Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has reiterated the military’s going-forward strategy on many occasions, saying about our military’s direction: “It must be complemented by the full range of America’s national security capabilities – strong intelligence, strong diplomacy, a strong economy, strong technology, developments in cyber capabilities.” These five areas comprise the new defense strategy.
Last week the web was all abuzz with coverage of President Obama’s press conference at the Pentagon along with Defense Secretary Panetta and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey as they unveiled the administration’s new military strategy. It is clear the U.S. military will undergo dramatic changes due to budget cuts.
Arguably the most significant aspect is the enhanced role cyber will play in the military’s model the United States has adopted for the future.
Consider the five specific areas that were identified. All five have some degree of reliance on cyber. The following is an assessment of that reliance.
| AREA | ESTIMATED CYBER RELIANCE |
| Strong Intelligence | – 45% cyber intelligence collection and analysis |
| Strong Diplomacy | – 35% cyber diplomacy coordination and cooperation with other countries |
| Strong Economy | – 30% cyber products and services development and sales add to the economy |
| Strong Technology | – 65% cyber (computer) technology innovation expanding and driving capabilities |
| Cyber Capabilities | – 100% cyber offensive, defensive and intelligence systems and enablement |
Also mentioned was special operations. That too has evolved to the point where cyber special ops has become a core capability required in the modern conflict domain in which we must operate.
When you consider the substantial Defense Department budget cuts, cyber funding faired very, very well.
When you keep in mind what Secretary Panetta recently told CBS News –“The reality is that there is the cyber capability to basically bring down our power grid to create… to paralyze our financial system in this country to virtually paralyze our country,” he said–then it’s clearer why cyber funding faired so well!
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