19 juin 2019 | International, Naval, Autre défense
The U.S. Coast Guard is seeking input on an IT infrastructure consolidation plan that will help migrate part of its system to the cloud to ensure operators around the world have access to critical networks.
The request for sources is the first step in what appears to be a plan for the Coast Gaurd to contract with the private sector on IT infrastructure transformation. The idea is to shift IT services to an “Infrastructure Managed Services” model, one that would contract out infrastructure services to private companies to assist in cybersecurity and network optimization. The move spawned from the Coast Guard's fiscal 2018-22 Strategic Plan, which calls for greater cyber strength and efficient IT infrastructure.
“The security environment is also affected by the rising importance of the cyber domain – where adversarial nation states, non-state actors, and individuals are attacking our digital infrastructure and eroding the protections historically provided by our geographic borders,” the strategic plan states.
The challenge to secure and re-structure the Coast Guard's networks and IT infrastructure span global operations, different security classifications and many data centers, according to the request. The networks support more than 54,000 users worldwide at 823 global sites. The current networks are based on a slew of Microsoft operating systems, some more than a decade old.
The Coast Guard has been watching the development of Department of Defense's JEDI cloud contract, Adm. Karl Schultz said in August. Now, the Coast Guard hopes to migrate some of its data to the cloud while keeping some of it on the government servers it operates.
“USCG recognizes it must partner with Industry” the request states.
https://www.fedscoop.com/coast-guard-cloud-it-consolidation-procurement/
18 juillet 2022 | International, Aérospatial
The Air Force's acquisition executive said today that in order to make fast progress on its "operational imperatives," the service must take advantage of mature technology developed by industry and the scientific community through organizations like the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Defense Innovation Unit.
16 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre
By: Aaron Mehta   WASHINGTON — Overall nuclear warheads in the world decreased in 2019, but broad modernization efforts by the biggest nuclear countries — along with a degradation of arms control agreements around the world — could mean a dangerous mix for the future, according to an annual report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI. The organization estimated that at the end of 2019, nine countries possessed a total of 13,400 nuclear warheads, down from the 13,865 estimated in SIPRI's previous report, which in turn was a drop from 14,465 the year before. The reductions were primarily due to numbers dropping under the New START nuclear agreement between Russia and the U.S., which experts largely expect not to be renewed at the start of the new year. Russia is the largest holder of nuclear warheads, according to SIPRI's numbers, with 6,735 total, of which 1,570 are deployed. The U.S. follows at 5,800, with 1,750 deployed. The two countries account for over 90 percent of the world's nuclear arsenal. The United Kingdom (250 total, 120 deployed) and France (290 total, 280 deployed) are the other two nations believed to have deployed nuclear warheads. China (320 total), India (150 total), Pakistan (160 total), Israel (90 total) and North Korea, (30-40 total) round out SIPRI's list. Both the U.S. and Russia are engaged in expensive, widespread modernization efforts of its nuclear arsenal. America is upgrading both its legacy nuclear warheads with new designs, as well as updating its fleet of nuclear-capable bombers, submarines and ICBMs. Earlier this year, the Pentagon deployed for the first time the W76-2, a low-yield variant of the nuclear warhead traditionally used on the Trident submarine launched missile, and early design work is being done on another new submarine launched warhead design, known as the W93. Russia, meanwhile, has spoken openly about developing hypersonic weapons that could be nuclear equipped and has invested in novel weapons such as the Status-6, an underwater drone that could be equipped with a nuclear warhead. Moscow has also vocalized new deployment plans for its weapons and on June 2 made official a policy that it may use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack. Those investments by the world's two nuclear superpowers come against a backdrop of the collapse of numerous arms control agreements. 2019 saw the formal end of the Intermediate Range and Shorter Range Missiles (INF) treaty, and in May the U.S. announced its intention to withdraw from the Open Skies arms control verification agreement. The last major arms control agreement between Russia and the U.S. is New START, which is set to expire in February of 2021. In recent weeks the U.S. has announced its intention to start negotiations on a new arms control agreement that would include China. However, Chinese officials have repeatedly and categorically denied that it would be willing to join such an agreement, and experts largely view any efforts to create a trilateral nuclear arms control pact as a New START replacement are non-starters, leading to widespread agreement among analyst that New START is likely doomed under the Trump administration. “The deadlock over New START and the collapse of the 1987 Soviet–US Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate Range and Shorter Range Missiles (INF) Treaty in 2019 suggest that the era of bilateral nuclear arms control agreements between Russia and the USA might be coming to an end,” said Shannon Kile, Director of SIPRI's nuclear disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation program. “The loss of key channels of communication between Russia and the USA that were intended to promote transparency and prevent misperceptions about their respective nuclear force postures and capabilities could potentially lead to a new nuclear arms race.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nuclear-arsenal/2020/06/14/nuclear-modernization-speeding-up-as-arms-control-on-the-brink-report/
24 décembre 2018 | International, C4ISR
By: Mark Pomerleau The Army is looking to expand industry partners and technologies in the next five years to inform its pilot multidomain task force. The task force will test new concepts the Army believes will be needed to fight future near-peer adversaries in areas such as long-range precision fires, cyber and electronic warfare. In a notice to industry Dec. 18, Army Pacific, which is running the pilot, is in the process of assessing the industrial base for state-of-the-art technologies that can enable the pilot. In the run up to joint exercises in the 2018-2021 time frame, Army Pacific wants to hear from industry how its solutions can provide enhanced or new capabilities to the multidomain experimentation plan. Specific solutions named in the notice include: Integrated joint/partner fires targeting (lethal and non-lethal); Long range cross-domain fires; Land-based anti-ship missile capabilities; Long range strike capabilities from air, surface and maritime platforms; Multidomain artillery; Integrated intelligence; Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities; Space effects at operational and tactical levels; Organic over-the-horizon surveillance and targeting (including elevated sensors and unmanned aerial systems); Integrated and layered (short, medium and long range) air and missile defense capabilities and low-cost effectors; Mobile and survivable sensors (active, passive, seismic, etc.); Camouflage, concealment and deception across multi-spectral; visual, infrared, cyber, active radio frequency, etc.; Multidomain common operating picture; Survivable UAS (point launch/recovery, low observable) with modular/multi-payload options: ISR, EW, SIGINT, Kinetic); Advanced logistics and sustainment; Assured Communications, PNT, on and offshore datalink transmission; Manned-Unmanned Teaming; and Development of agile leaders (human dimension). https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2018/12/21/the-army-has-outlined-a-technology-wish-list