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Northrop Grumman Produces G-2000 Tactical Gyroscope; Brandon White Quoted
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Northrop Grumman Produces G-2000 Tactical Gyroscope; Brandon White Quoted

Northrop Grumman Corporation has produced its 75,000th G-2000 gyroscope, the smallest tactical-grade gyroscope for commercial and military customers, the company reported on Thursday. The G-2000 has advanced performance and accuracy, sensing orientation for stabilization and targeting applications.

“This milestone is a confirmation of the consistently reliable performance that the G-2000 offers for customers seeking high accuracy for a variety of missions,” said Brandon White, vice president, navigation and positioning systems, Northrop Grumman. “With its small form factor, the G-2000 provides a truly versatile solution for guiding and stabilization at a low cost.”

Northrop Grumman’s G-2000 is the smallest dynamically-tuned gyroscope produced, featuring high performance, small size and reliability. The gyroscope is enhanced by a servo-electronics card that maximizes performance.

The G-2000 two-axis gyroscope provides a mean time between failure (MTBF) of more than 100 thousand hours. It can withstand high vibration and high shock environments of up 750g, which is not available with fiber-optic or micro-electro-mechanical gyroscopes.

Northrop Grumman’s G-2000 has been integrated on missiles, including the Patriot Advanced Capability-3, Harpoon and AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles as well as a variety of other applications.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services.

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Lockheed Martin Wins Contract to Build Training Center for C-130J Squadron; Tom Gordon Quoted
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Lockheed Martin Wins Contract to Build Training Center for C-130J Squadron; Tom Gordon Quoted

Lockheed Martin has won a direct commercial sale (DCS) contract to build and equip a facility in France that trains French and German C-130J Super Hercules aircrews and maintainers for the countries’ binational C-130J Super Hercules Squadron, Lockheed Martin reported on Thursday. 

“The French/German C-130J Binational Training Center will allow both countries to train pilots and maintainers on the full capability of these proven aircraft,” said Tom Gordon, Lockheed Martin, vice president of Training and Simulation Solutions. 

Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will provide training devices, the learning management system, courseware and options for five years of training services. The company will begin development in 2021 and aircrew and maintainers will begin training in the center in 2024.

The training center will be located in Évreux-Fauville Air Base in the Normandy region of France and will provide training for C-130J-30 airlifter and KC-130J tanker aircrafts. The French and German binational squadron consists of a combined 10 Super Hercules aircraft. 

In 2018, Germany announced the acquisition of six Super Hercules aircrafts to be operated in partnership with France. France has received a total of four Super Hercules aircraft through a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) with the U.S. government. 

Lockheed Martin owns and operates its Hercules Training Center (HTC) in Marietta, Georgia. The HTC is a combined academic and simulator facility that delivers training efficiency on the C-130J fleet. The HTC trains C-130J crews as needed and will be used to train France and Germany’s initial instructor cadre of pilots and maintainers during the construction of the new facility.

“Lockheed Martin is honored to support this historic partnership and proud to work directly with our customers in establishing a first-of-its kind resource that will benefit Super Hercules crew members for decades to come,” Gordon added. 

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 110,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

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OMB’s Russell Vought on Developing AI Regulations
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OMB’s Russell Vought on Developing AI Regulations

Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has asked U.S. department and agency heads to reduce "unnecessary barriers" to artificial intelligence innovation and growth in compliance with the Executive Order 13859 that seeks to maintain U.S. advantage in AI.

In a Nov. 17th memorandum, the OMB head shared principles that should be considered by agencies when taking regulatory or non-regulatory actions related to the development and deployment of AI applications.

Vought noted that government approaches should promote reliable and trustworthy AI applications to contribute to public trust in the technology, and should include the public in the process of adopting AI regulations to boost agency accountability and enhance regulatory outcomes.

Safety and security, interagency coordination, fairness and non-discrimination, as well as scientific integrity and information quality should also be taken into account by agencies for their AI regulations.

The director added that risk assessment and risk management should inform the creation of AI regulatory and non-regulatory approaches. "Agencies should be transparent about their evaluations of risk and re-evaluate their assumptions and conclusions at appropriate intervals so as to foster accountability."

Agencies are also encouraged to collaborate with private sector standard-setting organizations on the effort.

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Sen. Ron Wyden, Rep. Lauren Underwood Introduce Federal Cybersecurity Oversight Act
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Sen. Ron Wyden, Rep. Lauren Underwood Introduce Federal Cybersecurity Oversight Act

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., have proposed a bill to improve oversight of federal agencies’ cybersecurity posture.

Congress authorized agencies in 2015 to self-issue indefinite waivers for cybersecurity practices such as two-factor authentication and data encryption and Wyden’s office said Wednesday the Federal Cybersecurity Oversight Act of 2020 would limit those waivers to one year and direct the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to manage the issuance of those waivers. 

“Lax cybersecurity at federal agencies needlessly exposes Americans to privacy and security threats, while putting our national security at risk,” Wyden said. “The Federal Cybersecurity Oversight Act would prevent civilian agencies from punting cybersecurity down the road indefinitely, leaving Americans’ data open for attack from hackers and foreign spies.”

Agency heads seeking waivers should certify to OMB that implementing a specific cybersecurity requirement would be excessively burdensome and that the agency has taken all the necessary measures to ensure the security of data and information systems.

“This bill also requires that existing annual cybersecurity reports to Congress include a list of the specific cybersecurity waivers that the agency has received, along with an estimate for when the agency expects to be able to meet the cybersecurity requirements,” the bill's summary reads.

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FAA to Open Updated Commercial Space Launch Rules for Public Comment
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FAA to Open Updated Commercial Space Launch Rules for Public Comment

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will release a consolidated launch and reentry licensing rules for the commercial space launch industry "in the next few weeks" to solicit public comment, SpaceNews reported Wednesday.

Wayne Monteith, associate administrator for commercial space transportation at FAA, said at an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics-hosted virtual conference on Nov.18th that the updated regulations, dubbed "Part 450," are "in final coordination" and would be effective 90 days after its publication.

Following its dialogs with the industry, the agency looked into changing the launch licensing approach from prescriptive to performance based as suggested. The revised rules will also permit multiple launches from multiple sites under a single operator’s license.

"The worst thing we can do for this industry is to over-regulate to the point where we are not increasing the effectiveness of safety but creating hurdles to innovative companies or putting undue bureaucratic overhead on our existing companies," said Monteith.

FAA aims to promote the space launch sector growth while ensuring public safety with the updated regulations. The agency started rewriting the rules in 2018.

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Select Committee Offers Recommendations for Using Cloud to Help Advance AI Research
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Select Committee Offers Recommendations for Using Cloud to Help Advance AI Research

The Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence has issued a report outlining four recommendations for how the federal government can help improve the use of cloud computing resources in support of federally funded research-and-development work on AI, Nextgov reported Thursday.

Those recommendations are launching and supporting pilot projects to explore the challenges and advantages related to the use of commercial cloud platforms in conducting AI research; improving training and education opportunities to help researchers better use cloud resources for AI research; cataloging best practices in identity management and single-sign-on strategies to facilitate effective use of commercial clouds for AI-related R&D work; and establishing and publishing best practices for the seamless use of cloud services for AI. 

For the first recommendation, the committee listed several pilot projects at federal agencies that seek to identify the challenges and benefits of using commercial clouds in performing AI research. Those include the Joint Common Foundation (JCF) of the Department of Defense’s Joint AI Center (JAIC) and the Department of Transportation’s Secure Data Commons. 

The White House created the select committee as part of the National Science and Technology Council in May 2018 to advise the administration on interagency R&D priorities related to AI and determine opportunities on how to use federal computational resources and data in support of the country’s AI R&D ecosystem, among others.

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Hon. Ellen Lord: Pentagon Eyes Trusted Capital Marketplace Launch in December
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Hon. Ellen Lord: Pentagon Eyes Trusted Capital Marketplace Launch in December

Hon. Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said she expects the Department of Defense to launch in December 2020 a marketplace project meant to protect the defense industrial base and U.S. technologies from adversarial capital, DoD News reported Wednesday.

“What we want to do is instead of driving companies, or driving people trying to sell real estate to these adversarial and nefarious kinds of actors out there, we want to be able to partner people with clean money with companies where we understand the beneficial ownership and grow that capability for the betterment of our national security and economic security,” Lord said of the Trusted Capital Marketplace during an online discussion as part of the ASCEND Summit.

The Trusted Capital Marketplace project is the Pentagon’s response to a congressional mandate in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The marketplace will work by connecting U.S. businesses with critical defense technologies to cleared investors that do not have links to adversarial countries.

“We’d like to think the capital markets are very, very efficient. But we work with the Council on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to block or undo a lot of transactions where our adversaries are coming in and buying companies that are critical for our national technology initiatives,” Lord said at the event.

Hon. Ellen Lord: Pentagon Eyes Trusted Capital Marketplace Launch in December

Join Potomac Officers Club for its 5G Summit on Jan. 7th, 2021 to learn about the impact that innovative technologies and 5G integration have on the private and public sectors, the steps the federal agencies have taken to remain up to speed with the rapid advancement of technology, and the future programs, plans and priorities as the nation aligns with emerging technology.

Hon. Ellen Lord, undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment at the Department of Defense (DoD) and four-time Wash100 Award recipient, will be featured as the keynote speaker.

Don’t miss out on this must see event! Register here for Potomac Officers Club’s 5G Summit on Jan. 7th, 2021.

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FCC Creates Unified Satellite Station Licensing Framework
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FCC Creates Unified Satellite Station Licensing Framework

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established an optional unified framework to simplify the agency's process of granting licenses for space and ground satellite stations.

FAA said Wednesday commercial providers can apply for authorization to deploy earth and ground stations built to support satellite systems that operate above the 10 gigahertz band under a single license.

The agency simplified its licensing rule in a move to help operators find certainty regarding gateway earth station locations early on in the satellite design phase and address unnecessary reporting requirements.

According to FCC, the change aligns the buildout timelines to qualify ground terminals and communicating satellites.

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Air Force Looks to Create Electromagnetic Spectrum Warfare Wing in 2021
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Air Force Looks to Create Electromagnetic Spectrum Warfare Wing in 2021

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) plans to establish a new wing that will focus on warfare operations involving the electromagnetic spectrum by March 2021, C4ISRnet reported Tuesday.

The 355th Spectrum Warfare Wing will fall under the oversight of the Air Force Warfare Center. Col. William Young, former commander of the 53rd Electronic Warfare Group, will head the new Air Force component.

Lt. Gen. Christopher Weggeman, deputy commander of the  Air Combat Command (ACC), said at an AFCEA event that the new Air Force component will work to develop, test and integrate electronic-warfare hardware and software while providing assistance for EM combat operations.

Brig. Gen. Marty Reynolds, vice commander of the Air Force Warfare Center, noted that the wing will also house experts on the EM spectrum that will support the development of technologies for electronic attack jamming and electronic protection measures.

He added that securing data and edge-level computing is important so operators could aggregate the data and make predictions based on the analysis.

Weggeman and Reynolds' comments come after the Air Force realigned ACC's EM spectrum management component to the Headquarters Air Force.

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CNSI Forms Board of Advisors; Todd Stottlemyer Quoted
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CNSI Forms Board of Advisors; Todd Stottlemyer Quoted

CNSI has formed a Board of Advisors, featuring healthcare and technology experts that will advise the company on industry trends, policy initiatives, the company reported on Wednesday. The advisors will also provide innovative ways to support clients’ goals to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

“I am grateful that this diverse group of healthcare and technology experts and thought leaders have agreed to serve on CNSI’s Board of Advisors,” said Todd Stottlemyer, CEO of CNSI and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient. “Their deep policy, technology, clinical, Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial health knowledge and experience will be invaluable to CNSI’s future strategic growth.”

The members of the CNSI Board of Advisors include Ryan Howells, Ryan Bosch, Aneesh Chopra, Charlene Frizzera,  MG Elder Granger (ret. U.S. Army), Bobbie Kilberg, Charles Milligan and Penny Thompson. 

“They will also advise us on better ways to support our clients through innovative solutions that provide access to high quality care, empower individuals with actionable information to improve overall health outcomes, and utilize technology to drive down healthcare costs,” Stottlemyer added. 

Howells is the principal at Leavitt Partners. He has worked with the White House, Congress, HHS and VHA on health care policy and interoperability issues. Howells currently helps lead the CARIN Alliance, giving consumers digital access to their health information.

“It is an honor to work with this diverse and experienced Board of Advisors to provide the CNSI team with greater insight into the future of healthcare policy and the role technology plays in helping to lower costs, expand access, and improve quality,” said Howells Board of Advisors chair.

Bosch, MD, operates the Socially Determined business, supervising core corporate functions and workforce. He is responsible for corporate strategy, supporting sales on key partnerships and delivering strategic support to clients. 

Chopra is the president of CareJourney, an open data membership service building a trusted, transparent rating system for physicians, networks, facilities and markets on the move to value. He served as the first U.S. chief technology officer from 2009 to 2012. 

Frizzera is the president and CEO of CF Health Advisors, which she co-founded after her retirement from 30 years of federal service as the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Granger, MD, is president and CEO of THE 5Ps. He is also the former deputy director and program executive officer of the TRICARE Management Activity, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs).

Kilberg is president and CEO Emeritus of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC).  She also served in President George H.W. Bush’s administration as deputy assistant to the President for Public Liaison and as director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Milligan, JD, MPH, is the chief operating officer of Health Management Associates. He is a healthcare leader who has made contributions across the public and private sectors. He previously served as a Medicaid and Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (DSNPs) consultant for states, foundations and associations.

Thompson is a nationally recognized expert on the Medicaid and CHIP programs and a proven innovator and leader. She works with organizations committed to delivering high quality business solutions for the healthcare market, focusing on the nation’s most vulnerable populations. 

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