Last week, President Obama submitted a $3.8 trillion budget request to Congress for the fiscal year beginning on October 1, 2010. Within this budget, nearly 20%, or $708 billion, has been apportioned to the Department of Defense (DoD). As the DoD tries to balance both resources and risks, its four priority objectives over the short term include: prevail in today’s conflicts, prevent and deter future conflict; prepare for a wide range of contingencies; and preserve and enhance the all-volunteer force.
While the new budget calls for increased support for an all-volunteer military force and civilian personnel, notable spending shifts are occurring. VDC’s analysis of the budget sees increased spending on network technology-based solutions that are designed to help detect and deter various military threats, including non-traditional national security cyber threats.
Cyber Command
Reflecting a new awareness to improve cyber security, the DoD is establishing its new Cyber Command. The U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) represents a new command to organize and standardize DoD cyber practices and operations. USCYBERCOM will be a sub-unified command under the U.S. Strategic Command chartered to lead, integrate, and more effectively coordinate the protection and operation of DoD networks.
Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)
The FY 2011 budget request also reflects continuing efforts to provide greater ISR support to fighting forces. It includes $2.6 billion for increased capabilities to support key enhancements for deployed forces, including:
- Introduction of innovative airborne collection platforms -- such as new unmanned aircraft and ground-based collection systems
- Marked increases in the number of full-motion video and signals intelligence collection systems optimized for counterinsurgency operations
- Enhanced ISR communications and its supporting infrastructure
- Significant increases in processing, exploitation and dissemination capabilities, for both people and systems
In the final analysis, significant portions of the 2011 Defense budget are still being allocated to traditional military programs (e.g., rotary wing aircraft including the UH-60 Blackhawk ($1.4 billion); CH-47 Chinook ($1.2 billion); V-22 Osprey ($2.7 billion), MH-60R/S SeaHawk ($1.7 billion) etc.). Yet, an unmistakable spending shift is underway toward awareness and deterrence of emerging threats from a variety of non-traditional origins. For embedded systems firms, this shift is an opportunity to work more intimately with multiple elements of the value chain on developing intelligent defense solutions, including advanced sensing concepts and networked sensor architectures.
While the new budget calls for increased support for an all-volunteer military force and civilian personnel, notable spending shifts are occurring. VDC’s analysis of the budget sees increased spending on network technology-based solutions that are designed to help detect and deter various military threats, including non-traditional national security cyber threats.
Cyber Command
Reflecting a new awareness to improve cyber security, the DoD is establishing its new Cyber Command. The U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) represents a new command to organize and standardize DoD cyber practices and operations. USCYBERCOM will be a sub-unified command under the U.S. Strategic Command chartered to lead, integrate, and more effectively coordinate the protection and operation of DoD networks.
Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)
The FY 2011 budget request also reflects continuing efforts to provide greater ISR support to fighting forces. It includes $2.6 billion for increased capabilities to support key enhancements for deployed forces, including:
- Introduction of innovative airborne collection platforms -- such as new unmanned aircraft and ground-based collection systems
- Marked increases in the number of full-motion video and signals intelligence collection systems optimized for counterinsurgency operations
- Enhanced ISR communications and its supporting infrastructure
- Significant increases in processing, exploitation and dissemination capabilities, for both people and systems
In the final analysis, significant portions of the 2011 Defense budget are still being allocated to traditional military programs (e.g., rotary wing aircraft including the UH-60 Blackhawk ($1.4 billion); CH-47 Chinook ($1.2 billion); V-22 Osprey ($2.7 billion), MH-60R/S SeaHawk ($1.7 billion) etc.). Yet, an unmistakable spending shift is underway toward awareness and deterrence of emerging threats from a variety of non-traditional origins. For embedded systems firms, this shift is an opportunity to work more intimately with multiple elements of the value chain on developing intelligent defense solutions, including advanced sensing concepts and networked sensor architectures.
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