NASA’s Security Operations Center continued addressing cybersecurity threats throughout the government shutdown, Space.com reported Monday. The center reported at least one cyber threat per day against the space agency. 

“NASA is one of the — it is the most attacked agency in the federal government when it comes to cybersecurity,” Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, said at a town hall meeting in Washington DC.

Renee Wynn, chief information officer at NASA, said that the center never ceased operations despite the shutdown that furloughed almost 95 percent of the agency’s workforce. SOC performs cybersecurity operations 24 hours a day from NASA’s California-based Ames Research Center, the report noted.

The General Services Administration is looking for input on a proposed blanket purchase agreement for phase I work under the agency’s Centers of Excellence systems modernization program, GSA officials said Thursday in a GitHub post.

The Discovery BPA vehicle enables GSA to acquire initial discovery and assessment services from a selection of multiple awardees specializing in at least three CoE functional areas. GSA said the model allows it to release awards rapidly and obtain information technology services through an “as-needed” basis. The agency noted that its CoEs plan to make the resulting capabilities available through the GSA IT Schedule 70.

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During a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington, D.C., Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, director of the Missile Defense Agency, said the MDA is considering acquiring interceptors, National Defense reported Friday.

Greaves noted that the agency is conducting assessments of available interceptor missiles after completing an analysis of potential capabilities for hypersonic defense. He said the agency seeks interceptors fast enough to thwart hypersonic weapons from potential adversaries. According to Greaves, the MDA has coordinated with industry and is considering the use of directed energy weapons.

The MDA’s analysis is undergoing reviews with the Department of Defense and is slated to be released soon, he added.

The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command has joined the Army Futures Command and rebranded the name to the Combat Capabilities Development Command during a ceremony on Jan. 31. CCDC’s science and technology advisers met with cross functional teams and the Modernization Task Force to prepare for the command’s transition to AFC, the Army said Thursday.Â

As part of the AFC, CCDC will perform engineering, analysis, scientific research and technological development efforts supporting the military service’s modernization initiatives.

“As we wind down and come out of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan the message is very, very clear, we need to re-focus on large-scale, ground combat and we need to re-focus on the future,” said John Murray, commanding general at AFC.

CCDC started a campaign plan seeking to secure operational visibility through the reorganization of management structures and the command’s portfolio in line with the Army’s modernization efforts. The Army Materiel Systems Activity also joined AFC and changed its name to Data & Analysis Center.

Adm. John Richardson, U.S. Navy chief of naval operations, announced that the service is reconsidering its proposed 355-ship fleet after a series of changes to the Pentagon’s security efforts, Defense One reported Friday.

The service announced its plan to increase the number of its warships from 287 in late 2016. However, Richardson said the evolving security environment and updated National Defense Strategy encouraged the Navy to re-evaluate its goal and conduct another force structure assessment. He said the Navy might lower its target but the goal to increase the number of its warships will remain. 

“I will tell you, the security environment has only gotten more sporty,” Richardson said. “We’ll take that into account.”

The admiral also said the Navy may change its definition of “warship” to include unmanned platforms.

“Technology is starting to come to play, so what counts as a naval platform is going to be an interesting discussion in this new force structure assessment,” he said.

The U.S. Navy held a keel-laying ceremony for future USS Carl M. Levin at General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine, the Naval Sea Systems Command said Friday.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, designated as DDG 120, is intended for missions such as anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, maritime security, missile defense and command and control. The vessel is designed with a Flight IIA configuration and fitted electronic countermeasures technology, an Aegis baseline 9 combat system and an integrated air and missile defense feature. 

General Dynamics is constructing four guided missile destroyers and expects to produce six more Arleigh Burke-class destroyers with a Flight III configuration. 

Carl M. Levin is slated for delivery to the Navy in fiscal year 2021. DDG 120 is named after a U.S. senator who spent 36 years in government service, making him the longest-serving senator in Michigan’s history.