Stephen Forbes, Blackjack program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), said DARPA is exploring different payloads for small satellites in low-Earth orbit but is “likely” to pick only two payloads to fly on those spacecraft as part of the Blackjack initiative, Breaking Defense reported Thursday.

“I’m going to let the technical decisions drive that [choice], but I can say that, at the end of the day, we’ll probably end up with two different configurations … two different payloads,” said Forbes.

Those payloads are an overhead persistent infrared missile warning sensor and a radio frequency system that can support geolocation and communications.

“If there are opportunities to get more payloads on orbit by putting two payloads on one bus, we may we may look at that,” Forbes said. “But if it becomes where that starts to drive cost or schedule, we’ll go into separate configurations.”

He noted that a shift in demand from military users could be a factor that could spur the program to change its approach regarding payloads.

“We’ve made the conscious effort to focus on tactical with this program,” Forbes said. “We really focused on payloads that had tactical utility, because they were an underserved market.”

The Professional Services Council (PSC), the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and the International Stability Operations Association (ISOA) have urged the federal government to create two collaborative forums to engage the contracting industry in the planning and implementation of a process to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11th.

PSC, NDIA and ISOA leaders voiced concerns over the possible impacts of the drawdown for GovCon companies in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power.

The trade groups said meetings could facilitate information exchange regarding implications of the troop withdrawal effort for contractors who have worked closely with the federal government for nearly two decades to provide training support and other critical services to Afghan personnel.

Federal spending on products and services deployed to Afghanistan hit $3.6 billion during fiscal year 2020, according to the missive. FY2020 contract awards from the Department of Defense, the State Department and USAID were $2.8 billion, $524.3 million and $174.4 million, respectively.

All three trade organizations believe the drawdown would affect the work contractors perform in the region and the lack of collaboration meetings in Washington and Kabul could exacerbate the perceived risk.

“Contractors need up-to-date information from USG officials on the constantly changing drawdown impact on USG missions in Afghanistan and on the security environment for contractor operations,” according to the letter signed by PSC's David Berteau, NDIA's Hawk Carlisle and ISOA's Howard Lind.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published a draft document outlining a list of nine factors that contribute to an individual’s potential trust in an artificial intelligence platform. 

The draft document titled “Artificial Intelligence and User Trust” seeks to show how a human may consider the factors based on the task and the risk involved in trusting the decision of an AI system and contributes to NIST’s efforts to advance the development of trustworthy AI tools, NIST said Wednesday.

“Many factors get incorporated into our decisions about trust,” said Brian Stanton, a psychologist who co-authored the draft document with NIST computer scientist Ted Jensen.. “It’s how the user thinks and feels about the system and perceives the risks involved in using it.”

Those listed factors are accuracy, reliability, resiliency, security, explainability, safety, accountability and privacy. The publication looks at trust’s integral role in human history and trust challenges related to AI and presents a comparison of user trust scenarios between a music selection algorithm and an AI that helps with medical diagnosis.

“We are proposing a model for AI user trust,” said Stanton. “It is all based on others’ research and the fundamental principles of cognition. For that reason, we would like feedback about work the scientific community might pursue to provide experimental validation of these ideas.”

Public comments on the draft publication are due July 30th.

If you’re interested in AI and its role in the national security landscape, then check out GovCon Wire’s AI: Innovation in National Security Forum coming up on June 3rd. To register for this virtual forum and view other upcoming events, visit the GovConWire Events page.

The Department of Homeland (DHS) has opened the application period for its annual event to test biometric recognition systems from the commercial sector in operational security and checkpoint settings.

DHS' science and technology directorate said Wednesday it will host the Biometric Technology Rally this fall at the Maryland Test Facility and evaluate the performance of candidate platforms in identifying images of travelers even when protective equipment is worn.

Participants will have a chance to take part in the Stakeholder Demonstration Day to present their technology offerings to government and industry stakeholders. 

Arun Vemury, director of the DHS S&T-run Biometric and Identity Technology Center, said the previous year saw industry adapt to changes and circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic through innovation.

“Now it’s time to see if further innovation and improvement can be achieved to further reduce errors and provide more consistent and equitable performance under challenging conditions,” Vemury added.

Tests will occur in controlled setups applicable to department operations. The S&T directorate plans to evaluate matching algorithms using data from the scenario test and give product reviews to help developers adjust technologies.

An information webinar is scheduled for June 9 and the deadline for applications to join the demonstration is July 15.

Clare Martorana, federal chief information officer, said her office and the Federal CIO Council have kicked off work on a new strategy for governmentwide information technology modernization, Nextgov reported Wednesday.

She said she expects the new IT modernization plan to come with a holistic approach to IT delivery across the federal government.

“We do want to be public about what we stand for as great IT leaders in government,” Martorana said Wednesday during an event. “So, that is something that the CIO Council is working on.”

Martorana also discussed the updated model for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF). In early May, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA) announced a flexible structure for funding federal IT transformation initiatives through TMF, which received an allocation of $1 billion under the American Rescue Plan.

Martorana said the administration has been able to evolve TMF through new flexibilities and funding.

“We are going to be working very collaboratively with agencies to see where their projects fit in these priority areas and hope to be able to roll out some really high-impact projects,” she added.

Col. Ken Kuebler, program executive officer for fixed-wing at U.S. Special Operations Command, said Air Force Special Operations Command considers modifying its MC-130J aircraft to enable the plane to operate in amphibious environments, National Defense reported Wednesday.

Kuebler said having an amphibious aircraft would provide the service the capability amid a great power competition.

He noted that the command plans to conduct feasibility studies, explore operational concepts and look at possible digital design options to prove the aircraft capability through a demonstration.

“That all leads to giving us key decision points as we move forward,” Kuebler said Wednesday during the virtual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference.

The U.S. Air Force uses a special assessment process to ensure the integrity of personnel with assignments that involve sensitive information.

The Continuous Evaluation (CE) program randomly screens individuals who have access to secret or top secret information, Air Force Materiel Command said Monday.

USAF uses CE to determine whether these individuals maintain what is required to eligibly access this information. The process provides a more timely assessment between periodic investigations.

“CE leverages automated record checks and applies business rules, aligned to the Federal Investigative Standards, to assist in the ongoing assessment of an individual’s continued eligibility,” said Alecia Davis, facility security officer at National Aerospace Solutions, a contractor working for Arnold Air Force Base's Engineering Development Complex.

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency said it will require all secret-level access holders to be partially or fully CE-enrolled by the current fiscal year's end.

NASA has test-flied a system that would help aircraft get into precise positions during supersonic flight.

The space agency said Wednesday it tested the Airborne Location Integrating Geospatial Navigation System in preparation for future demonstrations of the Lockheed Martin-made X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology or QueSST plane.

Lockheed designed QueSST to lessen the sonic boom sound emitted during supersonic flight. The aircraft will undergo demonstrations beginning in 2024.

NASA first has to test X-59's quietness through acoustic validation. An F-15 aircraft equipped with a shock-sensing probe will gather needed information by measuring QueSST's shock waves. 

ALIGNS will facilitate the distancing between the two aircraft during the acoustic validation test.

"The pilots will get directional cues on the ALIGNS display to help them steer the F-15 to that specific point in space,” said Troy Robillos, principal investigator for ALIGNS.

The Department of Energy (DOE) will invest $40 million in research that aims to reduce the waste emitted by nuclear reactors. DOE said Wednesday its Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy will use the funds to finance projects under the Optimizing Nuclear Waste and Advanced Reactor Disposal Systems (ONWARDS) program.

ONWARDS will explore how to lessen the waste and used nuclear fuel of advanced nuclear reactors by 10 times. The project will seek improvements in recycling processes, waste forms and sensors and data used for nuclear material management.

DOE pursues ONWARDS to further commercialize advanced nuclear reactors and protect the environment through the implementation of clean energy.

“More than half of our zero-carbon energy is generated from nuclear power, and through this groundbreaking research we can expand nuclear's potential,” said Jennifer Granholm, secretary of Energy.