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The Department of Defense (DoD) has announced that the total budget allocated for the Military Intelligence Program reached $23.1 billion in fiscal year 2020. DoD said Wednesday that the topline MIP budget for FY 2020 included base appropriations and overseas contingency operations funds in support of the National Defense Strategy.
“No other MIP budget figures or program details will be released, as they remain classified for national security reasons,” the department said in the release.
Six House lawmakers have launched a new caucus to advocate on behalf of the U.S. Space Force.
The House Space Force Caucus was formed by Reps. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo.; Kendra Horn, D-Okla.; Brian Babin, R-Texas; Jason Crow, D-Colo.; Michael Waltz, R-Fla.; and Charlie Crist, D-Fla., Lamborn’s office said Tuesday.
“The U.S. Space Force is a much-needed branch of our military, tasked with defending our country’s assets in space – and it’s crucial that as members of Congress, we continue supporting the advancement of this military branch for our security both today and in the future,” said Representative Waltz.
The caucus will serve as the chief advocate for new Service. The caucus will support Department of the Air Force and the Space Force to provide opportunities for members and staff to learn about the role the U.S. Space Force has in maintaining American space power.
“Maintaining superiority in space is essential to protecting our national security and US interests around the world,” Horn said. “I look forward to working with the Air Force and Space Force leadership and my co-chairs to advocate for the importance of space priorities and the needs of our Space Force professionals.”
The Department of Defense (DoD) will provide $87 million in funds over seven years to establish the BioIndustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem as a new manufacturing innovation institute.
BioMADE, which was formed by the Engineering Biology Research Consortium, will be based at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul and will work with public and private organizations to develop bioindustrial manufacturing tech platforms.
Michael Kratsios, acting undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and U.S. chief technology officer, said DoD is committed to securing the U.S. bioindustrial base and promoting biotech innovation.
“Through today’s award, we are pleased to work with new partners to accelerate the Department’s biotechnology modernization and the development of this field which is so critical to our Nation’s future security and prosperity,” added Kratsios, a 2020 Wash100 Award winner.
Funds from DoD will be matched with $187 million in funding from non-federal sources, including 57 universities and colleges and 31 companies.
BioMADE will further develop foundational technologies, advance industrywide standards and tools, advance education and workforce development and support the growth of supply chain intermediaries.
Lt. Gen. Clinton Hinote, head of the strategy office at the U.S. Air Force, said the Air Force and the U.S. Army will come up with a plan in the next 60 days to link the Project Convergence and the Advanced Battle Management System demonstrations and ensure data sharing to advance the Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control concept, C4ISRNET reported Tuesday.
“What the Army and the Air Force are agreeing to is, we’re going to be able to see their data, they’re going to be able to see our data. And as much as we can, we will come up with common standards,” Hinote said. “But even if we can’t come up with common standards, we realize that translators are going to be something that will be with us for a long time, and we will build the translators necessary to make sure we can share.”
Hinote said bridging the Air Force’s ABMS and Project Convergence of the Army will likely involve integrating new technologies from one service branch and testing if they can transmit data to the other military branch’s nodes during the experiment.
“The magic is going to happen in the flow of information, and then the development of that information into something that looks new” through the adoption of artificial intelligence, Hinote added.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report stating that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) chief acquisition officer needs to improve the assessment of DHS units’ component acquisition executives (CAE).
GAO said Tuesday that the DHS chief acquisition officer selects CAEs that handle DHS components’ acquisition-related policies, workforce, data colection and reporting functions.
Components such as the U.S. Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have implemented CAE vetting procedures, according to GAO.
However, the watchdog said that four out of five CAEs in the DHS Management Directorate, including three acting CAEs, “have not been subjected to this process”.
“Until DHS consistently executes the nomination and designation process described in its guidance, the Chief Acquisition Officer cannot be assured that all acquisition programs are receiving oversight by individuals qualified for the CAE position,” GAO said.
DHS noted that the acting CAEs directly report to the department’s chief acquisition officer and it would be unnecessary to vet CAEs in the management directorate through the designated process.
The U.S. Navy established a network hub in London that will focus on biotechnology, space, directed energy, unmanned systems, autonomy and artificial intelligence.
“London Tech Bridge makes 13 overall and our first overseas location,” said James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for Research Development and Acquisition, and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient. "This location emphasizes and builds on our unique partnership with the U.K. and Royal Navy and will better enable us to accelerate solutions to support our defense strategies.”
The London Tech Bridge will deliver guidance and connections to the Navy and help the U.S. naval workforce employ resources from the U.K., the military service said Tuesday.
The tech bridge earmarked $45 million in funds to support projects that aim to address naval concerns. The hub also provided $37.5 million to back maintenance and sustainment research efforts by small businesses.
The service branch seeks to link technologies developed in the U.K. to U.S. companies and the Department of the Navy via the facility.
"While national security is our goal, we are keenly aware that it takes an international team to provide stability for our world," said Whitney Tallarico, tech bridge program director at NavalX.
Geurts recently delivered a keynote address during Potomac Officers Club's 2020 Navy Forum on September 30th.
Geurts began his keynote address by discussing the current environment of the defense landscape, as well as where he sees the U.S. Navy heading in the future. Within operations, the U.S. Navy has not received more work, and “worked to rapidly adapt” to COVID-19.
If you missed the event, you can still register to watch the footage in Potomac Officers Club’s Event Archive.
Public safety technicians are deactivating improvised explosive devices, such as pipe bombs, through a tool developed by the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology directorate.
“Our bomb technicians engaged the Power Hawk as a non-energetic means of remotely rendering the pipe bomb safe,” reported deputy Thomas Groff, Bomb Squad Commander with the Rhode Island State Fire Marshal’s Office. “We were successful in doing so.”
DHS said Tuesday it provides bomb squads with tools, like Power Hawk, to deactivate IEDs under the Response and Defeat Operations Support (REDOPS) program.
Power Hawk was originally designed as a tool that frees trapped personnel from constraining structures during accidents. S&T and the FBI then assessed the tool's feasibility for use in IED deactivation after reports of the tool being used for that purpose by some state police departments.
Now, the tool works to deactivate bombs without destroying the explosive, allowing for post-incident assessments and forensic examinations. Power Hawk's scissor-like jaws slowly make small fractures that release the pipe bomb's internal pressure, preventing explosive gases from building up.
“Our mission is to support state and local bomb squads (SLBSs) by focusing on collaboratively addressing the homeland’s IED capability gaps, helping develop the best solutions and connecting those solutions to the technicians in the field,” said REDOPS Program Manager Byung Hee Kim.
The Department of Energy and NASA have formed a new agreement in support of national space policies and the Artemis program, an effort to bring back manned space exploration.
“From achieving a better understanding of the Moon, to providing the nuclear fuels to propel Voyager 1 and 2 into space, DOE and NASA have been strong collaborators in our Nation’s space mission for decades,” said secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette. “This new MOU will continue our esteemed work together as this Administration strives to reach the next generation of space innovations and exploration.”
DOE said Tuesday it signed a memorandum of agreement with NASA to identify potential collaboration opportunities such as cosmology studies, lunar exploration, planetary defense, satellite development and high-performance computing.
“The DOE’s energy, science and technology expertise remains crucial to the success of NASA missions,” said Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator and previous Wash100 Award recipient.
NASA and DOE have created three working groups to tackle joint opportunities in the areas of space nuclear power and propulsion, science and innovation and lunar surface infrastructure.
The partnership is also working to develop systems that would generate power and provide propulsion for future missions on the moon and Mars.
The Department of Energy has launched the sixth year of an annual competition that aims to challenge students to compete in a realistic cybersecurity defense exercise.
“The U.S. energy sector is under constant threat of cyberattacks,” said Mark Wesley Menezes, deputy secretary of Energy. “The CyberForce Competition is unique in that it trains the next generation of cyber professionals on defending the energy infrastructure while also maintaining usability of the systems.”
The CyberForce Competition 2020 virtual event will task individual representatives from various academic institutions to defend a simulated wind energy company's cyber systems against cyberattacks, DOE said Tuesday. The simulated company will generate 20 thousand megawatts of electricity and experience network disruptions during the competition.
DOE will select around 400 competitors from accredited U.S. institutions via a random lottery. Industry practitioners will guide the participants and gauge their performance via virtual interactions.
"The CyberForce Competition is unique in that it trains the next generation of cyber professionals on defending the energy infrastructure while also maintaining usability of the systems," said Alexander Gates, senior adviser at DOE's office of cybersecurity, energy security, and emergency response.
The competition is a part of DOE's efforts to comply with an executive order that requires the U.S. cybersecurity workforce to expand by 62 percent to address the current skills gap.
The National Security Agency (NSA) has issued an advisory on 25 cyber vulnerabilities tied to Chinese state-sponsored malicious activities.
NSA said Tuesday it released the advisory on the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) to encourage Department of Defense (DoD) entities as well as national security and defense industrial base stakeholders to take necessary precautions.
The vulnerabilities can be used to gain initial access to victim networks by exploiting products that are directly accessible from the Internet. NSA noted that users should prioritize mitigation efforts such as patching to address the cyber threat.
NSA will share knowledge of their active exploitation to encourage all National Security Systems (NSS), U.S. Defense Industrial Base (DIB), and DoD system owners to verify that their systems are protected against these threats, or take appropriate action.
“We hope that by highlighting the vulnerabilities that China is actively using to compromise systems, cybersecurity professionals will gain actionable information to prioritize efforts and secure their systems,” said Anne Neuberger, cybersecurity director at NSA and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient.
NSA’s recommendations include setting up an out-of-band management network, enabling robust login methods for Internet-facing services and isolating Internet-facing services in a network demilitarized zone.
