The U.S. Army plans to establish the headquarters of its new Futures Command in a major city to foster collaboration between command leaders and civilian technology professionals, Army Times reported Tuesday.

Army Undersecretary Ryan McCarthy told the publication that the service branch will submit a list of 30 candidate cities to the Army secretary and chief of staff.

McCarthy added he will work with Gen. James McConville, Army vice chief of staff, on the down-select of cities, then present the final decision to the secretary and chief of staff in spring.

The Army wants to base the command in an area close to academia and businesses to gain access to industry and academic experts such as systems and software engineers, McCarthy noted.

The new Futures Command is intended to streamline modernization and is scheduled reach initial operating capability in summer.

The Defense Department has submitted its initial report to Congress on plans to restructure national security space programs and offices, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.

The report stated that acquisition processes for space technologies currently impede modernization efforts and that the U.S. Air Force‘s Space and Missile Systems Center should undergo reorganization to help speed up procurement.

SMC should be “re-architected” to operate as an enterprise since its mission is currently divided into four areas including precision, navigation and timing; military satellite communications, remote sensing; and space control/space situational awareness, according to the report.

The current structure prevents the development of alternative ideas and the creation of competitive forces that can optimize speed, costs and performance, the DoD report added.

The study also urged the Air Force to refocus on the adoption of new technologies for “game-changing capabilities” and to give personnel more freedom to execute projects.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 required DoD to submit the interim report and provide an updated report on Aug. 1.

The final report is due on Dec. 31 and will explore the formation of a new military department focused on national security space.

A group of senators has called on the U.S. Air Force to provide a contract award timeline for the replacement of the military branch’s fleet of UH-1N Huey helicopters.

Six lawmakers said Monday in a letter to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson that they need a “clear understanding” of the Air Force’s capacity to carry out the UH-1N replacement program since delays have kept the effort in the source-selection phase.

Senators also urged Wilson to propose ways to accelerate the deployment of the replacement aircraft.

The Air Force’s fiscal year 2019 budget request includes $288 million in research, development, test and evaluation funds for the replacement program as well as $8.88 million for ongoing UH-1N service life extension upgrades.

UH-1Ns currently operate on national security waivers because they do not meet speed, payload, range, armament and survivability requirements.

Lawmakers previously recommended the Air Force to use an existing U.S. Army contract for HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to purchase replacement airframes for UH-1Ns, but the Air Force declined that option.

The letter was signed by Sens. Jon Tester (D-Montana), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-MT) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming).

Michael Griffin, defense undersecretary for research and engineering, has said the Defense Department needs to expedite its acquisition processes in order for the U.S. to remain competitive against potential adversaries, DoD News reported Tuesday.

Griffin said Tuesday at the Defense Programs conference hosted by Credit Suisse and McAleese and Associates that the Pentagon takes approximately 16.5 years to achieve initial operating capability for technology platforms.

DoD can speed up the procurement process by learning from mistakes and allowing decisions to be made at a lower level, he noted.

The U.S. achieved its technological superiority through its capability to “bring stuff to the fight, to get stuff deployed [and] to do it in a rapid, robust fashion,” added Griffin, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

Senators plan to include amendments addressing election security and congressional oversight in a bill that would reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security, The Hill reported Monday.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will meet on March 7 to discuss the DHS reauthorization bill, which passed the House of Representatives in July 2017.

Committee members Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and James Lankford, R-Okla., plan to introduce bipartisan measures to boost the cybersecurity of election systems and prevent foreign interference on future U.S. elections.

Committee chairman Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said during a meeting that the House version of the bill has received 75 amendments from committee members, Nextgov reported Wednesday. Johnson also highlighted a plan to form a congressional commission that would work to streamline oversight of DHS.

The House-passed bill does not limit the number of congressional committees that have authority over DHS and its component agencies.

If approved, the legislation would mark the first reauthorization of DHS since it was established following the 9/11 attacks.

President Donald Trump has nominated Lisa Porter, an executive vice president at In-Q-Tel and director of IQT Labs, to be deputy undersecretary for research and engineering at the Defense Department, the White House announced Friday.

Porter served as president of Teledyne Technologies‘ scientific and imaging business before she joined In-Q-Tel.

Her federal career also includes time as director at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, associate administrator at NASA‘s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and as program manager and senior scientist at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and doctorate in applied physics from Stanford University.