Signal back issues from September 2008:
BEHIND THE LINES
Sep 01, 2008; ... In the more than six decades that SIGNAL Magazine has been covering news of importance to its readership, Europe has been a vital element of the defense of the Free World This year's annual Europe report looks at how the changing continent is adjusting to the security needs of the post-Cold-War ...
Defense, Intelligence Adopt Licensing Standard
Sep 01, 2008; ... GOVERNMENT The U.S. Defense Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) are beginning a combined approach to managing computer software licenses that they designate as network-centric. The goal is to speed information access among authorized users, officials ...
Airborne Laser Advances
Sep 01, 2008; ... The Missile Defense Agency's airborne laser (ABL) is fueled and ready for ground zapping tests. Mounted aboard a modified Boeing 747, the ABL is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in their boost phases (SIGNAL Magazine, March 2008, page 33). Engineers have installed the laser ...
Sensors Eye New Threats
Sep 01, 2008; ... INTERNATIONAL The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MOD) is developing an infrared-based threat warning system to alert pilots when their aircraft are under attack. The Elix-IR program is being jointly developed with Thales UK to provide enhanced situational awareness and ...
Molecule Alignment for Optical Protection
Sep 01, 2008; ... Researchers at the Army Research Laboratory, the Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the University of Maryland and the Naval Air Systems Command have demonstrated the ability to align molecules in a thick polymer film. This breakthrough represents the first example of molecular orientation on ...
Commercial Missile Defense Flies
Sep 01, 2008; ... AEROSPACE An antimissile system for commercial airliners recently completed its first scheduled flight. The JETEYE infrared missile defense system was installed on an American Airlines 767 flying from New York to Los Angeles. The flight is the start of the final phase of a U.S ....
AWACS Adds More Network Centricity
Sep 01, 2008; ... MILITARY Two Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft have been equipped with hardware that increases their network-centric capabilities, including new media. The modifications enable increased use of mission data along with better access to external Web services and improved ...
Airborne Mine Detectors
Sep 01, 2008; ... An aircraft-based sensor system will help U.S. Army troops to locate and avoid minefields. The Airborne Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Minefield Detection System (ASTAMIDS) uses a suite of sensors to identify and locate minefields and obstacles. It can detect nonmined areas to allow units ...
Countermine Degaussing Coil
Sep 01, 2008; ... The U.S. Navy is testing a new type of degaussing coil installed on a naval vessel in an effort to protect seagoing assets from mines. The new coil is lighter and less expensive to install than traditional systems, and it may simplify individual ship mine protection. Degaussing is the ...
YouTube Previews Military Life in Korea
Sep 01, 2008; ... The U.S. Army's Installation Management Command (IMCOM)-Korea region has turned to YouTube as a supplement to its official Web site. Posts on the social networking site offer newcomers to the area and personnel sponsoring new arrivals easy access to a comprehensive library of videos showcasing ...
CAREER PROGRESSIONS
Sep 01, 2008; ... Government Michael B. Donley (1) has been nominated to become the next U.S. Air Force secretary, while Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, has been appointed as the U.S. Air Force chief of staff. Carol A. Haave has been appointed as assistant secretary, International Affairs, U.S ....
INTERNETWORKS
Sep 01, 2008; ... SIGNAL's guide to Web resources Situated in the heart of Europe, the city of Prague has been an imperial capital, an artistic center and a trade and political hub during its long history. Its worldrenowned medieval and Renaissance architecture has served as a backdrop to some of the most ...
Change Is Afoot in Europe
Sep 01, 2008; ... If you have not been to Europe lately, you need to reflect on how the continent has changed dramatically in recent years. Little has remained constant. The European Union has grown in scope and role and, with it, the euro has emerged as a major international currency. NATO has grown in size and ...
Czech Military Balances Old, New
Sep 01, 2008; ... But upgrading legacy systems does not necessarily achieve interoperability. The armed forces of the Czech Republic are wrestling with interoperability issues as they strive to modernize in place a military largely built around legacy systems. The 60-yearold Atlantic alliance to which the ...
Interoperability Key to Multinational Operations
Sep 01, 2008; ... Agency manages the rules and standards that allow alliance nations to share vital data on the battlefield. NATO is transforming itself as it approaches its 60th birthday. Change is nothing unusual for the alliance, which has recently accepted a number of new nations into its ranks. But ...
Unified Services Strengthen Network Service, Defense
Sep 01, 2008; ... Consolidation of alliance management, maintenance capabilities increases efficiency through synergy. NATO has centralized its computer support services to better provide warfighters with battlefield data and to effectively manage and protect alliance networks. By combining management, ...
Digital Future Force Emerges
Sep 01, 2008; ... Modernization initiative gains momentum as government lays out plans for network-centric ground forces. The French army is in the first stages of a far-reaching transformation program to digitize its ground forces. The goal of the effort is to connect all echelons of the service into a ...
Spain Boots Up Military Network
Sep 01, 2008; ... Battle management applications, tools, provide land forces with greater interoperability, combat capability. A multifunction command and control system is providing the Spanish army with increased operational flexibility. The software application contains several discrete applications ...
Infantry Transformation Gains Momentum
Sep 01, 2008; ... Tactical modernization efforts near deployment, but nations take different approaches to meet domestic, export goals. European armies are networking their infantry. Driven by the need for networkcentric forces capable of operating in multinational environments, the continent's ground ...
Rented Spy Planes See Action
Sep 01, 2008; ... Unique arrangement allows the United Kingdom to operate robot recon aircraft without the maintenance costs. British troops operating in Afghanistan and Iraq are using privately owned and maintained unmanned aircraft for battlefield reconnaissance and surveillance missions. The effort ...
DSI Miami: New Position Reinforces Commitment to Collaboration
Sep 01, 2008; ... Command focuses on diplomacy, not defense. As U.S. troops continue to engage in hardpower battles to defeat dangerous enemies around the world, another type of international effort is moving forward a little closer to home. The U.S. Southern Command possesses very little in terms of ...
Military Streamlines Biometrics Science Spending
Sep 01, 2008; ... The Pentagon is leading the creation of a document to encourage organizations to use their development dollars while directing that funding toward the most necessary efforts. The U.S. Defense Department is creating a biometrics science and technology plan to help the services and other ...
Bureau Beefs Up Biometrics Capabilities
Sep 01, 2008; ... FBI seeks the best of the best in nonproprietary, interoperable biometrics collection tools. Bionics made Col. Steve Austin better, stronger and faster as the lead 1970s television character in The Six Million Dollar Man so he could defeat fictional bad guys, but it will be biometrics ...
U.S. Air Force Looks At European Space
Sep 01, 2008; ... Greater commercial and military cooperation is taking place across national borders. As aerospace operations increasingly beckon, the U.S. Air Force is looking across the Atlantic as well as skyward. It has created a new liaison office designed to coordinate and boost space cooperation ...
Coalition Exercise Evolves With Fresh Features
Sep 01, 2008; ... The Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration is adapting for today's battlefield. The U.S. armed forces' yearly demonstration to test and assess interoperability technologies took place in June as military services and government agencies from various countries gathered at ...
No Certainty Yet for Identity Assurance
Sep 01, 2008; ... The need for assuring identity is clear, but the path to achieving it is not. As the armed forces move into the brave new world of information sharing, one of their biggest challenges will be identity assurance-proving that the parties to a virtual transaction are who they say they are, ...
AFCEAN OF THE MONTH
Sep 01, 2008; ... Col. Kevin Smith, USAF (Ret.) * ArkLaTex Chapter Col. Kevin Smith, USAF (Ret.), is a military liaison for Praeses in the Shreveport-Bossier City area, located in northwest Louisiana. He works with Praeses to bring information technology services and solutions to the ...
AFCEA EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Sep 01, 2008; ... First Education Summit Looks for Best Practices The AFCEA Educational Foundation sponsored its first Education Summit as a part of the AFCEA International meetings preceding the Joint Warfighting Conference in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Mentioned briefly in this column last month, the ...
Government Oversight and the CIO
Sep 01, 2008; ... Why is the job of chief information officer, especially in the public sector, so difficult? Is it ill-defined, misunderstood, threatening or powerless? Are qualified people assigned, and are salary and compensation levels adequate? These are good questions that represent problems expressed by ...