Rob Cross, an official at the U.S. Marine Corps Program Executive Office for Land Systems, recently said that Block 1 of the AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar is now undergoing initial operational test and evaluation, USNI News reported Tuesday.

G/ATOR, developed by defense contractor Northrop Grumman, is the Marine Corps’ next-generation radar system designed to detect incoming airborne threats like drones, missiles and artillery. Block 1 is meant to provide air defense and air surveillance capabilities.

Cross made the remarks at the recently-concluded 2018 Modern Day Marine expo, where he noted that G/ATOR Block 2, which will provide ground counter-battery capabilities, will soon undergo its test and evaluation phase as well.

The PEO official added that the Common Aviation Command and Control System, which will work in tandem with G/ATOR, is now in the sustainment phase.

CAC2S, developed by General Dynamics Mission Systems, “integrates information from various aerial and ground-based radar systems and sensors to enable a common, real-time air picture.”

Marianne Kramer, chief of technology transition at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, has said organizations need to obligate “substantial” planning and sufficient lead time to modernize their data centers, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

Kramer said during an FCW-hosted webcast that IARPA is struggling to demonstrate how its research and development efforts can help migrate intelligence organizations to the cloud with minimal disruption.

She explained that differences between development and operations environments hinder agencies from trusting IARPA’s R&D initiative.

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“Security becomes a barrier to accepting new technology because individuals with accrediting systems, they have certain expectations and modern virtual systems can satisfy a lot of these steps automatically, and it sort of obviates the need for dozens of steps in part of their role,” the IARPA official said.

Additionally, Kramer recommended that agencies adopt proactive approaches such as securing funding first, then organizing the systems that need to be transferred to a cloud network to streamline their data center modernization process.

The Defense Department has granted a Center of Excellence certification to a U.S. Strategic Command organization that fosters missile defense training for service, joint and theater operations.

The Joint Ballistic Missile Defense Education and Training Center or JBTEC received CoE certification after a year of preparation, becoming the first ever joint CoE the U.S. Army said Tuesday.

Established in 2005, the center works to train warfighters from different services in planning, analyzing and jointly executing integrated air and missile defense strategies.

The Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense operates the newly certified center at Schriever Air Force Base.

The CoE certification recognizes the quality of the center’s services and expertise in the assigned field of joint missile defense training.

JBTEC annually caters to 4K students consisting of personnel from combatant commands, federal agencies and U.S. allies.

Defense Secretary James Mattis and Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie have said the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments will release an integrated electronic health record system in an aim to share information between the two agencies.

Both department heads said in a statement published September 26 the agencies will work to store the medical information of U.S. warfighters, and their families, during and after military service.

The department heads said they plan to come up with a more streamlined and comprehensive EHR system that provides for unified decision-making and oversight functions; harmonized operations, data management and technology tools; and a single implementation schedule.

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have jointly established a board to study the issue that resulted in a three percent availability loss of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 17. The infrared detectors of the weather satellite’s Advanced Baseline Imager instrument did not maintain required operational temperatures under certain conditions during a postlaunch test, NASA said Tuesday.

David McGowan, chief engineer at the space agency’s Langley Research Center, will chair the board. Board members include lead NASA researchers Joel Lachter, Rich Slywczak, Hank Rotter and Julie Grantier.

GOES-17 is part of a series of satellites that work to provide weather forecasts and warnings. The satellite is slated to be operationally renamed the GOES West later this year.

The Department of Energy is investing a maximum of $28M in research, development and demonstration efforts aiming to support U.S. energy infrastructure cybersecurity.

The DOE said Monday its Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response will partner with industry to develop cyber threat mitigation, detection and prevention technologies.

“These awards will spur the next level of innovation needed to advance cyber resilience, ensuring that the nation’s critical energy infrastructure can withstand potential cyber attacks while also still keeping the lights on,” said Rick Perry, secretary of energy.

The 11 funded projects all support the department’s Multiyear Plan for Energy Sector Cybersecurity that aims to encourage partnerships across government and industry.

The full list of the funded projects can be accessed here.

United Technologies Research Center and GE Global Research are among the awardees under the funding.