KUBERNETES IN AIR-DEFENCE SYSTEM..!!

Kubernetes is creating a decent buzz in tech circles for being an efficient and open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. Kubernetes is a HUGE project with a lot of code and functionalities. The primary responsibility of Kubernetes is container orchestration. That means making sure that all the containers that execute various workloads are scheduled to run physical or virtual machines.

Apart from various technologies Kubernetes has various advantages so that’s why organizations prefer such tools which makes the work simpler for the industry to work together.

Just like almost everything else, military organizations increasingly depend on software, and they are turning to an array of open source cloud tools like Kubernetes. Kubernetes, an open-source container-orchestration system for automating computer application deployment, scaling, and management, is used on an operational major weapons system and which helps the AIR-DEFENCE SYSTEM of our world..!!

CASE-STUDIES:

U.S. Air Force Deployed Kubernetes :

As hybrid cloud strategies go, the U.S. military certainly is taking a unique approach by bringing Kubernetes. A total of 37 teams are currently working on building applications on top of Kubernetes. Teams doing this at every side of the weapons systems, from the space systems to the nuclear systems to the jets. The entire stack was designed to run on AWS or Microsoft Azure. The team chose to use Kubernetes specifically for this reason, with other projects like Istio providing security for the networking layer.

Kubernetes was not designed for the disconnected environments that the military must use in many situations involving data that should not ever reach the internet it helped in safeguarding the data. Updation is done through the internet, and having connectivity to the internet, getting the updates directly from the internet. They have to bring the entire stack on jets or weapons systems that are disconnected from the internet by design so for them it was quite risky and for solving this Challenge they used Kubernetes.

These Military organizations due to demand increasingly depend on software, so that’s why they are turning to an array of open source cloud tools like Kubernetes.

By virtualization and containerizing applications the solution provides patch management and baseline configuration management to secure the infrastructure. The Air Force believes the Zero Trust approach is secure, because of virtual servers and containers, dynamic suspension and movement of virtual servers and containers, these security functions need to be carefully orchestrated. To get the containers working on the jets, the team bring the entire stack.

That stack includes:

• The Cloud One infrastructure layer, which is a stable and secure common development, test and production environment. Authorities to operate are already in place so app developers and producers can use Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services clouds, depending on their needs. It also offers tools that can help reduce costs for software development.
• Platform One provides software enterprise services and hardened containers, continuous integration/ continuous delivery options and the service mesh layer, which brings in baked-in, zero-trust security and the architecture to enable microservices. It also offers training/on-boarding options and contracting support.
• The application layer allows development teams to build easily reusable modular software or microservices leveraging hardened containers that can be used across teams.

Famed spy plane gets AI upgrade with Kubernetes :

The Air Force has equipped a legacy U-2 surveillance aircraft with machine learning and Kubernetes. Kubernetes allows the U-2 to combine the power of four on-board legacy computers to run advanced machine learning algorithms without negatively impacting the aircraft’s flight or mission systems. The successful combination of the U-2’s legacy computer system with the modern Kubernetes software was a critical milestone for the development of software containerization on existing Air Force weapon systems.

The software was developed at the U-2 Federal Laboratory, an organization dedicated to speeding the delivery of advanced technologies to the battlefield by bringing the warfighter, developer and acquirer together under one roof. It promotes “edge development,” where new software is integrated with operational systems in a bounded, safe environment. The integration of Kubernetes onto the U-2 capitalizes on the aircraft’s high altitude line of sight and makes it even more survivable in a contested environment.

The U-2 Federal Laboratory used Kubernetes during a September U-2 Dragon Lady test flight. During the test flight, which took place at Beale Air Force Base in California, the flight computers on the U-2 were able to use Kubernetes to run advanced machine learning algorithms without any impact on the aircraft’s flight or mission systems.

Kubernetes allows for advanced automated applications :

The Department of Defence (DoD) says that Kubernetes will allow military weapon systems to pool available on-board computing power together to allow for on-demand advanced computing power, something that could prove crucial on the battlefield.

The U-2 Dragon Lady flight saw Kubernetes run advanced machine learning algorithms aboard the aircraft’s flight-certified computers without any negative effects on the plane’s flight or mission systems.

A critical milestone’ for software containerization:

The successful combination of the U-2’s legacy computer system with the modern Kubernetes software was a critical milestone for the development of software containerization on existing Air Force weapon systems.

The US Air Force has stated that future victories on the battlefield may largely depend on the service utilizing the latest cutting-edge digital technologies.

Demonstrating the use of Kubernetes in-flight on a major weapon system such as the U-2 Dragon Lady is one more step in the Digital Air Force’s goal of giving Airmen access to critical real-time data in battle and mission situations.

Why the Air Force put Kubernetes :

As part of its work on the Defense Department’s Enterprise DevSecOps Initiative, the Air Force is increasingly deploying solutions like Kubernetes, the open-source platform for managing containerized workloads and services, to deliver advanced capabilities to warfighters.

The initiative began by proving that it could be done. The Air Force used the DoD’s SoniKube software DevOps shop to install Kubernetes on the legacy hardware in F-16s and in just 45 days was able to get three concurrent Kubernetes clusters running on a jet.

Auto-Scaling a Defence Application across the Cloud Using Docker and Kubernetes :

The Australian Defence Forces (ADF) including the army, navy and air force often share resources. This is the case for helicopter training where the resources are often people, e.g. instructors. Understanding the current and future needs of the helicopter pilot training continuum is challenging. New students are continually entering the Defence services as trainees/cadets; passing or failing exams at specialist flying schools; progressing through or leaving the Defence services and potentially becoming trained pilots or instructors that can subsequently train future students. This continuum has an associated optimisation challenge.

The ATHENA platform has been developed as a strategic discrete event simulation, optimisation and analysis system for manpower planning with specific focus on addressing the needs and demands of this helicopter pilot training continuum for the ADF. ATHENA has been developed as a simulation platform running on a Cloud infrastructure. This paper introduces ATHENA and describes the way in which the platform leverages container technologies to auto-scale across the Cloud with focus on the Kubernetes orchestration technology.

586 FLTS testing software management program for aircraft :

The Arnold Engineering Development Complex 586th Flight Test Squadron at Holloman Air Force Base is conducting a test program to evaluate potential for the platform Kubernetes to be used in operational aircraft.

Kubernetes, container system allows applications to be isolated, preventing failure of one piece of software from impacting other software installations. The information passed between containers can also be controlled.

The 586 FLTS implemented Kubernetes onto their T-38 Talon instrumentation system for a flight test scheduled for Sept. 18. A portion of an operational flight program (OFP) software was installed within the containers to demonstrate that Kubernetes could run on the OFP aircraft. The T-38 instrumentation it was installed on is not critical to flight of the aircraft. This allows for testing in a safe and secure environment. Kubernetes provides benefits in both the test and the operational flight environments.

These features will allow us to host low TRL (technology readiness level) experiments on our instrumentation system without worrying that it will damage or disrupt our instrumentation system. In an operational setting, software containers could allow quicker software updates by reducing the amount of regression testing required. Kubernetes also holds potential for science, technology, engineering and math, outreach for the Air Force.

CONCLUSION:

Through This It can be concluded that Kubernetes is playing a vital role for the Nation in managing the Defence System. Through its features it is helping in safeguarding the most critical data and helps in integrating with the various technologies like Machine Learning, Cloud etc.

Through this Blog We can say that how Kubernetes is working as God for the society and the world which through its features and integration with technologies helps safeguarding the world in Air-Force Defence System…!!