The U.S. Army approved a capability development document that aims to speed up the experimentation and development of navigation warfare and situational awareness technologies. 

The Navigation Warfare Situational Awareness (NAVWAR-SA) Abbreviated Capability Development Document (A-CDD) outlines approaches on the usage of various tools for soldier assessment, testing and rapid prototyping of NAVWAR-SA technologies, the Army said Monday.

The Army's Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space Cross-Functional Team also intends to inform the service branch's NAVWAR-SA technology requirements through the use of a "buy, try and decide" method.

According to the military service, the team worked with the Army's capability managers for space and high altitude to craft the written requirements and undergo the accreditation process for A-CDD.

The team aims to evaluate and demonstrate prototype NAVWAR-SA technologies during the PNT Assessment Exercise and the Project Convergence 21 event.

NAVWAR-SA technologies are designed to characterize operating environments determine interferences that could degrade the quality of PNT signals.

President Biden plans to allow the National Space Council (NSC) and its User Advisory Group (UAG) to continue operations following its revival under the Trump administration in 2017, Politico reported Monday. 

The NSC was headed by Mike Pence, the former U.S. vice president, and included the heads of NASA, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the State Department and the departments of Defense (DOD) and Commerce (DOC).

NSC told reporters that it is “still working details” and will prioritize the current administration’s goals in areas such as space exploration, climate change, space regulations and related national security initiatives.

The council’s renewal comes after interdisciplinary organizations wrote to the White House seeking to retain NSC and the UAG.

NASA has chosen 16 academic teams to further their deep-space exploration proposals as part of the agency’s Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) program. 

NASA said Tuesday that the teams will develop their concepts that fall under five themes involving lunar surface habitation, Mars ascent vehicles, Venus flyby missions, lunar sample analysis, International Space Station activities and human missions to the dwarf planet Ceres.

Representatives from Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Blue Origin and Boeing were among the industry experts that helped select the participating teams.

The teams will receive a “modest development stipend” to support concept development activities while the top two groups will secure $6,000 to present their proposals at the 2021 ASCEND conference in Nov. 2021 according to NASA.

All teams must present their developed concepts during the 2021 RASC-AL Forum which will be held virtually in June. RASC-AL is a NASA-sponsored event that falls under the management of the National Institute of Aerospace.

Citadel Defense has received a follow-on urgent contract award from the U.S. Department of Defense to protect servicemen and servicewomen from small drone threats.

Christopher Williams, CEO of Citadel Defense, says, “Our team is honored to support the military’s efforts by bringing effective and easy-to-use CUAS capabilities to U.S. troops and allies. Titan delivers an operational advantage over adversaries using drones as a weapon.”

Titan applies artificial intelligence, machine learning, and low-collateral electronic countermeasures that blind the drone pilot from collecting intelligence and prevent the drone from penetrating protected airspace. With the click of a button, Titan generates a post mission analysis report that highlights threat activity patterns. This analysis equips operators and their command leadership with insights that help chart a course of action for each mission.

Warfighters in live threat environments value Titan as a critical part of their mission based on its effectiveness, ease of use, and interoperability with other command and control interfaces. Titan’s low cost of support and sustainment, upgradability, and autonomy create efficiencies necessary to improve military and government mission outcomes.

“We constantly improve the Titan platform to equip operators with capabilities that address and adapt to the rapidly proliferating threat of small UAS across any region of the world,” explained Sean Troyer, Director of Business Development at Citadel Defense and a former US SOCOM member.

Citadel Defense will accelerate delivery of Titan systems to address urgent operational needs to meet an aggressive deployment schedule for U.S. troops.

Military leaders appeared before lawmakers during a House Armed Services Readiness subcommittee hearing on Friday to discuss about their installation preparedness efforts in the event of a natural or man-made disaster, DOD News reported Monday.

Brig. Gen. John Allen, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, said the service has developed a risk assessment playbook to carry out initial evaluation of exposure in severe weather and climate conditions at major installations and then use the results to come up with resilience complaint plans for inclusion in installation development plans.

Allen added that the Air Force has finalized installation energy plans for 24 facilities with plans to complete another 20 by the end of fiscal year 2021.

Maj. Gen. Edward Banta, commander of Marine Corps Installations Command, said the service branch is initiating measures to address kinetic- and non-kinetic threats and environmental factors facing its facilities, including integrating climate change’s effects into installation master plans and building up investments in smart grids and microgrid technologies.

"Installation resiliency is fundamental to enabling the operational readiness and warfighting capability of our force," Banta said during the House subcommittee hearing.

Lt. Gen. Douglas Gabram, commanding general of Army Installation Management Command, and Navy Vice Adm. Yancy Lindsey, commander of Navy Installations Command, joined Allen and Banta during the congressional hearing on installation resiliency.

President Biden has moved to extend a 2015 executive order that declared a national emergency to deal with the threat posed by “significant malicious cyber-enabled activities” by persons located outside the U.S.

Executive Order 13694 signed during the Obama administration will continue in effect past April 1, the president said in a Monday letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Vice President Kamala Harris, who also serves as Senate president.

“Significant malicious cyber-enabled activities originating from, or directed by persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” Biden said in the letter.

“Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13694 with respect to significant malicious cyber-enabled activities,” he added.

The order blocks U.S.-based property of any individual determined by the Department of the Treasury (DoT) to be responsible or have engaged in cyber-enabled activities originating from outside the U.S., including attacks to computer networks and critical infrastructure.

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The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued draft guidelines meant to help election officials protect election systems from cyber attacks. The Draft Cybersecurity Framework Election Infrastructure Profile applies the NIST Cybersecurity Framework’s principles to election platforms, including voting machines, voter registration databases and related networks, NIST said Monday.

Gema Howell, one of the guide’s authors from NIST, said the draft publication is structured in a way that can help with any election system.

“We start by helping you think about the election objectives you want to accomplish,” Howell said. “Then we help you think through how to prioritize your cybersecurity needs based on those objectives. Once you’re there, we provide informative resources to mitigate your cybersecurity risks.”

NIST worked with industry and government experts to develop the guide, including the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), voting system manufacturers and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Comments on the draft guidelines are due May 14.

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