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GAO: DOD, Service Branches Postpone Nonessential Purchases to Minimize Effects of Continuing Resolutions
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GAO: DOD, Service Branches Postpone Nonessential Purchases to Minimize Effects of Continuing Resolutions

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that the Department of Defense (DOD) and military services have implemented practices to mitigate the effects of a continuing resolution, such as delaying nonessential training and purchases and commencing start dates of service contracts after the fiscal year’s first quarter.

GAO interviewed DOD officials and found that activities associated with preparing for and operating under a stopgap measure have become routine for the department, according to a report published Monday.

Those activities are developing spending plans, adjusting contracts to reflect the availability of funds and creating legislative anomaly proposals. The congressional watchdog also found a slowdown in the hiring of defense civilian employees during CRs.

“For fiscal years 2017, 2018, and 2020, DOD hired on average about 200 civilians per day during CR periods as compared with about 250 people per day during non-CR periods,” the GAO report reads.

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US to Provide Support Services for UK C-17 Program Under FMS Agreement
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US to Provide Support Services for UK C-17 Program Under FMS Agreement

The U.S. government will provide support for the U.K. government’s fleet of eight Boeing-built C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft over a five-year period under a foreign military sales agreement signed on Aug. 31 at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The Royal Air Force, which uses C-17 to support disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and other missions, recently employed the aircraft to evacuate British and Afghan nationals from Afghanistan, DSCA said Monday.

“Recent global events have demonstrated just how important the C-17 fleet is to defense, and this new support agreement means C-17 can continue providing uninterrupted service anywhere in the world where it is needed,” said Richard Murray, director air support at the U.K. government’s defense equipment and support office.

Jed Royal, deputy director at DSCA, said the C-17 program seeks to ensure strategic airlift capability for the U.K. government and highlights the mutual defense cooperation between the two countries.

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Orion Spacecraft Production Progresses for Artemis Mission; Program Manager Cathy Koerner Quoted
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Orion Spacecraft Production Progresses for Artemis Mission; Program Manager Cathy Koerner Quoted

NASA is almost finished working on the Orion spacecraft to be used for the first Artemis mission, which will lead to a series of flights aimed at reviving manned space exploration.

The space agency said Friday that it is now working on Artemis II's assigned Orion and has also concluded welding activities for Artemis III's pressure vessel, with the support of prime contractor Lockheed Martin.

“NASA is shifting its focus from the development phase to the production phase for the Orion spacecraft to enable a long-term presence on and around the Moon,” said Cathy Koerner, program manager for Orion.

The spacecraft and its components have undergone testing over the past years, including 2014 when Orion flew in high-Earth orbit for the first time. Milestones achieved under Orion's design, development, test and evaluation phase allowed NASA to enter production.

NASA signed the Orion Production and Operations Contract with Lockheed to order up to 12 Orion spacecraft. In addition to existing orders, the agency plans to order three more Orion units in fiscal year 2022 for the sixth, seventh and eighth Artemis missions.

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Marine Corps Demos Operational Heavy Lift Capability With King Stallion Helicopter; Lt.Col. Luke Frank Quoted
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Marine Corps Demos Operational Heavy Lift Capability With King Stallion Helicopter; Lt.Col. Luke Frank Quoted

The U.S. Marine Corps demonstrated the use of the CH-53K King Stallion helicopter for aircraft recovery missions, with a test that took place on Sept. 5.

The King Stallion lifted and recovered an MH-60S Knighthawk from the White Mountains of California as part of an official heavy-lift mission, Naval Air Systems Command said Thursday.

Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One or VMX-1 handles USMC's heavy-lift capability, which is currently under initial operational test and evaluation.

“VMX-1 received a request for assistance from the Naval Safety Center about an MH-60S Knighthawk that suffered a hard landing near Mt. Hogue, Ca., at an elevation of 12,000’ mean sea level in July,” said Lt.Col. Luke Frank, a detachment officer in charge of VMX-1's CH-53K operations.

CH-53K is designed to lift almost 27,000 pounds and carry that weight across 110 nautical miles. Sikorsky, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, produces the CH-53K helicopter.

“After six months of flight operations with the CH-53K, the detachment had every confidence in the aircraft’s abilities to conduct the mission safely," Frank added.

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NAVCENT Creates Task Force for AI, Unmanned Tech Integration; Michael Brasseur Quoted
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NAVCENT Creates Task Force for AI, Unmanned Tech Integration; Michael Brasseur Quoted

Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) has launched a new task force to accelerate the implementation of artificial intelligence and unmanned platforms across the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. 

Task Force 59 will integrate these technologies in alignment with the unique climate, geography and strategic characteristics present in the 5th Fleet's area of operations, NAVCENT said Thursday.

Capt. Michael Brasseur will contribute his maritime robotics expertise to lead the task force as commodore. He was recently a member of NATO's Maritime Unmanned Systems Initiative.

“As we continue to adapt and implement cutting edge technology, I fully expect our talented team will enrich and enhance the 5th Fleet mission,” Brasseur said.

The task force will build human trust in AI over the coming weeks in preparation for next year's International Maritime Exercise, which will demonstrate unmanned systems in multiple dynamic scenarios.

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Peraton Wins $60M for CDC Hybrid Cloud Managed Services; Tarik Reyes Quoted
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Peraton Wins $60M for CDC Hybrid Cloud Managed Services; Tarik Reyes Quoted

Peraton announced Monday that the national security contractor has received a potential five-year, $60 million contract award to provide the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) with data center and cloud management services.

The company will use an integrated self-service portal to manage and monitor hybrid private and public cloud services from existing CDC-contracted providers as well as provide and manage new cloud services.

"CDC's mission, especially during the ongoing pandemic, is critical to protecting American citizens from health, safety and security threats in the United States and abroad," said Tarik Reyes, president of Peraton’s Global Health & Financial Solutions sector. "This award gives us the opportunity to support CDC's cloud strategy and further enable CDC's core mission.”

In addition, Peraton will arrange and execute the migration of the CDC’s legacy applications to the new cloud services to lead the public health agency’s modernization efforts.

"Peraton is uniquely positioned to provide public, private, and hybrid cloud solutions at scale for our diverse set of customers," said Reyes. "Our cloud expertise coupled with our capabilities in digital modernization and DevSecOps Factory enhances Peraton's end-to-end value proposition."

For more than 25 years, Peraton has worked with CDC to protect against public health threats and prevent future threats. This new work will allow Peraton to fulfill the CDC’s long-term goal of advancing their IT capabilities.

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Lloyd Austin: US Capabilities to Strike, Track Global Threats Have Evolved Since 2001
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Lloyd Austin: US Capabilities to Strike, Track Global Threats Have Evolved Since 2001

Lloyd Austin, secretary of the Department of Defense and a 2021 Wash100 Award winner, said he believes the U.S. is now safer than in 2001 given the capabilities it has acquired and developed when it comes to collecting, analyzing and tracking threats worldwide, Voice of America reported Sunday.

“Our ability to strike has increased by orders of magnitude. What's most important is that as a government, we operate a lot better with any interagency in terms of our ability to share information, our ability to coordinate and deconflict,” Austin told VOA in an interview.

“So, because of all of those things, I would say, yeah, we are safer,” he added.

Austin talked about evacuation efforts in Afghanistan, the counterterror war and his top priority.

“We know that we have to maintain a focus, in order to defend this country, which is my top priority, we have to maintain a focus on countering transnational terrorism and preventing terrorists from exporting terror from any place on the globe to our homeland, and we will remain focused on that with a laser focus,” he noted.

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Trade Association Urges U.S. Government to Speed Up Implementation of Aircraft Engine Emission Rules
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Trade Association Urges U.S. Government to Speed Up Implementation of Aircraft Engine Emission Rules

The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) is calling on the U.S. government to expedite review of potential rule changes for aircraft engines to facilitate the implementation of global standards meant to reduce soot emissions ahead of the 2023 deadline and avoid any potential supply chain disruption, Reuters reported Friday.

"Any delay to regulatory implementation would create uncertainty, potentially significantly impacting our supply chain, airline deliveries, and damage U.S. industry’s overall global competitiveness," Leslie Riegle, assistant vice president of civil aviation at AIA, told the news agency.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to come up with a final rule on aircraft engines by September 2022 and any rule changes should be reviewed and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

General Electric has urged the current administration to speed up the rulemaking process in order for engine makers to have "clear standards for demonstrating compliance prior to the 2023 deadline." 

The Biden administration announced Thursday several federal actions as part of efforts to reduce aviation emissions by 20 percent by 2030 and achieve a zero-carbon aviation sector by 2050.

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Climate-related risks to the national security mission and the role of data analytics tools in climate adaptation will be the key points of discussion at the Potomac Officers Club's virtual event on Tuesday, Sept. 14. Click here to register for the "Bolstering Climate Resilience for National Security" forum and learn more about POC's other upcoming events.

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Air Force Renames 55th Communications Squadron to Reflect Cyber Mission; Lt. Col. Christopher Wong Quoted
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Air Force Renames 55th Communications Squadron to Reflect Cyber Mission; Lt. Col. Christopher Wong Quoted

The U.S. Air Force has rebranded its 55th Communications Squadron to emphasize the military unit's role in communication infrastructure security at Offutt AF Base in Nebraska and cyber defense mission work at the service branch.

USAF said Sunday the redesignation to 55th Cyber Squadron comes after the group completed a set of requirements and internal restructuring efforts.

The branch expects the squadron to further integrate into the 55th Wing operations environment to gain access to ground and onboard systems of the wing's RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft.

“No longer is our primary focus customer issues or general system maintenance, but instead we are thinking about ways to engage near-peer adversaries and defend our mission-critical networks and infrastructure,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Wong, commander of 55th Cyber Squadron.

To qualify for the redesignation, the squadron had to maintain its legacy communications security mission, implement Enterprise information technology-as-a-service at Offutt AFB, achieve initial operating capability status for its Mission Defense Team mission and secure clearance from the wing commander.

The group also underwent qualification training, received cyber equipment and developed unit-specific defensive tactics, techniques and procedures.

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Defense Digital Service, Air Force Research Lab Plan Counter-UAS Tech Transition; Katie Olson Quoted
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Defense Digital Service, Air Force Research Lab Plan Counter-UAS Tech Transition; Katie Olson Quoted

The Defense Department’s digital service group plans to transition its small unmanned aircraft system sense-and-detect platforms to the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Negation of Improvised Non-State Joint Aerial (NINJA) system program by Sept. 30, FedScoop reported Friday.

The technology transfer effort reportedly follows a memorandum of understanding signed between the Defense Digital Service and AFRL in April for collaborative work in the counter-sUAS area.

Acting DDS Director Katie Olson told the publication that the agency has tested and delivered technologies to military personnel for their drone threat detection and tracking activities since early 2020.

“Transitioning these capabilities to AFRL enables their evolution and growth and allows them to continue to support and modernize the DOD defensive posture,” Olson added.

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