The Department of the Interior saved $14.8 million in 2018 as it expanded its fleet of unmanned aircraft systems to support operations across the U.S. The department released its UAS Program 2018 Use Report Monday that details the agency’s spending and aircraft use during the year.

The agency conducted 10,342 unmanned aircraft flights in 2018, two times higher than the 2017 figure.  Use of drones for natural disaster response accounted for the majority of missions in 2018. The number is expected to continue to rise as first responders find new opportunities for the aircraft to assist in their missions, Mark Bathrick, director of DOI Office of Aviation Services, told Nextgov.

Interior uses 530 drones to survey federal lands, inspect infrastructure, track wildlife and assist disaster response efforts. The agency plans to increase its aerial drone fleet to nearly 800 systems by 2020. Officials also plan to increase investment in-house capabilities with 205 new drone pilots added to the agency’s certified operators.

The U.S. Army is working to incorporate commercial off-the-shelf platforms into the future integrated tactical network to field an initial ITN capability set, C4ISRnet reported Tuesday.Â

Maj. Gen. Randy Taylor, commander of the Army’s Communications and Electronics Command, said the ITN will be a mix of legacy and modernized systems that requires different sustainment procedures during the AUSA Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Ala.

The Army also increased equipment warranty terms from one year to five years to accommodate short-term system sustainment. Army officials developed a strategy to integrate capabilities into the ITN biannually ahead of the network’s projected deployment by 2028.

A bipartisan group of 99 House lawmakers agreed to increase the U.S. military’s fleet of F-35 fighter aircraft to reduce maintenance cost and address growing threats of other countries’ missile systems and stealth fighters, Defense News reported Monday. 

The Joint Strike Fighter Caucus sent a letter to House leaders calling for 12 additional F-35As and 12 F-35Bs for President Trump’s 2020 budget request. If approved, the budget would fund the military’s acquisition of 102 new fighter jets. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn.,Martha Roby, R-Ala., Marc Veasey, D-Texas, and Mike Turner, R-Ohio, led the group in the call for new jets.

The lawmakers said the fleet expansion would reduce overall F-35 costs, ensure the country’s air dominance, support overseas missions and the economy. 

“In fact, as global threats continue to rise, the Department of Defense’s fiscal year 2020 budget request, which includes funding for 78 F-35s – 15 less than Congress appropriated in fiscal year 2019 – leaves the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps with a capability gap that 4th Generation, or legacy, aircraft cannot fulfill,” the letter reads. 

However, Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office have announced manufacturing defects found on the jets. In September, DoD suspended the delivery of the new F-35 to fix production errors.

Military service planners and senior leaders from the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support spoke about future sustainment platforms to support service strategies during a panel discussion held on March 21 in Philadelphia, DLA reported Monday. 

Capt. Eric Bach from the office of the chief of naval operations logistics analytics branch cited the role of partnerships with DLA and other defense agencies is advancing the U.S. Navy’s Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations concept. Bach said the Navy must employ the concept by advancing digital transformation, agile logistics and adoption of emerging technology platforms to maintain the service’s advantage against near-pear competitors.

“With regard to [DLA’s] whole of government approach…across the spectrum of competition, we’re going to have to rely on partners and provider,” Bach added.

Other service planners who presented at the event include Lt. Col. Adam Blanton, Marine Corps warfighting laboratory future operations officer; Army Lt. Col. Tracy Henry-Neill, concepts developer from Futures Command’s sustainment capabilities development integration directorate; and Air Force Lt. Col. Michael McLeod.

Todd Myers, automation lead at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s office of the director of technology, said China is using a technique called generative adversarial networks to deceive computers into seeing fake bridges and other objects in Earth satellite images, Defense One reported Sunday.

“The Chinese have already designed; they’re already doing it right now, using GANs—which are generative adversarial networks—to manipulate scenes and pixels to create things for nefarious reasons,” Myers said Thursday at the Genius Machines Summit. “So from a tactical perspective or mission planning, you train your forces to go a certain route, toward a bridge, but it’s not there. Then there’s a big surprise waiting for you,” he noted.

Myers said the intelligence community and military can counter GAN but would require duplicate satellite image collections.

“The biggest thing is the funding required to make sure you can do what I just talked about,” he added.

Myers will be featured as a panelist at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2019 Data Management Forum, which will be held on April 10 in Falls Church, Va. Click here to register for the event.