Speaking during his keynote speech at Space Symposium on Tuesday, Spacecom Commander Gen. Stephen Whiting outlined ongoing initiatives to deter and defeat adversaries. The efforts are framed by the combatant command’s new “elements of victory,” and include moves to operationalize new capabilities, develop new technologies and draft two new strategies — one focused on experimentation and another on AI and machine learning.

“Over the past year at U.S. Space Command, we’ve developed elements of victory: our best military judgement for what we think we need to win in a conflict,” Whiting said. “These five elements of victory are informed by lessons learned in other domains — from the best thinking across our Joint Force, exercises and modeling and simulation — and they tell us what we need for war-winning advantage and how we will win.”

Part of the initiative focuses on getting new capabilities for warfighters across Spacecom’s different mission areas. For example, Whiting said the command is working to operationalize a data-fusion system that can create a single common operating picture for missile warning and missile defense missions.

Announced last year as a pilot program to improve data-fusion capabilities, the effort looked to address Spacecom’s ability to digest and view space domain data from multiple systems on a single screen. Since initiating the program, the command has focused on developing a data integration layer for missile warning and missile defense systems and is now demonstrating the capability, Whiting noted.

“Now we’re moving forward with operationalizing this system and placing it on our [Joint Operations Center] floor,” he said. “In the coming months, we’ll be adding additional missions to that program.”

At the same time, Spacecom continues to support research and development of technologies to enable what it calls “dynamic space operations” — or the ability to quickly and continuously maneuver systems on-orbit in order to address emerging threats in that domain.

While the command has repeatedly stressed the need for more maneuverable satellites, the Space Force has put only small amounts of money into research for the capability — and whether or not that funding will continue in future years remains up in the air. Whiting stressed, however, that development of space maneuver capabilities is imperative for Spacecom, especially given recent advancements in China’s ability to freely move their on-orbit satellites. 

To support development, the command will co-sponsor an effort with SpaceWERX — the Space Force’s technology innovation arm — that focuses on sustained space maneuver, according to Whiting.

“We will soon be identifying 10 proposals for $1.9 million each in funding over a 15-month period of performance,” he said. “This effort will continue to invest in the most promising technology from commercial industry to help us solve the sustained space maneuver challenge, so we can bring this joint function to the space domain.”

Other Spacecom initiatives include the deployment of an additional next-generation mobile radar for space domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific; working with organizations across the Pentagon to field more agile command-and-control capabilities; and meeting new demands for offensive and defensive space control.

Along with additional technologies, Whiting said Spacecom is drafting two new strategies that will help the command better prepare for conflict in space. 

“To ensure we maximize our readiness for day-to-day operations so that we are ready for conflict, we are operationalizing the command’s first-ever experimentation strategy and artificial intelligence and machine learning strategy,” Whiting said. He added that the priorities for these strategies focus on space fires, operational space command and control, missile defeat effects, enhanced battlespace awareness, cyber defenses and the command’s business processes.

The post Space Command moves to support new capabilities, strategies for warfare in space appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Under the five-year, $99.7 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract, Anduril will integrate its Lattice software into the SSN to create a mesh network that will enable autonomous processing and distribution of data from the architecture’s vast network of military space sensors. U.S. Space Command has directed the firm to complete deploying the capability by the end of 2026, according to a company press release.

“With Lattice, Anduril is providing a cutting-edge, resilient mesh communications architecture that links sensors, data repositories, and command and control nodes with low-latency, high-bandwidth connections,” the release stated.

The SSN is a global network of ground-based sensor systems distributed worldwide that’s able to detect, identify and catalog objects in space — ranging from space debris, expended rocket boosters and satellites. Upgrading the legacy architecture is a key priority for Spacecom, which relies on the technology for its space domain awareness mission to track objects in orbit and determine whether they are a threat to U.S. systems.

Anduril’s mesh network is called the Space Domain Awareness Network (SDANet) and is designed to replace the Space Defense Interface Network (SDIN) — a point-to-point network architecture used for SSN sensors. The network is about four decades old and outdated in terms of how quickly and efficiently it can move data.

“​​SDANet will replace legacy communications systems with a resilient mesh network capable of facilitating seamless sensor-to-sensor tasking, rapid data sharing with mission partners, and unparalleled flexibility to onboard new systems or partners swiftly,” the Anduril release stated. “The platform’s flexibility provided a solution for today and tomorrow’s threats and is basis for Program of Record memorandum to implement across the entire Space Surveillance Network.”

Anduril has been working on modernizing the SSN with Space Systems Command since 2022, when it began deploying SDANet at select sites in Maui, Hawaii. The contractor is also in discussions to integrate with other projects across the Space Force’s space domain awareness architecture, according to the company.

“Our commitment to meeting the SDANet mission requirements ensures that the U.S. Space Force has the tools to maintain space domain awareness and warfighting capabilities, both now and in the future,” the release stated.

The post Anduril receives nearly $100M deal to modernize Space Surveillance Network appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Across its mission set, Space Command currently operates several different systems that each produce high volumes of data necessary for conducting operations in the space domain — an amount that will likely grow as Spacecom continues to grow as an organization. The combatant command has repeatedly communicated its need for better command-and-control capabilities that can fuse all of its data for warfighters, Whiting said Monday during a webinar hosted by the Mitchell Institute.

“We have a fair amount of data that washes around in our system. Today, unfortunately, I don’t have a single common operational picture that I can point to to bring us all that in a coherent manner,” he said. “Can we operate without having that single common operational picture? Absolutely, but we want to do better.”

Now, Spacecom is in the early stages of developing a pilot program to test data-fusion capabilities for the space domain, Whiting said. He noted that he is working closely on the effort with the Joint Staff’s Office of Command, Control, Communications and Computers/Cyber, J6.

Planning for the effort’s timeline and cost is still underway, but Spacecom expects to announce the specific mission area it will use as a test case in the coming weeks or months, Whiting said. The mission area will be one that creates enough data over a specific period to adequately test data-fusion capabilities, he noted.

“We’re not an acquisition organization, but we think this is the kind of value a COCOM can add because we can deliver that within our event horizon of now to three years,” Whiting said. “It’s about merging data, it’s not about building a new satellite system. It’s taking the data we have and using it better.”

Because the effort is in its nascent stages, Spacecom hasn’t begun work on determining what technical solutions it will need to create a common operational picture, the commander noted. It will likely include capabilities leveraged from the commercial sector that will be configured by operators within the organization to fit their needs, he said.

“We’re early in the development of this pilot test case, but we don’t think this is an overly difficult technical problem,” Whiting said. “We think there’s lots of applications out there that can help us fuse the data and then present it in the way that we’re going to want to.”

The post Spacecom plans to launch pilot program to test data-fusion capabilities appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Slingshot Aerospace announced Wednesday that it has partnered with DARPA to create Agatha — an AI-enabled system able to distinguish potentially harmful space vehicles within large satellite constellations. The company recently demonstrated Agatha’s ability to identify multiple “non-nefarious outlier” satellites operating in real-world commercial constellations, according to a Slingshot news release.

First tapped by DARPA for the project in 2023, the company has since trained Agatha on over six decades of simulated constellation data created by the firm. With the program completed as of January, Slingshot is actively engaging with U.S. government agencies and commercial space companies to discuss integrating Agatha into their respective space domain awareness missions.

“As space activity shifts from satellites owned by a small number of operators to massive constellations operated by an array of owners, the need for transparency increases,” Dylan Kesler, director of data science and AI at Slingshot Aerospace, said in a statement. “The ability to quickly identify anomalies — whether a malfunctioning spacecraft or an intentionally nefarious ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ — is an increasingly important aspect of maintaining safety and security in space and on Earth.” 

To categorize satellites in orbit, Agatha’s AI specifically uses inverse reinforcement learning techniques to evaluate an object’s behavior and identify its intentions. According to Slingshot, the AI automatically takes in space data and works to identify anomalies in real-time without a cue from operators.

Not only does it determine exceptions in maneuvers, but also aims to discern the strategic reasoning for why a satellite may be acting strangely, the company stated.

“Identifying malfunctioning or potentially nefarious objects and their objectives within large satellite constellations is a complex challenge that required us to reach beyond traditional approaches and develop a novel and scalable AI algorithm,” Kesler said. “Our Agatha model has also proven its ability to deliver high-quality insights that provide ‘explainability’ or context for why specific objects were flagged.” 

The technology comes as both commercial and government organizations around the world plan to launch large satellites constellations into space — including U.S. adversaries. China plans to launch two mega-constellations that comprise over 20,000 satellites this year, and the Pentagon confirmed that Russia launched what is likely a counterspace weapon to target American systems in low-Earth orbit (LEO) in March.

In response, leaders across the Pentagon have expressed concern over adversaries hiding satellites in these large constellations that can spy on and potentially harm U.S. systems. To help operators in handling the growing number of objects, U.S. Space Command and the Space Force are seeking capabilities that can offer improved situational awareness.

“One of the main things we need in space as we move forward is space domain awareness. We need to be able to characterize the domain, we need to understand what is what, where and also what’s its intent,” Chief Master Sergeant Jacob Simmons, senior enlisted leader at Spacecom, told reporters during a meeting at the annual Space Symposium in April. “Gone are the days that a satellite would just follow the physics, … they maneuver and we have to be able to keep custody and be able to not only track, but understand in the gaps where it might have gone.”

As Slingshot looks to deploy Agatha in real-world operations for space domain awareness, Space Systems Command is separately leveraging AI to help coordinate the multiple sensors on orbit. The acquisition command is currently testing a system known as Machina that assists operators in running space-based sensors used to observe objects in space, according to Col. Bryon McClain, program executive officer for space domain awareness and combat power at SSC.

“Instead of asking a specific sensor to look at a specific object, you type in what your problem set is and the system helps generate what is the best orchestration of sensors to meet that problem set,” McClain said Wednesday during a webinar hosted by C4ISRNet.

While Machina is still considered experimental, McClain said SSC is already rolling it out to some warfighters for real operations. He emphasized that as AI continues to advance, it has potential to assist the Space Force in data processing and completing repetitive tasks.

“We are continuously looking at what opportunities are out there and where we can blend that new technology,” he said.

The post DARPA harnesses AI to keep tabs on space weapons, spy satellites on orbit appeared first on DefenseScoop.

“CAVE is our modeling and simulation laboratory which enables us to perform analysis on warfighting, on plans [and] on campaigning,” Spacecom Commander Gen. Stephen Whiting said Tuesday during his keynote at the annual Space Symposium. “We’ll use that to derive better ways of deterring and planning to conduct operations for a war that’s never happened, and a war we don’t want to happen.”

The platform recently achieved minimum viable capability at the combatant command’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, Whiting told DefenseScoop during a media roundtable following his speech.

“CAVE is really an office, if you will,” he said. “It’s both a modeling and simulation platform, but it’s also the modeling and simulation experts and analytics experts who can help us model our warfighting plans, our operations and our campaigning.”

As space continues to gain significance as a warfighting domain, both Space Command and the Space Force have highlighted the need for accurate modeling and simulation capabilities that can accurately replicate the space environment — particularly for training guardians and conducting wargames.

Separately from Spacecom’s CAVE, the Space Force is developing its own digital engineering ecosystem platform known as SpaceDEN. The tool will allow the service “to identify capability gaps, performance requirements and acquisition strategies to meet emerging threats,” according to the military branch.

CAVE, on the other hand, appears to be tailored more towards the operational needs of Spacecom. Along with conducting wargames for operations in space, Whiting said the platform will be used to understand Spacecom’s requirements and how space will fit into future joint warfighting scenarios across all domains.

“At fully operational capability, we’ll be able to assess all of our operations at all classification levels,” Whiting said. “Today, we can do a subset of that, and it’s an important subset, but we still need to grow that. But I think we’re on a good path.”

The command doesn’t have a defined timeline for when it wants to see CAVE reach FOC, he said, but it plans to continue building out the platform beyond minimum viable capability throughout 2024.

The post Space Command stands up new simulated environment for wargaming appeared first on DefenseScoop.

It is a back-and-forth that repeatedly came up this week during the Space Mobility Conference in Orlando, Florida, which kicked off with Diane Howard, head of commercial space policy for the White House National Space Council, urging the Space Force and other federal agencies to take concrete steps toward acquiring capabilities.

“We need a clear demand signal from government users,” Howard said during her opening keynote at the conference. “We need to identify and prioritize resources, funding and personnel. We need requirements for the use of mobility and logistics, and we need roadmaps.”

Today’s satellites are unable to be refueled once they are launched and it’s incredibly difficult to perform maintenance on them if they become damaged in space. Leaders at U.S. Space Command have previously noted these limitations often influence how mission planners and satellite operators maneuver systems.

Now, the combatant command is sending the message to Space Systems Command — the acquisition arm of the Space Force — that it needs to close this gap in order to extend the capabilities of its platforms.

“What we’re looking at Space Systems Command … is military-dominant value propositions for on-orbit servicing and maneuver,” Col. Erik Stockham, director of SSC’s space warfighting acquisition delta, said during a panel at the conference. “Just like in every other domain where you can sustain and move forward in order to make sure that you’re not caught flat-footed, we should be able to do the same thing in space for our systems.”

The goal is to achieve “dynamic space operations,” or the ability to easily and quickly respond to threats on orbit or changes in the space domain without risking losing fuel or permanent damage to a satellite. Spacecom wants to have sustained maneuverability operational by 2028 and plans to host a demonstration of the capability no later than 2026.

To get there, Stockham emphasized that the Space Force is taking many of its cues from technology developed in the commercial sector.

“This is not going to be a government-directed or government-manded development effort, this is going to be leveraging commercial,” he said.

However, members of the burgeoning on-orbit servicing and logistics industry highlighted throughout the conference that they currently don’t have the capacity to do the work on their own. Instead, it’s hoping that the government will serve as the foundation for the commercial market’s growth.

“They’re waiting to see these capabilities on orbit,” Robert Hauge, president of Northrop Grumman subsidiary SpaceLogistics, said during a panel. “And I would echo … that if the Space Force really wants to see this move — and there is definitely movement in that direction, it is profitable — but to really take these technologies and tailor it to the needs of the Space Force, the Space Force is going to need to come in and send that demand signal.”

That would include indications of sustained, long-term funding for personnel and development activities in the service’s budget, Clare Martin, executive vice president of Astroscale, said.

In September, the Space Force stood up a servicing, mobility and logistics (SML) program office at SSC to help advocate for sustained funding and planning efforts — which at the moment are focused on satellite refueling capabilities. The service has awarded Astroscale a $25.5 million contract to deliver an on-orbit refueling prototype by 2026, and it has also begun certifying industry designs as standards for refueling ports that can be integrated onto satellites.

In addition to funding, industry is looking for ways to better understand what the Space Force’s biggest problems and requirements are, according to Jon Slaughter, director of government relations at Sierra Space.

That means “more opportunity for different sides of the table to start offering our perspectives and our opinions on things,” Slaughter said at a separate panel discussion. “One of the things that our company has been trying so hard is to get our foot in the door with different opportunities so that we can prove ourselves and prove our technology.”

Another part of the problem is the overall novelty of space mobility and logistics capabilities. Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, program executive officer for assured access to space, said during the conference that some analysis needs to be done before the service can start sending off requirements to industry.

“When we talk about a new capability such as this, there’s always policy considerations,” Panzenhagen said. “From a service perspective, there are questions on how it will be used, what are the concepts of operations, what are the tactics, techniques and procedures to include training — how do we train something like this? There’s a question on the acquisition strategy. Are we procuring a capability or a service? Are we procuring an asset that the government will then operate?”

The Space Force has held some tabletop exercises — dubbed “Parallax Rising” — with industry participation in order to examine the potential architectures for space mobility and logistics technologies and understand how commercial capabilities can be integrated in the future.

Martin noted that being invited to these events is helpful for companies, as it allows them to see exactly how the government wants to use refueling tools.

“That kind of collaborative gaming between industry and the government really does help get past preconceptions and assumptions as to what commercial is doing and what the government needs,” Martin said.

During a roundtable with reporters Wednesday, Col. Joyce Bulson, director of the SML program office, said that the Space Warfighting Analysis Center — the service’s organization responsible for creating operational concepts and force design guidance — has not conducted a study for space mobility and logistics. She added that her office has met with stakeholders and service leadership in order to understand the broad scope of the requirements documents it has been given.

She noted that because this is an almost entirely new mission area, industry needs to have “realistic expectations” as to what kind of demand signal the Space Force can offer at the moment.

“We’re looking to leverage commercial service to the maximum extent possible, so we’re not looking for a significant government investment in bringing these capabilities to bear,” Bulson said.

To move forward, Martin emphasized that both industry and government should stop pointing fingers at one another and instead tackle the problem together.

“Let’s move past [arguments about] should the government wait for commercial or should commercial wait. We need to work together,” she said. “By working together, we can accelerate the capability, we can bring it to market sooner and we can maintain U.S. leadership in that area. So, let’s maintain that.”

The post Space Force prodded to provide clear demand signal for on-orbit mobility, servicing capabilities appeared first on DefenseScoop.

“We’re taking our cues from what Space Systems Command is talking about, so that’s where prioritizing the on-orbit refueling is coming from as the immediate need,” Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, program executive officer for assured access to space, told reporters Wednesday. “There are other things that we have looked at and kind of canvassed the industrial base, looking specifically at mobility to support the dynamic space operations and needs like that — such as the backpacks.”

The service has begun work to integrate new mobility technologies onto its military spacecraft. It created a new servicing, mobility and logistics program office in September to turn its broad discussions, requirements and research-and-development efforts into real capability, Col. Joyce Bulson, head of the new program office, said during the roundtable.

While the push is aligned with U.S. Space Command’s shift towards “dynamic space operations” — the ability to easily, continuously and quickly maneuver on-orbit satellites — the Space Force wants to lean on available tech already under development, Bulson added.

“It’s definitely a community of all of us coming together with these great activities and projects that have been started, but putting that together into a roadmap so that our efforts are aligned from what we’ve seen with our past engagements with our partners,” she said.

The current strategy is to ensure future satellites are equipped with refueling capabilities, Bulson said. Because satellites carry a finite amount of fuel, mission planners and operators are often forced to move them in a way that doesn’t waste fuel or shorten their lifespans — thus restricting their full range of capability.

Spacecom is looking to create a sustained space maneuver capability by 2028, and it plans to conduct a demonstration by 2026. In September, the Space Force awarded Astroscale a $25.5 million contract to deliver an on-orbit refueling prototype no later than 2026. 

The service has also begun certifying industry designs for refueling ports that can be integrated onto its satellites — a crucial step to understanding what the refueling architecture will look like in the future. On Monday, Northrop Grumman’s Passive Refueling Module (PRM) was the first to be certified as the “preferred standard,” and Bulson’s office is continuing to review designs from other companies for possible certification, she said.

As for satellites already on orbit that are “unprepared” to be refueled, the Space Force is looking to connect attachments — something akin to a jetpack or backpack — that “could go connect up with an existing satellite to give it more propulsion, whether it’s not designed to have sufficient thrust or if it’s out of propellant,” Panzenhagen explained.

In the longer term, the Space Force wants to expand its overall servicing capabilities that will bolster the service’s satellites, Bulson noted. 

“Refueling isn’t the only life limiter for a spacecraft, and not the only thing that can be targeted from a threat perspective,” she said, adding that the office is interested in “expanding into the larger kinds of services and capabilities from both a resilience and a life-extension perspective.”

The post Space Force eyes in-orbit satellite refueling, propulsion attachments for mobility gaps appeared first on DefenseScoop.

The payloads were carried by United Launch Alliance on board one of the company’s Atlas V rockets. The event took place at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff was initially scheduled for Aug. 29 but got scrapped due to Hurricane Idalia making its way across the Florida coast. It was rescheduled for Saturday but was postponed until the following day “due to an issue found during a prelaunch ordnance circuit continuity check,” according to a ULA post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

NRO Director Christopher Scolese told reporters in August prior to the launch that Silentbarker underscores an important burgeoning partnership between his spy agency and the Space Force.

“Working together, we’ve developed a system in a relatively short amount of time that’s going to provide us with unprecedented coverage of what’s going on in the [geosynchronous] belt so that we can understand the intentions of other countries to see what they’re doing in the GEO belt, to see if there’s any indications of threats or if it’s just normal,” he said.

Details about the Silentbarker satellites — including any contractors involved or what specific capabilities are included with the payloads — have largely been kept secret since the NRO began working with the Pentagon on the program. However, Scolese confirmed that the entire constellation will eventually include multiple payloads that will keep track of objects stationed in geosynchronous orbit. 

Scolese described the constellation as a “watchdog” for the GEO regime, which is about 22,236 miles above the Earth’s equator and a difficult area of space to monitor from the ground. Silentbarker will allow the Space Force and the NRO to have a better understanding of what’s happening in that orbit, where a number of critical space assets are.

“We also want to know if there is something going on that is unexpected or shouldn’t be going on that could potentially represent a threat to a high value asset — either ours or one of our allies,” he said.

Space domain awareness is considered a priority mission for the Space Force, especially as more military and commercial assets are launched into space and that realm becomes increasingly contested. The service is actively working to close current capability gaps that prevent it from having adequate data on what’s happening in space.

In the case of Silentbarker, moving the capability on orbit offers unprecedented opportunities for sensing objects in the GEO regime, according to Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander of Space Systems Command — the Space Force’s acquisition arm.

“Today, we primarily rely on our ground-based radars. Our ground-based radars are pretty exquisite, but they pretty much can only see about a basketball-sided object in space. And because of the challenges of day, night and weather, it gets extremely hard to maintain custody of those objects,” Guetlein said during the roundtable with reporters. “By actually moving the sensor into orbit with those objects, we can actually not only detect smaller objects, but maintain custody of them.”

The Space Force requested $115.6 million in fiscal 2024 for Silentbarker, which includes “on-orbit support” in order to meet initial operational capability and a continued development of the Silentbarker “expansion” increment to achieve full operational capability, according to budget documents. The constellation is on track to meet full operational capability by 2026, Scolese said.

The payloads launched Saturday will now undergo a checkout phase that could range from 30 to 90 days, he noted.

Once full operational capability is achieved, Silentbarker will be maintained by NRO while data gathered from the satellites will be sent to the National Defense Space Center jointly operated by NRO and U.S. Space Command, the combatant command responsible for American military operations in space.

The post Silentbarker ‘watchdog’ satellites successfully launched for Space Force-NRO spy missions appeared first on DefenseScoop.

“It’s a daily effort to get readiness at a higher state … as we operate and maneuver the domain, how do we make it more effective and efficient for them to be more compliant, which leads to readiness?” Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, commander of Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network and the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, said at the annual DAFITC conference Wednesday.

JFHQ-DODIN is a subordinate headquarters under U.S. Cyber Command responsible for protecting and defending the Pentagon’s network globally.

Skinner noted that adversaries are still often using rudimentary tactics, and much of what JFHQ-DODIN is doing is to raise the bar so officials don’t have to worry about the easy intrusions anymore.

“You know what they’re using,” he said of adversaries. “They’re using basic stuff. Why go to really unique and really powerful [tactics, techniques and procedures] when you can use the basic ones getting in using misconfigurations and the sort?”

JFHQ-DODIN is piloting the third iteration of its Command Cyber Readiness Inspections (CCRI) at three places, Skinner said. A CCRI is essentially a technical inspection of an organization’s network and security practices.

The focus now is shifting to risk, he said, adding that he expects CCRI 3.0 to roll out to all the services and agencies in the next quarter.

The new concept focuses on forward-facing devices and terrain given that’s the easiest way an adversary can gain access.

“How are you controlling access, elevated privileges? How are you managing those who have elevated privileges? How are your system administrators?” Skinner said.

From there, leaders need to think about incident response.

“No matter what kind of protection and security you have, something’s always going to happen … Do you have a minimum defensive posture?” Skinner said.

Based on these areas, leaders will be assessed on how at risk they are and if they need to do something as an enterprise to mitigate or drive down that risk.

The second main focus area for improving overall reediness and security of the DODIN is training.

While U.S. Cyber Command has focused heavily on the training of the cyber mission force — the teams each service provides to Cybercom to conduct offensive and defensive cyber operations — the department will now turn its attention to cybersecurity service providers (CSSPs) for the first time. CSSPs are essentially the local defenders and maintainers of a network at any given organization or installation.

“The department just signed out two months ago the joint mission essential task for CSSPs. First time we’ve ever had that,” Skinner said.

Five CSSPs this month will be reporting readiness based on those essential tasks, and next month there will be even more.

Overall, there’s roughly 30 CSSPs across DOD. And in the next few months, they’ll be looking closely at how to understand their respective readiness levels.

Additionally, the department will be looking at training standards for the system administrators that have elevated privileges. Currently, there aren’t standards in this regard.

“Then we can holistically look at this thing we call the DODIN and go from a force posture standpoint and force training readiness [and say], ‘Here’s the standards, here’s how we’re going to assess against those standards based on readiness and then understand what the risks [are].’ So you got risk of the terrain and risk of the force to support that terrain and protect that terrain and secure that terrain all together,” Skinner said.

The last aspect of improving the DODIN that Skinner described is the ability to “maneuver” the cyber domain. The key aspect that sets that domain apart from the other four domains of warfare — such as sea, land, air and space — is that it’s manmade and can be completely changed in a split second.

“How do we virtually maneuver the domain itself? How do we use military deception or even deception writ large to [do] that if we do have a vulnerability that could be exploited but somebody who’s scanning from the external cannot see that?” Skinner said.

JFHQ-DODIN is looking at a few pilots within the maneuverability portfolio, including one focused on the boundary and security-as-a-service for the boundary.

“Everybody usually hears we have 10 internet access points. You think, ‘Well that’s not that tough to manage.’ There’s actually about 70 then that DISA controls. But there’s 60ish across the enterprise where there’s internet access into the broader internet. That makes it a lot more unmanageable,” Skinner said.

Security-as-a-service “takes a lot of the, I’ll say, convoluted and complex IP that we have today and makes it less complex, because it’s all packaged into one. You don’t have the collisions that you have today,” he added.

Another “powerful” pilot being worked by some of the services includes automation and validation of protection.

“The security appliances, the security apparatuses, all those capabilities that you have throughout the environment. Is it operating nominally? Because right now, we just say, ‘Well, yeah, it is because it’s on and it’s protecting some things.’ But is it protecting everything that you want?” he explained. “Leveraging the TTPs that our adversary uses and that we know that they use, we’re testing it through all the way from the boundary and all the way to the endpoint — that’s pretty powerful if we get that moving.”

Other changes for JFHQ-DODIN

JFHQ-DODIN has seen a few changes in the last several months. For one, its deputy commander, Rear Adm. William Chase, retired Aug. 18.

Brig. Gen. Heather Blackwel took over in that role the same day.

Additionally, JFHQ-DODIN recently inherited responsibility for coordinating authority of cyber operations on behalf of U.S. Transportation Command.

This coordinating authority provides each supported combatant command a single commander that is responsible for planning, synchronizing and coordinating cyber support and ops. Previously, the service cyber components to Cybercom — through what is known as their Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber — only had coordinating authority for combatant commands they supported.

Now, for the first time, JFHQ-DODIN assumed this and supports Transcom, which primarily conducts defensive cyber operations, not offensive ones like geographic combatant commands.

Sources indicated to DefenseScoop that JFHQ-DODIN was a natural fit to support Transportation Command given Transcom has a heavy requirement and focus on defensive cyber, which is part of JFHQ-DODIN’s core mission.

The shift in coordinating authority was done, mainly due to the standup of U.S. Space Command. In 2019, Cybercom assigned coordinating authority of Spacecom to Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber Air Force, which was already supporting European Command, Strategic Command and Transportation Command.

However, supporting four combatant commands placed a burden on Cyber Command, and the decision was made to give the authority for Transcom to JFHQ-DODIN.  

“In an effort balance the Coordinating Authority relationships and responsibilities across all CYBERCOM direct subordinate commands, CYBERCOM realigned Coordinating Authority for U.S Transportation Command from JFHQ-C Air Force to JFHQ-DODIN,” according to a Cybercom spokesperson.

The post DOD’s main network defense arm is seeking new ways to improve force readiness, systems security appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Officials have described this modern-age triad as a key aspect to integrated deterrence — a major pillar of the Biden administration’s national defense strategy — focused on combating malign adversary activity occurring on a daily basis. The U.S. military term “triad” has traditionally been a reference to the three legs of the nation’s nuclear forces, which consist of bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles and ballistic missile submarines.

Army officials with Army Cyber Command, Army Special Operations Command and Army Space and Missile Defense Command first unveiled the new triad concept in August 2022 and described it as combining each of their unique capabilities to provide better and more integrated options to policymakers.

Now, the joint combatant commands are beginning to look at how this partnership can apply across their areas of responsibility.

U.S. Special Operations Command “has been reviewing the work U.S. Army Special Operations Command is doing with Army Space and Cyber Commands to determine which elements they have developed have applicability at the combatant command level to ensure the entire Joint Force maximizes the SOF/Space/Cyber triad’s capabilities,” a Socom spokesperson told DefenseScoop.

This informal relationship of synching and integrating the capabilities of these three organizations stems from their global reach.

“At its heart is the ability to converge those capabilities, the SOF placement and access, the cyber work and certainly the space work in places for integrated deterrence effects that we would otherwise not get if we were doing it individually, and bringing certainly a bigger sum back to not only the mission, but any partner we’re working with,” Gen. Bryan Fenton, the commander of Socom, told senators in March.

Fenton noted the ties that exist between Socom and U.S. Cyber Command and said the organizations are looking at experimenting to advance the partnership.

“We’ve got a very close relationship with Gen. [Paul] Nakasone and Cybercom and it’s progressed into an area that we now call a capability: SOF, space, cyber triad,” Fenton said during a March hearing. “That’s been an incredible effort alongside Gen. Nakasone’s team. We’re very grateful for that and also in the [U.S. Space Command] arena. We are moving forward with exercises, experimentation, a number of senior leader huddles, and I think you’ll see that progress and we’d be happy to talk about the progress.”

Special operations forces are also at an inflection point of sorts. Following the heavy reliance on these troops during the global war on terror, many inside and outside the Pentagon have openly wondered what role they’ll play in the so-called great power competition with China.

Moreover, there have been talks of cutting SOF due to budgetary restrictions.

Some have noted that greater partnership — such as the triad — is a way to ensure the importance of these elite troops and thus negate cuts some find counterproductive.

“Special operations forces are our nation’s premiere force during peacetime and war. In the face of recruiting challenges for our military and growing threats around the world, cuts to SOF are not the answer,” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said in a statement. “We should be increasing greater cooperation between Special Operations Command, Space Command, and Cyber Command to prevent conflict and protect the homeland. With the shift to peer competition, this integration will help us operate more effectively in the information domain.”

Ernst added that as ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, she will ensure cuts to SOF won’t risk operational security or pose a threat to missions, noting that the U.S. “must be prepared to take on the risks of the 21st century and deter aggression in the face of great power, and that means we need a fully operational SOF.”

Spacecom and Cybercom deferred to Socom regarding this triad, but pointed out the strong relationship they have with one another.

“U.S. Space Command contributes to integrated deterrence by preserving freedom of action in space and by providing critical support to the rest of the Joint Force. Our mission spans the spectrum of conflict and every domain. For example, we are creating concepts to further integrate space, cyber, and special operations to generate asymmetrical advantages around the globe,” Gen. James Dickinson, commander of Spacecom, told lawmakers in March.

The nominee to be the next Cybercom commander at his July confirmation hearing noted the “strategic competitive advantages” each of these combatant commands brings to the table.

“It offers us an opportunity to look at where each of us can come together to work in support of a geographic combatant commander’s needs and be able to do that more effectively together,” Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh told senators. “We’re looking for what are those hard requirements that a geographic combatant commander needs, and those are the areas that we’re focused on. How do we work together to achieve something that would have been more difficult independently, but when we partner with unique strengths of Special Operations Command and Socom components, with what our cyber mission force brings, that capacity tied together our goals to satisfy hard problems for the geographic combatant commands.”

Haugh, as well as Army officials, have noted that special operations forces provide Cybercom’s forces placement and access, which alludes to the notion that these forces are forward deployed in austere locations and provide proximal plug-ins to targets that Cybercom can then attack.

He also explained that when he was the commander for Cybercom’s Air Force component that oversaw cyber operations for U.S. European Command — from October 2019 to August 2022 — they were working with Special Operations Command Europe every day on meeting needs of the Eucom commander.

From a space perspective, Haugh described the relationship between Cybercom, Spacecom and the Space Force as “inextricable” when it comes to supporting the joint force.

“When we think about what those challenges are and we think about the resiliency that is going to be required, as we think about what potential future conflict could look like, how do we ensure both a redundant set of communications? Much of that is going to be built on space,” he said.

At the Army level thus far, officials have said there isn’t a desired end state for the time being. The immediate focus has been synchronizing and converging the capabilities of each organization to create an effect and delivering outcomes.

According to an article by three active-duty Army officers, an emerging partnership between special operations forces and cyber forces involving data integration and information capabilities has “demonstrated the value of the larger ‘Space, Cyber, and SOF Triad.’”

“Within three weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the combined SOF-cyber team developed seven new analytic approaches (including two new deep learning models and three new network science models) to support the unique requirements of the information dimension in Eastern Europe,” the officials wrote. “In addition to the seven models, the team also relied upon existing models that the team had already developed and deployed, including machine learning, network science, natural language processing, and image-analysis models and visualizations. These models were deployed into production in custom machine-learning pipelines and atop the unified SOF-cyber data to feed a daily product automatically produced and distributed to relevant Army, Joint, and SOF commands in Europe.”

The post Modern ‘triad’ initiated by Army is making its way to joint combatant commands appeared first on DefenseScoop.