations Command, agreed with Stanton's assessment. Brinkman emphasized the need for industry to make systems that integrate in order for their products to stay viable. “The problem that we've actually, honestly had is making sure the technology we receive can be successfully integrated,” Brinkman said. The Android Tactical Assault Kit, according to Brinkman, is a good example for industry developers to follow when it comes to creating solutions that fit the Army's integration vision. Also known as the Android Team Awareness Kit, ATAK is an off-the-shelf software tool with 40,000 users across the Defense Department. Brinkman highlighted ATAK's availability to a community of developers and its open-source code as contributors to its success. “What you have is essentially a meeting place where people can develop and create tools for you to quickly integrate into your environment,” Brinkman said. Vice Adm. Nancy Norton, head of the Defense Information Systems Agency, said in Wednesday session that innovation in the information technology frontier is not just about creating new technology but about making sure the full potential of that technology is realized. “We have all kinds of technology that we don't use, that we use 5%, 10% of the capability that's in it,” said Norton, responding to a moderator question. “We have to figure out how to actually use the capability that's embedded in the technology.” A key to making information systems that are easy to integrate is building security protocols into tools from the very start of development, Norton said. As customers, DISA and the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization are looking for IT providers that are able to meet standards such as the Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model Certification, or CMMC, rather than pre-existing tools that add on security measures as an afterthought. “The cost of adding on cybersecurity is tremendous,” Norton said. “And it just won't work very well if you bolt it on at the end.” https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2020/07/pentagon-officials-industry-bring-us-tech-easy-integrate/166918/

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  22 mai 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Autre défense

  Where do special forces fit in the National Defense Strategy?

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The most valuable role for U.S. special operations forces within the National Defense Strategy is to build relationships with countries in hot spots around the globe to keep Russia and China at bay. But that effort can't be at the expense of its counterterrorism mission, which remains the No. 1 priority of special forces, according to leadership within U.S. Special Operations Command. SOCOM plans to issue a report to Congress on a comprehensive review of its roles and missions this month, according to Mark Mitchell, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, who was speaking during a recent hearing with the House Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee. One of the main priorities for SOCOM is to carry out counterterror missions, but the National Defense Strategy focuses on great power competition against near-peer adversaries Russia and China, so House lawmakers wanted to know how special forces fit in a strategy that focuses less on counterterrorism and more on powerful adversaries. “We've been the tip of the spear on the [counterterror] fight,” SOCOM Commander Gen. Richard Clarke said during the hearing. “However, moving forward, particularly in great power competition, our special operations forces are not necessarily going to be in that fight because the whole idea of the strategy is to avoid a kinetic” confrontation, he added. Clarke said he's examining SOCOM relationships with U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Transportation Command as well as the global combatant commanders to see “how we can best integrate our forces and provide support to those in other domains.” “I think the special operations community is uniquely suited to build networks of partners and allies around the globe to put us in a position, first of all, to compete for that influence and legitimacy in peacetime,” Clarke added. Special forces also have an important role to play within the military information support operations center in Tampa, Florida, which is aligned with the State Department's Global Engagement Center, which “allows us to compete in the space ahead of time and make sure that we're countering some of the vitriol that's coming out of Russia at this time and the falsehoods,” Clarke said. According to Clarke and Mitchell, it's unlikely the reach of special forces around the globe will wane. “A [counterterror] deployment to Africa is also a part of that great power competition against the Russians and Chinese,” Clarke noted as an example. “We are trying to look at our employment of the SOF force from a holistic view to ensure that we're maximizing the return on that investment to our counterterrorism mission and our great power competition.” The relationships that U.S. special forces develop with other countries is also unique, Clarke noted. “A small team, a small element of Special Operations forces, can bring a significant impact working with foreign forces.” “Remember,” Mitchell added, “Chinese and Russian threats are global, and that's part of the reason why we're in 80 countries.” For example, Mitchell added, SOCOM received recent congressional approval to move forward with an important counterterror effort in the Philippines, but that is also a critical component of building influence within the country and “keeping Chinese at arm's length.” While the NDS is focused on great power competition, the strategy still recognizes the need to combat violent extremist organizations, which “is not going away, and we've got to balance that,” Mitchell said. So some new concepts for employment of special forces will likely emerge, according to Mitchell. “We're working with the services to ensure that we are integrated with their development efforts,” he added. But there are a few tasks where, if given the chance, SOCOM would take off its plate, particularly to improve its deployment ratio with double the time spent at home compared to overseas. Clarke said special forces in Africa could be better optimized. “That's not necessarily ‘take away the mission,' but I see reduction internal to some of these missions,” he said. Additionally, the mission to counter weapons of mass destruction is also an increasing burden on the force, Clarke said: “I think it's a right-sizing in the mission internal to make sure we have the right force allocation against it.” And SOCOM is looking at how the Army's security force assistance brigades might be better suited for certain security force assistance-type missions. “SOF should be in places where it's a light footprint, it's politically sensitive, with a small team, that is training other special operations forces primarily,” Clarke said. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2019/05/17/where-do-special-forces-fit-in-the-national-defense-strategy/

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  25 mai 2021 | International, Naval

  EXCLUSIVE: UAE Boosts Local Shipbuilder With $982M Patrol Ships Deal

  The deal reinforces the company's commitment to developing a sustainable knowledge and innovation-based economy in line with the UAE's Vision 2030, CEO of Abu Dhabi Ship Building told Breaking Defense.