Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), said he believes the incoming Biden administration should come up with a new National Defense Strategy to offer direction for further assessment of nuclear policy and budget-related issues, USNI News reported Friday.

Smith said the U.S. should have a “no-first-use policy” as part of the strategy since “nuclear weapons are a special case” as well as maintain “robust deterrence."

He noted there are the three questions that should be asked when establishing a robust and cost effective defense and those are identifying the goal, objective and tools needed.

Smith also mentioned the extension of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, the inclusion of China in discussions over the treaty and the idea of rejoining the Iran nuclear agreement.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has earmarked $32 million in funds to support high-performance computing research efforts in various scientific fields such as condensed matter physics and geosciences.

Interested institutions are encouraged to form multidisciplinary teams and explore challenging scientific queries associated with chemical reactions and quantum phenomena, DOE said Thursday.

Teams are required to collaborate with institutions under the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing program, while DOE expects the projects to employ Oak Ridge, Lawrence Berkeley and Argonne National Laboratories' computing capacities.

"Harnessing these resources for advanced research in the physical sciences is critical to maintaining U.S. leadership in science and accelerating basic research in energy," said Chris Fall, director at DOE's office of science.

DOE will fund the projects across a four-year period starting in fiscal year 2021.

The funding effort is a part of an initiative that seeks to maximize the usage of national laboratories' high-performance computing resources and gather experts in energy and scientific research.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has formally implemented rules under the 2019 Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act aimed at reimbursing telecommunication providers’ equipment that pose risks to national security.

FCC said Thursday the reimbursement program might require a least $1.6B in funding to replace risky communications equipment purchased after Aug. 14, 2018.

The order directs FCC to provide a list of banned telecom services and equipment as identified by Congress, the executive branch’s interagency bodies, the Department of Commerce and other national security agencies.

The removal and replacement program will focus on smaller providers and mandates “strict reporting requirements” to ensure timely information on insecure U.S. telecom network technologies, according to the FCC document.

FCC requires eligible telecom carriers that service remote areas to use Universal Service Funding allocations for the removal and disposal of blacklisted equipment.

In November, Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., and Greg Walden, R-Ore., wrote a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to lead the delivery of agency support to small and rural service providers in line with the telecom security legislation.

Chinese telecom firms ZTE and Huawei were officially designated as blacklisted companies in June. ZTE, which petitioned to be removed from the list, remains a banned provider.

The U.S. Air Force has demonstrated the B-1B Lancer supersonic aircraft’s release capacity for external weapons as part of an assessment that culminates a series of expanded weapons carriage tests that began last year.

The Air Force's 419th Flight Test Squadron saw the Boeing-built Lancer aircraft launch a Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile using an external pylon as part of the exercise that took place at Holloman AF Base in New Mexico last week, the service said Wednesday.

As part of the demonstration, the team equipped the heavy bomber with high-speed cameras to evaluate its release of the Lockheed Martin-manufactured JASSM weapon.

N. Keith Maynard, special instrumentation flight chief for the 812th Airborne Instrumentation Test Squadron, said the team reconfigured the camera system for the Lancer following similar operations for the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile.

Gen. Tim Ray, commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command, said expanding the B-1’s weapons capacity will also help the command provide more assets to geographic combatant commanders while deploying fewer aircraft and ensuring aircrew safety.

The most recent flight assessment for the aircraft’s modified carriage took place in November 2020. 

The General Services Administration has modified the interface of its governmentwide services portal in an effort to improve accessibility and simplify procedures for visitors seeking assistance on GSA’s award systems.

Changes to the unified Federal Service Desk portal include modified search, incident reporting and live-chat functions as well as news and announcement features regarding GSA’s Integrated Award Environments.

GSA has additionally provided virtual tours and walkthroughs to aid visitors to the relaunched FSD.gov portal.

Governmentwide websites supported by FSD include the SAM.gov contract opportunities portal, Wage Determinations OnLine, Electronic Subcontract Reporting System, Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation and Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act Subaward Reporting System.