Defense Systems

Global Hawk has staunch defender in Congress

Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), a member of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, says he will recommend continuing funding for the Global Hawk Block 30 unmanned aircraft, which the Air Force plans to put into storage as a key part of a comprehensive budget-cutting effort.

Defense Systems

DARPA scouts for big-data fixes

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency plans to call on the applied-mathematics, computer-science and data-visualization communities to develop big-data analytics for warfighters.

Defense Systems

Who will get to fly Navy UAVs?

The Navy has decided that unmanned aerial vehicles weighing more than 55 pounds will be operated as adjuncts to manned aircraft systems.

Defense Systems

Pakistan rejected offer by US to scale back UAV attacks

U.S. officials offered key concessions to Pakistan's intelligence chief in January regarding the use of unmanned aerial vehicles against al-Qaeda in the southwest Asian nation in an effort to regain the trust of Pakistani officials, but the offers were rejected.

Defense Systems

Watch out, China, US spy drones headed your way

The Australian government is considering allowing the United States to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles to a coral atoll in the Indian Ocean where they might conduct surveillance missions of that ocean and also the South China Sea.

Defense Systems

US cyber defense situation looks grim

The United States should call out Beijing for its relentless global hacking on the world stage, said an analyst at the Air Force Association's cyber conference.

Defense Systems

Military training suffices for cyber qualifications, says Navy CIO

The Navy will give the same weight to military training completed in the IT and cyber fields that it does for commercial certification, said Terry Halvorsen, the Navy's CIO.

Defense Systems

Robotics juggernaut seen as unstoppable

The use and proliferation of robotic systems by the U.S. military will likely continue unabated because they offer far more advantages than disadvantages.

Defense Systems

Press delete: Sandia's idea for nuclear-powered UAV not practical

A research project by Sandia National Laboratories to create a nuclear-powered unmanned aerial vehicle that could stay aloft for days without refueling was eventually cast aside because "political realities" would not allow its development.

Defense Systems

Revamped satellite launch schedule expected soon, Shelton says

The Air Force will soon release the terms of its revised multiple-year approach to purchasing launch services for military and intelligence satellites, says Gen. William Shelton.

Defense Systems

US wants cyber weapons that zap enemy defenses

The Defense Department is pushing ahead with efforts to develop next-generation cyber weapons capable of disrupting enemy military networks even when those networks are not connected to the Internet.

Defense Systems

Duqu uncloaked: Researchers find new variant, identify mystery code

Researchers from Symantec have uncovered a new variant of the Duqu cyber espionage malware that seeks to evade antivirus products and other security tools, and learned more about the origins of the malware's code.

Defense Systems

US combatant commands to receive offensive cyber capabilities

The military's geographic combatant commanders now have the capability to pair traditional kinetic attacks with newly developed cyber capabilities, according to congressional testimony.

Defense Systems

UAV connectivity top challenge with shift in terror war

The military will rely more frequently on commercial communications satellites for connectivity needed to operate unmanned aerial vehicles and provide the bandwidth required to handle more sophisticated sensors and the data they transmit.

Defense Systems

NSA, Google deal target of determined FOIA request

The Electronic Privacy Information Center is actively pursuing specific details of a secret deal that the National Security Agency made with Google in the wake of an attack carried out by Chinese hackers on Gmail in 2010.

Defense Systems

ITT Exelis gets GPS III satellite payload deal

ITT Exelis has won a $32 million contract to build the navigation payloads for the third and fourth Global Positioning System III space vehicles.

Defense Systems

Navy dreams of ocean-traversing undersea robots

It may not be in the cards yet, but the Navy hasn't given up hope that one day it will have underwater UAS that can journey across the ocean. And in fact, some universities are already working on the technology.

Defense Systems

Say what? Block 30 Global Hawk contract still in place

Northrop Grumman doesn't know when the Air Force is going to cancel its Block 30 Global Hawk program.

Defense Systems

DARPA goes bargain shopping for satellite parts

DARPA is reaching out to a number of commercial industries to find parts for low-cost spacecraft that would be deployed to give warfighters in remote locations access to space-based imagery for tactical purposes.

Defense Systems

Can US and Pakistan mend differences over UAV strikes?

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will convene a special meeting of his nation's parliament March 20 in an effort to improve his government's strained relationship with the United States.