27 octobre 2022 | International, C4ISR
Six hours to share one piece of data? Here's a faster, more secure way
Trusted Data Format is an open standard for protecting data with military-grade encryption
12 mai 2020 | International, Terrestre, C4ISR
By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.on May 11, 2020 at 5:11 PM
WASHINGTON: The Army is taking a calculated risk to field much-needed network upgrades known as Capability Set 21 on time next year. To do that, the service needs to start buying radios, computers, satellite terminals, and much more in bulk this year so it can start fielding them to four combat infantry brigades in early 2021.
Many Army weapons programs are staying on schedule because they're still doing digital design work and long-term R&D, much of which can be done online. But Capability Set 21 is so far along that much of its technology was already in field tests with real soldiers — testing that has been badly disrupted by precautions against the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result, said Maj. Gen. David Bassett, Program Executive Officer for Command, Control, & Communications – Tactical (PEO-C3T), the Army may have to rely on more testing data from the lab to make up for limited testing in the field.
“As soon as we possibly can, we're going to get this back in the hands of soldiers,” Basset told the C4ISRNet online conference last week. “In the meantime, we know an awful lot from the lab-based risk reduction that we've done.”
“The risk,” he said, “is pretty manageable.”
Risk & Return
The field tests done before the pandemic, combined with extensive lab tests, should be enough to prove the technology will work, Bassett said. In fact, the Army already largely decided what technologies to buy for the upgrade package known as Capability Set 21, he said. What it still wanted soldiers to figure out in field tests, he said, was how they would use it in the field. That feedback from those “soldier touchpoints” would help both fine-tune the tech itself and figure out exactly how much to buy of each item – say, single-channel radios versus multi-channel ones — for each unit.
Going ahead without all the planned field-testing means the Army will have to make more fixes after the equipment is already fielded, a more laborious, time-consuming, and costly process than fixing it in prototype before going into mass production. It may also mean the Army initially buys more of some kit than its units actually need and less than needed of other items. But CS 21 is a rolling roll-out of new tech to four brigades a year, not a once-and-done big bang, Bassett explained. So if they buy too much X and too little Y for the first brigade or two, he said, they can adjust the amounts in the next buy and redistribute gear among the units as needed.
It's important to make clear that the Army's new technologies have already gone through much more hands-on field testing from actual soldiers than any traditional program, and have improved as a result. In the most dramatic example — not from CS 21 itself but a closely related system — blunt feedback from soldiers and quick fixes by engineers led to major improvements in prototype IVAS augmented reality goggles, a militarized Microsoft HoloLens that can now show soldiers everything from live drone feeds to a cross-hairs for targeting their rifle.
Doing such “soldier touchpoints” early and often throughout the development process is central to the 20-year-month Army Futures Command's attempt to fix the service's notoriously disfunctional acquisition system. But to stem the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the Army – like businesses, schools, and churches around the world – has dramatically cut down on routine activities.
“Units are either not training, or they're training with significant control measures put in place – social distancing, protective equipment, and things like that,” said Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher, head of the Network Cross Functional Team at Army Futures Command. That's disrupted the “access to soldiers and the feedback loop that's been so critical to our efforts.”
Nevertheless, the Army feels it has enough data to move ahead. It may also assess that the risk of moving ahead – even it requires some inefficient fixes later – is lower than the risk of leaving combat units with their existing network tech, which is less capable, less secure against hacking and less resilient against physical or electronic attack.
2021 And Beyond
Capability Set 21 focuses on the Army's light infantry brigades, which don't have many vehicles to carry heavy-duty equipment, as well as rapidly deployable communications units called Expeditionary Signal Battalions. It includes a significant increase in the number of ground terminals for satellite communications, the generals said, though not quite as many as they'd hoped to be able to afford.
It'll be followed by Capability Set 23, focused on medium and heavy mechanized units riding in 20-plus ton 8×8 Strykers and 40-plus-ton tracked vehicles. While units with lots of vehicles can carry much more gear, they also cover much larger distances in a day. That means CS 23 will include much more long-range communications through satellites in Low and Medium Earth Orbit, “which give us significantly more bandwidth at lower latency,” Gallagher said. “In some cases, it's almost having fiber optic cable through a space-based satellite link.”
Even with CS 21 still in final testing, the Army's already gotten started on CS 23. It's reviewed over 140 white paper proposals submitted by interested companies in January, held “shark tank” pitch sessions with the most promising prospects in March, and is now negotiating with vendors.
An Army slide summing up the systems being issued as part of the Integrated Tactical Network. Note the mix of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) and military-unique Program Of Record (POR) technologies.
There has been some impact from COVID,” Gallagher said, “[but] we will have all the contracts probably let no later than July.” The chosen technologies will go into prototype testing next year, with a Preliminary Design Review of the whole Capability Set in April and a Critical Design Review in April 2022.
Further Capability Set upgrades are planned for every two years indefinitely, each focusing on different key technologies and different parts of the Army.
Meanwhile, Bassett's PEO shop is urgently pushing out more of its existing network tech to regular, Reserve, and National Guard troops deployed nationwide to help combat COVID-19, Bassett said. That includes everything from satellite communications links to military software on an Android phone, known as the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK). Originally developed to help troops navigate and coordinate on battlefields, ATAK is now being upgraded to provide public health data like rapid updates on coronavirus cases.
“Any soldier that was responding to this COVID crisis that needed network equipment, we wanted them to have a one-stop shop,” Bassett told the conference. “They would come to us and we'd go get it for them.”
https://breakingdefense.com/2020/05/covid-disrupts-network-tests-but-army-presses-on
27 octobre 2022 | International, C4ISR
Trusted Data Format is an open standard for protecting data with military-grade encryption
15 octobre 2019 | International, C4ISR
ARLINGTON, VA, October 14, 2019 ̶ Leonardo DRS announced today it has been awarded a $14.7 million dollar contract to provide next-generation, near real-time battlespace awareness capabilities for the U.S. Army's Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar (C-RAM) program directorate at Redstone Arsenal, AL. The company's Joint Tactical Terminal - Integrated Broadcast Service (JTT-IBS) radio system is used by the U.S. military and select allied military forces to receive and transmit near real-time multi-source threat, survivor and Blue Force Tracker data among airborne, land-based and ship-board tactical systems. It enables world-wide beyond line of sight situational awareness by connecting tactical users and intelligence nodes over UHF SATCOM. Under the contract with the Defense Logistics Agency, the Leonardo DRS Airborne and Intelligence Systems business will provide 81 JTT-IBS tactical terminal sets to complete fielding of C-RAM's situational awareness and command and control cells. The JTT-IBS provides a key capability in C-RAM's mission to provide in-theater force protection against the indirect fire and Unmanned Aerial Systems threats. “We are proud to be a trusted provider of JTT systems to the U.S. Army's Missile and Space Defense units over the past 15 years and ensuring warfighters have the best situational awareness available to them,” said Larry Ezell, vice president and general manager of the Leonardo DRS Airborne and Intelligence Systems business unit. “As the operational need of JTT systems increase, we look forward to continue working with existing and new customers to provide this long trusted critical situational awareness equipment and support to the war fighter.” Leonardo DRS recently completed design and certification efforts on the third-generation JTT-IBS adding to its family of systems currently operational in Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Special Operations applications. The latest JTT-IBS is positioned for long-term operations as the Army continues to modernize. Leonardo DRS's JTT systems are the only certified IBS transmit capability in production today. Leonardo DRS provides a family of Joint Tactical Systems supporting Integrated Broadcast Service (IBS) receive-only and IBS transmit users across multiple airborne, land and sea platforms. These systems are well positioned as the leading solution for the pending Joint Tactical Terminal – Next Generation (JTT-NG) acquisition program. To see more of the Leonardo DRS Tactical Terminal technology, visit: https://www.leonardodrs.com/TacticalTerminals About Leonardo DRS Leonardo DRS is a prime contractor, leading technology innovator and supplier of integrated products, services and support to military forces, intelligence agencies and defense contractors worldwide. Its Airborne and Intelligence Systems business unit is a global leader and strategic partner committed to delivering world-class, full life-cycle defense and intelligence products that protect the security of our nation and our allies. From air combat training to state-of-the-art electronic warfare systems, our technology is deployed by virtually all U.S. military and government agencies around the world. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Leonardo DRS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leonardo S.p.A. See the full range of capabilities at www.LeonardoDRS.com and on Twitter @LeonardoDRSnews. For additional information please contact: Michael Mount Senior Director, Public Affairs 571-447-4624 mmount@drs.com View source version on Leonardo DRS: https://www.leonardodrs.com/news/press-releases/leonardo-drs-to-provide-joint-tactical-terminal-integrated-broadcast-service-systems-to-us-army/
5 novembre 2020 | International, Naval
SIMON CHODORGE TECHNOS ET INNOVATIONS , INTERNATIONAL , ROYAUME-UNI , CONSTRUCTION NAVALE (CIVILE OU MILITAIRE) , DÉFENSE PUBLIÉ LE 04/11/2020 À 08H08, MIS À JOUR LE 04/11/2020 À 09H17 Le gouvernement a annoncé le 3 novembre le lancement de la réalisation du système de lutte anti-mines futur (ou SLAM-F). Thales a déjà construit un prototype dans le cadre de ce programme d'armement innovant. Le système de lutte anti-mines futur (ou SLAM-F) se précise. Mardi 3 novembre, le gouvernement a officialisé “le lancement en réalisation” du programme d'armement. Dès 2022, la Marine nationale s'équipera de drones sous-marins et de surface pour affronter la guerre des mines. À quoi va servir le SLAM-F ? “Le SLAM-F remplacera à terme tous les moyens actuels de guerre des mines (chasseurs de mines tripartites, b'timents remorqueurs de sonars, b'timents bases de plongeurs démineurs)”, rappelle le ministère des Armées dans un communiqué. Concrètement, il permettra aux forces françaises de neutraliser des mines à distance à l'aide de drones, afin de ne plus exposer des plongeurs ou des marins. “Ce système nous permettra de détecter des objets de la taille d'une carte bleue – c'est 30 fois plus petit qu'avec nos moyens actuels. Notre capacité de détection et de neutralisation ira jusqu'à 300 mètres de fond, contre seulement une centaine de mètres avec nos moyens actuels", détaillait la ministre des Armées, Florence Parly, lors d'un discours en mai. Les drones démineurs du programme auront notamment pour mission d'assurer la sécurité d'unités stratégiques de l'armée française : celle des sous-marins nucléaires lanceurs d'engins (SNLE), piliers de la dissuasion nucléaire, ou encore celle du porte-avions Charles de Gaulle. Le ministère des Armées mentionne aussi des usages pour protéger l'accès aux ports français, soutenir le déploiement d'une force d'action navale, sécuriser l'évacuation de ressortissants français ou participer à la prévention de crises. Un programme d'armement à plusieurs étages Comme le système de combat aérien du futur (SCAF), le SLAM-F comportera plusieurs volets. Au coeur de cette architecture, on retrouve des systèmes de drones capables d'être opérés depuis la terre ferme ou depuis un navire militaire dédié. La France et le Royaume-Uni collaborent depuis 2012 sur ce volet baptisé MMCM (pour “Maritime mines counter measures”). En 2015, le groupe français de défense Thales avait été désigné chef de fil industriel de ce volet. “L'étude de définition et la réalisation des prototypes du système de drones ont été confiés à Thales, dont la société Études et constructions aéronautiques [ECA, filiale du groupe Gorgé] sera le principal sous-traitant français”, confirme le ministère des Armées dans son communiqué. Thales avait déjà testé un chasseur de mines ultra-moderne en 2019 en collaboration avec la Marine nationale. Le groupe français fait figure de champion dans ce domaine. "Plus de 30 marines dans le monde sont équipées de sonars de guerre des mines Thales", soulignait Florence Parly en mai. Des livraisons prévues jusqu'en 2030 Le SLAM-F contient trois autres volets : des b'timents de guerre des mines (BGDM) dédiés à la conduite et à la mise en oeuvre des drones, des b'timents bases de plongeurs démineurs nouvelle génération (BBPD NG) et enfin un système d'exploitation des données de guerre des mines (SEDGM). Dans son communiqué, le ministère ne nomme pas d'autres entreprises participant à ce projet. “L'organisation industrielle de SLAM-F sera progressivement définie lors de l'attribution des marchés afférents aux différents volets du programme”, indique simplement le gouvernement. Le calendrier du SLAM-F prévoit la livraison de huit systèmes de drones anti-mines à partir de 2022. À l'horizon 2030, quatre à six BGDM devraient compléter les flottes françaises avec cinq BBPD NG. https://www.usinenouvelle.com/editorial/la-france-choisit-thales-pour-son-systeme-de-lutte-anti-mines-du-futur.N1024039