The software defined radios will make F/A-18E/F and F-22 aircraft communications nodes in a coalition network.
By Barry RosenbergThe JSDR database won’t just keep American communications officers from mistakenly scrambling each others’ signals, either. By providing a comprehensive baseline of what friendly transmissions look like, the mega-database will make it easier for Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Electronic Warfare (EW) troops to hone in on enemy transmissions.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.It’s all part of a wider effort to rebuild the Army’s command, control, and communications (C3) networks for war against a high-tech great power.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: China is besting the United States in key military technologies like hypersonic missiles and electronic warfare, Gen. Paul Selva, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs said today. We can still catch up, he predicted. What about Artificial Intelligence? That’s too close to call, said former deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work, so we’d better get a move on. Both men…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The long-term solution may take “big, leap-ahead technology,” said Maj. Gen. Pete Gallagher, head of the Cross Functional Team leading the network overhaul. But short-term solutions can be as simple as replacing bulky metal antennas with inflatable ones or loading new software on an off-the-shelf Android phone.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: A Lockheed Martin engineer risked much claiming his company knew the radio system it was building for the Coast Guard didn’t work as advertised. The company settled the suit, agreeing to pay $2.2 million in fines and to fix the radios on the National Security Cutters, which should cost another $2.2 million. The whistleblower,…
By Colin ClarkAUSA: Faced with a grave threat from Russian advances in electronic warfare over the last five years, the US Army really will develop a useful, effective and adaptable tactical network after a decade of missteps and failures. Really. [Click here to download our free ebook on the Army’s network travails] “The urgency of now is…
By Colin ClarkWASHINGTON: Don’t worry about Russia building a killer robot someday. Worry about the radio-jamming drones they have today. Despite a few grandiose claims and snazzy videos of robots shooting guns, Russia remains behind “the Chinese, Iranians, and the Turks” in developing armed unmanned systems, let alone the United States, CNA expert Samuel Bendett said this…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.PENTAGON: Live by the radio, die by the radio — unless, maybe, you switch to lasers, which are much harder to detect and interfere with. That’s why the Defense Department recently awarded a three-year, $45 million grant to a tri-service project for a laser communications system. “This is basically fiber optic communications without the fiber,”…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: War time is a bad time to run out of gas. If there was a crisis with Russia today, and a German unit needed to refuel from a US Army pump, they couldn’t do it. Why? The goddamn nozzle doesn’t fit. It’s just one of the host of seemingly minor shortfalls, from pontoon bridges to…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.