Defense Technology International - December 2007 - (Page 43)

THE NET PETER A. BUXBAUM Virtual Blue Yonder Cyberspace is the new frontier of tactical and strategic war planning, and the U.S. Air Force means to own it. In September, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne announced the establishment of a Cyber Command that will be administered by the Eighth Air Force and be based at Barksdale AFB, La. On Nov. 2, 2006, Wynne detailed plans for the creation of Cyber Command at a C4ISR conference in Virginia. USAF’s action means that the Pentagon is developing the capabilities to wage war in cyberspace, dryly deﬁned as “a domain characterized by the use of the electromagnetic spectrum to store, modify and exchange data via networked systems and associated infrastructures.” It also signals that USAF sees itself as the Pentagon’s main strategic cyberwarfare organization. “Cyber Command is a warﬁghting command, intended to operate in offensive and defensive operations,” says Mackenzie Eaglen, a senior policy analyst for national security at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank. Cyber Command has been designated an operational unit of the U.S. Strategic Command, carving out a dominant space for itself among the armed services in the cyber-war arena. The Army’s Netcom and the Navy’s Netwarcom operations, which are primarily concerned with the maintenance and defense of their own cyber operations, are not part of Strategic Command. Military leaders acknowledge that the age of cyber warfare is at hand. “The Third World War is taking place right now, and it is in cyberspace,” Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorensen, the Army’s chief information ofﬁcer (designate), told a recent gathering of industry leaders in Washington. “Cyber warfare” has many meanings, ranging from disrupting or spooﬁng communications or logistics orders all the way to inducing the “blue screen of death” in a target’s cockpit—what cyberwarriors call “latchup.” Both USAF and the Army have issued requests for information to industry about such capabilities. The Army declines to comment on www.aviationweek.com/dti its request, which is titled “Army Offensive Information Operations Technologies.” But the goal, as stated in the prospectus, “is to design and develop operationally functional technologies that have the ability to defeat enemy communication networks without causing serious or permanent damage while using methods and techniques that protect technologies and methodologies.” Translated: Enemy comms stop working, but the enemy doesn’t know why. U.S. AIR FORCE Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne announces plans for Cyber Command. USAF, for its part, requests that industry supply it with “concepts relevant across the whole spectrum of information operations, to include network attack, network defense and network warfare support,” says Monica Morales, a representative for the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass. Despite similarities between descriptions of the Army and Air Force cyber activities, the Army will probably work at the tactical level, while USAF’s scope will be strategic. Offensive Army cyber operations could include disruption of an adversary’s local surveillance and communications, according to Peter Swire, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a research group in Washington. “That is different from developing big attacks launched from overseas,” he says. “The Army’s role will likely be limited to protecting Army personnel from cyber surveillance and attacks.” Several elements point toward USAF’s goal to be the military’s strategic cyber warﬁghting force. In addition to Cyber Command being designated an operational unit of Stratcom, the Air Force revised its mission statement last year to add cyberspace to its operational requirements. Soon after that came Wynne’s announcement that USAF would establish Cyber Command. “The Air Force intends to present forces to Stratcom for global operations, and through theater Air Force commanders, for regional operations,” says Lt. Gen. Robert Elder, commander of the Eighth Air Force. “In the past, cyberspace has been viewed as merely an enabler for other combat operations. Our warﬁghting approach views offensive actions from the standpoint of warﬁghting, which means denying an adversary situational awareness, reducing its conﬁdence in decisionsupport systems and degrading command and control connectivity.” Cyber Command is evaluating what types of knowledge, skills and attributes operators will need. “Cyberspace operators will have the capability to conduct global expeditionary cyber operations, defend the cyber domain, counter adversary use of the cyber domain and integrate cyber operations with air and space operations, other services and national instruments of power,” Elder says. Strategic operations often target infrastructure, including economic infrastructure, says James Lewis, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “Traditionally, the Air Force has carried out strategic bombing. Strategic cyber warfare could be seen as an extension of that mission.” Barry Watts, senior fellow at Washington’s Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, notes that “the military is thinking more about the non-kinetic effects of warfare. It makes sense to have the guys delivering most of the precision ordnance from the air to have control over the non-kinetic aspects of the operation as well.” I 43 DECEMBER 2007 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL http://www.aviationweek.com/dti

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Defense Technology International - December 2007 Contents Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch BrahMos: Ramjet Ship Killer r-e-s-p-e-c-t Deja Vu Trump Card Dubai Demos Agile Helos Joint Force Online Charge UGVs Creep, Crawl to Victory Sweet Ride Fast, Lethal Ship Defense Networking Stealth: Why Raptors Can't Talk The Net Cutting Edge First Person In Review Insight

Defense Technology International - December 2007

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