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☆ The US Army's new plan to counter Russia and China has a glaring problem, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The 2024 Army Force Structure Transformation would be the Army's fifth major reorganization since 2003. The most striking aspect of the Army's plan is the large number of new units, for counter-drone protection as well as air and missile defense. In addition, there would be nine counter-small UAS batteries tasked with destroying small drones, and four more Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) battalions to stop manned aircraft, helicopters and drones. Monica K. Guthrie/US ArmyThe Army is also basing its plans on untried weapons, such as the Long-Range Hypersonic Missile and air defense lasers. China and Russia have much stronger air and missile forces than the regional opponents the army has faced for the last generation."

Persons: Monica K, Mark Cancian, Cancian, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, US Army, 2024, Army, Business, Congressional Research Service, Congress, Air Defense, Domain, Forces, CRS, Special Operations Forces, Security Force, Guthrie, Energy, Center for Strategic, International Studies, US, Nuclear Forces, Defense, Foreign Policy, Rutgers Univ, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Russia, China, Soviet Union, Ukraine, Forbes

☆ India is drawing lessons from Ukraine to counter China's military might
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

India is trying to modernize its military of 1.5 million people with lessons from Ukraine. AdvertisementAs India boosts defense spending amid tensions with China and Pakistan, it is closely studying the Ukraine conflict for clues to the future of warfare and how to thwart its neighbors. Some lessons that Indian experts have already drawn: India needs lots of artillery, drones and cyberwarfare capabilities. Drones have become the stars and workhorses of the air war, with both sides deploying — and losing — drones in the hundreds of thousands. AdvertisementThere are lessons here for Indian airpower, according to Arjun Subramaniam, a retired Indian Air Force air vice marshal who helped write the ORF report.

Persons: —, Amrita Jash, Wolfgang Schwan, Arjun Subramaniam, Subramaniam, Cyberwarfare, Shimona Mohan, Mohan, Michael Peck Organizations: NATO, Service, Artillery, Indian Army, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Observer Research Foundation, Getty, Russian, Indian Air Force, Air Force, Defense, Foreign Policy, Rutgers Univ, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: India, Ukraine, Russia, China, Pakistan, Eastern, Western, Indian, Siversk, Donetsk Oblast, Anadolu, cyberwarfare, Forbes

☆ Illicit Iranian programs targeted by sanctions and criminal charges, US says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Michael Conte | Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Washington CNN —The US announced a number of measures including sanctions and criminal charges targeting a range of malicious Iranian initiatives, including their cyberwarfare and drone programs, as well as Iran’s alleged illegal oil trafficking to fund foreign terrorist organizations. Earlier in the day, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against several Iran- and Hong Kong-based companies for allegedly supporting Iran’s drone program and missile production. The three alleged front companies in Hong Kong and an Iranian subsidiary allegedly obtained components, such as engines and carburetors, for Iran’s drone program. Treasury also announced sanctions targeting the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber–Electronic Command and five other senior officials for alleged cyberattacks against critical infrastructure in the US and other countries. That’s a reference to a series of hacks that defaced computers at multiple water utilities in the US in November.

Persons: Biden, ”, General Merrick Garland, Christopher Wray, Brian Nelson, Matthew Miller, That’s, ” John Hultquist, Mandiant, CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz Organizations: Washington CNN, US, Justice Department, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Department, DOJ, FBI, Treasury Department, Treasury, Terrorism, Financial, Command, Google, CNN, Boston Children’s Hospital Locations: Iran, Jordan, Omani, ”, Washington ,, United States, Hong Kong, Iranian, Israel, Boston, Tehran

HONG KONG (AP) — Technology company Baidu on Monday refuted a newspaper report that said its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie was linked to Chinese military research. The paper stated that the division had tested its artificial intelligence system on Baidu’s Ernie and on artificial intelligence firm iFlyTek’s Spark, both of which are language-based AI chatbots similar to ChatGPT. “Ernie Bot is available to and used by the general public,” the Chinese company said in its statement. Like ChatGPT, users can pose questions or requests to Ernie Bot, which would then generate content based on the initial prompt. The Beijing-headquartered firm said in December that it had more than 100 million users for Ernie Bot.

Persons: Ernie, Baidu, Ernie Bot Organizations: — Technology, Baidu, Hong, China Morning, People’s Liberation Army cyberwarfare, PLA Information Engineering University, China Morning Post, PLA, Huawei, U.S Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, U.S, China, Taiwan, Beijing

☆ Russian Spies Behind Cyberattack on Ukrainian Power Grid in 2022 - Researchers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By James PearsonLONDON (Reuters) - Russian cyber spies were behind a hack which disrupted part of Ukraine's power grid in late 2022, U.S. cybersecurity firm Mandiant, part of Google, said in a report on Thursday, in a rare and advanced form of cyberwarfare. Last October, a massive wave of Russian missile strikes on Ukraine's power network caused blackouts in many parts of the country, prompting Kyiv to halt electricity exports and leaving four regions temporarily without electricity. Sandworm hackers rose to prominence in 2015 after a separate cyberattack against Ukraine’s power grid which cut off power for around 255,000 people. The disruptive, digital, intrusion was widely considered to be one of the first, known, successful cyberattacks against a power network. “There have only been a handful of incidents similar to this, with the majority carried out by Sandworm,” Mandiant analyst Nathan Brubaker said.

Persons: James Pearson, ”, Sandworm, Nathan Brubaker, Christopher Bing, Sharon Singleton Organizations: James Pearson LONDON, Google Locations: Russian, Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, London, Washington

☆ Ukraine's counteroffensive raises doubts about whether the US and Western militaries are training their troops for the right kind of war
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Some Ukrainian troops said the training didn't reflect the kind of fighting they faced against Russian forces. That has raised doubts about whether Western militaries are training themselves for the right kinds of operations. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe slow progress of the counteroffensive Ukraine launched in early June led to criticism that Ukrainian troops were failing to apply properly the training they received from Western militaries. But what if the problem isn't with the Ukrainians but rather with Western tactics? Ukraine eventually junked those Western tactics in favor a playbook from the Western Front circa 1917.

Persons: —, HENRY NICHOLLS, Klaus, Dietmar Gabbert, insurgencies, openDemocracy, hasn't, Scott Peterson, it's, Michael Peck Organizations: Western, Russian, Service, NATO, Royal Marine, Ukrainian Army, Getty, Bradley, Getty Images, New York Times, Pentagon, US Air Force, Ukrainian Territorial Defense, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Ukraine, England, Britain, Germany, Russia, China, Ukrainian, Iraq, Afghanistan, Zaporizhzhia Region, Forbes

☆ The US and Chinese air forces are rethinking whether it's possible to control the air
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The US and Chinese air forces are both thinking about how they'd try to control the air in a war. "It will be a struggle back and forth for air superiority," added Hinote, whose last position was as the Air Force's chief futurist. The most comprehensive is air supremacy, which the US Air Force defines as when "the opposing force is incapable of effective interference within the operational area using air and missile threats." The next level is air superiority, which the Air Force defines as "control of the air by one force that permits the conduct of its operations at a given time and place without prohibitive interference from air and missile threats." AdvertisementAdvertisementUS Army Air Force B-17s bomb an aircraft factory in eastern Germany during World War II.

Persons: they'd, Clinton Hinote, Carlin Leslie, Giulio Douhet, Douhet, Zhou Guoqiang, Derek Solen, Solen, Yu Hongchun, Hinote, haven't, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, US Air Force, Aviation, Air, Air Force KC, Atlantic, Staff, American, Air Force, North, Army Air Force, Getty, Zhuhai Air Show Center, China's Air Force Command, military's, PLA, US Air, China Aerospace Studies, Jamestown Foundation, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Wall, Silicon, China, Iraq, Afghanistan, Normandy, Vietnam, Germany, Japan, North Vietnam, Ukraine, Soviet, Taiwan, Guangdong, Xinhua, America, Forbes

☆ The US Army is rushing to rearm its electronic warriors after watching Russia and Ukraine jam each other's drones
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Electronic warfare has played a prominent role during the war in Ukraine. This has put fresh impetus behind the US Army's electronic-warfare upgrades. Concern about electronic warfare, or EW, isn't new, nor is the US deficient in all EW aspects. For its part, Russia has been able to use electronic warfare to send Ukraine's GPS-guided JDAM glide bombs and HIMARS rockets off course. Most armies — or at least the high-tech ones — are vulnerable to electronic warfare, but the US military is especially vulnerable because its way of war is so dependent on electronic communications.

Persons: Douglas Bush, Simon Mictizic, Bush, Charles Brown Jr, Denis Abramov, Brown, Lockheed Martin, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, US Army, Army, Army's 1st Infantry Division, Staff, Air Force, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy, Russian Defense Ministry, Mil.ru, Domain Command, GPS, Support Force, US, Combat, Stryker, TLS, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Russian, China, Forbes

☆ Ukraine's attacks on Russian commanders have the US Army worried about its own 'fat and ponderous' command posts
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Ukraine's military has been using its long-range weapons to attack Russian command posts. A command post set up at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in California during a training exercise. A destroyed Russian army command post pictured on March 13, 2022. One is to move command posts further from the lines and fortify them against bombardment or special-forces raids. Virtual reality would enable command posts to remain in secure locations far from the front.

Persons: —, Scott Woodward, James Geelen, Michael Peck Organizations: Army, Service, Command, US Army, National Training Center, Fort, GPS, CPs, Arms Army, Milford Beagle, US, Britain's Royal United Services Institute, Ukrainian Armed Forces, US Army CPs, Colorado . US Army, James Geelen Command, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Fort Irwin, California, Chornobaivka, Ukrainian, Kherson, Gen, Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, China, Taiwan, Russia, Fort Carson, Colorado, Forbes

Russian President Vladimir Putin, wearing a blue suit, in a meeting with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi last summer. Russia is helping Iran gain advanced digital-surveillance capabilities as Tehran seeks deeper cooperation on cyberwarfare, people familiar with the matter said, adding another layer to a burgeoning military alliance that the U.S. sees as a threat. The potential for cyberwarfare collaboration comes after Iran has, according to U.S. and Iranian officials, sold Russia drones for use in Ukraine, agreed to provide short-range missiles to Moscow and shipped tank and artillery rounds to the battlefield. Tehran is seeking the cyber help along with what U.S. and Iranian officials have said are requests for dozens of elite Russian attack helicopters and jet fighters and aid with its long-range missile program.

☆ Hackers claim to have caused Russian websites broadcasting Vladimir Putin's annual address to go offline
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Online broadcasts of Vladimir Putin's annual speech were interrupted on Tuesday. A pro-Ukraine hacking group has claimed responsibility for a DDoS cyberattack. Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency, meanwhile, said disruptions to the broadcast were the result of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. Though it is not clear who or what was behind the outages, at least one pro-Ukraine hacking group has claimed responsibility. Newsweek reported that another hacking group claiming to work on behalf of Russian opposition activist Alexey Navalny also claimed responsibility, saying it caused the disruption along with "other hackers."

☆ Why the Ukrainian tech company N-iX refused to quit working as Russia unleashed intense strikes that knocked out power across Lviv: 'The sector is banding together'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Sage Lazzaro | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

N-iX, an IT firm with a big presence in Lviv, described how it'd managed amid the latest attacks. But like many Ukrainian companies, N-iX was prepared with a contingency plan that allowed it to continue servicing clients in the attack's aftermath. "It started in the morning," Deshchynskyy told Insider. Ukrainian tech workers and companies have rallied to help the war effort, including by joining the "IT army" and providing tech services for the military. And just two weeks ago, N-iX was the main partner at the annual IT Arena tech conference, which was held in Lviv.

☆ North Korea needs nukes because of its religion
▼ + stars: | 2017-07-08 | by ( Paul French | Foreign Policy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But even engagement strategies can't stop the relentless move toward a deliverable North Korea nuclear arsenal. President Bill Clinton essentially attempted this in 1994 when he approved $4 billion in "energy aid" to North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses with participants during the 8th Congress of the Korean Children's Union (KCU) in Pyongyang, North Korea. A vendor waits for customers at the shop inside the international airport in Pyongyang, North Korea May 3, 2016. But if the world accepts a nuclear North Korea (and it accepted a nuclear Pakistan, as North Koreans have reminded me), then the second half of Kim's theory might just give the kind of pressure that can be used.

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