The military development in armament and technology is inseparable from the development that we are witnessing in almost every aspect of our personal and professional life, if not preceded by it. military forces participate on land, sea, and Sky, but the recent push for combat superiority is enabled by innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, 5G, high-end computing, cloud computing, and big data analytics just as digital technologies have changed all they are rapidly changing advantages on the battlefield.

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Edited by| Hugh Gey

Technology  section -  CJ journalist

WORLD - April,8,2023

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   In a report issued by the administration of US President Joe Biden, it is stated that the next decade will usher in a new geopolitical era in which the United States will compete relentlessly against both Russia and China, and the Biden administration says that it is a crucial step for national security, China is " the only competitor with the intention to reshape the international system and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do so.”

The result is a different type of arms race, one that recognizes the possibilities of our modern age. Victory on this new battlefield — called the digital battlespace — isn't just the result of the size and skills of a military force or the biggest guns, but the ability to swiftly gather, understand and integrate an astounding amount of data in real-time to make tactical decisions that keep U.S. troops protected and our enemies at bay.

“The digital battlespace is different from any battlespace we've seen in the past,” said Murali Krishnan, vice president of strategic growth for the mission systems sector of Northrop Grumman, the global aerospace and defense technology company. “It's built around digital assets — sensors, platforms, devices, and the networks they run on — and the capability it provides for everyone to communicate with each other.”

In a battlefield full of evolving threats, public-private partnerships are key to helping the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) set the pace of modernization. With a commitment to seamlessly integrating advanced networking capabilities, companies like Northrop Grumman are arming the U.S. military with the data and technology that will be imperative to staying ahead of adversaries and ensuring the nation's long-term security.

The DoD is building on this insight through its Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) vision, which connects disparate assets across air, land, sea, and space to share data and enhance decision-making to enable mission success. A vast network of sensors and shooters ranges from submarine combat systems near the sea floor to space, where satellites connect terrestrial nodes like jet fighters and missiles within an integrated air and missile defense system. These groups must exchange data instantly for seamless decision-making and integrated fire.

“Everything has to be about interoperability, not just by the time you get in the battlespace, but from the design of the technology,” said Krishnan. “At Northrop Grumman, we're developing technologies and capabilities with a broader reach and broader connectivity in mind from the get-go.”

Today, military officials are teaming up with Northrop Grumman to create an interconnected battlefield in which data will move seamlessly between domains in real-time. The company, which has built pioneering global security systems for generations, plays a critical role in ensuring command and control through secure networks and developing new technologies for the DoD with this broader connectivity. These technologies are both for near-term solutions on existing platforms and networks, and future solutions with interoperable connectivity baked in.

“The digital battlespace is really about leveraging the power of 5G and commercial technologies and combining it with our mission expertise and cybersecurity,” said Jenna Paukstis, vice president of the communications solutions business unit at Northrop Grumman. “We can enable modern networking functions that people have come to know and love in their personal lives to now provide a high level of resilient and survivable connectivity for warfighters.”

Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) capabilities will connect distributed sensors, shooters, and data from all domains to all U.S. forces — the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force. JADC2 will modernize military systems and networks to ensure agile decision-making and swift military action to stay ahead of major global competitors and keep U.S. warfighters safe.

This kind of advanced, integrated, and secure networking is a critical technology when a military mission calls for gathering and interpreting a wide variety of signals across command centers and ground control stations. One critical tool in that arsenal, Krishnan says, is the increased use of multifunction sensors versus federated single-function sensors — like radar.

“Back in the day, a radar was like having a flashlight with a very narrow beam that was on all the time,” he said. “If it was jammed, there was nothing you could do. With a multifunction sensor, you not only have a much wider area of coverage but more tools to counter threats on a compressed timeline — and communicate across networks.”

If it doesn't connect, share and distribute information or perform in a disaggregated battlespace environment, the armed services are not interested. Sensors from all of the military services must now be connected with data and able to flow to any system through any available path — a gigantic military Internet of Things.

The advantages of this kind of new warfighting network are widespread for the U.S.: autonomous airplanes sending intelligence to command centers on the other side of the world; communication nodes providing warfighters real-time intelligence of enemy locations and battle terrain; a multifunction sensor that consolidates communications, radar, electronic warfare and intelligence; and surveillance to efficiently connect sensors to shooters.

These capabilities are changing not just how the U.S. operates but how our allies operate — with technology reaching across international networks to integrate with U.S. allies.

“The past few years have shown that the U.S. probably won't go into any military activity with one service alone, so this kind of communication is critical,” said Krishnan. “Being able to connect not only across services but, in many instances, among the forces of various countries is essential for mission success.”

More importantly, that kind of critical real-time information gathering can often be the deciding factor in a life-or-death situation. Krishnan knows this first-hand. He's a former U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter pilot who once evaded a potential strike from an enemy surface-to-air missile because of an early alert. “I took evasive action,” he says, “and that bit of information may have saved my life.”

New technologies are pushing what's possible on and off the battlefield, and right now we're in a pivotal moment when our armed services can boldly reinvent themselves where we can operate as a joint force.

Paukstis says two things are key to making this vision of the next-generation battlespace work: open standards in combination with public-private partnerships.

“We all need to embrace open standards,” she said. “We must ensure that everyone is designing the same interfaces so we can drastically reduce integration timelines and rapidly deploy new capabilities. In our home life, we can't go out and buy a new cell phone every time we want to download a new app. The DoD can't do that either.”

These open standards are integral to the digital battlespace and allow third parties to make products that interoperate. That's where partnerships between the government and private industry are critical. All of these advanced military capabilities will be realized by creating new technologies as well as modifying existing products.

For instance, Northrop Grumman recently demonstrated a High Capacity Backbone (HCB)-enabled Gateway System, created with Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions, which provides foundational connectivity and processing capabilities.

The gateway provides a “5G in the sky” capability for missions that require advanced data translation and communications. The system, aligned with the goals of JADC2, ensures the delivery of the right data to the right place at the right time. The HCB provides secure datalink capabilities to warfighters that might not otherwise be able to translate mission data across branches of the military.

“It's all about delivering resilient communications at speed and unleashing the power of multi-domain data,” Paukstis said.

The company has also developed a Software Programmable Open Mission Systems Compliant (SPOC) multifunction processor for the Air Force that connects the DoD aviation ecosystem using “air-to-any” next-generation communications. Its multifunctionality and scalability can integrate with any platform and any effector to provide forces with actionable data for real-time battlespace awareness across air, space, land, and sea.

Those capabilities must be flexible and meet changing needs in a conflict-ridden world. Northrop Grumman often works with the U.S. military to create digital models — or twins — that electronically map out a variety of potential real-world scenarios and responses.

“We can test out various systems and technologies by building digital models that show us how various scenarios play out in real life,” Krishnan said. “Once we validate the model, we're able to do different threats, different scenarios, and modify and improve the capabilities in a much quicker time.”

In an era of technology-driven conflict, that kind of fluid and nimble flexibility is key to national security. Mission advantage will lay with the parties that can decide and act together faster. Victory will depend less on individual grit and more on the integrated strengths of a connected network available.

“The pace of change has never been this fast and will never be this slow again,” said Paukstis. “New technologies are pushing what's possible on and off the battlefield, and right now we're in a pivotal moment when our armed services can boldly reinvent themselves and operate as a truly connected joint force.”

That reinvention is critical to helping the Pentagon stay ahead of major global competitors like Russia and China — and keeping U.S. warfighters safe.

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