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SwRI Secures $250M Air Force Contract for Aircraft Systems, Materials Degradation Study
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Logo of Southwest Research Institute

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Southwest Research Institute a $250 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to support a study on aircraft systems and materials degradation due to operational use.

Work under the Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension research and development effort, also known as CAStLE, will be performed at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado and other U.S. locations through May 2032, the Department of Defense said Friday.

SwRI’s latest contract win builds on the USAF’s $99 million CAStLE IDIQ award to the nonprofit organization in 2021 to conduct research and engineering work on aging systems and materials.

Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension Research Mission

CAStLE R&D projects aim to deliver critical science and technology data and tools required to understand the impact of material degradation in structural systems for various government, academic and commercial sponsors.

Its major projects are:

  • Aircraft Structural Integrity Program engineering support for the sustainment of various DOD weapon systems
  • Structural redesign, material substitution, prototyping and validation testing
  • Digital transformation support and product lifecycle management for major weapon systems 
  • Fatigue testing of full-scale aircraft structural components
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NGA Director Says $1.7B St. Louis Campus to Open in September
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Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth, eighth director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will officially open its $1.7 billion facility north of downtown St. Louis in Missouri in September, Space News reported Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth, the agency’s director and four-time Wash100 Award winner, saying during a recent House hearing.

This new campus will foster innovation and collaboration between the federal government, private companies and academia, Whitworth added.

Top leaders from the intelligence community will discuss its challenges and opportunities at Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Intel Summit on Oct. 2. Register for the in-person event here.

What is NGA West? 

The campus will replace NGA’s current site in downtown. According to the agency, the 700,000-square-foot office building will have a delivery inspection facility, a visitor center and secure entrance and exit points for its 3,150 staff members. 

NGA West represents the largest federal investment in St. Louis. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with support from McCarthy HITT Joint Venture, is managing the large-scale construction project. 

“One of the best examples of the combination of business, academia, civil government, federal government, intelligence, all banding together to ensure that this is a success,” Whitworth commented about the facility. 

The official also emphasized the importance of space-based systems for NGA’s mission to deliver geospatial intelligence data for for national security. 

“Gathering the data and imagery necessary to characterize the activities and operations of our adversaries from the earth to space, is not a simple task,” he said.

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GSA Official: Government Has Opportunity to Implement Acquisition Reforms
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Logo of the General Services Administration

The federal government has a unique opportunity to implement acquisition reforms in President Donald Trump’s second term, according to Larry Allen, associate administrator of the Office of Government-wide Policy at the General Services Administration.

Allen said a new presidential administration and the GSA’s “exceptionally dynamic” leadership team presents an opportunity to streamline government procurement, Nextgov/FCW reported Friday. He said the White House has ongoing initiatives to direct how the government will purchase up to $1 trillion worth of goods and services each year. The programs will also affect vendors’ engagement with federal customers, he noted.

GSA’s OneGov Strategy

Allen pointed to the GSA’s OneGov Strategy as an example, noting that companies like Google and Adobe now offer discounts of more than 70 percent for their software offerings. GSA estimates that OneGov, led by Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum, could save federal agencies around $2 billion over three years.

Through the OneGov Strategy’s initial stage, the government expects to secure more enterprise-level agreements with software vendors soon, Allen said. He added that GSA aims to ramp up using such agreements to increase efficiency, reduce costs and deliver better outcomes to customers in the program’s next phase.

Saving Taxpayer Money

“The reason we put this in place is so that everybody can do it,” Allen said. “You’re going to get unbelievable pricing (and) you’re going to get an unbelievable level of service commitment. You should be using those enterprise agreements first before you even think about going anywhere else because this is going to save you money and the taxpayer money.”

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Army Unveils Generative AI Platform
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Closeup of a soldier holding a tablet showing a visual representation of an AI tool analyzing battlefield data

The U.S. Army has launched a generative artificial intelligence platform to help reclassify personnel descriptions, streamline communications and drive innovation.

The military branch said Thursday it will deploy the Army Enterprise Large Language Model, or LLM, Workspace by the end of May to Secret Internet Protocol Router Network and higher networks to support classified networks.

Army Unveils Generative AI Platform

Gain insights into the latest technology advancements, modernization imperatives, force structure optimization, national security missions and more at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Army Summit on June 18. Reserve your seat today.

What Is the Army Enterprise Large Language Model Workspace?

The Army Enterprise LLM Workspace is a generative AI tool hosted within the service’s cArmy Cloud. It is supported by Ask Sage’s Impact Level 5 software-as-a-service to make it accessible to users.

The platform uses Azure OpenAI Gov, LLM3A.3.3, Mistral, AWS Bedrock Gov, Google Gemini and other technologies and is controlled unclassified information accredited to ensure compliance with security standards.

Ask Sage developed the generative AI tool under a five-year, $49 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.

Token-Based Subscription

Eligible users can use the AI tool for 30 days free of charge.

After the free trial period, users will need a token to get a full subscription to the generative AI platform.

The Army’s Office of the Chief Information Officer has released a limited number of tokens. To continue accessing the tool, users should request a token from their organization.

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Dave Luber to Retire as NSA Director of Cybersecurity
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Dave Luber, director of cybersecurity at the National Security Agency, is retiring.

Dave Luber is set to retire as director of cybersecurity at the National Security Agency on May 30, The Record reported Friday.

Dave Luber’s Extensive NSA Career

Luber has served the NSA for over 38 years. He was appointed cybersecurity director at the NSA in March 2024 after serving as the deputy director of the directorate for nearly four years. In this capacity, Luber oversaw the agency’s cybersecurity operations and directed strategies that implemented changes across the Department of Defense’s cybersecurity community. He was also instrumental in the expansion of the Cyber Collaboration Center.

Before that, Luber was the executive director of the U.S. Cyber Command. In his two-year tenure, he managed a multi-function team of over 12,000 personnel and a budget of $700 million while overseeing the development of cyber tools, infrastructure, training, exercises and analytics. 

Luber served as director of NSA Colorado from 2015 to 2018, leading the cryptologic center in developing integrated intelligence for global military applications. He was also a program director for the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, tasked with strengthening the agency’s operational posture in support of Combatant Commanders and national agencies. 

The NSA cyber director also served as chief of the Remote Operations Center under the Tailored Access Operations, the agency’s elite hacking unit. He served various roles since joining the NSA in 1987 and was named a top-level career civil servant and member of the Senior Executive Service in 2008.

Luber’s decision to retire follows the firing of Cyber Command and NSA chief Timothy Haugh. The Record also reported that the current deputy director and chief operating officer will leave NSA.

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DOE Office of Tech Transitions Rebrands as Office of Tech Commercialization
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Headshot of Anthony Pugliese, director of the Office of Technology Commercialization at the Department of Energy

The Department of Energy has changed the name of the Office of Technology Transitions to the Office of Technology Commercialization, or OTC, as part of a rebranding initiative that seeks to reinforce DOE’s commitment to linking public research and development to public sector application and economic impact.

“This renaming is a clear signal that the Department of Energy is prioritizing commercialization and increasing our focus on delivering results for the American people,” Anthony Pugliese, DOE chief commercialization officer and OTC director, said in a statement published Thursday.

What Is the DOE Office of Technology Commercialization’s Purpose?

OTC will serve as the department’s key resource for expediting the impact of federally funded innovation. It will help transition DOE-backed technologies into platforms that strengthen U.S. resilience and global competitiveness.

“The mission of this office is to ensure the American public sees real benefits from the science they fund—through new companies, jobs, and technologies that make energy more affordable, reliable and secure,” Pugliese noted.

OTC oversees several programs that support private sector partnerships, entrepreneurial training and early-stage development. These include the Technology Commercialization Fund, Energy I-Corps, EnergyTech University Prize and the Energy Program for Innovation Clusters.

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Navy Secretary John Phelan Names Readiness as Top Priority
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John Phelan, the new secretary of the Navy discussed the challenges facing the service and their priorities at a hearing.

John Phelan, the newly appointed secretary of the Navy, has identified readiness as his priority for the service. The official joined Adm. James W. Kilby, acting chief of naval operations, during a recent House Appropriations Committee hearing to discuss current military challenges and how they plan to address them, the Department of Defense said Thursday. 

Navy Secretary John Phelan Names Readiness as Top Priority

Learn more about the critical challenges and opportunities that the U.S. Navy is currently facing at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Navy Summit on Aug. 26. Register for the in-person event here.

Strengthening US Shipbuilding Capability 

Part of Phelan’s plan for the Navy is to rebuild the “hollowed-out maritime industrial base,” which he told lawmakers is critical to national security.

According to the official, he recently visited eight shipyards across the East Coast and the Indo-Pacific and spoke with leaders and tradesmen at each location. In one shipyard in Japan, he noted that workers get the same productivity in one shift that American shipyards would achieve in three shifts. 

One factor that he noticed that is different in Japan compared to the U.S. is age. Phelan explained that the average age of the Japanese shipyard workers is 50, which is a reflection that shipbuilding is a career. Japanese welders also do not deal with paperwork, whereas American welders spend up to 40 percent of their time filling out forms.

“I now have a clear picture of where our shipbuilding dollars have been going, and [I] am developing a plan to fix what’s broken,” he stated.

Kilby admitted during the hearing that Navy platforms “are not as ready as they need to be.” The service is aiming to ensure that 80 percent of ships, submarines and aircraft are combat-surge-ready by January 2027. 

The Navy, he shared, is working on reducing maintenance delay through training, modernization and sustainment. The official also noted that consistent and predictable funding will be critical to readiness efforts.

Recruiting More Sailors, Making More Munitions

Kilby also flagged workforce shortage as another challenge for the Navy. He said the service needs approximately 23,000 sailors to man ships, but the Navy is on track to significantly reduce the shortage by the end of fiscal 2026. 

“We’re committed to attracting and developing Americans who can innovate, solve hard problems and dominate in combat,” commented the acting naval operations chief.

He also noted that the Navy is seeing a strain on the munitions industrial base, a problem highlighted by ordinance expenditures in the Red Sea against the Houthis. 

Kilby assured that the Navy is working with contractors and new entrants to the maritime industrial base to develop kinetic and non-kinetic weapons at speed and scale. 

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AUVSI Calls for FMS, Export Control Reform to Boost Allied Defense Cooperation
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The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International has urged the Senate to update the foreign military sales process.

The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International has urged the Senate Armed Services Committee to update the foreign military sales process and the U.S. export control measures, particularly those delaying the transfer of uncrewed and autonomous systems to allied countries.

In a testimony submitted to SASC on Thursday, AUVSI said the current FMS process and export control regimes are outdated, resulting in weakening defense cooperation and widening strategic and capability gaps, which U.S. adversaries such as China could exploit.

Regulatory Mismatch

According to AUVSI, the unmanned aircraft system sector faces increasing challenges due to regulatory misalignment that conflicts with the United States’ strategic priorities, citing the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act and AUKUS Pillar II that promote autonomous system codevelopment with allies but hindered by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, which continues to exclude most UAS-related technical data from International Traffic in Arms Regulations exemptions.

The organization also highlighted how outdated international controls hamper the export of unmanned systems. AUVSI said the Missile Technology Control Regime thresholds, specifically a range of 300 km and a payload of 500 kg, do not account for modern, attritable UAS designed for tactical operations.

“Subjecting these platforms to the same constraints as intercontinental systems disadvantages U.S. companies and has allowed nonMTCR competitors, such as the PRC and Turkey, to capture over 60% of the global UAS export market,” AUVSI explained.

The organization provided recommendations to address the FMS and export control concerns, including clarifying ITAR exemptions to include UAS-related technical data aligned with FY2024 NDAA and AUKUS Pillar II priorities, updating the MTCR thresholds to exclude attritable UAS to enable U.S. companies to compete more effectively in the global market, and funding FMS digitalization to track delays in sustainment and cooperative development programs and streamline the export process to reduce turnaround times for UAS sustainment cases.

Chinese Trade Restrictions

U.S. drone manufacturers and component suppliers are facing challenges in accessing critical technologies stemming from China’s export restrictions on seven rare earth elements and magnets used in the defense, energy and automotive sectors. China’s Ministry of Commerce announced the export control measures in April in response to U.S. tariff increases on Chinese products.

According to AUVSI, China’s action highlighted the need to expand domestic production of autonomy-critical components, including sensors, artificial intelligence chips and rare earth materials, to eliminate the dependency of the U.S. drone sector on Chinese supply chains.

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DHS S&T Delivers Detecting Presence of Life Technology to MaXentric
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DHS Science and Technology Directorate has officially handed the Detect Presence of Life tool to MaXentric Technologies

The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology directorate has officially handed the Detect Presence of Life, or DepLife, technology to MaXentric Technologies.

DHS S&T said MaXentric will provide law enforcement agencies access to the new first responder capability.

What Is DepLife?

DepLife is a radar-based system designed to detect the presence of life. It enables law enforcement officers and first responders to determine if individuals are inside a room or building when direct line-of-sight is impossible.

The First Responder Resource Group, under DHS S&T, initially identified the need for a hands-free version of the DepLife tool. The directorate funded and developed the DepLife system in a collaborative effort with MaXentric. Following the completion of field assessments last fall, the Fort Lee, New Jersey-based company began manufacturing the initial set of commercial units for interested law enforcement agencies.

DepLife is designed to work in tandem with other detection and tracking technologies developed by DHS S&T, including the SDS Outdoor outside gunshot detection system and MappedIn Maker. This provides first responders a more comprehensive understanding of the situation and enables them to coordinate effectively.

Julie Brewer, acting under secretary for science and technology, said, “DepLife provides first responders with critical intelligence and situational awareness, while reducing their risk of incurring physical harm. This technology could support serving search warrants, searching for trafficked individuals or even potential hostage situations.”

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GAO Report: New DOD Guidance Needed to Reflect Expanded PDA Use
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GAO has called on the DOD to develop new guidance that reflects the expanded use of Presidential Drawdown Authority.

The Government Accountability Office has called on the Department of Defense to update or develop new guidance that reflects the expanded use of presidential drawdown authority, or PDA.

A modified guidance would better represent the expanded PDA, which now provides U.S. military equipment from the DOD inventory beyond the statutory $100 million annual ceiling, GAO said in a report published Thursday. The new guidance will help the government decide “how much or which equipment to provide to foreign partners,” the office added.

DOD Failed to Conduct Budget Impact Assessments

The GAO study found that since 2022, Congress had authorized the president to expand PDA, leading to the drawdown of $31.7 billion of defense articles and services to Ukraine and over $1 billion to Haiti and Taiwan. In exchange, the DOD received $45.8 billion to replace equipment provided to Ukraine. However, GAO noted that while PDA was accelerated to help Ukraine, the Pentagon failed to conduct operations and maintenance, or O&M, budget impact assessments for the packages. The report warned that without proper guidance from DOD, decision-makers would not receive the critical information to review the effect of PDA packages on military services’ O&M budgets.

To address the potential issues, GAO stressed the importance of new guidance on using available funds to replace DOD equipment shipped to partners through PDA. Such guidance would ensure that “U.S. military services do not face greater than anticipated readiness impact,” according to the report.

GAO Exercising Oversight of Ukraine Funding

GAO conducted the study to exercise its oversight of funding provided to Ukraine as mandated by the Consolidated Appropriations Act and to meet the requirements of the 2024 DOD appropriations bill, which directed the office to review the agency’s execution of PDA and related funding since February 2022.

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