The Department of Defense (DOD) plans to spend approximately $18 billion on the Next Generation Interceptor program that seeks to counter intercontinental ballistic missile threats, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

The development phase of the NGI program is estimated to cost up to $13.1 billion, according to estimates by DOD’s independent cost assessment unit. The production phase could reach $2.3 billion in cost, while support costs could total $2.3 billion.

In March, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) awarded contracts to teams led by Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin to conduct technology development and risk reduction work on the program.

MDA expects the critical design review phase to occur by 2026. Lockheed and Northrop will compete to produce about 31 interceptors, including 10 units for testing.

Mark Wright, a spokesman for MDA, said the agency plans to start deploying the interceptor “no later than 2028.”

The 552nd Air Control Networks Squadron (ACNS) welcomed visitors from the Pacific Air Forces and Japan's national security force to inform them about cyber defense systems.

From April 4th to 10th, operators from the squadron walked the visitors through the functions of Cyberspace Vulnerability Assessment/Hunter, a deployable cyber defense system, the U.S Air Force said Monday.

“The knowledge and experience gained by visiting the 552nd ACNS will help shape the overall cyber defense strategy for the Japanese weapon systems,” said Capt. Ali Syed, deputy chief for cyber defense and mission assurance at the Pacific Air Forces.

A mission defense team member from 552nd ACNS briefs the mission prior to airborne warning and control system operations. Lt. Col. Akio Ohigashi of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force served as a liaison for coordination with PACAF.

“Information sharing with partners such as the U.S. Forces is one of the six pillars of our comprehensive defense measures against cyber attack,” Ohigashi said.

Gen. David Thompson, the U.S. Space Force's vice chief of space operations, said the military would like to task an agency to manage traffic caused by commercial space systems, Space News reported Monday.

Thompson told Space News that the Department of Defense (DOD) does not mainly perform regulatory functions, despite the fact that Vandenberg Air Force Base tracks space objects and caution on orbital collisions.

The Department of Commerce (DOC) is expected to take up collision warning responsibilities by 2024 but, according to Thompson, there are other tasks required to prevent space traffic hazards. 

These tasks include safety-centric activity management and the development of satellite maneuverability guidelines. The vice chief said the military will most likely consider increasing operational risks in certain orbits, and thus require corresponding oversight.

Raytheon announced on Tuesday that Raytheon BBN Technologies, a subsidiary of Raytheon Intelligence & Space, have published their research regarding, via the academic journal Science, a component called a “Josephson junction,” which is a new method to detect a single photon, or a particle of light.

As a result of the discovery by Raytheon BBN Technologies, scientists are anticipating that quantum processors’ speed will be greatly improved and can be applied to potential applications for sensors, communications and quantum computers.

“In theory, quantum computers can take over where traditional computers would run out of processing power,” said Brad Tousley, president of Raytheon BBN Technologies. “Quantum computing allows for more finite analysis of something like a wing shape than ever before. Fundamental everyday processing optimization is the first problem we’d like to tackle with quantum computing.”

The most jarring limitation in quantum computing has been a “noise problem,” or a background noise that causes qubits to lose memory and creates errors in the processing. However, Kin Chung Fong, a quantum information processing scientist with the company sees the opportunity for significant advancements in quantum capabilities.

“Our new device enables this basic unit in quantum computing to communicate through as little as one photon. It will improve the speed in the communication and can make quantum networking and sensing possible,” said Fong. “We’ve filled a technological void with the first Josephson junction to detect a single photon. It’s an enabling technology for networking, communication and computation. We are really just scratching the surface,” he added.

Raytheon BBN has been providing advanced technology research and development for more than 70 years, often serving as a crucial link between the military and researchers at universities.

“The next step is characterizing performance and scaling up to more than one device in parallel or linking multiple devices,” said Tousley.

Guidehouse and ReefPoint Group announced on Tuesday that their joint venture has, Taurian Consulting LLC, has been launched as a a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) company in accordance with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) “All-Small” Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP).

“Guidehouse and our clients benefit daily from the contributions of veterans, and through this venture, Taurian Consulting will continue to honor and support our nation’s service members, veterans and their families with meaningful mission-focused client engagements,” said Scott McIntyre, CEO of Guidehouse and five-time Wash100 Award recipient.

As a jointly owned company of both organizations, Taurian Consulting will work to deliver scalable, easy to implement innovative solutions that address a client’s key challenges and harness the more than two decades of experience between both companies to drive healthcare innovation and transformation for defense, federal and commercial health markets.

“The joining of our two companies to form Taurian Consulting will provide new impact and value to clients of both firms within the government healthcare ecosystems, and I look forward to tackling challenges together and working with clients to shape their futures,” McIntyre added.

ReefPoint Group President Peter Anthony will serve as the managing director for Taurian Consulting and emphasized the formation of the new company was to ensure the highest quality of support with robust and innovative technologies and solutions to create lasting, measurable impacts for its clients but also for federal agencies and the federal landscape.

“This will allow us to jointly support federal, state and local government organizations and empower them to improve their performance, efficiencies and effectiveness for the customers they serve,” said Anthony.