Pentagon looks to thwart Russian tech attacks in Syria

The Pentagon’s in-house tech incubator is developing protected radio communications to thwart potential Russian interception of US airstrike and artillery data.
Russia's senior military officer Sergei Rudskoi sits bellow a map of Syria screened during a briefing at the Russian Defence Ministry headquarters in Moscow on April 14, 2018. The Russian military said on April 14, 2018 that Western allies fired 103 cruise missiles including Tomahawk missiles at Syria but that Syrian air defence systems managed to intercept 71 of them. The US, Britain and France conducted joint strikes overnight on April 14 against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad in response to alleged
Russia's senior military officer Sergei Rudskoi sits bellow a map of Syria screened during a briefing at the Russian Defense Ministry headquarters in Moscow, April 14, 2018. - KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images
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Jack Detsch
@JackDetsch_ALM

The Pentagon’s in-house tech incubator is trying to stop Russia from scrambling US battlefield signals in Syria, federal contract documents show.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — or DARPA — has awarded at least $9.6 million worth of contracts over the past couple of months for radio systems designed to protect US signals used to call in air and artillery strikes. The agreements with US defense contractors Northrop Grumman and L3 Technologies come amid rising concerns that Russia could intercept and manipulate US targeting data.

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