A senior official from the Air Force said software engineers would play a key role to protect military systems and networks amid the growing great power competition between the U.S., Russia and China, National Defense Magazine reported Thursday.
Air Force Lt. Gen. B.J. Shwedo, chief information officer and director for command, control, communications and computers/cyber for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the remarks following Bold Quest exercise in Finland. Military forces from the U.S. and 14 other allied nations demonstrated capabilities to fix software issues while in the battlefield.Â
During Bold Quest, participants were able to jointly address problems with communications between foreign aircraft as well as potential targeting issues in weapon systems. Shwedo said military forces created codes that helped them close the gaps between the systems. Back in the U.S., the general said different weapon systems still have interoperability issues. But there have been a growing focus and funding to find ways to help the technologies better connect.Â
