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Ball Aerospace Completes MethaneSAT Preliminary Design; Makenzie Lystrup Quoted
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Ball Aerospace Completes MethaneSAT Preliminary Design; Makenzie Lystrup Quoted

Ball Aerospace Completes MethaneSAT Preliminary Design; Makenzie Lystrup Quoted

Ball Aerospace has successfully completed the preliminary design review (PDR) of the advanced spectrometer instrument for the MethaneSAT Flight System, the company announced on Thursday. With the completion of PDR, Ball will proceed with the critical design phase.

“We are excited to be a part of a mission that aims to study and address the impact of methane on the environment and climate,” said Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager, Civil Space, Ball Aerospace. “MethaneSAT fits well with Ball’s long history of earth science, our commitment to sustainability and our experience in providing highly-calibrated measurements of environmental factors related to ozone, weather and pollution.”

MethaneSAT is a 350-kilogram satellite designed to locate and measure global methane emissions. It has two extremely sensitive spectrometers that have been aligned in the center of the instrument. The sensors will enable measurement through shortwave infrared spectrum.

The spectrum will render light, which allows the sensors to detect concentrations as low as two parts per billion. MethaneSAT is expected to be launched in 2022. Ball Aerospace has also supported flight systems integration and testing, launch support and commissioning services to multiple testing devices.

“MethaneSAT is built around a set of high performance technologies and sophisticated analytics tools that when combined provide a major leap in our ability to measure and quantify even low-level methane emissions across the globe from space,” said mission co-lead Dr. Steven Hamburg, who also serves as Chief Scientist for Environmental Defense Fund. “We’re asking a lot of our technical partners and Ball Aerospace is rising to the occasion.”

About Ball Corporation

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) supplies innovative, sustainable aluminum packaging solutions for beverage, personal care and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 18,300 people worldwide and reported 2019 net sales of $11.5 billion.

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Leidos Announces Fourth Quarter and FY2019 Results; Roger Krone Quoted
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Leidos Announces Fourth Quarter and FY2019 Results; Roger Krone Quoted
Leidos Announces Fourth Quarter and FY2019 Results; Roger Krone Quoted

Leidos has reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year (FY) 2019 on Tuesday, citing the company’s exponential growth throughout the year. 

"We delivered strong fourth quarter results, including record organic revenue growth, increasing margins and significant year-over-year non-GAAP earnings growth. Our growth and execution momentum accelerated throughout 2019 and has continued into 2020 with significant new program wins and the opportunity to create value from our two recently announced acquisitions,” said Roger Krone, Leidos chairman, chief executive officer and seven-time Wash100 Award recipient.

Leidos’s reported revenues for the fourth quarter were $2.95 billion, compared to $2.65 billion in the prior year quarter and operating income for the quarter was $261 million, compared to $188 million in the prior year quarter.

Diluted earnings per share ("EPS") attributable to Leidos common stockholders for the quarter was $1.26, compared to $1.25 in the prior year quarter. Non-GAAP diluted EPS for the fourth quarter was $1.51 compared to $1.10 in the prior year quarter. 

Defense Solutions revenues for the quarter of $1.40 billion increased $135 million, or 10.7%, compared to the prior year quarter. Civil revenues for the quarter of $1.03 billion increased $143 million, or 16.2%, compared to the prior year quarter. 

Civil operating income margin for the quarter was 9.4%, compared to 7.1% in the prior year quarter. Health revenues for the quarter of $526 million increased $29 million, or 5.8%, as compared to the prior year quarter.

Revenues for FY2019 were $11.09 billion, compared to $10.19 billion in the prior year, reflecting an 8.8% increase and operating income for fiscal year 2019 was $912 million, compared to $749 million in 2018. 

Diluted EPS attributable to Leidos common stockholders for fiscal year 2019 was $4.60, compared to $3.80 for the prior year. Non-GAAP diluted EPS for fiscal year 2019 was $5.17, compared to $4.38 in the prior year. The diluted share count was 145 million compared to 153 million in the prior year.

Defense Solutions revenues of $5.37 billion for fiscal year 2019 increased $401 million, or 8.1%, compared to the prior year. Defense Solutions operating income margin for fiscal year 2019 was 7.6%, compared to 7.1% in the prior year. 

Civil revenues of $3.73 billion for fiscal year 2019 increased $318 million, or 9.3%, compared to the prior year. Civil operating income margin for fiscal year 2019 was 7.9%, compared to 8.3% in the prior year. Health revenues of $2.00 billion for fiscal year 2019 increased $181 million, or 10.0%, compared to the prior year.

“I am confident that we are growing the company with the right talent, the right capabilities and the right strategy to continue to drive value for our customers, employees and shareholders," Krone concluded.

About Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500® information technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil and health markets. The Company's 36,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers.

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Unisys Announces Contest to Hack Unisys Stealth Solution, Winner Receives $10K; Mat Newfield Quoted
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Unisys Announces Contest to Hack Unisys Stealth Solution, Winner Receives $10K; Mat Newfield Quoted
Unisys Announces Contest to Hack Unisys Stealth Solution, Winner Receives $10K; Mat Newfield Quoted

Unisys has offered $10,000 to participants who can capture data and credentials protected by the Unisys Stealth cybersecurity solution at the RSA 2020 Conference in San Francisco to prove the technology's security, the company announced on Thursday.

"In the event that any of the contest participants is able to 'capture the flag,' we will have our team ready to work through the necessary remediation steps," said Unisys Chief Information Security Officer Mat Newfield. 

Unisys will hold sessions where participants will try to compromise a target, “capture the flag,” system protected by Stealth, Unisys' encrypted, identity-based microsegmentation solution. In order to win, participants must capture Stealth-protected documents and hidden file information using personal computing devices.

"We feel so confident in the ability of Stealth to protect our clients' data that we are putting our money where our mouth is," added Newfield. 

The "Unisys Stealth Capture the Flag" contest will take place on Feb. 26th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The contest will consist of two three-hour sessions, each of which will be limited to one potential winner. Participants must be present, but conference badges are not required.

There will be a maximum of 20 participants per session, and Unisys may close registration once the maximum number of registrations is received. 

Unisys has integrated Stealth technology with Microsoft Azure in Oct. 2019. The collaboration has supported enterprise information technology and cloud migration activities.

The integrated offerings are intended to operate in zero-trust architectures while preventing interruptions in an Azure environment and supporting rapid updates to security configuration requirements. The two companies are continuing efforts to discover new ways of using the combined technologies for secure cloud migration.

“We look forward to teaming with Unisys to help more government and commercial clients accelerate their migration to the Azure cloud,” said Jeff Cohen, partner group project manager for Azure at Microsoft.

About Unisys

Unisys is a global information technology company that builds high-performance, security-centric solutions for the most demanding businesses and governments. Unisys offerings include security software and services; digital transformation and workplace services; industry applications and services; and innovative software operating environments for high-intensity enterprise computing.

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Gen. Jay Raymond Clears Space Force Satcom Enterprise Vision
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Gen. Jay Raymond Clears Space Force Satcom Enterprise Vision
Jay Raymond
Jay Raymond

Gen. John "Jay" Raymond, chief of space operations at the U.S. Space Force and a 2020 Wash100 inductee, has signed a document that describes how the new service branch envisions building a single enterprise to support warfighter communications through military and commercial satellite networks.

USSF said Wednesday it aims to help military personnel transition from one network or terminal to another with minimal disruption as part of its Vision for Enterprise Satcom.

The service worked with its Commercial SATCOM Office and the Space and Missile Systems Center to determine what concepts and requirements to incorporate into the vision document. 

According to USSF, it plans to form a group of professionals that will be tasked with organizing the enterprise and creating a roadmap to align budgeting efforts with the integrated satcom plan.
 
The branch added it seeks to produce a "flexible modem interface" framework meant to support the Department of Defense roaming service as well as a Wideband Global SATCOM replacement strategy.

“Despite the global, instantaneous reach of our satellite communications systems … the current loose federation of SATCOM systems needs to improve in resiliency, robustness, flexibility, and manageability,” said Maj. Gen. Bill Liquori, director of strategic requirements, architectures and analysis at USSF.

The document calls for the service to adopt approaches that can accelerate technology procurement efforts and command-and-control systems that can help warfighters gain an advantage during missions.

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KBR Release Fourth Quarter, FY2019 Financial Results, FY2020 Guidance; Stuart Bradie Quoted
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KBR Release Fourth Quarter, FY2019 Financial Results, FY2020 Guidance; Stuart Bradie Quoted
KBR Release Fourth Quarter, FY2019 Financial Results, FY2020 Guidance; Stuart Bradie Quoted

KBR has announced fourth quarter, fiscal 2019 financial results, and guidance for fiscal 2020, showing strong growth, earning performance and operating cash flow across all operating segments, the company reported on Thursday.  

"Our portfolio of long-term, multi-year contracts and bookings momentum provide earnings and cash visibility, and we begin 2020 with over 70% of the year's work secured…our board has recently approved a 25% increase to our quarterly dividend and has restored the full capacity of our share repurchase authorization to $350 million," said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO.

KBR reported consolidated revenue of $5.6 billion or 15 percent annual growth with all operating segments contributing double digit growth; operating cash flow of $256 million, or 127 percent net income conversion with all operating segments contributing at or above targeted levels.

The company has stated that consolidated book-to-bill of 1.3x, excluding the impact of privately financed initiatives or projects and foreign exchange, with all operating segments achieving book-to-bill of greater than 1.0x.

KBR saw a 14 percent growth in Government Solutions, accrediting the growth to new programs, including holistic human and psychological performance services for the U.S. Special Operations Forces under the Preservation of the Force and Family program and the disaster recovery work at Tyndall Air Force Base, generating approximately $150 million of revenue in 2019.

The company reported 26 percent growth in Technology Solutions for KBR’s work across the chemical, petrochemical, refining and ammonia projects and 16 percent growth in Energy Solutions for ramp up of cost-reimbursable projects, including a brownfield revamp refinery project in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

KBR released the company’s highlighted that for FY2019, the annual operating cash flow of $256 million, or 127 percent net income conversion, gross and net debt leverage of 2.7x and 1.2x, respectively and continued gross debt de-leveraging attributable to Adjusted EBITDA growth and annual debt pay down of $70 million.

For business, the company reported that its expanded footprint through project program wins, including the NASA Launch Range Operations Contract for Wallops Flight Facility in June 2019. KBR has projected 2020 growth initiatives, including GAAP EPS guidance with a range of $1.46 to $1.58 and adjusted EPS guidance with a range of $1.80 to $1.92 per share. 

"The commitment, dedication and enthusiasm of our people, working together across the globe, is the foundation of our company, and I wish to thank them for their many contributions to another year of great results," said Bradie.

About KBR, Inc.

KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the Government Services and Hydrocarbons sectors. KBR employs approximately 38,000 people worldwide (including our joint ventures), with customers in more than 80 countries, and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses: Government Solutions, Technology Solutions, Energy Solutions

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ACT-IAC Releases DevOps Primer to Advance IT Practices; Jeremy Wood, David Wennergren Quoted
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ACT-IAC Releases DevOps Primer to Advance IT Practices; Jeremy Wood, David Wennergren Quoted
ACT-IAC Releases DevOps Primer to Advance IT Practices; Jeremy Wood, David Wennergren Quoted

The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) has released DevOps Primer, an organizational philosophy that requires an essential shift in attitudes and approach, on Thursday.

"The ACT-IAC DevOps Primer will help guide federal agencies and increase their ability to deliver applications and services at a faster pace than using traditional software development and infrastructure management processes," stated Jeremy Wood, director of Policy and Planning with the Office of the Chief Information Officer at Millennium Challenge Corporation.

ACT-IAC produced DevOps through a collaborative, volunteer effort by a working group from government and industry, hosted by the ACT-IAC Emerging Technology Community of Interest (COI). The philosophy promotes a growth mindset paired with reengineered practices and tools.  

The company developed DevOps to guide and support the federal government to successfully complete a variety of missions. The primer features recommendations from government and industry leaders to identify and explore the culture, practice, and tools to advance the DevOps development.

"The ACT-IAC DevOps Primer is an outstanding example of the power of government and industry collaboration. It contains essential material for both federal and industry IT leaders looking for practical ways to innovate and quickly deliver results," said David Wennergren, CEO of ACT-IAC.

ACT-IAC has also recently issued a report on its Data-Driven Decision Making initiative aimed at helping agencies comply with the Federal Data Strategy in Oct. 2019. The report includes a self-assessment tool, digital maturity model and other recommendations in line with feedback from 13 federal agencies.

“Projects and programs focused on data management and appropriate use will help the government achieve its strategic goals, enhance services to citizens, and improve government operations,” ACT-IAC reported. 

American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC)

The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) is a non-profit educational organization created to provide a safe haven for collaboration and the only place where government and industry can work together as true partners towards a shared vision of a more effective, efficient and innovative government.

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CISA Issues Alert on Ransomware Attack on Pipeline Operator
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CISA Issues Alert on Ransomware Attack on Pipeline Operator
CISA Issues Alert on Ransomware Attack on Pipeline Operator

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Tuesday issued an alert about a ransomware attack on information and operational technology networks of a natural gas compression facility. 

The Department of Homeland Security’s CISA said the cyber threat actor initially obtained access to the pipeline operator’s IT network using a spearphishing link before infiltrating the OT network and deploying ransomware on both networks. The attack resulted in an operational shutdown for approximately two days and loss of productivity.

CISA also found that the pipeline operator failed to implement segmentation between its OT and IT networks and its emergency response plan did not specifically consider cyber-related risks.

The agency called on asset operators and owners and network administrator to consider operational, planning, architectural and technical mitigation measures using risk-based assessment strategy. These include identifying single points of failure for operational visibility, ensuring that emergency response plans consider cyber incidents, requiring multifactor authentication, updating software and implementing execution prevention through application whitelisting.

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Navy Unveils Information Security Vision
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Navy Unveils Information Security Vision
Navy Unveils Information Security Vision

The Department of the Navy has released a report outlining measures to modernize, innovate and defend its information systems against cyber vulnerabilities in support of the service’s new information management strategy.

The Information Superiority Vision report includes plans to update the service branch’s information infrastructure and design a cloud-based network that will leverage identity management.

Under the innovation line of effort, the military branch will adopt artificial intelligence, create digital innovation centers to speed up software development and leverage the private sector’s best practices to advance digital transformation.

The Navy will collaborate with the defense industrial base to ensure the security of naval information and perform continuous active monitoring to boost cyber situational awareness.

“Everyone in the DON enterprise must become a Cyber Sentry,” Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly wrote in the report. “The more advanced we become as an Information-Based organization, the more our adversaries will seek to attack and exploit us in this domain.”

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John Rood to Step Down as Defense Undersecretary for Policy
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John Rood to Step Down as Defense Undersecretary for Policy
John Rood
John Rood

John Rood, undersecretary of defense for policy, will step down from his post at the Department of Defense on Feb. 28, CNN reported Wednesday. President Trump confirmed Rood’s resignation in a tweet posted Wednesday. Sources told the publication Rood’s departure stems from several issues, including the handling of military aid to Ukraine.

"I would like to thank John Rood for his service to the Department," Defense Secretary and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner Mark Esper said in a statement Wednesday. "John has played a critical role on a wide range of DoD issues including modernizing our nuclear deterrence capability, efforts to increase burden sharing by our NATO allies, our Missile Defense Review and implementing the National Defense Strategy. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

Rood assumed his current role in January 2018. He has two decades of government experience at the departments of State, Defense, CIA and the National Security Council and held senior leadership roles at Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

Alyssa Farah, DoD press secretary, said in a statement James Anderson, who currently performs the duties of deputy defense undersecretary for policy, will take over Rood’s responsibilities until a permanent successor is named and confirmed.

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USAF Helps Students Pursue Cybersecurity Careers
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USAF Helps Students Pursue Cybersecurity Careers
USAF Helps Students Pursue Cybersecurity Careers

The U.S. Air Force has launched a program that aims to help students attain a certification required for cybersecurity careers in the service branch. The new pathfinder program would allow reclassed student airmen to retake the Security+ exam within their initial six months of military duty, USAF said Tuesday.

The effort provides a second chance to students who have failed the complex exam at first take. USAF administers Security+ to determine whether someone holds the expertise necessary for information security work.

“I was shocked when I heard I was able to take the test again," said Airman 1st Class Johnathan Garcia, a 75th Communications Squadron client systems technician who failed the exam on his first take. He is also the program's initial participant. "After passing, I felt accomplished and motivated because I was ready to pursue the career I initially wanted," he added.

USAF's 81st Training Group seeks to use the program as a medium for continued motivation across airmen.

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