The Air Force needs high-tech tools and sensors that can monitor networks for signs of malware and sort through the millions of alerts it receives each day indicating potential breaches, according to the leader of the Air Force’s cyber enterprise. .
The 16th Air Force, the Air Force’s information warfare organization, has worked over the last year to increase collaboration with industry, academia and other government agencies to meet these high-tech requirements through an initiative called the Phoenix Initiative.
The team is responsible for integrating cyber, electronic warfare, information operations, and ISR, and held a summit in August 2023 to discuss top-priority gaps and technology needs. We then conducted a multi-month deep dive to identify the most critical mission sets and consider the most critical vulnerabilities and dependencies within those missions.
Lt. Gen. Thomas Hensley, who took over as commander of the 16th Air Force in August, cited the organization’s distributed common ground system business, which provides targeting, cybersecurity, and key ISR analysis and exploitation, as a top priority. he told Defense News. .
These areas of focus are now driving efforts, with the service identifying potential risk locations within those missions and new sensors, We are analyzing where artificial intelligence tools and other capabilities are needed.
“We’re not going to be able to hire more people to run the sensors and systems,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference on Sept. 17. . “So we need to understand the network better and identify key nodes where we can place high-precision sensors and persistent monitoring to protect them.”
Air Force Cyber already operates high-precision sensors for defensive cyber operations, but as platforms and weapons become increasingly reliant on a variety of classified and unclassified networks, more will be needed to detect potential threats. sensing solutions are needed.
“Everything is connected,” Hensley said. “So layers of different weapon systems are needed to have persistent surveillance to check for malware.”
Other technologies the 16th Air Force is researching include artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Hensley said the organization receives about 2.5 million potential breach alerts every day. And while we have powerful computers and databases to process these signs, much of the work still involves humans.
The command instead wants to use AI and ML to triage content and analyze data, freeing up personnel to do more nuanced tasks.
“So we’re working with industry and other partners to look at how we can create these AI/ML tools to help us move faster and more efficiently,” he said. “We’re not going to en masse our way out of this situation.”
As for securing resources to pursue these capabilities, Hensley said the organization can work through the Department of Defense’s regular budget process, but wants to move more quickly.
That means the tool will likely be included on the unbudgeted requirements list used by the services and other Department of Defense organizations to inform Congress of much-needed capabilities that are not included in the Department of Defense’s annual budget request. is.
Hensley said the organization could have the request ready as early as next year as part of the fiscal year 2026 budget cycle.
But plans to elevate the 16th Air Force to a military command could complicate the process. The service has not set a timeline for the transition, which, if it happens, would require personnel changes and could delay funding requests.
Hensley said elevating Air Force Cyber to a direct report to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is a clear sign of support for the organization’s mission and provides increased funding and flexibility as it pursues new capabilities. He added that this could lead to improvements.
“This sends a clear signal that the Secretary of the Air Force wants to help in any way possible,” he said. “The intent is that we want to be able to resource it to protect our country.”
Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter. She has been covering the U.S. military since 2012, with a focus on the Air Force and Space Force. She reported on some of the Department of Defense’s most important acquisition, budget, and policy challenges.
