Top of the Day
How to maximize the resiliency of PNT
(Clayton Swope – Breaking Defense – 19 March 2025) Military leaders have long recognized the need to improve the resilience of the Global Positioning System (GPS), due to its essential role providing positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services for joint operations. But there is neither a comprehensive Department of Defense strategy nor one official assigned to ensure PNT resilience and finish GPS modernization, resulting in an uncoordinated cornucopia of service-level puzzle pieces that might not exactly fit together, putting at risk assured military PNT access during a conflict. To minimize this risk, DoD needs to consolidate responsibilities for the PNT architecture into one role and create a comprehensive strategy, with two focus points. First, pushing the department to complete current GPS modernization efforts as quickly as possible, and second, prioritize and harmonize the various service-level efforts to develop and integrate PNT alternatives, with emphasis on ones that do not rely on satellites, as backups. This approach would also present opportunities for cost-benefit analyses of service-level programs, identifying those where the juice is not worth the squeeze and which could be cut. Today, GPS access is critical to joint operations, but access to GPS is threatened by a variety of counterspace weapons, with signal jammers being a persistent and prevalent threat. Disrupting GPS would force a platoon of marines to navigate by a compass and map, the same method used by their great-grandfathers on Iwo Jima and by their great-great-grandfathers at Belleau Wood. Crewed fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, tanks, Humvees, drones, destroyers and aircraft carriers all depend on GPS signals for navigation. Smart munitions and missiles cannot operate effectively in GPS-denied environments. – https://breakingdefense.com/2025/03/how-to-maximize-the-resiliency-of-pnt/
China is waging cognitive warfare. Fighting back starts by defining it
(Jake Bebber – Defense One – 19 March 2025) War has shifted far beyond the realm of traditional kinetic operations. We now face an era defined by what experts call cognitive warfare, an insidious form of conflict aimed at influencing how people think and act, destabilizing the very bedrock of democratic institutions and national security. Unlike information warfare, which manipulates what we think, cognitive warfare disrupts the way we think—rationality itself. It uses neuroscience, data analytics, and algorithm-based strategies to achieve strategic advantage. Developing a framework to counter this threat is not just essential; it is urgent. – https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/03/china-waging-cognitive-warfare-fighting-back-starts-defining-it/403886/?oref=d1-homepage-top-story
Vance Outlines an America First, America Only AI Agenda
(Kevin Frazier – Lawfare – 19 March 2025) The Trump administration has wasted no time in overhauling the federal government’s approach to artificial intelligence (AI). Mere days after taking office, President Trump rescinded President Biden’s October 2023 AI executive order and put his own in its place, swapping the Biden policy’s emphasis on safety, regulatory oversight, and international cooperation with his own policy aim of AI dominance. The administration’s forthcoming AI Action Plan likely will shed light on what exactly AI dominance entails. But in the interim, Vice President Vance has been filling in the blanks, at least partially. Vance has been one of the administration’s most vocal proponents of this new AI vision. Speaking at the Paris AI Action Summit last month, he laid out a sharp critique of what he deemed “excessive regulation” and signaled a willingness for the United States to chart its own course, even if that meant breaking from allies. Vance’s remarks clarified that the administration sees AI not as a problem to be managed, but as an opportunity to be seized. Gone is the Biden administration’s rhetoric on existential risk and the need for AI safety guardrails. Instead, the new White House approach prioritizes speed, power, and control over the global AI landscape. More specifically, Vance stressed the administration’s AI policy would turn on four points: first, perpetuation of America’s AI offerings serving as the “gold standard worldwide”; second, adoption of a deregulatory agenda at home and abroad; third, prevention of AI being “co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship”; and, fourth, development of a “pro-worker growth path for AI.” – https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/vance-outlines-an-america-first–america-only-ai-agenda
America’s growing AI power consumption: Strained grids, blackouts, and nuclear energy
(Kaif Shaikh – Interesting Engineering – 19 March 2025) Artificial Intelligence has evolved from a niche computer science field into a force reshaping global economics, defense, and daily life. Yet behind every AI innovation stands a silent powerhouse with an unquenchable thirst for power: data centers. These facilities, housing racks of servers that store and process massive datasets, require unprecedented amounts of energy. As AI accelerates, the question arises: Will everyday people have to compromise their electricity needs so AI can keep running? – https://interestingengineering.com/culture/americas-growing-ai-power-consumption-strained-grids-blackouts-and-nuclear-energy
US Navy’s new autonomous spy sonar tech to create most detailed map of ocean yet
(Neetika Walter – Interesting Engineering – 19 March 2025) American defense company Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $24.9-million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for a new research and development program focused on autonomous undersea sensing by the US Department of Defense. The initiative, known as “Full Spectrum Undersea Warfare Innovative Naval Prototype Autonomous Undersea Exploitation,” aims to enhance the U.S. Navy’s ability to perceive and respond to undersea threats autonomously. The contract, managed by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), provides funding for research and development efforts to advance sonar-based perception and exploitation technologies. According to the DoD announcement, the research and development initiative is designed to strengthen naval capabilities in autonomous underwater operations, focusing on developing and testing advanced technologies for autonomous systems. – https://interestingengineering.com/military/northrop-grumman-wins-24-9-million-navy-contract
Geostrategies
Fintech’s rise reshaping ASEAN’s financial future
(Tan Swee Liang – East Asia Forum – 18 March 2025) ASEAN’s financial landscape is undergoing a major transformation due to the rapid growth in financial technology, with fintech investments in the six largest economies of ASEAN rising steadily from 2 per cent in 2018 to 7 per cent in 2022. Fintech is demonstrating increasingly important roles in the region’s economic growth, offering innovative solutions that complement traditional banking, and its greater integration into the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network could strengthen fintech ecosystems, boost trade and contribute to overall ASEAN growth. – https://eastasiaforum.org/2025/03/18/fintechs-rise-reshaping-aseans-financial-future/
RedNote walks China’s digital tightrope
(Xiangyu Ma, Jiawei Zhang – East Asia Forum – 18 March 2025) After TikTok was banned, Chinese-owned lifestyle app RedNote became unexpectedly popular with US users, fostering a unique cross-border connection between US and Chinese netizens. As authorities in China debate balancing censorship rules with the app’s international reach, some suggest an adaptive regulatory approach might be undertaken. This approach would facilitate global cultural exchange while maintaining China’s information control, which could reshape this approach from the traditional practice of creating two separate versions of the app. – https://eastasiaforum.org/2025/03/18/rednote-walks-chinas-digital-tightrope/
Defense, Intelligence, and Warfare
Australia, Canada announce $4B over horizon radar agreement
(Colin Clark – Breaking Defense – 19 March 2025) Australia is poised for its largest defense sale ever, exporting its Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) to Canada, at a cost estimated at more than $6 billion CAN ($4 billion USD). In a surprise development, Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, spoke with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese overnight and decided to buy the radar, according to government statements. The United States and Australia had been in talks about the over the horizon network, but Canada now appears to have leapt over America’s head, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which first reported the story. – https://breakingdefense.com/2025/03/australia-canada-announce-4b-over-horizon-radar-agreement/
The Army wants AI to take physical risk off of its soldiers
(Meghann Myers – Defense One – 18 March 2025) The Army is wholeheartedly embracing the idea that artificial intelligence will play a role on the battlefield—but don’t expect robots to replace soldiers everywhere. What service leaders would like is to send a robot out to clear a building or lay a line charge to detonate an obstacle, Gen. James Rainey, head of Army Futures Command, told an audience Tuesday at the McAleese defense conference outside Washington. – https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2025/03/army-wants-ai-take-physical-risk-its-soldiers/403850/?oref=d1-homepage-river
Military hydrogen-cell drones poised for big takeoff
(Patrick Tucker – Defense One – 19 March 2025) As drones continue to reshape the nature of warfare, the limitations on range and power are becoming the difference between success and defeat on the battlefield. Now, an Israel-based drone company and U.S. manufacturing company Mach Industries are working together to co-produce hydrogen fuel cell powered drones, which offer big advantages in range but have previously faced challenges that have kept them from the battlefield. The companies hope to produce 1,000 drones each month, with an eventual goal of up to 1,000 a day, HevenDrones CEO Benzion Levinson told Defense One. The longer-range goal will depend on the demand for the company’s H2D250 drones, which are capable of carrying 10 pounds, and its other offerings. – https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2025/03/military-hydrogen-cell-drones-poised-big-takeoff/403873/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary
Security
Half a million people impacted by Pennsylvania State Education Association data breach
(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 19 March 2025) More than 500,000 people were impacted by a cyberattack on the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) that took place in July 2024. The organization published breach notices in several states and on its website, warning its current and former members as well as their dependants that hackers broke into their systems last year and stole state IDs, Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, payment card information, passport numbers, taxpayer IDs, health insurance information and medical data. – https://therecord.media/half-a-million-impacted-pennsylvania-education-data-breach
Frontiers
The Quantum Supply Chain: Mapping the Market and Key Players
(Quantum Insider – 19 March 2025) Quantum computing is moving from the lab to real-world applications, requiring a full ecosystem of developers, infrastructure providers, and enabling technologies beyond just advances in qubit design. The Quantum Insider’s Vendor Market Map categorizes key players across applications, software, quantum processors, and hardware components, reflecting the diversity and complexity of the growing quantum industry. While quantum applications are emerging in finance, pharmaceuticals, and logistics, widespread business adoption remains uncertain due to ongoing challenges in hardware scalability and software integration. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/03/19/the-quantum-supply-chain-mapping-the-market-and-key-players/
Welinq Launches Its Storage Solution for Quantum Computing Scale-Out
(Quantum Insidfer – 19 March 2025) Welinq has launched the first commercial quantum memory for data centers, enabling scalable networking of quantum processors with record-breaking performance. The fully integrated system features over 90% storage-and-retrieval efficiency, up to 200 microseconds of storage time, and room-temperature operation without cryogenics. Welinq is expanding its quantum networking infrastructure with new deployments, partnerships, and the araQne compiler to optimize distributed quantum computing. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/03/19/welinq-launches-its-storage-solution-for-quantum-computing-scale-out/
AROBS Polska to Develop Post-Quantum Satellite Communication Security System
(Quantum Insider – 19 March 2025) AROBS Polska, a subsidiary of AROBS Group, has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop the Post-Quantum Cryptography Algorithms for Satellite Telecommunication Applications (PQC ASTrAL) project, enhancing satellite communication security against quantum threats. The project, conducted under ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) 4S program, will integrate post-quantum cryptographic algorithms to ensure long-term protection of satellite communications from quantum computing-based cyberattacks. AROBS Polska, as the prime contractor, will develop the hardware, firmware, and cryptographic IP core, while ResQuant, a subcontractor specializing in hardware-implemented cryptographic solutions, will handle the cryptographic aspects of the project. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/03/19/arobs-polska-to-develop-post-quantum-satellite-communication-security-system/
QuantWare and QuantrolOx Partner to Streamline Quantum Error Correction with Automated Tune-Up
(Quantum Insider – 19 March 2025) QuantWare and QuantrolOx have partnered to enable researchers to streamline quantum error correction using QuantWare’s Contralto-A processor with QuantrolOx’s automated Quantum EDGE software for tune-up. Contralto-A’s 17-qubit design supports distance-3 surface code implementations and is easily upgradable using VIO scaling technology, while Quantum EDGE automates QPU characterization and tune-up, reducing setup time and expert dependency. Quantum EDGE’s distributed architecture allows deployment on-premise or via the cloud, providing a ready-to-use solution that accelerates error correction research and development for quantum computing. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/03/19/quantware-and-quantrolox-partner-to-streamline-quantum-error-correction-with-automated-tune-up/
IDEMIA Secure Transactions Announces its First Hardware Accelerator for Post-Quantum Cryptography
(Quantum Insider – 19 March 2025) IDEMIA Secure Transactions (IST) has announced its first hardware accelerator designed for post-quantum cryptography, leveraging Keccak-based technology to enhance data protection against quantum computing threats. The accelerator offloads computationally demanding cryptographic tasks from the main processor, improving speed and efficiency while ensuring compliance with post-quantum security standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This innovation aims to support businesses in their transition to quantum-safe cryptography while maintaining seamless security for end-users in banking, automotive, IoT, Industry 4.0, and healthcare sectors. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/03/19/idemia-secure-transactions-announces-its-first-hardware-accelerator-for-post-quantum-cryptography/