Ukraine war turns 2: Lessons learned and what comes next

Ukraine war turns 2: Lessons learned and what comes next
Ukraine war turns 2: Lessons learned and what comes next

On the two year anniversary of the war, the Breaking Defense team has assembled a series of pieces on the state of the conflict across multiple domains, what might come in year three, and what lessons the US has learned from the conflict. 

DoD Launching Experiment For Space-Based Hypersonic Missile Detection

DoD Launching Experiment For Space-Based Hypersonic Missile Detection
DoD Launching Experiment For Space-Based Hypersonic Missile Detection

SDA and MDA need to characterize the Earth’s infrared background — which has “a lot of complex shapes to it, clouds, land and stuff like that” — in order to “pull out the dim signal” of a hypersonic missile, an SDA official explained.

SDA Demos Spotlight Tech Hurdles To JADC2 Backbone

SDA Demos Spotlight Tech Hurdles To JADC2 Backbone
SDA Demos Spotlight Tech Hurdles To JADC2 Backbone

Two of the experiments, each involving two satellites, are focused on laser links: one between satellites themselves; the other from satellites to a MQ-9 Reaper drone on the ground.

SecDef OKs Joint Warfighting Concept; Joint Requirements Due Soon

SecDef OKs Joint Warfighting Concept; Joint Requirements Due Soon
SecDef OKs Joint Warfighting Concept; Joint Requirements Due Soon

A next step will be a series of “strategic directives” from the Joint Requirements Oversight Council that roll out “over the next few months,” Brig. Gen. Rob Parker, Joint Staff J6 Deputy Director says.

Exclusive: DARPA ‘Likely’ To Demo Only 2 Blackjack Payloads

Exclusive: DARPA ‘Likely’ To Demo Only 2 Blackjack Payloads
Exclusive: DARPA ‘Likely’ To Demo Only 2 Blackjack Payloads

“We really focused on payloads that had tactical utility, because they were an underserved market,” said Blackjack program manager Stephen Forbes.

Army Network Upgrade Seeks Fast Data For JADC2

Army Network Upgrade Seeks Fast Data For JADC2
Army Network Upgrade Seeks Fast Data For JADC2

The upcoming upgrade to the Army’s tactical network, Capability Set ’23, will exploit the boom in commercial Low- and Medium-Earth Orbit satellites to boost communications for fast-moving Stryker units.

Exclusive: Army Plan May Loosen IC Grip On Sat-Based ISR

Exclusive: Army Plan May Loosen IC Grip On Sat-Based ISR
Exclusive: Army Plan May Loosen IC Grip On Sat-Based ISR

“The Army needs information when and where they want it,” said Rob Zitz, a former Army intel official. “The IC should not get a vote on what Army needs or how Army executes combat missions.”

SDA & DARPA: June Demos To Prove Optical Sat Link Capability

SDA & DARPA: June Demos To Prove Optical Sat Link Capability
SDA & DARPA: June Demos To Prove Optical Sat Link Capability

“Getting a laser beam on a spacecraft to point to a laser receiver on another spacecraft accurately enough with the right power levels, the right waveforms, etc.,– it’s not an easy thing,” said General Atomics VP Nick Bucci.

Hypersonics: SDA, Space Force Focus On Laser Links For Kill Chain

Hypersonics: SDA, Space Force Focus On Laser Links For Kill Chain
Hypersonics: SDA, Space Force Focus On Laser Links For Kill Chain

SDA currently is primarily focused on “beyond-line-of-sight targeting for sensitive targets — so, for ships and mobile missiles,” Director Derek Tournear says, as well as for “advanced missile threats.”

Network, GPS Will Be Jammed In Project Convergence 2021

Network, GPS Will Be Jammed In Project Convergence 2021
Network, GPS Will Be Jammed In Project Convergence 2021

In this fall’s Project Convergence exercises, it took a heroic effort just to get the network to work at all. Next year, the Army wants the network to function in the face of electronic attack.

‘Improvised Mode’: The Army Network Evolves In Project Convergence

‘Improvised Mode’: The Army Network Evolves In Project Convergence
‘Improvised Mode’: The Army Network Evolves In Project Convergence

How do you get targeting data from satellite to howitzer in less than 20 seconds, on a tactical network that was never designed to do that? You improvise, Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher told me.

Space Chief Targets Red Tape To Speed New Tech

Space Chief Targets Red Tape To Speed New Tech
Space Chief Targets Red Tape To Speed New Tech

“If we get this right, we will be the envy of the other services, because we’re not tied to business of the past,” says Space Force CSO Gen. Jay Raymond. 

Esper Orders SDA To Link C2 Networks For All-Domain Ops

Esper Orders SDA To Link C2 Networks For All-Domain Ops
Esper Orders SDA To Link C2 Networks For All-Domain Ops

JADC2 is a way for the individual service C2 networks to “all have the same networking infrastructure to talk to one another,” says SDA Director Derek Tournear.

Blackjack Gets 2021 Budget Boost For Two Sats

Blackjack Gets 2021 Budget Boost For Two Sats
Blackjack Gets 2021 Budget Boost For Two Sats

SDA says it’s still a transition partner for Blackjack, despite no specific funding line in its 2021 budget.