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Paul McLeary on March 08, 2021 at 3:33 PM
Multinational navy ships and a submarine steam in formation during a group sail off the coast of Hawaii during RIMPAC 2020
WASHINGTON: Over the weekend, the White House announced the promotion of two Navy admirals to lead military operations in the Pacific, a swap of commanders that comes as the Biden administration looks for ways to put its own imprint on the intensifying competition with China in the Pacific region.
The nominations of Adm. John Aquilino to lead the Indo-Pacific command, and Vice Adm. Samuel Paparo to run Pacific Fleet, had been expected for some time. But the two will assume command as the Pentagon looks to reframe and remake its mix of forces and deterrent initiatives, while potentially pumping billions into new weapons systems and training ranges spread across the region.
WASHINGTON: Microsoft urgently updated its free Exchange server Indicators of Compromise tool and released emergency alternative mitigation measures overnight as the extent of damage globally from four recently disclosed zero-day vulnerabilities becomes clearer.
The IoC tool can be used to scan Exchange server log files to determine whether or not they are compromised. The emergency alternative mitigations, which are only partial and not considered the best fix, can be taken temporarily by organizations unable to immediately patch the four Exchange vulnerabilities that are being actively exploited in the wild. The severity of the vulnerabilities, as well as the widespread use of Exchange servers globally, prompted Microsoft to release out-of-band patches on Mar. 2.
By
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on March 05, 2021 at 1:52 PM
Rep. Adam Smith, Chairman of the House Armed Service Committee, asks a question about the F-35 at Luke Air Force Base
Perhaps as part of that push, Smith will receive a classified briefing on fighter options next week, he said, from the fifth-gen stealth fighters like the F-35, to upgraded but unstealthy fourth-gen options like the F-15EX, even to all-new sixth-gen machines.
Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee
The key question for Smith, he said: “What does the F-35 give us? Is there a way to cut our losses? Is there a way to not keep spending so much money for such a low capability, because the sustainment costs are brutal.”
By
Theresa Hitchens on March 05, 2021 at 2:07 PM
NORAD space operations center under Cheyenne Mountain
WASHINGTON: Northern Command is prototyping and testing a set of AI tools to support Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) implementation, NORTHCOM officials tell Breaking Defense. Most importantly, they said, the new artificial intelligence will instantly pull together all sorts of data to give commanders a clear picture of the battlefield, enabling good, fast decisions.
The command is leading a virtual exercise, called the Global Information Dominance Exercise (GIDE) 2, March 18-23 to test three “decision aids” that use artificial intelligence/machine learning software to speed commanders’ ability to act, Col. Matt “Nomad” Strohmeyer, NORAD/USNORTHCOM J8 JADC2 Development Lead, explained in an exclusive interview. The AI algorithms will enable all-domain situational awareness, “information dominance,” and real-time “cross-Combatant Command collab
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Theresa Hitchens on March 05, 2021 at 3:20 PM
AFRL image of autonomous swarming munitions
WASHINGTON: Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is shifting the focus of its Golden Horde program from testing its own swarming weapons to developing a digital environment, nicknamed Colosseum, to test vendors bringing their own concepts.
“What we are looking to do is beginning a phase of an open, collaborative autonomy architecture, and this government-owned reference architecture is really going to be an environment where more players can come and compete their own versions of what autonomous collaborative weapons should be,” AFRL Director Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle said last week during the Air Force Association’s annual winter meeting.