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Army Seeks to Advance Human-AI Synergy With Theoretical Construct; Jason Metcalfe Quoted
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Army Seeks to Advance Human-AI Synergy With Theoretical Construct; Jason Metcalfe Quoted

U.S. Army researchers have come up with a model that seeks to advance team-like partnerships between humans and artificial intelligence.

The three-dimensional construct developed by Army Combat Capabilities Development Command researchers maps out the capabilities of computational and biological intelligence and charts the capabilities along three axes: information certainty, available time and complexity of the problem, the service said Wednesday.

“The idea of capability as a key variable to compare humans and AI is a pretty unifying notion,” said Jason Metcalfe, Army research kinesiologist.

“Two critical factors that show up broadly in the science on this are the time available to execute a response and the level of certainty in the information about the task. With all that, a key element of our argument is that these discussions almost always neglect task complexity as an important factor,” he added.

Metcalfe said the task complexity factor enables the construct to provide a more accurate representation of AI and human capabilities that should be taken into consideration by engineers and scientists.

Researchers believe the theoretical construct could help developers design learning algorithms and control frameworks that could address blind spots facing humans and facilitate human support for smart technologies.

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DOE Invests in Clean Energy-Power Grid Integration
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DOE Invests in Clean Energy-Power Grid Integration

The Department of Energy has awarded $45 million to multiple projects aimed at driving the integration of clean energy sources into the U.S. power grid system. DOE said Wednesday that the grants include $25 million for the creation of a public-private consortium to pursue grid-forming inverter technologies.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute and the University of Washington will oversee the industry-wide consortium that will explore the potential of inverter-based energy sources, such as solar power, to restart an electric grid.

GridBright and the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania will receive $6 million for two projects that will focus on designing a sensor technology to help utilities determine the amount of renewable energy that solar photovoltaic installations generate for commercial and residential purposes.

DOE added that the remaining $14 million will go toward nine projects to accelerate the commercialization of a solar heat system and other hardware that can help power the grid with clean energy resources.

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Air Force Department’s New Innovation Arm to Focus on Space Tech Development; Lt. Col. Walter McMillan Quoted
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Air Force Department’s New Innovation Arm to Focus on Space Tech Development; Lt. Col. Walter McMillan Quoted

The Department of the Air Force will formally launch a new entity on Aug. 19th under the larger AFWERX innovation group to develop on-orbit technologies for the U.S. Space Force in collaboration with small businesses and university researchers.

SpaceWERX will use existing AFWERX tools to connect space personnel and acquisition professionals with the commercial and academic sectors for development work, the Air Force Research Laboratory said Wednesday.

The department plans to hold a pitch event on the SpaceWerX kickoff day and award up to $34 million to startup companies that are pursuing Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contracts.

AFWERX is also scheduled to start its SpacePrime initiative in late August with the goal to mature emerging technology using the Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) program's open topic approach.

“Space Prime is our strong signal to academia, industry, investment, interagency, and international partners on a specific mission area where we aim to energize the space industrial base and develop on-orbit capability in an accelerated timeline," said Lt. Col. Walter McMillan, director of SpaceWERX. “We are targeting operational capability in two to four years," McMillan added.

The Air Force's technology accelerator intends to release an STTR solicitation notice in the fall and expects to attract teams of small businesses and universities to the initial space technology project.

Air Force Department's New Innovation Arm to Focus on Space Tech Development; Lt. Col. Walter McMillan Quoted

GovCon Wire, sister site of ExecutiveGov, will host a virtual forum about space acquisition on Sept. 14. Visit the GovCon Wire Events page to learn more about the upcoming Space Acquisition Forum.

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Air Force Puts Minuteman III ICBM Through Operational Test
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Air Force Puts Minuteman III ICBM Through Operational Test

A major command of the U.S. Air Force launched a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday in an operational test aimed to demonstrate weapon system readiness, safety and effectiveness.

Air Force Global Strike Command conducted the unarmed ICBM test launch at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California after months of preparation with multiple partners across the government, AFGSC said Wednesday.

The system's reentry vehicle, called Hi-Fidelity Joint Test Assembly, set off conventional explosives before the downrange missile hit the water surface near the Marshall Islands' Kwajalein Atoll.

U.S. Strategic Command and the departments of Defense and Energy will use data from the ICBM test launch in force development assessments.

The demonstration event showcased the operational capability of the country's strategic weapon system to support the national nuclear deterrence approach, AFGSC noted.

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OPM to Field Human Capital Dashboard in Phases; Jason Barke Quoted
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OPM to Field Human Capital Dashboard in Phases; Jason Barke Quoted

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) plans to adopt a phased approach to deploying a human capital dashboard over the next three to five months, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

Jason Barke, acting principal deputy associate director for OPM’s employee services, said agency personnel are performing security and usability testing to ensure that data on the platform is shareable.

“It’s been in the works, from idea to where we are now, probably about 18 months,” he said of the dashboard during a virtual event Wednesday.

“We continue to refine, and we’ve continued to do some usability as we’ve gone out and shared it with different agencies. We’ve gotten good feedback when they say ‘we should add this, we should add this.’ And so we’ve gotten to a pretty good spot right now where we feel a phase one kind of deployment is about where we’re going to be at,” Barke added.

OPM plans to provide agencies limited access to the dashboard and will require two-factor authentication in order for users to access internal government-use data.

Barke said he worked with the agency’s data office to screen requests from agencies about the types of information that should appear in the platform.

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Air Force Test-Fires Infrared-Guided Missile From F-15C Aircraft; Maj. Brian Davis Quoted
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Air Force Test-Fires Infrared-Guided Missile From F-15C Aircraft; Maj. Brian Davis Quoted

The U.S. Air Force's 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron has demonstrated the F-15C Eagle aircraft's ability to fire an air-to-air missile via an infrared-based targeting system, DVIDS Hub reported Tuesday.

The aircraft fired an AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile to intercept a QF-16 aerial target on Thursday at Eglin Air Force Base.

Lockheed Martin’s Legion Pod Infrared Search-and-Track system provided passive tracking and worked with the APG-63v3 radar to deliver the target location. Multiple sensors gathered data to support the interception.

“This successful live missile test is significant because an F-15 equipped with an IRST-cued AIM-120 allows us to achieve detection, tracking, targeting, weapons employment and verification of an intercept without being dependent upon radar energy,” said Maj. Brian Davis, chief of air-to-air weapons and tactics at the 85th TES.

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NASA Extends Support to Vertical Lift Research COEs for Next Five Years; Susan Gorton Quoted
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NASA Extends Support to Vertical Lift Research COEs for Next Five Years; Susan Gorton Quoted

NASA has extended its support for three Vertical Lift Research Centers of Excellence (VLRCOE) for another five years under the Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology project.

Three teams each led by Georgia Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Maryland will continue long-term basic research on vertical lift aircraft, the space agency said Tuesday.

In partnership with the U.S. Army and Navy, the academic teams will train future vertical lift engineers and build a dual-use technology base that the military aviation community and the wider aerospace industry can tap into.

"Among other objectives for the Army and Navy, the tasks that have been selected will cover a wide range of research areas that support NASA’s mission in advanced air mobility," explained Susan Gorton, the manager of the agency's Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology project.

The teams first received the VLRCOE designation in 2011 under an Army-administered broad agency announcement and secured a five-year extension in 2016.
 

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Space Development Agency to Study Earth’s Infrared for Missile Defense
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Space Development Agency to Study Earth’s Infrared for Missile Defense

The Space Development Agency (SDA), which is tasked to build a national space architecture, plans to conduct an experiment that studies planet Earth’s infrared background, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

The Northrop Grumman-made Prototype Infrared Payload or PIRPL will gather data the Department of Defense (DOD) intends to use for future missile-tracking algorithms.

Data gathered via PIRPL’s multispectral infrared camera would inform future methods for tracking hypersonic missile threats. The government will use this data to characterize the planet’s infrared background and support clearer tracking of hypersonic missiles.

SDA and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) commissioned PIRPL, which launched Tuesday on Northrop’s Cygnus spacecraft and Antares rocket. Cygnus will deliver PIRPL and other cargo to the International Space Station under a contract with NASA.

Northrop developed PIRPL under a $38 million contract with SDA and MDA.

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Gen. Glen VanHerck: U.S. Needs Domain Awareness, Information Dominance to Address Future Threats
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Gen. Glen VanHerck: U.S. Needs Domain Awareness, Information Dominance to Address Future Threats

Gen. Glen VanHerck, who leads U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), said the U.S. must capitalize on domain awareness and information dominance to deal with Russian and Chinese threats. 

He spoke at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium to discuss potential kinetic and non-kinetic approaches the U.S. can implement to defend against adversaries. 

VanHerck said Russia's nuclear weapons are not designed for warfare in Europe, but rather to threaten the U.S. He also said he expects China to have the same level of kinetic force over the next decade, and that Iran and North Korea may have threatening capabilities in the future.

“We need the ability to collaborate globally, across all domains in near real-time, or in real-time to present options to our nation's leaders,” he said about a global response to these potential threats.

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GovExec Acquires GovTribe to Expand Services for Government Contractors; CEO Tim Hartman Quoted
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GovExec Acquires GovTribe to Expand Services for Government Contractors; CEO Tim Hartman Quoted

GovExec, a leading information services company for government leaders and contractors, announced on Wednesday that the company has acquired GovTribe, a cutting-edge market intelligence company for government contractors, for an undisclosed amount.

“With GovTribe, the GovExec platform now includes a robust federal data and business intelligence platform that accelerates BD efforts,” said Tim Hartman, CEO of GovExec. “Our vision is to surround government leaders and contractors with decision-support tools to help them do their jobs and make government work better. With GovTribe, we are providing the tools to capture and BD smarter and more efficiently than ever.”

With their combined expertise and capabilities, the two companies will continue their progression into the next phase of their tool development. GovTribe will accelerate its growth and build more products including predictive intelligence solutions for the public sector.

GovTribe CEO Nate Nash and CTO Jay Hariani will continue to build the company and its headquarters will remain in Northern Virginia.

“When we started the company 10 years ago, we had a very clear belief,  data and business intelligence tools should be easy to use and accessible,” said Nash. “Becoming part of the GovExec family will bring more investment in our infrastructure, grow our awareness amongst its incredible customer database, and help fuel more innovation for our ever-growing community of contractors.”

Peter Goldstone, chairman of GovExec, acted as an adviser for the deal. Growth Catalyst Partners (GCP) helped finance the transaction.

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