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Report: DHS, GSA Use ‘Commercial Solutions Opening’ Method to Expedite Tech Procurements
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Report: DHS, GSA Use ‘Commercial Solutions Opening’ Method to Expedite Tech Procurements


Report: DHS, GSA Use ‘Commercial Solutions Opening’ Method to Expedite Tech ProcurementsThe Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration have launched efforts to advance the use of “commercial solutions opening” method to speed up the acquisition of innovative platforms and services, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

DHS released in June its guidelines for the CSO contracting method, while GSA unveiled in May the AAS Express program to provide agencies using the procedure access to GSA contracts and resources.

The Defense Department has recently joined GSA and DHS in the adoption of the CSO method by launching a four-year pilot program that will run through Sept. 30, 2022.

DoD issued in June a class deviation document that would direct contracting officers to issue “general solicitations” and competitively choose proposals based on a peer-review process as part of the CSO procedure authorized in the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

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DARPA to Explore Near-Earth Space Environment Forecasting Concepts
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DARPA to Explore Near-Earth Space Environment Forecasting Concepts


DARPA to Explore Near-Earth Space Environment Forecasting ConceptsThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has introduced a program to explore concepts and tools to predict near-Earth space conditions within a one-hour to 72-hour timeframe.

DARPA said Tuesday it will hold a Proposers Day on July 31 in Arlington, Va., to provide details of the agency’s Space Environment Exploitation program.

“We currently have capability to predict and track big space weather events like sun spots, coronal mass ejections, or solar winds that can wreak havoc on critical space assets in higher space orbits,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. David Lewis, a DARPA program manager.

Lewis added the agency cannot predict local and smaller space environment disturbances near the planet such as magnetic substorms and auroral-E activity that can interfere with space-based and ground assets.

The SEE program seeks to explore forecasting concepts that would apply existing ground- and satellite-based data, as well as develop non-traditional sensing concepts and sensors.

DARPA plans to examine machine learning and training methods in an effort to virtually extend the life of satellite measurements and increase the number of satellites virtually for sampling.

The agency noted it will seek technical expertise in ion, magnet and thermospheric physics and chemistry; scalar, tensor and vector computer processing science and engineering; machine learning or training; and system integration.

DoD Restructures Research & Engineering, Acquisition Offices
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DoD Restructures Research & Engineering, Acquisition Offices


DoD Restructures Research & Engineering, Acquisition OfficesThe Defense Department has issued a memo that details the reorganization of the offices of the undersecretary of research and engineering and undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza, a spokeswoman for DoD, told the publication that Congress and Defense Secretary James Mattis have been notified of the July 13 memo signed by Patrick Shanahan, deputy defense secretary.

Michael Griffin, head of the R&E office, will perform technical risk reviews and provide advice to DoD secretary on potential capability issues with programs.

Griffin will have a deputy undersecretary who will oversee five offices: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; Missile Defense Agency; Defense Innovation Unit Experimental; Strategic Capabilities Office; and the Strategic Intelligence Analysis Cell, according to the organizational structure obtained by Defense News.

The R&E’s research and technology unit has five assistant directors focused on cyber, microelectronics, quantum science, directed energy and machine learning/artificial intelligence, while the advanced capabilities division has assistant chiefs focused on space, autonomy, hypersonics and networked C3.

The memo noted that a deputy undersecretary will directly report to Ellen Lord, DoD undersecretary for A&S, and oversee several offices, including the industrial base office.

Three assistant secretaries will be responsible for sustainment, acquisition and nuclear, chemical and biological programs, while four directors will manage international cooperation, special programs, joint rapid acquisition cell and strategy, data and design, according to the organizational chart.

Lord and Griffin are both 2018 Wash100 recipients.

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CBO: House Bill Authorizes $1.1B NIST Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriation
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CBO: House Bill Authorizes $1.1B NIST Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriation


CBO: House Bill Authorizes $1.1B NIST Fiscal Year 2019 AppropriationThe National Institute of Standards and Technology will receive a $1.1 billion appropriation for fiscal year 2019 after the House’s authorization of bill H.R. 6229.

The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology announced on June 27 the approval of the NIST Reauthorization Act of 2018, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday.

H.R. 6229 includes specific initiatives for the agency’s execution and does not involve intergovernmental or private-sector orders defined by the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

The pay-as-you-go procedure for revenues and direct spending is not required for the reauthorization.

Estimates from CBO note that the $1.1 billion implementation cost will cover the period from 2019 to 2023 and the enactment of the bill will not affect the direct spending and on-budget deficits in the four subsequent 10-year periods from 2029.

NIST, which supports the development of technologies, sciences and standards to facilitate U.S. industrial competitiveness, received $1.2 billion in 2018.

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DARPA Launches Program to Develop Microrobots for Disaster Response
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DARPA Launches Program to Develop Microrobots for Disaster Response


DARPA Launches Program to Develop Microrobots for Disaster ResponseThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched a new program designed to develop micro- to millirobots for disaster response uses.

The SHort-Range Independent Microrobotic Platforms program will involve research encompassing actuator materials, mechanisms and power storage needed to create functional microrobots, DARPA said Tuesday.

The agency seeks to address the lack of power, navigation and control capacities seen in microrobotic platforms.

The program intends to use actuator technology to boost the robots’ mobility, load-bearing capacity and dexterity.

“The strength-to-weight ratio of an actuator influences both the load-bearing capability and endurance of a microrobotic platform,” said Ronald Polcawich, a program manager at DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office.

DARPA will evaluate the resulting robotic platforms using the principles followed in the National Institute of Standards and Technology‘s Robotics Test Facility.

Teams under the SHRIMP program will compete in tests to evaluate the robot’s mobility and other performance aspects.

Will Roper: Air Force Needs to Award Artificial Intelligence Contracts Faster
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Will Roper: Air Force Needs to Award Artificial Intelligence Contracts Faster


Will Roper: Air Force Needs to Award Artificial Intelligence Contracts Faster
Will Roper

Will Roper, undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, has said the military service must accelerate its process for awarding contracts to artificial intelligence technology developers, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Roper, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, explained during the Farnborough Airshow that innovations in AI software requires constant reworking, which leads to the need to shorten the period of awarding AI contracts.

He added that the Air Force aims to work with small businesses capable of modifying AI algorithms in coordination with the users of the AI software.

Will Roper: Air Force Needs to Award Artificial Intelligence Contracts FasterThe service is also looking into collaborating with startups through the AFWERX program, which provides opportunities for industry, academia and non-traditional contractors to create offerings for the Air Force.

Roper additionally said that the Air Force can initially adopt AI to sustain components to determine how the technology can be used in classified applications.

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Lt. Gen. John Murray Nominated to Lead Army Futures Command
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Lt. Gen. John Murray Nominated to Lead Army Futures Command


Lt. Gen. John Murray Nominated to Lead Army Futures Command
John Murray

President Donald Trump has nominated Lt. Gen. John Murray, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Army G8, to serve as commander of the Army Futures Command, Defense News reported Tuesday.

The report said Murray will also elevate from a three-star to a four-star general if the Senate confirms his nomination.

He joined the Army in 1982 and has served in leadership positions at Joint Task Force 3, Support for U.S. Forces Afghanistan and multiple infantry divisions.

His assignments has also included time as director of force management at the Defense Department, assistant deputy director of joint training, J-7, at the Joint Staff and director of the Joint Center for Operational Analysis.

The Army Futures Command will establish its headquarters in Austin, Texas, and support modernization efforts in the areas of long-range precision fires, combat vehicle, vertical lift platform, mobile and expeditionary network, air and missile defense and soldier lethality.

Pentagon Seeks to Reprogram $4.7B in Funds to Procure Additional Military Weapons
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Pentagon Seeks to Reprogram $4.7B in Funds to Procure Additional Military Weapons


Pentagon Seeks to Reprogram $4.7B in Funds to Procure Additional Military WeaponsThe Defense Department has asked Congress for permission to transfer $4.7 billion in funds to equip the U.S. Army with additional weapons systems and accelerate military technology development programs, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

DoD said in a reprogramming proposal it wants to redirect $363 million to procure 100 Patriot missile defense interceptors from Lockheed Martin and shift another $291 million to buy 91 Stryker infantry transport vehicles from General Dynamics.

The Pentagon also seeks to redirect funds toward procurement of modern night-vision goggles, demonstrate a deep strike cannon artillery system as well as development of a “hypersonic” conventional strike munition prototype.

Additionally, DoD wants to use $70 million as down payment on a planned $1.7 billion project to build a Joint Artificial Intelligence Center.

The fund reprogramming plan is subject to approval by four congressional panels, the report noted.

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House OKs Resolutions to Condemn Stopgap Funding Measures
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House OKs Resolutions to Condemn Stopgap Funding Measures


House OKs Resolutions to Condemn Stopgap Funding MeasuresThe House on Tuesday passed three resolutions that seek to advance stable military funding by condemning the use of continuing resolutions that serve as stop-gap funding measures if Congress fails to approve appropriations bills prior to the start of another fiscal year in October, Defense News reported Tuesday.

House Armed Services Committee members Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.; Rob Wittman, R-Va.; and Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., introduced the resolutions.

“The House has now voted to reject doing further damage this fall and to fully fund our military on time for the first time in a decade,” HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said in a statement.

“There is a concern of us having another CR since the House has passed a defense appropriations bill,” Wittman said.

The passage of the resolutions came a week after the scheduled congressional negotiations to reconcile the two versions of fiscal 2019 defense spending bills were called off due to a disagreement over funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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Thomas Michelli: Pentagon Nears Planned Release of Cybersecurity, AI Strategies
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Thomas Michelli: Pentagon Nears Planned Release of Cybersecurity, AI Strategies


Thomas Michelli: Pentagon Nears Planned Release of Cybersecurity, AI Strategies
Thomas Michelli

The Defense Department will release its strategies on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence based on the National Defense Strategy in the next few weeks, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

Thomas Michelli, acting deputy chief information officer for cybersecurity within the Pentagon, said during the CXO Tech Forum that Defense Secretary James Mattis is prioritizing AI strategies as they can help strengthen the department’s defenses against cyber threats.

According to Michelli, adopting AI in the military will be possible through defense organizations that are capable of developing and managing risks in the technology.

“We need to recognize, especially in cyber, that we accept risk everyday (already),” he said.

The DoD official stressed that there is a need for the department to further innovate in AI to stay ahead of adversaries such as China and Russia.

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