Will Roper, assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics at the U.S. Air Force and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said the service branch is considering commercial drones and high-end unmanned aircraft as it looks to replace the General Atomics-built MQ-9 Reaper drone, Defense News reported Thursday.

He said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing the Air Force is working on a study that will set the path for the Reaper replacement effort and inform the budget for fiscal year 2022.

"The Reaper has been a great platform for us. Four million flight hours, just undeniable overmatch in a low-end uncontested fight, and it is certainly saving lives,” Roper told lawmakers. “But as we look to the high end fight, we just can't take them into the battlefield. They are easily shot down.”

Roper said the service may require drones that “are more high-end, military-unique” or cheap unmanned attritable aircraft that are reusable.

The Departrment of Veterans Affairs is requesting for a 12 percent increase in funding to support commercial information technology procurement efforts under its IT office, FedScoop reported Thursday.

Paul Lawrence, the VA's undersecretary for benefits, said at a budget request hearing that the department seeks to procure a range of commercial off-the-shelf-offerings such as high-performance computers, customer management systems and other data-related capabilities to enable central processing and location of veteran information.

Surafeal Asgedom, chief modernizing officer at the VA, told attendees at a FedScoop event that COTS procurement has supported efforts like the VA’s online services consolidation initiative.

“It really requires industry partnerships,” he said. “The expectation is that veterans will have the same type of experience when they interact with us as well as when they interact with the private sector."

The Defense Innovation Unit plans to continue its annual prize challenge for computer vision technologies designed to support disaster relief missions, National Defense Magazine reported Thursday.

The xView2 Challenge aims to use artificial intelligence and machine learning for automated assessments of post-disaster damage.

Last year's iteration of the contest tasked participants to create computer vision algorithms that accelerate imagery analysis. These algorithms classify images into categories based on damage characteristics.

DIU tackles AI and ML as technology focus areas in addition to commercial space, human systems, cyber and autonomy.

“We think those are the areas that are undergoing the greatest rate of change in the commercial sector,” said Mike Madsen, director of strategic engagement at DIU.

NASA's Gateway space outpost will field two scientific investigations to study space weather and the sun's radiation.

The agency said Thursday it has built a space weather instrument platform that will work to gather data from solar particles and solar wind to potentially augment space weather forecast capabilities.

The radiation instrument tool is developed by the European Space Agency to help astronauts trace radiation exposure around the Gateway's orbit.

Gateway is slated to orbit near the moon and house astronauts on a regular basis as part of the agency's lunar exploration efforts. NASA noted it will deploy additional payloads from the outpost in the future.

“Using the Gateway as a platform for robotic and human exploration around the Moon will help inform what we do on the lunar surface as well as prepare us for our next giant leap – human exploration of Mars,” said Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator.

NASA is currently in talks with ESA, the Canadian Space Agency and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency to seek their support in Gateway's construction.

About The Wash100

The Wash100 Award, now in its seventh year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2020 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2020.

Michael Griffin, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and two-time Wash100 Award recipient, said he sees quantum applications as long-term pursuits in the Department of Defense, DoD News reported Thursday.

DoD now focuses on what quantum computing and communication can do for the military in the short term, instead of going beyond what is available in resources, Griffin said to the House Armed Services Committee.

He gave examples of DoD's quantum priorities, such as quantum clocks and sensors. Quantum clocks would help troops maintain communications in environments denied of GPS, the undersecretary noted.

"These are the things that we will see in the next few years and where we are focusing a substantial amount of our effort," he stated.

About The Wash100

The Wash100 Award, now in its seventh year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2020 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2020.

President Trump has signed legislation focused on ensuring the security of 5G technologies intended to support critical infrastructure and expand broadband access to rural areas and underserved communities.

The White House said Thursday the  Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act impoises bans on the use of federal funding to procure telecommunications technologies from companies that “pose a national security threat.” The administration will provide reimbursements to entities that have deployed telecom equipment from blacklisted firms to cover removal and replacement work.

As part of the legislation, the federal government will facilitate information-sharing across its stakeholder network to promote supply shain security and mitigate risks to 5G implementation.

“The stakes could not be higher—America’s citizens and our foreign partners must be able to trust that our 5G networks are reliable, private, and secure,” the White House notice states.

The Trump administration is “working with allies and partners” to develop telecom security principles and ensure that the private sector has spectrum access to support mid-band communications and improved wireless connectivity, according to the notice.