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Derek Tournear on Space Development Agency’s Move to Space Force
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Derek Tournear on Space Development Agency’s Move to Space Force

Derek Tournear, director of the Space Development Agency and a 2021 Wash100 Award winner, said SDA has begun its transition to the U.S. Space Force, DOD News reported Thursday.

SDA, which officially launched in March 2019 as part of the office of the undersecretary for research and engineering at the Department of Defense, should be fully integrated with the space-focused military branch by October 2022.

Tournear said Wednesday that SDA has helped launch military satellites into various orbits since its establishment in 2019 and works to streamline the acquisition process, address redundancies and gather feedback from combatant commands about their mission needs.

“What we do is we take technology that's very mature, and we field that to get the rapid capabilities," he said at a symposium.

Tournear discussed at the event the five tranches of the National Defense Space Architecture and SDA’s collaboration with industry and government partners on the multilayered architecture.

Space Acquisition Forum

GovCon Wire will hold its Space Acquisition Forum on Sept. 14. Click here to register for the virtual forum to hear from defense officials as they share their insights on military acquisition reform and modernization efforts.

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DHS Seeks Comments on Cybersecurity Talent Management System
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DHS Seeks Comments on Cybersecurity Talent Management System

The Department of Homeland Security is requesting public comments on an interim rule that seeks to establish a new system to help address challenges when it comes to hiring and retaining cybersecurity professionals.

DHS said in a Federal Register notice posted Thursday the Cybersecurity Talent Management System (CTMS) will reflect a shift from conventional practices used to recruit, develop and compensate federal civil service personnel and is designed to adapt to changes in its cybersecurity mission, cyber work and talent market.

CTMS comes with several elements: strategic talent planning process, talent acquisition, compensation system, deployment program; performance management program and career development program.

For the strategic talent planning process, the DHS will identify the set of qualifications needed to carry out the work required to execute the department’s cybersecurity mission, analyze the cybersecurity talent market to track employment trends and determine strategies for hiring and retaining talent and establish a work valuation system based on qualifications and the department’s cybersecurity work.

Under the new system, DHS plans to raise compensation based on an employee’s mission impact.

“Compensation increases occur mainly through CTMS recognition as either recognition adjustments or recognition payments. CTMS does not feature automatic salary increases or payments; moreover, longevity in position or prior Federal government service are not factors in CTMS compensation,” the document reads.

Comments on the rule, which will take effect Nov. 15, are due Dec. 31.

Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Revelations and Innovations

ExecutiveBiz, sister site of GovConDaily and part of the Executive Mosaic digital media umbrella, will host a virtual event about securing the supply chain on Oct. 26. Visit ExecutiveBiz.com to sign up for the “Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Revelations and Innovations” event.

Frank Kendall OKs Infrastructure Plan for Grand Forks Air Force Base to Support ISR Missions
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Frank Kendall OKs Infrastructure Plan for Grand Forks Air Force Base to Support ISR Missions

Frank Kendall, secretary of the Air Force and a three-time Wash100 winner, has approved the service branch's plan to build and renovate facilities at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota to prepare the military installation for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.

The U.S. Air Force said Thursday it will start the infrastructure planning activity next year and expects the construction and renovation efforts to commence in 2023.

USAF plans to expand the 319th Reconnaissance Wing Command's operational units that will support the E-11 Battlefield Airborne Control Node aircraft mission at Robins AFB in Georgia.

The Department of the Air Force is looking to divest assets such as its Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System and RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft.

The proposed divestment will allow the department to free up funds for addressing threats from near-peer competitors.

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Marines Launch Raytheon-Made Cruise Missile to Reach Target Ship During Exercise
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Marines Launch Raytheon-Made Cruise Missile to Reach Target Ship During Exercise

The U.S. Marine Corps launched a pair of Raytheon Technologies-built cruise missiles from a ground-based launcher platform for a live-fire, long-range strike mission during the U.S. Navy’s Large Scale Exercise.

USMC used the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System to deploy the Naval Strike Missiles from shore to reach a target at sea as part of the operational exercise.

One NVM cruised more than 100 nautical miles through simulated environments before striking the adversary vessel represented by the retired Oliver Hazard Perry-class USS Ingraham guided missile frigate.

Brig. Gen. Arthur Pasagian, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command, noted that the exercise provided the service branch an opportunity to work with military partners to fine-tune USMC’s Force Design 2030 modernization concepts.

NMESIS is a ground-based anti-ship system composed of an NSM launcher and an Oshkosh Defense-made Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary Fires vehicle.

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AFRL Stands up Collaborative Tech Development Facilities; Timothy Tobik Quoted
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AFRL Stands up Collaborative Tech Development Facilities; Timothy Tobik Quoted

The Air Force Research Laboratory's Munitions Directorate has launched two facilities to accommodate collaborative, cross-disciplinary technology development.

AFRL said Thursday its new Ordnance Science Innovation Center building, which was built under a $98 million construction effort, will house projects that develop explosive materials.

The second facility, named Applied Computational Engineering and Sciences, offers computing power that AFRL can harness when developing and evaluating weapons.

Both OSIC and ACES facilities will digitally simulate concepts, produce prototypes and conduct verification tests. AFRL, Eglin Civil Engineering and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers worked together to build the facilities, which are located beside each other.

“OSIC and ACES create the essential environment to pursue multidisciplinary solutions to deliver strategic capabilities to the warfighter,” said Timothy Tobik, ordnance deputy division chief at AFRL.

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Navy to Apply Space Awareness Tech Across Ships; Rear Adm. Michael Bernacchi Quoted
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Navy to Apply Space Awareness Tech Across Ships; Rear Adm. Michael Bernacchi Quoted

The U.S. Navy plans to implement various space technologies across over 30 warships to support the Department of Defense's overall space pursuits, Defense One reported Thursday.

Rear Adm. Michael Bernacchi, the director for strategy, plans and policy at U.S. Space Command, said at the 36th Space Symposium that the Navy wants to install space domain awareness technologies on ships.

Bernacchi said the technologies will support space domain capability and background object tracking. The rear admiral noted that the development of adversaries, as well as orbital debris, pose risks to U.S. space systems, Defense News reported Thursday.

The Aegis combat system's air-and-missile defense sensors will be updated to support space situational awareness, Bernacchi stated.

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Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein: Space Systems Command Adopts Digital Engineering
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Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein: Space Systems Command Adopts Digital Engineering

Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, who leads the recently launched Space Systems Command, said SSC will capitalize on digital engineering as it develops technologies, National Defense Magazine reported Wednesday.

Digital models allow technology developers to virtually trial a system across design, assembly, testing and maintenance. The SSC commander spoke at this year's Space Symposium about SSC's use of this approach.

Guetlein said the U.S. Space Force's Space Warfighting Analysis Center is sharing simulation models to help industry partners understand potential challenges to systems being developed.

He noted that SSC will continue to implement an integrated, consistent architecture for digital model sharing. SSC stood up on Aug. 13th as USSF's second field command and now leads the service's technology development activities.

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Noblis MSD Wins Prime $68 Million IDIQ Contract From NIWC Pacific; President Glenn Hickok Quoted
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Noblis MSD Wins Prime $68 Million IDIQ Contract From NIWC Pacific; President Glenn Hickok Quoted

Noblis MSD, a subsidiary of Noblis, has been awarded a potential seven-year, $68 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ), multi-award contract from the Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific (NIWC Pacific) to deliver engineering and technical services.

“We’re committed to helping the Navy optimize its networks to support the Warfighter and advance critical missions,” said Glenn Hickok, president of Noblis MSD. “This award is another step in delivering on that commitment—and we’re honored to be selected as part of the team.”

Under the contract, the company will compete on task orders to deliver engineering and technical services for current and emergent afloat, ashore and airborne networks and systems that enable net-centric operations in naval, joint, allied and coalition operations.

“The Noblis MSD team has helped advance NIWC Pacific initiatives for more than seven years,” said Lori Ventimiglia, division vice president of Naval Warfare System Command for Noblis MSD. “We look forward to leveraging this experience and our expertise in networking, technology insertion and integration to design robust and secure systems and enable rapid delivery to the fleet.”

Work on this contract will be performed in San Diego, California, Norfolk, Virginia and a select few locations outside of the continental United States.

About Noblis MSD

Noblis MSD, a Noblis subsidiary, is a recognized market leader in U.S. Navy network design, operational readiness, system modernization, lifecycle sustainment and system integration.

As a system developer through lifecycle maintenance, Noblis MSD provides engineering, enterprise transformation and program management, to help clients design solutions for operations and maintenance.

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Paradigm Hornet 100GX Terminal Secures Inmarsat Global Xpress Commercial and Military Ka-band Approval; Matt Wissler Quoted
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Paradigm Hornet 100GX Terminal Secures Inmarsat Global Xpress Commercial and Military Ka-band Approval; Matt Wissler Quoted

Inmarsat, a leader in global, mobile satellite communications services and Paradigm, a leading satellite terminal solutions provider, announced on Thursday that the Paradigm HORNET 100GX terminal has received full type approval for use over Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) network for commercial and military Ka-band.

“We are excited to expand our wide range of Inmarsat type-approved, easy-to-use Ka-band terminals with the HORNET 100GX solution,” said Matt Wissler, chief technology officer for Inmarsat Government. “Our partnership with Paradigm enables us to offer portable, easy to use, always-available data, voice and video communications wherever our customers’ missions demand.”

GX is the world’s first and only commercial seamless mobile wideband service available across the globe. GX has established itself as the gold standard for reliable communications across land, sea and air domains for assured mobile connectivity.

The HORNET 100GX flyaway terminal is a compact-sized mobile multiband solution supplied with the PIM (Paradigm Interface Module). It is designed to simplify operation, reduce operating costs and provide a central unit for the integration and operation of satellite terminal hardware.

“At Paradigm, we work closely with our customers so that we understand the challenges and complexities they face when using satcom in the field,” said Ulf Sandberg, managing director of Paradigm. “This knowledge has led us to the design of HORNET 100GX, utilizing our high levels of engineering excellence to produce a state-of-the-art solution which, together with the Global Xpress network, really makes a difference for government users in theatre.”

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John Sherman: Release of New DOD Cloud Solicitation Still on Schedule
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John Sherman: Release of New DOD Cloud Solicitation Still on Schedule

John Sherman, acting chief information officer at the Department of Defense (DOD), has maintained that the contract replacement for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contracting program is still on schedule and that the DOD plans to announce awards in April 2022, C4ISRNET reported Thursday.

“We remain on schedule to get out … our [Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability] solicitation on or about 15 October in just a couple of months,” the Pentagon’s top information technology official remarked during an event.

2025 is the anticipated date when a full and open competition for contract awards will be held, according to Sherman.

“The Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability … [is] a fundamental pillar of how we’re supporting what [Joint All-Domain Command and Control] is going to become. This has been an urgent and unmet requirement to have those enterprise cloud capabilities at all three security levels," said Sherman.

JWCC is expected to be a multibillion-dollar program with several contractors. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract will have a potential five-year performance period.

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