12 janvier 2023 | International, C4ISR
US Army to spend $290 million on cloud uptake in coming months
The Army has already migrated hundreds of legacy applications to the cloud.
19 juillet 2018 | International, C4ISR
Germany wants its own version of DARPA, and within the year
COLOGNE, Germany — Germany Defence and Interior ministry officials are pushing for the creation of a new agency this year that will study disruptive technologies relevant to Germany's defense and security.
A decision on the way forward is expected “shortly,” a Defence Ministry spokesman told Defense News on Wednesday. Planning is underway to get the green light from the Finance Ministry, a necessary step because the agency would be set up as an “in-house” limited liability corporation, according to the spokesman.
If all goes according to plan, insiders believe Cabinet-level consideration of the effort could come as early as September. While there is no official word on the exact timing, the spokesman said creating the agency is firmly on the calendar for 2018.
The full name for the outfit is “Agentur für Disruptive Innovationen in der Cybersicherheit und Schlüsseltechnologien,” or ADIC. Its name first popped up in the coalition-government agreement between Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and Social Democrats in March.
The document postulated that the agency, overseen by the two ministries for interior and exterior security, would help ensure Germany's “technological innovation leadership.” Also requested in that document was the creation of an “IT security fund” that would help protect related key technologies.
Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen referred to the coming agency in a speech in May, equating its purpose to that of the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, otherwise known as DARPA.
She presented the idea as part of a wider plan toward deep-futures thinking on cybersecurity matters, which also includes a study program at the Bundeswehr University in Munich.
Under the relatively new shift to emphasize all things cyber in the German military, the Defence Ministry's Cyber Innovation Hub, created last year, is slated to survey the domestic technology startup scene for ideas with potential military application.
Asked by Defense News what status the upcoming agency will accord to the field of artificial intelligence, ministry officials responded that such projects “generally” would be eligible to receive temporary funding if they are deemed relevant to the mission.
Much remains unknown about the German military's approach to artificial intelligence, famously dubbed by Russian President Vladimir Putin last year as the technology that holds the key to ruling the world.
“The research area of artificial intelligence and potential applications by the Bundeswehr are being substantively reviewed,” the defense spokesman said. Whether the new ADIC or any of the existing organizations inside the Defence Ministry would get involved remains an open question, he added.
Some experts fear Germany is falling behind the the United States' and China's enormous efforts in artificial intelligence, though government officials have said they believe the country's talent base and emerging policy framework can ensure success.
A whitepaper released Wednesday by the Cabinet agency leading the push on AI, the Ministry of Education and Research, proclaimed the goal of making German-made AI a “seal of quality recognized all over the world.”
The document will lead to a more comprehensive strategy by late November. It makes no explicit mention of any military or defense applications.
Efforts already exist within the armed forces and the wider government to employ data-mining and predictive-analysis tools, which fall under the broader definition of artificial intelligence. For example, defense officials have touted experiments with a forecasting application developed to predict worldwide crises.
Officials also try to play up the Bundeswehr's geekiness in its search for new recruits. A current online marketing campaign showcases the career field of a Bundeswehr University professor employing AI techniques to analyze terror attacks for patterns.
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25 juillet 2023 | International, Autre défense
EU issues verdict over Edge Group’s takeover of Milrem Robotics
The case represented the first of its kind, where a third party gained external control of a key company while it was leading a European robotics program.
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28 juillet 2020 | International, C4ISR
The Army is procuring its new tactical network tools
Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — The Army program office tasked with network modernization has started procuring its first iteration of new network tools, known as Capability Set ‘21. The Army's Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical received mid-tier acquisition authority for Capability Set '21 in July this year, according to Paul Mehney, director of public communications at the office. Four infantry brigade combat teams will receive Capability Set '21 equipment in fiscal 2021. PEO C3T will procure Capability Set '21 to support fielding to the new tools to infantry and Stryker brigade combat teams from FY21 to FY23. Tools from Capability Set '21 will serve as the foundation for Capability Set '23, which will focus on improving resilient communications capabilities in contested environments. In April, the Army network team completed its critical design review for Capability Set '21. During the review, it finalized decisions regarding the types and amounts of technology needed across brigades, such as the number of single-channel radios versus leader radios. “Critical design was as much about making sure that we ended up with a design that we could afford to buy in the quantities we promised as it was exploring specific technical issues,” said then-Maj. Gen. David Bassett, who led PEO C3T and is now a three-star general serving as director of the Defense Contract Management Agency. For example, Bassett said, going into the critical design review, the team thought it would be able to have a smaller quantity of leader radios, which are two-channel radios, and a larger quantity of single-channel radios. The Army ultimately landed back at the original quantities it envisioned and reduced the amount of single-channel radios while increasing the leader radio amount. On satellite communications terminals, the Army had to grapple with the affordability of the number of the terminals. Bassett said they ultimately landed at a “middle ground” of satellite communications terminals, and Gallagher said it will be “a lot” more than what units have today. There were some emerging technologies with which the Army experimented for Capability Set '21, but decided to defer them to Capability Set '23 because of affordability reasons or lack of technical maturity. “The answer is not that we never want them, just that we're not confident enough in those capabilities and their affordability in this time frame to include them in our [Capability Set] '21 baseline,” Bassett said. When the Army's Network Cross-Functional Team began work on Capability Set '21 a few years ago, it was looking for existing technologies that could solve network capability gaps. In Capability Set '21, the Army is looking for “smaller, lighter, faster” capabilities and “more options” on network transport. Critical design review for Capability Set '21 also moved from a 100 percent classified network to a 75 percent secure but unclassified network at the battalion level and below, which will save money and time with security clearances, according to Col. Garth Winterle, project manager for tactical radio at PEO C3T. The Army also plans to go through a competitive procurement process for the technologies, Winterle told C4ISRNET in a May interview. Anywhere “where there was a stand-in capability where we know from market research that there's other vendors, we'll perform the same sort of competitive actions,” Winterle said. https://www.c4isrnet.com/newsletters/daily-news-roundup/2020/07/27/the-army-is-procuring-its-new-tactical-network-tools/