Uncertainty prevails over US cyber strategy shift towards ‘persistent engagement'

by Neil Ashdown

United States Cyber Command deployed a team to Estonia in November 2020 as part of a new strategy that emphasises operating outside US networks. The mission, lasting from 23 September to 6 November and coinciding with the US presidential election, was reported by The New York Times on 3 December. The newspaper reported Brigadier General William J Hartman, commander of the Cyber National Mission Force, as saying that the ‘hunt forward’ mission allowed Cyber Command “to broadly observe Russian techniques in Estonia and compare them with Moscow’s tactics used in the United States”.

This mission reflects the public shift in US cyber strategy since the creation of Cyber Command in 2010. This new strategy, variously referred to using the terms ‘defend forward’ and ‘persistent engagement’, has been described in published strategy documents and the statements of senior officials, as well as in an accompanying body of academic work.

National Security Agency Director General Paul Nakasone testifies before the House Armed Services Committee’s Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee in Washington, DC, on 13 March 2019. Nakasone is a leading proponent of the concept of ‘persistent engagement’. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)


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Israel announces that Oron intelligence aircraft is operational

by Yaakov Lappin & Jeremy Binnie

Oron arriving at Nevatim Air Base in April 2023. (Israeli Air Force)

The Oron intelligence-gathering aircraft is carrying out missions in support of Operation ‘Iron Swords' against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced on 26 March.

“The aircraft became operational quickly for use in Operation ‘Iron Swords' and has already recorded hundreds of operational flight hours and close to 100 sorties,” the MoD said in a statement.

Developed by the MoD's Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D), Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and the Israeli Air Force (IAF), the Oron is a Gulfstream G550 business jet equipped with an advanced active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar produced by IAI subsidiary Elta, as well as electro-optical and signals intelligence (SIGINT) sensors and advanced data-processing systems.

“What makes Oron unique is its ability to perform a wide range of intelligence missions in the same sortie and to transmit in real time to all relevant entities,” the MoD's statement said. It added that the aircraft can collect a larger volume of information than any other Israeli platform.


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New Chinese attack helicopter in development

by Akhil Kadidal

This concept image of China's new attack helicopter, tentatively designated as Z-21, is based on photographs of the prototype aircraft in flight. (Janes)

China is developing a new attack helicopter that appears to be in the same weight class as the US Boeing AH-64 Apache and the Russian Mil Mi-28 Havoc.

Images of the new helicopter, which emerged on Chinese social media in March 2024, show an aircraft that is larger than the People's Liberation Army's (PLA's) in-service AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China) Changhe Aircraft Industries Group (CHAIG) Z-10 attack helicopter, and with a wider central fuselage that is comparable with the Apache. The fuselage includes cheek fairings similar to the AH-64 Apache and a nose configuration similar to the Mi-28. The AH-64E and the Mi-28N have a maximum operating weight of 10–12 tons.

The new helicopter (tentatively designated as Z-21 by Chinese military observers) also appears to incorporate some of the PLA's latest combat helicopter features such as upward-facing engine exhausts to reduce its infrared signature.


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Australia passes law to boost AUKUS defence trade

by Jon Grevatt

New Australian legislation aims to support defence trade between partners working on the AUKUS submarine. A visual concept of the submarine is pictured above. (BAE Systems)

Australia's parliament passed legislation on 27 March that will support the country's AUKUS partnership with the United Kingdom and United States but toughen rules on the transfer of technologies to other foreign countries.

The Department of Defence (DoD) in Canberra said the new Defence Trade Controls Amendment Act 2024 (DTC Act) will enhance the protection of “Australian technology and information as well as that of key partners”.

It added that the law will “fast-track the delivery of high-end capabilities to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) by streamlining trade and collaboration with our AUKUS partners, maintaining Australia's capability edge”.

The cornerstone of the legislation, which amends the existing Defence Trade Controls Act 2012, is the easing of red tape in defence trade between AUKUS partners by supporting the establishment of a “licence-free environment for Australian industry”, the DoD said.


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https://www.janes.com/defence-news/terror-insurgent-group/latest/uncertainty-prevails-over-us-cyber-strategy-shift-towards-persistent-engagement

United States Cyber Command deployed a team to Estonia in November 2020 as part of a new strategy th...

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