Better late than never. That’s how the Pentagon’s decision to increase the number of camera- and antenna-equipped aerostats in Afghanistan should be viewed. These tethered airships are not fancy but they prove that basic equipment can make a big difference in se¬curing bases and nearby roads. Engineers must continue their work to devise smaller, more portable versions, so they can be set up at remote outposts in addition to large forward operating bases.

The U.S. Defense Department’s ISR Task Force should be wary of taking on additional technologically bold projects in its mission of increasing intelligence coverage in Afghanistan and Iraq. The task force’s most ambitious initiatives, the Gorgon Stare wide-area surveillance camera pods and the Valiant Angel video software, are months from deployment. Better to stick with known systems when the stakes are so high. That is the lesson of the task force’s flagship MC-12 Liberty aircraft program. These conventional turboprops were rapidly equipped with video cam¬eras and signals intelligence equipment, and they are paying off in the hunt for in¬surgents and improvised explosive devices. The MC-12’s were a manufacturing challenge but not a technical challenge.

Stunning is the best word to describe U.S. Army Gen. Keith Alexander’s admission that the U.S. has only “very limited” situational awareness about the network activities of potential ene¬mies. Alexander’s comments in his first public speech as head of Cy¬ber Command were intended to snap the U.S. intelligence community into action, which is exactly what they should do. The U.S. won’t be able to secure cyberspace simply by hiring more young, gifted cyber sleuths, though that is a laudable goal. Like terrorist attacks, cyber attacks are carried out by people. Find the people who are probing your networks and you can defuse the attack before it happens. Old-fashioned human intelligence will be as important in that effort as better technology.