“The risks are real but are not quite as bad as some have claimed in some of the hypothetical ‘day without space’ scenarios,” says Secure World Foundation’s Brian Weeden.
By Theresa HitchensFuture inevitability of quantum computers is a security problem today
‘Store Now, Decrypt Later’ attacks must be thwarted now with Zero Trust cybersecurity.
WASHINGTON: No currently available commercial alternative can provide a stand-alone backup to GPS, concludes a long-awaited study led by the Transportation Department. While some systems can stand in for GPS’s timing function, none provide robust enough positioning and navigation capabilities, the study concludes. The study, Complementary PNT and GPS Backup Technologies Demonstration Report, was released Friday…
By Theresa Hitchens
WASHINGTON: Unreleased Pentagon documents and Congressional demands for information reveal that Washington has long planned for the day when the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia would be ripped up. The report by the Joint Staff and Strategic Command, exclusively obtained by Breaking Defense, make clear that as far back as 2013 — a…
By Paul McLeary
Of DoD’s proposed reforms, the biggest thing not included in the NDAA is the Space Development Agency, which would appear to strike a blow at the heart of DoD space acquisition: the Air Force-run Space and Missile Systems Center. SMC has long been criticized for its slow pace, bureaucratic stovepipes, and opacity, but praised for its technical brilliance.
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: The Senate Armed Services Committee has proposed the most sweeping reevaluation of the military in 30 years, with tough questions for all four armed services but especially the Marine Corps. While its provisions cover topics ranging from swarming robots to “construction and maintenance of public works in Cis-Lunar Space,” its overwhelming focus is reorienting…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
With the Pentagon and White House increasingly worried about ballistic missile threats from “rogue” states and peer competitors, the Polish site is increasingly critical.
By Paul McLeary
Wait — doesn’t this omnibus fund 14 new ships for the Navy, compared to 13 in the National Defense Authorization Act and just eight in President Trump’s request? Yes, but not all ships are created equal, Wittman said.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Why cloud modernization is critical to multi-domain operations
JADC2 is a forcing function, driving digital transformation of network infrastructure.
AFA ORLANDO: It is only “a matter of years” before the US fights “from space,” the Air Force’s top uniformed leader said here. With that stark prediction, Chief of Staff David Goldfein went on to press the famously plane-focused service “to embrace space superiority with the same passion and sense of ownership as we apply…
By Colin Clark
Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein leads perhaps the most ground-down service in the Pentagon. The service grapples with how to modernize its planes, grant its crews some reprieve from the stresses of flying or maintaining and supporting planes and satellites and still keep the United States the one true global power. Read what Goldfein says he’s doing to keep the Air Force in fighting trim.
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: In 2018, Congress is likely to override the Air Force’s objections and carve out some kind of Space Corps. What kind of Space Corps is the question. Both sides of this debate agree that space will be a battlefield in future war. Instead of leaving US satellites unmolested to support operations on earth, future…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act contains billions of dollars and much policy concerning medical research and, of course, matters relating to nuclear, biological and chemical warfare. We don’t cover most of those medical issues except when they relate to NBC issues or raise basic military policy considerations. This is one of those cases. In…
By Jonathan D. Moreno
WASHINGTON: Jim Inhofe is probably the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee – but he definitely doesn’t want to talk about it. The Oklahoma conservative’s refusal to talk, even in private, about succeeding the ailing Sen. John McCain speaks both to Inhofe’s character and the rapidly vanishing senatorial decorum he tries to preserve.…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
PENTAGON: Despite a year of offering bonuses, trying to bring back former pilots and talking up the glories of being an Air Force pilot, the service’s most precious resource continues to dwindle. At the end of fiscal 2016, the service needed 1,500 pilots. On Oct. 31 of this year, that number had swollen to about…
By Colin Clark
The defense community is abuzz with talk of strategy and force expansion as the Pentagon develops the Trump Administration’s National Security Strategy. Talk is nice but, as budgeteers like to say, “If it ain’t funded, it ain’t”. Building the forces the services say they need—with the readiness and modernization to support them— requires large budgets,…
By Mark Cancian