U.S. Special Forces put priority on developing enabling technologies for encryption and cyber security

MacDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), the elite group that undertakes some of the military’s most sensitive and high-stakes operations, is putting a priority on finding technology to improve communications encryption. Fedscoop reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

12 April 2021 -- “I personally changed our modernization priorities and restructured our funding to modernize those capabilities,” SOCOM Commander Gen. Richard Clarke told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.

For the past two decades, SOCOM has focused mostly on fighting non-state actors with limited technology. As the military pivots to great power competition, however it’s expected that strategic competitors like China and Russia will bring more-advanced cyber security and technology means to any fight.

Clarke did not mention any particular new electronic warfare (EW) or encryption tools for the Special Forces during the Senate hearing; he just said they broadly would be used to hide his operators’ movements from enemies.

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John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics