The National Reconnaissance Office, three months after their original launch date in late August, has successfully launched its fifth mission for 2020. The NRO is charged with developing, procuring and operating America’s intelligence satellites. After months of persistence, issues with the mission launch pad, and inclement weather that led to several last-minute scrubs, the success of the launch is a testament to the resilience and expertise of the teams who worked together for the project.
With the shortage of secure video-conferencing capabilities for the European Union and its members, and following the surprise appearance of a certain Dutch journalist at a recent confidential online gathering of EU defense ministers, has left some EU members obviously dumbfounded and jealous. The Russian and Chinese governments are all but certain listening in when it comes to such sensitive defense information which has Germany’s defense minister wondering if NATO might share its sophisticated communications apparatus in these very uncertain times.
Is the Department of Defense ready for the “Worst Day”? A recent assessment of America’s nuclear command, control and communications system (NC3) has rung alarm bells on Capitol Hill. The classified assessment was mentioned in a provision crafted by the Senate Armed Services Committee for the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act and accepted by the House in their conference deliberations.
Source: https://breakingdefense.com/2020/12/congress-fears-dod-not-prepared-for-nc3-cyber-attacks/
Final Fantasy 7’s Sephiroth, joins Cloud and friends in Nintendo’s party fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Sephiroth follows Steve (and Alex, Enderman, and Zombie) from Minecraft. Nintendo released Ultimate’s Minecraft content in October. This was revealed live and streaming in The Game Awards 2020 on December 10. The Game Awards can still be viewed on services like YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and Facebook Live.
In a bid to move to smaller but smarter armed forces fitted with high-tech technologies, South Korea has announced a series of contracts to develop and deploy indigenous unmanned and robotic systems. Announced in early December 2020, the fast-track acquisition project is aimed at applying the private sector’s fast-evolving new technologies to the military and is expected to be an innovative model in improving the defense capabilities of the nation’s armed forces.
