8 août 2018 | International, C4ISR

In contemporary warfare, cyber trumps nukes

By: Shalom Lipner

Nuclear proliferation appears to weigh heavily on U.S. President Donald Trump's mind. Standing next to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Helsinki last month, Trump said ominously that it's “probably the most important thing that we can be working on.” Since then, Trump has proposed dramatically to negotiate denuclearization with Iran — after threatening the country with “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before” — and even floated the idea of a second meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un with the goal of dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal.

For someone whose projection of power derives so intensely from online networks, Trump is surprisingly old-fashioned.

During the 1964 presidential campaign, President Lyndon Johnson aired a spot deemed so controversial than it never ran a second time. As an innocent, young girl picked petals off a daisy in the park, her voice was drowned out slowly by a launch countdown. Then, narrating against the backdrop of a mushroom cloud, Johnson proclaimed: “We must either love each other, or we must die.” His Republican opponent, Barry Goldwater — the implicit warmonger who was not even mentioned by name — lost by an overwhelming margin.

But the more contemporary battlefield of cyberspace merited not one single mention in Trump's remarks alongside Putin in Finland. Unless you count the infamous Democratic National Committee server, that is, which he referenced nine times. While Trump obsesses about politics, the U.S. is exposed to great danger.

Drawing a direct comparison to 9/11, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, has warned that America's “digital infrastructure ... is literally under attack.” He fingered Russia as the “most aggressive foreign actor” and awarded dishonorable mentions to China, Iran and North Korea.

Trump then chose to accept Putin's denials of Russian interference over the assessment of his intelligence chiefs. His subsequent reversal was unpersuasive.

Full Article: https://www.fifthdomain.com/opinion/2018/08/06/in-contemporary-warfare-cyber-trumps-nukes/

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  • Future EU space programme

    20 décembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

    Future EU space programme

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  • Air Force Research Lab awards $76 million for lunar experimentation

    10 novembre 2022 | International, Aérospatial

    Air Force Research Lab awards $76 million for lunar experimentation

    AFRL expects the Oracle satellite to launch in 2025 and have a two-year mission life.

  • Denmark ups defense budget

    31 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité, Autre défense

    Denmark ups defense budget

    By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — In a move outside of its normal budgeting cycle directly aimed at the question of burden-sharing with allies, Denmark has agreed to increase its long-term defense spending. A coalition of parties in the Danish parliament have agreed to tack on 1.5 billion kroner (U.S. $229.7 million) to the agreed-upon defense budget for 2023, which would put defense spending at 1.5 percent of gross domestic product for that year. “It is on a good and well thought through basis that the parties to the defense agreement have now decided to further strengthen Danish defense, so that we will spend 1.5% of GDP in 2023,” Danish Defence Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen said in a statement. “Danish status and reputation in NATO is of common concern and I would like to thank all parties for shouldering the responsibility.” The amendment comes less than one year after a coalition of parties agreed to a five-year defense spending agreement that planned for a 20 percent growth in military spending, from $3.8 billion in 2018 to $4.6 billion in 2023. It also comes just months before elections are set for Denmark, essentially removing the question of increased defense spending from the campaign. Just where that money will go is undecided at the moment. Denmark was already focused on standing up a light infantry battalion for national and international use; increasing anti-aircraft capabilities; buying the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; and the creation of a special cyberwarfare unit. It is possible those capabilities could receive a funding boost. One thing is clear: The move is directly the result of a desire to support NATO amid calls from the Trump administration over fairer burden-sharing. In a statement, the political coalition notes “the Alliance has in the recent year taken important steps to further strengthen NATO's readiness and deterrence posture. The situation increases requirements to the Alliance and has reinforced the debate on fair burden sharing and Allies ability and will to defend themselves and each other. In light of this development Allies have taken new decisions to allocate additional resources to the armed forces towards 2024.” In addition to the spending increase, Denmark is changing how it reports its spending to NATO in order to “make sure the Danish defence efforts are duly reflected in the reporting to NATO.” Those changes will up Denmark's reported NATO support to 3 billion kroner annually from 2023 onward. Whether the increase will be enough to placate U.S. President Donald Trump remains to be seen. Trump has consistently called for European allies to spend more on defense, with a focus on hitting the target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense, set at the 2014 Wales Summit. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/01/30/denmark-ups-defense-budget/

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