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Shaun Waterman

@watermanreports.bsky.social
208 followers 138 following 124 posts

Reporter covering IT, cyber & emerging tech threats for Air&Space Forces Mag, Via Satellite Mag & others. Fmr BBC News, ex-Newsweek, POLITICO escapee, always a Unipresser. English expat in Washington DC. I'm the daddy now. Likes etc ≠ approval. DM 4 Signal

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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
"Catherine Herridge’s battle to protect her confidential sources is one of the most important press freedom cases today," says @freedom.press. True dat. freedom.press/issues/fpf-c...
freedom.press
FPF challenges secrecy in Herridge source protection case
The public deserves transparency on why Catherine Herridge was ordered to burn her sources
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The UK govt faces calls from #OperationalTechnology #cybersecurity leaders to release technical details of the cyber attack, blamed by some on Iran, that took a small power plant offline for four days. My story for OT.Today www.bankinfosecurity.com/uk-governmen...
bankinfosecurity.com
UK Government Reticent Over Power Plant Hack
Operational technology security leaders are calling on the British government to release technical details of a cyberattack last month that took a small power plant
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The Mysterious Case of the Inept Iranians. Hackers had the keys to kingdom when they pwned PLCs in dozens of US rural/small water utilities last week. Access to do bad stuff. But they only changed passwords. Why? My story, Ft @joshcorman.bsky.social & others www.bankinfosecurity.com/baffling-cas...
bankinfosecurity.com
A Baffling Case of Inept Iranian Strikes on Water Utilities
More than three weeks after a wave of likely Iranian cyberattacks struck dozens of rural and small town water and wastewater utilities in at least 12 states,
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Algorithmic tenant screening, a billion $ #AI biz "Rife w ... discrimination, erroneous background checks, extractive fees, and 24,000 [CFPB] complaints" is a tailor made issue for candidates who want to ride a growing #techlash, sez @techpolicypress.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/populist-can...
techpolicy.press
Populist Candidates Need More Tech Policy—Reforming Tenant Screening Is A Good Start
The regulation of tenant screening software presents a tailor-made policy opening, write Arjun Hassard and Erin McElroy.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Threat researchers at @claroty.bsky.social found vulns in power supply devices and heating and AC control systems widely used in data centers. Exploitation of the vulns could enable remote cyberattacks by hackers and digital saboteurs. My story for ISMG www.bankinfosecurity.com/data-center-...
bankinfosecurity.com
Data Center OT Flaws Could Help Hackers Kill Power and AC
Vulnerabilities in backup power devices and heating and cooling control systems widely used in data centers could enable remote cyberattacks and result in costly
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
#Election systems are now a persistent cyber target, not a cyclical one, argues Marayam Shoraka of Corinium Global in an op-ed for ISMG, based on the experience of multiple nations during 2024 election cycles. She unpacks the consequences here: www.govinfosecurity.com/blogs/electi...
govinfosecurity.com
Election Systems Are Now a Persistent Cyber Target
Election security has long been treated as a seasonal effort - defenses up before a vote, then scaled back after. But analysis of the 2024 global election cycle shows adversaries maintaining persisten...
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Scary new paper out from Brett Goldstein at @vanderbilt.edu about the Chinese use of AI to do "Minority Report" style anticipatory policing of potential dissidents. Based on leaked documents from a Chinese commercial spyware vendor. t.co/v3McMPCISf
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Food for thought for all those attending #ASCEND this week. As space becomes a warfighting domain, the race is on to develop cyber tools that can defend the unique, proprietary networks of satellites against cyberattack from foreign cyberwarriors & online spies. My story www.ot.today/newest-space...
ot.today
The Newest Space Race Is Cyber
Now that space is becoming a battlefield, cyberwar will be waged there, experts predict, and the race is on to develop cyber defenses that can protect new satellite
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Water is one of the most critical services of all, and yet is one of the most poorly cyber-defended critical sectors, way behind power and telecommunications, which makes it a great target. My story for OT.Today, feat. @joshcorman.bsky.social & Piotr Kupisiewicz. www.ot.today/russian-atta...
ot.today
Russian Attacks on Polish Water Utilities Use Fear as Weapon
A spate of pro-Russian hacktivists attacks against Polish water facilities have illuminated a debate about the best way to defend water utilities and other critical
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
ICYMI, my story looks at the implications of the AI-assissted cyber intrusion into the network of a municipal water utility in Monterrey, Mexico. With analysis from Dragos Inc's Jay Deen and commentary from @marcussachs.bsky.social. Their conclusions might surprise you. www.ot.today/water-system...
ot.today
Water System Hack Shows Potential, And Limits, of AI Attacks
A hacker used Claude and Chat GPT in a cyberattack against a municipal water and sewage utility's operational technology systems in Mexico in January, according to
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
The hacker who used @anthropic.com's Claude chatbot to help attack nine govt networks in Mexico showed no interest in ICS or operational tech systems til Claude id'ed an OT gateway as part of its recon, and labeled it a "crown jewels" asset, according to Dragos. My story www.ot.today/water-system...
ot.today
Water System Hack Shows Potential, And Limits, of AI Attacks
A hacker used Claude and Chat GPT in a cyberattack against a municipal water and sewage utility's operational technology systems in Mexico in January, according to
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
ICYMI last week, here is my story on the new guidance from CISA adapting #ZeroTrust from IT to operational technology/industrial control systems (OT/ICS) To be blunt, the reaction from most of the experts I spoke to was pretty "meh," and several thought there were gaps www.ot.today/cybersecurit...
ot.today
Cybersecurity Experts Unimpressed With CISA OT Guidance
New guidance from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on adapting zero trust security principles for operational technology is fine as far as
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
@deptofwar.bsky.social senior-most cyber official, Katie Sutton, gave new details at last week's #CyberWorkforceSummit about the "force generation" and personnel reforms being enacted under CyberCom 2.0, including skills based hiring & incentive pay. www.govinfosecurity.com/pentagon-giv...
govinfosecurity.com
Pentagon Gives New Details on Cyber Command Personnel Reform
For the private sector, the cyber talent gap is an HR issue. But for the U.S. military, it's a looming strategic crisis, the Pentagon's top cyber official said this
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
I imagine revising one of the @nist.bsky.social canonical #cybersecurity guides must be like writing a new version of the bible. Every change, no matter how small, will be endlessly debated. And whatever the outcome, some people are likely to be deeply pissed. 🧵1/3 www.ot.today/nist-urged-t...
ot.today
NIST Urged to Go Deep in OT Security Guidance
Now is the moment for U.S. federal guidance on securing OT to plunge deeper into the practicalities of securing systems, an extension into actionable advise that
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Is it just me, or does #Lent, #Ramadan and the #LunarNewYear all starting on the same day sound like the start of a @cstross.bsky.social Laundry Files story?
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
ICYMI: One of the advantages of #HybridWarfare is that it puts the victim in a bind: How to respond without escalating? I wrote for OT Today about how this dynamic played out in the recent foiled #CyberAttack on the Polish energy grid, blamed on Russian intel agencies. www.ot.today/russia-hacke...
ot.today
Russia Hacked the Polish Electricity Grid. Now What?
Poland's online defenses stopped a Russian cyberattack against the energy grid, but now the Warsaw government is in a bind about how to respond to a digital assault
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
@robertgrahamprod.bsky.social lays out, in convincing detail, why the best adjective to describe Elon Musk's merger of his electric car company Tesla and his AI company xAI is "corrupt." open.substack.com/pub/scytalep...
open.substack.com
Musk's corrupt merger of xAI and SpaceX
He's stealing from investors to bail out his other investments
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
After less than seven years, the Space Force has finally decided key issues like how many buttons it should have on its dress jackets (six, apparently, because it's the sixth service.) aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/space-force-...
aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org
Space Force likely to double in personnel within a decade, vice chief says
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
@secevangelism.substack.com explains why #Starlink wasnt able to alleviate the Iranian internet cutoff. TL;DR Iranian authorities appear to be jamming GPS, which is needed by the Starlink system to provide timing and location data to recievers ajd satellites #Iran open.substack.com/pub/secevang...
open.substack.com
Why Starlink Couldn’t Break the Iranian Internet Blackout
Communications still dark over Iran
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
My fmr @compiler.news colleague @tekendra-parmar.bsky.social reveals the broken reasoning behind the prediction markets like @kalshiofficial.bsky.social trying to monetize bettors' best guesses about future events. And the probs it creates when used in elections. theintercept.com/2025/12/29/p...
theintercept.com
These Apps Let You Bet on Deportations and Famine. Mainstream Media Is Eating It Up.
“The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion.”
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
The US military is outsourcing on-orbit refuelling & servicing capabilities to commercial providers, leaving it reliant on vendors for a strategic capability — 2026 will be a critical year @darpa.mil @northropgrumman.bsky.social @aerospacecorp.bsky.social www.airandspaceforces.com/us-on-obit-s...
airandspaceforces.com
US Bets on On-Orbit Satellite Servicing with 4 Missions in 2026
Four satellite missions will launch in the coming year to demonstrate on-orbit refueling, servicing, and repair capabilities to extend the lives of military satellites. Funded by different Department ...
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
The @usairforce.bsky.social has been talking abt using commercial IT products for years, but often that meant buying them and then customizing beyond recognition, so it did exactly what the service wanted. This time will be different, department leaders say www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-it...
airandspaceforces.com
Air Force IT Leaders Adopt Commercial-First Strategy
The Department of the Air Force is embracing the new commercial-first approach to IT ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
New reliability rules tell major electric power co's that they must monitor traffic inside OT and ICS networks, but that's going to be a heavy lift, experts from @tenablesecurity.bsky.social Armis Security and Dragos Dragos Inc tell me in my latest story for OT Today. www.ot.today/monitoring-e...
ot.today
Monitoring the Electric Grid Is Easier Said Than Done
A new reliability standard for U.S. and Canadian electric grid tells major power companies to monitor and log traffic on their operational technology and industrial
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Incredible story. Made more interesting and positive by the fact that he didn't have a perfectly clean record. We're all imperfect and flawed. We've all made mistakes. Even the heroes.
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Reposted by Shaun Waterman
SpacePolicyOnline @spacepolicyonline.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
NASA lost contact with MAVEN, which is orbiting Mars, on Dec 6, but now have recovered a fragment of tracking data suggesting it was rotating in an unexpected manner and its orbital trajectory may have changed after emerging from behind Mars. 1/2
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
There's a growing head of steam behind the idea of a new military service to recruit/train/equip a force for war fighting in the #cyber domain. It's an intuitive ask: The Air Force fights in the air, who fights in cyber? But it's not as simple as that www.airandspaceforces.com/former-cyber...
airandspaceforces.com
Former CYBERCOM Bosses Urge Caution on New Cyber Service
The last two heads of U.S. Cyber Command argued that reforms to CYBERCOM need time before the Pentagon establishes a new military service.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Fmr officials say @deptofwar.bsky.social plans for US Cyber Command create tension b/w the push to normalize cyber operations, and efforts to give CyberCom unique authorities. My story featuring the @csis.org & CSC 2.0 Commission on Cyber Force Generation. www.airandspaceforces.com/cybercom-for...
airandspaceforces.com
Can the Latest Plan for CYBERCOM Stave Off Calls for a New Service?
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has a new Cyber Force Generation plan, meant to give U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) more authority.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I'm Actually a Really Good Person www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-w...
mcsweeneys.net
I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person
I love my job. I make a great salary, there’s a clear path to promotion, and a never-ending supply of cold brew in the office. And even though my j...
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
www.reuters.com/world/asia-p... If the guy from DeepSeek, speaking at a PRC government conference, says he is "pessimistic" about the impact of AI, how terrified should the rest of us be?
reuters.com
DeepSeek researcher pessimistic over AI's impact in startup's first public appearance since success
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) developer DeepSeek made its first public appearance in almost a year after it became a global sensation, fielding a senior researcher who told a government-organised internet conference that he was pessimistic about AI's future impact on humanity.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
When Space Force leaders discuss cyber threats against the commercial satellite providers they use, they talk abt attacks from nation state adversaries. But for cyber defenders in the commercial space sector the daily reality can be rather different. www.airandspaceforces.com/satellite-op...
airandspaceforces.com
Not Just Spies: Satellite Operators Say Cybercrime Is Major Threat
The Space Force and commercial providers are concerned about Chinese and Russian cyberattacks, but low-level cybercrime is a concern too.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
My 1st story for ISMG, where I'm covering OT cybersecurity takes off from @60minutes.bsky.social report on Chinese hacking of US power and water utilities. I look at @istorg.bsky.social Josh Corman's efforts to help shore up security in the water sector. www.bankinfosecurity.com/weak-exposed...
bankinfosecurity.com
Weak and Exposed: US Water Utilities a Chinese Hacker Target
Rural America is a long way from Taiwan. But cyber power is no respecter of geography. Should China make good on its repeated threats to reunify the island by
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed $1.4B savings from cancelling the Air Force's Cloud One contract. But my reporting shows it's not that simple. Cloud services will still be needed, still have to be paid for. In fact, they may cost more. My story: www.airandspaceforces.com/dod-canceled...
airandspaceforces.com
Did Air Force's Canceled $1.4B Cloud One Contract Save Money?
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth canceled the Air Force's Cloud One contract, declaring $1.4 billion in savings. But the move might cost more.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
ICYMI: @spaceforcedod.bsky.social Sapce Force Building Tools to Detect #Cyberattacks on Satellites www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-...
airandspaceforces.com
Space Force Building Tools to Detect Cyberattacks on Satellites
U.S. Space Force contractors are building an AI-powered tool to detect cyberattacks on satellites by monitoring their behavior and telemetry.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
USAF training doesn't test kill chains to failure, sez Jon Rhone, fmr cmdr of the 505th Test & Eval “If the first time that we fail at [closing long-range kill chains] is when the blood is flowing, I think we’ve prob done the country a disservice." #asc2025 www.airandspaceforces.com/industry-exp...
airandspaceforces.com
Industry Execs: Test Long Range Kill Chains to the Point of Failure
The Air Force should place more emphasis on exercising and training for long range kill chains right now, a panel of industry experts said.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Space Systems Command’s Front Door - the one-stop shop for vendors, is getting a rebrand and a leg-up. It will now be called Space Force Front Door and will be a single touchpoint for the whole Space Force. My story for @airandspaceforces.com.web.brid.gy www.airandspaceforces.com/space-system...
airandspaceforces.com
Space Force’s Front Door For Industry Is Opening a Little Wider
Space Systems Command’s Front Door, the contact point for private industry to introduce themselves to the Space Force, is expanding.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
U.S. Cyber Command should be replaced by a U.S. Digital Command, which would have CyberCom's cyber role and lead infowar and electromagnetic war ops as well. DoD should also stand up a new military service, the U.S. Digital Corps, argues @scsp.bsky.social www.airandspaceforces.com/pentagon-nee...
airandspaceforces.com
Pentagon Needs Digital Command for New Approach to Key Tech
The Pentagon needs a Digital Command, a Digital Warfare Corps, and other changes to take advantage of new technologies like AI and autonomy.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Silicon Valley firms like Microsoft have built an electronic carceral for the CCP, using cutting edge data collection and management to enable a totalitarian state. Fuck them. apnews.com/article/chin... Silicon Valley enabled brutal mass detention and surveillance in China, internal documents show
apnews.com
Silicon Valley enabled brutal mass detention and surveillance in China, internal documents show
U.S. technology firms such as IBM, Dell and Cisco largely designed and built China’s surveillance state, an AP investigation finds. The tech companies deny wrongdoing.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
New #AI tools from data giant Palantir could help reduce risks to civilians in war, but only if the military using them has a prof culture that values the laws of war and reducing harm to civilians. My latest story in @airandspaceforces.com.web.brid.gy www.airandspaceforces.com/can-ai-help-...
airandspaceforces.com
Can AI Help Targeteers Curb Civilian Casualties?
Some see AI as a way to minimize civilian casualties, even as others argue technology is no substitute for warfighters’ judgment.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
Air Force’s Big IT Programs Need ‘Course Correction,’ General Says www.airandspaceforces.com/air-forces-b...
airandspaceforces.com
Air Force's Big IT Programs Need 'Course Correction,' 2-Star Says
The Air Force is reorganizing the office that runs some of its most complex combat connectivity programs to repair trust with troops.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Outsourcing the ground segment — the antennas, modems & switches needed to keep contact with a satellite in orbit — is attractive to operators, especially start-ups looking to keep down headcount and capital expenditures. My latest for Via Satellite Mag interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/august-2...
interactive.satellitetoday.com
Ground Station Operators Look to Software for Simplicity in Smallsat Operations | August 2025
Outsourcing the ground segment may be cheaper and easier for smallsat operators than building their own network of ground stations, but it is still a complicated and difficult process. A new generatio...
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Orbital Watch, the threat sharing service run by @spaceforcedod.bsky.social's Front Door aims to share classified info w cleared companies and execs, and to distribute anonymized threat data from industry. My story for @airandspaceforces.com.web.brid.gy www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-...
airandspaceforces.com
Space Force Aims to Share Classified Threat Info with Industry
The Space Force initiative to share info with the private sector about threats in orbit will eventually include classified intelligence.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
The House & Senate versions of the 2026 NDAA both contain provisions aimed at expanding or speeding the processes to get new tech to warfighters, including two new authorities or mandates for the Defense Innovation Unit. My story for Air & Space Forces Mag: www.airandspaceforces.com/defense-poli...
airandspaceforces.com
How ’26 Defense Policy Bill Takes Aim at Speed, Ease of Tech Innovation
The different versions of the 2026 defense policy bill contain provisions to speed up efforts to get new software and tech to warfighters.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
In an essay out this week, but written last year, Mark Berkowitz, who has since been tapped by the Trump White House as asst secdef for space policy, says that merging the spy agency NRO into Space Force could turbocharge national security space acquisition. www.airandspaceforces.com/defense-poli...
airandspaceforces.com
Defense Policy Nominee Has Advocated Merging NRO and SSC
Combining the NRO with the Space Force's Space Systems Command could be useful, argues a Trump administration Pentagon nominee.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Rather touching story from @theregister.com www.theregister.com/2025/07/07/w...
theregister.com
Yes, I wrote a very bad bug. In my defense I was just seven
Who, Me?: Years later, deep into a great tech career, your fellow reader remains inspired by the forgiveness received after the error
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 06/07/2025
A half-dozen new space start-ups, two w research contracts from Space Force or Air Force #technology incubators, are currently planning low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellations of small satellites offering more accurate, harder to jam alternatives to GPS. Story www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-...
airandspaceforces.com
Space Force Boosts Ecosystem of GPS Alternatives in LEO
The Space Force is fostering a new ecosystem of commercial satellite constellations providing alternatives to GPS from much closer to Earth.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
The threat of Iranian cyber retaliation for US bombing highlights the reliance of USAF & other military services on civilian infrastructure vulnerable to hackers, like airports. My story 4 ‪‪@airandspaceforces.com.web.brid.gy last week frm #DefendTheAirport www.airandspaceforces.com/dual-use-mil...
airandspaceforces.com
Dual-Use Military and Civil Airports Face Cyber Threats
Dual-use airports host civilian and military flights, and that mingling can create technical vulnerabilities enemy hackers could exploit.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
For #autonomous vehicles, war fighting and motor racing have more in common than you might think. Both involve pushing limits & require no-fail outcomes even in extreme conditions, BoozAllen CTO Bill Vass and NVIDIA's @ericbreckenfeld.bsky.social told me: www.airandspaceforces.com/what-defense...
airandspaceforces.com
What Defense Tech Firms Can Learn From Formula One
Government contractor Booz Allen is looking to Formula One car racing to gain a combat edge for autonomous military vehicles.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
Aaron Mannes' fascinating short essay reminds us that the origin of Memorial Day, like everything else in America, is actually about race. open.substack.com/pub/aaronman...
open.substack.com
Memorial Day and the almost Vice President
Remembering General Logan
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Reposted by Shaun Waterman
Stage Write @stagewrite.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Back in April, my friend @watermanreports.bsky.social wrote a piece remembering Marla Ruzicka. When Marla called, no one in my circle of friends was ever too busy to pick up. She was brave and beautiful on pursuing peace and healing wounds. I treasure her memory. www.upi.com/Defense-News...
Marla Ruzicka.
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Shaun Waterman @watermanreports.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
ICYMI: My recent reporting on Orbital Watch -- the US Space Force's initiative to share with the private sector information about threats and hazards to satellites in orbit. It's a small start. The "initial operating capacity" will be quarterly briefings, more a gesture than a service. 1/? 🧵
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