The U.S. Army is fielding its Vigilant Pursuit system to reduce the time necessary to combine data gathered from human intelligence (HUMINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) assets. Forces and unit maneuver commanders on the battlefield will receive the joint information quickly, enabling more timely response to situations, especially those involving the detection and capture of high-value targets.
August 2012
August 13, 2012
The 2012 Olympics may be over in London, but the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has laid down a competitive challenge of a different sort—this time for the world's robotics experts.
This fall, the Pentagon's top science and research organization officially launches the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The goal, according to DARPA's broad agency announcement posted on FedBizOps, is "to develop ground robotic capabilities to execute tasks in dangerous, degraded, human engineered environments."
August 15, 2012
As comfortable traveling the world as she is nurturing at home, Lexley Bender is bringing a sense of enthusiasm to the Aberdeen Chapter as it continues to grow in part as the result of BRAC 2005. Bender truly can be called a renaissance woman as she develops business opportunities for Data Systems Analysts as a career, golfs and plays piano for enjoyment, travels often to Europe to visit family, and cares for Millie and Belle, the two rescue dogs her family adopted. On the AFCEA front, she's handled everything from publicity to programs, helping raise thousands of dollars along the way.
August 15, 2012
For just over two weeks, people around the world were talking about nation facing nation, not on the field of combat, but rather in the spirit of competition. Every two years, the Olympic Games provide the opportunity for the global population to rally around their respective country's best-of-the-best and to admire—perhaps with secret envy—some of the most athletically talented people in the world no matter their nationality. Regardless of other world news, these games—if you can call such intense activities "games"—kindle a spark of commoderie as everyone shares one purpose: cheering on their nation's participants.
August 15, 2012
This month, all AFCEA corporate member points of contact (POCs) will receive a package that includes their current corporate profile and details about how to update this information. Only profiles that have been reviewed since January 1, 2012, will be included in full in the January 2013 Source Book issue of SIGNAL Magazine. All others will include only a company’s name and contact information.
August 2012
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Cpl. Adam Hudson, USMC, communications maintenance technician, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, installs a radio frequency identification tag on an external hard drive. The tag provides real-time asset tracking and location identification through dashboard and email alerts. |
August 2012
Soldiers at a training facility receive instruction with the U.S. Army’s Secure Mobile Antijam Reliable Tactical Terminal (SMART-T). These soldiers learn to send and receive voice, data, video and text communications via Raytheon’s SMART-T secure mobile equipment without detection and interception by adversaries. 
August 2, 2012
The failure of a cloture motion on Thursday ended any chance of the U.S. Senate passing the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 before the August recess.
Four high-ranking federal officials on Wednesday had urged the U.S. Senate to pass the cybersecurity bill by Friday, August 3. The four officials—John Brennan, assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; Gen. Keith Alexander, USA, commander, U.S. Cyber Command, and director, National Security Agency; Jane Holl Lute, deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; and Eric Rosenbach, deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy, had called for the Senate to pass the legislation quickly.
August 2, 2012
MORPHINATOR prototype will be designed to discombobulate cyber attackers.
The U.S. Army’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) is building a prototype network capable of morphing over time to confuse cyber intruders and thwart attacks on military networks. The Morphing Network Assets to Restrict Adversarial Reconnaissance (MORPHINATOR) prototype is scheduled to be available in the 2014 fiscal year and will be capable of pulling a cyber bait-and-switch on unsuspecting network intruders.
August 2012
The Defense Information Systems Agency’s Host-Based Security System helps network defenders thwart threats at the device level. Enhanced capabilities and better training are rolling out to cyberpersonnel in response to new threats and technologies. 
August 2012
Scientists, researchers and military organizations step up observations of the sun ahead of the solar max season. 
A predicted increase in the number and intensity of solar storms is forecast for 2013, and solar weather experts are advising both the public and private sector to make preparations.
August 2012
Military budget cuts do not deter a longtime aircraft builder. 
August 2012
As I write this, we are experiencing some nearly unprecedented oppressive weather in the Washington area. About one week ago, we had a series of violent thunderstorms that caused extensive damage and knocked out power to more than 1.5 million electrical customers—comprising millions of people—in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Many communications systems also failed, either because of damaged infrastructure or loss of power. 
August 2012
Having experienced more than a decade of hot and humid Washington, D.C., summers, I thoroughly enjoyed the pleasant start we experienced this year. Warm temperatures, cooling breezes and clear skies made for delightful days and evenings. It doesn’t get much better than that. Unfortunately, the political climate in no way resembles that pattern. 
August 2012
In last month’s column, I reported that there were 2,904 separately funded fiscal year 2012 information technology budgets. Many of these would be set up to operate their own and incompatible networking, storage, server, operating systems, middleware or control commands. 
August 2012
Asymmetrical warfare can be waged effectively with simple technology assets.
The United States and its allies have at their disposal an existing defense capability that can be employed as an effective weapon at the highest levels of conflict. The West’s installed base of expertise in communications electronics can be harnessed as a strategic offensive weapon to constrain nation-states that seek to bypass the overwhelming superiority that the United States and its allies possess in conventional warfare.
August 2012
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Government teams with the electric industry to short-circuit cyber attacks.
August 2012
The Star One C1 satellite is one of Brazil’s two main orbital relays for military communications. The equatorial South American country is expanding its use of satellites for communications and other military support functions.
The rising South American power is planning new launches to complement existing systems. 
