My thanks to the US Army Electronic Warfare Division for providing this report!
Okay, now the bad news. A few snowflakes fell on Washington DC over the night, last night. We had, perhaps, 1/2″ of accumulation of snow. 1/2″. It took some people five hours to drive home. There was panic, there was chaos. There were a line of cars abandoned on the shoulder of the road on I-95, this morning.
I swear, Washington DC may be one of the most powerful cities in the world, but every state and every nation must export their worst drivers to Washington DC. As an example, the main road between my home and the nearest major route has a 35 mph speed limit. With no visible ice and the road clearly visible through the snow, the average speed was between 15 and 20 mph. You know how when you finally pass somebody and you look at the driver to see if they look as stupid as they drive? Yes, I was doing that. A lot.
There were over 700 accidents on the roads and highways around Washington DC last evening.
Starting tomorrow, 22 January 2016, Washington DC may receive between 8 and 24 inches of snow between Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The difference is this time the roads will be prepared, plowed and salted, many offices will be closed and people will snuggle by their fireplaces with large gallon-sized glasses of wine.
…and I’ll still look at the drivers as I pass them. The answer to your questions is yes, they usually do look as stupid as they drive.
</end editorial>
16-22 January 2016
ARMY
People, Preparation, Process: The Three P’s to Integrate Cyber at the Tactical Level
Cyber Defence Review, 19 Jan 16, MAJ Charlie Lewis
Integration of cyber and electromagnetic activities (CEMA) at the tactical level requires strategic thinking and planning. Current efforts, like Army Cyber’s Cyber Support to Corps and Below, are moving in the right direction but do not necessarily create the critical mass required for lasting effects. This paper seeks to provide a framework based on the people, the preparation, and the process of CEMA to successfully incorporate for tactical operations. Beginning with the people, this paper applies talent management concepts to put the right people with expertise, experience, and networks in the right job to start the conversation. Second, preparing those people and the staffs with whom they work for the integration furthers integration. Leadership must make sure the correct education supplements the experience of cyber planners combined with increased discussion of CEMA in Command and General Staff College is vital to preparing the force for the new domain. Finally, the only way to ensure complete integration is to change staff planning processes. Introducing METT-C2, with the second “C” for cyber, and emphasizing cyber key terrain in Mission Analysis, ritualizes cyber variables at the start of planning and guarantees integration in tactical staffs.
Eyeing China, Russia, Army commissions independent blueprint for future technological overmatch
Inside Defense, 19 Jan 16, Jason Sherman
The Army — seeking bold, transformational ideas to give its future force a disruptive advantage against potential adversaries — has commissioned an influential advisory panel with six new studies to recommend new weapon systems and operational concepts, an undertaking that appears to advance a new Pentagon program to re-energize conventional deterrence against China and Russia. On Jan. 4, then-acting Army Secretary Eric Fanning commissioned James Tegnelia, chairman of the Army Science Board, to conduct a study on “Disruptive Innovative Concepts for the Future Army,” as well as five other separate assessments intended to flesh out select issues that are key to ground forces. The studies, all of which which are sponsored by Gen. David Perkins, head of Army Training and Doctrine Command, also call for investigating the so-called Internet of Things; robotics and autonomy; future armor and anti-armor competition; countering enemy indirect fires; and enhancing solider and team performance.
SecArmy Nominee Fanning Prioritizes Cyber, Guard, Rapid Acquisition
Breaking Defense, 21 Jan 16, Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The administration’s nominee for Army Secretary wants better defenses against cyber attack, a warmer relationship with the National Guard, and a fast-track for acquisition inspired by the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office.
Despite having held senior positions in both the Air Force and the Navy, Eric Fanning’s path to the Army Secretary’s office has been unusually bumpy: A week and a half ago, the Senate Armed Services Committee essentially forced him to stop serving as Acting Secretary — which SASC said violated the law — in order to be confirmed. [UPDATE: SASC chairman Sen. John McCain said at the start of this morning’s confirmation hearing that Fanning’s resignation as Acting Secretary had “cured” the violation of the law.
U.S. official: Russian cyberwarfare getting more sophisticated
Federal Computer Week, 21 Jan 16, Sean Lyngaas
Russia has turned eastern Ukraine into an information battlefield, and U.S. defense officials are watching every move, in part for hints about Russian tactics in the emerging field of cyberwarfare. Robert Giesler, chief of strategy and plans in the secretary of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office, is the latest U.S. official to reflect publicly on how Russia’s campaign in Ukraine underscores the role of information systems in 21st-century warfare.
JOINT
Opinion: Were US sailors ‘spoofed’ into Iranian waters?
In 2011, Iran spoofed – or faked – Global Positioning System signals to send a CIA drone off course. Did it do the same to trick Navy vessels into Iranian waters?
Christian Science Monitor, 16 Jan 16, Dana A. Goward
As images of captured American sailors competed with those of the President Obama during the State of the Union address Tuesday, viewers across the world asked: “How could this happen?” The world’s most powerful nation with the most advanced navy had been embarrassed on the same day as the president’s speech. After a series of other implausible explanations, the Department of Defense settled on the explanation that the crews on both boats “misnavigated.” That in the middle of their trip between Kuwait and Bahrain the two boats accidentally went more than 50 miles out of their way to venture into Iranian waters.
New chip could mean better use of spectrum for DoD
Fierce Government IT, 15 Jan 16, Stephanie Kanowitz
A new chip may help ease congestion on the electromagnetic spectrum, which is becoming more clogged as the demand for connected devices grows. GlobalFoundries, a semiconductor manufacturer, with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has developed an exceptionally high-speed analog-to-digital converter that could “ensure the uninterrupted operation of spectrum-dependent military capabilities, including communications and radar, in contested [spectrum] environments,” according to a DARPA blog post this week. The electromagnetic spectrum is scarce, and its energy waves include trillionth-of-a-meter-wavelength gamma rays to multi-kilometer-wavelength radio waves, making it a physical phenomenon, the blog stated.
Electronic Weapons: EC-130H Strikes Again
Strategy Page, 19 Jan 16, Unattributed
By the end of 2015 Iraq declared Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province (which is most of western Iraq) back under government control. Reporters speaking to Iraqi commanders found two types of American support praised as critical for making the operation a success and keeping Iraqi casualties down. Reporters were not surprised to hear that Iraqi officers were glad to see the return of American air support, and in a big way. Many of these battalion and brigade commanders had started their careers after 2003 when American air support was common and greatly missed it after Iraqi politicians refused to let the American continue providing it after 2011. But to the surprise of foreign journalists Iraqi commanders are praised the return of American electronic warfare aircraft, especially those with the ability to selectively listen in on enemy wireless communications and, if needed, quickly jam it. With this capability Iraqi intel officers and commanders could listen to the enemy communications in real-time and at any point ask for it to be jammed. This made the enemy vulnerable because the army was listening in no matter what wireless communications was used and could quickly jam it if that seemed more advantageous for the army.
This Is The Most Important Technology On the F-35
Defense One, 19 Jan 16, Patrick Tucker
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most expensive weapons program ever, won’t justify its price tag by outmaneuvering other jets (it can’t), flying particularly fast, or even by carrying munitions in a stealthy bomb bay. Instead, the U.S. military is banking on an emerging technology called cognitive electronic warfare to give the jet an almost-living ability to sniff out new hard-to-detect air defenses and invent ways to foil them on the fly. While the specifics of the jet’s electronic warfare, or EW, package remain opaque, scientists, program watchers and military leaders close to the program say it will be key to the jet’s evolution and its survival against the future’s most advanced airplane-killing technology. In short, cognitive EW is the most important feature on the world’s most sophisticated warplane.
Pentagon Eyes Laser-Armed Drones to Shoot Down Ballistic Missiles
Defense One, 19 Jan 16, Marcus Weisgerber
Four years after the Air Force’s missile-zapping Boeing 747 went to its final resting place in the Arizona desert, the Pentagon is thinking anew about airborne lasers that shoot down ballistic missiles. This time, they’d be mounted on smaller, higher-flying drones. The idea has been around for decades, but the Pentagon’s missile defense chief says its time may have come. The plan is to see how the laser technology matures over the next three years to fit it on a high-altitude drone, Vice Adm. James Syring, the Missile Defense Agency director, said Tuesday. “We have significantly ramped up our program in terms of investment and talking about it more of what else needs to be done to mature this capability,” Syring said at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington.
DARPA’s New Chip Will Supercharge Radar Defenses
The new high-speed analog-to-digital converter won’t make radar unjammable, but it’ll get close.
Popular Mechanics, 21 Jan 16, Eric Tegler
Last week, the Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced it had developed a new semiconductor chip to could ensure the uninterrupted operation of military communications and radar. It’s an exceptionally high-speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC), to be precise. Media outlets including the Washington Post praised DARPA’s advance as one that “will create unjammable communication devices.” That’s not exactly right. While DARPA’s achievement is impressive, it doesn’t yet mean unjammable communications devices. What it does do is quickly translate analog radio frequency signals (RF) into a digital format. Once an analog signal is digitized, specialized electronic surveillance software can analyze it, determining whether the signal is from a friendly or hostile radar or communications source, where it’s located, and whether it’s real or fake.
GLOBAL
Russia Deploys Electronic Warfare System as Syrian Army Prepares for Major Offensive
Russian Insider, 17 Jan 16, Editor
We’ve already reported on major gains made by the Syrian Army — with help from Russian airstrikes — over the last week. Now it seems that the “moderate” rebels might have more in store for them: Syrian forces are preparing a major assault to capture Aleppo. The details: Once Syria’s commercial hub, Aleppo city is now divided between government control in the west and rebel control in the east. The broader province is split as well, with ISIS largely in the east, and rebel groups and Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate,the Nusra Front, in the west.
China Sets Up New Strategic Support Force To Safeguard National Security
Defense World, 19 Jan 16, Unattributed
China has set up a new Strategic Support Force (SSF) in waging special operations and information warfare. The structure of the newly-created force and the national security tasks it is set to tackle. “This unique structure will bring together the whole scope of capacities of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in waging special operations and information warfare,” Russian defense expert Vasily Kashin was quoted as saying by Sputnik Tuesday.
Suspects arrested after Jakarta attack recruited through encrypted app
The Hill, 19 Jan 16, Katie Bo Williams
Malaysian police have arrested three suspects they say were recruited by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) using the encrypted app Telegram, according to The Wall Street Journal. The arrests are part of a spate of detentions in the region following the recent attack on a Starbucks in Jakarta that killed at least eight people. Telegram is a free service, available on both computers and mobile devices, that allows users to communicate securely and disseminate public statements. The revelations highlight concerns that ISIS is using the messaging app to recruit followers and plan attacks.
Turkish cyber-criminals post their flag on hacked Russian Embassy site
SC Magazine, 19 Jan 16, Danielle Correa
In a cyber-war involving Turkey against Russia, Turkish hacktivists have defaced the Russian Embassy’s website in Israel. Russian news site Sputnik said that the hackers left the Turkish flag on the damaged homepage on 16 January, however the embassy’s Russian and English-language consulate pages were left untouched. The Börteçine Siber Tim hacking group from Azerbaijan claimed that they launched the attack.
Russia’s East Siberia District Receives New Electronic Warfare Systems
Sputnik International, 18 Jan 16, Unattributed
Col. Alexander Gordeev said that Russian troops in the Eastern Military District (EMD) have received over 10 cutting-edge electronic warfare systems. Russian troops in the Eastern Military District (EMD) have received over 10 cutting-edge electronic warfare systems, EMD spokesman Col. Alexander Gordeev said Tuesday. “More than 10 modern tracked and [truck-mounted] systems entered service with one of the Eastern Military District units deployed in the Republic of Buryatia,” Gordeev told reporters.
Scary questions in Ukraine energy grid hack
CNN, 18 Jan 16, Jose Pagliery
American investigators are traveling to Ukraine to investigate a recent electricity blackout — perhaps the first major act of cyberwar on a civilian population. Ukraine’s top law enforcement agency, the SBU, has publicly claimed this was a cyberattack by Russia, part of its ongoing war over the Crimean peninsula. If that’s true, this is a turning point for the use of computer hacking in warfare. It shows that military cyberattacks can be effective at physical disruption.
OF INTEREST
Republican warnings about an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) attack, explained
The Washington Post, 16 Jan 16, Philip Bump
A few seconds after 11 p.m. on July 9, 1962, streetlights on the Hawaiian island of Oahu blinked out. About 300 went out in total, but, happily, it didn’t matter. The skies over Hawaii were lit up nearly as bright as day for the same reason that the streetlights stopped working: The test of a thermonuclear weapon nearly 1,500 kilometers away over Johnston Atoll. The streetlights were knocked out not by the explosion or by the shock wave of the blast. They were rendered inoperative after getting hit by an electro-magnetic pulse created by the detonation. Electro-magnetic pulse damage was a topic of conversation in both of the Republican debates on Thursday night. Rick Santorum, one-third of the warm-up debate, warned of the possibility of an EMP being used as a weapon, a “devastating explosion” that would “fry out” anything with a circuit board. “Everything is gone,” he said. “Cars stop. Planes fall out of the sky.” If Iran got a nuclear bomb, he warned, they could explode one in the atmosphere over the United States and break every phone, car, computer and anything else electronic underneath.
OPM offers new incentives for cyber recruiting
Federal Computer Week, 19 Jan 16, Mark Rockwell
The Office of Personnel Management has enhanced the ability of federal human resources managers to use recruitment, relocation and retention (3R) incentives to attract or hang onto cybersecurity workers. In new guidance issued on Jan. 15, OPM Acting Director Beth Cobert told agencies they could approve exceptions to the spending limits on the 3Rs based on critical need and the backing of their chief human capital officer or human resources director. In a previous memo in October, Cobert said that without more flexible 3R incentives to attract talented professionals, “strengthening federal cybersecurity is not possible.”
Filed under: Electronic Warfare, Information operations Tagged: Electronic Warfare, EW
