The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended that the Department of Defense (DOD) come up with a reporting strategy to enhance oversight of weapon systems developed using multiple pathways.

GAO conducted its annual assessment of DOD’s weapon programs and found that the Pentagon’s new acquisition framework enables program managers to implement one or more of six acquisition pathways, including middle-tier acquisition and major capability acquisition pathways, according to a report published Tuesday.

The lack of a reporting strategy “not only limits DOD's visibility into these programs but also hinders the quality of its congressional reporting and makes the full cost and schedule of the eventual weapon system more difficult to ascertain,” the GAO report reads.

The congressional watchdog also found that 16 major defense acquisition programs exhibited delays in schedule due in part to poor system performance and test or delivery delays.

Most of those programs do not consistently plan to acquire product knowledge that could help speed up delivery of weapons systems and reduce costs, according to GAO.

The Department of Defense (DOD) demonstrated a potential $90 million 5G network prototype for a smart warehouse that is set to be deployed at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany in Georgia once completed. 

The 5G network prototype used the 380 megahertz of spectrum in the mid-band and mmWave to deliver downloads of 1.5 Gbps with sub-15-millisecond latency during the Smart Warehouse Technology Early Capabilities Demonstration as part of the department’s 5G-to-Next G Initiative, DOD said Tuesday.

The prototype is designed to adhere to the department’s requirements for zero-trust architecture and is based on the next generation of Open Radio Network standards. The demonstration is part of the Tranche 1 of 5G projects. 

In Oct. 2020, the Pentagon awarded $600 million to 15 companies to support 5G experimentation at five U.S. military bases or Tranche 1 sites, including Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany and Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.

“This is a unique opportunity to apply the latest 5G technologies to a traditional but mission-critical support area for our warfighters. Warehousing and logistical support is the lifeline for the Marine’s Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations,” John Larson, the prototype’s program manager at Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic. 

Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany will field the prototype as a private 5G network once completed and will use up to 750 MHz of bandwidth to support operations.

If you’re interested in 5G and its integration's impact on public and private sectors, then check out the Potomac Officers Club’s Fall 2021 5G Summit coming up on Sept. 16. To register for this virtual forum and view other upcoming events, visit the POC Events page.

Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) has created its own office that would help both the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Air Force pursue digital transformation.

AFMC said Tuesday that its new Digital Transformation Office (DTO) will manage digital transformation across the USAF-USSF enterprise and establish a structure for digital governance. Twelve personnel compose DTO, which will operate under AFMC’s Engineering and Technical Management Directorate.

“This office is the first organization that will stand up from an enterprise-wide perspective to address digital needs with a long-term perspective in mind,” said James Kyle Hurst, director of the Digital Engineering Enterprise Office within the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Technology and Engineering.

Hurst will go on to serve as DTO’s branch chief. He also said DTO will work across the entire Department of the Air Force, despite operating from AFMC.

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released a platform through which agencies may report cyber vulnerability information that ethical hackers would use to identify and assess system flaws, Fedscoop reported Tuesday.

CISA's new vulnerability disclosure platform supports a 2020 directive that asks agencies to report cybersecurity issues and verify applicable testing methods.

Civilian agencies may use the platform to address cyber vulnerabilities in cooperation with civilian ethical hackers. EnDyna and Bugcrowd, a pair of government contractors, will administer the platform with the help of CISA's quality service management office.

Agencies must also establish a process that accommodates anonymous vulnerability reporting, according to the directive.

Tim Persons, chief scientist of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said GAO is working to digitally transform its operations through cloud-based analytics and artificial intelligence., Federal News Network reported Tuesday.

Persons said on the Federal Monthly Insights radio show that GAO needs modern computing and processing to assess and address the government's issues.

The agency has been working with the General Services Administration (GSA) to develop a refined cloud infrastructure over the past year, among other similar efforts.

GAO develops the infrastructure and other technologies at the agency's dedicated Innovation Lab, where Persons and his colleagues use a problem-based approach to develop applications.

Persons noted that the agency will only use AI and machine learning as supplements to human personnel, who will still serve as the center of operations.

The U.S. Air Force's AFWERX innovation program partnered with Kitty Hawk to test the Heaviside electric aircraft in an operational exercise last month.

AFWERX's Agility Prime program and Kitty Hawk, a company focused on electric flight transportation, demonstrated the aircraft's remote flight and automated capabilities at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Air Force Research Laboratory said Monday.

“This exercise produced important data that will bolster the program going forward,” said Lt. Col. Martin Salinas, who leads the mission design team at the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center.

The Heaviside electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft demonstrated the ability to support evacuation, logistics and personnel recovery during the exercise.

California-based Kitty Hawk developed Heaviside, which is designed to fly at a maximum speed of 180 miles per hour.