Even as cyber-attacks grow in number and sophistication, odds are there is insufficient security on most critical networks to defeat hackers. “The ability to attack infrastructure networks such as electricity, gas and water is easy,” says Eyal Udassin, information technology manager at C4 Security, an Israeli company that hacks systems to uncover security gaps. “Such networks can be easily compromised by reverse engineering rootkit software and protocols to gain control of nodes or the network.” And, he adds, “We can hack military networks the same way.”
One challenge of Afghan roads is finding any that are passable—at least for large vehicles. Most of the country is connected by trails that cannot support the mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) trucks used in Iraq. France and the U.K. went into the theater with lighter, more mobile vehicles and lost people to roadside bombs. France is now introducing a more mobile, heavily protected vehicle, while a smaller protected truck is under development in the U.K.
Recent tests at NAS Lakehurst, N.J., should have builders of the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) sleeping more easily. The Navy’s risky bet in the design of the Ford—its reliance on an all-electric replacement for the steam catapult—appears to be paying off.
An array of equipment developed for dismounted soldiers is increasing their effectiveness by providing capabilities that enhance target acquisition, improve survivability in close-quarters combat, help to detect and defeat threats and upgrade situational awareness.
The U.S. Navy is pursuing a program for an Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) that could represent billions in investment by the time it is fielded in 2019. And that is only if the chosen manufacturer can manage the challenges of developing this kind of radar, which includes digital beam-forming, a technology without which AMDR’s twin missions of air defense and ballistic missile defense (BMD) cannot be performed.
Subordinate units and commanders depend on network-centric communications to raise situational awareness on the battlefield. Gone are the days when dismounted troops and headquarters staff relied on analog communication and printed maps marked up by hand to establish the location of forces and the directions in which they moved—a process that was slow, occasionally inaccurate, prone to communication miscues and sometimes responsible for friendly fire casualties.
The decision by long-time partners and sometime rivals Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. to team up and bid in the latest round of the presidential helicopter competition may be the savviest move either company makes. But there is more to winning the race this time, including the possibility that “presidential helicopter” means more than one type.
Lightweight bridges developed by Israel Military Industries (IMI) are being used by the U.S. Marine Corps in Afghanistan to cross irrigation channels and other obstacles in Helmand Province. The bridges keep troops off main roads where the threat of ambush and roadside bombs is high. The “Foot Mobile Assault Bridge” is fabricated by IMI of aluminum alloy, and can be transported by tactical vehicles and helicopters.
British paratroopers and other U.K. military personnel will soon have access to eight Virtual Reality Parachute Trainers that are being installed at the Parachute Training School of RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. Pennant Training Systems Ltd. of Gloucestershire is responsible for the design, manufacture, installation and support of the systems, under a £300,000 ($430,000) contract. Students will hang from metal frames in standard parachute harnesses wearing virtual reality goggles that project jumps in three environments—a village, wooded area and water.
Each May, U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) hosts an international gathering of soldiers and theorists here to discuss pressing issues. The theme this time was “Coalition Commanders: What Will They Need Five Years From Now?” The conclusion: The future of expeditionary operations and international security assistance lies in the effective use of coalitions, but putting together “coalitions of the willing” means nothing unless allies develop effective information-sharing protocols.
Researchers are working on techniques to make large vehicles appear invisible. These generally involve concealing them behind coverings that distort visible light, making it appear that the vehicles have blended in with their backgrounds and disappeared. But the illusion falls short when confronted by thermal imaging systems and heat-guided missiles. Eltics Ltd. of Ashkelon, Israel, may have an alternative. The start-up company, which specializes in electronic warfare systems, has developed the Black Fox Active Adaptive IR Stealth System.
The new U.K. government is struggling with the budget (see p. 18) and some defense programs are likely to be cut, but work is proceeding on the first of two 65,000-ton aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. Two bow sections of the ships, weighing a total of 400 metric tons, were recently transported by barge from Babcock Marine’s Appledore shipyard in Devon to its yard in Rosyth, Scotland, for assembly.
May brought U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s shot across the Navy’s bow, warning that the service’s shipbuilding culture has to change. We took a look at the new government in the U.K. and what that will mean for its defense posture. Out of all the discussions that occurred on Ares, here are a few notable snippets. Germany and Holland are annoyed that system integration takes so long, and Australia has issues as well. Then there are Sweden and Finland, which are satisfied with the NH90 [multirole helicopter]. Jury, for now, is still out, I guess.
The U.S. defense industry has for the past five years been working on active defense system (ADS) technologies that are designed to defeat rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and antitank missiles before they strike a ground vehicle. Research and development haven’t always gone smoothly. While American forces are not yet able to field active defeat technologies, the Israelis—who recently started placing such systems on several of their ground vehicles—have proven that it can be done.
The Italian navy has received the go-ahead to procure two 20,000-ton amphibious assault ships (LHDs), with the possibility of a third ship, configured with extensive aviation facilities (LHA). The preliminary LHD project is funded and will take 12 months for completion. It will be followed by a project definition phase requiring eight months and leading to a contract. Delivery of the first ship comes within 30 months after that. If everything goes to plan, the first LHD arrives in late 2014.
Contractors are playing “20 Questions” with the Pentagon, trying to determine the next big thing the services want. The latest team to run the request-for-information (RFI) gauntlet comprises Northrop Grumman and Bell Helicopter. The companies are taking Northrop Grumman’s Fire Scout vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VTUAV) capabilities and marrying them to Bell’s 407 commercial helicopter. The result, Fire X, will be flown in a demonstration for the U.S. Navy this year.
I’m relieved that we have actually got a government in place, and it looks to be pretty robust,” a senior U.K. military source said in the aftermath of the coalition deal between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, following the inconclusive general election on May 6. There had been considerable fear that days or weeks of deal-making between the various political parties would lead to government gridlock, and that this would have had an impact on procurement, as well as the planned Strategic Defense Review (SDR).
The A-10C Warthog that took to the Florida skies recently on a fuel mix derived from the camelina plant will be far from the last to fly on alternative fuels, says the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Research presentations outline specs for platforms as diverse as the F-15 and C-5 Galaxy cargo lifter. The A-10 was the first U.S. military aircraft powered solely by a biomass-derived fuel blend. Senior Chemical Engineer Tim Edwards of AFRL’s propulsion directorate says the alternative fuel program seeks replacements for petroleum-derived jet fuels.
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a process in which warm water near the surface and cold water from the deep are pumped through evaporators and condensers to power large machinery such as electric turbines, by converting heat-sensitive liquids into gases and condensing them back to liquids for reuse (DTI March, p. 19). The process is undergoing trials by the U.S. Navy as a way of generating electricity. Work is also underway to use OTEC to recharge the battery of a much smaller machine—a submarine-launched robot.
India is rapidly building its military into a world-class force that can defend the country’s burgeoning commercial interests, as well as provide security. The navy, in particular, has undertaken an expansion program that involves the acquisition and development of capital ships like aircraft carriers, frigates, destroyers and submarines; multimission aircraft, and advanced weapon systems. The navy has 7,500 km.
After the controversial speech Defense Secretary Robert Gates delivered in May to an audience of naval officers and contractors in which he questioned “whether the nation can really afford a Navy that relies on $3-6-billion destroyers, $7-billion submarines and $11-billion carriers,” there was just time for one question from the audience.
Imagine trying to stage an entire U.S. Marine Corps expeditionary brigade from a country that does not want it there. Consider the logistical and security issues associated with operating, maintaining and protecting all the equipment and forces. Now imagine taking the whole operation offshore.
Russia is increasing its stealth corvette fleet. On March 31, Severnaya Verf shipyard of St. Petersburg launched Soobrazitelny, the second Project 20380 corvette. Shipyard officials say it will enter service in late 2011. The first-in-class Stereguschiy joined the Baltic fleet in February 2008. The ships are multirole littoral vessels. Displacing 2,000 tons, they reach 27 kt. and have a range of 4,000 nm. They are the first Russian combat ships with stealth features, including a special hull shape and composite deck structures.
As the U.S. military looks for ways to improve human intelligence in asymmetric conflicts, one organization is soliciting proposals for analytical equipment and software to meet this need. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has launched Guard Dog (Graph Understanding and Analysis for Rapid Detection-Deployed on the Ground), a program to develop handheld devices and software that automate the collection, analysis and prioritization of intelligence.
