Wright-Patt opens new cyber defense facility
Facility tasked with protecting weapons systems from threats.
A new $1.5 million facility will be tasked with reducing cyber vulnerabilities in the Air Force’s fleet of fighter jets and bombers.
A $1.5 million facility to help protect weapons systems from cyber threats is now open at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The new facility for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Fighters and Bombers Directorate will be tasked with reducing cyber vulnerabilities across the Air Force’s fleet of fighter jets and bombers, according to a news release from Wright-Patterson.
The base declined to make someone available for an interview on the facility.
It will provide a space for acquisition professionals to collaborate and learn about current and emerging threats to better protect against them.
“We are in an age where we have a very sophisticated threat and an adversary that is really trying to get into all of our systems,” Brig. Gen. Heath Collins, executive officer of fighters and bombers, said in a prepared statement. “This facility is absolutely going to be at the core of how we protect our systems.”
The military is seeking creative ways to forge partnerships
to advance the cyber resiliency of weapon systems by protecting information and eliminating communications barriers.
The cyber defense facility is a partnership with the Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapons Systems (CROWS), which provided funding and expertise for the project, according to Wright-Patt.
Throughout the next five years, CROWS anticipates establishing similar facilities across development, acquisition and sustainment centers. Together they will underscore the organization’s commitment to increasing the cyber resiliency of weapon systems.
“Construction of this facility is a key component of the CROWS mission to increase the cyber resiliency of Air Force weapon systems and maintain mission effective capability,” CROWS director Joseph Bradley said in a statement. “It will improve communication, collaboration and allow us to better resolve problems.” Contact this reporter at 937225-7419 or email Max.Filby@ coxinc.com.