Mike Leahy, a former executive at Northrop Grumman, will serve as head of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s tactical technology office, SpaceNews reported Wednesday.
DARPA Director and a 2019 Wash100 winner Steven Walker told the publication on Wednesday that Leahy will join the agency in late May to succeed Fred Kennedy, who was recently named head of the Department of Defense’s space development agency. Leahy, who will manage the Blackjack program at DARPA, served as program manager for the X-45A unmanned combat air vehicle platform.
The 27-year Air Force veteran held senior leadership roles at Northrop’s aerospace systems business and was responsible for several unmanned aircraft initiatives such as the Navy’s Triton and the Air Force’s Global Hawk.
Related Articles
Team Atlanta has claimed the top spot in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s AI Cyber Challenge, or AIxCC, securing $4 million in prize money for its artificial intelligence-driven cyber reasoning system. The team, including experts from Georgia Tech, Samsung Research and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, outperformed six other finalists in the two-year competition aimed at creating AI systems capable of autonomously detecting and patching vulnerabilities of open-source software, particularly those used in critical infrastructure, including financial systems, public utilities and the health care ecosystem, DARPA said. The agency partnered with AI industry leaders Anthropic, Google,
The Federal Communications Commission has appointed Andy Hendrickson as the chief of its Office of Engineering and Technology. Hendrickson is transitioning from his former post of chief technology officer at the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, the commission said Thursday. As OET head, Hendrickson will serve as FCC’s principal technical adviser on spectrum policy, equipment authorization and keeping regulatory standards apace with the rapid changes in the communications sector, FCC noted. According to his LinkedIn profile, Hendrickson joined the FCC Enforcement Bureau as CTO in October 2024, taking the task of guiding field operations. In his previous role, he also provided the
President Donald Trump has issued an executive order aimed at overhauling the federal government’s grantmaking process. New EO to Prevent Tax Dollars Wastage According to the president Thursday, the new EO aims to end “offensive waste of tax dollars” by establishing a new review process to determine whether grants prioritize national interest. Under the presidential directive, each federal agency will have a senior political appointee tasked with evaluating every funding opportunity announcement and grant award to ensure it will benefit Americans and align with agency priorities. The EO permits the termination of grants that are not consistent with agency priorities, national