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Navy Names New Destroyers—USS Intrepid, USS Robert Kerrey
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Navy Names New Destroyers—USS Intrepid, USS Robert Kerrey

The U.S. Navy has named its two newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers as the future USS Intrepid and USS Robert Kerrey.

DDG-145 is the fifth ship to be called Intrepid while DDG-146 was named after Joseph Robert Kerrey, a former senator, Nebraska governor and naval officer, the Navy said Saturday.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced the vessels’ names during formal ceremonies held in New York and Washington. “One of the great privileges I have as Secretary of the Navy is to name ships,” according to the two-time Wash100 Award recipient.

Honoring Naval Legacies and Heroes

The last Intrepid saw action from 1943 to 1974, serving during World War II and the Vietnam War and supporting NATO and NASA missions. The former aircraft carrier was decommissioned in 1974 and is preserved as a museum ship in New York City.

Meanwhile, DDG-146 will be honoring Kerrey, who lost his leg while serving as a Navy SEAL in Vietnam. For his heroic conduct, Kerrey received the Medal of Honor in 1970. He then served as the governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and as a U.S. senator from 1989 to 2001.

Navy’s Multi-Mission Ships

As part of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, the Intrepid and Robert Kerrey are built around the Aegis Combat System. The multi-mission ships are designed to conduct various operations and provide a wide range of warfighting capabilities in air, surface and subsurface domains.

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MITRE Issues Report on How Gov’t Can Address Drone Threats
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MITRE Issues Report on How Gov’t Can Address Drone Threats

The U.S. government faces multiple challenges as well as opportunities when it comes to addressing the threats posed by unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, MITRE said in a report released Friday.

Drone Acquisition & Operation

According to the not-for-profit corporation, one of the challenges in countering UAS threats is the ease by which drones can be acquired and operated. Related to this matter is the ability of drones to overcome traditional countermeasure capabilities, like signal jamming.

Opportunities to address these include the government looking into alternative types of equipment ownership, rental or lease agreements. The government can also implement incentives to motivate industry to develop new technologies to enhance air domain awareness or defeat drones altogether.

Integration Into NAS

Another challenge faced by the government is the integration of authorized UAS into the National Airspace System, or NAS. MITRE describes this issue as “multifaceted” that is made more complicated by several other factors, including cybersecurity, privacy and airspace congestion. Nevertheless, opportunities remain in terms of the enforcement of UAS remote identification as well as the deployment of UAS traffic management. Collaboration with federal security partners is key.

Counter-UAS Infrastructure

A third challenge involves the lack of processes and infrastructure across the U.S. designed specifically to handle the legitimate use of drones and to counter their illicit use. According to MITRE, opportunities to address this challenge involve public-private partnerships.

Soft Targets & Crowded Places

A fourth challenge has to do with UAS being used to threaten soft targets and crowded places. MITRE notes that many security partners lack the resources to safeguard such targets. The federal government can step in and call for additional resources, including personnel, equipment and training, to bolster counter-UAS efforts at such locations.

Expanding Legal Authorities

MITRE went on to note that maximizing these opportunities does not only involve providing resources and coordinating and collaborating with various agencies and levels of government; it would also involve the expansion of legal authorities.

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Commerce Dept Provides $285M for Chips Manufacturing Institute
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Commerce Dept Provides $285M for Chips Manufacturing Institute

The Department of Commerce has awarded the Semiconductor Research Corporation Manufacturing Consortium Corporation funding grant of $285 million to build and operate a chips manufacturing institute in Durham, North Carolina.

To be known as Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins USA—SMART USA for short—the $1 billion institute will develop, test and deploy digital twins to enhance domestic semiconductor design, manufacturing, advanced packaging, assembly and test processes, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Bringing Chip Production to US

According to Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the investment will assist the Biden administration’s vision of bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States. The funding will also support efforts to “pursue the research and development needed to win the future,” the Wash100 Award winner added.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo noted that digital technology will enable manufacturers and researchers to “develop and produce the next frontier of technological advancements in the semiconductor industry.”

Working to Improve Chip Industry’s Production Efficiency

Digital twins allow engineers and researchers to create virtual models to design and test processes digitally before their deployment. The technology also supports the development of future capabilities in a simulated environment. In the semiconductor industry, digital twins can use artificial intelligence to optimize chip design, improve production efficiency and lower costs.

When it becomes operational, SMART USA intends to cut down U.S. chip development and manufacturing costs by over 40 percent, reduce development cycle times by 35 percent, minimize the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent and train more than 110,000 workers and students on digital twin technology over the next five years.

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Constellation Books $1B GSA Contract for Electricity Supply
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Constellation Books $1B GSA Contract for Electricity Supply

Constellation New Energy, a company specializing in clean, emissions-free energy, has been awarded by the U.S. General Services Administration a long-term contract for the procurement of electricity, including bundled carbon pollution-free electricity.

GSA said Thursday Constellation will supply electricity to multiple federal agencies across the PJM Interconnection territory for 10 years. It covers the purchase of an estimated 10 million megawatt-hours of electricity that will be utilized by 80 federal facilities in 11 mid-Atlantic and Midwest states and Washington, D.C.

The long-term contract, which marks the largest purchase of energy in the agency’s history, is intended to enhance government agencies’ resilience and reliability, boost the domestic nuclear industry and address future price increases.

Desired Outcomes of the Contract

The deal aims to enable agencies, including data centers and artificial intelligence facilities, to deal with future electricity demands. It also ensures the safe and responsible operations of nuclear facilities. Constellation will provide electricity at a fixed cost for 10 years, safeguarding the agencies against future price increases. 

Under the agreement, the company will supply power starting in April to the GSA and 13 other entities. This includes the following:

  • Architect of the Capitol
  • Army Corps of Engineers
  • Department of Transportation
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Federal Bureau of Prisons
  • Federal Reserve Board of Governors
  • National Archives and Records Administration
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • National Park Service
  • Railroad Retirement Board
  • Social Security Administration
  • U.S. Mint
  • Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan remarked, “This historic procurement locks in a cost-competitive, reliable supply of nuclear energy over a 10-year period, accelerating progress toward a carbon-free energy future while protecting taxpayers against future price hikes.”

Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of Constellation, added, “This agreement sends a clear message that nuclear energy must continue to play an important role in providing clean, reliable, affordable and secure energy to power our nation’s infrastructure and economy at a time of rising demand.”

In November last year, Constellation was awarded a $119.8 million contract to enhance the energy efficiency of five facilities in the National Capital Region.

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IW & Signify Partner to Power LiFi Communication Tech for DOD
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IW & Signify Partner to Power LiFi Communication Tech for DOD

Intelligent Waves is collaborating with Signify to improve light fidelity, or LiFi, and two-way wireless data communication technologies throughout the Department of Defense. 

Through their joint venture, IW and Signify will leverage invisible light waves to provide reliable wireless communication technology to enable operational connectivity at the Pentagon, IW announced Friday. This venture continues the companies’ existing strategic alliance, which was established in May 2022. 

Tony Crescenzo, CEO of Intelligent Waves, said, “We are committed to delivering transformative communications technology to the defense sector. Our joint venture with Signify marks a major step forward. LiFi technology has the power to redefine the future of defense communications and operations.”

LiFi Communication

LiFi technology enables secure wireless communications and data transfer in military applications. LiFi can also be used in contested environments, reducing transmission jamming cases in high-risk mission-critical locations.

Olivia Qiu, chief innovation officer at Signify, said, “This joint venture brings together Signify’s lighting innovations with IW’s government technology expertise.”

“We are committed to providing the U.S. Department of Defense with state-of-the-art solutions that meet their evolving communications and operational needs,” noted Qiu.

The companies have also worked with the U.S. Air Force to showcase LiFi technology use in military operational environments.

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ODNI Names Doug Cossa, Brad Schulteis to Acting CIO Roles
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ODNI Names Doug Cossa, Brad Schulteis to Acting CIO Roles

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has appointed IT leaders Doug Cossa and Brad Schulteis as acting intelligence community chief information officer and deputy IC CIO, respectively.

Cossa and Schulteis announced their new positions at ODNI in separate LinkedIn posts.

Table of Contents

Doug Cossa

The newly appointed IC acting CIO most recently served as CIO at the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he oversaw the delivery of IT services to the agency and managed the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System, or JWICS.

He replaces Adele Merritt, who was named CIO at the National Institutes of Health in December.

The James Madison University graduate also served as deputy CIO at DIA.

His latest appointment marks a return to ODNI, where he previously served as deputy director of the Mission Integration Division and chief of the Priorities and Assessments Group.

Before his first stint at ODNI, Cossa served as a senior program manager at SAIC.

Brad Schulteis

As deputy IC CIO, Schulteis will be responsible for driving secure collaboration and information-sharing, addressing information enterprise risks and providing oversight of the community’s enterprise IT and related architectures that support artificial intelligence and machine learning, quantum computing and software development, according to his profile on the professional networking platform.

Prior to joining ODNI, he was director of the cloud and security enablement practice at Slalom.

He has held leadership roles at several companies, including senior director for global government solutions at Rackspace Technology, principal solutions engineer for the federal practice at CliQr Technologies and senior solutions architect for the federal segment at Amazon Web Services.

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DOD Office of Strategic Capital Issues FY25 Investment Strategy
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DOD Office of Strategic Capital Issues FY25 Investment Strategy

The Department of Defense’s Office of Strategic Capital has released a strategy that identifies and prioritizes investment areas for OSC’s credit-based financial products.

DOD said Thursday the Fiscal Year 2025 Investment Strategy integrates new authorities, establishes a framework to optimize capital allocations, defines arenas of strategic competition and identifies areas of particular interest for OSC investments.

“This Investment Strategy will ensure that we continue to build the foundation for ongoing technological leadership, economic strength, and American security,” said Lloyd Austin, secretary of DOD and a three-time Wash100 awardee.

Industry Segments of Particular Interest

The document has identified 15 industry segments of particular interest for OSC’s credit program: advanced bulk materials; advanced manufacturing; autonomous mobile robots; battery storage; biochemicals; bioenergetics; biomass; hydrogen generation and storage; microelectronics assembly, testing and packaging; microelectronics manufacturing equipment; microelectronics materials; nanomaterials and metamaterials; sensor hardware; spacecraft; and synthetic biology.

According to DOD, these segments comprise a subset of 31 covered technologies categories, or CTCs, where OSC will place focus for its credit-based financial products.

Key Arenas of Strategic Competition

The new strategy provides a framework that classifies national security impacts aligned to three core arenas of strategic competition: near-term control over chokepoints in economic networks; medium-term leadership within key industries; and long-term development of critical technologies.

“The OSC FY25 Investment Strategy provides an overarching framework as the office deploys its federal credit tools to build enduring advantages for our nation,” said Heidi Shyu, under secretary of defense for research and engineering.

“With the Investment Strategy as a guide, OSC investments will help reduce vulnerabilities to economic chokepoints, support the production of key industrial capabilities, and lead the development of next generation critical technologies,” added Shyu, a four-time Wash100 Award recipient.

In line with the release of the strategy, OSC’s application window for equipment finance loans opened on Thursday, Jan. 2, and will run through Feb. 3.

What Is OSC?

In December 2022, Austin formed OSC to help attract and scale private capital for national security priorities.

The following year, Congress enacted the office into law through the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, authorizing OSC to provide loans, loan guarantees and technical assistance to eligible companies and other entities working in 31 CTCs listed in statute.

In late September, OSC issued its first notice of funding availability as part of efforts to finance companies’ equipment needs.

In line with the release of the new strategy, the office’s application window for equipment finance loans opened on Thursday, Jan. 2, and will run through Feb. 3.

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NASA’s New Lunar Retroreflector to Boost Moon Research
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NASA’s New Lunar Retroreflector to Boost Moon Research

NASA is expecting significant scientific discoveries from the use of new retroreflector technology.

The agency said Thursday it aims to utilize the Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector, or NGLR, to further explore the Moon and understand its geological processes, interior structure, crust properties and the evolution of the Earth-Moon system.

The project, part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, is also intended to advance new research on astrophysics, cosmology and lunar physics, including Einstein’s theory of gravity or general relativity.

What Are Lunar Retroreflectors?

Retroreflectors are mirror arrays strategically placed by Apollo astronauts on the Moon over 50 years ago. These retroreflectors reflect laser light from and back to Earth in the same direction with little diffusion or scattering. By determining the time it took for the beams to reflect to Earth, scientists can measure the shape of the Moon and its distance from Earth.

The new retroreflector, developed by University of Maryland in College Park researchers, will reflect short laser pulses from lunar laser ranging observatories on Earth enabling sub-millimeter-precision range measurements.

NASA is set to deliver the NGLR-1 to the Moon on board Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander as part of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services—a.k.a. CLPS—initiative.

Another NGLR, the Artemis Lunar Laser Retroreflector, is being considered to be deployed next as part of the Artemis III Moon mission payload. It will possibly be set up near the Moon’s south pole. A third retroreflector could also be delivered on a future CLPS mission to a non-polar site.

Dennis Harris, NASA mission manager, said, “Once all three retroreflectors are operating, they are expected to deliver unprecedented opportunities to learn more about the Moon and its relationship with Earth.”

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DSCA Completes Round of CV Enrollment for NSPT Workforce
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DSCA Completes Round of CV Enrollment for NSPT Workforce

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency has announced that 23 federal agencies have completed the onboarding process into continuous vetting, or CV, services for the non-sensitive public trust, or NSPT, workforce.

The agency said Thursday a total of 26,540 NSPT members have already enrolled in the CV services, as of Dec. 12. It aims to onboard the whole NSPT population by the end of fiscal year 2025.

Continuous Vetting Services

The DCSA launched the phased rollout of the CV services for NSPT members in August 2024. The ongoing process, part of the Trusted Workforce 2.0 whole-of-government personnel vetting reform initiative, is being implemented in lieu of the current reinvestigation requirement conducted every five years. It is accompanied by attendant services, such as threat reporting to agencies, alert management and real-time threat analysis.

The CV regularly performs background checks on the NSPT population to maintain their adherence to security clearance requirements. This is necessary for identifying and managing potential risks.

The NSPT workforce is composed of individuals in non-national security roles whose possible misconduct could negatively impact the integrity and efficiency of government service. These non-sensitive roles, designated as public trust, may include rulemaking, law enforcement, public safety and health services, safeguarding government information systems and other critical functions.

DCSA Director David Cattler remarked, “Expansion of CV to the NSPT workforce is a critical component of federal Trusted Workforce 2.0 policy and enhances the trustworthiness of all federal employees.”

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BIS Launches Research on Rules for Drones’ ICTS Supply Chain
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BIS Launches Research on Rules for Drones’ ICTS Supply Chain

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security has released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to solicit public input on the regulations it is drafting to secure the supply chain of information and communications technology and services, or ICTS, for unmanned aircraft systems. The notice, set for publication on the Federal Register Friday, outlines several areas for comment, such as assessments of ICTS transaction risks arising from foreign adversaries like China and Russia, the bureau said Thursday.

The BIS notice also seeks public feedback on potential approval processes for requests to engage in regulated commercial transactions, possible economic impact of prohibiting certain ICTS deals and mitigation steps on potential adverse effects of the supply chain rules. The deadline for comment submission is on March 4.

‘Essential Step’ for National Security

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo called the BIS rulemaking on the drone ICTS supply chain as “an essential step” to protect U.S. vulnerabilities from foreign entities.

“Securing the unmanned aircraft systems technology supply chain is critical to safeguarding our national security,” she stressed.

In a related development, the Commerce Department in early December formalized the Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services, or OICTS, tasked with conducting investigations of foreign adversary threats to ICTS transactions that may impact U.S. national security.

The Defense Innovation Unit and the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International also announced in June the publication of their joint a memo providing procurement guidance and recommendations for public safety and government agencies and industry entities that perform sensitive missions using drones.

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