The Department of Energy is investing $26.1M in to develop marine and hydrokinetics technologies that would help the country continue leveraging hydropower. Officials said Monday that the department’s water power technologies office will identify projects that reduce the cost and boost the flexibility of hydropower and marine energy.

The research investment effort will consist of four study areas. The first area aims to boost the flexibility of hydropower technologies and address constraining factors while the second will leverage the potential of low head hydropower and in-stream hydrokinetic systems.

The third area is intended to design, develop and prepare wave energy converters for open-water tests, and the final area will modernize the research infrastructure of national marine renewable energy centers.

“This opportunity is critical to advancing new water technologies that harness energy from our nation’s rivers and oceans,” said Daniel Simmons, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

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.