The U.S. Army Network Cross Functional Team plans to purchase equipment and begin operations supporting branch efforts to  develop an integrated tactical network by 2020, FCW reported Thursday. The network will combine computer, satellite and radio capabilities to form a streamlined and mobile battlefield network.

Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher, head of the cross functional team, said the Army wants to assess and field equipment before providing deliverables to brigade units by 2021. The Army will work on four capability sets which include satellite communications, cloud technology, anti-jamming weapons, automated units and multi-domain systems.

The service branch is currently conducting experiments with European units ahead of a potential full network modernization by 2028.

The U.S. Navy’s latest budget justification documents reveal plans to award the fourth contract under the Virginia-class submarine program in April, Inside Defense reported Wednesday.

The contract calls for 10 nuclear-powered submarines in the Block V configuration and cover fiscal years 2019 through 2023. All of these future units would include acoustic superiority modifications, and seven among them will feature the Virginia Payload Module, a four-tube launcher made to shoot out 28 missiles.

The Virginia Payload is designed to make up for the retirement of the Navy’s guided missile submarines in the mid-2020s, the documents reported.

The Office of Inspector General found that the Veterans Benefits Administration failed to update its system for processing housing stipends under the Forever GI Bill, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs report released Wednesday.

As of December 2018, the benefits department did not properly modify electronic platforms such as the Long-Term Solution software that was intended to improve housing payment procedures for service members, veterans and their families.

The report states that VBA faced challenges such as “unclear communication of implementation progress and inadequately defined expectations, roles, and responsibilities” regarding the contractors involved in the effort.

The VA noted defects in the software which failed testing on certain scenarios that were not accounted for during the development phase. To help the department improve operations, Mitre released a report in November containing recommendations on the management and technical aspects of the software.

The General Services Administration is looking to expand its centers of excellence program in three additional agencies in 2019 to support President Donald Trump’s management agenda, Fedscoop reported Wednesday.

Anil Cheriyan, leader of the agency’s Technology Transformation Service, said that GSA is currently discussing how to proceed with the program and may announce another participating agency next month.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have [another] three running by the end of this year,” he said at a National Academy of Public Administration event.

The three future centers would follow five existing sites with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies.

“We’ve saved over $21M for USDA so far, and going forward we’re going to be able to save between $6.9M and $8.5M per year,” said Emily Murphy, GSA administrator.

The Government Accountability Office submitted plans to Congress outlining how a newly created advisory group will assist lawmakers with establishing technology-related regulations, Nextgov reported Wednesday.

Tim Persons, a chief scientist at GAO, said the Science and Technology Assessment and Analytics unit expects to have more than 60 federal auditors, engineers, data analysts, physicists, computer scientists and other relevant experts by the end of the year.  Persons will lead the new office with John Neumann, a former science and technology head at GAO.

The new office, which Persons said is both a merger and an expansion of existing science and technology activities, will collaborate with universities on bioengineering, quantum computing and policy questions like countering the opioid epidemic. Specific information regarding the group’s scope and size has not been released.

Patrick O’Brien, director of the Office of Economic Adjustment at the Pentagon, said the lack of stable funding for the U.S. military  affects communities surrounding military bases across the U.S.

He said during a speech at Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., that in 2013 local communities and states felt the full effects of the Budget Control Act of 2011, when the budget sequestration began, the agency said Tuesday.

O’Brien said temporary funding that forced the department to suspend some operations at installations also affected civilians who relied on defense dollars. Two examples include the recent closure of an Army tank plant in Ohio and the downsizing of an Air Force installation in North Dakota left the communities with fewer jobs.

To help state officials and residents retain a labor force and anticipate delayed defense funding, the Defense Spending by State report was issued providing information on DoD personnel data and contracting information. The document helps state and local officials support local economies, understand the supply chain and the local labor force, O’Brien said.

“If I’m a governor or a local official, I’d want to know where the spending is going, how to preserve that spending or diversify,” he said. “You’re talking about livelihoods and national security.”

O’Brien said emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, are among the areas offering communities with new job opportunities in the military.