The Army is transforming its Cyber Command to meet the challenges of a multidomain battlefield. Just over eight years old, the command, located at Ft. Gordon, Georgia, will evolve by 2028 into something possibly called the Army Information Warfare Operations Command, which will fully incorporate cyber, electronic warfare and information operations.
information warfare
August 23, 2019
The U.S. Air Force is in the process of standing up a new Numbered Air Force (NAF) within the Air Combat Command, which will bring together the service’s information warfare capabilities.
Last year, the service announced it was moving its 24th Air Force, which specializes in cyber operations, and its Cyber Mission from the Air Force Space Command to the Air Combat Command. The Air Combat Command (ACC) is in the process of merging those cyber components with its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities from the 25th Air Force, which will all be under the new Information Warfare NAF, explained Gen. Mike Holmes, USAF, commander, ACC during an Air Force Association breakfast event on August 23.
July 10, 2019
Russia continues its disinformation campaign in order to weaken democratic nations. The country's modus operandi is to intensify genuine grievances and manipulate the public’s lack of knowledge of the legal system. Through this effort, they pass along rumors, conspiracies and distort the truth, which is meant to permeate a target population, according to a recent study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
July 5, 2019
Nathan Kunes Inc.,* San Diego, California, is awarded a $13,681,778 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for development, implementation and testing of computer network defense measures; development of wireless computing security, cross-domain solutions, and vulnerability assessments; and system and security engineering to evaluate commercial information assurance products. This two-year contract includes one three-year option which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $35,236,186. All work will be performed in San Diego, California. The period of performance of the base award is from May 7, 2019, through May 6, 2021.
April 4, 2019
Thor Solutions LLC,* Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $9,482,581 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, multiple award contract for professional and administrative support services to support Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific) corporate operations. Support includes total force manpower management; material control; travel services; facilities operations; data management and visualization; and general administrative support. This is one of three multiple award contracts. All awardees will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period.
April 4, 2019
Kros-Wise Inc.,* San Diego, California, is awarded a $9,382,074 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee multiple award contract for professional and administrative support services to support Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific) corporate operations. Support includes total force manpower management; material control; travel services; facilities operations; data management and visualization; and general administrative support. This is one of three multiple award contracts. All awardees will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This two-year contract includes two, two-year option periods which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to
March 1, 2019
As the U.S. Army continues to evolve its newest warfighting domain, the cyber domain, information plays a key role. The service is working to incorporate information capabilities along with intelligence, electronic warfare, cyber and space, as well as with traditional fire capabilities.
In December, the Army released a doctrine guiding multidomain operations through 2028. The policy acknowledges that U.S. adversaries are contesting all domains, and that in the information environment American dominance is not guaranteed.
March 1, 2019
The newly created Cyber and Non-Kinetic Operations Division within the Air Combat Command is expected to reach full strength this summer. The new organization integrates multiple missions, including cyber, electronic warfare, intelligence and information warfare.
February 15, 2019
The United States is fully engaged in combat operations in the cyber realm, according to a panel of military officials at the AFCEA-USNI West conference in San Diego.
Lt. Gen. Robert Shea, USMC (Ret.), president and CEO of AFCEA International, who served as moderator on the panel, kicked off the discussion saying the nation is in “Phase III” in the information domain. Phase III refers to the multiple stages of war. According to GlobalSecurity.org, the phases include: halting an invasion, force buildup and deployment, counteroffensive or counterattack, and ensuring postwar stability.
February 1, 2019
Months after initiating a project to research and rapidly field information warfare-related technologies, the U.S. Navy has expanded the effort servicewide and expects to field the first system by the end of fiscal year 2019.
The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Systems Center Atlantic announced last summer the formation of an industry consortium for the Information Warfare Research Project (IWRP). The intent is to leverage the flexible contracting platform known as other transaction authority (OTA) to rapidly develop and deploy technologies.
January 15, 2019
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SSC) Atlantic has awarded the first prototype project agreement valued at $1.3 million for a Low Altitude Range Communication System (LARCS) for the Marine Corps under the Information Warfare Research Project (IWRP) for $1.3 million.
The other transaction authority contract, order N65236-19-9-1001, was awarded January 8 to ATI on behalf of Booz Allen Hamilton in collaboration with Intuitive Research Technology Corporation (IRTC). A significant portion of the work will be performed by IRTC, a nontraditional defense contractor, and is scheduled to be completed in 10 months.
December 4, 2018
Grove Resource Solutions Inc.,* Frederick, Maryland (N6523619D4800); Millennium Corp., * Arlington, Virginia (N6523619D4801); SimVentions Inc.,* Fredericksburg, Virginia (N6523619D4802); BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland (N6523619D8403); Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia (N6523619D4804); CACI NSS Inc., Reston, Virginia (N6523619D4805); General Dynamics Information Technology, Fairfax, Virginia (N6523619D4806); Leidos, Reston, Virginia (N6523619D4807); Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Redondo Beach, California (N6523619D4808), and Scientific Research Corp., Atlanta, Georgia (N6523619D4809), are each awarded a combined $898,000,000 multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, performan
October 31, 2018
To be the Navy the nation needs, the service must grow, leaders have decided. As part of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress approved the Navy’s growth to 355 ships.
August 6, 2018
The U.S. Army’s efforts to bring electronic warfare, information warfare and cyber capabilities into expeditionary forces is succeeding, Army leaders report. To better support tactical commanders, the service developed a pilot program in 2015 to add such capabilities to brigade combat teams (BCTs). In addition to providing equipment, abilities and authorities to BCTs, the service deployed cyber electromagnetic activities (CEMA) teams to support the initiative known as CEMA Support to Corps and Below (CSCB). The CEMA teams, under the guidance of the U.S. Army Cyber Command, provide training to brigade combat teams (BCTs) through National Training Center (NTC) rotations at exercises and home-base training.
July 10, 2018
The U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Systems Center Atlantic (SSC Atlantic) is leveraging the flexible contracting platform known as other transaction authority to improve the service’s information warfare capabilities. Technologies will be developed through prototype project awards under the Navy’s new Information Warfare Research Project (IWRP) Consortium.
The IWRP OTA will accelerate acquisition and bring nontraditional sources, research and development labs, and industry together to provide new, innovative information warfare solutions," Rear Adm. C.D. Becker, USN, commander of SPAWAR Systems Command, said in a statement.
June 27, 2018
Advanced Technology International (ATI) of Summerville, South Carolina, was awarded a $100,000,000 expenditure-based other transaction authority (OTA) to help manage the Navy's Information Warfare Research Project (IWRP) Consoritum. ATI’s contract work managing the consortium will expire in June 2021. Work will be performed in Summerville and other locations depending on the prototype project awards, DOD reported. Fiscal year 2018 research, development, test and evaluations funds will finance the prototype project awards under the OTA. No funds were obligated at the time of award. The contract is incrementally funded; the monies will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
May 23, 2018
Gen. Michael Hayden, USAF (Ret.), principal, the Chertoff Group, shifted the weight of the conversation at the AFCEA/GMU Critical Issues in C4I Symposium from the direction of cyber narrowly defined to information broadly defined. Throughout his morning keynote he touched on Russian manipulation of the 2016 election, the U.S. moving into a post-truth culture and what cyber leaders can do in the future to help secure the nation.
May 7, 2018
The U.S. Army may be catching up to adversaries in the information warfare domain, but the pace of change remains a challenge.
“The biggest [capability] gap we have is keeping pace. It is very much a cat-and-mouse game. When you have a cat-and-mouse game, you see a lot of change, so we try to anticipate things,” says Gary Blohm, who directs the Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
May 1, 2018
The increased sophistication and unpredictability of adversaries’ cyber capabilities and tactics demands improvements in war-fighting readiness by revolutionizing how information warfare is executed in the U.S. Navy’s fleet. To address this challenge, the service is aligning and synchronizing efforts among its various communities and supporting multiple warfare areas with an information-packed warfighting model.
May 1, 2018
One does not have to look too far beyond the headlines to see that the battle for world power is playing out in the information space. Free and open democratic societies increasingly are tested by rising autocratic countries employing high technology in information warfare.
For the United States to succeed in this battle, citizens, not just the government, need to be more discerning about information, experts say.
