US committee: Counter China information drive

US committee: Counter China information drive: "Faced with aggressive public outreach by China, the United States must ramp up its own efforts and do a better job fighting Internet censorship, a Senate committee report says.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee report, which is to be released on Tuesday, said the United States was languishing behind as China increasingly molds public opinion through its cultural institutes and state-run media.
The report, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, calls for more US students to be sent to China, a US bid to host the 2020 World Expo, an expansion of the number of American Centers in China and other 'public diplomacy' measures."
*****************

Cyber Defense

The US military is preparing for 21st Century electronic warfare and cyber terrorism. A joint US Cyber Command and four service cyber commands have been set up.

Their mission is to defend American military networks and civilian American infrastructure from cyber terrorism and from foreign government hackers.

The officers leading these cyber commands explain how they are organized, how they operate, and how they will protect the United States from foreign military hackers, intelligence agencies, and cyber terrorists.

Onr Develops New Acquisition Model For Delivering Information To The Fleet

Onr Develops New Acquisition Model For Delivering Information To The Fleet: "To rapidly develop a new way to deliver information to the fleet, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has created a unique acquisition approach that developers will outline at the Feb. 22-24 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) conference in Miami.
The Command and Control Rapid Prototyping Continuum (C2RPC), a collaborative effort between ONR, the Program Executive Office Command, Control, Computers, Communications and Intelligence (PEO C4I) and Commander Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT), will improve battle commanders' access to fleet readiness. (See C2RPC video on YouTube)

"This has been a change in how we do acquisition, in that we've been doing it in an accelerated timeline," said Gary Toth, ONR C2 program manager. "It's been a true partnership between science and technology (S&T) and the operational user."

The effort is also the model for rapid acquisition at PEO C4I and is changing how that command does business too, he said.
Toth will deliver the keynote address on the first day of the IEEE conference on Cognitive Methods in Situational Awareness and Decision support."
********************

Cyber Defense

The US military is preparing for 21st Century electronic warfare and cyber terrorism. A joint US Cyber Command and four service cyber commands have been set up.

Their mission is to defend American military networks and civilian American infrastructure from cyber terrorism and from foreign government hackers.

The officers leading these cyber commands explain how they are organized, how they operate, and how they will protect the United States from foreign military hackers, intelligence agencies, and cyber terrorists.

Edge nodes could aid downrange data sharing for military -- Government Computer News

Edge nodes could aid downrange data sharing for military -- Government Computer News: "The military has struggled with the so-called data deluge resulting from the information streaming in from numerous sensors, but it doesn’t change mission requirements – or the challenges faced in downrange operations.
To help make sense of the flow of information, even when connectivity is unstable, the Army is pursuing new ideas it hopes to implement in the combat theater.
One such effort is the Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A), which serves as a single system for depositing sensor data and sharing intelligence, according to Col. Charles Wells, program manager for DCGS, program executive office-integrated warfare systems.
“This is for better analysis and increased communications,” Wells said today at the IDGA DOD and Government Cloud Computing Summit in Vienna, Va. Wells said DCGS-A will make use of cloud computing to “analyze all data, all the time.”
*****************

Cyber Defense

The US military is preparing for 21st Century electronic warfare and cyber terrorism. A joint US Cyber Command and four service cyber commands have been set up.

Their mission is to defend American military networks and civilian American infrastructure from cyber terrorism and from foreign government hackers.

The officers leading these cyber commands explain how they are organized, how they operate, and how they will protect the United States from foreign military hackers, intelligence agencies, and cyber terrorists.

13,450 words

Workforce Key to Cybersecurity - Wired Workplace

Workforce Key to Cybersecurity - Wired Workplace: "A skilled cybersecurity workforce is one of government and industry's greatest defenses against cyber attacks, a new study suggests.
The new 2011 Cybersecurity Watch Survey conducted by CSO magazine and sponsored by Deloitte, found that unintentional exposure of private or sensitive information has significantly declined since 2010, in part because of increased training for cybersecurity workers (65 percent) and the implementation of tools like data loss prevention (65 percent)."
*********************

Cyber Defense

The US military is preparing for 21st Century electronic warfare and cyber terrorism. A joint US Cyber Command and four service cyber commands have been set up.

Their mission is to defend American military networks and civilian American infrastructure from cyber terrorism and from foreign government hackers.

The officers leading these cyber commands explain how they are organized, how they operate, and how they will protect the United States from foreign military hackers, intelligence agencies, and cyber terrorists.

13,450 words

Pentagon budget relies heavily on anticipated savings - Nextgov

Pentagon budget relies heavily on anticipated savings - Nextgov: "When Robert Hale was a defense budget analyst at a think tank in 2002, he urged the Defense Department not to count on savings from efficiency efforts to pay for new weapons. Too often, he warned, the savings never materialized.
But Hale seems to have abandoned that counsel. Now the chief budget officer at the Pentagon facing grim fiscal circumstances, he's a key architect of the department's 2012 budget, which projects $154 billion in savings from efficiency efforts and banks on using $90 billion of that money to buy and upgrade weapons.
Former colleagues at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments reminded him Feb. 10 of his earlier advice. 'Investments in new weapons can be risky when funded by projected savings, since history has shown that these projected savings often do not materialize as expected,' Todd Harrison wrote in an early analysis of the budget Hale and his boss, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, are scheduled to release Feb. 14.
Gates revealed some of the budget details in January, including plans to use money wrung from other programs through efficiency measures to buy scores of new weapons, including 41 F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters, at least five more Navy ships and more Reaper drones, as well as modernize tanks, fighting vehicles and amphibious assault vehicles.
Savings are also expected to accelerate development of new weapons such as a long-range bomber for the Air Force, carrier-based unmanned strike and surveillance planes for the Navy and a next-generation electronic warfare jammer for the Navy. All three are designed to overcome anti-access, area denial threats that appear to be rising in China and Iran."
*******************

U-Boats Made in Germany

Germany's submarines are the most technologically advanced diesel electric submarines in the world. This e-book provides details of current cutting edge submarine technology as well as technology development programs.

Army aviation leaders gather to chart branch's future

Army aviation leaders gather to chart branch's future: "More than 200 leaders in the Army Aviation Branch descended upon Fort Rucker, Ala., Jan. 31 - Feb. 3 to guide the future of aviation for 2011 and beyond.

Maj. Gen. Anthony G. Crutchfield, U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker commanding general, hosted the Aviation Senior Leaders Conference 2011, attended by aviation leaders and war fighters, brigade combat team commanders, and other Army Center of Excellence leaders, Army staff and National Guard and Reserve leaders, along with acquisition and concept developers and program managers.

Crutchfield began the conference with a short video and the question, "What about the future security environment?" He asked that everyone attending the conference keep that question in mind as they work through the sessions.

He encouraged the leaders to take a long view of the future of Army aviation.

"Our enemy is adaptive," Crutchfield said. "So are we. Our enemy is resilient. So are we. Our enemy is committed. So are we, today. Will we be tomorrow? And that's what I'd like to tee up today to get us really thinking this week -- about the future of our branch and the future of our Army. We've got to stop thinking solely about Iraq and Afghanistan, and think a little into the future."

Crutchfield said that in order to move the branch forward, it needed to choose an aim point and move toward it. He used the Comanche and the UH-1 "Huey" as examples.

It took about eight years to go from the idea of the UH-1 to full production, according to Crutchfield. By the end of the Vietnam War, more than 7,000 had flown in the conflict and 16,000 had been built. In contrast, after 22 years of trying to produce the Comanche, two had been built and the project was canceled.

Retired Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard A. Cody explained why the Comanche had to be cut.

"We kept changing the requirements, and changing the requirements," Cody said. "We had to cut from somewhere because we had to fund the ground army, whether it was (up armor) plates for the Humvees or it was night vision goggles. There were huge demands on the budget, and the only way to fix Army Aviation was to take the $14.5 billion and get a commitment from the Department of Defense to not touch it when we cancelled it."

Crutchfield's argument was that in addition to all the other issues with the Comanche, the aim points kept moving.

"That's my point. We cannot afford to do that again," Crutchfield said. "I'm saying we should never be in the position to make that decision again. The country can't afford it and our branch cannot afford it.

"I say the time is now to start looking at what we're going to have for our future," he said. "We've got to start it now. And we've got to develop and we've got to move to that aim point. We've got to have a way to move to that aim point quickly or we're at risk."

Crutchfield added that incremental improvements on old aircraft cannot significantly advance and increase range, speed, payload and survivability that the branch needs in its equipment for the future security environment.

"Unlike how we kept moving the Comanche's aim point, we've got to put the marker down and not move it. We have to accept what's good enough. And then field it, and then we make the improvements to it," he said. "Does that sound familiar to you? Because that's the way we've always done it. If we didn't, we wouldn't have a Longbow Block 3 Apache; we'd have had the perfect Apache in 1985."

Crutchfield told the leaders he needed their help to improve the branch.

"I'm the chief of the branch, I'm not the branch," he said. "We are the branch. And if anyone thinks that Fort Rucker is going to come up with all the solutions to all the problems in aviation, they're wrong. We'll lead the branch - that leaves your focus downrange. We'll lead the branch, but I need your thoughts."

Some of the issues leaders looked at during the three-day conference included, Army aviation training, reducing aviation accidents, aviation future force design, and professional military education and Soldier development. "
**********************

NATO 3.0

The Atlantic Alliance Transforms to Meet 21st Century Threats

Army deploys science, technology center to Afghanistan

Army deploys science, technology center to Afghanistan: "The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command is deploying engineers and scientists to Afghanistan to more expeditiously and efficiently solve War fighters' technical problems.

Task Force Warrior will become the Army's command center for science and technology activity for Operation Enduring Freedom. The task force will establish the RDECOM Field Assistance in Science and Technology-Center, or RFAST-C, by April 1.

Lt. Col. Yolanda Frazier, the Task Force Warrior officer-in-charge, will lead 32 military and civilian personnel as part of the 401st Army Field Support Brigade on Bagram Airfield.

"We will be that driving force to harvest collaboration and integration with other agencies that will foster the strategic edge," Frazier said Jan. 11, during the Task Force Warrior color-casing ceremony at APG's Ball Conference Center.

The task force mission is to provide more timely solutions and answers to technical problems coming from Soldiers in theater, said Lt. Col. Duane Amsler, RDECOM's FAST deputy director.

Deploying scientists to work side-by-side with Soldiers in Operation Enduring Freedom will alleviate the obstacles created by being 7,000 miles and 10 time zones from the United States.

Amsler said the deployment of RFAST-C will help focus Soldiers' requirements so the technical staff can better understand their specific needs. A dialogue between the groups will expedite solutions.

"The intent is to bring capabilities to the field quicker by getting it to the right place and time quicker. [It will provide] a more detailed question," he said. "Rather than just saying, 'That doesn't work.' We can ask the questions, 'Why doesn't it work? How are you using it? What are your observations?' "

Sgt. Maj. William Tager, the task force senior noncommissioned officer, and a civilian executive officer will join Frazier in leading the effort.

RDECOM will complete the task force with engineers, shop foremen, machinists, computer-aided designers and administrative and supply staff from its eight subordinate research centers across the United States. Personnel will be deployed for six months.

Amsler said Task Force Warrior's experiences in theater will help the Army increase its readiness and mobility for future science and technology combat deployments.

"All the lessons learned from this will help shape what an RFAST-C is going to be for that next battle," he said. "Successes or failures, it's what we've learned out of this endeavor that's going to get us ready to provide a much better capability, much earlier in the next conflict."

Maj. Gen. Nick Justice, RDECOM commanding general, emphasized the importance of empowering, unburdening and protecting American Soldiers during the Task Force Warrior flag-casing ceremony.

"We are not here today to witness [the task force's] departure, but us assuming the responsibility for a mission in theater. This is significant. This represents this command's six years of figuring out how to integrate a combat package on the battlefield that will collapse time and collapse distance to near zero," Justice said. "
***************************

NATO 3.0

The North atlantic Alliance Resets to Meet 21st Century Challenges