US Air Force Cyberspace Warfare Operations Capabilities

The US Air Force Materiel Command issued a presolicitation for "Cyberspace Warfare Operations Capabilities" (CWOC) for their Electronic Systems Center. The US Air Force is looking for technology demonstrators for Cyberspace Warfare Attack and Support. The presolicitation document uses a conventional air warfare metaphor, with terms such as position, maneuver and strike, but applied to "destroy, deny, degrade, disrupt, deceive, corrupt, or usurp the adversaries ability to use the cyberspace domain for his advantage".

1. Technical Description: The ESC/HSJG Program Office is an organization focused on the development and sustainment of Cyberspace Warfare Attack capabilities that directly support Cyberspace Warfare capabilities for the operational Air Force. This BAA solicits concept papers with the potential to enhance Air Force operations focused on Cyberspace Warfare capabilities access, position, maneuver, and strike within the adversary cyberspace domain in support of the Combatant Commanders (CCDR) and national objectives. CWO is the integrated planning and employment of military capabilities to achieve desired effects across the interconnected cyberspace domain.

CWO is conducted in the cyberspace domain through the dynamic combination of hardware, software, data, and human interaction. In many cases, CWO requires unique technologies, techniques, and capabilities to maneuver, operate and persist. The topics this BAA is interested in pursuing include, but are not limited to:

a. Cyberspace Warfare Attack. The employment of cyberspace capabilities to destroy, deny, degrade, disrupt, deceive, corrupt, or usurp the adversaries ability to use the cyberspace domain for his advantage.

b. Cyberspace Warfare Support. Actions tasked by or under direct control of an operational commander to search for, intercept, identify, and locate or localize sources of access and vulnerability for the purpose of immediate threat recognition, targeting, planning, and conduct of future operations in the cyberspace domain.

Cyberspace Warfare Support provides information required for immediate decisions involving CWO. Cyberspace Warfare Support data can be used to produce intelligence, or provide targeting for electronic or destructive attack.

c. Technologies/concepts for developing capabilities associated with Cyberspace Warfare Attack (i.e., to disrupt, deny, degrade, destroy or deceive an adversary’s ability to use the cyberspace domain to his advantage.) This should address, but not be limited to the following:

i. Mapping of networks (both data and voice)
ii. Access to cyberspace domain, information, networks, systems or devices
iii. Denial of service on cyberspace resources, current/future operating systems and network devices
iv. Data manipulation
v. Ability to control cyberspace effects at specified times and place
d. Technologies/concepts for developing and assessing cyberspace capabilities while disconnected from the operational cyberspace domain (the Internet or communication networks) including IO modeling, simulation and capability, and operational and performance assessments.
e. Situational awareness capabilities that give an operator near real-time effectiveness feedback in a form that is readily observed by the operator.
f. Technologies/concepts for developing capabilities to assess and visualize non-kinetic cyberspace domain effects.
g. Technologies/concepts for developing capabilities to support rapid implementation of effects-based cyberspace capabilities.
h. Cyberspace technologies/capabilities employing unique characteristics resulting in the adversary entering conflicts in a degraded state.
2. Proposed concept papers may also address new tactics, techniques, procedures, and mature technology applications that may affect Air Force IO doctrine and strategy. ...

From: Cyberspace Warfare Operations Capabilities (CWOC) TECHNOLOGY CONCEPT DEMONSTRATIONS, Electronic Systems Center, Air Force Material Command, Department of the Air Force, USA, 13 Feb 2012