Shaun Waterman
Recent stories by Shaun Waterman
Cyber Guardians Get Some Friendly Competition While Training to Defend NRO
When Delta 26, the Space Force unit that defends the National Reconnaissance Office from cyberattacks and online espionage, wanted to stage competitive training exercises this year, they used a private sector cyber range for part of the contests and run them at an unclassified level, ...
Air Force Electronic Warfare Chief Sees Limits to AI
Artificial intelligence and machine learning may in the future offer important capabilities to the Air Force’s electronic warfare, but that day is still some time off, according to one of the service's top EW officers.
Will DOD’s New Cybersecurity Program Stifle Small Businesses or Get Them to Tighten Up?
Next year, the long delayed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, or CMMC, will introduce cybersecurity compliance requirements into DOD contracts. Some are worried this added burden might discourage small and innovative companies from competing to sell to the Air and Space Forces. Others are proposing ...
To Boost Tech Innovation, NATO Follows Path Blazed by Air Force
NATO has taken a page from the Air Force’s innovation playbook, setting up a technology accelerator and a venture fund to nurture and financially support small companies working on cutting edge technology development in critical fields.
Facing Growing Threats, Space Industry Expands Its Cyber Warning Center
The Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a U.S. industry-run nonprofit that helps commercial space operators share data about cyberattacks and other threats, is expanding to the U.K. and other American allies, aiming to build a global organization that will protect civilian space assets as ...
Data Integrity, Not Cyber Attacks, Are What Most Worry Space Command’s Cyber Boss
What keeps the digital warriors charged with fighting America's wars in space awake at night isn’t cyber attacks per se, but more nebulous threats to the integrity of their data, the chief information officer of U.S. Space Command told an industry conference.
Headbands That Can Take Vital Signs: Air Commandos Try Out High-Tech Fabrics
High-Altitude, Low-Opening (HALO) parachute jumpers from Air Force Special Operations Command are sporting new headbands, woven from advanced fibers that measure and report the wearers’ vital signs, transmitting the data to a tablet or other device nearby. The HALO jumper headband is just one of a ...
Air Force Will Take Lead in Joint Prototype Battle Management Tech
The Department of the Air Force will be taking over the Pentagon’s prototype Joint Fires Network, or JFN, as it transitions to a fully fledged program of record, program executive officer for command, control, communications, and battle management Maj. Gen. Luke C.G. Cropsey told reporters ...
AI Will Enhance Logistics—If Systems Get Modernized First, Vendors Say
Artificial intelligence could be a force multiplier in logistics and sustainment for managing Air Force systems and technology, but there's no magic wand that can sprinkle AI dust to magically modernize legacy systems, vendors said.
Lockheed Eyes Low-Cost Attritable Drone for CCA Increment 2
Lockheed Martin, having “gold-plated” its initial bid for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, will focus on lower cost, more attritable aircraft in its proposal for the second increment, the head of the company’s legendary Skunk Works division told reporters Sept. 17.
Expert: Air Force, Other Services Need to Embrace Cyber as Weapon of War
As the Air Force weighs the way it presents its cyber and other nonkinetic forces with the forthcoming reorganization of the 16th Air Force, some are keen for cyber operators to be more upfront about their warfighter role. Former U.S. Navy Principal Cyber Advisor Chris ...
As Questions Hang Over the 16th Air Force, New Boss Moves to Fine Tune Info Warfare
The 16th Air Force, a sprawling Numbered Air Force that encompasses cyber attacks, electronic warfare, traditional surveillance and reconnaissance, public affairs and information operations, and weather forecasting, is due for a major shakeup, new commander Lt. Gen Thomas K. Hensley acknowledged, as Air Forces Cyber ...
Experts: Time Is Running Out for DOD to Execute Its Commercial Space Strategy
Time is running out for the Pentagon to fully integrate commercial space capabilities into its architectures as it said it would in its April strategy, former officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Air Force’s New Integrated Capabilities Office Aims to Overhaul Acquisition
Tim Grayson, who heads the Department of the Air Force's new Integrated Capabilities Office, has a mandate to tear up the department's acquisition playbook in order to get new technologies into warfighter hands more quickly, he explained July 31.
The Air Force’s Zero Trust Strategy Is Out—and Acknowledges Big Hurdles.
The Department of the Air Force faces significant hurdles in implementing the Pentagon’s latest cybersecurity approach, dubbed Zero Trust, and will fail altogether if it continues to lag on key issues, according to its own strategy document.