[infowar.de] Rumsfelds Jahresbericht, hier IT

[Ralf Bendrath <bendrath -! - zedat - fu-berlin - de>]

Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
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http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0802/081602td1.htm

Daily Briefing   

August 16, 2002 

Defense chief outlines challenges of information age warfare 

By Molly M. Peterson, National Journal's Technology Daily 

The increasing availability of commercial, off-the-shelf technology to
terrorist groups and enemy states is creating new challenges for the
U.S. military, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday in his
annual report to the president and Congress.

"Maintaining the U.S. technological edge has become even more difficult
as advanced technology has become readily available on the world
market," Rumsfeld wrote. "Technologies for sensors, information
processing, communications, precision guidance, and many other areas are
rapidly advancing and are available to potential adversaries."

Rumsfeld said some adversaries are using those high-tech tools to
develop "offensive information operations" that could disrupt military
information systems, such as those that enable U.S. troops to engage in
"network-centric" warfare with other combat units and foreign allies.

"In a networked environment, information assurance is critical,"
Rumsfeld said. "Information systems must be protected from attack, and
new capabilities for effective information operations must be
developed."

Noting that network-centric warfare relies heavily on satellite
communications and other forms of space-based technology, he said the
U.S. military must be vigilant in preventing terrorists and enemy states
from gaining access to space. 

"No nation relies more on space for its national security than the
United States," he said. "Yet elements of the U.S. space
architecture?ground stations, launch assets and satellites in orbit?are
threatened by capabilities that are increasingly available."

Rumsfeld said the fiscal 2003 Defense budget would provide $2 billion to
improve the security of the department's space-based information and
intelligence systems. That would be a 15.6 percent increase over fiscal
2002 spending. He added that the Pentagon also plans to invest about
$200 million in space-related "transformation" programs in fiscal 2003,
"with significantly more planned in the future."

"Transformation" refers to the military's efforts to redefine its
approach to warfare, by moving from the industrial age to the
information age, and shifting its defense strategy from the predictable
threats of the Cold War to unpredictable, "asymmetric" threats such as
those posed by the al Qaeda terrorist network.

Rumsfeld said transformation initiatives would be funded at about $21
billion in fiscal 2003, which would be about 17 percent of Defense's
total spending on procurement and research and development programs. He
added that the investment would rise to 22 percent by fiscal 2007.

Defending the nation against high-tech, asymmetric threats also requires
a "robust" investment in science and technology (S&T) programs,
according to Rumsfeld. "U.S. armed forces depend on the department's S&T
program to deliver unique military technologies for the combat advantage
that cannot be provided by relying on commercially available
technology," he wrote. 

The Pentagon's fiscal 2003 budget would provide $9.9 billion for S&T
programs. That would be about 2.7 percent of next year's total Defense
budget, but Pentagon officials have said they hope to increase that
investment to 3 percent in future years.

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