Washington, March 25: The Pentagon declared cybersecurity and digital networks as central to modern warfare, telling lawmakers that its “digital backbone” is now a “weapon system” critical to how US forces fight, decide, and win future conflicts.
At a Senate Armed Services cyber subcommittee hearing, Department of Defence Chief Information Officer Kirsten Davies said the US military is undertaking a sweeping overhaul of its enterprise IT and cybersecurity systems to gain an operational edge.
“Our focus is to enable data supremacy and decision dominance on the contested battlefields of today and tomorrow at the speed and scale our warfighters deserve,” Davies said.
Chairman Mike Rounds underscored the urgency, warning that outdated systems and slow processes were now a strategic risk. He said the ability to “orient, decide and act more quickly than the enemy will likely decide the outcome of the next major war”.
Davies outlined a four-pillar transformation strategy aimed at modernising networks, accelerating software delivery, strengthening cybersecurity, and building a skilled workforce.
Under the first pillar, she said the Pentagon is upgrading its core infrastructure, including undersea cables, fibre networks and satellite communications, while expanding 5G use and modernising data centres. “This foundation supports every warfighting system and our global installations,” she said.
The second pillar focuses on shifting away from legacy software systems. Davies said the department is “shifting from slow legacy software development to modern agile delivery” and working to standardise data architectures to speed up decision-making.
On cybersecurity, she said the Pentagon is moving away from “checklist driven compliance” to a more dynamic, risk-based model with continuous monitoring and automation. “We will drive risk reduction rather than burdensome paperwork,” she said. (IANS)
