Meink, most recently the principal deputy director for the National Reconnaissance Office, is a relative anomaly amongst President Donald Trump’s picks for top Defense Department leaders, having an extensive history of working within the US government.
Over the last 11 months, the US has made major progress in defining “Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence” and even getting other nations to sign on the idea — without ever actually precluding the kind of automated “killer robots” activists want to ban.
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
Given "aggressive and warlike actions, threatening actions, by space competitors, it's important for us to have an entity that is focused entirely on space defense, and space capability," said Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett of the new Space Force.
Space Force is looking to establish an independent identity, based on the legacy of the Air Force space community, but focused on "22nd century warfare," says Maj. Gen. John Shaw.
And there are rumbles about a bureaucratic food fight between planning cells at Air Force headquarters here and at AFSPC in Colorado Springs.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal says he was "disappointed" by Barbara Barrett in "her responses to questions during her office visit and public testimony" during her confirmation hearing, "factors that have also contributed to my uncertainty about her ability to lead the Air Force."
Balancing security and access to data are critical to providing users with trustworthy, reliable data for real-time decisions.
"I believe we need the Space Force, in fact, in my opinion, a domain-specific service to organize, train, and equip space forces is overdue," Air Force Secretary nominee Barbara Barrett said.
Enabling multi-domain command and control (MDC2) is "how the Air Force becomes the quarterback, the play-caller of the joint warfighting force," says Acting Air Force Secretary Matt Donovan.
Trump nominee for Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett "is a force to be reckoned with and has the leadership, experience, and knowledge to lead our Air Force into the future during a time of increased global threats," says Sen. Martha McSally.
The US has more to lose in space than our competitors, so the Pentagon is considering firing a warning shot to showcase what it can do.
Why edge and endpoint security can’t be an afterthought.
"Launching hundreds of cheap satellites each year as a substitute" for current milspace systems "will result in failure on America's worst day if we relay on them alone," Wilson says.
As the Pentagon rushes to implement defenses against advanced hypersonic weapons, it's battling the old way of doing acquisition and requirements.
Insiders were blindsided by her departure. So who fills her seat in the Pentagon?
“We need to have any sensor connect to any shooter at very rapid machine-to-machine speed,” Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said, “if we’re going to multi-domain operations.” But aye, there’s the rub: Are we?