The U.S. Navy’s Fleet Cyber Command/10th Fleet has issued a strategic plan for the next five years, recognizing the need for the service to have “more resilient and hardened” networks against adversaries during a crisis.

“I am certain the opening rounds of a 21st century great power conflict, particularly one impacting the maritime domain, will be launched in the electromagnetic, space, or cyber domains,” Vice Adm. Timothy "T.J." White, the command’s chief, said in a foreword to the strategic plan. “If the Navy is to fight and win, Navy networks must be able to survive those hits and ‘fight hurt.’ Our people must be trained and exercised to fight through those hits.”

White added that the service must ensure that its networks “remain a key advantage for the Fleet during times of lethal combat.” The latest plan’s vision consists of three primary elements: ensuring first mover advantage in full-spectrum information warfare; fighting and winning in a fully contested battlespace, as well as promoting modernization and innovation.

The command made some minor changes to the 2015-2020 strategic plan’s five goals to reflect the maturation of information warfare and shift to great power competition. These goals are operating the network as a warfighting platform, performing fleet cryptologic warfare, delivering warfighting capabilities and effects, accelerating the Navy’s cyber forces and establishing and maturing Navy Space Command.

Several House lawmakers have introduced a bill that would allocate $28 billion in federal funds to modernize and improve the security of information technology systems of state and local government agencies in response to a recommendation by the Cyberspace Solarium Commission in a recent white paper.

The State and Local IT Modernization and Cybersecurity Act would establish the Modernizing IT Program, Public Health Emergency IT Modernization Grant Program, a State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program.

The Modernizing IT Program seeks to distribute $25 billion in grants to help state and local government agencies facilitate the digital delivery of emergency, administrative, benefit and entitlement services, while the Public Health Emergency IT Modernization Grant Program intends to provide $1 billion in funds to help agencies cover COVID-19 expenses for IT services and equipment.

The third grant program will allot $2 billion in funds for fiscal years 2021 through 2025 to help agencies implement a state cybersecurity plan to address cyber threats.

“In our initial report, the Solarium Commission recognized that outdated state and local government systems were attractive targets for our adversaries and that we needed to help them migrate to secure, cloud-based infrastructure,” Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), a Cyberspace Solarium commissioner and senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement published Thursday.

“The State and Local IT Modernization and Cybersecurity Act will dramatically improve e-government services, protect workers, and significantly enhance security," he added. 

Other proponents of the bill are Solarium co-chairs Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) and Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) as well as Reps. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), Will Hurd (R-Texas), C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Max Rose (D-N.Y.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.).

The General Services Administration (GSA) expects to complete the transfer of the Federal Procurement Data System’s reports functions – administrative, standard, ad hoc and static – to the System for Award Management’s beta website by Oct. 17.

An Aug. 3 update says users will no longer run and create contract data reports and reports module on the FPDS website on that date. FPDS will retain other functions.

GSA wants users to provide feedback and review reference guides and frequently asked questions and watch training videos as they access reports on the beta SAM website.

The FPDS reports migration concludes an agile iterative improvement and soft launch process that started in March.

The U.S. Army is looking into the characteristics of ultraviolet communication systems with regard to how the technology can boost network security. Army Research Laboratory said Tuesday that ultraviolet communication technology increases the stealth of transmissions against threats.

ARL developed an ultraviolet communication analysis framework that builds on applicable simulations, theories and modeling. Robert Drost, an ARL scientist, said UVC offers low-probability-of-detection hinted by the high-rate atmospheric absorption of deep-UV wavelengths.

“In order to fully take advantage of this characteristic, a rigorous understanding of the LPD properties of UVC is needed," Drost said.

The effort's team will continue to study the UVC concept and work to transition the technology in partnership with Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, managed by the Department of Energy (DOE), has launched a platform designed to facilitate scientific research on integrated energy systems.

The Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) platform offers an environment where scientists can study the integration between multiple energy resources, DOE said Wednesday. The platform's scale allows researchers to look at relationships between various infrastructure types, such as telecommunications, and the energy grid.

“As our nation’s energy system continues to undergo dramatic transformations, there is a growing need for research on how to best integrate all of our energy resources on the grid in order to provide the most reliable and affordable electricity to the American people,” said Dan Brouillette, secretary of Energy, at NREL when ARIES was launched.

Scientists may use ARIES to study matters on energy storage, hybrid energy systems, energy cybersecurity, future energy infrastructure and power electronics. DOE plans to host an industry event next month to discuss ARIES' potential opportunities with partners.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a NASA spacecraft designed to identify new planets, has scanned 75 percent of visible space and detected 66 new planets outside the solar system.

This milestone marks the completion of TESS' primary mission and allows the satellite to make additional surveys on the south region under an extended mission, the space agency said Tuesday.

The satellite can now also capture a full image at a speed triple that of the primary mission's, allowing for faster brightness measurements and more detailed images of star-based flares. TESS has also detected 2,100 unconfirmed planet candidates, exploding stars and a comet outburst.

Goddard Space Flight Center manages TESS with operations conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and additional support from Northrop Grumman and other partners.