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DOD Spending on OTAs Continues to Ramp Up; Robert Levinson, Rhys McCormick Quoted
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DOD Spending on OTAs Continues to Ramp Up; Robert Levinson, Rhys McCormick Quoted

A National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) report on the defense industrial base’s health shows that the Department of Defense’s (DOD) use of other transaction authority (OTA) agreements to encourage non-traditional vendors to work with the Pentagon has surged in recent years, National Defense reported Friday.

According to NDIA’s Vital Signs 2021 report, the average amount of DOD’s innovation-related investment per year that used OTAs climbed by approximately 300 percent. Analysts at Bloomberg Government said use of OTAs continued to rise in fiscal year 2020.

“Our data is showing $14.8 billion for DoD and $16.3 billion [for the U.S. government] overall for FY 2020, so the total has gone up over 100 percent over FY 2019 and we’re still waiting on the last month or so of data for DoD,” Robert Levinson, senior defense analyst at BGOV, said in a December email. “The enthusiasm for OTAs continues.”

A recent Center for Strategic and International Studies report showed that DOD recorded $7.7 billion in OTA obligations in 2019, a 75 percent increase from $4.4 billion reported in 2018. The U.S. Army emerged as the leading user of OTAs across the department, according to the CSIS study.

Rhys McCormick, a CSIS analyst, said he thinks the use of OTAs will continue to increase.

“I definitely don’t think the [current] growth rate is sustainable … but I think we’re going to continue to see growth in OTAs in the coming years,” McCormick said. “It just won’t be at that crazy rate that we saw” after the passage of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act.

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White House Memo Outlines Structure of National Security Council
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White House Memo Outlines Structure of National Security Council

The White House has issued a new memorandum announcing the renewal of the National Security Council (NSC) system. 

The document published Thursday states that the NSC will help the president integrate all aspects of national security policy by coordinating agencies and executive departments in long-term strategic planning and policy development and implementation.

The memo details the regular attendees of NSC meetings and the structure of the council’s principals committee, deputies committee and interagency policy committees.

According to the document, the principals committee will serve as the “senior interagency forum for consideration of policy issues affecting national security” with the national security adviser acting as chair.

The deputies committee will help monitor and review the NSC interagency process-related work and address national security-related policy issues. This panel will be chaired by the principal deputy national security adviser.

The interagency policy committees will oversee the development and implementation of national security policies by multiple government agencies. 

“They shall provide policy analysis for consideration by the more senior committees of the NSC system and ensure timely responses to decisions made by the President. The IPCs shall be established at the direction of the National Security Advisor, and be chaired by his or her designees,” the memo reads.

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Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle on Air Force’s Golden Horde Swarming Bombs Program
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Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle on Air Force’s Golden Horde Swarming Bombs Program

Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), said the service will conduct a second test of the Golden Horde swarming bombs later in February 2021, Defense News reported Thursday.

“We’re looking forward to two more flights this month, in fact, with four collaborative small diameter bomb weapons, and I’m looking at time on target to try to up the game a little bit,” Pringle said Thursday at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies-hosted event. “This program is still progressing, and we’re really excited about where it’s going in 2021.”

One of AFRL’s top three priorities, the Golden Horde program involves a swarm of networked munitions equipped with an operational playbook that contains a collection of predetermined rules to facilitate autonomous operations.

The service carried out its first test of the program in Dec. 2020, meeting nine of the 13 objectives. However, the swarming bombs failed to send guidance commands to the navigation systems due to software issues, resulting in the munitions hitting a failsafe target location.

Pringle said she plans to meet with Brig. Gen. Heath Collins, the service’s program executive for weapons, to discuss the Golden Horde program, including its transition into an operational platform.

NOAA Teams up With Southern Mississippi University to Further Uncrewed System R&D
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NOAA Teams up With Southern Mississippi University to Further Uncrewed System R&D

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will work with the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) to advance research and development of uncrewed systems and enable enhanced operation of the platform for better environmental data collection.

The agency said Thursday the 10-year agreement with USM also includes UxS testing and evaluation and serves as a framework for collaborative work between scientists from NOAA and operators of the said sensor-equipped vehicles.

NOAA uses UxS to inform extreme event forecasting with information gathered through at-sea observations. The vehicles are also capable of assisting the agency in marine mammal and fishery stock assessments, ocean exploration and seafloor and habitat mapping efforts.

"The use of uncrewed systems increases safety and productivity and allows us to expand coverage and access of ocean space, especially in remote, hazardous or extreme environments," said Kelly Lucas, associate vice president for research, coastal operations at USM.

Lucas also noted the possibility of uncrewed systems transforming data collection and processes if augmented with artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Rear Adm. Nancy Hann, deputy director for operations for NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations and deputy director of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, said the agency will help drive innovation in Mississippi. The state could be "a major hub for ocean research and innovation," according to her.

The partnership is in line with NOAA's efforts to work with the U.S. Navy, other federal agencies, industry and academia on UxS research, testing and acquisition as required by the Commercial Engagement Through Ocean Technology Act.

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Idaho National Laboratory Introduces Engineering-Based Cybersecurity Approach
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Idaho National Laboratory Introduces Engineering-Based Cybersecurity Approach

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) created an approach that employs engineering design principles to mitigate cyberattacks on utility operations.

Developed by INL in partnership with industry, government and the academia, the Consequence-driven Cyber-informed Engineering (CCE) method is a think-like-the-adversary approach that recognizes gaps on online services and technologies, the laboratory said Tuesday.

INL Cybersecurity Researchers Sarah Freeman and Andy Bochman released a book that tackles the approach in an effort to train employees at public utilities in defending from cyberattacks.

INL received $20 million in funds from Congress and the Department of Energy (DOE) in 2018 to continue the development of the CCE method. The laboratory supported hands-on security activities with large utilities and worked with utility operators to help enhance understanding of targeted cyberattacks and create mitigation measures.

The laboratory provided California-based firm West Yost a license to use the CCE method.

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DOD Unveils Regional Sea Level Database for Coastal Facilities Engineering
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DOD Unveils Regional Sea Level Database for Coastal Facilities Engineering

The Department of Defense (DOD) has publicly released a database that features information on regional sea levels to help engineers and designers develop coastal facilities. 

DOD said Wednesday its Coastal Assessment Regional Scenario Working Group developed the DOD Regional Sea Level database and a complementary report titled “Regional Sea Level Scenarios for Coastal Risk Management.”

The database is meant to inform engineering activities at DOD-owned coastal sites with respect to changing sea levels across the globe. The department released the database under the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program.

Thadd Buzan, assistant director for military construction at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, said DOD's Unified Facilities Criteria program requires the information to help planners and designers who work on coastal installations.

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GISS Director Gavin Schmidt to Temporarily Serve as NASA’s Senior Climate Adviser; Steve Jurczyk Quoted
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GISS Director Gavin Schmidt to Temporarily Serve as NASA’s Senior Climate Adviser; Steve Jurczyk Quoted

NASA has appointed Gavin Schmidt, director of he Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), to advise the agency on climate science in a new, acting-basis role. 

Schmidt will serve as NASA's acting senior climate advisor, a role through which he will promote climate-related investments and support efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. He brings a research career focused on modeling climate change across past, current and future events, with over 150 co-authored research papers. 

The climate expert, who has been GISS' leader since 2014, is also a recipient of the American Geophysical Union's Climate Communication Prize and NASA's Outstanding Leadership Medal.

“This position will provide NASA leadership critical insights and recommendations for the agency’s full spectrum of science, technology, and infrastructure programs related to climate,” said Steve Jurczyk, acting NASA Administrator.

Schmidt's acting role will remain effective until NASA appoints a full-time senior climate advisor.

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New Subcommittee to Tackle Issues on Cybersecurity, IT Systems
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New Subcommittee to Tackle Issues on Cybersecurity, IT Systems

Rep. James Langevin, D-R.I., and Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., have introduced a new subcommittee that will focus on various areas such as information technology, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

Formed and organized for the 117th Congress, the Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems will encompass policies on computer software acquisition, electronic warfare, electromagnetic spectrum, AI, science and technology programs, the Armed Services Committee said Wednesday.

The subcommittee will also tackle IT and cybersecurity operations and systems. Langevin is slated to lead the subcommittee as its chair.

"As technology continues to advance at an incredibly rapid rate – from artificial intelligence to biotechnology and everything in between – it is critical that the Armed Services Committee redoubles our efforts to bridge the gap between current capabilities and future requirements," said Langevin and Smith.

The two representatives noted the Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee funded defense research projects and implemented retention practices for science and engineering personnel.

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Space Force Eyes Satellite Imaging for Beyond-Line-Of-Sight Targeting; Gen. John Raymond Quoted
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Space Force Eyes Satellite Imaging for Beyond-Line-Of-Sight Targeting; Gen. John Raymond Quoted

The U.S. Space Force is in the early stages of studying the use of imaging data from small tactical satellites to detect targets beyond line of sight, C4ISRnet reported Wednesday.

Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations and 2021 Wash100 Award winner, said during a recent call with the Defense Writers Group that the Space Force seeks to closely coordinate with intelligence sector partners to explore the use of tactical satellite imaging,

He noted that his office has begun efforts to assess potential design concepts for satellite-based BLOS targeting.

The use of satellite imagery for tactical applications traditionally fall under the intelligence community, specifically the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), according to C4ISRnet.

Previously, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the U.S. Navy earmarked funding for commercial GEOINT software and synthetic aperture radar technology, the report states.

“I do think as technology has allowed for smaller satellites to be more operationally relevant and you can do so at a price point that is cheaper, that there is a role for operational level tactical satellites as you described and that the Space Force would have a role in that,” noted Raymond.

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Col. Marc Pelini: DOD Considers AI Decision Making Without Human Intervention
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Col. Marc Pelini: DOD Considers AI Decision Making Without Human Intervention

Col. Marc Pelini, division chief for capabilities and requirements at the Joint Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Office, said the military is looking to develop a method that allows for artificial intelligence decision making without direct human intervention, when necessary.

He said at a teleconference the Department of Defense (DOD) considers this approach in response to enemy unmanned aircraft system swarms, a threat that may require military operations to move faster, DOD News reported Wednesday.

The Army still does not have the authority to have human involvement out-of-the-loop in AI operations, but the rising threat has led to discussions on potential, alternative approaches.

"When you're starting to see swarming activities of hundreds or potentially thousands [of UAS] in the future, obviously you want your system to operate as fast [as possible] to provide those weaponeering solutions to the operator, or operate within a set of parameters," Pelini said.

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