Dana Deasy, chief information officer for the Department of Defense, testified before the House Armed Services Committee’s intelligence, emerging threats and capabilities subpanel on the Pentagon’s ongoing digital modernization efforts, the DoD website reported Tuesday.“DOD will remain a multicloud environment, with both general-purpose and fit-for-purpose clouds as part of our long-term strategy,” Deasy said on Tuesday. 

He mentioned the Pentagon’s artificial intelligence strategy and the need to modernize its command, control and communications systems. Deasy, a 2019 Wash100 winner, also noted the department’s cyber strategy and how his office protects the defense industrial base. “The Cyber Top 10 focuses on remediation strategies for a complex cyber landscape with components ranging from information networks to our cyber workforce and supply chain, risk management and beyond,” he said.

Lisa Hershman, DOD’s acting chief management officer, also appeared before the House subcommittee to discuss the department’s information technology reform efforts.

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The U.S. Army intends to test a BAE Systems-made countermeasure combining electronic jammers and missiles with the service branch’s fleet of combat vehicles, Army Times reported Monday. The branch plans to equip its Bradley vehicle with the BAE-made RAVEN system that performed with winning rates throughout a six-week competitive evaluation.

RAVEN defeated Northrop Grumman’s Multifunction Electro-Optical System and other entries during the competition. The BAE-made countermeasure employs a soft kill approach allowing for deeper magazines and more ammunition compared to hard kill weapons. Tests with the Bradley vehicle will begin over the summer.

The General Services Administration has updated the beta version of SAM.gov, a website designed to consolidate and facilitate federal awarding activities such as contract assistance and management. GSA said in the sixth volume of its “Integrated Award Environment Digest” newsletter that the agency added the website’s corresponding set of open source tools in preparation for future modernization.

The agency has also updated its awarding policy including the exception of contractors from dispensing $1 mandated under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. The website will also feature data element updates such as an advanced search drop-down menu and other search tools.

SAM.gov succeeds the previous CFDA.gov website and will eventually replace other legacy contracting platforms such as FedBizOpps.

NASA intends to execute a mission to assist scientists in the forecast and research Earth’s space weather systems. The Atmospheric Waves Experiment initiative seeks to study atmospheric airglows to confirm the mixture of forces that are contributing to space climate in the upper atmosphere, the agency said Tuesday. Researchers have also noted that the Earth’s climate and the Sun’s outflow of ultraviolet light particles potentially affect space weather conditions.

The mission, which is a part of the Heliophysics Explorers Program, has a funding of $42M and is scheduled to take place aboard the International Space Station in August 2022. The agency has also awarded a seven-month, $100,000 formulation study for a CubeSate experiment aiming to investigate solar particle storms.

The Heliophysics Explorers Program has assisted in over 90 missions and was created to allow low-cost space access through space science investigations in heliophysics and astrophysics.

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration concluded the production of a U.S. Navy low-yield nuclear warhead missile. The NNSA said Monday that it has manufactured the first production unit for the W76-2 warhead at DOE’s Pantex Plant facility in Texas. The W76-2 is an updated variant of the W76-1 platform and provides submarine vessels with sea-launched ballistic missile warhead capacities.

“The W76-2 will allow for tailored deterrence in the face of evolving threats,” said Charles Verdon, deputy administrator for defense programs at NNSA.

NNSA intends to meet the initial operational quantity for the missile prior to the scheduled delivery to the Navy at the end of fiscal year 2019. The warhead’s production is a part of NNSA’s efforts supporting President Trump’s national security initiative.