The U.S. Air Force plans to issue a request for proposals in March for a planned contract to replace the engines of the aging B-52 Stratofortress bomber aircraft, National Defense Magazine reported Thursday.

Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, announced the RFP for the B-52 re-engining program at the recent Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla.

The Air Force aims to keep the B-52 operational through the 2050s by procuring 650 new engine systems that will replace the TF33 engines currently in use. Roper noted that officials may use other transaction authority agreements to develop prototypes.

The Air Force expects to award a contract by fiscal year 2020. Pratt & Whitney, the manufacturer of the TF33, is expected to compete, along with Rolls Royce, which plans to offer its F130 system, and General Electric, which said last year it might offer either its CF34-10 or Passport engines.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Office of Personnel Management plan to implement policy changes under a new framework to speed up the vetting and security clearance procedures for federal personnel, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

One of the changes ODNI and OPM will implement is reducing the number of tiers of background investigations from five to three: trusted/low-risk, secret and top secret.

Bill Evanina, director of ODNI’s National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said agencies will also change how it will establish trust with prospective employees to provide contractors and personnel more flexibility to facilitate transitions within the government.

Those include the replacement of periodic investigations with continuous vetting; use of electronic video interviews and other tools to screen a federal contractor or employee; and creation of a “trusted information provider program.”

The changes are part of a framework that officials from OPM, ODNI and other members of the Performance Accountability Council approved in March 2018 as part of the Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative.

Evanina said he is scheduled on March 8 to inform agency leaders of the framework, which is being reviewed by the White House.
 

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan submitted the department’s strategy for establishing Space Force as a standalone military branch to Congress, Space News reported Thursday.

The legislative proposal was emailed to the House and Senate  Appropriations defense subcommittees and the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

Gen. John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said Tuesday at a hearing with STRATCOM and the U.S. Northern Command that Space Force would be responsible for organizing, training and equipping operators to support the combatant commands including the U.S. Space Command. Hyten added that the nation’s space access is facing threats from adversaries, and a space-focused combatant command would assist with national defense missions.

Defense officials said the Space Command will be complete in the next 60 to 90 days. 

Two members of Congress, Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich., introduced a resolution calling for ethical standards to guide the field of artificial intelligence.

H.RES. 153 supports cooperation among industry, government, academia and civil institutions in the field, promoting transparency of AI systems and processes, protecting private and personal information, boosting career opportunities in the sector and maintaining the safety of its platforms, Khanna said Thursday.

The resolution also supports expanding the accessibility of AI-related technological services and interdisciplinary AI research.

“To realize the full potential of AI, we must ensure that government, industry, academia and organizations dedicated to protecting privacy, civil rights and liberties work together to develop AI in an ethical and transparent manner,” Lawrence said.

Information technology firms including Facebook and IBM endorse the resolution, and Reps. Darren Soto, D-Fla., Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., Haley Stevens, D-Mich., Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., Grace Meng, D-N.Y., Robin Kelly, D-Ill., and Charlie Christ, D-Fla., serving as cosponsors.

Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics and a 2019 Wash100 Award winner, noted at a recently held Air Force Association event that the service has a four-step plan to streamline the acquisition process, USAF said Thursday.

Roper said the Air Force plans to jumpstart acquisition by leveraging programs such as Section 804 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2016 to procure capabilities faster. After that, Roper said the military branch must expand its industry network and move at a pace that matches that of startups.

The third step calls for the Air Force to establish an idea pipeline that will enable industry to suggest new ideas that can succeed old models. The fourth and final step occurs as the service increases innovative processes for sustainability by using commercial technology such as additive manufacturing and predictive maintenance to reduce procurement costs.

The Air Force will hold a pitch day on March 6 and 7 for small businesses and startups seeking to secure same-day contracts for their concepts and ideas.

Visit the Wash100 website to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2019 Wash100 Award. On the website, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2019.