The Russian military has been using a clever—and lethal—propaganda technique against Ukrainian soldiers. They spam the soldiers’ cellphones with demoralizing messages and then take advantage of the resulting confusion to geolocate the soldiers’ cellphone signals and launch an attack.
Gen. Baker: You're never going to be able to emulate [in training] the gut-wrenching emotions of Russian-style messaging.#AFCEATechNet
— George Seffers (@gseffers) August 9, 2017
Lt. Gen. Mark Bowman, USA (Ret.), former director of command, control, communications and computers/cyber for the Joint Staff, paints a dire picture of future warfare. The next war, he says, will begin with wave after wave of cyber and electronic warfare attacks that our nation is not prepared for. Although the Army is making strides in training the cyber electromagnetic activities (CEMA) force, the service may not be able to address all scenarios in a training environment.
As the Army’s forward deployed footprint has grown smaller in places such as Europe, Africa and the Middle East, the demand for sensors capable of sending data back to the United States for processing has increased significantly. While those sensors provide valuable information, they also place a heavy load on the service’s networks, said Mark Kitz, chief engineer, Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S).
On the multi-domain battlefield of the future, U.S. forces can expect to see more robots, pilotless ships and planes, and driverless convoys, as well as cyber and other game-changing capabilities, said Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, USA, commanding general, U.S. Army Cyber Command.
Gen. Nakasone made the comments during the afternoon keynote address at AFCEA TechNet Augusta 2017 in Augusta, Georgia.
“We are witnessing a fundamental change and transformation in the character of war," he said. “This transformation is being driven by technology and demographics, socioeconomic and political changes.”
Army officials have multiple pilot projects in the works to help define formations that will integrate cyber electromagnetic activities (CEMA).
According to Maj. Gen. John B. Morrison, Jr., USA, commander, Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon, the Army has initiated one pilot project with the Army Pacific Command and is seeking to begin another within the continental United States to better define formations that will integrate cyber, electronic warfare, signal and intelligence capabilities.
Lt. Gen. Paul Funk II, USA, the commander of III Corps, which is preparing for war, called for a network with simplicity as a core requirement.
LTG Funk, @IIICorps_CG I'm looking for a simple solution that allows me to bring the power of the nation to bear and win.#AFCEATechNet
— George Seffers (@gseffers) August 8, 2017
Organizations operating in tactical environments require infrastructure that goes beyond the walls of the data center. As a result, traditional legacy storage and computing centers do not address the needs of most of today’s smaller tactical teams.
To support mission-critical applications, equipment must allow rapid deployment, high availability, linear scaling and secure operations. Modular mobile solutions must be able to scale from two to four people to hundreds of users, and they must have a manageable size and weight and power requirements that enable them to be deployed anywhere in the world and to operate in a cloud environment.
Even though the U.S. Congress is poised to significantly boost the Defense Department’s fiscal year 2018 budget—to include surpassing what the White House seeks in defense spending—the lack of predictability still hampers long-term fiscal planning.
The U.S. military must adopt a software-defined network to improve agility, flexibility and interoperability with international partners while keeping pace with technological changes, says Lt. Gen. Robert Ferrell, USA (Ret.), former Army chief information officer/G-6.
Owning every piece of hardware is no longer necessary or feasible, says the general, who retired in May. “This legacy environment that we have that is now hardware-based is not going to cut it,” he asserts.
A software-defined network offers a number of benefits, but getting there is no easy task, Gen. Ferrell indicates. “The software-defined network is the way to go, but that’s going to take some time to move in that direction,” he says.
Europe is nervous. A nationalistic and revanchist Russia threatens security, and post-Cold War downsizing of U.S. forces across the continent leaves it vulnerable. At one point, 300,000 soldiers stationed in Europe were tasked with the mission of deterring the Soviet Union. Today, that number hovers around 30,000. It is no surprise, then, that senior U.S. and allied military leaders have placed a renewed emphasis on strengthening NATO and improving its battlefield capabilities. One of the most effective ways to fortify the alliance is through unit-level partnerships.
Long a tool of allies trying to foil improvised explosive devices, unmanned systems now may be entering the fray against friendly forces. Both terrorists and nation-states are striving to employ these systems, especially airborne platforms, to deploy new types of improvised threats against U.S. and coalition forces.
Over the next five years U.S. Defense Department researchers plan to build a prototypical system that will converge radar, communications and electronic warfare functions for a range of unmanned aerial systems, including the RQ-7 Shadow and the RQ-21 Blackjack. A do-it-all system will efficiently switch between intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; command and control; networking; and combat operations support missions without changing payloads.
How many software engineers does it take to screw in a light bulb? None. It’s a hardware problem. That joke, though, soon might be on its way to becoming wrong with the speed of technology, joked Lt. Gen. Alan Lynn, USA, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and commander of the Joint Force Headquarters–Department of Defense Information Networks (DODIN).
The U.S. government’s primary competition for cyber work force talent is not with Silicon Valley—it’s with the struggling critical infrastructure sector woefully behind shoring up its cyber defenses, said Karen Evans, national director for the U.S. Cyber Challenge.
The Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) and industry have combined a one-pound quadcopter and Android technology to create an innovative way to detect buried and submerged mines remotely. The Mine Warfare Rapid Assessment Capability (MIW RAC) system features an ultrasensitive magnetometer sensor system to help sailors and Marines approaching a beachfront rapidly locate mines or other hazards prior to landing.
The U.S. Navy needs more ships and it needs them now, writes the chief of naval operations, Adm. John Richardson, USN, in a white paper released today. A year’s worth of numerous studies have come to the same conclusions, he says: The need for at least a 350-ship Navy and the need for new technologies and operational concepts.
“The Navy must get to work now to both build more ships, and to think forward—innovate—as we go,” Adm. Richardson writes in the document, plainly titled “The Future Navy.”
Direct feedback and technical evaluations from warfighters and senior leadership participating in an amphibious, autonomous warfare exercise could affect the way the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps look at prototyping and rapidly acquiring technology. By pairing sailors and Marines with scientists and technologists, the Ship-to-Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (S2ME2 ANTX) will help increase the pace of innovation, says Dr. David E. Walker, director of technology, Office of Naval Research (ONR).
The U.S. Army is strengthening network operations by giving soldiers true ownership responsibilities, according to service officials. A new training effort teaches soldiers the elements of network operation at their home bases before deployment, reducing the need for contractors to provide support in the field. It empowers soldiers to operate networks more efficiently as they assume greater responsibility for the task at the unit level.
The near certainty that future military operations will require coalitions of modern network-centric forces mandates interoperability among advanced technologies, said the head of NATO's transformation effort. Gen. Denis Mercier, FRAF, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, told the audience at NITEC 2017 in Ottawa, Canada, this is the alliance's key issue.
Always a concern, interoperability has risen to critical importance as military capacities have become focused on networks and information technologies. Countries and industry must work together to ensure effective communication among advanced technologies.
The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division's (NSWC PCD) Aviation Unit is working with the Aviation Unit and Fleet Liaison Office to establish an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) flight program. Created to support the command's research, development, test and evaluation mission, the program will foster innovations in payloads and mine warfare as well as expeditionary warfare systems.
In the near future, NSWC PCD will be qualifying and designating the aviation detachment pilots as the initial cadre of air vehicle operators and unmanned aircraft commanders. Soon after, they will hold an inaugural training class to qualify command civilians and non-aviation personnel for flight.