Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ federal spending oversight and emergency management subcommittee, has asked federal agencies about their efforts to modernize their legacy information technology systems, Nextgov reported Thursday.

Hassan sent letters to the departments of Treasury, Defense and Homeland Security and seven other federal agencies to respond to six questions with regard to their IT modernization efforts by Aug. 3.

The lawmaker wants agencies to provide information on their comprehensive IT modernization plans, five modernization priorities, status of legacy system modernization, initiatives to phase out the use of legacy platforms, coordination between the office of the chief information officer and the chief financial officer’s office on IT acquisitions and how Congress can help facilitate IT system modernization.

“The public health emergency caused by COVID-19 underscores the need for federal agencies to invest in modernizing current IT systems that cannot meet mission expectations in a crisis,” Hassan wrote in the letter. “Failing to do so could result in costly errors, security vulnerabilities, and inability to serve the American people.”

Hassan said the federal government spent approximately $29 billion on maintenance of legacy IT systems in fiscal year 2019.

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DLA) has generated the minimum viable product of a program that aims to develop a rapid data processing system. The Machine-assisted Analytic Rapid-repository System of MARS program has produced initial foreign infrastructure data with coverage on roads, information technology applications and various structures, DIA said Wednesday.

The military uses this data to inform operational planning, targeting and other related activities. MARS' initial product used analytics on infrastructure information with respect to the U.S. military's multiple operational aspects. The program accelerates the process of updating records and supports military decision making.

“With MARS, the ultimate goal is to create a military intelligence environment for the warfighter and analyst to easily discover information, just as the internet delivers information to consumers," said Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, DIA director and two-time Wash100 Award recipient.

The agency wants to leverage modern technology for bolstered intelligence delivery.

The U.S. Air Force's HH-60W Jolly Green II rescue helicopter has completed a joint flight test with the AH-64 Apache from Eglin Air Force Base, marking a new developmental milestone.

Jolly Green II led the Apache, which came from Redstone Army Test Center in Alabama, during the test mission, USAF said Wednesday.

"The unique configuration of the AH-64 Apache gave our team the opportunity to test capabilities of the HH-60W in ways normally not possible here,” said Christopher Martin, lead engineer of the 413th Flight Test Squadron that works with Sikorsky Aircraft personnel to conduct HH-60W integrated tests. Sikorsky is a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin.

The joint test's completion follows Jolly Green II's other milestones achieved this year such as communications and extreme environment testing.

“We are very proud of the work our integrated test team accomplished in 2020 despite a myriad of operational restrictions due to COVID-19,” said Shawn Hammond, program manager for HH-60W tests.

Dominic Cussatt, deputy chief information officer and principal deputy assistant secretary for information technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), said the VA is supporting 140,000 teleworking employees amid the ongoing pandemic, Nextgov reported Wednesday.

Cussatt told the publication in an interview that the department delivered thousands of mobile devices to personnel in need and added 15,000 to its Veterans Health Administration workforce in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The VA also blocked “hundreds of millions of malware attempts” in April and has at least 45 priority cybersecurity projects underway, he noted.

In addition, Cussatt said the VA plans to modernize its legacy equipment and expand bandwidth as well as telehealth capacities to address veteran needs. The department reported over 100K patient visits through VA Video Connect in early May, according to the report.

Speaking on the VA’s other digital transformation goals, Cussatt said the department aims to reroute 50 percent of network traffic through the cloud and establish a virtual cloud environment to support activities encompassing telehealth, remote work, telecounseling, benefits processing and legal procedures.

A human-rated centrifuge built by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) participated in a NASA space launch Saturday. The centrifuge features interchangeable cockpits and works to adapt and accommodate any customer at an accelerated pace, the U.S. Air Force said Wednesday.

AFRL also designed the centrifuge to help fast-jet aviators train in an environment with nine times the normal force of gravity. A team composed of engineers from NASA and AFRL worked to convert the centrifuge from an aircrew training platform into an astronaut testing facility.

“With the new vehicles back in the family with those G-loads, we’re basically reviving that whole G-training aspect and every astronaut will start going down this path,” said Michael Barratt, an astronaut and physician at NASA.

The U.S. Marine Corps tested an updated version of a narrowband satellite suite designed to help warfighters link with satellite communications networks.

The Marine Corps Systems Command partnered with I Marine Expeditionary Force to assess the Mobile User Objective System in simulated mortar and coordinated airstrike support exercises, the service branch said Wednesday.

“We tested the system through user evaluation exercises to understand not only what the capability can do on paper, but how we can use it to increase lethality and provide redundancy across the [Fleet Marine Forces]," said Lt. Col. Jeff Decker, ground radios product manager at MCSC

Decker noted MUOS met the military service's expectations during the field tests.

Built by Lockheed Martin, MUOS allows warfighters to augment data and voice communication access through the use of cellular technology. The system also employs an updated AN/PRC-117G multiband radio and an antenna kit to provide simultaneous network access.

Indiana University's Pervasive Technology Institute has received a potential five-year, $20 million award from the National Science Foundation (NFS) to develop and implement a cloud computing system for artificial intelligence, data analysis and research applications.

IU said Monday that its Jetstream 2 system is designed to simplify high-performance computing and data processing for users with limited supercomputer experience. NSF awarded an initial grant valued at $10M and intends to obligate the remaining funds within the next five years.

"The NSF's renewal and expansion of Jetstream will push the total NSF investment in IU-led computing systems to over $50 million in the last decade, and we are grateful to the NSF for their confidence in IU's leadership and abilities in this vital scientific area for the United States," said Michael McRobbie, IU president.

The new project follows IU's original Jetstream system that the university developed in 2014 to provide data analysis and cloud computing for scientific endeavors. The existing system also supports COVID-19 research.