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Air Force Begins Maintenance, Testing of B-21 Raider Aircraft
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Air Force Begins Maintenance, Testing of B-21 Raider Aircraft


Air Force Begins Maintenance, Testing of B-21 Raider AircraftThe U.S. Air Force has chosen two USAF bases to provide support services for the B-21 Raider long-range strike bomber ahead of its delivery in the mid-2020s, the service branch said Friday.

Tinker AFB in Oklahoma will perform maintenance and sustainment work at the Air Logistics Complex within the base’s Air Force Sustainment Center. Meanwhile, Edwards AFB will host the Combined Test Force’s testing and evaluation operations at the California base’s Air Force Test Center.

The service noted that personnel from Robins AFB in Georgia and Hill AFB in Utah will provide B-21 maintenance support as well as overhaul and modification services to Tinker AFB as needed. The bases may also reconstruct the aircraft’s components, provide testing and reclaim equipment to support depot activation functions.

The Northrop Grumman-developed B-21 Raider is a highly-survivable aircraft designed to penetrate air defenses and operate in a wide range of critical missions. The aircraft is currently at the engineering and manufacturing phase of its acquisition cycle.

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NSC Principal Deputy Executive Secretary Joan O’Hara Assumes Full-Time Role
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NSC Principal Deputy Executive Secretary Joan O’Hara Assumes Full-Time Role


NSC Principal Deputy Executive Secretary Joan O'Hara Assumes Full-Time RolePresident Trump is appointing Joan Virginia O’Hara, former principal deputy executive secretary and deputy chief of staff for the National Security Council, to serve as the NSC’s executive secretary.

Prior to assuming her role in July, O’Hara advised Vice President Mike Pence on national security and foreign policy matters, the White House said Friday. She also served six years with the House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee, having previously held the role of general counsel.

O’Hara, who is also a special assistant to the president, formerly performed law clerk duties at the New York State Supreme Court.

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NASA, Partners Detail How Human Spaceflight in LEO Can Boost Economy, Exploration
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NASA, Partners Detail How Human Spaceflight in LEO Can Boost Economy, Exploration


NASA, Partners Detail How Human Spaceflight in LEO Can Boost Economy, ExplorationAn interagency effort led by NASA submitted a report to the National Space Council detailing the opportunities and challenges for human spaceflight in low-Earth orbit, and how it could help boost the economy and space exploration. 

The agency said Saturday, it issued the report in partnership with the departments of State and Commerce. In February, The National Space Council requested that NASA work with other federal agencies to create a national strategy for human spaceflight in LEO. The report states that NASA plans to work with the private sector and other nations, particularly those using the International Space Station.

“As we work to create a new set of commercial human spaceflight capabilities, we will enable U.S. commercial enterprises to develop and operate under principles of long-term sustainability for space activity,” the report said. 

NASA also provided the space council with its four main goals for human spaceflight:\n

  • To achieve a continuous U.S. presence in LEO – both NASA astronauts and private citizens – in order to support the use of space by U.S. citizens, companies, academia, and international partners and maintain a permanent American foothold on the nearest part of the space frontier.
  • To create a regulatory environment in LEO that enables American commercial activities to thrive.
  • To conduct human spaceflight research in LEO that will advance the technology and systems required for long-duration spaceflight systems, including systems for interplanetary travel and permanent space habitation.
  • To expand and extend commercial opportunity though international partnerships and engagement.

DHS, Dutch Gov’t Select Five Teams for Joint Cybersecurity Initiative
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DHS, Dutch Gov’t Select Five Teams for Joint Cybersecurity Initiative


DHS, Dutch Gov't Select Five Teams for Joint Cybersecurity InitiativeThe Department of Homeland Security‘s Science and Technology Directorate has partnered with its Dutch counterparts to provide up to $2.5M for cybersecurity research and development efforts, the DHS said Friday.

Five U.S.-Netherlands research teams will work on projects addressing Distributed Denial of Defense Security and Industrial Controls Systems Security issues. The work will build on previous cyber research under the two countries’ collaborative agreement.

“The capabilities developed by the joint research teams will benefit both countries today and into the future. We hope this is the first of many joint ventures with our international partners,” said William Bryan, DHS senior official for the Under Secretary for Science and Technology.

In May 2017, DHS S&T and two organizations under the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security began seeking participants for the cybersecurity R&D program. The directorate allocated $1.25M for the effort while the Netherlands’ Organization for Scientific Research and National Cyber Security Center provided the equivalent amount in euros.

The five teams are:\n

  • New York University and Delft University of Technology
  • University of Southern California – Information Sciences Institute and University of Twente
  • University of California and University of Twente
  • University of Texas and Technische Universiteit Eindhoven
  • University of California and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Dunford Emphasizes Need for ‘Sustained Predictable, Adequate’ Funding in Sustaining Military Edge
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Dunford Emphasizes Need for ‘Sustained Predictable, Adequate’ Funding in Sustaining Military Edge


Dunford Emphasizes Need for 'Sustained Predictable, Adequate' Funding in Sustaining Military EdgeThe chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recently underscored the importance of having sufficient defense funding when it comes to maintaining the competitive advantage of the U.S.

Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum over the weekend, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford expressed confidence in the military’s ability to defend the country against potential adversaries, the Defense Department reported Saturday.

Dunford noted, however, that the lack of “sustained predictable, adequate levels of funding” combined with a failure to “look carefully at those areas where we are challenged” would likely erode such confidence in the coming years.

His remarks come as the Defense Department prepares a $700B alternative budget proposal for 2020 to meet President Trump’s call for spending cuts across federal agencies. The revised DoD proposal is $33B lower than an earlier department draft.

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DoD Completes Agency-Wide Financial Audit
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DoD Completes Agency-Wide Financial Audit


DoD Completes Agency-Wide Financial AuditThe Defense Department has announced the completion of its first-ever agency-wide financial audit.

On Nov. 16, the DoD said the audit, whose final report is now available for download, involved over a thousand auditors who verified voluminous records covering military personnel, equipment and real property. In addition, the auditors evaluated DoD systems for security weaknesses.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan explained that, through the audit, the DoD sought to “facilitate transparency with Congress and the American taxpayer and to determine corrective actions to instill long-term discipline.” Shanahan went on to describe the audit’s completion as “a historic accomplishment.” 

David Norquist, Defense Department Comptroller, had called the then-ongoing audit a service to the American taxpayer. Norquist also said the effort would yield a “laundry list” of DoD weaknesses which contractors could help resolve.

Echoing Norquist’s sentiments, the DoD said in its press release the agency “is committed to fixing these issues and continuing to improve the ability to defend the nation while being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money.”

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Military Looks to Replicate USAF Agile Development
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Military Looks to Replicate USAF Agile Development


Military Looks to Replicate USAF Agile DevelopmentOther U.S. military branches plan to adopt the Air Force‘s program to accelerate the development of agile applications, Fedscoop reported Friday.

The effort, known as Kessel Run, minimizes the years-long agile development timeline to months, and cuts costs as a result. USAF piloted the effort last year and began experiments in May 2018.

Brig. Gen. Kevin Kennedy, director of cyberspace strategy and policy at USAF’s Office of Information Dominance, said the Dev-Ops-based agile technology allows an aircraft to have more customizable software.

“If I have an aircraft out there, it can be a sensor, it can be shooter, it can be a [command and control] node, it can be a node on the network,” Kennedy said at an Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association event.

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GSA Welcomes Former HHS CIO Beth Killoran as New IT Lead
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GSA Welcomes Former HHS CIO Beth Killoran as New IT Lead


GSA Welcomes Former HHS CIO Beth Killoran as New IT LeadBeth Killoran, former chief information officer of the Department of Health and Human Services, has been appointed as the new deputy CIO at the General Services Administration, Federal Times reported Saturday.

Killoran most recently served with the HHS Office of the Surgeon General, where she helped develop an information technology strategic plan for the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. She left HHS as the agency transitioned its cyber center to operate under the authority of the Office of the CIO, and opened the Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center in October.

Killoran previously held senior IT roles at the Department of Homeland Security, joining the DHS in 2004. She served as head of the agency’s Infrastructure Transformation Program, Enterprise Talent Management System and the Office of Program Accountability and Risk Management. Her new role with the GSA began on Nov. 13.

Patrick Shanahan: Trump Should Understand Possible Tradeoffs in DoD’s Potential $700B Budget
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Patrick Shanahan: Trump Should Understand Possible Tradeoffs in DoD’s Potential $700B Budget


Patrick Shanahan: Trump Should Understand Possible Tradeoffs in DoD’s Potential $700B BudgetDeputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has said a reduced budget would restrain some of the Pentagon’s objectives, Federal News Network reported Friday.

He told reporters Thursday that the Defense Department completed the proposed $733B budget and has now begun to draft the $700B spending plan after President Donald Trump ordered a 5 percent budget cut.

“What I want the president to understand when we bring the $700B budget forward is: What are those tradeoffs?” Shanahan said.

“I either get reduced capacity, I get lower quantities of procurement, I change modernization, my reforms are certain size. He really needs an awareness of what that translates to in terms of performance here in the department.”

Shanahan noted that DoD plans to have Defense Secretary James Mattis, the comptroller and the office of cost assessment and program evaluation review the new budget before handing over the findings to the president after Thanksgiving.    
 

Trump OKs Measure to Establish New DHS Cyber Agency
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Trump OKs Measure to Establish New DHS Cyber Agency


Trump OKs Measure to Establish New DHS Cyber AgencyPresident Donald Trump has signed into law a bill that would form a new cybersecurity agency within the Department of Homeland Security.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act will create a new DHS agency that will “lead the federal government’s civilian response to these cyber threats against our nation,” Trump said in a statement published Friday.

The CISA Act aims to restructure DHS’ national protection and programs directorate into a new government organization composed of three divisions: critical infrastructure, emergency communications and cybersecurity, according to GovTrack.

Trump noted that CISA will work with other government agencies and the private sector to defend U.S. power grids, telecommunications, banks and other infrastructure from cyber threat actors.

The House approved the CISA Act on Tuesday a month after the Senate passed the measure.

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