provide “interrogation support”.”
Annex 20, page 20
Conclusion
The first product of this study is the dataset itself.
Findings there have been discussed and include overall transaction totals, a breakdown of key vendors and product/service categories, a map of expenditure outside the continental US and a list of major individual transactions. Part Two has shown how fields in the FBDS-NG dataset can provide entry points to broader qualitative research. This report shows how corporations are integrated into some of the most sensitive aspects of special operations activities: flying drones and overseeing target acquisition, facilitating communications between forward operating locations and central command hubs, interrogating prisoners and translating captured material, and managing the flow of information from regional populations to the US military presence and back again. These examples are indicative of a broader finding which is the prevalence of information and communications technology among special operations command procurements. Drawing on this finding, each of the case studies illustrates facets of the role of information in modern warfare.
Information has been important in warfare since time immemorial but, as quantities of available information grow and, as information technology becomes increasingly embedded in warfare systems, corporations are relied upon to create, store and move this information. Nowadays, knowledge is still gained from people (via human intelligence collection, “subject matter experts”
or the interrogation of prisoners and “people of interest”) but the military has devoted an increasing portion of its budget to attempts to infer knowledge from phenomena which can include such “unstructured” sources as social media feeds and open source text (as analysed by Navanti). More typically, they are the physical landscapes and human activities overseen by
“persistent” surveillance drones as seen in the case studies on Afghanistan and the Philippines.
The greater the volume of phenomena surveyed, the greater the burden of transporting and
analysing the observations; and thus the greater need for a robust and networked IT infrastructure (this being the overall goal of the SITEC
framework). Though not discussed much in the case studies, human analysts can no longer keep pace with the inward flow of full motion video from drone sensor feeds and the quantum increase in data threatens to undermine rather than facilitate the emergence of knowledge.
The US military has therefore recently solicited proposals for a variety of automated “processing
and exploitation” techniques to identify and track targets within its video feeds. The procurement activities of the Special Operations Command – the “tip of the spear” – offer a snapshot of some prominent roles of information in modern warfare.
The dataset points to the sharp end of US military activity and force projection in the recent past and near future. A central part of this activity lies in receiving, transferring and production of information and the processing of this information to produce knowledge with corporations
integrated into every stage of the activity.
The dataset examined here, and the methods employed to analyse it, offer a rich source for investigators, academics, journalists and policy makers. More detailed work will enhance knowledge of the significant role that the private sector plays in remote warfare. This report offers a framework for interpreting the dataset and points to companies, products and services that will be of interest to other researchers. It also shows how public records can be interpreted to give a glimpse of the usually classified world of special operations.
This is a summary of US Special Operations Command Contracting: Data-Mining the Public Record by Crofton Black. For the full report, including citations and annexes, visit remotecontrolproject.org/our-reports
Leaders across the globe have identified cyber-attacks as one of the greatest threats facing developed nations. The rising importance of cyber security issues is also part of a global trend of moving towards ‘remote control’ warfare that minimises engagement and risk while extending its reach beyond conflict zones. This paper seeks to examine the role of cyber-attacks in remote control warfare, and considers the potential impact of cyber-attacks on civilian populations and on future international stability. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the main talking points in the cyber security field and to identify trends that may have an impact on future developments.
This report is divided into four sections: the first section will examine how the rise of potential threats and vulnerabilities in cyberspace is being addressed in state-to-state relations, and will present some important cases of cyber-attacks that have had an impact on foreign policy. The second section will look at the use of cyber-attacks during conflicts and at the potential of ‘cyber weapons’ to cause destruction and casualties on the scale of conventional weaponry. The third section will assess the impact of cyber-attacks on everyday life for civilians. Finally, the fourth section will look at current trends in the debate and implementation of cyber security, focusing especially on the potential for future instability caused by present policies, and will outline proposals to mitigate threats.