Robbin Laird, Author at Second Line of Defense

A New UK Shipbuilding Strategy?

Posted on December 2, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

12/02/2016

2016-12-02 The Royal Navy is in need of new ships and more of them than can be generated by the normal construction process.

A virtually untold story about the building of the new carrier in the UK is how industry –commercial and defense – were mobilized in a very innovative modular construction process to deliver two large deck carriers in a very innovative manner.

In part based on that experience, the UK MoD is looking for new ways to address ship construction in the UK. The report delivered on November 29, 2016 by Sir John Parker is an input to that rethinking process.

In addition for a call to diversity the shipyards involved in delivering the final product, the report calls for a modular construction process to deliver ships to the Royal Navy, which are less complex and more easily configured for exports.

Computer Generated Image of the Type 26 Global Combat Ship, which is due to come into service after 2020 an Anti-Submarine Warfare warship to be used in protection of the Continuous at Sea Deterrent and Carrier Strike, combat and counter piracy operations and to support humanitarian and disaster relief work around the world. © Crown Copyright.

Parker, who is currently chairman of mining company Anglo American, added that the Type 31 frigates should be built quickly to boost navy fleet numbers but also to have a competitive export product that could be designated as Type 31e.

“The new Type 31e should not set out to be a complex and sophisticated warship based on traditional design approaches. It should be a modern and innovative design on a standard platform, which should provide a menu of choice to support exports and beat the competition. It should be termed Type 31e. The ‘e’ means that export flexibility is inbuilt, not a variant,” Parker said.

http://navaltoday.com/2016/11/29/uk-naval-shipbuilding-needs-to-be-quicker-independent-report-finds/

According to a recent story on the UK Ministry of Defence website, the report was described in the following terms:

Sir John Parker’s Independent Report into naval shipbuilding published today (29 November) sets out far-reaching recommendations to transform the United Kingdom’s shipbuilding industry and boost the prosperity of shipyards and supply chains across the country.

Based on extensive consultation with government, industry, and trades unions, it will inform the government’s National Shipbuilding Strategy to be published in the spring.

Sir John’s report is a fundamental reappraisal of how we undertake naval shipbuilding in the UK with the aim of placing it on a sustainable long-term footing.

It enables the foundations to be laid for a modern, efficient, and competitive sector capable of meeting the country’s future defence and security needs.

The report identifies key areas where government and industry must invest in order for UK shipbuilding to thrive:

Modern digital engineering
Industrial innovation
Competitiveness
Focus on apprenticeships and jobs
Export-focus

Sir John Parker said:

Should Government, Industry and the Trade Unions rise to the challenges I have set, I believe we can establish a new era of collaboration and success across the ‘Total Enterprise’.

It will create savings over the coming years for MOD, renew the Royal Navy fleet, position the UK for new export opportunities and create regional prosperity and highly skilled jobs across the UK in the Shipyards and supply chain.

One of the opportunities that Sir John identifies is the way Scotland’s cutting edge technology can allow for Modular Construction, in which ship components are produced across the UK before being assembled at a central Hub.

The build of the Royal Navy’s largest ever warships, the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers, has already demonstrated the success of such an approach, with multiple shipyards and hundreds of companies across the UK working together and benefiting from the aircraft carrier build.

Welcoming the report on behalf of the government, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:

I would like to thank Sir John for providing an ambitious vision of naval shipbuilding in the UK based on a new era of cooperation as part of our modern industrial strategy.

This report will inform our National Shipbuilding Strategy to match the needs of the Royal Navy with the ability to design and build efficiently, maintain skills, and maximise export opportunities.

This will ensure a strong naval shipbuilding sector and help deliver an economy that works for everyone.

The government will publish a full response, and implementation plan, in spring 2017. This response will be the National Shipbuilding Strategy and a vital part of the government’s industrial strategy that focuses on increasing economic growth across the country and investing in a more skilled workforce.

Sir John’s vision means maintaining Britain’s naval prowess to ensure its role in the world. It also means using the opportunities of Britain’s shipbuilding expertise to become a leading producer of ships for export.

There is already a vibrant shipbuilding and marine engineering sector across the UK. Around 15,000 people are directly employed in UK shipbuilding and repair, with an additional 10,000 jobs indirectly supported through the wider supply chain in the UK. The government is committed to seeing that grow even stronger, with a new focus on exports.

Backed by a rising defence budget, the government is investing billions in a growing Royal Navy building two new aircraft carriers, new Type 26 Global Combat Ships, Dreadnought and Astute class submarines, and offshore patrol vessels. We are also developing a new class of General Purpose Frigate so that by the 2030s we can grow the size of the fleet. This major programme of investment will increase the power and reach of our Royal Navy.

UK MoD

11/29/16

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/parker-review-blueprint-for-a-strong-naval-shipbuilding-sector

uk_national_shipbuilding_strategy_report-final-20161103

South Korean 10th Fighter Wing Exercises Rapid Generation of Sorties

Posted on December 2, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

2016-12-02 According to a story written by Sang-Yun Kim and published on the South Korean Ministry of Defence website, the 10th Fighter Wing participated in a recent exercise for rapid response in a crisis.

10th Air Force Fighter Wing (hereinafter referred to as 10th FW) had a Practice Generation for the rapid sortie of F-5 fighter during times of war as part of the Operation Readiness Exercise (ORE) held on November 22.

The training was conducted urgently under the assumption of an enemy air raid.

An armed mechanic, a group of four, rapidly equipped an F-5 fighter with the maximum number of arms, such as air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground bombs, etc., within the given time limit.

The Practice Generation is a training program to equip the maximum number of operable arms to fighters rapidly and accurately in the case of an emergency combat sortie.

In particular, the 10th FW, as a part of the core air force group responsible for airspace protection over the capital city, has been executing practice generations regularly in order to assure a rapid sortie in times of war.

Lieutenant Yun Ju-hoe, 207 maintenance company commander, said, “Our rapid sally back when an enemy makes an air raid is a key to the success of operation. Through repetitive training of armed soldiers, we will raise the degree of completion of reaction posture.“

http://www.mnd.go.kr/user/boardList.action?command=view&page=1&boardId=O_47261&boardSeq=O_145437&mcategoryId=&id=mnd_eng_030100000000

Creating Terror-Free Zones: How a Citizen Organization is Helping in the Philippines

Posted on December 2, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

2016-11-28 By Albert Santoli, President, Asia America Initiative

The Philippine archipelago of 7,000 islands and water passages of trade, defense and communications form a strategic crossroad vital to the security to the entire Pacific Region and the West Coast of the United States.

The strategic relationship between the United States and the Philippines is currently sliding into jeopardy due to political faux pas by both sides, aided by the clever manipulation of China.

A solution to maintaining people-to-people alliances is a citizen diplomacy approach. This includes anti-poverty and community-based good governance programs unrelated to political influence or funding by the US government.

Map of Philippines highlights key sea transit routes from Asia.

A modest-sized Virginia-based organization, Asia America Initiative, has devoted more than a decade of citizen diplomacy relationships with both Muslim and Christian communities in the Philippines. The tri-border area [with Malaysia and Indonesia] of Sulu is where AAI has based its most dynamic friendship programs.

We have a partnership of trust with local civic leaders and educators.

Among one of the most significant areas of the Philippines is the southern 125 islands of the Sulu archipelago, a fiercely independent-minded Muslim region dominated by the Tausug and Yakkan tribes [largely on Basilan island] that forms a scorpions tail between the former Spanish capitol of the Philippines, Zamboanga and the narrow Malacca Strait between Indonesia and Malaysia.

All maritime traffic between East and West Asia [including the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf] must transit this narrow passageway into the South China Sea, where China is building artificial islands to serve as naval stations and air force runways capable of threatening all of its neighbors from Southeast Asia to Japan and South Korea.

An estimated $5 trillion worth of goods are transported through South China Sea shipping lanes each year. This includes more than half the world’s annual merchant fleet tonnage and a third of all maritime traffic worldwide.

The alternative to the Malacca Straits is a seldom-used passage through Sulu Archipelago that transits the Celebes Sea toward the Pacific Ocean.

While Beijing has been steadily building an aggressive hegemonic presence to dominate the region, extremist Muslim organizations have entered the Muslim Mindanao region seeking to exploit intensive poverty – considered by the United Nations to rival the poorest nations in Africa – and strive for an independent caliphate.

Strategic Distances Phillipines

During the past decade, US special operations forces made a variety of mistakes that enhanced corruption by local warlords. Diplomats and colonels in the US embassy traded permission to create barbed-wire mini-forts in Mindanao in exchange for ignoring the smuggling of meth-amphetamines “made in” China.

The meth trade, controlled largely by political bosses, created a plague of criminal violence that can divide communities through the fear of ruthless kidnap gangs. In 2016, this led to hostility toward the US by the new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, the long-time mayor of Davao City in Mindanao where he was born.

In a familiar story related to the US “war on terror,” billions of dollars has been spent by USAID, the US State Department and the US military’s “soft power” programs.

However, corruption, mismanagement and the gap between rich and poor has dramatically grown.

This has provided a populist pulpit for President Duterte to blame all the country’s problems on US neo-colonialism.

He has visited China and Russia where he railed against the US and voiced the desire for a “strategic partnership” with Moscow, Beijing and Manila “against the world.”

Throughout this period, Asia America Initiative has maintained constructive relationships with the communities we assist, with full respect for their own dignity.

Our coordination teams consist of local teachers, nurses and community leaders who understand our stringent accountability procedures. Because we accept no US or Philippine government funds we are not obligated to play any game which reinforces corruption.

Even when the situation has grown closer to another full-scale war, I travel to our program areas to reinforce our message to residents that they are not alone and that progress is possible.

On September 6, 2016, one week after a terror bombing in the night market in Davao killed and wounded scores of people I arrived in Sulu on a crowded ferryboat. Across the Philippines, a fierce drug war has taken 3,000 lives.

I was the lone Westerner among 500 Muslim Filipino Moro people on a 5 hour ferry boat ride from Zamboanga. The province of 125 islands is arguably the most feared place in Southeast Asia.

The region was on edge with a new President and former “vigilante” Mayor of Davao, Roddy Duterte, swearing revenge against those who took credit for the Davao attack.

Planeload after planeload of hard-edged Filipino soldiers with heavy weapons was being rushed into the forests and hills surrounding the city of Jolo.

The echoing explosions of artillery could be heard day and night.

In the urban area kidnappings was a daily threat, with children as young as 5 years old victimized and the principal of the city’s largest elementary school receiving an anonymous text message death threat.

The Philippines as seen from a global perspective.

Some 4,000 families were internally displaced from the homes in the combat zones. They were given refuge in some of the 30 public schools – from pre-kindergarten nursery to college grad schools — that Asia America Initiative supports.

Practicing “Citizen Diplomacy,” we take no funds from either the US or Filipino government. It was my personal choice to provide assistance to displaced families and moral support to communities under siege to create “Child Friendly” Peace Zones.

Our main events in four days of non-stop activities were an open air “Education Fiesta” in the District of Indanan, and a “Health Fiesta” in the large open schoolyard of Mohammad Tulawie Central School where the principal had received the threat.

We could not have achieved these events without three trucks of local paramilitary police who secured our safety and also the shadowy presence of law-abiding Moro National Liberation Front guerillas who protected our flanks and made their presence known to back-off any potential Abu Sayyaf Group meth-head assassins.

The events were conducted without interruption. This is the Tausug tribal way.

We thank God and appreciate the teamwork of many groups who created our spontaneous “peace zones.”

Citizen Diplomacy, as Asia America Initiative conducts, is based on mutual respect, friendship proven over time. The key component is trust between those communities who cannot escape and their friends from abroad who choose to be with them and share the same risks.

Across the world, as politics, economics and bloody cultural feuds continue to fester, Great Power rivalries are playing out in proxy wars. Bilateral political and military relations can easily break down.

This is when modest-sized private organizations that have personal relationships built on years of trust within front-line communities can perform tremendous good.

On a humid afternoon at Sahaya Elementary School while I inspected the school’s garden and tool shed, artillery echoed from nearby mountains where many of the schools children live into the valley where we were chatting.

A faculty member, Ms. Jenny, asked if I regretted coming because no ferry would be departing the island for at least 20 hours.

“Can you leave?” I asked.

“No, Sir,” she responded.

“This our home and we have 200 school children too poor to buy a ticket, including my own son, who depend on us teachers.”

I looked at Jenny and her colleagues and said, “You are my friends. When times are difficult that is when I should be here. Not only when it is easy.”

Politics is never stable, but bonds of friendship built from these experiences cannot be broken.

As the strategic equation grows more complex in the Asia Pacific region the need for people to people relations grows more significant by each passing day. To achieve trust untainted by politics, private groups involved require independent private funding sources to expand their work.

At this critical time, such efforts are especially needed.

In 2017, Asia America Initiative hopes to double the number of communities and schools where we are having a positive impact with citizen diplomacy.

Our website is www.asiaamerica.org where our Pay Pal site is located.

Or you can send a contribution of any size to our address: Administrator, Asia America Initiative, 1521 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036.

Albert Santoli

Adjunct Professor, Institute of World Politics

President, Asia America Initiative

1521 16th Street NW

Washington, DC 20036

Tel 202-232-7020

Email sa*****@*********ca.org

Web www.asiaamerica.org

Breaking from the Past: Shaping a Trump Administration Template for Change

Posted on December 2, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

2016-11-28 By Robbin Laird

We are in the midst of significant global change.

The strategic dislocation of the Middle East, the Putin Russian revival, the Brexit dynamic, the Euro crisis, the German migrant opening at the middle of Europe, the Chinese power grab, the Chinese economic malaise, the Japanese power reset and one could go on.

The point is that several trends are underway at the same time and they add up to a significant redefinition of the global scene, power and policy priorities.

We will probably see an Italian government fall next week after losing a key referendum which will Italy’s future role in Europe.

A French conservative is likely to become President next year who has an opportunity to shape a de Gaulle type moment as Europe and the Trans-Atlantic community enter a very different phase of development than the past 20 years.

The next decade will be QUITE different from the past two.

Donald Trump will become President in the midst of a significant period of global change and will have his own impact upon it.

He did not invent this decade; but he is coming to power within it.

It is a decade of disruptive change with or without Donald Trump.

It is not Trump who is challenging history; it is history which has challenged the United States.

President elect Trump is appointing new faces who are not simply camp followers. A case in point is the South Carolina governor to the post of US UN Ambassador.

It is no wonder that the American voters wanted a President who sees the need for fundamental change rather than continuity with the past four presidencies.

The “globalization” template shaped in the post Cold War period is becoming part of the historical past more rapidly than might have been expected.

President Obama stated in Europe that he hoped that President Trump would not revert to realpolitik, but that is clearly what is needed for the free world facing very active and pro-active non-liberal regimes and significant crises of legitimacy at home.

Historical change is a complicated process whereby when one enters a new era, new questions are posed and answers sought, rather than simply seeking new answers to former defining questions.

It is about shaping “order within chaos,” which was the title of my PhD dissertation.

In shaping a new structure for order, new templates are forged and new consensus shaped. It is an art; not a science.

It is clear that Trump has been elected precisely to lead an effort to shape something different from the regimes which preceded him in the post-Cold War order.

Nothing less than a redefinition of American power is in process.

This is coming in the wake of the clear arrival of a multi-power competitive world with an ongoing fight against terrorism which simply does not accept liberal societies, with a small l.

It is surprising then that the vast bulk of writing about Trump shaping a new team seems to be measuring him against the past 20 years when clearly he is trying to put together a team which can shape the next decade.

If he succeeds or fails is a reasonable question; but it is clear that America has elected its first information age war president and with it a team which follow in the path which he is shaping.

As Conrad Black put it well:

Mr. Trump was running against the Bush-McCain-Romney traditional Republicans, the Cruz far-right Republicans, the Clinton-Obama long-term management of the Democrats and the quasi-Marxist Sanders left of the Democrats, and almost all the press and polling organizations.

These were impossible odds against him, except that he won.

http://www.sldforum.com/2016/11/press-turned-servile-authors-u-s-decline/

Now the same press, which got it wrong and was an attack dog during the campaign, is now pushing out a constant stream of “interpretations” of what Trump is doing or not doing.

The point is that he is trying to move America in a different direction and is trying to forge a team that can do so.

This means that rather than measuring him against the “Bush-McCain-Romney traditional Republicans, the Cruz far-right Republicans, the Clinton-Obama long-term management of the Democrats and the quasi-Marxist Sanders left of the Democrats,” analysis needs to be generated from the challenge of managing a strategic shift.

He has set a different objective for himself and his Administration: to set in motion a strategic shift for America where industry can thrive again, America defends its interests, agreements are transparent and not buried in the obscure language of multi-lateral agreements with no clear enforcement mechanism against non-liberal societies, and a defense team appointed designed to actually win a war against ISIS.

Again, he may succeed or fail; but it is against the template of change he will be judged not on how close he comes to the style, objectives, and criticisms of the “Bush-McCain-Romney traditional Republicans, the Cruz far-right Republicans, the Clinton-Obama long-term management of the Democrats and the quasi-Marxist Sanders left of the Democrats.

South Africa, Technology and Border Security: Shaping New Options

Posted on December 1, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

12/01/2016

2016-12-01 By defenceWeb

That South Africa has a particularly porous land border is well-known and almost as well-known are the efforts of mainly SA Army regulars and reserves to ensure some integrity with the oft repeated “shortage of funds” pointed out as the biggest contributor to the thousands of illegal immigrants, smugglers and traffickers who seemingly come and go as they please.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) maintains notwithstanding the limited scope for technology investment, the opportunity for novel and innovative thinking can lead to ways of doing more with what exists.

Border safeguarding in South Africa, says the national scientific research and applied knowledge organisation, entails the challenge of an extensive borderline and several hundred ports of entry.

The borderline consists of close on two thousand eight hundred kilometres of coastline, 4 800 km of land border and more than 1.2 million square kilometres of airspace. There are more than 700 registered airports of which 10 are recognised international ones, at least 52 formal land border posts and 111 seaports.

“Rich in valuable, sought-after natural assets (precious minerals and stones, rhino horn, abalone), located on an increasingly active trade route and with often non-existing, inefficient land border structures, the risk expands to economic losses through piracy, poaching, smuggling, illegal entry and the potential to unhinge regional safety and security.

“Improved border safeguarding requires close co-operation and integration between government departments responsible for defence, immigration and policing. Beyond safety and security, border breaching and protection also has social, economic, education, health, transport and migration issues,” the CSIR says.

New C2 and ISR technologies can provide for CONOPS to provide for enhanced border security.

For border control to be effective, the CSIR maintains the practical implementation of command, control, communication and surveillance technologies are key.

As an option it sees the use of an integrated concept development and experimental process to surface optimal solutions. This entails incorporating existing infrastructure, using readily available surveillance technologies and ensuring better integration of different platforms.

Field experiments are conducted in border zones to test the use of sensors, communication mechanisms and networks in combination. The ultimate aim is to manage a solution as an interoperable system adding scope to detection and providing intelligence guided command decisions and patrols, the CSIR said.

Challenges are created to add more stringency to testing. These include geographic spread and smart phone technology integrated with other communication platforms. Technology options include use of unmanned aerial systems capturing video views, cellular telephone intercepts, GPS jamming, video and audio conferencing and sharing of remote computer desktops.

The key, according to the CSIR defence and security focus section, is effective collaboration and synchronisation.

“The pivotal requirement is the means to facilitate and enable inter-departmental collaboration. This implies that the interplay between humans and processes must be interoperable for optimal and effective collaboration.”

The CSIR’s concept development and evaluation centre becomes the nerve centre of a mission where various sources are integrated into a single comprehensive view. Information from diverse systems such as radar, satellites and video feeds from unmanned aerial telemetry systems, communication devices and others can be displayed on screens to provide an integrated overview of a defence scenario. The centre is used for operations planning to create border security response strategies, centrally monitoring counter-poaching efforts and training.

Taking counter-poaching operations as an example, the CSIR sees the integrated war room as a space where officials and decision makers can instantly see collated data, for instance on poaching incidents. These are mapped out in near real-time with statistics showing number of rhino killed, number of shots fired, number of poachers caught as well as ranger and poacher movements.

By integrating a large amount of information on a central platform, patterns can also be analysed and anticipated, for instance identifying when poachers routinely target a certain area or a specific part of a fence for easy access.

The research and development organisation sees data from aerial views and camera surveillance (called in on radio or mobile phone and detected through sensors then channelled through an interoperability gateway into a software system) as giving the full border picture and pinpointing areas of concern as what can be cost-effectively achieved.

“This means improved surveillance – without sending armies of patrol staff – and the information as a deterrence mechanism or best-suited combat tactics is available to commanders.

“Smuggling, alien influx and illegal grazing across South Africa’s borders are the results of lacking or vandalised fencing and insufficient capacity to deploy on patrol. By combining various surveillance and detection technologies in integrated communication and command systems, the CSIR works to assist its defence client by expanding the ability to watch over the country’s territories,” the CSIR’s defence and security focus group says.

Republished with permission of our partner, defenceWeb.

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46097:csir-maintains-better-border-protection-is-achievable&catid=87:Border%20Security&Itemid=188

Editor’s Note: President-elect Trump has certainly highlighted the importance of enhanced border security in the United States.

In many ways, he is going back to the discussions and potentially could adopt some of the approaches discussed in the first three years after 9/11 in the United States.

There was much creative thinking about the way ahead with regard to border security that was never acted on.

With regard to a program called SBI net, it would have been possible for example, working with ways to enhance the reach and effectiveness of the border patrol to provide for improved border security.

Unfortunately, DHS focused on a pure technology solution set which really did not address the fundamental requirement, namely to enhance the performance of the border patrol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBInet

A number of the solutions offered in the RFI to SBI net could be revisited and adopted in the new strategic initiative suggested by the President-elect. In many ways, its back to the future, and keeping the promises made in the wake of 9/11 to the American people and not delivered.

Cyber Security: Paying Protection Money to the Wrong Gang

Posted on December 1, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

2016-12-01 By Michael W. Wynne, 21st Secretary of the Air Force

Summary

It is time to wake up the liability lawyers and truly drive change in the Cyber Security Field.

Corporations that are paying weekly or monthly protection money, are really stuck in a belief system that is naive. Its saving grace is that it currently protects them from liability suits from attorneys that also believe that Cyber Security is impossible, that hackable systems are a societal issue, not a correctable technical fault that has infected our networks.

This is a false mantra that needs to be questioned.

Insurance companies that are the real suckers in the deal routinely pay out losses, and now ransom money to keep our ailing system afloat in this belief system.

Folks, this is not religion, not a belief system; technologists stuck our society with a flaw identified in 1934 when Turing Computers were introduced.

This flaw has been identified and is being exploited over great distances with the spread of the Internet.

The federal government wrings its hands over exploits, and one wonders where are the innovators that were supposed to protect us.

Well they are here; in the form of Analog Programmers, using analog systems to mimic Internet Appliances.

The Problem; it is cheaper to pay the protection money than correct the fundamental flaw.

What price freedom, you ask, why pay protection money to the wrong gang.

The Cyber patching industry is not the Cyber exploitation industry, which is sophisticated, and National in Character.

We now know the answer is Analog, let’s design in security; let’s get back our freedom.

Background

Academics have known since 1934 that Turing computers were and remain inherently vulnerable to hacking as Godel and Keene Mathematically proved, and confidently expressed that proof in the years following.

The times were different; and computers were just aborning, and abandoning a rule of circuit design to firmly comprehend the relationship of every input to every output seemed acceptable when operating in isolation.

As society wallows in the deceit that a software patch can save the Turing Computing Machines that underlay the present internet, we find even senior security officials such as the Chair and Co-Chair of the Intelligence Committee espousing the thought that protection is simply unavailable.

Hackers are constantly working to break data locks. (Credit: Bigstock)

This is not fact based, but has grown to be the popular myth. This mythology has led our society to lose billions of dollars to the phenomena of Hacking.

Hacking is the exploitation, usually from a distance of the identified flaw in the Turing Machines that populate the Internet appliances. Worse; this mythology has stymied our Intelligence and Security Agencies from offering protection to America’s institutions.

So; time for a giant do-over, time to reassess where we are in the technology world. From the world of linear programming, time to increase the penalty function with the intention of introducing another technology path forward.

How this can best be done is by first identifying an alternate path that is becoming more and more well known, Using Analog Computing to mimic the intended digital circuit design, and truly design in security.

Then by asking simply, why are we still vulnerable; is that now by choice, risking our security, risking our wealth, risking our future Intellectual Property?

Is the now known corrective action too expensive, or just different?

Returning to complex circuit design to mimic the intended digital circuit can and should underpin the ‘Designed in Security’ our society seeks, a proper defense.

Current Situation

Whining beats correction.

We often boast that our innovators are the best in the world, but I am now worrying that our advantage is eroding as competitors around the world have basically invaded our collaborative activity with sophisticated Hacking, and proceeded to drain our innovative activities into their engineering designs.

We whine to them, and wring our hands. This is an awful response; and can’t represent the best of America.

But, the Capitalist will not innovate so long as the penalties are small, and the rewards are not clear. S

o; let’s begin to raise the penalty function, by refusing to pay for losses, whether caused by Corporations not moving to protect; or Banks settling Hacked accounts.

Let’s turn our attention to converting existing systems to retain functionality, but in the safe mode.

This is a far better use for the eighteen billion dollars now spent ofn the protection racket.

bigstock-Cyber-attack-concept-in-word-t-29231093

Finally, let’s understand the role of Government is allowing infrastructure to be manipulated like the Dam in upstate New York; or fretting over the invasion of the ‘Smart Grid’ and basically threatening our society with Armageddon, with the loss of the benefits of the present Internet as it applies to government.

Where have they been?

Unfortunately; they apparently do not any longer see their role as lead innovator in this Communication Space. They have taken the role of follower to an extreme level; even as that role threatens the very freedoms we hired them to protect.

How many times do we have to see the Foreign Military Innovation combining Cyber Virtual Attacks with Physical Military Attacks before we awake with devastation to our backyard.

Government asleep at the switch does not make a protected society.

We now know the answer to this scourge, let’s get on with offering our society a real fix.

Then; the penalty function can be reduced for society, and systematically increased for commercial adaptation.

The government does not need to force change or its pace; it simply needs to show the way forward.

The National Institute of Standards (NIST) has essentially declared out loud the futility of the many solutions it has encountered, citing the patience of the Advanced Persistent Threat in many papers. Can they be clearer, yes, they can identify the benefit of analog in correcting the flaw.

Where, frankly, is NIST in helping our society move forward, in lieu of further whining about the problem.

Looking Forward

Society is slowly becoming aware that the current stream of denial is a scam and they are tired of our clinging to a belief that they must remain unprotected.

Right now, they are riding an unending strife curve; and the alarms are beginning to sound as if the end of life as we know it is nigh again.

It is seeping into engineering and into design that those that have stayed with Analog are immune to this Internet Hacking, this distant and malicious, threat.

Whether aircraft safety systems, or in some of the most carefully protected areas within the Military or Industry; suddenly what is old is new again.

Our tort system is a marvelous tool for shaping our society.

Can it be used to spark change where government used to be the driving force?

It is a difficult thing to basically claim that our society is not protected by a choice, when the choice is not certified.

Basically Analog users are quiet in their situation, worrying that by claiming protection they will unleash either an inside or outside threat that they haven’t considered, but they are far better off than their digital colleagues.

What then do we need?

Right now, with all of the ‘followers’, we need a thought leader to certify the protective capability that the complex frozen analog appliance offers.

To be able to testify, if you will, that using frozen (e.g.; non reprogrammable) complex analog circuitry mimicking and replacing currently installed internet appliances satisfies the pent up desire for a corrective action against hacking; for designed in Cyber Security.

This would provide the way forward for our industry when the liability gets large, and the insurance companies raise their rates and demand action.

Protecting our society, whether water pumps, gas lines, or the electrical grid could fall to being regulated by the Department of Homeland Security to actually get protected, beyond worry –action.

Infrastructure Owners can be realistically tasked to put in place protected SCADA Systems, with motivation and support from the Department of Homeland Security, which can design and approve frozen analog complex circuitry.

These systems could then replace the currently installed Internet appliance.

Security teams from the agency who routinely monitor security procedures for these assets, can as well advise of security concerns from the internet facing appliances.

Once this breakthrough is underway Internet Service Providers, router designers, and server designers can then look to provide needed support to agencies and public corporations to protect them as vital economic assets.

Society is not stuck, but thought leaders are, time for a change.

Let’s raise the Penalty Function to force design innovation and change for the better. It can and should be one of the roles for government,

Thought Leaders should not be lawyers, and insurance companies, but the technologists that brought us this situation.

Where are they?

Also, see the following:

http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/shaping-a-new-approach-to-cyber-defense-time-for-analog/

DTIII Testing for F-35B: November 5, 2016

Posted on November 29, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

11/29/2016

2016-11-29 DTIII Testing for F-35B: Working an Integrated MAGTF at Sea

The F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant is the world’s first supersonic STOVL stealth aircraft.

USS America, with VMX-1, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VMFA-211) and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) embarked, are underway conducting operational testing and the third phase of developmental testing for the F-35B Lightning II aircraft, respectively.

DTIII Testing for F-35B: November 5, 2016 from SldInfo.com on Vimeo.

The tests will evaluate the full spectrum of joint strike fighter measures of suitability and effectiveness in an at-sea environment.

Credit: USN

11/05/16

The Next Phase for the F-35B: Empowering the Sea-Base

Posted on November 29, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

2016-11-29 By Todd Miller

The US Marine Corps (USMC) F-35 program is accelerating rapidly, and deployment is underway.

Second Line of Defense had the opportunity to see the progress in action during a “Proof of Concept” demonstration on the USS America off the coast of Southern California November 18-20, 2016.

During the visit the program status was provided by USMC Col. George “Sack” Rowell, Commanding Officer (CO) of VMX-1 (Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron) and Lt. General Jon “Dog” Davis, USMC Deputy Commandant for Aviation.

Rowell noted that VMFAT-501 the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) based at MCAS Beaufort, SC has qualified over 60 F-35B pilots to date.

These are conversion pilots, in other words coming over from the F/A-18 or the AV-8B. EA-6B pilots have been utilized in developing the CAT 1 syllabus for those pilots coming straight out of flight school into the F-35B (CAT 1 graduates are imminent).

The Marines are scheduled to train an additional 63 pilots by 2018, and these pilots from VMFAT-501 will fill the pipeline for VMFA-211 & VMFA-121 (the two current operational squadrons) as well as VMX-1, MAWST-1 (Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One) and additional Instructors for VMFAT-501.

MAWTS-1 creates fleet weapons and tactics instructors.

The F-35 is fully integrated into this course and has been for several years, where both a 4^th & 5^th Gen integration is addressed (AV-8B, F/A-18 & all other aviation platforms with F-35).

Qualified F-35 Weapons and Tactics Instructors (WTI) have graduated and additional graduates are forthcoming.

Davis indicated that he is particularly focused with the F-35 deployments.

Funding has been executed for spare parts to ensure adequate support for the deployments.

The VMFA-121 “Green Knights” are well into their deployment to Japan to be complete January 2017.

VMFA-121 will deploy at sea in 2018, as will VMFA-211 “Wake Island Avengers.”

Davis is now focused on the “Werewolves” of VMFA-122, the next F-35B squadron that will move from F/A-18s and stand-up in F-35Bs out of MCAS Yuma.

Next up in 2019/2020 will be the “Black Knights,” VMFA-314 of MCAS Miramar, the first USMC squadron with the F-35C.

As Davis stated, his priority is “getting the Marines out of the old metal and into the new metal.”

Onboard the USS America the “Proof of Concept” (POC) demonstration was underway.

Per Rowell the intent was demonstrating the integration of a large package of F-35Bs into the US Navy (USN) US Marine Corps (USMC) structure to maximize seaborne power projection.

This demonstration was an important step to explore operational aspect for both the USN and USMC in preparation for upcoming deployments.

The POC included 10 F-35Bs gathered from VMFA- 211 and VMX-1, two MV-22B Ospreys, a UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper from VMX-1.

Two additional F-35Bs from VX-23 were shipborne at the time of our visit.

Beyond the tactical portion of the demonstration, valuable experience was gained from the integration of USMC STOVL, rotor wing and tiltrotor assets in the deck cycle.

Per Rowell the DT-III and POC demonstration were supported by a contingent of Marines on board.

F-35B pilots; 5 from VMFA-211, 7 from VMX-1, 2 from VX-23.
18 VMX-1 rotor wing and tiltrotor pilots.
140 Maintenance & support personnel

For many of these Marines it was their first visit to a ship and they quickly experienced the unique challenges of everything from shipborne cooking to shipborne maintenance – in steady and high state seas.

On the 3^rd day of the POC a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) tailored strike mission was planned.

Four F-35Bs were designated to engage a notional Integrated Air Defense System (IADS), with a AH-1Z and 2 MV-22s escorted by an additional 2 F-35Bs.

This mission set represents the high level of capability the F-35B brings to the amphibious assault force – comprised of an LHA platform, with MV-22Bs, AH-1Zs, UH-1Ys, & incoming CH-53K.

The F-35B performed very well throughout the DT-III and the POC.

Rowell indicated about 300 vertical landings had taken place in the last 3 weeks, equal to about 4 months of normal operations with 6 AV-8Bs.

In addition, the aircraft on board utilized a variety of software Blocks, including Blocks 2B, 3i and 3F, with no stability issues experienced with 3F.

The F-35Bs performance and the solid progress across the board are clear indicators that the Marines consider themselves “good to go” with the F-35B. This confidence was expressed by Davis, “I’d deploy tomorrow. Tomorrow.

The Commanding Officer (CO) of VFMA-211 is chomping at the bit he would deploy them, so would the CO of VFMA-121.

They are ready.

These airplanes are highly capable and ready to go.“

The Second Line of Defense thanks Sylvia Pierson, and Brandi Schiff, JSF/JPO PA; Capt. Sarah Burns & 1^st Lt. Maida Zheng, USMC PAOs; Captain Joseph R. Olson, Commanding Officer of the USS America and entire crew; Lt. General Jon “Dog” Davis, USMC Deputy Commandant for Aviation; and USMC VMX-1 Commanding Officer, Col. George “Sack” Rowell.

The photos are credited to Todd Miller.