For the Department of Defense (DOD) and Intelligence Community (IC), cybersecurity objectives across multi-domain operations call for increased network resilience and threat deterrence. The DOD’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) strategy includes usability and security. Usability applies to increasing information collection, analysis, and ease of sharing. Security focuses on the ability to mitigate risks posed to national security networks from persistent threats.

As companies and countries strive to protect their assets, cybersecurity is not merely a technical concern relegated to IT departments, it’s a national strategic imperative. This is where cybersecurity technologies and cross domain solutions (CDS) come into play.

Bridging secure networks with cross-domain solutions

CDS provide a proactive approach to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber threats in real time. Contrary to how a traditional firewall operates, CDS implement multiple layers of hardware and software-based redundancies and fail safes. A collection of carefully designed and stringently tested components enforce a pre-defined policy for highly sensitive network boundaries.

For defense and intelligence communities, these products are a key component of a defense-in-depth approach to cybersecurity, specifically for network boundary protection. They mitigate threats to highly sensitive networks where information sharing in an all-domain environment must be seamless. These systems of systems employ guidance and best practices set forth by the DOD and IC through layering policy enforcement mechanisms, data filtration, and monitoring without delay or physical interference when transferring information.

Every network plays a role in the ecosystem of cybersecurity. Outside of defense, industries like healthcare, banking, commercial aviation, and utility industries are just as much at risk to persistent malicious actors. The same concepts that apply to protecting military networks should also be applied to these less regulated, higher-risk networks to protect our national security posture.

Rethinking cybersecurity risk

Cybersecurity preparedness can be summarized as “not if, but when” in reference to a breach. This is true for both military networks and the private sector. When you think cybersecurity, you might picture software algorithms running on computers. You assume data is locked behind complex mathematical ciphers, rendering it unreadable without the correct decryption key. While encryption is essential, it is only a piece of the puzzle when reducing risk to secure networks. Software-based systems alone are prone to compromise due to the inherit complexities of applications and the operating systems they are built on.

The introduction of hardware-based cybersecurity solutions provides a higher level of assurance. Field-programmable gateway arrays (FPGAs) are the building blocks for hardware-based solutions. As an integrated and versatile circuit, they allow security protocols to be customized for specific needs around data flow enforcement and filtering. FPGAs increase the reliability and throughput of CDS to keep up with the pace of demanding data rates.

Why hardware matters: Setting a higher standard

Integrating FPGAs in advanced CDS technologies like hardware-enforced data diodes and other one-way transfer (OWT) devices ensure information flows in only one direction – reducing the risk of exfiltration or infiltration. Data diodes physically separate two networks and OWT devices transfer information from a “sender” to a “receiver.” These devices prevent content from flowing backward from a lower-security network to a higher-security network.

FPGAs can also be easily integrated into existing infrastructure to provide intricate protection, which enables secure communication across networks without disrupting operations. Information is safeguarded while allowing for collaboration across trusted domains. Even if malicious content is present on the receiving side, the OWT device will physically prevent it from being transmitted back.

Custom solutions to anticipate future threats

With today’s evolving and complex cybersecurity challenges, a holistic approach across the entire IT infrastructure environments is required – from endpoints and networks to applications and the cloud. It’s not just about detecting and defending threats, it’s also about anticipating them.

BAE Systems is at the forefront of developing cybersecurity products and CDS that meet the highest security standards for defense, intelligence, and commercial applications. These products lead the industry, including ultra-secure operating systems (OS), bi-directional guards, OWT devices, and future-ready FPGAs. The company utilizes its own STOP OS to build applications that address a wide range of customer needs. Products are interchangeable to solve a variety of problems and are designed to handle both enterprise-level and highly sensitive, mission-critical operations in rugged environments.

BAE Systems’ new XTS-IRIS – Large Scale Enterprise Platform solution is a hardware-based CDS to protect customers’ most critical assets. The advanced FPGA processing blades host key security controls and filters that provide the assurance that data (and nothing else) is securely transferred across domains. It can also be integrated with other cybersecurity products to provide custom solutions.

In an age where every digital exchange could be a potential vulnerability, BAE Systems is fortifying the future of cybersecurity.

What’s imperative now is a focus on affordable precision-guided munitions (PGMs), which would be the foundation of success in any modern military engagement. The need is great – military experts have publicly stated that hundreds of thousands of these types of weapons are necessary to defeat a near-peer threat as any conflict is expected to outlast stockpiles of costly high-end weapons.

The time, scale, and urgency of the need for this kind of affordable mass is highlighted by the war in Ukraine. Current inventories do not meet the need outlined in the 2022 National Defense Strategy (NDS) cited in a recent Air & Space Forces report, and the Department of Defense’s stated target date of 2027 is looming.

BAE Systems’ approach to delivering affordable mass is to integrate advanced multi-mode modular seekers into large inventories of existing weapons. This affordably adds capability to existing weapons, such as autonomy to navigate and track targets and handle threats in a number of different environments. BAE Systems’ approach is modular to enable ‘mix and match’ options to tailor weapons to the mission without costly and lengthy development cycles.

A prominent and proven example of repurposing existing stockpiles of munitions is BAE Systems’ APKWS® laser-guidance kit technology. APKWS laser-guidance kits have given new life to existing inventories of unguided rockets and turned them into precision weapons. It is a “Swiss Army knife”, boasting a variety of capabilities for use in multiple user-created mission applications. APKWS allows rockets to be fired from many different platforms and in many different types of user-defined mission applications.

In recent years, BAE Systems has continued to show advancements in APKWS capabilities with various mission sets, targets, and platforms, including successful tests against agile, high-speed military drones in counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) missions; accuracy with High-Explosive Anti-Tank Anti-Personnel Anti-Materiel (HEAT/APAM) warheads against armored targets; and firing APKWS from a robotic combat vehicle.

Additional solutions are in development at BAE Systems to bolster affordable mass.

The variety of seeker technology BAE Systems develops and continues to advance offers low-cost solutions to current munitions shortfalls. By delivering affordable seeker solutions, we enable an increased number of munitions our military can acquire and employ, leading to enhanced operational capability on the battlefield and beyond.

Today’s warfighters are preparing for missions in highly contested battlespaces. The enemy is trying to achieve parity or dominance across the full range of US military capabilities, and the adversary is advancing. For some missions, warfighters must go into the battlespace knowing that they will be seen. It’s just a matter of time, and which threat systems will attempt to stop them. Adversaries will detect and target our warfighters, and they must get in, execute their missions, and get out safely.

Adversaries’ weapons for stopping aircraft, vehicles, and ships today range from guided missiles to undersea mines. Most of these threats detect and/or emit electromagnetic energy in one form or another. Radars and other guidance systems rely on radio-frequency (RF) signals, heat-seeking missiles and imaging sensors detect electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) energy, and propulsion systems produce IR heat signatures of their own. All of these threats can be detected and countered with the right approach to platform survivability. RF signals – including those used for targeting and communications – can be jammed; electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) guidance systems can be blinded; and decoys can trick threat systems into attacking false targets.

The key to battlefield survivability is a layered approach that uses the full electromagnetic spectrum – RF and EO/IR – for improved geolocation, better threat identification and threat knowledge, and tailored countermeasure response regardless of the threat. The different capabilities can be integrated and customized for specific platforms and missions, providing a shield that counters adversaries’ kill chains, enables freedom of maneuver in contested battlespaces, and improves warfighters’ survivability and lethality.

Intrepid Shield:

BAE Systems understands tough mission scenarios where warfighters will be detected in dangerous battlespaces. The company is a leader in platform survivability technology, which is directly aligned with its mission: We Protect Those Who Protect Us®.

The company’s Intrepid Shield approach delivers bold, layered platform survivability that creates a protective sphere around platforms in highly contested battlespaces by combining full-spectrum electromagnetic energy capabilities to detect, exploit, and defeat advanced threats. Solutions are comprised of sensors, countermeasure systems, and autonomy features that reduce the cognitive load on crews.

The Intrepid Shield approach builds on a proven portfolio of threat warning, threat suppression, countermeasure and situational awareness systems that detect and counter visible and invisible threats, day and night and in all weather conditions across air, land, and maritime domains. BAE Systems’ technologies quickly and automatically protect platforms and warfighters from modern threats, creating a 360-degree protective envelope.

The diverse portfolio includes full-spectrum threat warning solutions, RF and infrared countermeasure systems, self-protection pods, decoys and air-launched effects, as well as high-powered jamming and reconnaissance capabilities. The capabilities can be scaled and integrated in optimum combinations for different platforms to close the mission. By combining traditionally separate RF and EO/IR capabilities, BAE Systems is creating new operational effects to support platform protection, situational awareness, and kill chain support.

The company’s Intrepid Shield approach spans the electromagnetic spectrum to detect, intercept, and counter threats in air, on land, and at sea for superior situational awareness and platform survivability.

“Whether it’s a Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) coupled with a Smart D2 to detect the threat and dispense the most effective countermeasure response, or a 360 MVP Sensor and TERRA RAVEN integration to detect and defeat incoming missiles, or the Stand Off Jammer on the EC-37B to deny, degrade and disrupt the enemy and protect warfighters deeper in the fight – what our experts are focused on is protecting platforms and making sure that the warfighters can execute their missions and come home safely,” said Dave Harrold, vice president and general manager of Countermeasure and Electromagnetic Attack at BAE Systems.

By combining capabilities, BAE Systems provides a 360-degree protective bubble around platforms that protects them regardless of the threats. The Intrepid Shield systems are built on key concepts including open-systems architecture, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, and support broader electromagnetic spectrum operations, helping armed forces understand, exploit and use the spectrum. The Intrepid Shield systems are based on open architecture that can support third-party EW techniques and rapid capability insertion, accelerating the delivery of capabilities to warfighters.

The company has the ability to quickly and effectively to design, develop and manufacture advanced systems to meet customers’ needs. The company has a knowledgeable workforce with the ability to integrate active and passive RF and EO/IR systems to deliver capabilities for a variety of platforms and for specific mission sets. The company also provides expert end-to-end threat analysis, modeling, simulation, and digital engineering, as well as product life cycle support and mission systems integration services.

BAE Systems is leading the future of integrated electromagnetic spectrum superiority, bringing together EO/IR and RF capabilities to deliver next-generation threat detection, countermeasure, and attack solutions across air, land, and maritime domains – enabling commander reach with an Intrepid Shield approach that allows warfighters to execute their missions and return home safely. Visit www.baesystems.com/cema to learn more about our full-spectrum approach.

It is a shifting picture which will increasingly require a connected, multi-domain response, with assets from the outer reaches of space to the depths of the ocean seamlessly networking to ensure superiority and mission readiness in a world dominated by growing volumes of data. Those who are able to successfully harness, interpret and use that data on the battlefield will hold a critical advantage.

With the need to operate in new ways to combat the emergence of new environments and new threats comes the need to train the militaries of tomorrow in new ways too.

BAE Systems is combining its decades of expertise in military training with collaboration, bringing together technologies from a number of leading companies to develop and prove next generation training for the forces of tomorrow.

Project OdySSEy is at the heart of this collaboration. It brings together experts in simulation, supercomputing, data analytics and augmented and virtual reality to create a single synthetic environment, enabling air, land, sea, space and cyber forces to plug in and train together.

We spoke to Lucy Walton, Head of Training at BAE Systems’ Air Sector, to explain more about Project OdySSEy and how the technologies being developed as part of the initiative will help deliver mission readiness for the military forces of tomorrow.

What is Project OdySSEy?

The aim of Project OdySSEy is to shape the future of collective training and test and prove the technologies which will be required to deliver that future training across all military domains. At BAE Systems we understand how to train military forces through an intimate relationship we have with our customers built on decades of working in partnership. But we do not have a monopoly on good ideas and that is why we are partnering with a number of other companies to develop a single synthetic environment (SSE) which will harness the technologies which will shape the way our customers train in the future.

There are a number of large scale, multi-national training exercises which take place around the world each year – exercises such as Red Flag. But their sheer size means they are relatively infrequent. The creation of a SSE– effectively a ‘military metaverse’ – will allow military forces across all domains to securely train in a virtual world and, importantly, to do so regularly, gaining crucial battlefield experiences without the challenges and constraints of live collective training and its limited warfare scenarios.

We have started to demonstrate and prove the concept at one of our main sites in the UK, where we are using fully-immersive, extremely high-fidelity synthetic technologies to create a live-synthetic mix across a number of platforms and domains – specifically focussing on the air and land domains in the initial phase. For example, we have shown how we could connect a full mission fast jet simulator to someone on a deployable laptop simulator in a forward operating base and we have run complex scenarios which connect air power with land forces.

When it comes to training pilots, we believe there will always be a need for an irreducible level of live flying in fast jet trainer aircraft like Hawk, but synthetics provide huge benefits in areas including safety, affordability and sustainability.

What we’re showing is that the capability is there to allow militaries to train collectively using real software and real tactics away from prying eyes, preparing for scenarios which simply could not be undertaken in live training.

We have worked alongside military and industry partners out of our Warton site, in the UK, to show how this capability works and we are feeding the lessons taken from that back into development of the project.

How does the Single Synthetic Environment work?

At its heart, the SSE is built on a digital backbone, with a high-fidelity simulated world capturing inputs from across domains. But with Project OdySSEy we are going well beyond creating a virtual or augmented reality, we are harnessing what is known as extended reality technology to create the most immersive, high fidelity experience for trainees.

What that means is we are capturing data points from every interaction – from a rise in pulse rate to a complex tactical decision – meaning that we will be able to analyze a student’s learning, tailoring their future syllabus to what they need. By enabling them to focus on their weaknesses as well as build on their strengths, military forces can learn better and quicker.

These technologies are built on that digital backbone enabling multiple users in multiple locations to train securely in a way which gives them the skills they require for the frontline.

How important is collaboration and partnership on Project OdySSEy?

It is critical. We recognise that as BAE Systems we bring a pedigree of working with military, but we do not have access to all of the cutting edge technologies being developed by smaller, highly-specialized companies, often operating in sectors well outside of the defense and military spheres.

For example, in the gaming industry we can see that some of the graphics and simulation technologies which have been developed are well advanced and continuing to develop very rapidly. While it has been known for decades that synthetic technologies hold huge potential for the training and preparation of future forces, advances driven by areas such as computer gaming and the medical industry mean the scope is now wider than ever before.

From Hadean, a supercomputing specialist which powers the computer game Minecraft, and data analytics experts VRAI, through to simulation firms Pauley and Bohemia Interactive Simulations, we are working alongside leading minds in their fields.

This expertise and cognitive diversity is allowing us to change the norms, drawing upon agile innovators and enabling us to use our expertise to integrate a capability which can deliver for our customers.

BAE Systems has a place at the heart of training pipelines around the world, training some 450 pilots and 6,000 aircraft technicians every year. Where our core strength as a company lies is in taking this technology and innovation and, using our experience and insight gained through those decades of military training on platforms such as the Hawk, as well as other training experience, integrate these ideas into a relevant capability which will give military users the edge.

What comes next?

Having completed some successful demonstration work which validates the capabilities of this Single Synthetic Environment, we are now looking to the next phase, based around rapid iterations of capability.

Through our initial phases we have integrated the air and land domains with battlespace command capabilities and the next steps will see us add further domains to increase the complexity and capability of the environment.

BAE Systems has been a strategic contributor to the F-35 program since 2002. It designed and delivered state-of-the-art AN/ASQ-239 EW/countermeasure suites for each F-35 Lightning II aircraft delivered to date, providing critical situational awareness and self-protection capabilities. The F-35 EW suite is fully integrated into the aircraft, and helps maintain its status as the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter aircraft ever built.

In today’s signal-dense environments, the AN/ASQ-239 system provides long-range 360-degree, full-spectrum situational awareness and rapid-response capabilities. Its offensive and defensive capabilities include threat warning, radio-frequency and infrared countermeasures, and targeting support – allowing pilots to detect, analyze, and counter threats and reach well-defended targets.

As the strategic EW contributor for the F-35, BAE Systems has a strong vision for the future of EW and a deep understanding of customer needs. The company is a leader in electronic warfare with more than 60 years of experience. Its systems have flown on more than 80 platforms and operate on 80% of U.S. military fighter aircraft. The company’s EW expertise builds on its world-class agile engineering and next-generation manufacturing skills.

The company not only delivers advanced EW systems for each F-35, it delivers them on time, and continues to evolve and modernize the system. The current version of the EW system – referred to as DTIP or Digital Channelized Receiver Techniques Generator and Tuner Insertion Program – provides the world-class functionality of the previous system in a smaller footprint, reducing volume and power requirements and creating space for future upgrades.

BAE Systems is also under contract to design and deliver Block 4 EW capabilities for future F-35 aircraft, which will significantly upgrade and modernize AN/ASQ-239. Block 4 EW will improve sensing and signal-processing capabilities and boost the ability to detect low-observable threats and more threats simultaneously. Block 4 hardware is designed to rapidly evolve using incremental software updates that will enable future upgrades, accelerating the delivery of advanced capabilities to the global F-35 fleet.

To deliver complex, intricate electronics at scale, BAE Systems invested more than $100 million in its production facilities, including three state-of-the-art microwave manufacturing factories, an expanded Advanced Composites Manufacturing facility, and a 42,000-square-foot expansion of its Electronic Warfare Integrated Manufacturing Center. The flexibility of BAE Systems’ active production line will allow it to seamlessly transition to the Block 4 design without skipping a beat.

The company also cut the cost of the AN/ASQ-239 by 79% since initial units were delivered, and reduced the EW cost per flight hour by 53%. The system’s modular design improves reliability and maintainability reducing life cycle sustainment costs.

BAE Systems also provides crucial sustainment support for AN/ASQ-239, ensuring EW mission system readiness. The company provides software maintenance, depot test equipment support, logistics analysis, obsolescence monitoring, and technical field support. Under an innovative performance-based logistics program, BAE Systems delivers better than 85% EW material availability to the F-35 enterprise using a cost-effective, outcome-based support strategy.

BAE Systems’ high-performance AN/ASQ-239 EW system is capable, reliable, affordable, and sustainable, enabling the U.S. and its allies to maintain electromagnetic spectrum superiority and execute missions today and into the future.

Harriet Clark, Vice President – Sustainment for BAE Systems’ Air Sector explains the company’s role and why it’s vital to deliver what the warfighter needs, exactly when they need it.

Last year, BAE Systems’ Air Sector marked a key milestone in our support to the U.S. Navy’s T-45 trainer fleet, with the agreement of a seven-year Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) deal which expanded our sustainment services to aircraft in the United States.

The Vertex Company [A V2X company] awarded the contract to BAE Systems in 2022, outlining an agreement to provide enhanced logistics and engineering support to the US Navy fleet of nearly 200 T-45 trainer aircraft. Under the new CLS contract, we deliver a broad range of performance-based sustainment services, including maintenance, repair, logistics and training, backed up by expertise in logistics, technical services, and platform health monitoring tools.

BAE Systems’ engineers, logisticians and sustainment specialists work alongside Vertex at US Naval Air Stations in Kingsville, Texas; Meridian, Mississippi; Pensacola, Florida; and at Vertex’s headquarters in Madison, Mississippi. They are supported by engineers in the UK with a proven pedigree of delivering maintenance and support contracts for the UK, US, Middle East, and Australia. That includes sustaining platforms such as the Eurofighter Typhoon where we are part way through a PBL contract expected to drive in excess of $500m savings over its 10 year life, and the Hawk trainer aircraft, which we support around the world.

Together with The Vertex Company, our companies play a vital role in enabling the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps’ pilot training program for jet carrier aviation and tactical strike missions. Every day we ensure the T-45 Goshawk remains ready and available for service men and women to complete the final stage of their training before joining the fast-jet community and becoming frontline U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps pilots.

For BAE Systems, the T-45 CLS arrangement was only the latest in a long line of support services provided by our company to customers around the globe. It builds on decades of experience in providing support to warfighters; experience which ensures our military customers can be assured of mission readiness and resilience, wherever they are and whatever they require.

On the F-35 Lightning II, we have been part of the program since its inception, as a teammate to Lockheed Martin, and are a key contributor to the F-35 Global Support Solution, including the provision of spares, repairs and technical support for our systems and equipment – Crew Escape, Life Support, Fuel Systems and major structural components. We also support Lockheed Martin with a range of technical services and undertake a number of specific responsibilities in support of the RAF in the UK and the RAAF in Australia.

In 2020, we also signed a nine-year agreement with Vertex Aerospace to enhance availability of the U.S. Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier II fleet. That logistics support contract is ensuring increased efficiency of maintenance operations for the Harrier fleet using predictive maintenance techniques and smart stock optimization tools.

Together, we and Vertex Aerospace support the crucial training and combat operations conducted from U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, and forward operating bases through a contract which itself built on BAE Systems’ existing role in maintaining the AV-8B Harrier’s reaction control system and providing engineering and technical support.

With decades of experience delivering global sustainment and training services, we remain focused on understanding the challenges warfighters face and tailoring our expertise to introduce efficiencies and improve the readiness and resilience of aircraft.

Still, soldiers who ride them into battle face a barrage of threats ranging from challenging terrain to complex adversarial threat environments. With this in mind, BAE Systems has tapped into our extensive aircraft survivability experience to develop next-generation technologies to protect enduring and future ground combat vehicle fleets by enhancing their survivability, increasing their maneuverability, and enabling increased autonomous functionality.

The evolution of armored warfare

Armored vehicles first rolled out during World War I. They were designed for trench warfare on European battlefields. Tanks were used to break enemy defenses by surviving artillery bombardments and machine-gun fire, and to pass through barbed wire in a way infantry units could not. Armored personnel carriers were developed to transport and protect the infantry accompanying tanks.

By World War II, tanks and personnel carriers were upgraded to have greater speed, more protective armor, and upgraded shooting power. For many years, thicker armor was the main protection for ground vehicles against new weapons. But as explosives evolved, soldiers on the battlefield needed more sophisticated layers of protection. This led to innovations in active protection systems (APS), which could detect, track and defeat incoming threats. As a leader in delivering radio-frequency and optical electronic warfare systems for combat aircraft, BAE Systems is uniquely positioned to adapt those capabilities and provide them as integrated vehicle protection systems (VPS) – improving ground vehicle lethality, freedom of maneuver, and survivability.

Detecting and defeating threats

For threat detection, BAE Systems’ 360 MVP Sensor serves as the eyes of the company’s integrated VPS suite, with cameras designed for combat vehicle situational awareness and threat detection.

One of our 360 MVP cameras provides spherical coverage with nominal horizontal and vertical fields of view. This superior field of view, our best-in-class resolution, and our higher than standard frame rate enable a variety of advanced capabilities with fewer total cameras per platform. In addition to vehicle protection functionality, our cameras enable superior driving safety, automatic threat detection via 360 degree situational awareness, and growth to more advanced autonomous capabilities as processing and machine vision software capacity improves.

For combat vehicles, just adding video with such a wide vertical field of view significantly improves driving safety due to much closer ground-intercept. The high resolution also lends itself to detecting potential threats much farther away from vehicles than other systems, enabling autonomous cueing for the crew, remote weapons system operation, and formation notification of potential threats. The edge processing we provide with the camera allows for modular processor upgrades as our commercial provider improves their GPUs, and it enables advanced capabilities without overburdening the vehicle networks.

When it comes to defeating threats, our advanced TERRA RAVEN countermeasure system defends ground vehicles against guided missiles using infrared countermeasure technology.

TERRA RAVEN is compliant with the U.S. Army’s Modular Active Protection System (MAPS) program and is designed to integrate directly with threat detection and countermeasure cueing systems, including the 360 MVP Sensor. The 360 MVP Sensor can cue TERRA RAVEN to quickly and efficiently defeat threats.

As part of a layered vehicle defense system, TERRA RAVEN uses non-kinetic, infrared countermeasures to shield ground vehicles from anti-tank missiles, improving survivability via a critical outer layer of protection. The system is lightweight, modular, and scalable, and provides armored forces with efficient vehicle protection in a small, cost-efficient package. It is specifically designed for capability growth to address future threats as they emerge.

BAE Systems’ integrated VPS suite is moving aircraft survivability equipment to combat vehicle fleets. With decades of experience designing, delivering, and sustaining electronic warfare systems, the company has a deep understanding of the evolving battlespace and the solutions warfighters need to address emerging threats, and ultimately, return home safely.