Our enemies are targeting our comms networks, Marine general says, and we need a quantum fix
US military communications are vulnerable, and Marines know the outcomes can be deadly if the enemy gets its hands on data once thought to be secure.
"We've got to figure out a way to get the promise of quantum communications in place," said Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Sklenka, who serves as the Corps' Deputy Commandant, Installations and Logistics. Sklenka, along with Army and Navy logistics leaders, spoke as part of a panel on combat logistics Thursday during the Modern Day Marine expo.
With the rise of new threats to communications, leaders can't just count on shifting to different networks to guard information, he said, explaining that he wants to see networks become "undecryptable" by adopting a tech that's still in its infancy but seems poised to profoundly change warfare: quantum communications.
Secure quantum communication offers unparalleled protection of sensitive communications by giving them unbreakable encryption, but that capability is still being developed.
"We all operate predominantly on the unclass net," Sklenka said, referring to the defense department's unclassified network.
While the "secret" information is distributed through an entirely different network, many sensitive details, including unit and personnel information and equipment data, can be shared on unclassified networks, making it a very desirable target for enemy penetration.
"That's a vulnerable network. We know that our adversaries are in there," he said.
It's still early days for emerging quantum tech, which also includes quantum computing and quantum sensing.
A 2021 study estimated the level of tech the defense department would find most useful is still years away from development, though US companies like IBM, Amazon, and Google are racing to harness the nascent tech.
The rapidly evolving field remains deeply technical, expensive for researchers to work on, and not yet particularly useful for anyone outside certain circles.
What's on the horizon: a new era of super-computers that can dramatically outpace current systems in yet unknown ways that will likely transform society— including military operations.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, is paying attention too. The military research and development agency has ongoing quantum initiatives, including one that is focused on achieving utility-scale quantum operation by 2033 and others focused on research to build parts required for quantum computing.
Part of the quantum transformation will inevitably include encryption methods, which researchers already know are set to become obsolete in their current state.
"Anything that's internet-connected will likely have problems," said Karl Holmqvist, the CEO of Lastwall, a cybersecurity provider of quantum resilient technology used by the DoD, in an interview with Business Insider earlier this year.
The dramatic changes posed by quantum technology will certainly play out in the national security sphere, from financial markets to battlefields for Marines, all as the DoD grapples with remedying other major issues that could impact how it fights a war, including a too few ships and lagging shipbuilding capacity, drone adoption, retention, and more.
"I've got to figure out how to make it so the bad guys can't figure it out, so even if they capture that data, it's garbage to them," said Sklenka. But at the same time, he said, US forces still need to able to use the networks, and share that information with allied militaries that US troops may be fighting alongside.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Army bringing in tech executives as lieutenant colonels
Four senior executives of tech giants like Meta and Palantir are being sworn into the Army Reserve as direct-commissioned officers at the unusually high rank of lieutenant colonel as part of a new program to recruit private-sector experts to speed up tech adoption. The Army calls the program to recruit Silicon Valley executives Detachment 201: The Army's Executive Innovation Corps. The program is aimed at bringing in part-time advisors from the private sector to help the service adopt and scale commercial technology like drones and robots into its formations. The Reserve's new Lt. Cols. are Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer for Palantir; Andrew Bosworth, chief technology officer of Meta; Kevin Weil, chief product officer of OpenAI; and Bob McGrew, an advisor at Thinking Machines Lab and former chief research officer for OpenAI. They are being sworn into the Reserve on Friday. Army officials told Task & Purpose that the four executives will all attend the Army's six-week Direct Commissioning Course at Fort Benning, Georgia and will complete the Army Fitness Test and marksmanship training. All four have spent decades at some of Silicon Valley's leading tech giants and fast-growing start-ups, roles that have made them each multi-millionaires several times over. Each now work at firms that have expressed interest in developing business with the Pentagon. The idea of incorporating private-sector expertise is a lesson the Army says it learned from Ukraine as soldiers there who are engineers or computer scientists in their day jobs are MacGyvering makeshift drones or 3D printing parts to use on the front lines against Russia. All four of the executives now work at companies investing heavily in emerging fields like AI and machine learning, two subjects that the Army is looking to fold into future weapon systems. Palantir and OpenAI have been contractors for the Department of Defense, with Meta has announced a partnership with Anduril for troop augmented and virtual reality devices. 'I have accepted this commission in a personal capacity because I am deeply invested in helping advance American technological innovation,' Bosworth wrote in a post on X, adding that their primary role will be as technical experts for Army modernization efforts. Bosworth is one of four of the most senior executives at Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, who report directly to CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg. Hired at the company in 2006, he is known as the engineer who developed the Facebook News Feed. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bosworth's salary in 2023 was just under $1 million but — like most Meta executives — he received close to $20 million in Meta stock. Sankar, the chief technology officer for Palantir was, according to his bio with the company, the firm's thirteenth employee. He sold Palantir shares worth $367 million in 2024. McGrew, who advises Thinking Machines Lab, is an alumni of Palantir and OpenAI. According to his LinkedIn, while working as a chief research officer at OpenAI, he led efforts to 'build the world's most powerful AI models and then let the world use them through ChatGPT and the API.' Weil's resume includes work at several major tech companies like Microsoft, Twitter, Instagram, Meta, Strava, Planet Labs, and Cisco. According to SEC filings, he cashed out shares in Twitter and PlanetLabs worth at least $15 million in 2014 and 2015, and his current role at OpenAI includes stock options in the company that, should it turn public, could be worth several hundred million dollars. The program follows Army Chief of Staff Gen. George's announcement of the Army Transformation Initiative and his Transforming in Contact effort which has smaller prototype units testing new tactics and tech like unmanned aerial systems and electronic warfare jammers in realistic combat training scenarios. For instance, the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team is testing new platoons that specialize in specific threats like anti-tank systems, first-person viewer attack, FPV, drones or sensing enemy drones. 'Their swearing-in is just the start of a bigger mission to inspire more tech pros to serve without leaving their careers, showing the next generation how to make a difference in uniform,' the Army said in a release. A Marine Corps reply-all email apocalypse has an incredible real-life ending Army shuts down its sole active-duty information operations command Army plans to close more than 20 base museums in major reduction Former Green Beret nominated to top Pentagon position to oversee special ops The Navy's new recruiting commercial puts the 'dirt wars' in the past
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Tech execs enlist in Army Reserve for new innovation detachment
Four Silicon Valley technology executives from major companies are joining the U.S Army Reserve as officers to inject the speed and expertise of commercial technology development into military innovation through the newly established Detachment 201, an Executive Innovation Corps, the service announced Friday. The Pentagon has long turned to civilian experts for technological insight, from World War II-era scientists to modern advisory boards like the Defense Innovation Board. Detachment 201 takes the desire to collaborate with the high-technology industry to a new level: embedding senior tech execs directly into the Army Reserve as uniformed officers. Those first Army Reserve lieutenant colonels, who will be sworn in today are Shyam Sankar, Palantir's chief technology officer; Andrew Bosworth, chief technology officer of Meta; Kevin Weil, OpenAI's chief product officer; and Bob McGrew, an advisor at Thinking Machines Lab and former chief research officer for OpenAI, the Army statement lists. 'Their swearing-in is just the start of a bigger mission to inspire more tech pros to serve without leaving their careers, showing the next generation how to make a difference in uniform,' the statement reads. In their roles in Det. 201, 'they will work on targeted projects to help guide rapid and scalable tech solutions to complex problems,' the Army said. 'By bringing private-sector know-how into uniform, Det. 201 is supercharging efforts like the Army Transformation Initiative, which aims to make the force leaner, smarter and more lethal.' Army Secretary Dan Driscoll unveiled the initiative last month in a memo to the force laying out major changes to the command structure, formation make-up, canceling programs deemed out of the scope of the Army's desired modernization pathway, and accelerating programs the service wants in order to become a more lethal and agile force. The executives come from companies who have been entrenching themselves in military technology development. After a rough start, Palantir has been a cornerstone of Army modernization for years, providing everything from an intelligence analytics system called the Distributed Common Ground System-Army to its Vantage data platform, which is under a contract and supports 100,000 users, to its Titan system that gives the service deep-sensing and sensor-fusion capabilities. Palantir, along with a variety of other major companies like Google and Anduril, is also working with the Army as it develops a new command-and-control architecture from the ground up. OpenAI and Meta have also pivoted to embrace military applications. OpenAI has partnered with Anduril on artificial-intelligence-enhanced air-defense systems, for example. Meta has also begun partnering with other companies like Anduril to work on AI tools for the military. Thinking Machines Lab, which employs a large number of former OpenAI developers including its co-founder, was established earlier this year. Its foundational focus is human-AI collaboration, a key necessity for the Army as it works on how to best integrate humans with machines on the battlefield in a meaningful way.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Fort Benning upgrades range to accommodate new sniper rifle
The Army is upgrading a multipurpose sniper training range at Fort Benning, Georgia to handle new weapons that can shoot farther than the current range allows. The improvements are part of a series of modernization efforts scheduled over the next seven years, according to an Army release. As part of the modernization initiative, Burroughs Range was upgraded to extend a section of the range from 800 meters to 1,100 meters. A future upgrade includes some target areas being expanded to distances of up to 1,200 meters, offering improved training opportunities for soldiers using the range. 'The current sniper rifle system used by the Army has an effective range of about 1,000 meters,' said Shane Duncanson, Fort Benning range planner. Newest sniper rifle for soldiers, Marines takes on final hurdle before fielding The Army's newest sniper rifle, the Mk22, can strike targets as far as 1,500 to 1,800 meters, Duncanson said. The Mk22 is a multi-caliber, bolt-action rifle that replaces the M2010, M110 and M107 sniper rifles. 'The requirements for changes to the training ranges came from new weapons systems being introduced,' said John Nolt, acting director of Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization & Security at Fort Benning. Completed in 1976, Burroughs Range was initially designed as a heavy sniper training facility, with armored targets placed throughout the training area, according to the release. Additionally, a two-meter tall, 225-meter-long, 21-meter-deep berm, complete with a moving target rail system to its rear, is located on the west side of the range at 800 meters from the shooting positions. 'As the battlefield changes, our training ranges have to change, too,' said Jason Olive, Fort Benning range officer. 'As Burroughs Range transitions to the Army's newest Multipurpose Sniper Range, the requirement for a moving armored target was eliminated, which required the removal of the berm and tracks behind it, allowing additional line of sight and an area to incorporate the Army's newest trackless moving target technology.' The construction work at Burroughs Range involved leveling the berm, demolishing the obsolete rail system — which featured a 44-centimeter concrete base and a 20-centimeter rebar barrier extending along the entire 225-meter length — gradually leveling the land behind the berm, removing trees and clearing debris throughout the range. 'Burroughs Range was built back in a day when 1,000 meters was the farthest someone could shoot, and typically a solider would train at 600-800 meters,' Duncanson said. 'We're in the process of doing small incremental improvements so that we can use the new weapon systems and rounds at 1,200 meters.' Personnel from Fort Benning, as well as the Georgia Army National Guard's 177th Engineer Support Company, 878th Engineer Battalion out of Augusta, Georgia, and the Army Reserve's 718th Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion out of Birmingham, Alabama all contributed to modifying the range. 'This type of training allows us to meet directly on the job site with our active duty and Reserve counterparts,' said Warrant Officer James Jarrett, a construction officer with 177th Engineer Support Company. The ongoing modernization of training ranges across Fort Benning is focused on improving soldiers' training, readiness and operational capabilities, according to the release.
