Lt. Gen. John Thompson, the U.S. Air Force’s Space And Missile Systems Center commander, said the military branch is releasing a final launch services solicitation within the next two weeks, Space News reported Wednesday.

Thompson noted in a testimony to the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces that competition for the National Security Space Launch program must push through according to schedule despite industry concerns. The service received recommendations to extend deadlines for space firms to further develop their platforms.

Air Force officials intended to issue a final request for proposals for the LSP effort in March 29. The service delayed the RFP release to April ahead of an expected award date in spring 2020, according to Thompson. Launches scheduled for 2022 will potentially get funding from the Air Force’s budgets for fiscal years 2020 through 2024.

The Government Accountability Office recommended the Department of Defense implement practices to address cost and schedule challenges facing the department when procuring space technology platforms. GAO said Wednesday that it found that space leadership changes, potential satellite threats, funding issues and workforce gaps could affect the department’s acquisition of weather satellites and missile warning, communications and navigation systems. 

The report also noted that while space systems assist government and military operations, their deployment may cost billions of dollars. GAO cited the launch of a satellite communications system was delayed by three years and the mission cost jumped more than 117 percent. 

The agency’s recommends are based on DoD space program reports created over the last decade and findings on the status of defense procurement efforts.

Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced a bill intending to secure senator-owned electronic assets from potential cyber attacks. The Senate Cybersecurity Protection Act would authorize the senate sergeant at arms to help senators and associated staff boost the protection of their personal electronic devices and digital accounts, Wyden’s office said Wednesday.

The SSA doesn’t hold authority to use government funds for the cybersecurity of non-government-issued, senator-owned devices. The bipartisan bill hopes to address this gap in authority.

“Cybersecurity experts agree – malicious foreign entities used targeted hacks to influence the 2016 election to their benefit, and these attacks are only going to grow more frequent and sophisticated,” Wyden said. “The Senate doesn’t have the luxury of ignoring the changing landscape of cyber-attacks,” he added. 

Lt. Gen. David Berger, head of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, said the service branch needs new amphibious ships to support future war at sea, Military.com reported Wednesday. Berger, recently tapped to be the next commandant of the Marine Corps, said at a recent meeting in Congress that the service lacks the vital ships needed for large operations.

He cited maintenance work suspended operations of some of its aging vessels. The general called on defense leaders to help the Marine Corps get new ships with modern command-and-control and offensive systems to replace legacy-class amphibious ships.

“You really need the new ships in all type-model-series to give us another level of capability,” Berger said.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are questioning Navy officials for not including funding for amphibious ships in the service’s 2020 budget request.

“We see no amphibious ship request, no amphibious connectors,” said Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va. “So there’s some concern about where we’re going to be with the necessary capability in the Navy for Marine Corps operations.”

Gen. Robert Brown, U.S. Army Pacific’s commanding general, said during the Association of the U.S. Army Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Ala., that the service must prepare for multidimensional combat, National Defense magazine reported Wednseday.

Brown noted that all Army units will eventually cover capabilities to handle threats such as electronic warfare, drone swarms and unmanned aerial vehicles. “All formations will have to become multidimensional or they will be irrelevant in the future,” he added.

The Army previously established the intelligence, information, cyber, electronic warfare and space battalion to support its pilot program for multi-domain operations. The service has a four-year approach to achieve readiness in multi-domain warfare.

The U.S. Air Force plans to designate Ellsworth AF Base in South Dakota as the location of its B-21 Raider bomber aircraft, the service branch said Wednesday. The Air Force chose Ellsworth AFB to host the first operational B-21 and its related training operations due to the installation’s capacity to handle simultaneous missions with reduced costs and minimal impact on operations. 

Subsequent Air Force installations will get B-21 aircraft upon availability ahead of the service’s plans to phase out its B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit aircrafts. The Air Force will make a formal B-21 basing decision in 2021 following environmental and regulatory procedures. Northrop Grumman won a $511 million contract in 2015 to produce 100 of the B-21 bombers for the Air Force.