Elara Nova: The Space Consultancy’s Post

Battlefield testing is critical for innovation and it is great to see the US military continue to innovate. That being said, testing battlefield innovations in the US is not a "real-world" environment. The war for democracy against one of its most persistent enemies is being fought in Ukraine. There, innovation is being developed and tested in real time under warfighting conditions. Mits Capital is creating the ecosystem for that. Any US miltech innovator that wants to test and build its product in Ukraine can apply to MITS. #ukraine #militarytechnology #defensetech United States Department of Defense Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) The NATO Innovation Network (NIN) NATO

Shift to buying technology 'as-a-service': As a major US Army technology experiment rolls along in California, top leaders speaking at the McAleese and Associates annual defense forum Thursday teased other measures intended to help the service acquire new technology. The efforts include a new cross-functional team focused on developing ways of identifying and targeting enemy formations at long range, Army Chief of Staff Randy George said. He said Army Futures Command chief Gen. Jim Rainey will make a further announcement on the deep sensing cross-functional team during the Association of the United States Army - AUSA Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama in late March. Meanwhile, the Army is working to field deep sensing systems such as the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System system, which will load spy gear into highflying jets more often used for corporate travel. The service is also testing out high-altitude spy balloons at the latest iteration of Project Convergence, a major yearly experimentation event in California, George said. The Army hopes to “use new buying models” to get the 101st Airborne Division and others their new equipment, George said. The fielding plan marks a departure from previous Army acquisition models, which more typically see the Army acquiring large numbers of a specific manufacturer's system and then gradually spreading that system across the military. Army Under Secretary Gabe Camarillo flagged acquisition of services rather than hardware as one way of more rapidly fielding new technology to the Army. Under a recently announced contract, the Army will acquire data subscriptions to satellite data rather than own and operate its own satellites in a system known as “as-a-service” model. #army #usarmy #sensors #asaservice #militaryprocurement #software #defense #defence Pravo Consulting ,Campaign Catapult

Revolutionizing Battlefield Intelligence: Army’s New All-Domain Sensing Initiative https://lnkd.in/grW2-jck The U.S. Army is launching an "all-domain sensing" team focused on enhancing intelligence dissemination at the tactical edge. This initiative aims to integrate advanced sensing technologies, traditionally reserved for intelligence communities, directly with warfighters to accelerate decision-making processes. Tactical radios, a part of the Integrated Tactical Network, showcased their value in recent exercises, highlighting the importance of rapid, reliable communication and intelligence sharing in modern warfare. Key Themes: - Integration of advanced sensing technologies to support warfighters directly. - The necessity of rapid decision-making in dispersed combat scenarios. - Leveraging non-traditional sensors and digital platforms to enhance battlefield awareness. - The role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in processing vast amounts of intelligence. - The critical need for edge computing capabilities to support data processing and dissemination in contested environments. Principal Arguments: The article underscores the strategic shift towards employing all-domain sensing capabilities to ensure intelligence is actionable at the tactical level. This approach is deemed crucial for success in future conflicts characterized by dispersed units and rapid engagements. It argues for a paradigm shift in sensing, from traditional, centralized intelligence systems to a more distributed, technology-enabled network that empowers individual soldiers. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of AI and ML in efficiently processing and exploiting the intelligence gathered, reducing the cognitive load on analysts and accelerating decision-making. Conclusions and Recommendations: The new cross-functional team for all-domain sensing is set to transform how the Army utilizes intelligence, focusing on making data actionable for warfighters on the ground. This initiative calls for closer collaboration with the intelligence community, leveraging AI and ML for data processing, and developing robust edge computing solutions to meet the demands of future conflicts. These steps are essential for maintaining a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving battlefield environment. #MilitaryInnovation #DefenseTechnology #ArtificialIntelligence #TacticalEdge #AllDomainSensing #USArmy #MilitaryLeadership #EdgeComputing #FutureWarfare #TSM #pacstar #bss

#newarticle | Space ISR is promising as a military and economic centre of gravity for our information-reliant, society. Space-based assets and systems can accumulate varied military, political, or economic information that can be valued while planning and executing a range of military operations. Information can be collected, processed, exploited, and disseminated on such diverse subjects as indications and warning, targeting analysis, friendly course of action, development, adversary capability assessment, battle damage assessment (BDA), or battlespace characterization. Space Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities are becoming critically essential for national development, economic well-being, commerce, and everyday life, besides assuming a crucial component of successful military operations, writes Amandeep (AD) Singh. #defence #space #intelligence #surveillance #reconnaissance #geospatial #interoperability #integration #technology #artha #geointelligence https://lnkd.in/g2U9bFfF

Now this is just plain bragging…. Could be important. “Chinese electronic warfare AI has detected mysterious signals that repeatedly show up in the South China Sea, Guam, the Marshall Islands and the Aleutian Islands near Alaska – and they appear to be coordinated. Scientists involved in the investigation say that the characteristics of these electromagnetic signals suggest the existence of “tactical coordination” among military radars deployed in these areas across the Pacific Ocean.” Hm. “The AI system can analyse historical signals filled with noise and uncertainty to identify patterns of electronic tactical coordination among different types of radars belonging to different countries at various locations.” Well, now. “Zhou’s team says that the AI could also identify unknown types of radars, accurately guess their confidential operating parameters and even predict the future deployment of foreign naval fleets.” Predictive intelligence. Fancy stuff. Here’s the relevant paper: https://lnkd.in/egzAngZM If the AI can successfully predict the deployment of a multinational naval fleet…. I wonder if it can predict simultaneous missile launches, with previously unseen platforms, across multiple theaters of operations? Because that would be both useful and just in time relevant. Or so it seems to me. https://lnkd.in/enyMkzRT

Orbit Communications Systems Inc, a leading global provider of maritime and airborne SATCOM terminals, tracking ground station solutions and mission-critical airborne audio management systems, is proud to announce a major technological advancement by implementing AI capabilities in its entire portfolio of SATCOM systems for land, air and sea. The AI constantly monitors and analyses the systems’ performance, giving an alert for a malfunction that starts to form, even at a very early stage, so that the customer can arrive on time, even for a system located in a very remote area, perform preventive maintenance and repair, while connectivity continues without any interruption. Potential issues are detected long before they become critical, thus providing the utmost reliability, always ensuring peak performance and connectivity, without the need for major maintenance or significant downtime. The AI capability can be implemented in Orbit’s entire portfolio – the Multi-Purpose SATCOM terminal for air platforms and small vessels, the OceanTRx family of SATCOM terminals for naval platforms and the GAIA family of Earth Observation Systems. #military #defense #defence #militaryleak https://lnkd.in/g4_zHxfz

The Army today released a new “vision” document foot-stomping the importance of the land service’s space operations and citing an “urgent need” for more funding for both new capabilities and trained personnel. “The Army’s next fight will occur across multiple domains. Successful operations in and through the space domain will be critical to our success,” the Army Space Vision Supporting Multidomain Operations states. “Commanders must understand that space capabilities start and end on the ground and be fully aware of their importance in planning and operations.” In particular, the two-page document highlights the service’s concerns about the fact that in future fights, Army forces will be “operating under constant surveillance” from adversary space systems. Thus, the vision explains, the service “must invest in the knowledge and forces to counter threat space systems and enable our own space systems.”To that end, the document says that the Army plans to “employ service-unique assets to interdict, or disrupt, adversary’s use of their space capabilities, ensuring Army forces gain and maintain the initiative to fight from positions of relative advantage in all domains.” The Army said in a press statement today that the goal of the paper is to communicate “to Army commanders, staffs, and other stakeholders the need to create and exploit space domain effects that enable successful Army operations,” as well as “the urgent need to invest more in space capabilities and formations.” “Integrating joint and Army space capabilities into the operations process must become second nature to commanders at every echelon,” said Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy George in the statement. “We accomplish this by incorporating these capabilities into training, education, experiments and exercises.” #USARMY #SpaceOperations #MultidomainOperations 🔲 The integration of space capabilities and effects into the maneuver plan is critical to achieving success. The U.S. Army will need space as an enabler to shoot, move and communicate effectively.

Commerical Space ISR, Who's In Charge? With the Space Force just over 4 years old, a battle is forming over who should be in change of purchasing, explointing, and distributing commerical ISR. On one side, you have the IC represented by the NRO and NGA. On the other side, you have the Space Force (SF), Combatant Commands (CCMD), and the rest of the DoD. The Space Force does not want to take on NGA's role of exploiting imagery for the nation, but rather focus on tactical ISR (TacISR, or more recently, tactical surveillance, reconnaissance and tracking (TacSRT)) for the immediate needs of the CCMDs. Congressional appropriators appear to side with SF as they set aside $40M in the proposed FY24 defense bill for CCMDs to purchase commercial space ISR products though SF. The White House appears to side with the IC and wants to cut SF out of the commerical ISR. This is just the latest exemplar of the tension between Title 10 (military) and Title 50 (intel community) roles, responsibilities, and authorities. While there is certainly a need for a TacSRT gap analysis with the CCMDs, the US is in a period of Great Power Competition. CCMDs are in or readying for conflict and need TacSRT now, not six months from now. The politics/laws must certainly be sorted out, but the warfighter should not go into conflict with the tactical intel that is needed residing in a commerical space/analytics company. Recommend you read the article and hear both sides of the story. What do you think is the best way forward while still providing TacSRT products to the CCMDs now? https://lnkd.in/gS7q4FZ8

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions announced April 4 it completed a demonstration of satellite-based broadband for the US Army using a virtual ground system — a software-defined alternative to traditional hardware-based ground stations for controlling satellite constellations. The company won a contract in 2022 to conduct the demonstration for the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications Tactical PEO C3T as part of a broader push to modernize voice and data communication for tactical units. The Army is looking for ways to tap into commercial capabilities rather than having to build its own bespoke space networks. https://lnkd.in/ebyZMRdA

Contemporary #conflict has been marked by accelerating decision-#cycles that dramatically shorten the time from #sensor to shooter through distributed and diverse #network paths. #Ukraine has devised innovative methods to expand the reach of their #ISR capabilities to observe and orient with small #UASs and smartphones, while finding new commercial mediums to decide and act both from terrestrial and space #C2. NATO must expand on these concepts by #integrating distributed networks to expand robust, real-time #connectivity. #Resilience is best achieved when #C5ISR is integrated across all five domains through an #interoperable and distributed #architecture. For Ukraine, this meant ISR and C2 connectivity with ordinary smartphones and Starlink. For NATO nations, this may be proliferated #LEO constellations as one means to connect the #sensor, #shooter, and C2 links, significantly accelerating ISR and #targeting cycles. Raytheon Thales Alenia Space UK Space Command Airbus US Space & Defense, Inc. Space Systems Command NATO Space Centre of Excellence U.S. Cyber Command Cyber and Information Domain Service German Armed Forces | Cyber- und Informationsraum Bundeswehr European Space Agency - ESA Capella Space BlackSky SpaceWERX Ofek 324 Unit - IAF US Air Force Cryptologic Systems Group Telespazio MarshallAI Metrea QinetiQ Intelsat Amazon Web Services (AWS) LeoLabs