26 mars 2021 | International, Naval
Agreement in hand, German-Norwegian submarine scheme awaits funding decision
German defense leaders plan to submit the deal for parliamentary consideration before the summer recess.
2 avril 2020 | International, C4ISR
Aaron Mehta
A congressionally mandated panel of technology experts has issued its first set of recommendations for the government, including doubling the amount of money spent on artificial intelligence outside the defense department and elevating a key Pentagon office to report directly to the Secretary of Defense.
Created by the National Defense Authorization Act in 2018, the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence is tasked with reviewing “advances in artificial intelligence, related machine learning developments, and associated technologies,” for the express purpose of addressing “the national and economic security needs of the United States, including economic risk, and any other associated issues.”
The commission issued an initial report in November, at the time pledging to slowly roll out its actual policy recommendations over the course of the next year. Today's report represents the first of those conclusions — 43 of them in fact, tied to legislative language that can easily be inserted by Congress during the fiscal year 2021 budget process.
Bob Work, the former deputy secretary of defense who is the vice-chairman of the commission, said the report is tied into a broader effort to move DoD away from a focus on large platforms.
“What you're seeing is a transformation to a digital enterprise, where everyone is intent on making the DoD more like a software company. Because in the future, algorithmic warfare, relying on AI and AI enabled autonomy, is the thing that will provide us with the greatest military competitive advantage,” he said during a Wednesday call with reporters.
Among the key recommendations:
One issue identified early by the commission is the question of ethical AI. The commission recommends mandatory training on the limits of artificial intelligence in the AI workforce, which should include discussions around ethical issues. The group also calls for the Secretary of Homeland Security and the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to “share their ethical and responsible AI training programs with state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement officials,” and track which jurisdictions take advantage of those programs over a five year period.
Missing from the report: any mention of the Pentagon's Directive 3000.09, a 2012 order laying out the rules about how AI can be used on the battlefield. Last year C4ISRNet revealed that there was an ongoing debate among AI leaders, including Work, on whether that directive was still relevant.
While not reflected in the recommendations, Eric Schmidt, the former Google executive who chairs the commission, noted that his team is starting to look at how AI can help with the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, saying "“We're in an extraordinary time... we're all looking forward to working hard to help anyway that we can.”
The full report can be read here.
26 mars 2021 | International, Naval
German defense leaders plan to submit the deal for parliamentary consideration before the summer recess.
6 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval
July 06, 2020 Aviation Week Network forecasts that over the next ten years, 677 new, Western-designed helicopters performing maritime missions will be built, 114 will be re-engined/remanufactured, and 355 will be retired. Aviation Week defines this mission market as helicopters performing search and rescue (SAR) over bodies of water without special equipment, general-purpose helicopters based primarily on ships performing specifically maritime missions, or helicopters carrying specialized technology for anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions and over-water airborne early warning (AEW) missions. The V-22 is included in the forecast due to the CMV-22B's role performing the traditional helicopter mission of vertical replenishment. The largest procurement of maritime helicopters this decade will be the U.S. Coast Guard's upgrade of its fleet of 95 Airbus MH-65Ds (based on the H155) to the MH-65E standard. The largest new-build procurement of maritime helicopters will be NH Industries NFH90s going to several European countries. While the NH90 still has a customer in Qatar, it has definitively failed to gain wider traction in the Middle East as it struggled to compete with Leonardo and Sikorsky offerings. Very close behind the NH90 is the ubiquitous Sikorsky S-70/H-60, with new-build helicopters in the next 10 years. The two largest procurements of maritime helicopters in the world both belong to the Indian Navy, which has a 123-aircraft Naval Multi-Role Helicopter (NMRH) requirement for anti-submarine warfare helicopters and a 111-aircraft Naval Utility Helicopters (NUH) requirement. Leonardo's continued blacklisting by India has removed its ability to compete for 2/3rd of the worlds yet -to-be-decided maritime helicopters but it remains a strong competitor for much of the remaining helicopters in open competitions and requirements. For more information about the 2020 Forecast and other Aviation Week data products, please see: http://pages.aviationweek.com/Forecasts https://aviationweek.com/special-topics/vertical-lift/forecast-western-maritime-helicopter-deliveriesretirements-2020-2029
24 février 2023 | International, C4ISR
Because encryption has a shelf life, military networks still need to protect the data pipes that support the warfighter.