GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: AirSea Battle Concept Is Focused On China

 

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Aviation Week

08April2011 9:00amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: It is no revelation that long-term U.S. Air Force and Navy planning is focused on China. But while some innovations are underway, like the unmanned combat aerial system (UCAS), U.S. options in response to Chinese threats largely do not include the rapid development and deployment of major new weapons, especially with limited research, development and procurement resources under increasing budget pressure. The emerging AirSea Battle concept, consequently, relies on the reorientation of current programs and the use of networking to ensure freedom of operation in anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) environments. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: 'America’s Navy and the rise of China'

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: The Washington Post

By George Will

24March2011 9:00amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Scholars at the Naval War College here probably nodded in vigorous agreement with a recent lecture delivered at another military institution 130 miles away.

Speaking at West Point to leaders of tomorrow’s Army, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that “any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,’ as General MacArthur so delicately put it.” This underscored Gates’s point that “the most plausible, high-end scenarios for the U.S. military are primarily naval and air engagements — whether in Asia, the Persian Gulf or elsewhere.”

Here at this 127-year-old college, where the American practice of war-gaming began in 1887, the faculty members are professional worriers, especially about Asia, meaning China. Its naval doctrines, procurements and deployments invite inferences about its geopolitical intentions. Faculty members noted that when Libya descended into chaos, China sent a frigate through the Suez Canal to be in position to assist Chinese nationals in distress. This was the first time the People’s Republic had positioned a high-end combatant ship for a possible evacuation. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Navy To Build System For Identifying Security Threats

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Information Week

21March2011 4:00amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: The Navy is developing a new software-based intelligence system that fuses information from a variety of sources to more quickly and efficiently identify possible security threats, according to the company building the system.

The military arm has awarded a Phase 1 small business innovative research contract to Florida-based Modus Operandi to build an intelligence-analysis and counterintelligence system called the Semantic Targeting and All-source Fusion Framework, or STAFF.

The company is not disclosing the amount of the award, according to a Modus Operandi spokesperson.

The system combines a range of ways to gather intelligence information -- including human intelligence, signals intelligence, full-motion video, and moving-target indicator data, the last of which involves using radar to find a moving target among fixed objects, according to the company. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: The Decline of U.S. Naval Power

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal

03March2011 8:42amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Last week, pirates attacked and executed four Americans in the Indian Ocean. We and the Europeans have endured literally thousands of attacks by the Somali pirates without taking the initiative against their vulnerable boats and bases even once. Such paralysis is but a symptom of a sickness that started some time ago.

The 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey," suggested that in another 30 years commercial flights to the moon, extraterrestrial mining, and interplanetary voyages would be routine. Soon the United States would send multiple missions to the lunar surface, across which astronauts would speed in vehicles. If someone born before Kitty Hawk's first flight would shortly after retirement see men riding around the moon in an automobile, it was reasonable to assume that half again as much time would bring progress at a similarly dazzling rate.

It didn't work out that way. In his 1962 speech at Rice University, perhaps the high-water mark of both the American Century and recorded presidential eloquence, President Kennedy framed the challenge not only of going to the moon but of sustaining American exceptionalism and this country's leading position in the world. He was assassinated a little more than a year later, and in subsequent decades American confidence went south.

Not only have we lost our enthusiasm for the exploration of space, we have retreated on the seas. Up to 30 ships, the largest ever constructed, each capable of carrying 18,000 containers, will soon come off the ways in South Korea. Not only will we neither build, own, nor man them, they won't even call at our ports, which are not large enough to receive them. We are no longer exactly the gem of the ocean. Next in line for gratuitous abdication is our naval position.

Separated by the oceans from sources of raw materials in the Middle East, Africa, Australia and South America, and from markets and manufacture in Europe, East Asia and India, we are in effect an island nation. Because 95% and 90% respectively of U.S. and world foreign trade moves by sea, maritime interdiction is the quickest route to both the strangulation of any given nation and chaos in the international system. First Britain and then the U.S. have been the guarantors of the open oceans. The nature of this task demands a large blue-water fleet that simply cannot be abridged. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS CYBER-SECURITY BRIEFING: SAIC Awarded Cybersecurity Contract by U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific

 

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Global Security

02March2011 9:55amEST

GCIS CYBER-SECURITY UPDATE: MCLEAN, Va., (PRNewswire via COMTEX) -- Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) (NYSE: SAI) announced today it was awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) to provide technical services in support of cyberspace operations. The multiple-award, indefinite-delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has a two year base period of performance, three one-year options, and a total contract ceiling value of $219 million for all awardees, if all options are exercised. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif.

SSC Pacific is the Navy's premier research, development, test, and evaluation laboratory for C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance). Under the contract, SAIC will provide cyberspace operational support as required, including the examination of the science, architecture, engineering, functionality, interface and interoperability of cyber systems, services and capabilities. SAIC may also provide support in areas including requirements analysis, concept development, software design and implementation; and systems integration. SAIC is one of four contractors that will compete for task orders under the contract.

"SAIC has demonstrated expertise and leadership in the science, system architecture and engineering of these critical cyber systems," said Larry Cox, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager. "We look forward to leveraging that expertise in support of the operational planning and execution, and technology development required to assure superiority for the warfighter in the cyberspace domain." (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS CYBER-SECURITY BRIEFING: General Dynamics Awarded $78 Million Cyber Operations Contract by U.S. Navy

 

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Global Security

01March2011 5:30amEST

GCIS CYBER-SECURITY UPDATE: FAIRFAX, Va. – General Dynamics has been awarded a $78.4 million multiple-award, indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract by the U.S. Navy to examine the science, architecture, engineering, functionality, interface and interoperability of cyberspace systems at the tactical, operational and strategic levels. The contract was awarded by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, Calif.

The contract is one of four awarded by the Navy. The contract has a total potential value of $204 million over five years if all options are exercised.

Under the contract, General Dynamics will provide basic and applied cyberspace research, digital forensics and reverse engineering capabilities, information operations expertise, cyber mission planning, doctrine and policy development, as well as modeling and simulation. General Dynamics will also provide software design and implementation as well as systems integration, test and evaluation and demonstration.

“As a cyber systems integrator, General Dynamics offers a full breadth of cyber domain capability, as well as the ability to tap into the technologies of our strategic partners,” said John Jolly, vice president and general manager of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems’ Cyber Systems division. “Utilizing best-in-breed technologies and building unique mission-specific cyber tools for a comprehensive approach to cyber operations, we will help ensure the Navy achieves its mission at sea and in cyber space.” (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Debka Report: US weighs hit-and-run raids to disable Qaddafi's air capability

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

28February2011 6:25pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: The US is repositioning its naval and air forces around Libya, Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan stated Monday, Feb. 28, indicating possible military steps to break the standoff between Muammar Qaddafi's army and rebel forces in the fighting for control of the towns commanding the roads to the capital Tripoli where Qaddafi is barricaded.

The reported rebel capture of the key towns of Misrata and Zawiya is technically correct. In fact, they are both surrounded by Libyan troops who control their road links with Tripoli. In Misrata, the army has a valuable edge over opposition forces in its control of the local airfield.

The Pentagon spokesman's indeed remarked that there are "various contingency plans" for the North African country where Muammar Qaddafi's forces and rebels in the east "remain locked in a tense standoff."

Most military observers interpreted his remark as referring to potential US military intervention in Libya to break the stalemate. It was strengthened by the imminent redeployment off the Libyan coast of USS Enterprise from the Red Sea and the amphibious USS Kearsarge, which has a fleet of helicopters and about 1,800 Marines aboard. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Hamas Iran-made missiles hit Beersheba as Iranian warships dock in Syria

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

24February2011 10:32amEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Israel's security leaders ought not to have been surprised when Hamas fired two long-range Iranian-made Grad missiles Wednesday night, Feb. 23 at the Negev cities of Beersheba and Netivot. The attack occurred exactly when Iranian Navy commander Adm. Habibollah Sayyari was due in Syria's Latakia port to attend the welcoming party for the two Iranian warships which made it through the Suez Canal without US or Israeli interference. It also marked a fresh, redoubled Hamas offensive against Israel.

The occupants of the Beersheba home, hit by the first long-range Grad surface missile to reach the Negev city from the Gaza Strip (30 km away) since Israel's Cast Led campaign of 2009, saved themselves by using the seconds between the warning siren and the explosion to take shelter in a bomb-proof room. That was the only part of their home to survive the blast. Eleven shock victims were hospitalized along the battered street.

The town of Netivot  was spared by the Grad falling outside the built-up area.

Earlier that day, a shoot-out flared at the Karni crossing when a Palestinian gang laid explosives at the border fence and followed up with mortar fire. IDF border patrols and tanks crews returned the fire, injuring 11 Palestinians. A second round of Palestinian mortar fire followed against a Shaar Hanegev kibbutz.

No Israelis were hurt in this round of incidents.

Wednesday night, Israel put the communities within range of the Gaza Strip, including the cities of Beersheba, Netivot, Ofakim, Sderot, Ashkelon and Ashdod, on heightened alert status for further Palestinian attacks. That night, Israeli air strikes hit a Jihad Islami missile team and then spread out to bomb Hamas command centers, which had meanwhile been hurriedly evacuated in expectation of Israel's routine aerial reprisal. (read full report)

"GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is a cooperative intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service and Machaseh Security Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, MSS or it's partners or affiliates.

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Israel on high alert for Iranian warships' Suez transit. Kharg brings missiles

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

19February2011 9:48amEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Cairo's approval Friday, Feb. 18 for two Iranian warships to transit the Suez Canal on their way to the Mediterranean has brought Israel and Iran closer than ever before to a naval collision at sea. DEBKAfile reports: Israel has learned that the Iranian cruiser Kharg is carrying long-range missiles for Hizballah which it plans to unload at a Syrian port or Beirut harbor.

US State Department spokesman P.J Crowley said he was "highly skeptical" of the Syrian claim that the two ships' visit was for training. "If the ships move through the canal, we will evaluate what they actually do. It's not really about the ships. It's about what the ships are carrying, what's their destination, what's the cargo on board, where's it going, to whom and for what benefit," Crowley told a news conference.

He was responding to questions in the wake of DEBKAfile's disclosure that the Karg was carrying missiles for Hizballah and indicating that the US and all other UN members were authorized by UN sanctions against Iran to board and search Iranian ships suspected of carrying illegal weapons.

The war ships' passage through Suez has been delayed as Cairo and Tehran spar over an Egyptian navy inspection of the vessels' cargoes. (read full report)

"GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is a cooperative intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service and Machaseh Security Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, MSS or it's partners or affiliates.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Navy: New Sub Designs Accomodate Women

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Military.com

14February2011 8:42amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:

The Navy says it's about to start spending money to design women's accommodations for Virginia-class and future ballistic-missile submarines.

The Navy officially lifted the ban on women serving aboard submarines in the spring. Twenty-four women have already begun training to serve as early as the end of this year as officers on ballistic-missile and guided-missile submarines.

The Navy's initial plans did not include enlisted women, or the smaller fast-attack submarines because of the perceived lack of privacy.

The Navy says it's about to start spending money to design women's accommodations for Virginia-class and future ballistic-missile submarines.

The Navy officially lifted the ban on women serving aboard submarines in the spring. Twenty-four women have already begun training to serve as early as the end of this year as officers on ballistic-missile and guided-missile submarines.

The Navy's initial plans did not include enlisted women, or the smaller fast-attack submarines because of the perceived lack of privacy. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Looking Beyond the EFV

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: US Naval Institute

13February2011 1:13pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: The likely cancellation of the troubled multibillion-dollar Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) program provides an opportunity for the Marine Corps to rethink the strategic purpose of maintaining amphibious assured-access capabilities and its future role in U.S. defense strategy.

The EFV has become a proxy for issues much more significant than a single defense program. The vehicle itself has been conflated with the capability to conduct forcible entry operations onto enemy-controlled shores, and that capability in turn has been conflated with the whole future of the Marine Corps. As one analyst asserts, “Within the Marine Corps, senior leaders understand that the fate of their entire service hinges on the outcome of EFV deliberations. If they don’t field a successor to their obsolete Cold War amphibious vehicles soon, they will have to begin abandoning the mission that has long been at the core of their identity.” (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: The future of seabasing

Moving beyond the post-Cold War unilateral approach by CMDR. GREGORY J. PARKER

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Armed Forces Journal

11February2011 7:39pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Like a ship’s hull with too many barnacles, seabasing is laden with unnecessary conceptual debris that has obscured its central tenets and confused its core strengths. As the Navy ponders its roles and corresponding force structure for the coming decades, it is worth putting seabasing in dry dock and stripping it clean. Only then will a vision appropriate to the 21st century emerge.

2010 was an important milestone for the concept of seabasing. Eclipsed in recent years by large-scale ground campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, seabasing once again occupied the limelight in January when a powerful earthquake struck Haiti, closing the main seaport and limiting air traffic to an antiquated and quickly overwhelmed airfield. The Navy and Marine Corps responded quickly by dispatching considerable assets to the scene, including an aircraft carrier, an amphibious assault ship and a hospital ship. By hosting extensive relief efforts offshore, the Haiti naval operation seemed to validate the seabasing concept in its entirety. Yet less than a month later, the Navy effectively canceled the Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future), the most significant seabasing acquisition program to date and a pillar of the Marine Corps’ 21st-century vision. What was once billed as revolutionary and transformational met an anticlimactic end, described as a concept that is “valid but not currently within the Navy’s fiscal reach.”

This contradictory turn of events suggests it is time to take a fresh look at a pivotal post-Cold War concept. (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Egypt nears military coup. USS warships in Suez Canal

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

09February2011 8:53amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: A fresh surge of popular anti-Mubarak protest ripping across Egypt Tuesday, Feb. 8 has brought the country closer to a military coup to stem the anarchy than at any time since the street caught fire on Jan. 25.

Vice President Omar Suleiman warned a group of Egyptian news editors that the only choice is between a descent into further lawlessness and a military takeover in Cairo. The distinguished political pundit of the 1960s and 1970s Hasnin Heikal saw no other way out of the crisis but a government ruling by the army's bayonets.

The arrival of US naval, marine and air forces in the Suez Canal's Greater Bitter Lake indicated that the crisis was quickly swerving out of control. (read full report)

 

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Grad rockets fired from Gaza towards south Israel; Navy ships retaliate

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: YNET News

01February2011 2:15pmEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:

Tensions in Egypt appear to be spreading to Gaza: Grad rockets fired from the Hamas-ruled territory Monday night landed near the southern Israeli cities of Ofakim and Netivot. Also Monday, a Qassam rocket exploded in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported

During the rocket attack on Netivot- the first attack on Israel since the mass protests against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak began a week ago – four people suffered from shock, and damage was caused to a road and a parked car.

The rocket landed near a residential neighborhood.

Another Grad hit the Ofakim area a few minutes later, but there were no reports of injury or damage.

(read full report)

Israeli response to Qassam fire?

Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip reported Tuesday that Navy vessels bombed a post of the al-Quds Martyrs' Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's military wing, west of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was unaware of any attack.

(read full report)