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Perspecta Reports Financial Results for Q3 FY 2021
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Perspecta Reports Financial Results for Q3 FY 2021

Perspecta has announced financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, which ended Jan. 1, the company reported on Monday. Perspecta’s revenue for the quarter was $1.13 billion, up 1 percent compared to the third quarter of fiscal year 2020, and down 1 percent compared to the second quarter of fiscal year 2021.

Perspecta recently entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by Peraton, a portfolio company of Veritas Capital Fund Management. Perspecta stated that, under the acquisition, the company’s stockholders will receive $29.35 per share in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2021.

The company’s income before taxes for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021 was $45 million, which was down 40 percent compared to the third quarter of fiscal year 2020. The operating margin decreased from 6.7 percent to 4 percent year-over-year. Additionally, Perspecta’s net income was $31 million. 

Perspecta noted that its adjusted net income was $90 million for the quarter, which was flat year-over-year. The company’s adjusted EBITDA was $181 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, down 7 percent compared to adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of fiscal year 2020. 

Persecta’s Defense and Intelligence segment revenue of $795 million decreased by 2 percent compared to the segment's revenue from the third quarter of fiscal year 2020. 

The company announced that the Civilian and Health Care segment revenue was $339 million, which increased by 8 percent, compared to the segment's revenue from the prior year, due to the increase of key new programs.

The Defense and Intelligence adjusted segment profit margin for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021 decreased to 13.2 percent from 14.4 percent while the  Civilian and Health Care adjusted segment profit margin decreased to 12.7 percent from 12.8 percent. 

Perspecta generated $117 million of net cash provided by operating activities, used $5 million in investing activities and used $101 million in financing activities. The quarterly free cash flow was $93 million, which was reduced by $15 million. 

At quarter end, Perspecta had $224 million in cash and cash equivalents, $750 million of undrawn capacity in its revolving credit facility, and $2.4 billion in total debt, including $191 million in finance lease obligations. 

The Board of Directors declared that Perspecta will pay a cash dividend of $0.07 per share on April 15 to Perspecta shareholders of record at the close of business on March 3, 2021.

Perspecta’s contract awards totaled $0.9 billion in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, representing a book-to-bill ratio of 0.8x. The company’s backlog of signed business orders at the end of the third quarter of fiscal year 2021 was $13.6 billion, and the funded backlog at the end of the third quarter was $1.7 billion.

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Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill Aims to Support Privacy Enhancing Tech; Rep. Haley Stevens Quoted
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Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill Aims to Support Privacy Enhancing Tech; Rep. Haley Stevens Quoted

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; and Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb.; with Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich.; and Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Okla., have introduced a bill to promote the development of privacy enhancing technologies and corresponding standards. 

The Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act would task the National Science Foundation (NSF) to further support PET research for data security applications, Stevens' office said Friday.

The bipartisan, bicameral legislation would boost research support across PET, associated mathematics and data minimization technologies; encourage cross-agency collaboration; and align with NSF’s Computer and Network Security Program. 

The bill would also have the National Institute of Standards and Technology partner with commercial and academic sectors to develop PET standards. Congress would also receive biennial reports on PET standards and research, if the bill becomes law.

“It is high time that we research ways in which privacy enhancing technologies can be utilized to protect Americans’ most sensitive and personal data," Stevens said.

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GSA Makes 7 Awards to Advance Critical Infrastructure, Economic Development; Katy Kale Quoted
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GSA Makes 7 Awards to Advance Critical Infrastructure, Economic Development; Katy Kale Quoted

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has announced seven new awards to strengthen the U.S. real estate portfolio, invest in infrastructure and promote economic development, the agency reported on Monday. 

“GSA plays a critical role in bolstering economic recovery,” said Katy Kale, GSA acting administrator and 2021 Wash100 Award recipient. “By creating jobs to design, build and repair our federal properties, in concert with focusing on sustainability and engaging small businesses, GSA is supporting the administration’s efforts to invest in critical infrastructure across the country.”

Of the investments, GSA awarded J&J Contractors $44.5 million for design and construction of a new Land Port of Entry (LPOE) in Madawaska, Maine. The LPOE project will provide the residents of the region with a long-term, safe and efficient flow of current and projected traffic volumes.

GSA also awarded The Tradesmen Group $11.1 million to deliver design and building upgrades to the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building in Washington, D.C., as well as $9.6 million to Big-D Construction for building upgrades to the U.S. Department of Treasury Internal Revenue Service Center building in Ogden, Utah.

Signature Renovations received $5 million for the design and building repairs to the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation Building in Washington, D.C., and Trivers Associates won $2.7 million for exterior repairs to the Major General Emmett J. Bean Federal Center in Indianapolis, Ind. 

Abide International secured $2.4 million for building consolidation construction at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland, Calif., and MGA Partners won $714 thousand for building consolidation design on the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland, Ohio. 

“By making these awards, GSA’s Public Buildings Service demonstrates our commitment to making sound capital investments in buildings that serve federal government employees from all branches of government,” said acting public buildings service commissioner Allison Azevedo. “We are excited to move forward with each of these projects in a judicious fashion.”

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DSA Names Gibson Le Boeuf to Federal Advisory Board of Directors
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DSA Names Gibson Le Boeuf to Federal Advisory Board of Directors

Data Systems Analysts (DSA) has appointed Gibson Le Boeuf to the company’s Federal Advisory Board of Directors (FAB), DSA reported on Monday. Le Boeuf currently serves as president of GGL International, where he provides consulting services to domestic and international governments, private industry and academia on defense related matters. 

Le Boeuf has more than 34 years' experience in marine, naval architecture and mechanical engineering disciplines, including acquisition of major complex weapons systems. He is a former member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), where he served in the Department of the Navy for more than three decades, before coming to the private sector. 

He previously served as vice president of Washington Relations at Raytheon International. With the company, Le Boeuf supervised Raytheon International Business Development. He was also the senior lead interface with the Department of Defense (DoD), State, Commerce and Congress officials.

Prior to joining Raytheon, Le Boeuf served with the Department of the Navy, where he was the executive director of Navy International Programs. With the service branch, he was responsible for developing, planning and implementing the department’s International Programs, and managed a portfolio of more than $56 billion.

Before serving as executive director,  Le Boeuf was the Navy chair at the Defense Systems Management College, where he was a professor of Program Management lecturing on acquisition policies, practices and trends within the Department of the Navy.

During the 102nd Congress, Le Boeuf was on the staff of the Hon. Malcolm Wallop, U.S. Senate, where he was a senior legislative fellow. In the role, he provided defense policy guidance within the Senate Armed Services Committee, focused on defense-related issues. 

Prior to that, he served as a division director in the Strategic Systems Program Office, where he was responsible for budgeting, contracting, technical and program management functions for the U.S. and U.K. programs. He also directed and reviewed ship designs for Fleet Ballistic Missile/Strategic Weapons Systems applications.

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CAE to Diversify Defense, Security Portfolio; Dan Gelston Quoted
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CAE to Diversify Defense, Security Portfolio; Dan Gelston Quoted

CAE will work to diversify its defense and security portfolio, with an emphasis on space and cyber capabilities, Defense News reported on Monday. Daniel Gelston, group president of CAE’s Defense and Security unit, announced that the business will partner with defense primes during the early stages of new competitions. 

To remain a competitive partner, CAE will invest in research and engineering efforts. Gelston noted that the company has had a strong focus on traditional platforms, such as planes and unmanned aerial vehicles. 

However, with the shift in the defense market, Gelston has projected that CAE will have “a real focus on space and cyber, not only for that customer, but also for CAE, and those are areas that we need to augment our capabilities to make sure that we’re providing the best product, the best service to help our customers.”

“We could really bring a lot of our research and development, our capabilities in machine learning and AI and virtual reality and augmented learning management systems” to DHS, which “you could categorize a little more of a traditional time phased approach to training,” Gelston stated. 

Gelston’s unit will also look to increase the security segment of his portfolio by pursuing new contracts for government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA), where CAE would support the training of security forces for airports.

“With space assets ability to target, with cyber assets ability to attack anywhere and everywhere, it’s not just the Pentagon, it’s critical infrastructure, it’s a lot of what we traditionally have separated into DHS. So that security element is crucial,” Gelston added.

Gelston noted that CAE could also break into  “robust training capability in the cyber realm… that’s an area that I can certainly see augmenting with potential acquisition here in the next 18 to 24 months if the right property comes along, I think we would be positioned to potentially pursue that.”

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Future USS Daniel Inouye Destroyer Clears Navy Acceptance Trials; Capt. Seth Miller Quoted
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Future USS Daniel Inouye Destroyer Clears Navy Acceptance Trials; Capt. Seth Miller Quoted

The future USS Daniel Inouye ship has passed its acceptance trials conducted by the U.S. Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) to determine if the service's requirements for onboard systems and performance were met or exceeded.

The series of demonstrations for the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works-built Arleigh Burke-class destroyer was held Feb. 4 off the coast of Maine, the Navy said Friday. INSURV tested and validated its combat systems, communications, navigation, damage control, mechanical and electrical systems and propulsion applications.

“Following an outstanding Combined Alpha and Bravo trials this past December, DDG 118 performed superbly during the ship’s Acceptance Trial earlier this week,” said Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 class program manager for Program Executive Office Ships.

The Flight IIA destroyer is fitted with the Aegis Baseline 9 Combat System for advanced reaction time, firepower and electronic countermeasures capability. The system is capable of integrated air and missile defense and enhanced ballistic weapon system protection.

In addition to the future USS Daniel Inouye, BIW is also developing four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, two Flight III ships and one Zumwalt-class destroyer.

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Sean Ferris Named State OIG’s Acting Deputy Director for Data Analytics
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Sean Ferris Named State OIG’s Acting Deputy Director for Data Analytics

The State Department has appointed Sean Ferris, a neatly three-year department official, to serve as acting deputy director for data analytics within its Office of the Inspector General (OIG), G2Xchange FedCiv reported Tuesday. According to Ferris' LinkedIn entry, the title, which he received in January 2021, is unofficial and pending approval.

Ferris is a management and program analyst at State Department's OIG, serving as strategic planning and risk management officer within its Office of Enterprise Risk Management.

Prior to joining the department in April 2018, he was responsible for strategic planning and performance works as a management and program analyst at the U.S. Postal Service OIG.

Ferris' career also includes working at the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Veterans Benefits Administration and serving at the U.S. Air Force.

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Army Developing Simulated Environment for Region-Based Combat Training
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Army Developing Simulated Environment for Region-Based Combat Training

The U.S. Army has developed a simulated training environment to help refine the combat skills of warfighters based on real geographic regions.

The Army said Thursday the Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE) World platform builds on almost a decade of development work and falls under the Army’s Intelligence Directorate (G-2) within the Training and Doctrine Command.

DATE World mimics four regions around the world, namely the Pacific, Caucasus, Africa and Europe. The simulation platform also includes details on force structure and available equipment and weaponry based on the geographic location.

Jennifer Dunn, branch chief at TRADOC's Operational Environment Integration Directorate, said DATE World is meant to support ground combat activities at a large scale.

The Army currently plans to refine DATE World to further include gaming elements, a geographical information system and other visualization and mapping concepts. 

The service also plans to integrate elements to better reflect environmental conditions for Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and United Kingdom allies. Dunn noted that her office plans to conduct events similar to a virtual conference held in January to establish development priorities for DATE World.

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DHS S&T Launches Collaborative Effort to Support Aerial Border Security; Teddy Damour Quoted
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DHS S&T Launches Collaborative Effort to Support Aerial Border Security; Teddy Damour Quoted

The Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) has commenced an effort to demonstrate its aerial surveillance technologies in support of security at the U.S.-Canada border. 

S&T said Thursday it is working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) to trial and eventually implement these technologies.

“Over the next two years, we will be hosting demonstrations and test events in four different geographical regions on the northern border—flat lowland plains, an urban setting, a mountainous region and a maritime environment," said Teddy Damour, an engineer at the directorate's National Urban Security Technology Laboratory 

The Congress-supported effort will make use of small unmanned aircraft systems and other types of drones to simulate air domain threats.

DHS expects to conduct the effort's first wave of tests at Camp Grafton in North Dakota this spring. Each of the demonstration's four sessions will last for a week with the participation of up to four vendors per session.

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MDA Announces New Approach to Manage Ground-based Midcourse Defense
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MDA Announces New Approach to Manage Ground-based Midcourse Defense

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has reported the need for a new approach to managing the ground-based, anti-missile system to protect the nation, Defense News reported on Friday. Vice Adm. Jon Hill, MDA director, reported that the increased competition has required the agency to increase innovation and new solutions for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system (GMD).

Hill announced that the MDA plans to establish a weapon system integrator  as opposed to a lead system integrator, which would assume responsibility for the system’s design, development, test, evaluation and system performance.

MDA could lead the design and implementation of solutions, but would need support with integration of all the GMD elements, a function MDA’s weapon system integrator concept should perform. Technical design authority and program decisions should be retained by MDA.

The Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Oct. 2020 missile defense report stated that the lead system integrator approach has “contributed to poor acquisition outcomes and diminished government oversight, transparency, and engineering acumen in the acquisition community.”

GAO also reported that “the lead system integrator approach can create transparency issues that could make it more difficult for the federal agency or Congress to adequately manage and conduct effective oversight and potentially increase the risk of cost overruns, schedule slippage, poor product quality, and inadequate system performance.”

As MDA formulates the weapon system integrator concept for GMD, as well as the contract, the agency will have to enhance communication between MDA and subcontractor subject matter experts or weapons system operators and foster a collaborative approach to management between MDA and all of GMD’s supporting contractors.

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