Cyber security represents a set of policy issues, not a single issue, with a graduating scale of threats and vulnerabilities across the private and public sectors. So how do Government and the private sector share the load?

Army’s new Battle Management System, supplied by Elbit under Project Land 200, has proven to be a game-changer on its first exercise deployment and roll-out may be accelerated.

The first P-8I aircraft for the Indian Navy has made its maiden flight from Boeing’s Renton Field in Seattle. The P-8I is the first of eight long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft Boeing is building for India as part of a contract awarded in January 2009. An option for four additional P-8I aircraft was included in the original contract.

Pennsylvania firm Alloy Surfaces Company, Inc., a subsidiary of the UK’s Chemring Group PLC, has won a US$6.9 million RAAF contract to supply BOL IR and MJU-50/B Special Material Decoys (SMD) for the F/A-18A/B Hornet.

The ADM Cyber Security Summit in Canberra earlier this year threw a light on several security and policy issues. Specialist IT writer John Hilvert attended the summit and explores some of these themes in more detail.

USNS Spearhead, the first of the US Navy’s Joint High-Speed Vessels (JHSV) designed for rapid intra-theater transport of troops and military equipment, was christened in September during a ceremony at the Austal USA yard where she was built in Mobile, Alabama.

The Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare, has congratulated Australia’s F1 in Schools world champions – the PentaGliders from Brooks High School in Tasmania.

Release of the tender for JP2072’s Phase 2B heralds a new era for ADF battlefield communications as inefficient legacy analogue systems are replaced with modern high capacity bandwidth equipment that will provide digital IP connectivity from HQ to lower echelon units. The majority of this equipment will be acquired as in-service MOTS/COTS capabilities.

Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare held a two-day round of meetings in September with senior Defence officials and the CEOs of companies which have projects on the Projects of Concern (POC) list.

The F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) test aircraft BF-2 made its first deck landing aboard the USS Wasp last month, the first at-sea vertical landing for the Marine Corps’ STOVL (Short Take-Off vertical Landing) version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

The ADF is pursuing its goal of a networked force by data linking ships, aircraft, even weapon sites, and major command and control nodes. The technical and configuration control challenges are formidable, and are being tackled through JP2089.

Just because you are not seeing anything wrong, this doesn’t imply you are not under attack. The US Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) has focussed attention and resources on situational awareness, education and the technical and tactical response.

It’s a truism that a platform is not a capability: the implications of this for all three services are something The Williams Foundation explored in a seminar at the Australian Defence College last month

The cyber threat to Australia is real, evolving and continuing to test our defences, said the Attorney-General, Mr Robert McClelland, in his keynote speech to the ADM Cyber Security Summit.

The ADF’s goal of becoming a networked force will be one step closer in the near future when the new incarnation of its Joint Command Support Environment enters the second Evolution of JP2030 Ph.8.

US robotics leader iRobot Corp. is introducing a newly configured Seaglider Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV). Seaglider can now be outfitted with a larger set of fairings that significantly increases its volume and mass payload capabilities.