The U.S. Army plans to make investments in advanced manufacturing techniques to keep pace with industry and near-peer competitors and build up military readiness, National Defense reported Tuesday.

“The Army is watching what is going on in the commercial industrial sector and we want in,” said Alexis Ross, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for strategy and acquisition reform.

“We are seeing not only the industry do it, but we’re also seeing our near-peer adversaries. And this is what is particularly motivating and why we’re talking such a big effort in this right now.”

The service branch introduced earlier this month a policy to promote the use of artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing and other advanced manufacturing methods to expand operational rates for legacy systems and optimize logistics capabilities.

Ross said the new policy directs her office to come up with a holistic threat-based strategic plan to ensure “that we’re tying together in a unified fashion the entire Army enterprise and determining exactly where and how to spend our money.”

Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command has received $25M in funds to establish at Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois a center of excellence focused on advanced manufacturing, according to the report.

NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility has connected the first RS-25 engine to the core stage of a rocket that will support lunar missions with the Orion spacecraft.

Engineers docked one of four RS-25 engines to the Space Launch System’s core stage as part of a collaborative effort with Boeing and Aerojet Rocketdyne, the space agency said Wednesday.

The team will go on to integrate the engine’s propulsion and electrical systems, and then repeat the same process for the remaining RS-25 units.

Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel the engines that will fire continuously for 8.5 minutes during the first mission of the Artemis program, an effort that aims to revive manned space exploration, starting with the Moon.

NASA plans to launch Artemis I in 2020 in preparation for the crewed 2024 mission. The SLS is designed to bring astronauts and supplies to the Lunar surface with just one launch.

Avaya Holdings Corp. announced on Wednesday that the company has extended its partnership with NVT Phybridge to provide its Long Reach, Single Pair PoE switches for IP modernization. 

“Avaya is making it easier for organizations and large enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives with advanced unified communications and collaborations solutions, while keeping their existing telephony and networking infrastructure,” said Hardy Meyers, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, Avaya.

NVT Phybridge is a global leader in long reach PoE (Power over Ethernet), making long distance IP connections simple, secure, and cost-effective. NVT Phybridge long reach PoE switches are proven to help customers save money, eliminate risk and disruption, and create a robust and highly secure network platform; eliminating infrastructure barriers that keep customers stuck on TDM.

“We’ve had great success with customers in leveraging NVT Phybridge to underpin our UC implementations in legacy environments. By incorporating their plug-and-play solutions into the portfolio Avaya offers directly to market, we can provide our compelling, cost-effective UC offer to a wider range of enterprises globally,” Meyers added.

About Avaya Holdings Corp.

Businesses are built on the experiences they provide, and every day millions of those experiences are built by Avaya (NYSE: AVYA). For over one hundred years, we’ve enabled organizations around the globe to win – by creating intelligent communications experiences for customers and employees. 

Avaya builds open, converged and innovative solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration – in the cloud, on-premise or a hybrid of both. To grow your business, we’re committed to innovation, partnership, and a relentless focus on what’s next.

CACI International announced on Wednesday that the company will partner with BlackBerry Limited to provide the first secure and certified mobile communications app. 

CACI and BlackBerry will initially offer the app to meet the needs of more than 4 million government issued cell phones covered by Controlled Unclassified Information requirements. The app will allow government officials to use smartphones to text and make calls without fear of eavesdropping or data compromise.

“Our client base is increasingly mobile. We believe that U.S. Government employees, Chief Information Officers and Chief Information Security Officers should have confidence their cell phone calls and text messages are secure and protected to the same standard as government email,” said John Mengucci, president and CEO of CACI. 

The two companies built the solution to meet the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Commercial Solution for Classified (CSfC) program requirements and has already premiered on the NSA-approved vendors list for certified mobile solutions. The NSA has also cleared the solution to its SECRET CSfC standards.

About CACI International 

CACI’s 22,000 talented employees are vigilant in providing the unique expertise and distinctive technology that address our customers’ greatest enterprise and mission challenges. Our culture of good character, innovation, and excellence drives our success and earns us recognition as a Fortune World’s Most Admired Company.