Taking on the Cyber Enemy

DARPA’s programs. (Nov 8/11)

In response to the growing threats to US military and civilian networks, the Pentagon has unveiling its first formal cyber strategy.

This follows a series of events over the last few years that have escalated cyber attacks against networks and infrastructure to warlike events. For example, an unidentified foreign national penetrated the internal networks of the Department of Defense (DoD) with an infected thumbdrive in 2008. In 2009, a virus known as Stuxnet, suspected of being the product of Israeli-US government collaboration, shutdown an Iranian nuclear power plant. And in 2011, defense contractor Lockheed Martin suffered a major cyber attack that was suspected of being carried out by the Chinese government.

While the Pentagon has struggled to combat these threats, it has also had to fight some within its own ranks, as well as other agencies, for authority in cyberspace. This article focuses on the growing cyber threat to US military and civilian infrastructure and the efforts being made by the Pentagon to deal with these threats.

• Stuxnet and Beyond
• The China Connection
• The Best Defense is Offense
• Attribution: The Devil’s in the Details
• Cyber Turf Wars
• Integration Efforts
• Future War
• Key Contacts
• Additional Reading
  Continue Reading… »

• Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) announced a voluntary layoff program to reduce its headcount by 250 in February 2012, out of a 30,000 total worldwide.

• Northrop Grumman to supply AQS-24A airborne mine-hunting system to Japan for their MCH-101 helicopters.

• The Begin-Saadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA) in Israel released a preliminary evaluation of the Iron Dome anti-rocket system. Uzi Rubin, the author of the report [PDF in Hebrew], thinks it’s too early to assess the full impact of the system, but says it did save lives.

• An F-15C Eagle from Nellis Air Force Base crashed in Nevada yesterday without making any casualty.

• US DoD deputy chief information officer Robert J. Carey claims rapid IT acquisition programs often fail to scale.

• Son of Stuxnet: meet Duqu, apparently an iteration of the cyberweapon used to penetrate Iran’s nuclear plants in the last couple of years.

• Pantex in Texas is dismantling the last 9,000-pound B-53 nuclear bombs.

• In a letter [PDF] sent to the US Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) Chairman last week, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expresses its support for the version of the FY12 Appropriations bill approved by the SAC last month. The Senate still has to vote on the bill then go to conference with the House to agree on a common text for the bill.

• South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma appointed a Supreme Court of Appeal judge to probe the 1999 Strategic Defence Package (SDP).

• The US House Foreign Affairs Committee has a hearing today on the recent troop deployment in Central Africa. See video below:
  Continue Reading… »

RQ-11B Raven

USAF to use RQ-11Bs at bases worldwide. (Oct 5/11)

The RQ-11 Raven is a 4.2-pound, backpackable, hand-launched UAV that provides day and night, real-time video imagery for “over the hill” and “around the corner” reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition.

Each Raven system typically consists of 3 aircraft, 2 ground control stations, system spares, and related services. The digital upgrades are still designated RQ-11Bs, but they enable a given area to include more Ravens, with improved capabilities. The secret? Using L-band spectrum more efficiently…

• Ravin’ bout Ravens: Current Models, and Proposed Upgrades
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

US “Chair” Force?

$65M to General Atomics. (September 30/11)

UAVs have played a crucial role in gathering intelligence in the US military’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are thousands of UAVs gathering and distributing valuable data on the enemy, but each system uses its own proprietary subsystem to control the air vehicle as well as receive and process the data. Yet commanders need access to information gathered by all types of UAVs that are flying missions in their area of operation.

Recognizing this shortcoming, the Pentagon began an effort in 2008 to break down the proprietary barriers between UAV systems and create a single GCS that will fly all types of drones.

This free-to-view DID Spotlight article examines the problem of proprietary UAV systems and efforts to break down barriers to sharing vital UAV-generated information.

• Ground Control to Major Tom: The Role of GCS
• Come Together: The Pentagon’s UCS-WG
• Are You Going STANAG?: NATO’s Standard
• One is the Loneliest Number: AAI’s OneSystem
• Red ROVER, Red ROVER: The ROVER Datalink
• Masters of the Universe: Raytheon’s CGCS
• Too Close to the Sun: ICARUS and Autonomy
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

• USAF delays the release of its CVLSP draft RFP, a platform meant to replace its fleet of 62 UH-1Ns with up to 93 helicopters.

• The US Army transferred the buying office in charge of the Information Technologies Enterprise Solutions-3 Hardware (ITES-3H) competition from the Contracting Command National Capital Region (ACC-NCR) to the Contracting Command Rock Island (ACC-RI).

• BAE set to cut up to 3,000 jobs in the UK? More details expected in the days to come.

• Hedging Pascal’s wager. In case prayer doesn’t do it, a rally to save Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana is set on October 1st. The shipyard is scheduled to close in 2013 after the last LPD-17 built there is finished. Reliability improvements noted by the Navy a case of too little too late given the track record? There are still many jobs at stake.

• Airbus bought 51% in German subcontractor PFW Aerospace said to face a “severe liquidity crisis”. The company manufactures tube & duct systems, cargo loading solutions and metal structures, and lists the Typhoon, EC 135, EH 101 Merlin, and A400M among the military programs it participates in.

• Closet diplomat. The Economist ponders the future of America’s lasting alliances in Asia. Maybe Admiral Lord Alan “We’re Not Bloody Belgium” West could help?

• Stock buybacks: Raytheon, Lockheed Martin.

The USAF’s Global Combat Support System is their internal web portal, supporting over 800,000 registered users and usinga services-oriented I.T. architecture to deliver everything from information to mission applications and collaboration tools. See this Power Point presentation for more. Lockheed Martin has been GCSS-AF’s prime contractor since 1996, and a recent contract worth up to $791 million could extend that to 2018.

Under the recent award, Lockheed Martin is responsible for maintaining the portal’s underlying IT infrastructure, while extending it with new applications, data services, and infrastructure improvements. The initial contract is for 3 years, with 4 more 1-year options, and most work will take place at Maxwell AFB, AL. Supporting operations and engineering locations will be found at Hill AFB, UT; Wright-Patterson AFB, OH; and Owego, NY. The ESC/HIIK at Maxwell AFB, AL, manages this contract (FA8771-11-D-1006). See also Lockheed Martin.

BCTM B-Kit in Hummer

With SUGV pending wind-down, early materials order for SUGV sets 2-3. (Sept 14/11)

Concerns about cost overruns, vehicle design, and contract structure prompted the Pentagon to cancel the US Army’s Future Combat System (FCS) program in June 2009.

Instead of a single FCS contract, the Pentagon directed the Army to set up a number of separate programs to undertake parts of the FCS program. One of those programs is the Brigade Combat Team Modernization (BCTM) Increment 1. The BCTM Increment 1 capabilities – which include ground robots, UAVs, ground sensors, and vehicle (B-Kit) network integration kits – were planned to be fielded to up to 9 Infantry Brigade Combat Teams beginning in 2011. Now it’s more like 2015 for the 1st brigade, and it will happen without most of the original components…

• BCTM/ E-IBCT Increment 1
• Contracts and Key Events, FY 2007-2011 [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

AEDC at work: X-29

Another $208.5M. (Sept 8/11)

The Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), named for U.S. Air Force pioneer Gen. Henry “Hap” Arnold, bills itself as “The World’s Premier Flight Simulation Test Facility.” Nearly half of the AEDC’s 58 test facilities are unique in the U.S., and 14 are unique in the world. These specialized test facilities have played a crucial role in the development and sustainment of virtually every high performance aircraft, air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon, missile, and space system in use by all four of the U.S. military services today. The Center has also been involved in the development of every NASA manned space system, many satellites, and numerous commercial aircraft and spacecraft systems.

In 2003, the Air Force consolidated the test operations contract and the base services contract into a single contract for operations, maintenance, information management, and base support, which was awarded to Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) in Tullahoma, TN…

• AEDC Services
• AEDC Contracts [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

In late August 2011, General Dynamics C4 Systems Inc. received the Command Hardware Systems-4 contract, as a follow-on to its CHS-3 and CHS-2 work from 1995-2011. Items covered under this maximum 5-year, $3.7 billion contract include rugged local area networks (LAN), server platforms, communication gateways, routers, laptops, faxes and various ancillary equipment including vehicle mounts, cables, and operational transit cases. The military can also order system integration, product-testing services, end user support and program management.

CHS-4 is a firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, level-of-effort, indefinite-delivery / indefinite-quantity contract, so it may not spend all $3.7 billion between now and Aug 26/16. The 10-year CHS-3 contract, issued in 2003, is actually still in force; this will allow for parallel orders, as was also the case for CHS-2 and CHS-3.

Tabula Rasa?

On Aug 24/11, the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Tobyhanna, PA announced over $20 million in contracts for 12,263 computers and tablets, to be delivered by the end of November 2011. No eyebrows were raised over Dell’s $7.5 million contract for 354 Latitude E6520 computers and 6,295 Dell OptiPlex small form factor computers (W91QUZ-06-D-0006), but a $13.6 million contract to Iron Bow Technology in Chantilly, VA may attract more scrutiny.

Iron Bow is asked to deliver 5,096 Lenovo tablets; 217 Lenovo think pads; 520 Lenovo think centre computers; 261 Fujitsu computers; and 40 Wyse computers (W91QUZ-06-D-0010). Because the Chinese government owns a significant share of Lenovo’s parent firm, Lenovo computers have been a source of controversy in the past. The US State Department was forced to backtrack on a 2006 purchase of 16,000 computers, pledging to keep them off of networks that handle classified government messages and documents. Iron Bow refused to comment on the deal, or on any security measures they might be able to undertake.