US and Australia sign agreement to develop virtual training range.

As part of the Defense Department's efforts to sharpen lethality, reform business practices and strengthen partnerships in cyberspace, the U.S. and Australia have launched the first agreement to continuously develop a virtual cyber training range.
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U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Mike Tomsik and Australian Army Col. Hamish Ashman watch as Australian Army Maj. Gen. Marcus Thompson, the head of information warfare, signs a cyber training agreement between the U.S. and Australia in Russell (Picture source: Australian Army Sgt. Sebastian Beurich)

Both nations signed the Cyber Training Capabilities Project Arrangement on Nov. 3. The bilateral, international agreement enables U.S. Cyber Command to incorporate Australian Defense Force feedback into Cybercom's simulated training domain, the Persistent Cyber Training Environment.

The PCTE is a cyber training platform for real-world defensive missions across boundaries and networks. Its shared use and development will constantly evolve it and sharpen readiness in cyber tactics, techniques and procedures. "This project arrangement is a milestone for U.S.-Australian cooperation. It is the first cyber-only arrangement established between the U.S. Army and an allied nation, which highlights the value of Australia's partnership in the simulated training domain," Elizabeth Wilson, the U.S. signatory and deputy assistant secretary of the Army for defense exports and cooperation, said. "To counter known and potential adversarial threats, the Army has recalibrated our strategic thinking; we've made smart decisions to refocus our efforts to invest in the new, emerging and smart technologies that will strengthen our ability to fight and win our nation's wars," she added.

Previously, U.S. and allied cyber forces developed cyber training ranges for specific scenarios that would be used once, a process that could take months. The PCTE offers a collaborative training environment, enabling cyber forces around the world to develop and reuse already existing content to train at individual and group levels anytime. "Australia and the U.S. have a strong history of working together to develop our cyber capabilities and train our people to fight and win in cyberspace," Australian Army Maj. Gen. Marcus Thompson, the Australian signatory and head of information warfare for the ADF, said. "This arrangement will be an important part of the ADF's training program, and we look forward to the mutual benefits it will bring."

Partnerships in cyberspace are key to generating and sharing insights of threat actors, enabling mutual defense against cyberattacks and conducting the operational training necessary to hold adversaries accountable in cyberspace. Such training platforms enable lethal cyber mission forces in defense of U.S. and allied interests. "Agreements like this one are crucial to the efficiency of our joint modernization," Wilson said. "They lay the framework for our mutual growth, allowing us to become stronger and more interoperable as allies."

A U.S. and a Canadian service members take part in Cyber Flag 20-2, June 19, 2020. U.S. Cyber Command employed a new virtual training platform, the Persistent Cyber Training Environment. During the two-week exercise, there were more than 500 (Picture source: U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Jon Dasbach)

The Army has the lead in developing PCTE and worked with the program executive office for simulation, training and instrumentation on this cooperative cyber project with Australia. The PEO STRI is responsible to deliver and improve PCTE on behalf of the Joint Services. Currently, PCTE's primary user is Cybercom and the services' cyber components.

"PCTE continues to showcase training opportunities for our cyber equities, and, as we evolve this capability, we look forward to the ongoing progression and engagements with our partners," Navy Rear Adm. Christopher Bartz, director of exercises and training for Cybercom, said. "Our recent Cyber Flag events in June and September of 2020 were prime examples of Five Eyes partner training and collaboration."

PCTE is one component of the U.S. military's Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture, an overarching framework that helps guide capability development across all services for a functional, adaptive system of systems.

The Persistent Cyber Training Environment is a training platform supporting standardized joint cyberspace operations forces' individual sustainment training, team certification and mission rehearsal and provides the foundation for collective (Picture source: U.S. Navy)

About PCTE

The PCTE training platform delivered its first production version in February 2020 and is designed as a distributed, secure, reconfigurable environment where numerous independent cyber operations training activities may occur simultaneously.These environments include virtual emulations of live networks that allow cyber operators the ability to practice their skills and operations in a closed environment.

A key aspect of PCTE, which provides the earliest access to capabilities, is the incorporation of an iterative development process. This process allows for the continued development and improvement of PCTE while it is in use by cyber warriors.