Spark Tank Finalists: Paving the Way for a Pentagon App Store

Spark Tank Finalists: Paving the Way for a Pentagon App Store

Feb. 28, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

The Department of the Air Force’s annual Spark Tank competition takes place March 4, when six teams will take to the stage at the AFA Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla. Each team will pitch the most senior leaders in the Air and Space Forces on how their innovations can save money, improve the lives of Airmen and Guardians, and transform the department.

Air Force Magazine is highlighting one team each day from now through March 3. Today, we look at “Project FoX (Fighter Optimization Experiment),” led by Maj. Allen Black of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

Every day, millions of people across the globe go to Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store and download apps for their smartphones, tablets, and computers.

Could the Pentagon one day have its own version?

That’s the idea behind Project FoX—fighter pilots across different planes, able to access and use the same software, software that is developed and fielded in a fraction of the time it takes today.

“We must act now to accelerate our software development into capability at the speed of relevance,” Black said in his Spark Tank submission. “Project FoX, or the Fighter Optimization Experiment, provides a transformative way to accelerate the delivery of new software capabilities to our aircraft, while dramatically decreasing the cost.”

For now, the idea is focused on the F-22, which was recently upgraded with an Open Systems Architecture Rack, reducing the need for custom-made software to integrate with the fifth-generation fighter’s hardware. 

Instead, the fighter can now take better advantage of commercial technologies, something Project FoX intends to take even further.

“These improvements are accomplished by connecting a commercial off-the-shelf tablet that is data-secured to aircraft data systems with a universal government interface that puts the aircraft data into a common format,” Black said. “This allows America’s best developers to create applications that are portable across platforms and have real test, training, and technical benefits.”

Using a tablet to run commercial software systems instead of installing it directly on the plane itself has the benefit of “segmenting the developmental code from an aircraft’s operational code,” Black said. 

“As a result, changes can be made rapidly without impacting the airworthiness of the aircraft, taking the time required for testing cycles in software updates from months to days,” he added.

On top of that, Black argued, using tablets would allow software to be tested and deployed simultaneously across different platforms, instead of going “sequentially after lengthy platform-specific test programs.”

Black’s team is planning their first demonstration of this new approach in the coming months, using an app developed and tested on the F-35 that assists with the evasion of enemy surface-to-air missiles on an F-22, with no redevelopment.

“But this is only the start,” Black added. “We’re working to make this a reality on any platform that can connect to their data. To advance this crucial change to our software acquisitions, we need $1.2 million to demonstrate portable apps across fifth-gen fighters, third party applications on the Raptor, as well as to establish the pathway needed to begin developing our future capabilities.”

With funding from Spark Tank, Black said he believes his team could be “paving the way for a DOD App Store filled with cutting edge technologies.”

Should such a vision come to pass, there’s at least one area where it could prove particularly vital—manned-unmanned teaming. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has already demonstrated a similar concept of its own, using a tablet-like device strapped to a pilot’s thigh to control a semi-autonomous “loyal wingman.”

Beyond that, however, Black said the software could assist with artificial intelligence, cyber defense, and other ways. The larger goal is creating a way to accelerate software acquisition, a frequent source of frustration for many in the Air Force IT community.

“This investment will establish the self-sustaining software path we need for the future, enabling future modernization appropriations to flow through this cheaper and faster pipeline,” Black said.

Read about the other Spark Tank finalists:

Protecting the Protectors Aloft

Protecting the Protectors Aloft

Feb. 28, 2022 | By Joanne Hignett and J. Careless

The importance of cybersecurity aboard military/government aircraft grows with every passing day. The combination of complex onboard computer systems, two-way connectivity to ground controllers via radio/SATCOM, and integration with defense IT networks makes them prime targets for hackers.

Cybersecurity stakes are high when it comes to onboard networks. If an onboard network is compromised it could ground an entire fleet for weeks while cybersecurity professionals investigate the exact cause and weakness.

Eliminating or reducing the threat of a cyberattack on an aircraft, both military and civilian, requires developing a cybersecurity workforce and product that can continuously monitor data for anomalies and nefarious activity. There are solutions that defend and protect onboard networks and are available today.

“We make cybersecurity software and hardware platforms that defend an aircraft’s onboard network against cyber-attacks through continuous data monitoring and logging,” said Chris Bartlett, President of CCX Technologies. “We are the people who protect the protectors guarding the U.S. and other NATO member countries in the air.”

The Protective Power of SystemX

SystemX is CCX Technologies’ cyber defense and security software platform. It is designed to protect onboard aircraft avionics, networks, and systems from hackers at all times, thus improving an aircraft’s overall cybersecurity posture.

SystemX Aviation is a flexible cybersecurity system that can be integrated directly on CCX Technologies hardware, in the cloud, or on dedicated, secure third-party servers. It can be purchased as a standalone solution or integrated into CCX Technologies’ SystemX Military & Government cyber defense/cybersecurity software platform.

“A typical SystemX Aviation package includes our AP-250 Inline Cybersecurity Appliance Onboard Cybersecurity System, our SystemX Secure Server, and a set of DataPHYs to collect data from the network,” said Bartlett.

(The AP-250 is a small, standalone device that provides an easy way to add cyber defense, cybersecurity, and other secure networking services to deployed IT assets.) “SystemX Aviation is purpose-built to run autonomously or over bandwidth- and latency-restrictive communications links such as satellite and terrestrial radio. In addition, SystemX Aviation provides data monitoring and collection, configuration via remote access, and advanced firewall capabilities — all well-suited for protecting computer assets in the air.”

Combining Security and Ease of Use

SystemX marries the power of advanced cyber defense/cybersecurity with a platform that is easy to use. This is why CCX Technologies has designed SystemX to be controlled using a familiar browser-based GUI. When operators feel comfortable with a system’s GUI, they are more likely to use it to its full potential.

Compatible with most networked avionics equipment and systems, SystemX provides:

  • A secure tunnel between networked appliances and servers
  • Ethernet- and WiFi-based network monitoring
  • An encryption key manager and secure API
  • An advanced firewall
  • Advanced IDS and IPS (Network Intrusion and Prevention Detection Systems)
  • A complete Avionics Intrusion Detection System for avionics data, including ARINC 429/717, CAN Bus, MIL-STD-1553 and ARINC 664 AFDX (requires additional DataPHY hardware)
  • Push Alerts and Rule-sets
  • Quality of Service (QoS) tag support
  • Secure upgrade, configuration, and logging facilities

Worth noting: The SystemX Avionics Intrusion Detection System monitors avionics databus traffic for unexpected anomalies, whether due to adversarial cyber activity or operational issues.

When such anomalies are detected, they are logged into a secure database to support fast analysis and counter-measures by the aircrew and/or operators on the ground.

Secure Cabin Comms

Achieving true aviation cybersecurity requires attention to all aspects of aircraft usage. This is why SystemX’s protection extends throughout the entire airframe using a secure stand-alone Cabin Router. Inside the aircraft, SystemX provides secure, monitored, and configurable interfaces between Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) and the internet through external SATCOM terminals and integrated terrestrial radios (LTE and WiFi).

Onboard PED internet connectivity is managed by SystemX’s built-in Device Manager. It can be provisioned either by WPA Personal-based Access Points or by fully-managed WPA Enterprise-based Access Points with an integrated RADIUS server or proxy.  The Device Manager can accept certificates issued by globally-accepted Certificate Authorities so that users aren’t required to install certificates on their PEDs. It can also enforce per user data caps in flight, and restrict access to the system to specific pre-registered devices, just to be safe.

If a client chooses to use SystemX’s’ Integrated VPN (Virtual Private Network) feature, all internet-bound traffic from an aircraft can be routed through a ground-based SystemX server that provides encryption over all unencrypted (and easily intercepted) SATCOM interfaces. The VPN supports seamless WAN switching using a crypto-routing protocol. It uses a ground server’s static IP address to prevent signal interruptions when the aircraft’s router switches from one WAN interface to another.

Constant Vigilance

CCX Technologies is constantly and consistently focussed on improving SystemX’s cyber defense/cybersecurity capabilities for its clients. This is why the company has built an Avionics Cybersecurity Lab,which is located at its Ottawa headquarters.

“Our Cyber Lab perpetually monitors avionics systems for cyber vulnerabilities,” said Bartlett. “As such, it conducts Penetration Testing and Cybersecurity Audits on these systems and their networks to proactively find weak spots and remedy them.”

CCX Technologies designs and builds custom avionics test racks for its clients’ own avionics test labs using the firm’s ARINC-600 19″ Rack Mount Adapter. Meanwhile, to provide further enhanced security to its military and government subscribers, this company offers unique services such as secure crew/passenger data for multi-mission vehicles, secure airtime, and  remote technical support/real-time configurable alerts for rapid response.

The bottom line: “CCX Technologies’ goal is to provide our military/government clients with the best airborne cybersecurity possible,” concluded Chris Bartlett. “Their aircrews and passengers need to know that their aviation IT systems are safe and protected — whether they are flying Air Force One in a crisis or just moving freight from Point A to Point B.”

To learn more about CCX Technologies and SystemX, go to ccxtechnologies.com.

Partnering for Innovation: How the U.S. Space Force and Millennium Space Systems are Enhancing Missile Defense

Partnering for Innovation: How the U.S. Space Force and Millennium Space Systems are Enhancing Missile Defense

Feb. 28, 2022

As adversaries continue to field advanced weaponry, missile threats against the nation are growing rapidly. They’re more complex, survivable, reliable and accurate than ever before.

“The traditional missile warning architecture is not designed for the new, advanced hyper glide vehicle threat, putting our nation at risk,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Millennium Space Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company. “Adding additional layers to the OPIR (Overhead Persistent Infrared) architecture will allow us to not only warn against oncoming threats, but also track these advanced threats in order to intercept them.”

The hypersonic glide vehicle China demonstrated last summer sounded the alarm, altering the threat landscape which had long been defined by intercontinental ballistic missiles with predictable and easily recognizable trajectories.  

“Hypersonic glide vehicles make it so you could easily lose those threats over the horizon, which means you can’t intercept them,” said Kim, a former Airman and U.S. Air Force Academy graduate before launching his civilian career. “But if you’re tracking them from their deployment all the way to the endgame, that allows you to have full trajectory-tracking of those threats so that you can intercept them.”

In this new “missile tracking” era, the U.S. Space Force needs the ability to identify and track missile threats from launch, into space, through maneuvers, and into its terminal phase in order to shoot them down before they do serious damage. Millennium Space Systems is working closely with the Space Force to meet this emerging challenge.

“Guardians will be operating our future systems in LEO, MEO, and GEO in a layered architecture,” Kim said, referring to low-Earth, medium-Earth, and geosynchronous orbits. “Our systems will be a hybrid of ground and onboard data processing in the future. So what you’re going to see is fewer humans in the loop and a faster transition from sensing to shooting to address these threats.”

Conventional space-based missile tracking satellites have been placed in geosynchronous orbit (GEO), about 36,000 kilometers above the Earth, where they get the broadest possible view of a fixed portion of the Earth. But to ensure the ability to track hypersonic missiles traversing unpredictable paths, Millennium is developing a constellation of flexible satellites that can operate in multiple orbits.

For space operators, the lower the orbit, the more satellites they need. While just a few satellites could cover the Earth in GEO, the Space Force will need a few dozen small satellites at MEO and hundreds at LEO.

“Our expertise at Millennium Space Systems is in small satellite prototype and constellations,” Kim said. “Right now, we’re moving toward a high-volume production capability that’s going to allow us to deliver constellations faster. We have the right expertise in digital engineering, model-based systems engineering and high-volume production, which all comes back to delivering these systems faster for the warfighters.”

Acquired by Boeing in 2018, Millennium Space Systems is now leveraging volume production and design for manufacturability and test engineering strategies from its parent company.

“We’ve learned a lot from The Boeing Company, like digital engineering and model-based systems engineering – tools that have allowed us to produce satellite systems more efficiently and at high volume,” Kim said. “Staying ahead of the curve is important, particularly where threats are advancing quickly. We need to produce these systems at-volume and at-rate. Being part of Boeing makes that possible.”

Kevin Paxton, senior technical fellow at Boeing, said the company is learning from Millennium, as well.

“Boeing has a lot of space and launch capabilities, but we’re not known for rapid development and deployment. Millennium Space Systems brings that agility into the fold and that’s worked out very well. At the same time, they can reach back into Boeing for additional technical or manufacturing support. Together we can deploy capabilities to the warfighter much more quickly as a result and at much lower cost than we’ve done traditionally.”

Being able to be both fast and efficient is critical as satellite constellations grow from a few to dozens or more.

“One of the main advantages of small satellite constellations is when you build those small satellites in volume, the unit price goes down significantly,” Kim said. “That means you have more affordable systems performing the missions that are traditionally done by larger, more expensive systems. And because you have multiple small satellites in the constellation, you also get built-in resiliency.”

The threat posed by anti-satellite weapons is lessened when the number of satellites in the constellation increases.

“Another advantage of small satellites is that because these advanced threats are constantly evolving, you’re having to refresh the technology of your constellation constantly,” Kim said. “With smaller, less expensive satellites, you’re able to field technology refreshments faster and more often.”

Smaller, less costly satellites can be designed for shorter lifespans, therefore enabling more rapid technology refresh and vastly shortened deployment schedules.   

“Typical development times from design to launch for small satellites can span between 12 to 36 months,” Kim said. “Then you could commission these small satellites within weeks to months, once they launch and go on-orbit.”

In one case, the Tetra-1 program, Millennium Space Systems delivered the promised satellite in under 15 months.

“We expect that spacecraft to launch in 2022 and it’s going to geosynchronous orbit to form new techniques, tactics, procedures, and concepts of operation for Space Force Guardians,” Kim said referring to Tetra-1 program. “With the Tetra-1 program, we worked very collaboratively with the Space Force.  We got to know their expectations, requirements, and design elements intimately. That allows us to address requirements very rapidly, working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Space Force to ensure performance, cost, schedule, and delivery meets every expectation.”

SDA Awards $1.8 Billion in Contracts for 126 Satellites

SDA Awards $1.8 Billion in Contracts for 126 Satellites

Feb. 28, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Development Agency has awarded contracts for the 126 satellites that will make up its Tranche 1 Transport Layer, splitting the deal between Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and York Space Systems, it announced Feb. 28.

All told, the three contracts for 42 satellites each have a combined value of approximately $1.8 billion—$700 million to Lockheed Martin, $692 million to Northrop Grumman Strategic Space Systems, and $382 million to York. The satellites are currently slated for launch in September 2024.

The contract awards come almost exactly six months after the SDA first issued its request for proposals for the tranche of satellites, intended to be the first warfighting capability tranche of the National Defense Space Architecture. NDSA is planned as a massive DOD constellation for missile warning, communications, data coverage and sharing, and other capabilities

“These awards will drive delivery of the NDSA’s data and communications Transport Layer through a proliferated constellation of relatively small, mass-producible space vehicles in low Earth orbit,” Derek Tournear, SDA director, said in a press release.

“This innovative mesh network of small satellites will link terrestrial warfighting domains to space sensors, allowing warfighters much faster access to data so they can stay ahead of emerging threats,” Erik Daehler, protected communications mission area leader at Lockheed Martin Space, said in a company release.

“Our T1TL solution combines decades of proven end-to-end satellite system integration and heritage communication mission expertise accumulated across multiple orbital regimes to rapidly field these critical capabilities to warfighters in the field,” Robert Fleming, vice president and general manager of strategic space systems at Northrop Grumman, said in a statement.

”We are honored to again have SDA’s confidence in executing the agency’s vision,” Dirk Wallinger, CEO of York, said in a statement. “Their competitive, fixed-price procurements leverage York’s private capital investments to deliver low-risk, industry-leading constellations today and well into the future.”

Maxar Technologies, which filed a protest against the request in October 2021, causing it to be rescinded and then relaunched, was not selected for a contract. Maxar did not immediately respond to an Air Force Magazine inquiry as to whether it will protest the contracts awarded.

The Tranche 1 Transport Layer is intended to give the Pentagon a range of options for sharing information if signals are jammed or systems destroyed and serve as the “backbone” for Joint all-domain command and control, connecting sensors and shooters across the globe with a mesh network of small satellites.

Tranche 0 of the NDSA, consisting of 28 satellites, is slated for launch no later than 2023. SDA awarded 10 satellites each to Lockheed and York in that tranche, with L3Harris and SpaceX receiving awards for four each.

Putin Puts Nuclear Forces on High Alert, Escalating Tensions

Putin Puts Nuclear Forces on High Alert, Escalating Tensions

Feb. 27, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

The Defense Department on Feb. 27 called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put his strategic forces on high combat alert “escalatory” but said the U.S. will defend its interests and allies against any threat.

“We remain confident in our ability to defend ourselves, and our allies, and our partners, and that includes in the strategic deterrent realm,” a senior defense official said at a morning telephone briefing with journalists.

In a televised statement early Feb. 27, Putin said that in response to “aggressive statements” by NATO, he was putting his nuclear forces on high combat alert.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III became aware of Putin’s announcement shortly before an 8:30 a.m. secure video teleconference with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Army Gen. Mark A. Milley and combatant commanders, including commander of U.S. European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Tod D. Wolters.

“We believe that this is not only an unnecessary step for him to take but an escalatory one,” the defense official said of Putin’s announcement. “Unnecessary because Russia has never been under threat by the West or by NATO, and certainly wasn’t under any threat by Ukraine.”

The official declined as a matter of policy to discuss the specifics of the U.S. strategic deterrence posture or if it would change in response to the Russian announcement.

“We are in the very early phases here reviewing and trying to analyze what Mr. Putin’s directive on nuclear forces, what that means,” the official said.

The move will not deter the United States from continuing to provide defense assistance to Ukraine, however.

“We continue to provide assistance to Ukrainian armed forces,” the official said. “That support is going to go forward.”

On Feb. 24, a B-52 Stratofortress interacted with Polish MiG-29 aircraft in the Baltic region during a “long-planned Bomber Task Force Europe mission,” a U.S. Air Forces in Europe spokesperson told Air Force Magazine. The four B-52s from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., arrived at RAF Fairford, U.K., on Feb. 10 for a notional three-week Bomber Task Force Europe mission. A U.S. Strategic Command spokesperson told Air Force Magazine at the time that the bomber’s deployment timeline “could move to the right or left” depending on the security situation. 

Ukrainian Resistance, Logistics Challenges Slow Russian Momentum

Ukrainian Resistance, Logistics Challenges Slow Russian Momentum

Feb. 27, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 12:10 p.m. on Feb. 27 to include new information about the unfolding war in Ukraine and the announcement that the U.S. will send additional aid.

Russia’s advance in Ukraine had slowed to a stop outside Kyiv in the face of logistics and fuel shortages while Ukraine had used “creative” solutions to defend their country, a senior defense official told journalists early Feb. 27, including reportedly using a drone to destroy a Russian mechanized column. Still, heavy fighting continued in the second city of Kharkiv; Russian naval assets positioned near Odessa; and a “siege” approach had begun on the city of Chernihiv, northeast of Kyiv, raising the prospect of more civilian deaths, the Defense Department reported.

“The Ukrainians are putting up a very stiff, and brave, and heroic resistance,” the defense official said. “The Russians have been frustrated; they have been slowed; they have been stymied; and they have been resisted by the Ukrainians. And to some degree, they have done it to themselves in terms of their fuel and logistics and sustainment problems.”

Nonetheless, the official said DOD expects that Russia will adapt and overcome the setbacks.

“They have a significant amount of combined arms capability still at their beck and call,” the official added.

The developments come as Ukraine agreed to talks with Russia without conditions at the Belarus border. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly spoke to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who guaranteed the security of a Ukrainian delegation.

The reports come as western partners continue to flow defense assistance to Ukraine.

President Joe Biden authorized another $350 million in defense assistance Feb. 25 with convoys of military assistance from the U.S. and other partners flowing uninhibited into Ukraine, DOD reported. The additional defense assistance authorization will include anti-armor, small arms, munitions, body armor, and related equipment. U.S. defense assistance to Ukraine in the last year now totals $1 billion.

DOD assessed that Russian forces remain 30 kilometers north of Kyiv.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed as of Feb. 27 to have destroyed 146 Russian tanks, 27 airplanes, 26 helicopters, 706 armored combat vehicles, 49 artillery pieces, and an anti-missile aircraft system; and counted 4,300 Russian soldiers dead and nearly 200 taken as prisoner. The downed aircraft reportedly included in the prior day three Su-30 aircraft, two Su-25 aircraft, and two IL-76MD aircraft.

Ukraine reported 210 Ukrainian deaths and 1,100 wounded with no distinction between military and civilian, according to information provided by a Ukrainian defense official to Air Force Magazine.

DOD now reports the Russian siege on Chernihiv has included rocket fire into the city, increasing the likelihood of destroying civilian infrastructure and deaths of civilians.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry reports that it is documenting Russian war crimes to include attacks on two civilian vessels in the Black Sea approaching Ukraine, shelling that hit kindergarten classrooms and orphanages, firing on ambulance crews in Zaporizhia and Kyiv, hospitals under fire, and heightened radiation levels from the Chernobyl exclusion zone after the Russian military took control of the nuclear power plant, holding 92 hostages.

“We are collecting these and other materials, which we will immediately transfer to The Hague,” read a statement from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

The Russian Ministry of Defense’s website has been down since at least the second day of the invasion.

Despite a stalled advance on the capital of Kyiv, the Defense Department said Feb. 27 Russia had committed inside Ukraine about two-thirds of the forces it had amassed. Initial estimates said Russia had prepared up to 190,000 troops for the invasion.

Russia also has made new amphibious landings potentially involving thousands of naval infantry from the Sea of Azov; and is now moving forces from Crimea northeast toward the city of Mariupol, near the disputed Donbas region, where Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded with a force that he called “peacekeepers” Feb. 21.

Air Space Still Contested

Initial strikes targeted airfields where Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29s, Su-27s, and L-39s operated, and where S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile systems are based, reported Aviation Week, citing the Ukraine Ministry of Defense. DOD now counts more than 320 ballistic and cruise missile strikes on Ukrainian territory, but said that Ukrainian air defense systems remain operational.

“Air space is still contested,” the official said, noting Russia has not achieved air superiority. Ukrainian air missile defense systems are still working, and Ukraine has aircraft in the air, though they have been degraded by strikes.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart, defense minister Oleksii Reznikov, on Feb. 24, promising continued U.S. support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and defense assistance.

Zelensky in an early Feb. 25 statement praised sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European allies against Russia, but he said the sanctions were not stopping the Russian onslaught in his country, calling for more defense assistance and stiffer sanctions, to include removing Russia from the international banking system SWIFT. As of Feb. 26, reports indicated that President Biden was seriously weighing the measure.

Following a Feb. 25 call with Biden, Zelensky applauded U.S. support in a tweet. White House press secretary Jen Psaki then announced new sanctions on Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Thompson to Cadets: The US Will Have Machines That Decide to Kill

Thompson to Cadets: The US Will Have Machines That Decide to Kill

Feb. 25, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

The Space Force’s second-in-command told Air Force Academy cadets attending a leadership conference that the U.S. will need machines to make decisions that kill—and that confronting the inherent ethical dilemmas “can’t wait.”

Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David D. Thompson brought up lethal autonomous weapons systems during a question-and-answer panel conversation that also featured three other senior leaders: Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and the Chief Master Sergeants of the Air Force and Space Force, JoAnne S. Bass and Roger A. Towberman. 

The four senior leaders answered questions posed by cadets and local attendees of the Air Force Academy’s National Character and Leadership Symposium on Feb. 25. The two-day symposium’s 2022 theme was “Ethics and Respect for Human Dignity.”  

Admitting he’d gotten a “sneak peek” at a question about ethics in the context of hypersonic weapons, Thompson took the opportunity to talk about a type bristling with even more ethical dilemmas—lethal autonomous weapon systems, often referred to by critics of the concept as “killer robots.”

Those weren’t Thompson’s words. He did, however, convey a sense of urgency in terms of needing to have them while also predicting, on the hypersonics side, a period of strategic instability the likes of the early Cold War.

In terms of hypersonic weapons—those able to fly five times the speed of sound—Thompson said they’re ethically “not that much different than things that we’ve done in the past. It’s a tremendous operational and technical challenge. We need to make sure that they’re part of our arsenal. We need to develop defenses against them. And we will.”

He suspects the instability will come with adding a nuclear component.

“When you couple hypersonic weapons with nuclear weapons, it’s tremendously unstable in a strategic sense,” Thompson said. “And we have to understand [how] to deal, again, with a period of strategic instability they might produce—like we frankly saw in the nation back in the early days of the Cold War.”

Thompson then segued into the subject of lethal autonomous weapons—those expected to rely on artificial intelligence. His remark followed the United Nations’ failure in December 2021 to make headway toward a treaty that would ban them.

Their inevitability comes down to “the speed of war—how quickly things are going to have to happen in the future,” Thompson told the cadets. “We’re going to have to have machines that make decisions—like Chief Towberman talked about—that kill people.” (Towberman had talked about the ethics of killing more broadly.) 

“And we can’t wait,” Thompson continued. “We cannot let technology drive that, and we can’t wait until it’s thrust upon us to think through and understand how we have to deal with that ethically—when, how, and should we let machines make decisions to kill people. And we have to deal with it because that’s exactly where our adversaries are going.”

NATO Activates Response Force; Austin Calls on Allies to Increase Contributions

NATO Activates Response Force; Austin Calls on Allies to Increase Contributions

Feb. 25, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

NATO has for the first time activated about one-third of its response force, including some 7,000 U.S. troops, while Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III called on allies to further strengthen the alliance against potential Russian aggression following its invasion of Ukraine.

“President Putin’s decision to pursue his aggression against Ukraine is a terrible strategic mistake for which Russia will pay a severe price for years to come,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg after a virtual meeting of NATO heads of state Feb. 25.

Stoltenberg said NATO activated its defense plans Feb. 24, deploying elements of the NATO response force (NRF) on land, sea, and in the air. President Joe Biden’s public statement announcing the deployment of an additional 7,000 U.S. troops to Germany supports the NATO NRF effort.

“We stand ready, if called upon by NATO, to support the NRF in the defense of the alliance,” Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said in a Feb. 25 briefing. “A good chunk of the 7,000…will be earmarked for NATO contributions. Again, if it’s deemed that they are needed.”

Kirby emphasized that the American troops are meant to defend the NATO alliance, not fight Russia.

“The President has been very clear that U.S. troops will not be fighting in Ukraine,” he said.

Austin’s Feb. 24 decision was accompanied by a series of calls with 15 NATO allies and European counterparts about the Russian war against Ukraine.

The conversations included individual calls with his counterparts in Canada and Turkey; a joint call with defense ministers from France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom; and, for the first time, a secure teleconference with his counterparts from the Bucharest Nine (B-9) eastern flank countries, which include Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.

In the calls, Austin noted the 15,000 additional U.S. troops sent to Europe in recent weeks and months, and called on his counterparts to consider additional contribution to strengthen NATO and bolster Ukraine’s defenses.

In addition to thousands of U.S., Canadian, and European troops on the eastern flank of the alliance, NATO maintains 100 jets on high alert at 30 operating locations and 120 ships at sea, including three carrier strike groups.

“We must stand ready to do more,” Stoltenberg said. “Even if it means we have to pay a price, because we are in this for the long haul.”

Stoltenberg said only one-third of the NRF, which totals some 40,000 troops, had been activated, adding the NRF has tripled since Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014.

Russia now poses a new threat to European security, he said.

“The Kremlin’s objectives are not limited to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said, referring to two draft treaties presented by Putin in December calling for a withdrawal of all NATO forces from member states that joined after 1997 as well as blocking any future NATO membership, to include Ukraine and Georgia.

NATO and the United States have rejected Russia’s demands, which Putin said were based on Russian security concerns. In January, NATO met with Russia to discuss its concerns, and offered further negotiations on areas including arms control, missile-defense, and military exercises.

Given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Stoltenberg said the alliance had to take Putin’s threat of non-compliance seriously and shore up the eastern flank of the alliance, which borders Russia and Belarus, where tens of thousands of Russian troops are operating.

“If we don’t meet the demands, there will be what they call ‘military technical consequences,’” Stoltenberg said. “So, we have to take this seriously. And that’s exactly why we are now deploying the NATO response force for the first time in a collective defense.”

Stoltenberg said some of the NRF air component was already active, while some land troops would be ready in “a few days.”

The Secretary-General said the alliance continued to show unity in its support for NATO partner Ukraine.

“NATO allies have and continue to provide support … [and] different types of equipment to Ukraine,” he said. “Allies announced, and also informed, other allies about the type of weapons, the type of support, and some of that also includes air defense systems.”

In a statement issued by NATO Feb. 25, the alliance condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, enabled by Belarus, and called on Russia to “immediately cease its military assault, to withdraw all its forces from Ukraine, and to turn back from the path of aggression it has chosen.”

The statement called the NRF movements “preventive, proportionate, and non-escalatory.”

Responding to reports that Ukraine had agreed to begin peace talks with Russia in Minsk, Stoltenberg said Moscow had an easy path to peace:

“If they want peace, it’s just stop … attack[ing] Ukraine.”

Spark Tank Finalists: Video Games as the Future of Training?

Spark Tank Finalists: Video Games as the Future of Training?

Feb. 25, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

The Department of the Air Force’s annual Spark Tank competition takes place March 4, when six teams will take to the stage at the AFA Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla. Each team will pitch the most senior leaders in the Air and Space Forces on how their innovations can save money, improve the lives of Airmen and Guardians, and transform the department.

Air Force Magazine is highlighting one team each day from now through March 3. Today, we look at “DAGGER: Developing Airmen and Guardians with Games for Enhanced Readiness,” led by Matthew Correia of Air University’s Eaker Center at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

For decades now, the Air Force has used simulators with varying levels of technology to train its pilots—the most modern systems cost millions of dollars and are considered crucial to training future pilots.

But at their core, pilots in simulators aren’t all that different from Airmen playing on an Xbox, contends Correia.

“Simulators are unique, one-of-a-kind products, but in a true sense, they’re actually games,” Correia told Air Force Magazine. “They’re specific, but they’re actually games, just like League of Legends.”

That belief is at the heart of Correia’s pitch for Spark Tank. The Air Force, he said, needs to embrace video games for more than just training pilots to fly, but instead for a range of skills across the entire force.

The thought of using something like League of Legends, a multiplayer online game where players battle using fantastical characters, or Minecraft, a game where characters can explore a seemingly endless blocky 3-D world to mine and build, to train Airmen and Guardians will strike many as strange, Correia acknowledged. 

But in recent months, Air Force leaders have introduced the new Airman Leadership Qualities, which will be integrated into feedback, and those qualities include skills like teamwork, communication, decision making, and innovation. And those skills are things video games can teach, Correia said.

“Let’s practice the competencies of the executive functions, such as critical thinking, resource management, creative thinking, those things,” Correia said. “And within a game, you have the opportunity to do that. The game can be created, or the games actually already exist, where the solution is not one answer, it can be a range of answers, which is what true life is.”

The Air Force already uses a similar concept at Air University, with the leadership reaction course, a series of obstacles used to test leadership and cooperation. 

“That particular course, … the physical course you have to run through, what is called the leadership reaction course, I cannot think of any officer that does not remember that event,” Correia said. “The goal is not whether you make it through. You’re given 20 minutes time to solve the puzzle. … Whether you make it through or not is irrelevant. What’s important is, did you apply good communication, did you apply good decision making, did you apply good teamwork competencies? That’s the most important piece.”

With DAGGER, Correia wants to take the fun aspects of the leadership reaction course and make them digital—and thus global. 

“I could go on to a cyber leadership reaction course here in the United States, with someone in Germany, someone in Korea, and quite literally, so long as the forward operating base has internet access, I could [work with] that person whatever continent they’re on,” Correia said. “And we could practice our competencies.”

But it’s not just for everyday training and fun—Correia’s vision for DAGGER is to completely change the structure of how the Air Force and Space Force approach everything from professional military education to professional continuing education courses, to annual assessments and feedback.

The services should “embrace this opportunity to shift from lectures or computer-based training to game-based training or game-based learning,” Correia said.

That shift would be welcomed by Airmen and Guardians, he argued. An Air Force survey found that tens of thousands of young Airmen identify as gamers, and Air Force Gaming, the department’s gaming organization, has more than 15,000 registered users.

And for those who dismiss games as distractions or something Airmen do just for fun?

“My response is, yes, it is fun. It’s fun to learn accountability, communication, decision-making, leadership. Games are serious. That’s why we call them simulators,” Correia said. “And you know, just because it’s a caricature that doesn’t exist in real life, like in League of Legends, … or it’s sort of a futuristic or maybe fictitious sort of activity, does not lessen it from being a powerful and effective learning instrument.”

Read about the other Spark Tank finalists: